Category Archives: 2014-2015

Aug
12
2015

A Crooked Kind of Perfect

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1535111Over the summer I read a book called a Crooked Kind of Perfect written by a women named Linda Urban.  This book is about a ten year old girl named Zoe Elias that wanted to be a piano prodigy and play Carnegie Hall when she was older. She told her parents to buy her a piano but her dad came home with an organ.

 

Learning versions of old TV theme songs on the organ was definitely not the same as playing Carnegie Hall and  having to play an organ wasn’t the only bad thing about her life.  Zoe’s mom was always at work, her dad was at home trying to find a job and a strange boy from school named Wheeler was always following her home to hang out with Zoe’s dad.  Right when Zoe thinks everything is going wrong she enters the annual perfor-O-rama organ competition and realizes that not everything needs to be perfect and can sometimes be a little off center.

 

To be honest, at the beginning of the book I didn’t think it was going to like it, but when I kept reading I kept liking it more and more. The first thing I really liked was that I was the same age as the main character so I was able to relate to her a lot.  I also liked that the book was a fiction book but the theme was very realistic. Even though I  liked the book in general, I thought that the chapters were really short and would have loved to learn a little more about the characters and about what was happening before each chapter ended. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an easy read book with a  happy ending. I would rate this book 4 ½ stars.

 

 

Aug
06
2015

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

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cover.225x225-75The name of the book I read is The Mysterious Benedict Society (book one), the book is by Trenton Lee Stewart. The book takes place in Stonetown (somewhere on the planet Earth), in present time. The main characters are Reynard “Reynie” Muldoon, George “Sticky”  Washington, Kate “The Great Kate Weather Machine” Wetherall, and Constance Contraire. The main problem is that they have to overcome their differences and learn to work together to save the world from Ledroptha Curtain, and his Whisperer machine before he makes the world his piece of paper.

 

“Sometimes, Reynie, trouble itself is the key.” – Mr. Benedict. The biggest turning point is when the characters (The Mysterious Benedict Society) worked together to shut down the Whisperer by confusing it. After bickering constantly about all the secrets and things they wouldn’t tell each other, they finally bonded together as a team and friends. Throughout the story an important decision is whether to cheat or not to cheat to get higher up in the ranks to become a messenger. Messengers go into the Whisperer and learn more about how Mr. Curtain is able to bend almost everyone’s minds. In the end the big problems do fade away but their shadows are still there.

 

This is a breathtaking book, and there are many examples as to why. But, for right now just three. The first example is that the characters are so relatable, a little bit of yourself is in every character. Constance is determined, stubborn, and very resistant to anything she doesn’t like. Reynie is the go to for puzzles, and problems guy. Kate is very resourceful, and adventurous. Finally, Sticky is the know-it-all.    The second example is that  the story was never boring, or dull, and it never made me want to do other things. The third example is that some of the many riddles and clever wordplay was easy to solve before the characters did, and other times you  just have to go along with the book and the characters. The kind of reader that would enjoy this series is a reader that loves to think, and enjoys some mystery as well as action. The book gives you a lot of uncoded messages that you as well as the characters have to figure out. If I were to rate this book from 1 to 10 stars, I’d give it a full on 10. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jul
16
2015

Beyond The PawPaw Trees by Palmer Brown

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51DLxrS2iXL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_One of the books I read this summer, is called Beyond The PawPaw Trees by Palmer Brown. It takes place in a magical land, in a magical past. Some of the places in the land that Anna Lavinia crosses include a train, a dessert and a little village. The main characters are Anna Lavinia,  her father, and her Aunt Sophia Maria. The challenge for Anna Lavinia  in the story is getting to Aunt Sophia Maria’s house. To be able to do this Anna Lavinia needs to cross the magical land between her and her Aunt Sophia Maria. Along the way she finds a key that is very important to her family’s story. Another challenge for Anna Lavinia is trying to find her father, who chases rainbows. Anna Lavinia has not seen her father in a long time, and neither has Anna Lavinia’s mother. On her way to her Aunt’s house she encounters a cliff, and she sees a little walled town below. She thinks her Aunt may live down there.

Something that changed the direction of the story the most was magic. Anna Lavinia was stuck at many points and the magic of the world helped her. An example is when Anna Lavinia was stuck at a cliff and she needed to get down to be able to continue her journey to find her Aunt Sophia Maria, and magic (with a little help of her umbrella) helped her float down safely. Anna Lavinia made some very big decisions and explorations. She explored through the magical land which could be very dangerous. Here are two examples from the book, “She thought she would try something else, because perhaps only the stones acted that way, so she opened her carpet bag and  found the fat woman’s tea cozy and tossed it out beyond the cliff. The tea cozy was so light it would not go dawn at all. A jar of pawpaw jelly went down well, a little slower than the stones.”  Another example is “Then she took a deep breath and jumped of into the air… Gathering her things together, Anna Lavinia commenced walking towards the strange walled town, which seemed to be farther than it seemed from the cliff.” Anna Lavinia’s challenge of getting to her Aunt Sophia Maria, gets resolved and makes it there safely with three new friends, a camel, a parrot, and the “thobby”. But will she ever find her father?

I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked this book because it is very descriptive. For example, when she gets to the little village, the author describes what the village looks like very well. I also liked it because I read another kind of old fashioned book called Pippa Passes (I also recommend it) and it was very good so I tried another old one. The last reason I liked this book was because I tend to like magical realism books because I can relate to the realism part, and the magic give it a fun twist. I think a reader who likes old fashioned books and magical realism will like this book. I think this because as I said before this is a magical realism book, and it is old fashioned. This was a great book. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars! *****

 

 

Jun
05
2015

Everything On A Waffle

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THE PORT HARDY DAILY NEWS

Coming To You From Scenic Northern Vancouver Island

by Stella Donahue Story

 

COAL HARBOR, BRITISH COLUMBIA — A local fisherman and his wife appear to be lost at sea after a freak storm blew through Quatsino Sound last night. Many of the local townspeople fear both died in the storm, but the couple’s only child, an 11-year-old daughter named Primrose Squarp, said she’s confident her parents’ will return alive.

 

Primrose said her father had been on a routine fishing trip and was out at sea when the fast moving storm hit at 8:32 pm. Her father always comes home at 9:30pm. When he missed his curfew, Primrose’s mother set off into the howling storm in the family’s tiny row boat. Primrose says last she saw, her mother was paddling her way into the crashing waves.

 

Primrose spoke to a reporter while keeping vigil at The Girl On The Red Swing, a local eatery known for serving everything on a waffle – from chicken to lasagna to waffles, everything is served on a waffle.

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Ms. Bowser, owner of the restaurant, says if Primrose doesn’t think her parents are dead, she won’t either. Ms. Bowser acknowledged some would judge Primrose’s mother harshly for leaving her young daughter home alone. However, Ms. Bowser chalks Primrose’s mother’s actions up to true love.

 

Local officials, including school psychologist, Miss Honeycut, said they will begin work immediately to find a home for Primrose. An elderly neighbor named Mrs. Perfidy will take the girl in temporarily while the school works to track down the girl’s only known living relative, a maternal uncle named Jack who is believed to be currently serving as a naval officer in Nova Scotia .

 

Locals said they are shocked at the sudden loss of two prominent members of their small community. Plans for a memorial service are underway, however the young Primrose said she is so confident her parents will return that she has no plans to attend.

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Jun
05
2015

If Percy Jackson met Harry potter

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Final book review!
Harry Potter meets Percy Jackson

harry imgres

 

harry’s perspective

percy imgres-1

 

 

Harry’s perspective

Once far away from the Muggle world in front of the Hogwarts Express Harry was checking to see if he had everything he needed, when he heard Ron yell “Harry wait up, Hermione is still packing her books” “You know her.” When Hermione finally joined them they boarded the Hogwarts express and found a compartment to sit in. “Ron!” said Hermione Just as they got into their compartment “You almost forgot your arithmancy book.” “Hermione” said Ron “It’s not like I’ll be using it ever again.” “He does have a point.” said Harry. “Well What if you forget a spell What will you do to remember it.” “Oh I won’t forget any arithmancy spells besides when will I ever need one.” said Ron “You never know.” said Hermione. The rest of the ride felt too short. When the Hogwarts Express stopped in station 9 3 Quarters Harry said goodbye to Ron and Hermione and got ready to ​walk home (the Dursleys had told him that they didn’t want to “waste” gas). It was a hot June afternoon it

was drizzling a little. As he walked out of the station he tripped over someone’s foot.

Percy’s perspetive

“Oh I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to trip you.” said percy “It’s okay.” said the stranger “​What’s your name.” asked Percy “Harry.” said Harry “I’m percy nice to meat you.” said percy “nice to meet you too.” said harry. “Where are you from?” asked Harry. “It’s kind of complicated” said Percy “My moms from New York but my dad is Poseidon greek god of the sea.” “ ha ha sure and my dad’s Zues. gods don’t exist.” said Harry “No I’m serious you want me to prove it here’s proof.”Harry stops feeling rain he looked up and saw they were in a bubble of water . “Okay I believe you!” Harry said

Harry’s perspective

“Can you keep a secret.” asked Harry “Yeah” said percy “Okay then” “I’m a wizard.” said Harry “Wait really.” said percy “Yeah I am.” said Harry “So what’s with that scar on your forehead” said Percy. “Oh this said percy it’s a mark Voldemort gave me.” “Voldemort?” asked percy. “Voldemort is the most powerful evil wizard in the world.” said Harry “Oh” said percy “So he’s like Cronos for wizards.” “Cronos?” said Harry “He’s a titan who tried to destroy the world.” “Oh.” said Harry “Oh shoot I’m going to get home late it was nice meeting you!” said Harry “It was nice to meet you too bye!” said percy.

Jun
05
2015

Secret of the night Ponies Diorama

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Screen Shot 2015-06-05 at 1.54.39 PMScreen Shot 2015-06-05 at 1.54.22 PM

I read The Secret of the Night Ponies by Joan Hiatt Harlow. Jessie has a very kind heart. She really loves horses. This book is about Jessie. She loves horses a lot. When she walks into a fenced up place in the woods she is wondering why there are Newfoundland ponies in the middle of the woods. (Jessie has the flashlight.)

 

My diorama shows Jessie rescuing nine Wild Newfoundland ponies in Meloy’s fenced up place in the wood with her friends Meta, Margie, Polly and Polly’s twin. The girls had a slumber party and waited until midnight to sneak out and rescue the Wild ponies. This is when Jessie finds out what Jack Hawley and Meloy Mccrumb are up to. Meloy and Jack are catching all the wild Newfoundland ponies and they are shipping them to Quebec for horse meat. That is not only why Jessie dislikes Meloy. He also hits his child and is very mean to her. Meloy also kicked Jessie’s dog Blizzard. Here in my diorama it shows the fenced up ponies with Jessie and her friends sneaking out at night and saving the ponies.

 

Jessie is very independent and she is a country girl. She has an old fashioned way of talking. I also think this is the best book I ever read. Even when my mom tried to put me to bed I always said, “Wait one more sentence!”

 

WANT MORE OF THE BOOK READ THE SECRET OF THE NIGHT PONIES.

 

 

 

Jun
05
2015

Everything on a Waffle

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This book review is about Everything on a Waffle. Everything on a Waffle is about a girl named Primrose. She lives in a small town called Coal Harbor. Primrose’s mom and dad are lost at sea. Primrose is determined to find them. Primrose gets foster parents. Their names are Evie and Bert.

I made a trailer of what Everything on a Waffle might look like as a movie. Maeve plays Evie, Stella plays Bert, Diego plays Primrose’s dad, and Estelle plays her mom. I play Primrose.

Everything on a waffle from Namita Tolia on Vimeo.

Jun
05
2015

Everything On A Waffle

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Everything On A Waffle

This skit isn’t really a scene from the book. The idea of this is to give you a sense of the characters. And when the characters say there turning Primrose’s diary into a book I mean the real book and I’m pretending it was a true story and it was her diary.

In my scene all the characters are in the book, but there are other characters I didn’t mention like someone named Ms. Perfidy, who took care of Primrose for a while her parents were away.

In my scene there are four characters.

Uncle Jack: Zoe/Tess

Uncle Jack is Primrose’s only other family member so he takes care of Primrose for a while. At first he isn’t the best person but then later on he is a hero.

Miss Bowser: Estelle/Stella

Miss Bowser is a cook. She works at a restaurant called The Girl On The Red Swing. She is a nice greeting person who always lets Primrose cook with her.

Ms. Honeycutt: Mia

Ms. Honeycutt is rich and full of herself and her ideas. She never cares what the other person thinks, she just does what she wants. She sent Primrose away once.

Primrose: Maeve

Primrose is an “orphan” her parents were lost at sea. But she knew that they were still alive. She just believed in her heart. Primrose is someone you can count on to be nice and give you a second chance.

STOP!!!

Before you watch my book review I would like to congratulate the actor in our scene. Big thanks to:

  • Estelle Guria ( Fantastic job without you this would be terrible, thank you for participating!)
  • Mia Sullivan ( Thanks so much you are a really good Ms. Honeycutt, I love your acting skill!)
  • Zoe Papavasiliou ( You are a super funny uncle jack, and you were so patient during the process.)
  • Stella Story ( Even though you weren’t in the real thing, in our first version you helped me work out problems and were cool with alot of things)
  • Tess Mccormick ( Just like Stella you weren’t in this but you had a great idea for uncle jack and the tissue box)
  • Last But certainly not least, Sophia Gregware ( Great video taper and you did a great job angling the ipad.)


                    Enjoy The Show!!!

 

New and improved Everything On A Waffle – 4th Grade Book Review from Namita Tolia on Vimeo.

 

Jun
04
2015

The School for Good and Evil

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The School for Good and Evil is about two friends named Sophie and Agatha. They are best friends and Sophie wants to go to the School For Good but she gets taken to the School For Evil and Agatha follows her and gets put in the School For Good. I made a book trailer for it and you see people who Sophie and Agatha meet, like Beatrix. Beatrix is in the School For Good but she isn’t actually that nice. You also see Tedros, who is a character that Sophie and Agatha think they need but don’t. You also see evil characters like Dot and Hester. Hester is the most evil. I really recommend this book and I hope you like this trailer!

 

Password: littlered!

The School For Good & Evil – 4th Grade Book Review from Namita Tolia on Vimeo.