Category Archives: 2015-2016

Jan
14
2016

Dead End In Norvelt, By: Jack Gantos

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imgres-1The book that I am reading is called Dead End In Norvelt by Jack Gantos. This book is about a boy named Jack. Jack lives with his parents in Norvelt, Pennsylvania. This book takes place in 1962.There are two books in the series.

Jack’s Dad, A World War II veteran, wins a plane and goes about rebuilding it so that he “Can go anywhere he wants, anytime.” He especially wants to get out of Norvelt, a town he believes is full of “Communists,” unlike Florida where, in his words, “A hard working man can make big money building houses for rich people.” Jack’s father lies to his wife, getting Jack to help him build a fake a bomb shelter in the barn, when he is actually fixing up the plane and building a runway.

Jack is very interesting because every time he gets nervous or gets scared, his nose starts to bleed. It is like a red Niagra falls. Unfortunately, Jack overlooks this when he lies to his mom about what he and his father are up to with the  When his mother finds out about the runway, Jack runs away and his nose bleeds all over his face. When his mother catches up with him, she grounds him for life.

Jack is also a history buff and loves to read. He works for an old lady named Miss Volker who used to be a nurse and now writes obituaries for the local paper. Because her hands don’t work anymore, she soaks them in hot wax and gets Jack to write the articles for her. I think Jack will start writing his own articles for the newspaper after Miss Volker dies because he likes to help Miss Volker.

One thing Jack doesn’t like is examining dead people. When his friend Bunny takes him into the back room of the mortuary where her father works, she tells him to touch the dead guy’s neck and Jack doesn’t want to do it. Bunny takes Jack’s hand and makes him touch the dead man and it feels “Cold and stiff,” which Jack finds very disturbing.
I really like this book so far because Jack loves to read history. I also like it because I can never guess what is coming next. I would recommend this book to ages 10 and up because there is blood and death involved. I can relate to this book on a friendship level because of Bunny and Miss Volker, I have not found myself in the same circumstances as Jack. Still, I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Dec
18
2015

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, By J.K. Rowling

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imgresThe name of the book that I am reviewing is Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K Rowling. The main characters are Harry Potter, Ron, and Hermione. Harry Potter lived with his mean uncle, and aunt, with their kid Dudley, before he went to school in England. The main problem is an evil sorcerer, Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents and he was trying to find a powerful stone. Harry Potter is a boy who d0esn’t get bothered by a lot of thing because he is used to it because of his aunts and uncles.

He thinks the powerful stone is hidden in a mirror but he doesn’t know that the particular mirror only shows your biggest desires in your life. So Harry and his friends tried to defeat Voldemort and they succeeded. The book takes place in their school called Hogwarts.

One interesting part is when Harry, Hermione and Harry found an ogre that was trying to kill them so they made it faint by casting some spells and banging it in the head. There was a teacher named Hagrid and he had a three headed dog. While Harry and his friends were sneaking around the school they found Hagrid’s dog.

The dog woke up which woke up the whole school, Hagrid told Harry and his friends to cast  a spell to sing the 3 headed dog to sleep, and they did. It was really sad when for Halloween and Christmas, Harry’s “family” didn’t want Harry to come home.

I enjoyed the the book because there are so many adventures. I will give it five stars.

Dec
17
2015

The Penderwicks, by Jeanne birdsall

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Cover-Penderwicks-1-450wThe name of the book I read was The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. It’s the story of four sisters on their summer vacation with their father and the people they meet. The story takes place at an estate called Arundel with amazing gardens and tons of tall trees. The Penderwicks stay in a little house on the big estate.

There are five important characters in my book. The five characters are Jeffrey, who I think is the main character, Sky, Jane, Rosalind, Batty and Hound, the Penderwicks, dog. Batty is the youngest of the four sisters then Jane, Sky, and Rosalind, the oldest. Jeffrey is a boy they meet at the house they have rented for their vacation. The Penderwick sisters are trying to help Jeffrey because his mother doesn’t listen to what Jeffrey wants to do. She wants him to grow up to be like his grandfather and go to a boarding school called Pencey Academy where he will become a soldier but Jeffrey has different ideas. He wants to be a musician. Sky, my favorite of the sisters, is adventurous and has a very short temper when dealing with Mrs. Tifton, Jeffrey’s mother and owner of the estate.

Mrs. Tifton doesn’t like Sky or any of the Penderwicks. She thinks they’re a bad influence on Jeffrey. Sky always gets into trouble like when Mrs.Tifton’s garden club comes over and Sky, Jane, and Jeffrey mess up her garden by accidentally ruining her rose bush with a soccer ball. In one scene, Sky was eavesdropping on Mrs. Tifton and she heard her saying bad things about her sisters and her mother who had died from cancer.  Sky barges in and stands up to Mrs. Tifton.

Batty, the youngest sister, likes to visit the gardener’s bunnies. One day when Rosalind can’t take her to visit the bunnies and neither can Sky or Jane, Batty goes alone even though she’s not allowed to go by herself. When Batty leaves the bunnies, she forgets the most important rule – to latch the screen door. Mrs. Tifton is very controlling. Mrs. Tifton and her boyfriend Dexter, my least favorite character, take Jeffrey to see Pencey and when they come back Mrs.Tifton says he will begin going to Pencey Academy in two weeks. That night he runs away and stays with the Penderwicks.

Jeffrey is usually a very brave boy like when he saved Batty from a bull. He is also very kind like when Sky got mad at him and said mean things but he forgave her right away.

I really enjoyed this book and I think it was a very interesting and fun story to read and I’ve already started reading the next one in the series. My rating from one to five is a 5.  

 

Dec
15
2015

Einstein The Class Hamster, By Janet Tashjian

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imgresMy book review is about EINSTEIN THE CLASS HAMSTER SAVES THE LIBRARY by Janet Tashjian. The main characters in the book are Ned and Einstein. The book takes place at Boerring Elementary school. The students in Ms. Moreno’s class are trying to reopen the school library because it is closed. It closed because they didn’t have enough money to keep paying for  books for so many kids.

Einstein and his friends don’t want the library to close. Einstein’s friends are Ned, Ricky, Bonnie and all of the students and one turtle named Marlon. They need to raise money to save the school library. They were trying to save the school library by making videos of the class pets. They film videos of Marlon the class turtle chasing an olive. Since that didn’t work, Einstein had to save Twinkles (the snake that keeps trying to eat him) and it was a real save. Twinkles was actually in trouble. That save accidentally got on video and they posted it online. When the video was posted online, so many people liked it that they decided to bring it to a studio. The studio really liked it and they wanted to put it on TV. That is how they got all the money to save the school library.

Einstein is a very smart hamster because of his game show. Einstein is smart because he knows a lot of trivia facts and because he sometimes pays attention in school. Unlike most game shows, Einstein’s game show is not on TV. He pretends to have a game show. He shares lots of trivia facts and tasty tidbits. Einstein is a very brave hamster. He proved it when he saved Twinkles.

I really enjoyed the book because it was a really funny book and all of the trivia facts were actually kind of funny.  Einstein is a really funny character in the book. I read the 1st book of EINSTEIN THE CLASS HAMSTER. I thought the 1st book was really good so I thought I would read the 2nd book.  I can’t wait to read the sequel to this book. I loved this book a lot so I gave it a 5 star rating.        

Dec
11
2015

The Chocolate Touch by, Patrick Skene Catling

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51q-9rbQqFL._SX334_BO1,204,203,200_The name of the book I have read is The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling. The main characters are John Midas, Susan, Mrs. Midas, Mr. Midas and Miss Plimsole. One day, John Midas was walking and he saw a chocolate store. He went inside and bought a big box of chocolate. When he got home, he opened it and it was only one piece of chocolate. He ate it and he said it was the best chocolate he ever had. It was creamy, sweet, rich and very chocolatey. Now, anything that touched his mouth turned to chocolate. Even his trumpet turned to chocolate when he played it. The Chocolate Touch takes place in John Midas’s house and in his school.

 

There are a few very important things that happened in this book. Like when John brushes his teeth, his toothpaste tasted like chocolate. Also when John kissed his mom she turned to chocolate and could not move. There are quite a few things that changed what was happening in the story. Like when John ate something it immediately turned to chocolate. And when John plays the trumpet, it turns to chocolate and his whole music class saw they freaked out and were in shock .  John is very scared for example when John’s trumpet turned to chocolate he ran right out of the classroom before even telling his teacher he was leaving. John was impolite and polite at the same time for example when John ran home from school and went to his mom’s friend’s house to get the keys to get into his house his mom asked him to say hi to all of her mom’s friends and John said hello and ran home.

 

 

I really enjoyed the book because I love chocolate. I also really enjoyed the book because it was a very short easy read. But if you don’t like chocolate I would not recommend this book because you won’t be able to make as many connections, so you might not understand the book as well. I rate this book 4 and a half stars because it is one of the best books I have ever read in my life.

Dec
11
2015

Hamster Princess, by Ursula Vernon

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imgres-1The book that I read is called Hamster Princess, by Ursula Vernon. The main characters are called Princess Harriet and Ratshade. Harriet is not an average princess. When Harriet was only a tiny baby, a witch who is named Ratshade. cursed her so that when she was at the age of twelve, she would prick her finger but it also meant she would sleep for a very long time.  The curse made her invincible, but it also meant what I told you before, she would sleep for a very long time. The settings of the book are Harriet’s parents’ castle, her parents’ village, in which the name of her village is Hamster Vill, and other Kings’ villages in which are friend’s parents villages

One important part of the book is when Harriet gets cursed. It meant nothing could hurt her until she was twelve years old. Another important part of the book is what she does with the power. The power is invicibility.  Everyone started calling her Crazy Princess Hamster Bone because of some of the things she did like: jump off the highest tower in their village and attacking trolls and ogres. 

One event that changed the story is when Harriet swung Ratshade into the spinning wheel  and Ratshade got cursed instead of Harriet. Also when Harriet found a prince because that is what made the story find an ending because she got a friend too. An adjective to describe Harriet is that she is brave. She is brave because she is a risk taker. She jumps off towers in the kingdom and in the Hamster village, people don’t do that. Harriet is strong because she fights ogres and swings Ratshade into the spinning wheel. 

I liked Hamster Princess because the author threw out amazing ideas. One reason I did not like the book is the author would throw out  too many amazing ideas, which made it hard to follow. It was like too many facts just like this: there was a cow, and then a pig and then a chicken and then a cat and then the cow pooped. I  give this book four stars because sometimes the book was confusing, and it was like the pages were in the wrong order. I liked Hamster Princess because it was really heart warming.

Dec
11
2015

The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan

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imagesI am reading The Lightning Thief book one in the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. In my book, the main characters are Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon(God of the Sea),  Grover, a Satyr (a half goat half man), and Annabeth, daughter of Athena (the Goddess of Wisdom). Percy Jackson’s problems start after he thinks his mother is dead and discovers that Poseidon is his father. Then when Zeus thinks that Poseidon has stolen his precious lightning bolt called the Master Bolt, Percy Jackson is given a quest to get the lightning bolt (the strongest weapon in the world). Percy thinks that Hades stole the bolt to create an argument between Poseidon and Zeus, so he sets out to get the bolt from Hades and give it back to Zeus to clear his father’s name.  The Lightning Thief takes place during the 20th century in the United States and has Greek mythological creatures and gods running around and living with mortals, otherwise known as humans.

Percy sets off on his quest with Grover and Annabeth. They have to go from  New York to Los Angeles, but they can not take a plane because Zeus is the god of the sky and it might not be safe for the son of the god of the sea. They need to go to Los Angeles because they think there is an entrance to the underworld there. As they journey across the country, they encounter many different monsters who are trying to stop them from reaching LA. The second monster they come across is Medusa. Medusa is particularly dangerous because if you look in her eyes you turn to stone. When they first see her she wears a black veil over her face that covers her snakey hair. She lures them in her house with fresh hamburgers and chocolate shakes. Then she asks them to pose for a photo and just as she was going to take her veil off they realized something bad was going to happen.

The story takes a different direction when Luke, a councillor from Camp Half Blood, where they all went to school, says that whoever stole the Master Bolt would surely need to be invisible to get it. Finding the master bolt is a big deal in the. Another thing that changed the direction of the book is that Ares The God Of War used to be Percy’s friend but at the end of the book he tried to kill him. Percy also figured out that Ares was the one who stole the Lightning boult.

One of the things I really loved about Percy Jackson was that he is brave; for example he went to the Underworld and confronted his uncle Hades. He also fought Ares The God of War with his magical sword Riptide on the beach to recover the helm of darkness for Hades. It was terrifying because he was fighting the God of War who obviously is a very good fighter and Percy is just a boy.  Percy is also loyal because he constantly risked his life for friends and family. He went to the Underworld on his quest to retrieve the Master Bolt but really he went to save his mother despite the fact that no one had ever done that before and lived.

The Lightning Thief is my favorite book I have ever read! I never knew that I was into Greek mythology but now I love Greek mythology. I am already reading The Sea of Monsters the second book in the Percy Jackson series. I also like that in The Lightning Thief There is a lot of action and monsters Percy has to fight. I would rate my book five stars out of five.  

Dec
11
2015

Schooled, by Gordon Korman

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imagesThe novel Schooled is written by Gordon Korman and has lots of fascinating characters. The main character is Capricorn Anderson who has grown up on a commune his whole entire life and suddenly forced to go to a public middle school. A commune is a place where a lot of people live together. His grandmother Rain has been Cap’s teacher, friend, and most of all his mother.

When Cap arrives at his new school he faces a lot of confusing situations that he has not experienced including the most popular kid in school who happens to be a very mean bully named Zach Powers. Cap is an innocent boy who must adjust to his new life in the real world, including the new school, and his foster home with Sophie a girl who is not so happy about Cap’s appearance

When Capricorn first comes to Claverage Middle School he is treated with absolutely no respect. He is humiliated and teased every single day. Every year the kids at Claverage nominate the biggest dweeb in the grade for class president so they could make fun of him in assemblies and meetings. On the first meeting Capricorn promises to learn the name of every kid in school, which seems ridiculous at first. He surprises everybody by actually learning all their names by the time of the school dance. The bully Zach Powers is very frustrated because he wants Cap to fail at everything.  Instead, many kids start to like him.

Because Cap grew up in a commune he does things that typical kids don’t, including Tai Chi in the front lawn every morning. First everyone thinks he is crazy, but soon people join and find it really enjoyable. This shows that being different is not always a bad thing.  

A scene in the book that changes Capricorn’s life at school is on the busride home one day. The kids are bullying him by throwing lit matches at him. The driver of the bus suddenly falls off the seat and has a heart attack in the middle of driving. No one does anything until clever Cap takes the wheel of this big school bus and rushes the bus driver to the hospital. This is a very exciting chapter because there is a lot of action and the other students get to see a new side of Capricorn Anderson. When Cap gets to school the next day he is suddenly the most popular kid in school instead of the least popular.

Another big scene is when Cap does a really nice thing for his foster sister Sophie. She doesn’t like Cap because she cares too much about her image and how other people see her. If Cap is around he will embarrass her so she is mean to him. Cap is so nice that he gets the bracelet her dad gave to her engraved, because her unreliable dad never does.  After some clues, Sophie figures out that the bracelet was not engraved by her dad, but by Cap.  This really brings the two of them closer together, because Sophie realizes what kind of kid Cap really is.

Cap is confident and a little bit clueless at the same time. He is confident because he is his own individual and does not care about what anyone thinks. For example he wears shoes made out of cornhusks. He is clueless because he doesn’t understand when he is being made fun of. When he is locked in the library by Zach Powers and his friends, Cap does not care and just sits there.

I have enjoyed Schooled very much. I have because it has  a lot of action. I would rate Schooled 5 stars.      *

Dec
11
2015

Fablehaven: Keys To The Demon Prison, by Brandon Mull

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imgres-1The name of my book is Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull. Fablehaven is the name of the series, and this one is the last book. The main characters in Fablehaven are brother and sister Seth and Kendra Sorenson. The main problem is a demon named Graulas and a demon named Nagi Luna are trying to open a prison full of super powerful demons who could destroy the world. The setting of Fablehaven is Fablehaven, Living Mirage, Obsidian Waste, and Shoreless Isle. All of these places are in a magical world that’s inside of the real world.

An important thing that happened was Seth accidentally healed Graulas with a magical cat called the Sands of Sanctity when Graulas was dying. Graulas tricked Seth into becoming his friend so he felt bad for him when he was in pain. Then Graulas took over The Society of the Evening Star. That’s bad because the Society is really powerful and now they are more powerful. The Sphinx was the leader of the Society but then Graulas took over. Graulas freed Nagi Luna and she became more powerful than Graulas and the most powerful demon not in the demon prison. An event that changed the direction of the story is when Seth gets a very powerful sword called Vasilis and he defeats Nagi Luna and Graulas with it. Another event that changed the direction of the story is when Graulas and Nagi Luna free the demons and the Fairy Queen comes and helps Kendra and Seth defeat them. Two adjectives to describe Seth are brave and a little stupid because he was jealous of Kendra when she got attacked by a dragon because he thought it would be epic.

I enjoyed Fablehaven because I like fantasy and magical creatures. I also enjoyed the book because it is a combination of magical people and places and the real world. I rate this book five stars because I loved the series and I thought this book was a good finale for the Fablehaven series.

Dec
11
2015

The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner

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imgres     The book I’m reviewing is called The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner. The book takes place mostly in the woods. The main characters are Gen and the magus (Not capitalized in the book). The magus wants Gen to steal the Hamiathes gift, an ancient object that’s very well guarded. The reason the magus wants Gen to steal the gift is because no one has ever stolen it, so when Gen stole the gift, the magus would take all the credit.

The first important part of the book was when Gen said he could steal anything. This was important because he got thrown in jail because he was bragging about that. The second important part  was when the magus hired Gen to try to steal the Hamiathes gift after years of imprisonment. This was important because Gen would risk his life trying to steal the gift. Of course someone wouldn’t risk their life without a bribe or a gift of some sort, so the magus says if Gen tries to steal the gift, the mangus will give him a lot of gold since Gen is poor. One event that changes the direction of the story was when Gen accepted the magus’s offer. This was important because Gen would be in prison if he didn’t accept offer, but if he did accept the offer he would risk his life. Another event that changes the direction of the story is when Gen says he won’t be the Queen’s thief. This was important because the Queen would try to kill Gen if he didn’t accept. Why the Queen wants a thief is that if she wants someone to steal something for her she would have someone else get it for her. Gen is sneaky because he stole the the Hamiathes’s gift which no one has ever stolen before. Gen is also overconfident because he says he can steal anything.

I thought this book was really good because  you could never tell what was going to happen. I also liked this book because there was a lot of descriptive language. One piece of descriptive language was when the magus said Gen you are as blue as a sea. I would rate this book four and a half stars.