Category Archives: Dan & Tara

May
12
2017

The Mighty Dynamo by Kieran Crowley

Posted by

The book that I chose to read (or the book Tara told me I had to read) is called the Mighty Dynamo by Kieran Crowley. Noah is the main character of this book. The setting is Ireland in the present day. The Mighty Dynamo is what Noah’s mom used to call him before she passed away. Noah gets into a fight at one of his soccer games, a fight that he did not start. As a result, he gets kicked off of the school’s team, Saint Killian’s.  When Noah gets banned from Saint Kilian’s soccer, he sets his eyes on building his own team under the name of another school.  Noah has a genius friend named Stevie who was the one to come up with the idea of starting Noah’s own team. The idea is to start a new team for the all girls school St. Mary’s.

Noah is not pleased that he is playing for a girls school but he knows this is the only way he can play in the big tournament. The St. Mary’s principal lets Noah’s play under her school’s name but she says they must have at least one girl on their team. Noah is not pleased with this either but again he knows that this is the only way he can play. The girl on the team is Maggie O’Connell. Noah met Maggie at the park to see if she was any good at soccer. He found out that she was really really good, so he started to appreciate her. The first thing Maggie did when she saw Noah was pull out a tennis ball and they had a Juggle off which is when you try to keep the ball in the air for as long as possible. The Juggle Off was so hard because it was with a tennis ball not a soccer ball. Maggie wanted the Juggle Off as a way to test Noah’s skills.

Noah is unstoppable, athletic, and stubborn. Noah is unstoppable because when he got banned from the soccer team he didn’t give up. He still wanted to play in the big tournament so he made his own team.  Noah is athletic because he is the best player on his soccer team. He is also the leader of his soccer team and he is the captain because he is the leader. Noah is stubborn because once Stevie presented the plan of starting a new team under the name of the a all girls school, he didn’t want to do it at all. It took a lot of Stevie arguing with him before he agreed.

Noah was eventually into the idea of starting this new team because he wants to play in the big Tournament, the World Cup. When Noah’s team realizes that the first manager/coach doesn’t work out he hires Stevie to be the manager/coach. This is the most interesting part because Stevie is not that good at soccer but he is a great coach. Stevie was happy from then on out, but when Noah wasn’t looking he always had this look in his eyes that he wanted to be a player. I think the quote I chose resembles Noah’s leadership, “Come on team we can do it. We have to get better.” This quote shows Noah’s leadership because he is saying encouraging words to the players.

I loved this book so much because it was a step outside my comfort zone, that’s big for me. Tara told me that I needed to take a look at fiction, not only nonfiction and I listened to her. Now I’m reading so many fiction books that sometimes I have to read a little nonfiction. I would recommend this book if you like realistic sports fiction. This book takes a lot of surprising twists and turns, but it is still very realistic. Things happen that could totally happen today. This book reminds me of a typical sports story, it isn’t unique. There are a lot of parts of this book that remind me of Matt Christopher and Tim Green books. If you don’t know, those two are some very famous sports writers. I would give this book four stars because I really liked it.  I would have liked an epilogue so I could find out if Noah ended up playing in the Premier League when he grew up.

 

May
04
2017

Darkmouth: the Legend Begins by Shane Hegarty

Posted by

The book I read was called Darkmouth: The Legend Begins by Shane Hegarty This book is in the series Darkmouth. The main characters are Finn and Emmie. Finn hunts monsters called legends and he is really bad at it. To make it worse his father might move away and he will have to protect his home town, Darkmouth. His best friend Emmie knows everything about his family after Finn tells her.

Finn is smart, brave, and scared. Finn is smart because he figures out that his mother is in trouble and someone is at his house trying to free the leader of the Legends, Gantrua, while he is fighting manticores. A manticore is a beast with the body of a lion a scorpion tail and the head of a lion. Finn is brave because he doesn’t stop for a second while being chased by a minotaur( a minotaur is part bull part human)  and figuring out how to stop it without his desiccator (which is a gun). Finn is scared because he will probably fail keeping Darkmouth safe without his father’s help.

An important part that happened was when a legend called a hogboon helped Finn and Emmie defeat a minotaur. This was important because legends and humans won’t stop fighting and this showed that they don’t need to fight. Another important thing that happened was when Finn’s father Hugo was looking at pictures and talked about how Finn tried and that is when Finn said “Mom admitted it.” “Admitted what?” said Finn’s dad“That I was special.” said Finn This was important because it gave Finn hope that he could protect Darkmouth.

I liked Darkmouth: The Legend Begins because it always keeps you hanging and making you want to read more. Another reason that I liked Darkmouth: The Legend Begins is that it was very intense when Finn was being chased by a minotaur and was running through Darkmouth. The entire book from there was intense.

I recommend Darkmouth: The Legend Begins because it always is pulling you into the story and if you close the book it takes your mind back into reality again. It is like a whole new world. For example when you are finished with chapter 20( which is about 3 quarters through the book) and  you close the book it is like you were just a cloud that had a plane go through it. while this is happening you are watching a portal open with a man next to it holding a desiccator like it is a dog looking at something strange. This book reminded me of Percy Jackson because there was a lot of monster slaying. It reminded me of Ghostbusters because they have these guns that capture monsters. It reminded me of medieval times because at one point they use swords and maces. I would give it a 5 star rating!

May
04
2017

Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell

Posted by

I  read a book called Island of the Blue Dolphins. The book takes place island off the coast of California 200 years ago.The author’s name is Scott O’Dell. There is not a series of the book but you can find more books written by him.The book is about a girl who lived on an island called the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Her name was the Girl With The Long Back Hair (Karana.) She is Left behind from her family because they don’t think the island is safe. Her brother went back to the village to grab a spear and the ship was starting to sail away. Afraid that the ship would not return to rescue her brother she jumped into the water and swim back to shore.

Karana is fearless, crafty, and loving. She is fearless because she was stranded on the island by herself with wild dogs. She is crafty because she made herself weapons to defend herself. Karana is loving because when her brother was left on the island she jumped into the water to be with him.

The plot of the book is that this girl she lives on an island by herself with her brother, and animals. She and her brother wait everyday to see if the boat will come back. It’s interesting that Karana is on the island with nobody else besides her brother and wild dogs. If I was by myself with a friend and wild dogs I would be scared out of my mind. Quote from the book: “More than anything it was the blue dolphins that took me back home.” This is interesting to me because not all animals are bad. Some are kind and helpful. And in this case the dolphins helped her find her way home. One of the most interesting thing in the book is when Karana shoots the leader of the wild dogs with an arrow then helps the dog. This is interesting because she has a heart and she doesn’t want animals to be tortured so she helped.

I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins. I loved it because it was drama and there and love. I love those kind of books. I recommend this book for kids ages 7 and up. I say this because there is death and I don’t want this book to scare people. This book reminds me of Julie of the Wolves and Home Alone. It’s similar to Julie of the Wolves because there’s this girl named Julie and she’s left alone and she makes friends with wolves. Also reminds me of Home Alone because Kevin is left alone at home nobody to comfort him. I give this book 4 stars because it’s not the best book I’ve read. But if you like drama and love this book is just right for you.

May
04
2017

George By Alex Gino

Posted by

I read the book George by Alex Gino. The book takes place in modern times in New York City. George, the main character, struggles to understand who she really is. She feels like a girl, but looks like a boy. George is scared to explain her true feelings to her mom. She feels insecure about herself. At school George tries out for the school play, Charlotte’s Web. George really wants to be Charlotte in the play, but when her best friend, Kelly gets the part instead of George, she gets extremely disappointed. George and Kelly do not speak to each other for a while, but finally they start to talk again and when they do,  they think of a plan to show the world that George is a girl and not a boy. The plan is to reveal George and not Kelly as the girl role of Charlotte during the second performance of the evening. George is so happy to be able to show the world who she really is, a girl.

George is shy, resilient, and forgiving. George is shy because she never has the guts to tell her mom how she really feels inside, especially about wanting to be a girl and not a boy. George is resilient because when she does not get the girl part, she never gives up. George shows the director that her want for a girl part is no joke. She stands up for what she believes in, even if others do not understand. George is forgiving because when Kelly gets the part that George wants, George takes a moment to be upset and then forgives her by moving on without letting the situation escalate into a big deal.

Although this book is serious, I found one part to be funny.  The mean boy in George’s class named Jeff makes fun of the Charlotte role in the play. George does not think this is kind or right, so she sticks a sign on Jeff’s back saying “Jerk!” When Jeff finds out, he turns around and punches George in the stomach which causes George to projectile vomit all over Jeff! This part is fun and I like the revenge George gets on the mean boy. Another part that is interesting is when Kelly offers her girly clothing to George for their trip to the zoo with Kelly’s grandfather. This makes George feel so happy and comfortable in her own skin. When Kelly said for George to wear her clothing… girl clothing, George said, “Are you sure?” I feel glad that George felt so good at the zoo.

I really enjoyed this book. The book taught me that it is ok to be different and the most important lesson is to be true to yourself. Another reason why I loved this book is it teaches the importance of good friendship.  Without good friendship, Kelly and George would not have come together to craft a way for George to play the part too. Kelly put herself in George’s shoes and wanted to make her friend happy. I would absolutely recommend this book. It has a powerful message for everyone to learn. This book is unique to me because I have never read about being transgender and the struggles that come with it. I rate this book with 5 starts which means I loved it and would want to read it again!

May
04
2017

Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Fredrick

Posted by

I read Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick. This book is about a girl named Truly Lovejoy, who is in the seventh grade. She lives in Pumpkin Falls, New Hampshire. Her dad used to work in the military but he got attacked and lost an arm because of an IED (improvised explosive device) in Afghanistan. Her family calls it Black Monday because he use to be a fun dad but after Black Monday he turned into “silent man.” Since they were a military family they had to move often and they had finally settled in Austin, Texas. Until there grandparents needed him and truly’s Aunt True to run their bookshop for them because they were going to retire. This takes place in Pumpkin Falls, New Hampshire around 2014.

Truly is incredibly tall, kind, and curious. She doesn’t like being super tall because she feels uncomfortable in school and also sometimes she gets teased. Truly is kind, because this small boy named Lucas Winthrop gets teased by kids especially Scooter Sanchez and Truly sticks up for Lucas. Truly is curious because she found a letter in a book and wanted to know more so she started the Pumpkin Falls Private Eyes. The PFPE are trying to solve the mystery.

I thought an interesting part of the book was when Calhoun asked Truly to dance at the Cotillion. It was interesting because at first they didn’t really get along and then at the end they become friends! I was really surprised. Another interesting part of the book was when Truly’s dad said “cross my heart, hope to fly” and then changes his ringtone to the theme song from The Magnificent Seven. After Black Monday he got rid of the ringtone and hated hearing or saying “cross my heart hope to fly”. At the end, Truly says “and that’s exactly how it all happened, absolutely truly, cross my heart hope to fly,” which is something no one has said since her father became silent man. This is a great way to end the book because it shows she is going to be okay after all.

 
This book was enjoyable because it had a lot of humor. Jokes appeared throughout the book. For example, Truly’s brother calls her funny names such as Truly Droolie, another example is Truly can be sarcastic which is kind of humor I enjoy. I made a lot connections to the book which helped me understand it more. I would recommend this book because it’s sarcastically funny which always makes a book better and her life is relatable to a kid my age! Humor lightens up everything and you just breeze through the book. In this particular book it’s good if you breeze through it because some parts aren’t super important to the plot of the story. There is another book in this series called Yours Truly which I haven’t read. I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. This book also has a mystery, but if I told you about it, it wouldn’t be a mystery!

May
04
2017

Warriors Into The Wild, by Erin Hunter

Posted by


 This book was written by Erin Hunter.  This book is mainly about wild cats that are in different clans fighting over territory because they do not want food stolen from them and they want their hunting ground. There are four clans, WindClan, RiverClan, ShadowClan, and the one the book is focusing on, ThunderClan. The main characters in the book are Firepaw, Graypaw, and Ravenpaw. They are all in the ThunderClan. The book takes place in a forest. It does not say the time period.

Firepaw was brave when he drove the ShadowClan leader, Brokenstar out of the Shadowclan territory. An example of Firepaw being smart is when he had to figure out an idea to get Ravenpaw to safety. Firepaw was caring when he took down a ShadowClan warrior but when the ShadowClan warrior was hurt he gave her a rabbit to eat to replenish.

An interesting part of the story was when ThunderClan recruits Firepaw from his two-leg home which is what they call humans. This was interesting because Firepaw is really surprised and honored to be recruited. A very exciting part in the book is when no one can figure out who killed Redtail. In a conversation with Ravenpaw, Firepaw says, “If Redtail killed Oakheart, who killed Redtail?” This is an important part in the story because it is one of the main mysteries. In this quote Ravenpaw told Firepaw the real story and the person who killed Redtail found out that the cats knew about his crime.

I would recommend this book because it keeps you reading. I was literally attached to the book! There is nothing really similar to this book. I think that because it is a book which is so good no one could write as good of a story. I would rate this book 5 stars.I chose this rating because it is a book with all the elements, action, drama and adventure. Overall, I think THIS BOOK IS GREAT!

 

May
04
2017

Holes, by Louis Sachar

Posted by

I read a book called Holes, by Louis Sachar. It is about a boy named Stanley Yelnats who goes to an illegal camp called Camp Green Lake for being falsely accused of stealing  Clyde ‘Sweet Feet’ Livingston’s shoes. I won’t spoil who takes the shoes, but, it is someone at camp Green Lake. It is set in Texas in modern times but part of the story is in the recent and not as recent past. The other kids at CGL are Rex, “X-ray”, Hector, “Zero”, Theodore, “Armpit”, Ricky, “Zigzag”Magnet, Squid, and Twitch. The counselors are Mr. Sir, The Warden, Mr. Pendanski, and a whole lot of other unnamed counselors.

 

Stanley is nice, smart, and brave. He is nice because he taught Zero how to read and write. Stanley is smart because he remembered the story of Kissin’ Kate Barlow from many years ago. He is brave because he took the blame for stealing Mr. Sir’s sunflower seeds even though he really didn’t.

 

One interesting part of the book was when Stanley went to The Warden’s office for “stealing” Mr. Sir’s sunflower seeds. This was interesting because it kept me on my heels wondering if he would get severely punished, or just merely punished. Every Kid there got the same stuff. A canteen, a hole, a shower, same punishments.For example, a mere punishment is, no shower. A severe punishment is, extra holes to dig. A second part was when Zero and Stanley get stranded in the middle of the desert. This was interesting because they almost died a bunch of times. One important quote was when Stanley said “The forty-fifth hole is the hardest.” This is important because it tells you how hard it was to dig holes.

 

I really enjoyed the book because it has lots of action and suspense that makes you want to read more. I would recommend this book because it has action, adventure, and suspense. This book reminds me of The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler because there are two friends out alone and they are solving a mystery. I still think Holes is way deeper because Stanley and Zero are fighting for their lives. I would give this book a five star rating.

May
04
2017

Ghost, By Jason Reynolds

Posted by

 

The book I read is called Ghost. It takes place around now in a small neighborhood. It is by Jason Reynolds. The main character is named Ghost (Castle). He loves basketball but finds himself on a track team. Ghost finally has something to take his mind off of his dark past. One night, Ghost is in his bedroom sleeping when his mom comes in screaming for him to go. When he is running down the hallway with his mom, he sees his dad with a pistol pointing at him. That was the night Ghost learned to run. Several years later, Ghost is on a track team, considered a newbie. His father went to jail, leaving his mom to take charge. They are very poor so Ghost can’t afford track gear, much less anything that he needs for track. His Coach creates a strong bond with Ghost throughout the book, and they find out later that they have more in common than they think. The main question in the book is, Is Ghost running for his life or from it?

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Ghost is brave, smart and mischievous. He is brave because he is willing to do almost anything, and he is determined about it. He is smart because he finds his way out of things, in a clever way. He is mischievous because he steals a pair of sneakers, without getting caught.  He dosen’t have enough money to buy track shoes, so he cleverly does it. He also is one of those characters that you don’t know if what he is saying will happen or not.

The most interesting part was when Ghost created bonds with the other ‘newbies.’ They told each other their biggest secrets, they were surprisingly similar. A famous quote from the book is from Coach “Trouble is, you can’t run away from yourself.” Coach snatched the towel from his shoulder, folded into a perfect square, and set it in the space between us. “Unfortunately,” he said, “ain’t nobody that fast.” I  think this quote is important because it shares a lot about Ghosts life. He wants to run away from his past but can’t, so this track team helps Ghost a lot. When you read this book, that quote will stay with you throughout the whole book.

I definitely enjoyed Ghost. I loved every character’s personality, and how they were all so different yet the same. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves sports, a fast-paced book that you can’t put down and a book that you make connections with everyday. Ghost is very unique and has his own, teen, spunky and slang-talking personality. I would rate this book 5 stars because the book is all about sports and has a very unique setting. 

 

May
04
2017

Upside-Down Magic, Sticks and Stones, By Sarah Mlynowski

Posted by

The book I read was Upside-Down Magic, Sticks & Stones by Sarah Mlynowski. The book takes place in modern times. The main characters are Bax and Nory. In the book, everybody has a magic power. You can only have one power and there are only a few different powers. Flyers can fly, fuzzies can speak to animals, fluxers can change into different animals and there are a few other magic powers that I forgot. Nory and Bax are fluxers. But there’s something wrong with their magic. Nory can make a mix of two animals and Bax can only flux into a rock (but once a leash but that’s a whole different story). That’s what you would call UDM, upside-down magic. But UDM isn’t just for fluxers. It can be for anybody. So the UDM kids take different classes than the normal kids. One day (going to the book) there were rocks all over the ground in Nory and Bax’s school. Everybody was tripping all over the place. And there’s also a pennies for potions jar to help hospitals get better potions. That day, there were no pennies in the jar even though the day before there were pennies in the jar. Everybody knew the pennies were turned into rocks. There was this one mean girl whose name was Lacey Clench who blamed the UDM kids for doing this so she made a petition to get rid of the UDM kids. Does the petition work out for Lacey Clench or not.

I’m going to describe Bax in three adjectives. He’s quiet. He gets tutored with Nory for fluxing but he says nothing so the tutor only pays attention to Nory. He’s mysterious. When everybody was trying to figure out who turned the pennies to stone, everybody glared at him because of his rock magic. He’s personal. He doesn’t share anything about what’s happening in his life or his feelings. Like when his dad told him that he (the dad) got fired, he (Bax) didn’t tell anybody.

An interesting part of the book is that people talk about other people even though they don’t know that that person is listening. Another interesting part is that the book gives all of the mystery away but you still can’t figure out what’s happening. Lacey Clench said, “If I get fifty signatures, the UDM kids get kicked out.” That means Lacey Clench is mean because if you’re a student, it doesn’t mean you can kick other students out of school.

I liked Upside-down magic. I liked it because it was mystery and I love mystery. The book is filled with mystery. Page by page, something mysterious has happened. There’s also a bunch of magic. That’s why the book is called Upside-Down Magic  It’s a mystery book because something bad happened and people need to find out who did the bad thing. The book for me is really unique, but if you read it, you’ll be able to make a connection with another book or with a movie. I rate this book four 1/2 out of five stars.

May
04
2017

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning By Lemony Snicket

Posted by

 

WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

“A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning” is about the three Baudelaire children: Violet the eldest, Klaus the middle child and the baby Sunny. Their parents had died in a fire and they went to live with a horrible man, Count Olaf. Since the Baudelaire parents had a lot of money, Count Olaf wanted it but Violet hadn’t come of age yet and when she comes of age it will be hers. I think the time is about year 2007 because it seems modern but not as modern as 2017.

(DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DO NOT LIKE SPOILERS)

I think that Violet is smart, inventive and protective. I think she is smart because she has read a lot of books and she likes to build machines. I think she is inventive because when her sister gets trapped she makes an contraption  that makes her go up and save her. She is protective because when anything happens to her siblings she always protects them in different ways.

The quote I think brought together the whole story was when Klaus said “you can’t marry my sister!”.  I thought that brought together the whole story because Count Olaf wanted to marry Violet so he could get hold of the Baudelaire’s fortune. I think an interesting part is when the banker, Mr.  Poe,  tells the kids that their parents died. Another interesting part is when Sunny bites Count Olaf’s finger.

I did enjoy this book because it is so unique. I would recommend this book if you like realistic fiction. This book only reminds me of the movie and the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events. I would give this book five stars because it is amazing and it is not like any other book I have read before.