Category Archives: 2016-2017

Jun
06
2017

Blubber By Judy Blume

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                      “Blubber is a good name for her.” Linda was always picked on, just because she was overweight. Even Jill (the main character) didn’t do anything. You would expect more. This book takes you through a sad story. It is usually set in the school that they go to. Which where the bullying happens.

 

Jill is nice, mean and she is also thoughtful. Jill is nice because in the end of the book she did what was right. Even if others did not like that idea. She is mean because because in the beginning she was like a bystander. Even though she knew that not stepping in would create a bigger problem. Girls and boys would pass notes to her in school about how to tease Linda and how to make her mad, but she still did not do anything. Jill is thoughtful because she tried to think about Linda’s point of view. So she did the right thing.

 

One of my favorite parts of the book was when no one did anything to help Linda. Everyone would make fun of her and call Linda names. But finally Jill stepped in and made a difference. I liked this part because the whole time you were holding your breath for something good to happen. And finally it comes. An interesting part of the book is that the teacher does not seem to notice and no one tells her.

 

I really enjoyed this book because it feels like you are in an awful cruel life. But it makes you want to read more because you want to know what’s happens. I would really recommend this book because it is so fun and sad to read. This book kind of reminds me of Wonder because Linda and Auggie are both being picked on because they look different. I would rate this 5 stars.

 

 

 

 

          

Jun
06
2017

Dairy Of A Wimpy Kid: Double Down

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Greg Heffley is an ordinary middle schooler who prefers video games over phys Ed. one day he watches this TV show about this guy who’s life is secretly being filmed. He wonders if his life is also being secretly filmed so when he is standing in the shower he gets a bit nervous. “Diary of a wimpy kid: Double down” is about Greg Heffley struggling with everything from his future to him having a girlfriend and a motorcycle. Greg is funny, desperate for a decent life, a “loser” at his school.

 

If There is a movie about someone’s who’s life is secretly being filmed then isn’t there a pretty good chance that Greg’s life could also be being filmed? The creepy thing is though, that all the other people in the tv show besides the main character aren’t actually being secretly filmed they’re actors! So that means that gregs family could be ACTORS. Like his brother always fights with him but if he’s just an actor then who KNOWS, maybe one day him and Greg will be…buddies! But if Greg’s parents are actors then that’s just messed-up! I mean if they watch you while you’re in the shower and pick out your  clothes then…I don’t even know what to say.

 

Sometimes Greg Heffley wonders if his life is really good enough to be on a TV show, so every now and then Greg will do something that will get the people at home watching a laugh, like falling on purpose of slipping in dog poo. Because in his opinion: “who wants to see a movie about some kid who stays up till midnight doing homework?”

 

I would give this book ten stars out of ten because it’s HILARIOUS! This book is pretty easy to read though so it’s definitely not the best book to read for reading thirty minutes a day. You should REALLY read this book and the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series. This is the last book for now. It’s at the end of the series. You don’t have to read all the books before this one in the diary of a wimpy kid series though. It will make perfect sense even if you don’t. Please comment and let me know what you think of this book review!       

 

 

 

 

Jun
06
2017

My Last Best Friend

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This character’s name is Ida May and she’s not having the best time of her life when her friend goes away. Now she has the mean girl, Jenna Drews, to deal with all by herself. She has no other good/best friends and her friend Elizabeth who moved away likes all the things Ida does. Jenna is so mean that she calls Ida, I-duh. One day Jenna invites all the girls in her grade for her birthday sleepover at her house. Jenna’s mom makes her invite Ida. Jenna has a little sister named Rachel, a dog named Biscuit and her mom is head of the PTA.  (PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION)

I think Ida is daring, daring to take on her class a.k.a. Jenna Drews and followers without her friend. (Followers are the people who like Jenna, everyone else is afraid of her, technically even followers. The people who follow Jenna are Jolene, Meeka, Brooke, and Stacy.) Stacy just wants to be friends with Jenna. I also think she is caring and selfless because she wrote to her best friend, Elizabeth, and she never wrote back besides a birthday invitation (written by her mom) and she still thinks good thoughts about Elizabeth.

Mini SPOILER ALERT in first part of book.

At Jenna’s sleepover birthday party they paint rocks. Ida gets paint on her shirt and goes upstairs to change her shirt. By the time she comes back downstairs everyone had gone out to play but Ida’d rather stay inside. Rachel is still there under the table playing an imaginary game. Ida thinks it is Biscuit but it is Rachel. Rachel is playing a game where the coats are monsters and she is a princess. Rachel is protecting her “castle” from them. Ida decides to play with Rachel and she is the queen, Rachel names her Cordelia. That is one reason how the secret notes to Stacey start.

Stacey Merriweather is the new girl in town and is “friends” with Jenna. She makes up lies to tell to Jenna so she would like her and not be mean to her. Some of Stacey’s lies are, she lives with her rich aunt, her parents are news reporters, and her real name is Anastasia. So what I meant about how the notes started is Ida used the name Cordelia because she didn’t want to tell Stacey her real name and besides that, they would tell the truth the whole time. Their hiding place for the notes was behind a cow shaped hedge named Bessie and there was a loose brick so they slipped the notes in there.

I recommend this book. It is a series called, Friends for Keeps. I would give it a four or five star rating depending on where it is in the book. The first few paragraphs totally relate to your life if you are in Fourth Grade according to me.

Jun
06
2017

Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry By Mildred D. Taylor

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Roll Of thunder Hear My Cry is a sad, and emotional book! The main character is Cassie Logan, and the story follows her and her family through a year. Cassie has different reactions to different experiences and takes on an adventure through her mind, even though it is just her life.

 

Cassie is a very tricky and curious girl, but still has a big heart and lots of trust for her family. In one part Cassie and her siblings dig a ditch in the road and it rained so it became a lake and the white school bus got stuck when they came to splash the Logans. Another time she tricked a white girl who had been mean to her into thinking she was her friend and servant but then when it was to much she betrayed her. One time Cassie was so curious she snuck out of the house with two of her brothers to see what was going on in the woods. She always had a reason to cry or be scared but she would act harshly in these ways, which is what makes the book so interesting.

Spoiler warning, go to next paragraph to skip spoilers!!!!!

Cassie has so much emotion she almost ran into a fire to save her mom and dad. She ran into  the woods with a angry white mob, and she almost came back after she left to get her older brother back. She can be so angry or sad that the last lines of the book are “I cried for T.J. I cried for T.J. and the land.”

 

Spoiler clear now!

So I rate this book  4 ½ stars. It is action packed, yet a break from full on adventure like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history or books like The War that saved my Life, but also anyone who has read Percy Jackson.  I loved Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry!!!!!!

 

Roll Of Thunder

Hear My Cry

Over the water

Bye and bye

Ole man comin’

Down the line

Whip in hand to

Beat me down

But I ain’t

Gonna let him

Turn me round

 

Jun
06
2017

The End by Lemony Snicket

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Warning: This contains a lot of spoilers about the book and series.

 

 

The book I read is called The End. It is part of the Series of Unfortunate Events by the author Lemony Snicket. The main characters are Violet, Klaus and Sunny, and the sub characters are all the colonists of the island including Ishmael, Count Olaf, The Extremely Deadly Viper and Kit Snicket. This is in the recent past but is fictional, on a random island in the middle of an unknown ocean.

Klaus Baudelaire has good memory, he is a liar and is a bookie. He has good memory because when he looked at a book that nobody knew about he realized that it was his parents handwriting. He is a liar because when was insistent on putting his commonplace notebook into the arboretum but instead he put it into his pocket. He is a bookie because he loves to read that’s why he read that book that had his parents’ handwriting and why he kept his commonplace notebook.

An interesting part of the book was when Kit Snicket arrived on the island. This is important because Kit has played a small but also a big role in this story. A really important part of the book is when Ishmael shot the harpoon gun at Count Olaf that let out the Medusoid Fugues that can kill with the hour.   

I enjoyed this book so much because one, I love this series so much because well it’s awesome and well just fun to read. And two because of the mystery and the ending is, well, odd but good. I would definitely recommend this book if you like mysteries and adventure. If you want to read this you have to read all the books before it in the series, if you finish it it’s a big accomplishment at least for me it was.  A similar  show is on netflix and it is a little off but most of it is part of the book and most of you I know have watched  it. I would give this book five stars.        

Jun
06
2017

I Funny by James Patterson

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The book I will be talking about today is called “I Funny.” It takes place in high school in the present. The main character’s name is Jamie Grimm who enters a comedy contest in NYC. He is really excited to be in the contest.

 

Jamie is very funny, nervous from stage fright and is “old-school” as you can probably tell by the book cover with the mustache and glasses and fuzzy eyebrows. Every single time Jamie performs, he is sweating so much that his clothes become wet. In the book he does a lot of research on old comedians and their work. He is also funny for that same reason. Here is one of his jokes: “So a woman and her baby walked into a bus. And the bus driver said ‘Man, that’s one ugly baby!’ So the mom’s all angry and grumpy and says to the man next to her ‘That bus driver insulted me!’ So the man said ‘Go tell him that. I will hold the monkey.’” Pretty funny right?  

 

Jamie’s family died in an car accident but he survived with an injury to his butt. Jamie’s injuries have left him in a wheelchair though. He lives with his aunt and uncle. They are really very boring! They don’t laugh at all until the middle of the book.

 

My rating is ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ because it really cracked me up. To be honest, this is probably one of the most funniest books I have ever read. It is amazing and I highly recommend it.

Jun
05
2017

Wherever I Wind Up By R.A Dickey

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Have you ever wondered about R.A. Dickey, a retired baseball player? You should read Wherever I Wind Up. It is by R.A. Dickey. In the book R.A Dickey goes through the journey of being a baseball player. He grew up poor going to 2 dollar baseball games. As his life moves on his parents end up splitting up. As an adult he knows that he will not get a job because he is not smart enough. After college he got drafted to a major league baseball team. He then goes through a journey of going up and down from the majors to the minors. He travels as a free agent going from team to team. He starts as a Twin and then goes to the Marlins and then the Twins and ends up on the Mets. While he travels failing in baseball  his wife Anne lives in Nashville with his three kids. They keep separating farther apart both in their relationship and distance. He is a knuckleball pitcher. In the beginning of his career his coaches told him that he would have to be an almost always knuckleball pitcher to stay in the majors. He has trouble with his pitching when he moved to the Marlins but good things might be ahead on the Twins. The book takes place in Florida, Arizona, Minnesota, New York and Nashville. He is always moving. There are other places where the book takes place but these are the main places.  

Three ways that I would describe R.A. as is depressed, nervous and resilient. He is depressed because he misses his wife and feels like she might leave him. Being away all the time brought their relationship down and that caused him to become depressed. They are close to being divorced but they still love each other. R.A is nervous because he believes that he will never stay in the big leagues. He is nervous that the knuckleball will not work and the decision that he made will never pay off. Lastly, R.A. is resilient because he will sometimes not pitch his knuckleball even though the coach tells him to. He still mixes in a lot of curveballs and fastballs. This is why R.A is an interesting person.

My three favorite parts of the book are when R.A gets stuck in the Mississippi River, when he goes up to the majors for the first time and when R.A and one of the major league teammates went out together. The time when R.A got stuck in the Mississippi River was one of my favorite parts. This was because I liked how he used words to paint a picture. In his life he is sinking and in the river he is literally sinking so it is a metaphor. Another one of my favorite parts was when R.A first made it to the majors. This was one of my favorite parts because I liked how he felt so proud. He was proud because his sacrifices paid off. He was happy because he could get a chance to make good money. Another one of my favorite parts was when a baseball player on R.A’s team bought him clothes. He was getting clothes because he did not have enough money before to get them. This was one of my favorite parts because I loved how humble the other baseball player was.

I really enjoyed reading the book because I liked the story behind it. I liked how he faced so many obstacles and overcame all of them with a positive attitude. I loved the fact that it was the player who wrote the book because it gave a real addition to the content. I would recommend this book because it is really interesting to read behind the scenes access of a baseball player. His life story makes the book something to definitely read. There are some sad parts of the book and there are some mildly inappropriate parts and if you do not like this it is not a book that you would enjoy. Two books that remind me of this book are Who Was Jackie Robinson and Who Was Babe Ruth. They remind me of this book because they are narratives of baseball players lives just like this. I would give this book 5 stars.

Jun
05
2017

Samurai Rising By Pamela S. Turner

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Samurai Rising
By Pamela S. Turner

(Book Blog by Lorenzo Brigode)
If you love Samurai then keep reading, if not, you are about to love Samurai. Get ready to immerse yourself in “The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune” in Samurai Rising by Pamela S. Turner!

Samurai Rising is a great book with small, beautiful illustrations (by Gareth Hinds) that help you understand what was going on in that time period. There are a lot of hard words (and I mean it) in the book that are in Japanese, but never fear! Just flip to the pronunciation key to know precisely how to pronounce each word. If you are confused on where something happens you can flip to the map and key. Plus right before the index there is a, “And If You’re Still Not Satisfied” with more information on Samurai. If even that is not enough for you, there is a timeline, notes on names and dates and chapters, plus a glossary and a bibliography.

If you think I’m done talking about Samurai Rising, you are so wrong, I’m just getting started with how great this book is!
Samurai Rising is about Samurai families in war: The Minamoto, The Taira (the main characters), and then The Imperial Family and The Hiraizumi Fujiwara (are lesser characters). Samurai Rising takes place from 1160 to 1189, a long time ago! The reason behind the war is when Yoshitsune’s Father took the Retired Emperor’s side in a political dispute, when the Retired Emperor won Yoshitsune’s Father expected money and a grand title. Instead he was named Minister of the Stables of the Left. A rival samurai also backed up the Retired Emperor and received a much more grand title. Yoshitsune’s Father attacked the Retired Emperor’s palace wanting to pry titles out of the Retired Emperor while making him strip titles from Taira Kiyomori. Yoshitsune’s Father was expecting for Taira Kiyomori to flee, instead he fought back, and so the war started.
Taira Kiyomori let Yositsune live. He thought, “The Taira won the war, surely the scattered sons of Minamoto–and little Yoshitsune in particular–could pose no possible threat. Kiyomori was wrong. Utterly, fatally wrong.”

Samurai Rising is a history book told in a really easy to understand and fun to read format. Samurai Rising is so good that it seems like it is fiction, but it’s not! All of the content in Samurai Rising is 100% non-fiction, Samurai Rising has everything; history, betrayal, spies, assassins, friends. You name it! In Samurai Rising there is sure to be something for everyone to like.

Samurai Rising is the type of book that sets you reading in bed at midnight with a flashlight under your covers. So you know there is a lot I did not give away, so read Samurai Rising.

On a five star rating I would give Samurai Rising 5 stars -⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

May
12
2017

The Mighty Dynamo by Kieran Crowley

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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

A Wrinkle In Time

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A Wrinkle To My Book Review:

A Wrinkle In Time By Madeleine L’Engle

 

By Avery Rosen

 

Will Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace save save Meg and Charles’ father and live to tell the tale to the planet Earth? Find out by reading this book review about A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle. The book A Wrinkle In Time is part of a series, A Wind In The Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. All consist of amazing fast paced stories that are sure to make you stay on your toes. A Wrinkle In Time will take you around the world. . . No wait, around the Universe! The main characters in the book are Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace, all of whom I will introduce more in the next paragraph.

 

Meg is a girl who doesn’t fit in at all and always feels like she looks atrocious and loathes some of the other kids who are normal. She has the impression that her little brother is being bullied by older kids. Even though they just hear rumors about Charles Wallace. She gets beat up a few times because of this reason. Meg will soon realize though, how special her little brother Charles Wallace really is. After their big adventure Meg is almost never oppressed by other kids. Three words that would describe Meg are, one, afraid. Afraid of her little brother being taken away, and that she will never see her father again. Two, she knows when to do the right things in certain breathtaking situations. She’s confident and insightful. Three, she is shy and doesn’t like to shine, even though she is a good student, and is very helpful.

 

Calvin, a big boy who is about three years older than Meg is strong, and I do not only mean his physical strength. Calvin is abused by his mother who will physically hurt her children. Calvin has saved many of his friends with his gift to persuade his friends and enemies, some may be both. Calvin in tall, strong, vigorous, caring and red-headed. Charles Wallace is a boy who is very, very smart. Unfortunately he hasn’t gone to school which makes him seem strange. His reputation is one that is very quiet. Many people bully Charles Wallace but he really doesn’t mind. He likes not being noticed and keeping his brilliance to himself and his family. It turns out, though, that Charles has many, many gifts and talents. I would describe Charles Wallace as intellectual, determined, and he is very brave. He is the kind of guy who would “Take one for the team.”(His vocabulary is also quite impressive.) Together they make a great team.

 

There are many plots in the book. One of the many is saving their father. At first they are living a normal life, until their father disappears for many years and Meg starts to get worried. Her father had vanished before Charles Wallace was born, so naturally Charles Wallace doesn’t know his father. One day though, in the very first few chapters of the book a woman named Mrs. Whatsit comes into their lives. She has a very bizarre, perplexing and demanding behavior. It turns out that Charles Wallace knows this Mrs. Whatsit and her very bizarre, perplexing and demanding friends. Mrs. Whatsit and her friends take Calvin, Meg and Charles to different universes to save their father and more. “I don’t want Charles Wallace to grow up to be dumb like me,” said Meg. “Oh my darling you’re not dumb,” her father answered. “How do you know I’m not dumb? Isn’t it just because you love me?” This is an example of how Meg is always too hard on herself, as I said before she is quite smart, but she doesn’t always get respect for it. This is on page 10 & 11.

 

I enjoyed this book a lot. The only thing was that there was a little too much fantasy. I loved it for all of the description during the suspense. Madeleine L’Engle slowed the big suspense down with description. Like it was at a part where Meg, father, Calvin and Charles Wallace were stuck on a mysterious island and to slow the pace, it explained the feelings of the characters. I would recommend this book if you are into fantasy worlds, and magical creatures that live on them. The creatures in this book remind me of greek mythology and Lord Of The Rings. I would rate this four stars.