Category Archives: Deborah & Jacob’s Class

Mar
09
2016

The Princess, The Scoundrel, And The Farm Boy. By: Alexandra Bracken

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urlIn a library not so far away… Alexandra Bracken’s The Princess, The Scoundrel, and The Farm boy. The novel that I am reviewing is part of a series that has three books in it, and if you love Star Wars this is definitely a good book for you to try. The main characters in this book are Luke Skywalker (the farm boy) princess Leia (the princess) and Han Solo (the scoundrel). The rebels consist of these three characters and more rebel soldiers. The rebels are trying to change the fact that the evil rule the galaxy. This book takes place in a galaxy far, far, away in the future.

Han Solo’s actions are effective but yet very subtle, he steps in at the last minute and helps the rebels get the victory. He is also very kind and aids the rebels supplies. The most important parts in the story are where. The most important part in the story is when Han Solo joins the rebel’s cause. Where Princess Leia joins the rebellion. the ending is very important. The main character makes the very big decision that was very surprising and changed the path of the story.

I did not really enjoy this book because I feel this book was not really the strong point of the series but  I definitely recommend So You Want To Be A Jedi? by Adam Gidwitz. The genre of this book is fiction. If you like mystery this is a good book for you. I rate this book three stars out of five.

          ★   ★   ★

www.alexandrabracken.com

Mar
09
2016

The House of Stairs By William Sleator

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imagesIn a house made entirely of stairs on one of the shiny pure white steps lay a book called:The House of Stairs by William Sleator. The house of stairs is about five 16 year old orphans named Oliver, Peter, Lola, Blossom, and Abigail that all get blindfolded and one by one get taken to a place that is not a prison and not a hospital. It’s just a maze of interlocking stairs.

My favorite character is Lola. I would describe her as brave, because she always stands up for herself and others, mischievous, because she would make lots of trouble at her old orphanage and tough because she would never let anything get to her. A part that I found interesting was when they first found the food machine and got it to work. How they got it to work was when Peter and Lola first met Blossom. Blossom leaned over a red screen with a hole in it. When she stuck out her tongue and a pellet would come out of the hole. An event that changed the direction of this book was when Lola and Peter decided not to eat or go along with the food machine. The food machine is significant because it keeps tricking them into being mean to each other.

I really loved this book because of the way it told the story and how different from other book it is. I would recommend this book to someone who likes science fiction because that’s what this book is. A connection to another book is that in the Isle of the Lost (not a series) all of the characters are 16. I would rate this book five stars.

Mar
09
2016

Book Of Sith by Daniel Wallace

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5899-Star-Wars-Book-of-Sith-1383093726        You may venture far into the public library, but beware the power of the Sith in the science fiction section! The book I read was called The Book Of Sith by Daniel Wallace. This book takes place a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away. The book explains all the untold stories of the Sith’s role in the Star Wars universe. The main characters are all Sith lords I feel like people of all age would like this book because it can make anyone say : “huh, I never knew that.” It contains many interesting stories and journal entries about the Sith that span the Star Wars saga . The Sith are an ancient force of darkness as old as time itself. The Sith are the sworn enemy of the Jedi and are controlled by no one.   All Sith seek to achieve power and domination, and would even kill each other to get it.  

 

      One event that changed everything was the end of the old republic wars. After that war many Sith lords died and the Sith order needed to regroup (and that took about 30 years). This event marked a turning point for the Sith order allowing them to create an army of robots called battle droids.  I found it interesting that Sith not only use the universal weapon of force wielders, the lightsaber  but they also use enchanted swords, razor bladed frisbees and metal boomerangs. The Sith also use fire, ice, and lightning to attack their enemies.

 

    Three words I can use to describe the main characters are powerful, stubborn and cruel. Five Jedi would still be out matched to one Sith lord. A Sith could not only move a mountain with their powers, but they could crush one as well. Once a Sith has decided on a plan, anyone who objects may need to run away at top speed if they would like to keep an arm. Sith do not only crush their enemies but they also torture them.
   I enjoyed this book because it explains all the ins and outs of the Sith order.  I am also a star wars aficionado and I  really like S W . I would recommend this book to anyone who has liked S W at one point or another.  Also any on who likes science fiction. This book definitely reminds me of S W the lost missions. (A cartoon network series.) From one to five stars I would give this book  five stars.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  

Mar
09
2016

Book Review Three Fantastic MR. FOX

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Book Review Three Fantastic MR. Fox

By Alfredo

In the forest near three barns lives a fantastic Fox… Hello this is Alfredo’s third book review and the book is … Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl! The main character of this book is Mr. Fox. The main problem is that three ugly, fat, skinny, and short farmers are trying to kill Mr. Fox because he is always tricking them, an example is he always is eating their chickens or turkeys when they don’t see him. This book was made in 1970 and I think this book takes place near a forest in 1970.

Mr. Fox has at least three adjectives that describe him (I’ve been using the number three a lot). The three adjectives are… smart because he survives after three farmers try to kill him. He also is quick because he is always running from them. The last adjective is brave because he doesn’t get scared the whole time. One interesting part of the book is when Mr. Fox gets his tail shot off! One other interesting part is when he knows where Boggis, Bunce, and Bean (the three farmers) house’s are from underground. There are so many animal characters in this book like the raccoon, the mole, the rat, and their families. The final interesting part is that Mr. Fox can survive for a long time with no food, (those are not all the interesting parts, those are just some of them!) The biggest change is that the farmers almost catch Mr. Fox several times.

This book was very good in my opinion but one problem is that it was too short. I also liked that it was kind of diverse because of all the different things happening. I recommend this book to all ages. This book relates to everyone’s life because it reminds us we all have to survive. I would rate this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and one half.

Mar
09
2016

The Vanishing Violin By: Michael D. Beil

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Can you solve three mysteries at the same time? Well, the Red Blazer Girls can. The Red Blazer Girls are from The Vanishing Violin by Michael D. Beil. The Vanishing Violin is very different from my other books because I usually read realistic fiction or magical realism but this book is mystery. Mystery is very different than realistic fiction because a lot can happen that is not realistic but depending on the book a lot can be realistic too. This book is part of the Red Blazer Girls Series. They call themselves that because they wear red blazers for school. “They” is Sophie St. Pierre, Rebecca Chen, Margaret Wrobel and Leigh Ann Jaimes.

 

In the first book – The Ring of Rocamadour – they found the ring of Rocamadour and now in the second book they have to figure out who is sneaking into the school and cleaning it, crack a bunch of codes that lead to a violin and last try to find yet another stolen violin. This book does not ever mention when it takes place but I am guessing around the same time it was written which was 2010. I also think it is about modern time because there are iPhones, motorcycles and the subway. This all takes place in New York City and sometimes at their school, St. Veronica’s.

 

I think I would describe Sophie as silly. For example,  When someone says “Hey, loooosers.” she responded “Nice to see you, too, my dearest darling pal,” She also really likes math so that helps her figure out some mysteries. Like when she said “The ring is about three inches in diameter, so the circumference is a little over nine inches. (That’s pi times the diameter, if you’re keeping score-I love math.)” This book is interesting because it is from Sophie’s perspective like when she says “I” or “me”. An important part of the story is that Margaret is getting mystery letters from somebody that leads to the mystery violin. All the friends help her and figure out more clues. Will the clues ever stop? Also, the head of their school is counting on them to figure out is cleaning the school but with two other mysteries on their hands that can be lot!

 

Some of the events that change the direction of the story is at Mr. Chernofsky’s (Margaret’s friend) violin shop he hires someone else that seems a little suspicious considering he went to jail…  I really enjoyed this book because of how the author sets up the story and I also really enjoyed the ending that the author makes. Another reason I enjoyed this book is how everyone’s personalities. I would recommend this book to readers that like series since this is part of the The Red Blazer Girls series. Some connections is to the friends because I feel sometimes I feel like the friends are a lot like my friends. I would definitely rate this four stars. ☆☆☆☆
How does it all connect? 

Mar
09
2016

Love of the Game, By John Coy

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9716851The book that takes place on a football field is called The Love Of The Game. It is a sports book. The author is John Coy. The genre of my book is sports and more specifically, football, and the author has also written other books about sports but I have not read them. The book takes place in  Manhattan in the year 2015. The main character, Jackson, is interesting because he is funny, tough, and sometimes obnoxious. These characteristics are seen when he talks back a lot and stands up for himself.

 

The main challenge Jackson faces is that he needs help picking whether to play offense or defense on the football team. Jackson is very nice because he notices when people are not    feeling right and talks to them and tries to make them feel better. He is very fast and this is demonstrated by the fact he is able to tackle the player with the ball before he can score a touchdown. Jackson is strong both physically and mentally. He is able to figure out what the opposing team is trying to do and deflect their plays. His physical strength enables him to carry out this defense. Initially the main problem is that Jackson can’t choose between playing offense and defense. He likes both and he is good at both, but he really wants to be a starter so he decides to play on defense. He reasons that since there are fewer kids playing defense he has a better chance at starting in the game.  He plays defense and plays it well in the football games. Another important part of the story is about how Jackson is adjusting to starting middle school. He has a few friends but not many, and then meets Ruby. They become friends and agree to support each other’s activities. She is an actor, so he attends her plays and she attends his football games. Their friendship grows and he learns about what it means to be a friend.

 

I really liked this book because it is humorous and it makes sense. This is illustrated when one of the characters scored a touchdown against a team called the Eagles and a player yelled  “tweet! tweet!” to mimic the sound of an eagle to taunt the team. I would recommend this book to people who like football or at least understand football and somebody who likes humor. I give these qualifications because it is mostly about football so if someone doesn’t understand the game of football, he or she is not going to like it. I have never read a book like this before in my life and I particularly enjoyed it. I give this book four out of five stars.

Mar
09
2016

Demon Dentist, By David Walliams

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91BL+Jvc8yLAlfred(Alfie) hasn’t been to the dentist in six years! The book I read was called Demon Dentist. It was written by David Walliams. The book is about a kid named Alfie and his problems with dentists. He hasn’t been to the dentist in so long because when he was younger he went to the dentist complaining about a toothache, so the dentist took a look at it. The dentist tried and tried with all his might to pull the tooth out but failed. So he called some people in the waiting room to come in to pull with him, that didn’t work. Then he got the people that worked there to help him, that didn’t work. He got more and more people. It had been weeks maybe even months. FINALLY the tooth came out! Except, that was the wrong one. Poor old Alfie came home with a toothache. He hadn’t gone ever since. Imagine years of not going to the dentist. What would your teeth look like? THEY’ED BE YELLOW! OR BROWN! OR YOU WOULD LOSE ALL YOUR TEETH! Luckily Alfie didn’t lose all his teeth from this, but he did lose some. AND HE HAD brown and yellow teeth too. Yikes! He looked like a hamster that had lost two teeth. Think about that for awhile. If you don’t know what hamster’s teeth look like, then look it up!

 

Alfie is very poor. He has one friend named Gabriela(Gabz), who thinks he’s a wimp. I will not be talking about her because if I talked about her I’d spoil lots of things. Well back to Alfie, his dinner is three crumbs of bread! He lives with his father who is dying because he has bad breathing from working in the mine for many years. Alfie takes care of his father all the time. He buys food, makes sure his father is warm, sees if his breathing is getting better and much more. Alfie is a very nice kid, but he can be very protective. And when he gets protective he can sometimes be a troublemaker. For example, on page 176 and 177 when he is trying to protect himself from a new dentist named Ms. Root. “As Alfie accelerated down the stairs he quickly realised he was on a collision course with the headmaster. Nothing could stop the inevitable happening. THWACK!  The tray whacked into Mr Grey’s ankles.”

 

Everything that Ms. Root has is white, even her CAT! She is VERY VERY VERY  dangerous.For example, she gave Alfie a new toothbrush and toothpaste, but these weren’t the ordinary toothbrush and toothpaste, the toothpaste was like acid! It went right through the ground. And Alfie asked for a soft toothbrush, guess what he got? A TOOTHBRUSH WITH SPIKES STICKING OUT OF IT! How is that a soft toothbrush?! After Alfie figures out what Ms. Root gave him, he knew something was going on.

 

The main problem in this story is that somebody has been taking kids teeth when they put it under their pillow and instead of putting a coin they are putting a bat, spider or a moving eyeball! Alfie is trying to catch the person who is behind this. Alfie puts his friends and family first a lot in the book. At first Alfie didn’t want to solve the mystery but when something happened to him, he started to solve the mystery.

 

A connection I have to this book is that I like to solve mysteries. Even if Alfie didn’t want to solve it in the first place and he just did it because then the town would be safe.

 

I definitely recommend this book! NO doubt about it! The book’s genre was mystery, and funny horror. Well sort of horror.

 

Something that I like about this book is that it is funny, touching and descriptive! I love this book and I think that everyone should read it if they like books that have the things that I just listed. I rate the book five stars out of five stars☆☆☆☆☆!

 

Jan
14
2016

Who Could That Be At This Hour, By: Daniel Handler

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Daniel Handler is the name of the author of the book I read. The main characters that appear in this book are Lemony Snicket and S. Theodora Markson. The problem in this book is that a treacherous villain by the name of Hangfire is terrorizing a community named Stained By The Sea. The main problem that the characters are trying to stop is that Hangfire is a skilled arsonist and they are trying to stop him from burning down the community around them.

Some ideas that helped me understand the book better were …

that S. Theodora Markson is the lead investigator for the problem in Stained by the Sea. This idea helped me understand the book better by giving me more background information. Two is that Lemony Snicket is the apprentice to S. Theodora Markson. This information was very helpful because Lemony Snicket ?  is a very mysterious person. Did you know that Lemony Snicket is a very caring person for people he knows and does not know. The only BIG decision that the main character makes is to investigate the case that Theodora is involved in. Hangfire is a arsonist, killer, and kidnapper and he is very proud of what he does.

Hangfire is a lethal killing machine that has haunted Stained By The Sea for many years. 

I really enjoyed this book because Lemony Snicket is a very creative and caring person. I also like this book because of the characters. The last reason I like this book is because it is for all ages. 1 to 5 stars it is a 5 star rated book.

 

www.danielhandler.com

 

Jan
14
2016

Hit and Miss By Derek Jeter and Paul Mantell

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My book is called Hit And Miss by Derek Jeter and Paul Mantell. This book is fiction based upon Derek Jeter’s life. The book takes place in Beverly Hills, California in 1977. The main character is Derek Jeter. Derek Jeter is now a legend. He used to play shortstop for the Yankees.This book is about a kid who has moved from New Jersey to Beverly Hills.

Derek as a kid was not any different from every other kid. In little league he played for the Red Sox. And he always loved baseball. Derek had a hard time fitting in as a kid. When he made a friend the other kids would make fun of him even more. But he did not care. For example, he would never listen to the people making fun of him. He would just walk away without a care. Derek would always play and practice baseball, he was always so dedicated. For example whenever his friends were going to an arcade or something he would always go home to play or practice baseball.

I enjoyed this book because it was very interesting and really made me think about the story. I liked how Derek would always think about the moment and nothing else. Every time one of his friends would ask him if he thought he would win or lose in a baseball game he would always say, “We’ll see later”. Derek would always set his mind on one thing and completely focus on it. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves baseball because the whole story kind of circles around baseball. I would also recommend this book to any Yankee fans. I would give this book 4 1/2 stars.

Jan
14
2016

Henry Huggins By Beverly Cleary

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81VDSr07o4LHenry Huggins by Beverly Cleary, is about a nine year old boy who is pretty normal. The main character is Henry Huggins. He lives with his mom and dad in a house on Klickitat Street during the 1950’s. One day Henry finds a dog and names it Ribsy and brings it home. Ribsy gets Henry into a lot of trouble. For example, Henry, accidently throws a very expensive football in a car because Ribsy barked at him. Ribsy saw a car coming that Henry did not see, so Henry let go of the football because he was so surprised by Ribsy’s bark. The ball belonged to his friend Scooter. So Henry has to buy another football for Scooter by Sunday and if he does not, he’s going to be in BIG trouble. Henry was also going to buy the football that Scooter had but now he has to buy two and they are very expensive.

Some adjectives that describe Henry are kind, funny, and hardworking. Henry is kind because he took good care of his guppies. Henry is funny because he says “Golly” a lot which in my opinion is funny. Henry is hardworking because he earns enough money to pay for Scooters football by collecting Nightcrawlers (which are worms for fishing). One interesting part in the story is when Henry finds Ribsy. Henry finds Ribsy outside the drugstore on his way home. He tries to bring Ribsy home on the bus, but the bus driver tells him he has to put Ribsy in a box. It takes three tries before Henry gets on the bus with Ribsy. Henry gets in trouble with Ribsy on the bus and a police car comes and brings Henry and Ribsy home.  Another interesting part is when Henry is in a school play and he gets the part of a little boy and does not like it. Henry is very angry because everyone is making fun of him. Ribsy saves Henry by spilling green paint on Henry’s face so he has to play a green elf and not the little boy. One thing that changes the story is when Ribsy wins a dog show and Henry and Ribsy become popular.

I like Henry Huggins. Henry gets in trouble a lot and he is always really funny. I really like the part when the green paint falls on Henry’s face. I also like the part when Henry finds Ribsy. I would recommend this book to everyone because there are no bad words or bathroom humor and it’s a good book. I also recommend this book because it’s almost like a real story from a long time ago. Henry Huggins is a realistic fiction book. This book reminds me a little bit of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dog Days. I would rate this book four stars.⭐⭐⭐⭐ This is the first book in the Henry series and I recommend reading the other books in the series, even though I have not read them yet.