Category Archives: Fantasy

Genres

Mar
17
2017

Furthermore, by Tahereh Mafi

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Furthermore

By Tahereh Mafi

The book I read is called Furthermore and it is written by Tahereh Mafi. Furthermore takes place about now but in a completely different world. In this book, Young Alice accompanies a past enemy, Oliver, to find her long gone father. They live in a place called Ferenwood and every year, there is a Surrender. Each 12 year old in Ferenwood has to enter a competition. The competition is to get the best mission by showing their talent. Alice can change the color of things, but makes a big mistake and presents her dancing instead. Unlike most kids, who get a task to complete, the judges don’t give her a task. No She decides to go with Oliver Newbanks to find her father.

Alice is brave, determined, and self conscious. She is brave to enter Furthermore, and risk her life for father. She risks her life because she is determined to find father, even if it means finding him with Oliver. Furthermore has strange creatures… not friendly ones. She is self conscious because she is constantly worrying about her pale hair and skin. One example is that in the book, for the surrender. The reason she danced instead of showing her real talent, was because she thought, what’s the point of changing the color of things… when you can’t even change your own color.

One of the most interesting parts of the book was when Alice failed her surrender. This was important because of the way everyone is the day of the competition versus when they get the envelope.The charting is laid out five to one. If you get a five, you did great, if you got a one, you did horribly, but you still get a task, just one not as good as a five task. This envelope Alice was so excited to open, but to realize she  got a card that was so bad she got a zero and didn’t get a task, (only three people in Ferenwood history had not gotten a task) made her very, very angry.
I enjoyed Furthermore a lot because there was a lot of magical, funny and shocking moments that made your heart stop. One example is when Oliver said, “It makes it so very difficult to stay alive there.” Then Alice said, “Oh, I can’t imagine, I can’t even imagine – goodness. I can’t breathe, can I? I’m sure I can’t breathe.’’ This is one of the many examples of dramatic Alice. Another reason is there is beautiful language in many spots of the book. For example, on page 146 it says, “Oliver had gone white. He was milk and paper and ghostly fright.” I would recommend this book to people who enjoy reading adventure and books you can’t seem to put down. A character I would use to describe Alice would be, yes… Alice from Alice and Wonderland. And not the original as much as the movie ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass.’ I would say this because they are both on a mission, look similar and are both missing their fathers. I would rate this book 4 stars because I loved the book a lot, but not one that I would read twice anytime soon. 

Mar
17
2017

THE WILD ROBOT by Peter Brown

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This book is about a robot named Roz. In the beginning of the book, she is being shipped somewhere on a boat. The boat gets wiped out in a storm and Roz is stranded on an island inhabited by wild animals. Roz has to learn how to get along with the animals. Roz has a few problems she has to face on the island. One problem is that other dangerous robots come searching for Roz. The main characters are Roz, Brightbill, Roz’s adopted son who is a goose, and the island animals. This book is set in the wilderness in the future, in a time when tons of robots are trained to do jobs like fight, build, and play with their human creators / owners.

Roz is smart, brave and strong. Roz is smart because her robot computer brain can tell her almost anything. She uses it sometimes to find out stuff, for example she searched up how do birds fly to help Brightbill learn to fly. She is brave because when the robots come for her, and endanger her friends, Roz leaves her friends even though she is sad to leave them, to make sure that will not happen again. Roz is strong because her robot body is made of metal and she can knock down trees for building houses. She uses that skill to build her own house.

At one point, Roz gets attacked by two bears named Nettle and Thorn, and then she falls down a mudslide in a thunderstorm with lightning, wind, rain and thunder. She starts thinking about how to survive. Since she does not know what her purpose is, she tries to be like an animal. She learns animal language. She learns about playing dead, camouflage, and other survival strategies. The other animals teach her that and she observes them. The animals are mean to her and call her a monster because they had never seen a robot before. Once they get to know her they stop. She is climbing rocks one day but the rock couldn’t take the weight of a heavy metal robot. It causes an avalanche and ends up killing a family of geese below the rocks. The only survivor is an egg. Roz adopts it and names the baby that hatches from it Brightbill.

My three favorite parts were: When the Rico robots came looking for her because it had a lot of action and fighting. When a fish tries to eat Brightbill because there is suspense and it makes the reader think Brightbill will die but he doesn’t. Also, when the storm with the mudslide happens because it has a lot of detail and it makes a movie in the reader’s mind.
I enjoyed The Wild Robot   because it had a lot of action, humor and sadness. The part when the Ricos came looking for Roz and the animals fought the Ricos and won had a lot of action. A sad part was when Roz had to leave because she could not enda
nger her friends. It had humor because it is kind of funny to see a robot become an animal and try to learn camouflage. I would recommend this book to people who like animals, science fiction and action because it has robot battles. I think this book is unique because there are animal books and robot books but no animal and robot books. I would rate this book five stars.

Mar
17
2017

Castle In The Mist by Amy Ephron

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 This book is about a girl named Tess and her brother Max. Tess goes on a big adventure and finds a skeleton key that opens the gate to the castle. In the castle she finds a boy named William and he is very nice and helps them. He lives in the castle. They play lots of games, and have fun while they do it. William’s father is very protective, and that is why there is the invisible gate blocking people from seeing in unless they have the key. Also Tess and Max realize that this castle is very magical and awesome. This book takes place in England in 2017.

Tess is caring, adventurous and, smart. Tess is caring because she will always think about others. This is true because when Max went into the Hawthorn trees she went straight after him. Tess is adventurous because she would always chose something adventurous over anything else. Like when was going to the castle she didn’t know what was going to something bad was going to happen or something good was going to happen.Tess is smart because whenever she does something she comes with a plan or knows exactly what to do. Also when she was on her horse and completely lost she knew how to get back to her aunt’s house.

I think the most interesting part of the book is when Tess goes to the fake or real place after riding the magical merry-go-round where she rides her horse all the way back to the merry-go-round because I like how mystical and mysterious that part of the book was and how interesting it was. The second most interesting part of the book is when Tess was going to the castle because she didn’t know what was going to happen or who was there or if it was cursed even worse!!! The third most interesting part of the book is when Tess, Max and William played the golf game where they had to hit the ball to the bell because so it would make the bell sound to get a point and they had to hit it in a direct hit on the bell which Max really mad. I found really surprising by how safety/security William’s dad is because he has an invisible gate that does not allow people to see in or let them.I am surprised by how exciting this book is because at almost all the parts in this book something new or interesting is happening.

I enjoyed this book. One reason I enjoyed this book is because I like the magic and mystery. The second reason I like this book is that has lots of twists in it that make it more interesting and exciting. I would recommend this book it is fun to read and every chapter has something new. I think this book relates to nothing because it is such a unique book because nothing is like the same type as book as Castle In The Mist. This book is unique because most books don’t have the same backstory as the Castle in the mist.  I would rate this book five stars which means I love it and I want to read it again.

Mar
17
2017

Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies by Andrea Beaty

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I read Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies by Andrea Beaty. The book is about twins Kevin and Joules and their experience at Camp Whatsitooya which are unexpected. Their parents are scientists that do something called SPAM so they don’t pay a lot of attention to Kevin and Joules so they watch a lot of late, late, late creepy shows for insomniacs. So they know a lot about what to do when there are aliens and zombies and things like that. Kevin likes to have plans and charts and Joules likes to take things head on. This book takes place in 2010. It is fiction so the place is made up but Camp Whatsitooya is by Camp Whatsosmelly. Camp Whatsitooya has only three counselors and only about ten campers! That is because it is kind of in the middle of nowhere. The only way Kevin and Joules parents found out was from a spa brochure. The camp is also deep in the woods so the giant fluffy bunnies could hide! The main plot is basically about Kevin, Joules and Nelson their friend stopping the  giant fluffy bunnies from taking over!

Joules is brave, nice, and funny. Joules is brave because she likes to takes things head on like when the were battling the giant fluffy bunnies she grabbed a stick and fought them without a plan! and you have to be pretty brave to fight giant fluffy bunnies with huge teeth and swirling eyes because they can be dangerous or scary. Joules is nice because she and Kevin sat with Nelson when he had no one to sit with in the cafeteria. That is nice because they could have  sat somewhere else but they decided to sit with him to be nice and then he wouldn’t be lonely. Nelson is a boy at camp that will soon be their new friend. Joules is funny because she makes lots of jokes that are mostly about Kevin.

 

At the beginning of the book it tells you a little about the giant fluffy bunnies and where they live and I think it is really interesting because Andrea could have just said there are giant fluffy bunnies who will attack but she really explained and that was really important. It was important because I got to know more about them and I understood them more. I think it was very important when they found out the counselors were eaten and the GFB (giant fluffy bunnies) faked being the counselors. That was important because that was how Kevin, Joules and Nelson found out about the GFBs. It was also important that they found the space base because all the campers were there and the GFBs and that is a very important part of the book. It was important because that was where Kevin, Joules, and Nelson saved the campers and defeated the GFB’s
I really enjoyed the book a lot because it has a lot of humor. One time is when the GFBs are reading a button that reads: PRESS IF TENNIS ELBOW, FLAMING METEOR ATTACK OR INVASION BY THE SWEDES. That is funny for many reasons one is the Swedish are very small country and they won’t be invading anytime soon. Two is why would you launch a rocket because of tennis elbow! I would definitely recommend this book because it has lots of humor and has a very interesting plot to it. It is not very long but each page has a lot of detail, also there are some pictures and comic strips throughout the book. I think this book is very unique because I have never read anything quite like this. It is unique because it turns bunnies, the cute and cuddly animals that everyone loves into giant candy and man eating monsters from outer space. Also this is one of a few books I’ve seen use words and comics/pictures. Not many chapter books have pictures and this one has pictures and comics. I like it when authors do it because I can make a movie in my mind and there movie. I would rate this 5 stars! I loved it!

Feb
16
2017

The Blood of Olympus, by Rick Riordan

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I read a book called The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan. This book is part of a series called The Heroes Of Olympus. The book/series takes place in 2016 and a bunch of places I can’t even list, but it mostly takes place in Italy, Greece, America and Tartarus. The main character’s names in the book/series are: Hazel, Leo, Percy, Annebeth, Frank, Jason and Piper. In the book, seven demigods take a journey to Athens, Greece to fight/send back to Tartarus/kill giants (the sons and daughters of Gaea, the earth goddess who was the first goddess to live that is evil) to stop them from waking Gaea. The giants needed two demigods blood spilled on the Parthenon (which is where Poseidon, the Greek god of water and hurricanes and Athena, the Greek god of wisdom and weaving, did something to declare who Athens would be named after and Athena won) to waken Gaea. Before the demigods get to Athens, Greece, they make a few stops they might need. But they don’t just get together and try to save the world, there’s a whole story to it.

One of the most interesting characters is Annebeth. She’s smart. I mean, she’s a daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Of course she’s smart. She’s strategic. When you’re smart, you’re also strategic. She once broke her leg and she didn’t have a boot or anything like that. She had to make a boot made out of a piece of wood and bubble wrap and she had to use sticks for crutches. She’s brave. She fell into Tartarus (a pit where Greek and Roman monsters come back to life. Tartarus was also the first god to live) and didn’t even have a heart attack.

The demigods didn’t just have to stop Gaea from waking. They had to do much much more than that. They had to bring a statue to Camp Halfblood (a sleep away camp where Greek demigods stay to be protected from monsters) and set it on Halfblood Hill to stop a war between Greek demigods and Roman demigods. One of the most interesting parts of the book is that the seven demigods had to get a cure that can heal you from death. You can not come back to the human world death. You stay dead. Another interesting part of the book was that Leo could make killer robots try to kill themselves. It’s called idiot mode. Another interesting thing that happened in the book was that the giants didn’t spill Annebeth and Percy’s blood on the Parthenon right away. That’s interesting because the giants want to be the rulers of the world. The only way they can do that is with Gaea.

This book is probably one of my favorite books out of the many books I’ve read. You will literally fall in love with this book (which I did). If you like the Percy Jackson series, you will love this book. There are relationships, like relationships in the Percy Jackson series (which I mean girlfriend- boyfriend relationships). It has similar writing, and it’s a mix between Greek mythology and Roman. It has everything. It’s action packed and fantasy (just like Percy Jackson). One of my favorite parts of the book was when Leo tricked nymphs into thinking Leo was more handsome than Narcissus (who is crazily handsome). In case you don’t know, a nymph is a nature spirit. I liked that part because tricking nymphs into thinking you’re hotter than the hottest person in the world is pretty darn hilarious! Imagine looking at the poor guy’s face. It was probably red with envy. I rate this book five stars. That’s why I want you to read this book.

Feb
16
2017

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling

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I read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling, it is the sixth book out of seven books in the Harry Potter series. It takes place in Harry’s 6th year, he is 16. It is mostly about Harry Potter’s time at Hogwarts and what is going on outside of Hogwarts in the wizarding world. The main characters are Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. Harry is talked about the most. Some other characters mention a lot in the book are Ginny Weasley, Albus Dumbledore, and Draco Malfoy. Harry is facing a huge problem, Lord Voldemort. He is trying to kill Harry and has been since Harry was baby. Harry is also trying to find out why Malfoy keeps wandering off. Harry is trying to find out what he is up to because he thinks Malfoy is a Death Eater and is up to no good. Lots of exciting and sad things happen in Harry’s 6th year.

Harry is brave, curious, kind and resilient. Harry is resilient because he has fought against Malfoy before and won. Harry is curious because he wants to find out what Malfoy is up to. Harry is brave because he went to destroy a horcrux with Dumbledore and doing that is super dangerous. Harry is kind because when he used the potion book that had all the tips he shared it with Ron.

One interesting part of the book is when Dumbledore lets Harry come with him to destroy one of Voldemort’s horcruxes. That is interesting because it is very dangerous and difficult to destroy a horcrux. Another interesting part of the book is how he reacted to Ginny going out with Dean. Harry got very mad inside when he first found out because he secretly likes Ginny and wants to go out with her. That is interesting because he is usually a very kind person and doesn’t feel that toward a friend.

I enjoyed reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince because it’s funny, especially when Mrs. Weasley gets mad at Ron all the time. I also like it because it’s a little scary especially when Harry and Dumbledore go to get a horcrux and the Inferi attack them. I would definitely recommend it because it is very exciting and funny. Also if you like magic and fantasy it’s full of it! There is a movie for this book and I think it got Harry’s personality correct. It also gets most of the details mostly the big ones, but it does leave out a few major details. Another movie that is like Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It is like Harry Potter because it has lots of magic and Newt Scamander wrote a book they use at Hogwarts. I would rate this book a 4 and a half – I loved it a lot. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is definitely a great book.   

 

Feb
16
2017

Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer

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The title of the book is called Artemis Fowl. The author’s name is Eoin Colfer. This book is from a series called Artemis Fowl which takes place in the present in Ho Chi Minh City.  Artemis Fowl is a kid who is a thief. He is only 12 years old. He is trying to get all the money that his family lost. In this book Artemis is trying to find a book that would get him lots of money. The book can unlock fairy secrets and expose all of the fairies’ money. He had to blackmail a witch to get the book. The fairies tried to stop Artemis from getting their money especially Holly Short a Lep-recon officer

Artemis Fowl is sly, cold, determined, and smart. He is sly because he stole a lot of money by tricking fairies and got away with it. He is cold because he captured a fairy and didn’t regret it. Artemis Fowl is determined  because  he  wants to restore his family’s fortune and become the most powerful family in the world.  He is smart because when the fairies attempted to kill him he made it out alive.

One of the most interesting  parts  in the book is when Artemis’s mom didn’t recognize him. I thought this was important because I could almost feel Artemis’s sadness and anger because his mom didn’t  know who he was. One thing I was excited about was when Artemis’s mom got better. But this is bittersweet. It’s bitter because Artemis won’t have anymore Adventures because his mom will be paying attention (he still will). It’s sweet because his mom is healthy and strong and  is going to give Artemis a better childhood.

I loved Artemis Fowl  because the book is action packed, and I love books with action. This book also has trolls and goblins and other creatures, and the way the creatures interact with each other is more interesting to me than people interacting. I would recommend this book to people who like fast paced fantasy fiction. This book is also good for people who like chapter books with easy to read font. It reminded me of many of Rick Riordan’s books like Percy Jackson and the  Kane Chronicles because each book has different creatures and many adventures. It also reminded me of James Bond because he and Fowl like to be sneaky and have lots of gadgets. I would give this book 4 stars out of 5. I would recommend this book to kids aged 7 and up.     

Feb
16
2017

The Lost Hero By Rick Riordan.

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I am reading a book called The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. It is in the Heroes of Olympus series. It is about a boy named Jason, his friend Leo, and Jason’s girlfriend Piper. They are half- bloods. Half god, half human. They go to a camp called Camp Half-Blood. They go on adventures and fight monsters to try and find Percy Jackson. The three go to many places to look for Percy but do not find him. Yet. Greek monsters come to the modern age and it’s up to Jason, Piper, and Leo to stop it.

Jason is brave, confident, and smart. Jason is brave because he accepted the challenge of going on the quest. He is confident because even though he was badly hurt by a venti, or storm spirit, he still fought it. He is smart because he knew he was in danger when the venti came and he knew how to stop it.

Two parts of the book that I found interesting were when Jason, Piper, Leo, Annabeth, and Butch are on a chariot driven by pegasi and one of the wheels catches on fire. I liked this part because it made me stay on my heels and wonder what was going to happen. Another interesting part was when Jason went to the Big House and talked to a goddess. This was interesting because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen to him and it made me want to read more.

I really enjoyed the book. I enjoyed it because it has lots of adventure and action. I also enjoyed it because of the fun surprises. I would really recommend this book because of all the reasons above, the suspense, and the characters. Also, the humor is great. This book reminds me of The Kane Chronicles. It reminds me of it because there are Gods and mythical creatures coming to America. Also in both series all the main characters go on a quest and fight monsters. I would give this book a four star rating. It’s really good.

Feb
16
2017

The Twits By, Roald Dahl

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This book is called The Twits by Roald Dahl.  It is about a couple who is very mean, silly and ugly.  The main characters are Mrs. Twit and Mr. Twit. They like to do pranks on each other and are very nasty to animals and humans. They can do some very funny things to each other, but they are still married. I think that is how they show their love. This story takes place at Mr. and Mrs. Twit’s home. The book was written in 1980, but it still relevant today.

Mr. Twit is very hairy, dirty, and cruel.  He is hairy because when he has negative thoughts, his hair grows.  Since he has so much hair, Mr. Twit always seems to get food stuck in both his big beard and his gross, crooked teeth. He is dirty because Mr.Twit never uses a napkin and would rather wipe his mouth with his sleeve or his pants.  Mr. Twit is the most cruel character I have ever read about. He creates a plan to cut down the legs of Mrs. Twit’s chair to make her think that she is shrinking.  He also forces monkeys to stand on their heads for days!

One of the most interesting parts of the book is when all of the animals that Mr. Twit tries to hurt glue the house upside down to get back at the Twits. They do this because the Twits are not being nice to them and they want to trick the mean Twits. Another interesting part is when the kids get stuck in the tree with glue and they have to take off their pants to get out.  Mr. Twit thinks that if he puts glue on the tree then birds will get stuck and he can catch them for dinner. The last interesting part is when Mr. Twit puts a frog in Mrs. Twit’s bed. This causes Mrs. Twit to screech at the top of her lungs. Mr. Twit and Mrs. Twit are always trying to outdo each other’s pranks.

This book was a very enjoyable book because I love all the funny stories, and if you like funny pranks then this book is for you.  My favorite part was when the boys were stuck in the tree and they had to take their pants off to get out of the tree. This book was really fun with so many silly parts.  It will make you laugh and you will not want to put it down. You might also want some ideas for pranks and this book will give you a lot of them. The Twits does not remind me of anything because there is nothing like it. I would rate this book five stars because it is one of the best books I have ever read.

 

Feb
16
2017

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling

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The book is about a kid named Harry Potter who has a scar from Lord Voldemort,  very powerful wizard who also killed his parents who were also very powerful. The main characters are Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The story takes place in London and Hogwarts. The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is divided into four houses, each bearing the last name of its founder: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. It is located in the Highlands of Scotland.

Harry is brave, caring, intelligent, a fast thinker and lucky. Harry is brave because he faces Voldemort, the man who killed his parents. I  think Harry is caring because he always helps someone when they need it. Harry is also caring because he always thinks about others before himself. I think Harry is intelligent because he is very good at figuring things out when he needs to. I think that Harry is a fast thinker because when he’s in danger and all else fails he will come up with something and get out of there. Harry is lucky because when he is in danger someone or something will help him like in the Chamber Of Secrets when he was battling the basilisk and Fawkes came in and gave him a sword.

An important event in this book was when Hagrid finally got out of Azkaban. Which is a place that is pretty much escape proof guarded by scary demons called Dementors. This is important because Hagrid really helps Harry, Hermione and Ron and now he’s back as a teacher that teaches about animals and how to take care of them. I found the most interesting part of the book was when Neville changed Professer Snape into a boggart and then everyone had to say their greatest fear to confuse the boggart until it was so confused it exploded. A boggart is a shape shifter that usually lurks in dark spaces. I found this interesting because it made me laugh so much and I just couldn’t stop reading the book and the book just kept on pulling me in.

I enjoyed this book because as I said before, I enjoy this genre and it was very enjoyable. I like the parts that are appropriate but still enjoyable. Another reason I would recommend this book because it is funny. One of those parts was when they went to Hagrid’s class and they had to take care of a slug. It also has amazing scenes even though it is a book and there are no pictures but you can still imagine amazing pictures. I think this book relates to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I think that they are alike because they are both magical adventures and action packed. I’ll give this book a good four stars. Four stars = I really liked it. As a fun fact I learned that there is a theme park for Hogwarts in Universal Studios in Florida.