The Penderwicks, by Jeanne birdsall

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Einstein The Class Hamster, By Janet Tashjian

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

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

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

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

The Chocolate Touch by, Patrick Skene Catling

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

 

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

 

 

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

Hamster Princess, by Ursula Vernon

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

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

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

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

Fablehaven: Keys To The Demon Prison, by Brandon Mull

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

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

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

The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner

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

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

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

Wonderstruck By Brain Selznick

imgres-1This book is called Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. The main character is Ben. In Wonderstruck Ben runs away to New York City to find his dad. Wonderstruck takes place in New York City and Minnesota. 

One part thought I was important was when Ben went to the library because it’s when he finds what he’s looking for. I like the part when Ben finds the cabinet in the museum where his seashell turtle fits in the design because it’s mysterious even though it doesn’t really mean anything. It is important Ben meets Jamie at the museum. Jamie shows Ben a special room in the museum that used to be an exhibit but is now a storage room filled with random stuff. Ben is optimistic because always he always thinks on the bright side. He never gives up looking for his dad. I also think Ben is brave because he’s deaf and still goes on this big trip to New York City.

I enjoyed this book because it was action packed and written well. The pictures were really good and it had a good life lesson. I rate this book 5 and a half stars!

The School For Good and Evil, Soman Chainani

 

61PWRNlIucL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_The book I read the  book called The School For Good and Evil. It was written by Soman Chainani. The three main characters are Sophie, who is the ‘witch’ in their story that goes to the school for Evil, Agatha, who is the ‘princess’ of their story that goes to the school for Good and Tedros, the ‘prince’ of their story that goes to the school for Good. One adjective to describe Sophie is romantic because Sophie holds hands with Tedros a lot.  

The problem is that Agatha makes a wish for a different ever after ending for her story with Tedros instead of Sophie. Agatha has an ending with Tedros and Sophie has a crush on Tedros so they are fighting on who gets him. An ever after is when the Princess or Prince or rarely the Witch gets a happy ending. Then the Schools for Good and Evil change to the Schools for Girls and Boys. This is a problem because the “Storian” (The pen that writes the stories) makes all of the “The End’s” in the stories go away. Then all of the princes come out of the stories and want to destroy girls. The book takes place at The School For good and Evil which is in the Endless Forest and Gavaldon which is where Sophie and Agatha live.

One reason I think this book is good because when you read one chapter you always want to read the next one. This book is also good because it really tells you that friendship and being a good friend is very important. This book is also good because it makes you think about what it might be like as a fairytale character. I like this book because it has some very beautiful romance and humor. I would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

 

 

 

Nightbird, By Alice Hoffman

51errxztrCL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_The title of my book is Nightbird the author of my book is Alice Hoffman. The main character of my book is Teresa Jane Rose. The main problem in my story is that the whole town thinks there is a monster. The setting of my book is a small town deep in the woods.

I think the book is good because you hear a lot about the monster. Which is incredible: some claim they saw the monster. Teresa’s family has a curse, all the men/boys in the family have wings so they need to keep her brother a secret and that is a problem for Teresa because she does not make friends quickly, because no one is allowed to come to her house and she is not aloud to go to other people’s house.Teresa decides to hunt for the monster because she thinks it has something to do with her brother.

Teresa also decides to sometimes fly with her brother in the night on his back. Because flying is really fun. Teresa is kind of shy because she never talks to anyone. She is also very helpful because she helps her mom bake.

I like that the book is very descriptive with the words because sometimes I can’t understand what a book is saying. I also like that they talk about what she looks like and what she wears and even what her hair color is (her hair color is brown like wet mud). Also she is very peaceful like when she stayed calm at the fire in the book. I think the book is 4 stars and a half. I definitely think you should read it, at least give it a shot.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume

TalesFourth9Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was written by Judy Blume in 1972. From reading the book recently you would not know that is was written around 40 years ago. The book seems so futuristic. In the book the main characters are Peter Warren Hatcher and his younger brother Fudge (Farley Drexel Hatcher). Farley is called Fudge because when he first learned his name he called himself Fudge. In the book the main problem is Fudge. He always hits pots and pans together to make a very loud noise, which irritated Peter so much that he wanted Fudge out of his life. Fudge also annoys Peter because Fudge also goes into Peter’s room and played with Dribble, Peter’s turtle. The setting of the book is in Manhattan on 25 W. 68th St. with the coolest elevator ever that takes him up to his 12th floor apartment. Peter and Fudge live with their mom and dad.

 

One important part in my book is when Peter and Fudge’s mom left the oven on and left three 9 year old kids, Sheila the great, Jimmy Fargo, Peter’s best friend, and Peter in charge of a 2 year old baby. It did not end well because Fudge, the 2 year old baby, thought he was a bird, flew off a jungle gym and knocked out his 2 front teeth. The second important detail is when the dad’s clients come to stay with them and Fudge scares them out of the apartment. One event that changes the story is when Fudge and Peter’s mother goes to Boston to visit her newborn niece and Fudge gets to be in his dad’s client’s commercial. It changed the direction of the story because Fudge’s mom thought Fudge was more grown-up than usual and also he looked more mature on T.V. Because Fudge looked more grown-up the mom gave him more responsibility that he could not handle.  The second event is when Fudge swallowed Peter’s pet turtle and has to go to the emergency room to take medicine to poop the turtle out. Peter is worried because it was his turtle and the turtle might die. The turtle dies, then Peter gets a puppy and names it Turtle after his turtle. It changed the direction of the story because it made Peter is no longer willing to tolerate Fudge. One adjective to describe Fudge is silly because he thinks he is a bird. Another adjective to describe Fudge is annoying because he bangs pots and pans to make a “clunk clack’’ that annoys everyone in the house. One adjective that describes Peter is clever. Peter knows how to deal with Fudge because when Fudge didn’t like shoes Peter tried them on and Fudge liked them. I think Peter is jealous because of all the attention Fudge gets.       

 

I enjoyed this book because it reminded me of my brother, on Thanksgiving when he fell off a rock and scraped his face and eye on the ground in Central Park. This book reminds me of this event because the book takes place in Central Park and Fudge and Dennis fell off something. The book was also really funny. I would rate this book 5 stars because it was so awesome.