Category Archives: Fiction

Jun
09
2017

Shadowmagic by Joshua Khan

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The book I read is called Shadowmagic by Joshua Khan. The book is about a boy named Thorn and the leader of Gehenna, (grand city) Lilith (Lily) Shadow. There is a person trying to kill Lily Shadow and Thorn arrives and they find out who the killer is. In the book it takes place in Gehenna. To be more specific it takes place in Port Cutlas before moving to Castle Gloom and ends in the City of Silence. I have a zero percent clue of when it takes place.

Thorn is a smart, fearless, and a strong boy. Thorn is smart because he figured out who was trying to murder Lily. Thorn is fearless because he defeated a few of Gehenna’s and Lumina’s (also a grand city) soldiers while trying to get into Castle Gloom. Thorn is strong because he fell off a roof and did not break any bones or injure himself.

THE REST DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS.

Three important parts that happened were when Thorn found his father, when Lily used magic and when a guard said to Thorn, “Your father murdered Lady Shadows family.” It was important when Thorn found his father because he said he did not kill Lily Shadows family. It was someone else! It was also important when Lily used magic because boys are only allowed to use magic. This was important because if a girl uses magic they would be sentenced to die but she summoned a ghost puppy named Custard and nobody knew!!! Lastly it was important when a guard said to Thorn, “Your father murdered Lady Shadows family.” Even though this is not true it was important because it made Thorn look like a bad person even though he is a great hunter and was trained and raised in the woods and he knew his father wouldn’t do that.

I enjoyed Shadowmagic because it always left you hanging so it really didn’t matter where you ended. For example when you finish chapter 47 which is the end of being in Castle Gloom and move into the City of Silence, Thorn realizes that Lily’s uncle (Pan) is using the Mask of Azeroth or the mask of the ,undead, to kill Lily and Thorn jumps on a  bat that is dying named Hades to save Lily. I would recommend Shadowmagic because it always gives enough detail to make you feel like you are there. For example on page 293 it says “The spectators surrounded them on all sides. She tried to back away but it was too late. They caressed her with icy fingers.” This made me feel like I was actually there that is why I recommend this book. This book reminds me of Heroes of Olympus: the House of Hades because it mostly takes place in the underworld and that is where it probably takes place (look at the map in the front if you read it). I would give it an infinity star rating but I can only give five so five!

Jun
09
2017

The Wishing Spell, by Chris Colfer

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The Land of Stories

Image result for the wishing spell cover

When I was little I wondered what happened to characters like Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood after their stories ended. Well in the Land Of Stories series, you can find out. The book I read is called the Wishing Spell and it is written by Chris Colfer. This book is about two kids, Alex and Conner, who are brother and sister. They are going through a hard time because there father recently died. For their 12th birthday, their grandma gives them a book called The Land of Stories. One night the book starts humming. Weird right? Alex then starts dropping her pencils on the book and they fall into the book! Eventually Conner and Alex jump into the book! When they land into the different world they realize that all fairy tale characters they knew growing up are real. As much as Alex and Conner enjoy this world they realize the only way back to the old one is to get the Wishing Spell.

Alex is smart, brave and cautious. She is smart because she remembers thoughts and lessons from the past and uses that to help her in the future. She is in the top of her class (unlike her brother) and pays attention to things. She is brave because she takes risks to do things that pay off in the end. She is cautious because she doesn’t trust everyone and makes plan B’s.

I thought the most interesting part of the book is when they realize their family used to live here. I thought it was interesting because the way the two twins reacted differently tells a lot about their personality. Alex is surprised and happy, she feels like she finally has a connection to some place because for the past year the twins had to move around a lot. Conner on the other hand doesn’t want his friends to know and is highly embarrassed. I think that Conner has less confidence and sometimes does things he might not necessarily want to do, for other people.

I enjoyed this book because I thought the ‘after stories’ made a lot of sense and by the end of the book I felt like I knew each character. I would recommend this book as well as the other two books. (A new one is coming out shortly.) Chris Colfer is in many shows and movies such as glee and struck by lightning. I think the Bailey twins are very unique because they share both many similarities and many differences. They each know so much about each other, but respect their differences. A quote from the book that I think would best explain Alex would be, “I think what I’ve learned from all of this is that villains are mostly people villainized by circumstance.” I think this explains a lot about her personality because in the beginning of the book, Alex only thought that the heros or princesses were the good people. But in the end like it said in the quote, they were mostly villainized by circumstance. They were originaly good people and something they did wrong made them an outcast. Even if Alex is wrong, she would usually not admit that she knew she was wrong. She learned that its OK to be wrong after her experience in the fairy tale world. I would rate this book 5 stars because of the creativity and the bonds between characters.

 

 

 

Jun
09
2017

George by Alex Gino

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“George” is a book by Alex Gino. This book is Alex Gino’s first novel. The main character is George. “George” is about a transgender girl, but George’s mom doesn’t know that George is transgender neither does her friends. Another thing that happens in “George” is that the teacher is casting for Charlotte’s web. George wants to be Charlotte but she can’t because she is a “boy.” The setting of the book is in New York. I know this because at one point,  George goes to the Bronx Zoo with her best friend and the friend says the zoo is an hour away and George says she lives in New York.

 

George is friendly, nervous and brave. George is friendly because she nevers gets in fights with anyone, even if she’s mad. I think George is nervous because she only tells her best friend that she is a girl but she doesn’t tell her mom or brother. I think George is brave because she is not scared when she auditions for the play.

Another important part in the book is when George says to her mom and older brother “What if I’m a girl?” I think this quote is important because she is finally telling her mom what she is. She is also expressing herself by finally letting go of what she has kept a secret for so long.

 

I really liked George because of the concept and how unique it is, I think George is unique because of the beautiful language. I also really liked George because it is not all over the place and there isn’t too much going on at once and there is only one plot. I do recommend this book if you like extraordinary books. I would also recommend this if you like quick and easy books. This book reminds me of Gracefully Grayson because it has the same concept of a girl inside a boy’s body.  I would give this book five stars because of it’s uniqueness.

Jun
09
2017

Extraordinary By Miriam Spitzer

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The book I read is Extraordinary by Miriam Spitzer Franklin. This is a book about a girl named Pansy and her friend, Anna. Pansy is always chickening out on stuff, like going to sleepaway camp. After Anna goes to sleepaway camp by herself she gets a very high fever and suffers from brain damage. When Pansy learns Anna is getting a surgery that might cure her she tries to become the most extraordinary person possible to prove to Anna that she won’t always chicken out. She tries to learn how to ice skate/roller skate, cuts her hair to donate, and tries to be number one on the independent reader list. I think this book is set in the New York or upstate New York and takes place in 2017 because there are phones and sleepaway camp is a common thing.

WARNING: THESE PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Pansy is dedicated, brave, and caring. She is dedicated because even after she had many big falls roller skating she kept trying. One time, she fell and dogs pulled her across the whole park. She is brave because on the first day of school when she wore mismatching shoes she didn’t care and wore mismatching shoes for the rest of the year. After a few weeks, she made some new friends and they wore mismatching shoes too. Lastly, Pansy is caring because when a boy called Anna a “retard” she stood up for Anna and told him that what he was saying was not nice. In the end, the boy started to be nicer to Pansy. When Pansy is standing up for Anna she says, “There’s no cure for brain damage. It’s like starting over except you’re stuck in this place where you can’t get any better. It doesn’t matter how smart you used to be, how good you were at everything, there is nothing anyone can do. And then you get seizures, so they have to brain surgery. Do you know what happens in brain surgery? First they shave off all your hair. Then they cut open your head and operate on you for hours. You lose a lot of blood. You can get infections. Your family sits in the waiting room and prays for you.” I think this quote shows how caring and sympathetic Pansy is to Anna. She wanted people to know that having brain damage is not an easy thing.

 

One of the most important parts of the book is when Pansy realizes that not being top of the independent reader list is okay. She realizes how hard she worked to win, and that even though she may of not been on the top she tried her hardest. Another important part of the book is when Pansy roller skates to her friends house without falling. I think this is important because after this, she starts to believe in herself more and becomes more confident. Lastly, it is important when Pansy gives a box of Oreos to Anna. After Anna got her surgery, she wasn’t moving her right arm for a few days. When Pansy gives her the oreos she moves her arm to slap the Oreos. This is important because it gives Pansy more hope that Anna will be okay.

Personally, I loved this book. I liked how I could relate to the book because sometimes I chicken out on things. Like Pansy, I get scared when I go roller skating. Also, I liked how the book was sad, but also had some funny moments. For example, when Anna gets brain damage it is sad, but when Pansy gets pulled by dogs it is funny. I would recommend this book to people who like sad books. There are a lot of dramatic moments, so if you are not a sad book person I would not read this book. This book reminds me of Wonder because they both have stad stories except in Extraordinary it’s Pansy’s view. Also, they both include a bit of bullying. I would rate this book 4 ½ stars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jun
09
2017

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

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I read Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is the second book in the Little House series. Farmer Boy tells the story of the childhood of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s husband, Almanzo Wilder. This book describes a year in nine-year-old Almanzo’s life, including the many chores (feeding livestock, milking cows, and cleaning out the barns) involved in running his parents successful farm. Almanzo grew up alongside his elder siblings Royal, Eliza Jane, and Alice, and they had a happy rambunctious childhood on the farm, where there was always plenty to eat and plenty to do. The book details the work required on the farm in the different seasons, like picking ice from the river for the ice house in the winter and helping with summer harvesting. Almanzo’s parents taught their children the importance of honesty, patience, and the value of hard work. The setting of this book is upstate New York, near the town of Malone, in the 1860s.

 

Almanzo is hardworking, dedicated, and extremely hungry. He is hardworking because he wakes up everyday before 5am to feed the livestock, milk the cows, and clean the barns. In winter, Almanzo hauls logs, helps fill the ice house, and trains a team of oxen. In the spring and summer, he plants and tends crops. When his father does not need him to help on the farm, Almanzo occasionally goes to school. After school, Almanzo and his brother Royal have more chores, making sure the animals are fed, warm, and clean. Almanzo is dedicated because he spends most of the book trying to prove to his father that he is responsible enough to train his father’s colts. Almanzo first has to learn how to train his own calves, Star and Bright, before he is even allowed to go into the stable with his father’s horses. He is eventually rewarded for his perseverance and patience by receiving a colt of his own. Almanzo is also extremely hungry. There is a description of at least one meal in every chapter of Farmer Boy.  The amount of food Almanzo eats is amazing! Almanzo consumes a full dinner, three slices of pie for dessert, and (very soon after) apples, apple cider, and popcorn by the fire for a snack.

 

One of the most interesting parts of the book is when Almanzo’s parents go away and leave Eliza Jane in charge of the other children. It was enjoyable because the children spend almost all the time their parents are away eating desserts and candy (they manage to use an entire barrel of sugar in a week). Another interesting part of the book is when Almanzo is trying to teach his calves Star and Bright to haul lumber. It is amusing because Almanzo’s father rode past him when he saw that Almanzo had fallen into a ditch with his calves. After the accident, Almanzo “had to sit down and rest a minute. But he got up, and he petted Star and Bright and spoke to them encouragingly… That was one trouble Almanzo had got out of, all by himself.” His father refused to help him because he believed Almanzo needed to learn to be independent, and to solve his own problems if he was going to become a good farmer. Almanzo does not seem angry with his father, and respects his way of teaching.

 

I enjoyed this book because it thoroughly describes what life was like on a farm more than one hundred years ago. I also liked the book because Almanzo and his siblings were likable and relatable characters, even in 2017. They fought with each other, were sometimes annoyed about helping around the house, and complained about going to school. I would recommend this book because it is entertaining and educational. Farmer Boy  is almost like listening to a parent or grandparent tell stories from their childhood. This book is obviously similar to the other Little House books and television show. This book does not remind me of many books I have read because I usually do not read books with a boy as the main character. I would rate this book 4.5 stars.

Jun
07
2017

DIARY of a Wimpy Kid by JEFF Kinney

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Image result for diary of a wimpy kidThe book I read is Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. It’s the first book of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. It takes place in some town in the United States during the present day. It’s about a boy named Greg Heffley who hates middle school. Some of the main characters are Rowley, Rodrick, Manny, Greg’s mom, and his dad. Greg writes his important things in his life in a diary, which he calls a journal, because he thinks that diaries are for girls. Some of the important things are what he thinks about other people and some personal things. Greg is trying to get more popular by making funny comics for the school paper but the teacher in charge of the paper always changes the comics and makes them bad. Every time Greg tries to do something to make himself popular, it fails.

Greg is curious, clever, and he does a lot of things to get into trouble. I know he is curious because he wants to know about what his friend is talking about and about other people’s lives. The way he is clever is he creates comics. One of the ways Greg gets himself into trouble is during a school play he does not do what he is supposed to and he throws an apple at someone. He throw the apple when he was singing a song in the play. He did not sing because his brother is recording him. Advensholey the other people singing the song stopped singing too. Like 10 minutes later someone Greg did not like popped out from the curtains and Greg found an opportunity to throw an apple at her, so he did.

Some of my favorite parts of the book involve both Rowley and Greg getting in trouble with other people or with their friendship. My first event is what happens on Halloween. Greg and Rowley are trick-or-treating late and high schoolers come over to them on a truck and spray them with a hose. When they are leaving, Greg yells, “I am calling the cops,” and regrets it two seconds after. Greg and Rowley have to hide in Greg’s grandma’s house for most of the night. They get away but they run into the high schoolers again. Another favorite part of mine is when Greg and Rowley get into a small fight because Greg says a lie and gets Rowley in trouble. Rowley finds a new friend and they have a sleepover. After Greg finds out, he gets jealous and goes over to a kid across the street from Rowley to show him he has other friends too. The kid’s name is Fregley. Fregley has no friends so he does not have the best experience with other people and does some nasty things to Greg. Greg reacts to them by jumping out the bathroom window and running back to his house.

I enjoyed this book and encourage you to read it. This book is funny and I learned not to lie in certain situations like when it has to do with friendships and really important things. This book relates to Diary of an 8-bit Warrior. They are both written in the first person and the main characters are a lot alike and they both have the same problems. I would rate this book 4 stars.

Jun
07
2017

The Land of Stories, The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

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Will Alex and Conner ever return back home? I read The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer only over two days in late May. It is part of The Land of Stories series, which has five books (so far), all very long. The sixth and final book is coming out in July. The Wishing Spell is the first book in the series.

Alex and Conner Bailey are twins. Their dad died right before they turned eleven. They don’t see their mother much because she has to work to support their family. On their twelfth birthday, their Grandma comes and presents them with her big book of fairytales, The Land of Stories. Alex loves fairytales, and she wishes that all of it was real, in a world where they could visit all the characters. The first night they have the book, after Alex rests it on her bedside table, ready to drift off to sleep, she notices that the book is glowing and humming. A week later, she’s at school and the book starts glowing and she has to explain to Conner what’s happening. After school that day, she has an idea. As well as the glowing and humming, anything that she drops onto the pages sinks in and disappears. She wonders what it would feel like to sink into the book. She starts with her arm, gently swirling it into the pages. Suddenly, she falls face first into the book. She lands in The Land of Stories (Conner comes too) where one of her greatest wishes is true: fairytales are real.

Now, the reason this book is named the Wishing Spell is because if you succeed in the spell, you will granted a wish. No matter how large, if you succeed, the spell will grant you one wish. They don’t know how to get back home, so that is what they are wishing for. In order to complete the spell, they must collect eight items all over the fairytale world. They are following a journal written by a man who was also on a quest for the spell. They have experiences with Goldilocks (the fugitive on the run), Red Riding Hood (the self-obsessed queen), Sleeping Beauty (the wise, trusting queen and my favorite of the queens), and many other famous and not so famous fairytale characters. It is set mostly in The Land of Stories, which is located in… a book. It’s very interesting, and a real page turner!

I am going to describe Conner’s personality. Most people would describe Alex, as her personality is pretty easy and she shows a lot of it, but Conner’s personality is more complicated. He is popular in school, unlike his sister, and keeps falling asleep in class. As you can tell, he’s not a very good student. Maybe the total opposite of his sister, who is attentive, intelligent, and a bit of a know-it-all. Conner is a bad student, but a good brother, as he saves Alex in many sticky situations. He has good ideas. For example, he has a trick to keep himself from falling asleep in class. He wears a rubber band around his wrist, and any time he feels himself getting sleepy, he snaps the rubber band. He presents this idea to the Sleeping Kingdom (Sleeping Beauty’s kingdom), as their citizens are sleeping 24/7, and no work is getting done. The kingdom adopts this idea and it works. Conner can be very logical and smart at times. You just can’t force him to be smart and logical. For example, when they first arrive in The Land of Stories he is the smart and logical thinking about all the things that could go wrong in their world while they’re gone. There might be a huge time change! Something big politically might happen! Literally anything could could go wrong, or they could miss something super huge. Alex loves sightseeing, and while the logical voices in her head were repeating what Conner was saying, but her curiosity got the better of her. So Conner is a logical intelligent person, you just need to catch him at the right moments.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

One of the most interesting and important parts of this book is when Alex and Conner go the Sleeping Kingdom for the first time. They need to collect the original needle that Sleeping Beauty first pricked her finger on for the Wishing Spell. Sleeping Beauty is my favorite of the queens. Conner is presenting the rubber band idea and suddenly one of Cinderella’s glass slippers falls out of their bag. The slippers are one of the most prized possessions in all the land. It makes them look like thieves. They didn’t actually steal the slipper. They tell this story to Sleeping Beauty and her guards (the guards are attacking) and Sleeping Beauty has faith, trust, and wisdom, for she believes them and calls off the guards. She is very wise, and she gives them the needle gladly, with the promise that they will return it as soon as they are done with it. It is important because it teaches Alex and Conner that some people in the fairytale world are also reasonable and wise, even people that you might least expect to be. That’s also just a general lesson in all life.

I enjoyed this book SO MUCH! I honestly loved it so strongly and this series in general that it’s the best thing since Harry Potter. It is so rich and full of information and twists around every corner that you just don’t want to stop reading it. All the other books are that same. I am one of those people that like to find out the true hidden meanings of famous stories, and that is basically exactly what this book gives. If you love that kind of stuff too, you need this series in your life. There are many other books that uncover hidden secrets from famous tales and you can look at multiple perspectives. These books might not be for everyone, but I highly suggest you give them a try because I’m 99.99999999999% sure that you will love them.

My rating of this book is (drumroll please): 5 STARS! This is maybe one of the greatest books I’ve ever read (and I’ve read a lot of books) and as soon as I finish the rest of the books I will definitely be rereading!

 

Jun
06
2017

As Brave as You, By Jason Reynolds

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As Brave as You, by Jason Reynolds

This book is called As Brave as You. The (awesome) book is by Jason Reynolds. I chose this book because from the moment I picked it out and read the first page, I saw that it had that hilarious and sarcastic aura to it, and I really like those types of books.  This book is about Genie (age 11) and Ernie Harris (age 13 about to turn 14), who go to North Hill, Virginia, and they stay with their grandparents for a whole month.

 

North Hill is a small town in the middle of Virginia. At first, Genie and Ernie are like “Dude, what is this place? Nothing like home, man.” They hate North Hill. Ernie and Genie are from Brooklyn. They miss the shade coming from the tall buildings cooling down the streets. They miss the ice cream truck coming to the sidewalk every day. Something that they really hate in North Hill, is the sunlight. Imagine the sunlight coming from your bedroom window, except 30 times brighter. That’s how bright the sun is there. There are a lot of steep hills, woods and forests in North Hill.

 

When Ernie and Genie arrived in North Hill, they hung out with their grandparents the first few days and they thought it was boring because there were no other kids their age there. Their grandparents literally live on the ‘North Hill’ of North Hill. They live on the top of an actual hill. There are no other houses on top of the hill.

 

Over the next few days, they wandered around aimlessly not knowing what to do (except for Ernie, he mostly played with the dog, Samantha, for the majority of the first few days). One day, Genie was looking over the side of the cliff and saw a little tiny row of houses he had never seen before. In front of a red house, he saw a girl around Ernie’s age. They walked down the hill (Genie tumbled) and met the girl.

 

Her name is Tess. Tess lives down the hill from them. They became friends and Tess took them to the local tavern where they drank the North Hill “special”. It turns out to just be ginger beer. Ginger beer is kind of like ginger ale, I think. They chatted for a bit, went to her house, and after a while Ernie and Genie left. Their grandma was hollering their names from the top of the hill like a mad woman, so they ran back up. For the rest of the vacation, the three of them hung out, got into big pickles and made DIY items.

 

Finally, Ernie’s 14th  birthday comes up. Grandpa Brooke (that’s his first name. Weird, right?) decides that he wants to teach his oldest grandson how to shoot! Grandpa Brooke decides to teach him how to shoot in the forest, so no bullets would do any harm to outsiders. Grandpa Brooke was a sniper in the Vietnam War!  He taught some of the best shooters in North Hill how to shoot.

 

IF YOU DON’T WANT A KIND OF BIG SPOILER, SKIP THIS ENTIRE PIECE OF INFORMATION!!! I’M WARNING YOU!!!

 

It’s kind of surprising that Brooke is a blind man! Yep, blind, and he still knows how to shoot. Kind of crazy. Grandpa Brooke is also scared of going outside because the last time he was outside, he had just become blind (because of Glaucoma), and he was sitting on the front steps of his house. All of a sudden, a poisonous snake came out of nowhere and bit Brooke. He had to be rushed to the hospital, and ever since then, he was scared to go outside.

 

NOW YOU CAN READ YOUR HEART OUT!

 

Brooke, Ernie, Genie, and Crab (a shooter in North Hill who is a good friend of Brooke’s), all go to the woods to teach Ernie how to shoot. Genie isn’t old enough to learn how to shoot, so he just goes to watch Ernie.

Everyone Is oblivious to Ernie’s nervousness, except for Genie. That’s right, Ernie is nervous. The weird thing is, Ernie is never nervous about anything. Nothing at all. As soon as Ernie held the gun in his hands, he started to get really shaky and his hands trembled. Once he pulled the trigger the gun slipped backward from his hands, sending the bullet behind. It didn’t hit anyone, luckily. However, the gun slammed into Ernie’s mouth, knocking out two of his teeth. He had to go to the Emergency room and get braces. This is the kind of pickle they would get into.

 

About two weeks later, the brothers’ parents come back to get them, and Ernie and Genie can’t deny that they had a good time. Just as they were getting to like North Hill, they had to leave. Sad, right?

 

I would definitely recommend this book if you like sarcasm and wit. Also if you like some sort of tame adventure.

Again, this book is AWESOME! I would give it ????? out of ????? stars. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ!!!

 

Jun
06
2017

The Search For WondLa

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The Search For WondLa

 

Eva Nine was dying. Can you imagine death? Well, she can. Truth is she’s actually dying here . . . of boredom. Eva nine does  not  live a normal life. Unless you call living underground with a robot and no other humans normal.

 

The only way she stays alive is Muthr. Muthr is a robot that has raised Eva in their underground sanctuary for as long as Eva can remember. She has been training Eva to survive in the world above them. Eva Nine has never seen any other humans other than a picture of a girl, an adult, and a robot. The only clue to finding these humans is the word WondLa at the bottom of the picture.  The only problem is Muthr can’t detect any humans above them though she does not tell Eva.

 

One night a marauding huntsman (of species unknown) attacks their underground sanctuary and leaves Eva with the only option to flee to the surface without Muthr. Though when Eva gets up there she does not recognize anything from Muthr’s training. Infact she ends up sleeping in a walking tree.

 

After befriending Rovender Kitt an alien wanderer and Otto  a Tardigrade, Eva  Nine and her new friends set out on the search for WondLa.   

 

I recommend this book if you like adventure. If you are  a curious person this book will always keep you interested with all the twists and turns to things you’re not expecting. I give this book 5 stars!

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.