Category Archives: Fiction

Feb
26
2015

Prophet of Yonwood By Jeanne Duprau

Posted by

YonwoodThe book that I read was The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne Duprau. This is the third book in the Ember series. The setting is in Yonwood, North Carolina. It is in the future but before Ember. The book is about this girl named Nickie that is 11 years old. She lives in Philadelphia but her aunt Crystal is trying to sell her great great grandfather’s house in the town of Yonwood with her.

I think that Nickie is trusting because when her friend Amanda told Nickie that she has to watch Amanda’s dog Otis, Nickie did it very well. I also think that Nickie is brave because she stays home by herself for 5 hours and goes outside without anyone keeping her company. I think that Nickie is ambitious because in the beginning of the book she set up 3 goals. Her goals were:  1. keeping her great great grandfather’s house so she and her parents could live in it. 2. Doing something helpful for the world. And 3. falling in love. One of the most interesting parts of the book is in the beginning of the book when Althea Tower had a vision of a city that had nothing and it was all fiery.The second interesting part was when Brenda Beeson, who tries to help out, thought that the “prophet” (Althea Tower) was mumbling sinners when the Prophet tried to say cities and she was actually saying sinnies. When Brenda Beeson thought that the prophet was saying sinners thats when she was called the prophet and people followed what she said.  The third interesting part was when I found out that this book is actually a pre sequel Nickie’s father was the builder of Ember.  These events happened before Ember was built.

I enjoyed this book because I liked all the weird things like the humming bracelet and the no dogs part when they take all the dogs away. I would recommend this book if you want a book that gets you at the edge of your seat and that has a lot of surprising parts. I don’t think that there are any TV shows or movies related to this book. I would give this book 4 stars. ****

Feb
26
2015

Miss Emily by Burleigh Muten

Posted by

 

51jJCinMl8L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

I read Miss Emily by Burleigh Muten. It is about Emily Dickinson, who was a real person but the book is historical fiction. The characters in the book call her Miss Emily (or just Emily). Emily is the aunt of two children: Mattie,and Ned. Across the street are their friends, Mac and Sally. Even though Emily is a grown-up, she likes to play with children. One day, she announces that the circus is going to come to town and she wants to sneak out at night and see the circus train arriving, so they can be the first to see the circus. The book takes place in Amherst, in Massachusetts.

 

Two parts I liked about the book were first, when Emily assigned characters to each child. Ned was “Senor Ranchero,” the ringmaster, Sally was “Sal the Gal”, Mattie was “Miss Swiftly”, half girl half bird, and Mac was King Boaz the Brave. I think this idea connects to our immigrant personas because it is a character we are pretending to be. My second favorite part was when the kids put on a show for Miss Emily and their other aunt, Vinnie, in the barn. I think this is interesting because it is the children’s way of making their own version of the circus. Three words to describe Emily are courageous, respectful and creative. Courageous because she is sneaking out at night and if she got caught the whole town would know and they would be in trouble. Respectful because she is always thinking about including all ages and people. Creative because she makes up stories and characters to go with them, like the circus characters she made for the kids.

 

I enjoyed this book because it is about an adventure – the adventure is that they are running through the woods to see the circus. It is pretty short, so if you like short books I would recommend it. I learned Emily Dickinson was a very interesting person, she wrote nearly 1,800 poems even though only ten were published. I would give this book four stars.

 

I also went to the Emily Dickinson museum in Amherst and I learned a lot of facts about her, like some of the poems she wrote. The museum is in the house she lived in. That’s where I got this book!

 

Feb
26
2015

The Twits by Roald Dahl

Posted by

The-Twits-24ssvc8-4The book that I read is called The Twits by Roald Dahl. This book is about this revolting couple, Mrs. Twit and Mr. Twit, who hate children and each other. The setting takes place in their house with no windows in the United Kingdom and hopefully this isn’t happening nowadays.

An adjective I would use to describe both of the Twits is appalling. Appalling because Mr. Twit has things in his beard from decades ago and Mrs.Twit looks like a deformed hippo. The second adjective I would use to describe The Twits is creative. Creative because it was genius to think of putting pennies on Mrs. Twit’s walking stick everyday. This made her think that she was getting smaller so Mr. Twit tried to stretch her with 1000 balloons that were attached to the ground and then cut the balloons so she went flying up to the moon. The problem was that Mrs. Twit is smart too so she ate enough of the balloons for her to come down. The third adjective I would use to describe the Twits is friendly. Just kidding, they are the opposite of friendly. They are awful, horrendous, hideous, revolting and much more. They are all these things because of all the things they do to people or animals or their own kinds.

A good example of the terrible things they do is when they make this thing that is called bird pie.They put this super glue on a tree and if you put something on the tree you’re not getting it back. So what birds will do is sit on the tree and then the next thing they know they’re bird pie. One time these kids wanted to get a look at the Twits’ house and climbed onto a tree and the next thing they know is that they’re stuck. Mr. Twit was climbing up the ladder to get the children for his new children pie and one of the three kids had a good idea. His idea was to leave their pants on the tree and jump off with their nude tushies. Another important part was when Mrs. Twit wanted to get revenge on her husband for his prank. What she did was just sickening. She got earthworms from their garden and served herself some good spaghetti but gave Mr. Twit some earthworms. How does that sound? I think we’re going to have that for lunch tomorrow.

This book is great with worm spaghetti, food in beards (especially Mr. Twit’s) and best of all pranks. I recommend it because it’s by one of the all time greats, Roald Dahl. I definitely recommend this book if you like humor. I compare this book to The Terrible Two which is a book that I already wrote about. I would give this book three and seven eighths because I liked it but I like longer books and this book was only about ninety-four pages.

Feb
26
2015

Liar and Spy Rebecca Stead

Posted by

Liar-and-Spy-213x300I read Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead. This book is about a kid named Georges (the s is silent) and he moves to a new house and this one has an apartment. The boy in his building is Safer and he thinks the man upstairs, Mr. X, is doing something mysterious. They start spying on him. The setting of the book is in their building and at school. This is in present time in the USA.

The main characters are Safer, Georges, and Candy. Georges is sensible, curious, and awkward. He is sensible because he never wants to do dangerous things when he knows he shouldn’t. He is curious because he still wants to spy even though he may get into trouble. He is awkward because he gets bullied for his name and he just ignores it. An interesting part is the end when you find out what Mr. X is up to. I also think it is interesting and funny when they spy through the lobby-cam. I think these are important because they are very interesting and important to the story.

I enjoyed this book because it is very specific. It has many details and it paints a picture in your head. I think when books are specific it makes the story more interesting. I also enjoy it because there are little mysteries inside the big one. This makes it fun. I recommend this book for people who like humor and mysteries. This is a good book for the kind of people who like humor and mysteries. I think this is like Jumanji because things are not what they appear to be. I give this book five stars.***** It was an awesome book!

 

 

Feb
26
2015

Invasion of the Overworld by Mark Cheverton

Posted by

invasionAndrei

The book I read is called Invasion of the Overworld, and it’s by Mark Cheverton. It’s about a kid who loves Minecraft, but he doesn’t really have any friends on Minecraft because he likes to prank people (it’s called trolling). We don’t know his real name, but his user name is Gamenight999. His dad’s invention teleports him into the game! Gamenight999 has to now use his skills to survive Minecraft. He doesn’t know what happens when he dies in Minecraft. Will he respawn? Will he go back to the normal world? Or, will he really die? This action of Gamenight999 trying to survive all happens in the world of Minecraft.

Gamenight999 is super ANNOYING. Well, at first he is. In the start of the book Gamenight999 is always trolling others and ruining minecraft for them. He is a noble person because in the end he learns that not everything is about him. He saves lots of other users, but by saving them his Minecraft character gets killed. He is also pretty clever because the way he trolls is that he hacks the game. You can imagine that hacking is not a piece of cake. I thought it was interesting that in the book there are lots of servers. There is one on top that is called the source. The source is the server that powers all the other servers. Gamenight999 learns that the mobs (monsters in minecraft) have one goal: to get to the source. They want to do this because if the source is destroyed, it makes a portal to the overworld, AKA the human world, then they can destroy that too.

I liked this book, it wasn’t the best book but because sometimes it got pretty slow but it was still good. I liked it because, well, I really like the game minecraft too. Also, I liked the character Gamenight999, he made me want to keep reading. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to game, especially if you like minecraft. If you hate minecraft, you shouldn’t read this book. It is also a good book to read because there’s lots of action and adventure and it is fun to read. This book is not like other books. I have read the minecraft guides but it is still different.

I would rate this book:

 

 

imgres

 

 

Feb
25
2015

Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo

Posted by

images

Thomas Book Review Three

Charlie Bone and the Time Twister

The name of the book I read was Charlie Bone and the Time Twister and the author is Jenny Nimmo. It is the second book in the Charlie Bone Series and there are eight in the series. The book is about Charlie Bone finding someone who he is related to but the catch is that he should be dead. The main characters are Charlie Bone, Henry Yewbeam, Billy Raven and Runner Bean. The setting of the book is The Pet’s Cafe, Bloor’s Academy and  Number Nine in the years 1916 and 2006.

Billy is  young, quiet and nice. He is nice but quiet because he’s shy but if you really get to know him he’s nice. Billy is young because he is seven, turning eight. My favorite part of the book is when Henry comes out of nowhere with a marble in his hand in Bloor’s Academy. I think the most important part is when Henry goes to live with James. Another important thing is when Charlie figures out that there is a secret passage from the Pets Cafe to Bloor’s Academy so he can get to Henry on the weekends. Bloor’s is closed down on the weekends so it makes sense that there is no way to get in on the weekends. I like it when Henry goes back to James and it feels like it’s a big HAPPY family reunion (without the sisters).

I enjoyed the book because there is mystery and adventure. There’s adventure when they explore Bloor’s Academy to figure out new mysteries to solve.  I would recommend this book because it takes a long time to read the whole series. Another reason I recommend this book is because it is action packed with spying, misbehaving and hypnotizing. There are no books similar to the book that I have read. I give this book I give this book FIVE STARS but I do not want to read it again because there are sooooooooooooooooooooooooo many other ones in the series.

 

 

Feb
25
2015

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Posted by


imgres

Sophie is a regular 17 or 18 year old girl when all of a sudden the Witch of the Waste turns her into a 90 year old woman. I read Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. The main characters are Sophie and Howl. Sophie is a normal girl, and Howl is a wizard. The book is about a 17 or 18 year old girl who gets turned into an 90 woman by the Witch of the Waste, so she runs away. She finds Howl’s Moving Castle and she starts living there. The setting is in a lot of places, but it mostly takes place inside the castle.

 

Sophie is very nosy, curious and brave. She is nosy because she is going around the castle and looking out of windows cleaning things and looking at other people’s stuff. She is curious because the front door has different colors that they can spin this knob and go to different places. She was looking at all the colors on the doors and was really curious what the black went to. She is brave because she had the courage to run away from her home without saying goodbye or telling her family what had happened. One thing that I thought was really interesting was the front door. You can use the door to go to 4 places that I can remember: Ingary, Kingsbury, Wales and the Moving castle. Another thing about this book is Calcifer. Calcifer is a fire demon. He keeps the castle moving and makes the hot water. Calcifer is under a curse too. Like Sophie, he is not allowed to go out of the fireplace. Only enough to see which way to move the castle. Sophie and Calcifer make a deal that if she breaks the curse on him, he will break the curse on her.

 

I really, really enjoyed this book. I think it is my favorite book now! It’s really interesting how there is magic. Diana Wynne Jones really described the magic, so you can really imagine what’s happening. I would recommend this book because it keeps you reading non stop. You have to keep reading until you get to a stopping point. It gets you really exited about what is going to happen next and the chapters end in cliff hangers. I think I want to read it again. I think people who really like magic should read this book! I think Harry Potter is like this book because there is also a lot of magic in Harry Potter. I rate this book FIVE STARS out of one to five.

 

 

Feb
25
2015

Because of Mr.Terupt By: Rob Buyea

Posted by

searchis a book about seven kids in the fifth grade. Jefferey, he hates school and lots of other things. He’s gloomy and ever since an issue has happened at his home he has not been himself. Danielle, lets bullys be mean to her, and still is nice to mean girls. Luke, gets the best grades A+ man super smart. Alexia, mean girl never trust her. Peter, prankster trouble maker loves to get a good laugh. Anna the shy observant girl. And Jessica, the new girl from california. And their new teacher Mr. Terupt. He is the teacher who knows what to do with them. He is a great teacher, everyone loves him, including some teachers. He has lots of cool activities for them. One day he changes them. He brings them to the collaborative classroom with children who think differently and have special learning needs. Soon the whole class feels bad for them. They have a great time, up until one nice snowy day when a problem changes everything, and everyone. What could possibly go wrong?Because of Mr.Terupt By: Rob Buyea

Because Of Mr. Terupt is a book about seven kids in the fifth grade. Jefferey, he hates school and lots of other things. He’s gloomy and ever since an issue has happened at his home he has not been himself. Danielle, lets bullys be mean to her, and still is nice to mean girls. Luke, gets the best grades A+ man super smart. Alexia, mean girl never trust her. Peter, prankster trouble maker loves to get a good laugh. Anna the shy observant girl. And Jessica, the new girl from california. And their new teacher Mr. Terupt. He is the teacher who knows what to do with them. He is a great teacher, everyone loves him, including some teachers. He has lots of cool activities for them. One day he changes them. He brings them to the collaborative classroom with children who think differently and have special learning needs. Soon the whole class feels bad for them. They have a great time, up until one nice snowy day when a problem changes everything, and everyone. What could possibly go wrong?

This book takes place at all the character’s houses, and their school. The time in this book is modern day.

The most interesting part of the book for me was when the “girl war” started. It made me want to read more. It was when Alexia started being mean to Anna, Danielle, and Jessica. She kept making them not be friends and she did it to make Jessica feel bad for standing up to Alexia. Another thing about this book is that it switches perspectives a lot, if you like books that change perspectives this is the book for you.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved each character. The book made more sense because the book had different characters perspectives it made me want to read more and more and more. I would recommend this book to people who love prospective changes. Also I think this book is good for age seven and up. I would recommend to people who like all sorts of books! This book falls in many different categories. If you read Wonder, Out Of My Mind, or any books by Wendy Mass, then you’ll have a fun time reading this book. I would rate this book !

 

Feb
25
2015

The Meaning of Maggie By: Megan Jean Sovern

Posted by

The name of the book I read is The Meaning of Maggie by, Megan Jean Sovern. The book is about a girl named Maggie, Maggie is the main character. The book takes place in a modern town outside Atlanta. Maggie has two older teenage sisters their names are Layla and Tiffany. Layla is their parent’s favorite. Maggie’s mom and dad used to be hippies.  (Hippie’s are laid back people. They believe in peace. They also wear funky clothes.) Her dad has a disease called Multiple Sclerosis. It is when your legs and arms fall asleep and it is hard for you to control your limbs. Whenever something goes wrong they always says “Pull up your bootstraps”(Family motto).

 

Maggie dreams about becoming president. She is now one year closer to becoming it, going to college, being able to vote, and getting a tattoo. The book is written in Maggie’s perspective. Maggie Mayfield is writing a memoir about the time between her 11th birthday and her 12th.

 

Maggie is strong.  When stuff happens to her dad she tries to be strong. She tries not to show him that she is really worried. Maggie is also a fun person. Her dad is very sick but still she has fun. She doesn’t let that ruin her fun. Last but not least Maggie is smart. She has won Student of The Month multiple times. She is her teacher’s favorite because she is so smart. Unlike other kids she wishes that there were no vacations from school. But the thing she wishes for most is that her dad gets better. An interesting part of the book is when Maggie’s mom tells Tiffany that Maggie is her favorite and Layla is their dad’s favorite. Another part of the book I found interesting is when Phyllis and Donny come over. They are Maggie’s mom and dad’s old hippie friends. Maggie is so scared of them but after a while she ends up liking them. When Phyllis and Donny come one of them has a motorcycle and he takes the dad for a ride. It is funny because since her dad limbs are asleep they had to use a bungee cord to tie her dad to Donny so he wouldn’t fall off.

 

I really, really, really, loved this book. One thing that was cool about it was that there would sometimes be a sentence and a really small number would be at the end of it. At the end of the page the same number was there but Maggie is either explaining a little more or giving you her opinion. It was like she was just thinking. For example: “Well. some of us guessed. Some of us just10 knew the answers.”

Then at the end of the page . . . 10.  Me.

 

I would definitely recommend this book. It is sad and has some serious topics. But it is still a fun book. I think anyone can have fun reading this book. Some people might have more fun than others reading this. When you are reading this book you will not be able to put it down. You might or might not like how the author talks to from Maggie’s perspective (but I do). 5 STARS

(1 the worst- 5 the best)

Feb
25
2015

The Meaning of Maggie

Posted by

meaning-of-maggie_9781452110219_norm

I read The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern. It is about a girl named Maggie. Her dad has a disability that makes him not able to walk. Throughout the book Maggie and her sisters, Tiffany and Layla help her dad walk. This book is an easy read, but also there are some serious themes. Some of the story is sad, like when she finds out her dad can’t walk, but it is also funny and well written. Maggie’s dad  has multiple sclerosis. Maggie wishes that her dad would be fine, so she gets very scared when something relating to his disability happens. Maggie is one of the best students in her school. She was picked as student of the month, and she studies a lot. She also likes to stay after school and help out in the classroom.

 

Maggie has a dad, a mom, and two sisters named Tiffany and Layla. Tiffany and Layla ’s personalities are nothing like Maggie. Layla is the oldest sister. She is more mature than Tiffany. Tiffany fights with Maggie a lot. The whole family helps Maggie’s dad. There are some parts that are a little sad. Maggie is smart. She always wants to get to school early, she is the teacher’s favorite student, and she wants to be president some day. Maggie is cheerful. When something happens to her father, she tries to help him. She does her best to make her father happy. Maggie is brave. It is hard when someone in your family has a disease. But she supports her father the whole time.

 

One part that I  found interesting is when Maggie finds out for the first time about her dad’s disease.Another interesting part is when they are at the hospital. It is a very dramatic scene. Maggie is crying because they don’t know what will happen to her dad. I think everyone should read The Meaning of Maggie. It is an easy read for some people, and very well written. I loved this book because it is funny, sad, and well written. The type of writing in this book makes you want to keep reading. I would give this book

(four and a half stars)