Category Archives: Fiction

May
04
2017

The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket

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SPOILER ALERT, THIS REVIEW REVEALS LOTS OF IMPORTANT PLOT POINTS

A Series of Unfortunate Events, THE BAD BEGINNING is by Lemony Snicket. This book is about three kids that each have something unique about themselves. Violet Baudelaire, the oldest, has a love for inventing things. Klaus Baudelaire, the second oldest, has a love for reading books. The third child, Sunny Baudelaire (she is a infant) has a love for biting things. She can sure bite hard. She can bite rocks into perfect skipping rocks, etc. Anyway, while the children are sitting on the beach, Mr. Poe, one of Mr. and Mrs. Baudelaires great friends. “How do you do?” , asked Violet and Klaus. “Odo Yow!”, said Sunny. “Fine”, said Mr. Poe. Unfortunately this conversation was not going to end in a good way. Mr. Poe was about to tell them some not so good news. “You’re parents have perished in a terrible fire”, said Mr. Poe. Mr. Poe said that the name of their new parent is Count Olaf. As they meet Count Olaf for the first time, they notice that he has a tattoo of an eye on his ankle. From then on, the three children realize that Count Olaf isn’t just trying to be a good parent but is doing whatever he can to get his hands on the fortune that the Baudelaire children were left with. As well as that, the children slowly start realizing that that tattoo on Count Olaf’s ankle might mean more than just a normal tattoo. I think that this book takes place in the 1980s because it didn’t really mention anything about computers or phones.

An adjective that I would use to describe the three children is being very, very smart. Violet is smart because she invented a grappling hook using curtains shirts, and wire. Klaus is very smart because he has read tons and tons of books. So many books that he can solve almost every problem with all of his knowledge that he has gathered from reading so many books. Sunny is very smart because whenever something is going on in the books sunny knows what is going on. Another adjective that I would use to describe the three is calm. Whenever the three face a problem with Count Olaf they never panic. They always think of something. Another reason that the three are calm is because when they went to there house after the fire, they didn’t burst into tears and start rolling on the ground. They don’t let their emotions get the better of them. A third adjective that I would use to describe the three is brave. They will do anything to help each other. Once Count Olaf trapped Sunny in the highest part of his house. Violet knowing that there were dangerous people in the house made a grappling hook to go rescue Sunny. Another reason that the three are brave is because when one of Count Olaf’s crew members came to get the three from Count Olaf’s next door neighbors house, Klaus stole a book that he thought would really help them with a problem that his siblings and himself were having with Count Olaf without anyone seeing it.

I have a lot of favorite parts in the book. If I had to pick three though, one would be is at the end of the book when Count Olaf is still trying to get the Baudelaire fortune by marrying Violet. Violet totally tricks Count Olaf by signing the official document with her left hand. That is one of my favorite parts of the book because a nice young women tricked a mean old man. My second favorite part of the book is at the beginning when Sunny is biting rocks into perfect skipping rocks. That is another one of my favorite parts because that the first time you see Sunny biting something so it is very surprising and kind of scary. My third favorite part is when they are super happy when they see Count Olaf’s next door neighbors house and they get all happy but when they hear that the house they will be living in is the one next door. That is one of my favorite parts because I feel like that is the beginning of the part of the book where it gets mysterious.

I really enjoyed this book because you never really know what is going to happen next. Two reasons that this is true is because one, one moment the Baudelaire children are on the children are on the beach and the next moment they know that their parents are dead and two, they think that they are going to be staying in this amazing house, the next thing they know they are staying in this awful looking dreaded house. I would recommend this book to people who really like mysteries. That is because there are a lot of mysteries in one book, there’s not just one mystery per book. This book reminds me of the Mysterious Benedict Society because there are so many different mysteries and different things that the characters are trying to figure out. Also in each book the main characters are all somewhat intelligent. If I had to rate this book from one to five stars I would rate this book four stars.

May
04
2017

Spy School By Stuart Gibbs

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The book I read was called Spy School it is written by Stuart Gibbs. This book is about a kid named Benjamin Ripley who has amazing math skills and a girl named Erica Hale who is an amazing spy. One day coming home from school Benjamin  a man named Alexander Hale who recruits Benjamin because of a fake skill that Benjamin doesn’t have. When he gets to Spy School there was a test to make sure he is actually qualified to go to Spy school. That was when he met Erica.The penalty for not making it through the test was death. If you weren’t qualified to be a spy you would probably die.  Benjamin did survive by meeting Erika who helped him through the test she also gave him a taser which he didn’t think was helpful but since he had a crush on Erika he didn’t say it. Soon after he met Chip Schacter who wanted Benjamin to hack into one of the computers so he could cheat and get all the answers. Then after that Murray Hill came in and knocked out Chip. Later in the middle of the night a murderer came into Ben’s room. Ben pulled out a tennis racket from the side of his bed and he hit the murderer with the tennis racket out the window. Ben  didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of them either because he was in boxers.

Benjamin is smart, determined and friendly. Ben is smart because when Alexander asked him what is 98,261 times 147 ,Ben immediately said “14,444,365”. Ben is determined on getting himself off the SPYDER’s hit list. He is also determined to get Erica to like him so he has to impress her which will be hard because she is the best in the school. Benjamin is a friendly because within like three days of being in Spy School he managed to get at least five friends. Erica is smart, independent, and prepared. Erica is smart because instead of making friends she reads, studies and practice things. At lunch she sits on a bench alone and reads. Erica is independent because she would rather do it right then let someone else do it wrong. For example when everyone was doing paintball and when the plan they made went wrong. Erica already had her own plan and she took out the guards and made sure that no one that no one would see that she went up the castle shot the sniper and stole the flag. Erica is a quick thinker because when Ben and Erika just figured out the mole’s location Erika already grabbed two M16s. This makes her a quick thinker because it proves she is ahead of the game and is ready for anything. Chip Schacter is two faced, sneaky and, tough. Chip is two faced because in the beginning of the book he was the bully like when he threatened Ben unless Ben  hack into the school computer so he could see all the answers to get better grades. Chip is sneaky because when everyone was playing paintball he snuck out and found a bomb in a cave. Chip is reckless because when he went to the bomb during paintball, he already had terrible grades on his bomb defusing class and he could have blown up the hole school.

I think the most interesting part of Spy School was when Ben and the mole are fighting and then Ben shot the huge ice crystal above the mole’s head making the mole fall unconscious. I think this is the most interesting part of the book because pretty much the whole book was. The second most interesting part of this book was when Erica made Ben say really bad things to the principal like what’d you’ve for lunch today dog poo? This is interesting to me because he is already in so much trouble now Erica asked him to get into even more trouble and she wouldn’t even tell him why she wanted him to do it. The third most interesting part of the book is the fact that Warren has a crush on Zoe but Zoe has a crush on Ben this is interesting to me because they are supposed to be working together on finding the mole. The most important part of Spy School is when Alexander came to Ben’s room to recruit him because if he didn’t there would be no point of the book and he wouldn’t have done all the cool things or met all of these people. The second most important part of the book is when they discovered that SPOILER ALERT Murray was the mole because if they hadn’t, SPYDER would have gathered so much information about the CIA and that would have ended everything if SPYDER had all of the details about the CIA. The third most important part of the book was when Ben discovers that SPOILER ALERT Alexander Hale is a fraud because otherwise Ben would be looking up to a guy that doesn’t even know anything and if he did that he would probably die. He would die because Alexander didn’t do anything right so Alexander would say something they would go into a trap and die. An important quote/message that Ben received to show when he was accepted into Spy School. Dear Mr. Benjamin Ripley it’s my great privilege to accept you to the Academy of Espionage of the Central Intelligence Agency, effective immediately. This quote/message is important to the book because if he didn’t get the message there would be no proof that Ben would be qualified or allowed to be in Spy School.

I enjoyed this book because Spy School because it has elements from genres there is mystery, action, adventure, fiction, spying and, drama. Also on occasion this book is kind of funny. Also because on almost every page there is something important or awesome happening. I would recommended this book because it has lots of unexpected twists that make it more interesting. Also because when you get into it you can’t come out of it like a trance, and I wish it will never stop. There are no TV shows, movies or books that I know of that are like Spy School. I think this because there are some things that are like this that I do not know of but if there are I want to read them because this book was amazing. I would rate this from five to one. Five which means I loved it. I want to read it again.

May
04
2017

The Castle In The Mist by Amy Ephron

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I read The Castle In The Mist by Amy Ephron. The book is about a girl named Tess who finds a hidden castle. She discovers that there is a family that lives there and she makes friends with the kid. She hangs out with them and plays with them. At the end something happens and she has the find a way to fix it. This book takes place in a little town. I think it takes place around now because it mentions not having wifi and not being able to use their phones.


Tess is brave, persistent, and adventurous. Tess is brave because when she saw that her brother and her friend were in trouble she went ahead and saved them. She did not think a lot about it  she just thought of a plan and went for it. Tess is persistent because when her brother and her friend were in trouble she did not give up and made a plan to save them. Tess is adventurous because when she found the castle she was walking around the forest adventuring and she went pretty far.

In this book I think that it is important that William’s house is hidden and no one can see it. I think that this is important because it tells you about his dad. It tells you that his dad does not like when things are open to everyone and that he needs his privacy. I also think that it is important that Tess’s parents are both away. I think this because when she starts thinking about things she thinks about them and what they said about what she should do. Something important that she thought of was when there was a storm she thought of her dad saying to her, “Don’t go there, don’t try to imagine me over there. Just think of me as right here on your shoulder. Always.” I think this is important because she is thinking about her dad in a storm when he is not there. She is remembering when he was there. It shows that she misses him and probably would want him there right then. This is important because it changes the way she acts and it changes her mood. It would change her mood probably from happy to feeling like you’re missing something.
I enjoyed this book a lot. One reason is because I wanted to know more about William so I would just keep reading. The second reason is that I wanted to know if her mom was going to be okay or know if the dad would be okay reporting the war. I would recommend this book. I think this because I liked how mysterious William was and how I wanted to know more about the castle. I think that this book is unique because I haven’t seen a movie or book about a girl who is living in a little town with her aunt and brother before the girl goes off and finds a castle. I would give this book a four star rating because I liked it a lot I probably wouldn’t want to read it again.

May
04
2017

One Crazy Summer By Rita Williams Garcia

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I read One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. This is a historical fiction novel about three sisters, Delphine (11), Vonetta (9), and Fern (7) who live with their father and grandmother in Brooklyn, New York. The girls’ father sends them to Oakland, California one summer to stay with their mother, Cecile, who abandoned them seven years before. Cecile is a Black Panther, and spends most of her time in her kitchen writing poems and printing flyers. The Black Panthers were a political party whose  purpose was to patrol African American neighborhoods to protect residents from acts of police brutality. Cecile repeatedly tells the girls that she never asked them to visit her. She sends them out of the house everyday to The People’s Center, run by the Black Panther Party, for breakfast and day camp.The setting of the book is Oakland, California in 1968.

 

Delphine is mature, loyal, and cautious. She is mature because she is responsible for her two younger sisters the whole time they are in Oakland. Delphine makes sure the girls have been fed and bathed, and encourages them to behave properly. Delphine is also loyal to her father and grandmother. Delphine knows that her father and grandmother would not approve of the girls eating takeout every night, so Delphine decides to go grocery shopping to make a dinner similar to one they would eat at home. Lastly Delphine is cautious. She is nervous about possible violence at the Black Panther rally and tells her sisters they will not attend.

 

One of the most interesting parts of the book is when Delphine rides her friend  Hirohito’s go-kart for the first time. This is the first time in the book that Delphine acts like a child having fun, not like a parent to Vonetta and Fern. “As the go-kart went faster, I felt the rumbling of the wheels hitting the concrete underneath me. I screamed. So loud I startled myself. I had never heard myself scream. Screamed from the top of my lungs, the pit of my heart. Screamed like I was snaking and falling. Screamed and hiccupped and laughed like my sisters. Like I was having the time of my life, flying down that glorious hill.” This is the first glimpse of Delphine enjoying herself, without concern for her sisters. Another part of the book I enjoyed was when Fern spoke at the Black Panther rally, and announced that one of their members, Crazy Kelvin, was friendly with the police. It was exciting that Fern had made the discovery, and was praised by the Black Panthers at the rally.

I enjoyed the book because I learned more about the Civil Rights Movement and was introduced to the Black Panthers. I also liked the relationships between the three sisters, who were all very different but loved each other deeply. I would recommend this book because it teaches about the Civil Rights movement in an interesting and exciting way. I would also recommend the book because, although it addresses serious topics, can be funny. This book is similar to “Turning 15 On The Road To Freedom”. Both books have young women as the main characters and are about the Civil Rights Movement. I would rate my book four stars.

Wonder by R.J Palico

The book I read is called Wonder by R.J Palacio. The book is about a boy named August Pullman who was born with a facial difference. He has to learn how to fit in, and make new friends in his first year of actually going to school at Beecher Prep. This book takes place in present time in New York City.

August is brave, nervous and extraordinary. August is brave because he is willing to give school a try even know he might go through some tough times. August is nervous because he is scared people won’t want to be his friend or that he won’t fit in. You sort of have to realize as a new kid that it can be hard especially when you were born with a deformed face. August is extraordinary because he goes to school for the first time and does his best to fit In and that is very hard. I think that that is very special.

I thought it was interesting when August and a couple of friends got beaten up in the woods and some kids that were sort of grossed out by August came and stood up for them. I thought it was interesting because it was really surprising and I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t expect it like in the other book I read. In the other books I read I sort of knew what was going to happen. I also thought it was interesting how August’s friend Jack stood up for him by punching a boy who was making fun of August. It was interesting because at that time they weren’t best friends yet. He almost got expelled from doing that and I think it was sweet in a violent way. My favorite quote in the book is when August keeps doubting himself and his mom says to him “You’re not ordinary you’re extraordinary!” I think that this quote describes him well because he went though a lot during his school year and was very brave. It was a lot of pressure but he got threw it and he very extraordinary for that.

I enjoyed his book a lot, it’s probably my favorite book. It is my favorite book because it’s just so unique, the story that is told and the lessons that are learned in this book is just really interesting because they teach you more things in this book then in usual books. I would recommend this book for sure, it is rally unique in its own way. I would read it a thousand times if I had to. I’m really excited for the movie that is coming out this November! I want to see what the characters will look like especially August. Hope there will be a commercial soon. On a scale from one to five, one meaning I didn’t like that much, five meaning I really liked I want to read it again, I would rate it five stars of course! Hope you can get a chance to read this as well.

May
01
2017

Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’engle

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What were the three W’s going to do? Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Which. They are the wise women who have been living for millions of years. They also guided Calvin Meg and Charles Wallace (brother + sister except Calvin, just a friend) on possibly the greatest adventure through time and space ever.Image result for wrinkle in time

 

Meg and Charles Wallace’s dad was an amazing scientist but a year or so ago he was sent on a mission by the government. Meg Calvin and Charles Find the siblings father on a dangerous planet controlled by IT. IT is a giant pulsing brain having everyone under its pattern.

 

Believe it or not IT is not the  main problem or “villain”. It is a black thing that  is pure evil and has been terrorizing many galaxies for longer than the W’s have been alive.

 

They go through many adventures together and after a while they realize that they love each other. That is like their power.

 

If you want a spoiler read this if not, DON’T:

 

THEY FIND THEIR DAD!!!!!

I love this book because I love adventure. The book is basically just adventure. They toggle withe time, play with space. In fact they stretch through time with the 5th dimension.

 

I would give this book a 5/5 stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.

May
01
2017

The Kneebone Boy

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The KneeBone Boy by Ellen potter 

The  Kneebone boy is spooky and mysterious and that’s why I liked it soooooooooooooooooo much. Many things don’t go the way you expect it to. That is why it is spooky and mysterious.

The three main characters Otto (13), Lucia(11/12), and Max(10) Hardscrabble live in Little Tunks, England. Otto hasn’t spoke a word since he was 8, Max has a fact for everything and Lucia is  bossy (in a good way), protective and curious.

Everyone in Little Tunks either avoids them or asks them too many questions. Ever since Otto was 8 he has never taken his scarf off and never spoken. Ever since Otto was 8 is also ever since there mom disappeared.

When there father leaves for a business trip they find themselves alone in london, meeting a helpful taxidermist, living in a castle folly, meeting a new relative, and possibly find out the truth about their mom.   

               

 

May
01
2017

Spaced Out by Stuart Gibbs

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            After the incident of the book Space Case, Dashiell Gibson, has another case to crack. In the year 2041 (doesn’t say the day) Nina Rodriguez has gone missing. Dashiell Gibson has gotten in trouble for running away from a bully. He made the bully destroy the eggs which are very valuable because you don’t get fresh food everyday. Nina Rodriguez the base commander called Dashiell Gibson in her office. After their talk Dash walked away listening to her call an anonymous person.

              Dash is a very determined person because he first he found out who was the killer in the first book which is amazing by the way. He doesn’t lose hope because if he did they’ll be dead by now.

              Later that day they found out that Nina has gone missing, Chang, the 2nd in command, asked Dash some questions, “You were the last person seeing her did you see anything that will give us any info on where she went?” Chang said, “No she was calling this person who I did not know so I have no clue.” Dash said. Then they started searching the whole Moonbase Beta. It’s a fairly small place so they didn’t have to search that much.

They couldn’t find her at all, so the last place she would be was outside the base. But the thing is her suit wasn’t gone which was very suspicious. What they didn’t think of, but Dash did, is that she could have took another person’s suit is Lily. Some of the people of the moon base. Dash’s mom. Chang and some other people. But Dash was left behind with Kira. They talked to Lily and she said she cracked one of the space helmets while playing foot ball. He immediately contacted his mom and some other people that his mom’s helmet is cracked. So then they took a buggy and went there as fast as they could. But then a meteor shower came and giant balls of rock plummeted down from space. The buggy was destroyed so they had to walk there when they got there all the resources were destroyed. So they couldn’t patch them up so then all of them had to run back to the Moon-Base luckily they made it. Find out what happens next in the book spaced out!

 

I really like the book because it’s a murder mystery but it’s appropriate  

Apr
19
2017

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

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Review by Margot Story

 

Is Captain Flint an ally, or an enemy? Over Spring Break I read the book Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. The Swallows and Amazons series consists of twelve books. Swallows and Amazons was written in 1930, and the rest of the books were written in a pattern: 1931, 1932, 1933 etc. It is also a British book, which changes some of the language. The main characters are the four Walker siblings and the two Blackett sisters. The Walker siblings are: John Walker (the eldest), Susan Walker, Titty Walker, and Roger (the youngest). They also have a baby sister Vicky, who is mentioned throughout the book. The two Blackett (usually mentioned as “Amazon”) sisters are: Ruth Blackett (though her pirate name is Nancy, and that is her name throughout the book – She changed her name after her Uncle Jim said that pirates were “ruthless”.), and Peggy Blackett. It is set in the Lake District in England, though some of the later books are set in other places. The four Walker siblings convince their mother to let them go on an adventure while on summer vacation. They consider themselves explorers, while the Amazon sisters consider themselves pirates.  They meet the Amazon sisters and they form an alliance. Then they get into a whole series of events which included the Amazons and the Amazon’s Uncle Jim, who they refer to as Captain Flint.

 

I am going to describe Titty because I feel that she is the most interesting. Titty is independent, brave, and curious. She is independent and brave because she stole the Amazon during one of the events that happened in the book. She also volunteered to stay alone on the big island at night, with absolutely no contact with her sister and brothers. She is curious because when she was alone she thought that some pirates were burying treasure on the island, and to have proof when her sister doubted her, she actually went to the spot and dug around. She also was very curious about Captain Flint at first, and decided to try and find out things she was curious about throughout the entire book. She has a big imagination because she thinks that Captain Flint is a retired pirate, and also she loves role-play. Whenever she role-plays she is Robinson Crusoe, and she pretends that her mother is Man Friday, two explorers from a very famous old book a little similar to Swallows and Amazons.

 

One of the most interesting (to me) parts of the book is when the Swallows see Captain Flint waving his fist at them. It is a minor point in the book, but I find it interesting because they have absolutely no idea what he is waving his fist about, yet later in the book when John goes to visit Captain Flint it is made known that Captain Flint believed that the Swallows lit his houseboat on fire. While the visit seems more interesting, I think that the fist waving is more important. It starts the relationship between the Swallows and Captain Flint, which is needed to start the series of events in the books that makes Swallows and Amazons one of the most interesting and pleasurable to read.

 

As you can probably tell already, I really love this book. I do think, though, it is a VERY difficult book to read, as the vocabulary is very advanced, using phrases like “make fast”, and using the word “native” as an offensive term. These are some outdated old British sayings which makes it hard to read, but if you use the context and read it over and over you can probably figure out what the words mean (with the help of Google), and then you can really enjoy the book.. I wouldn’t recommend this book for younger children, because of the vocabulary issue, and because it is such a long book I think they may find it draining to read. I think that if you want to try to read this book, go for it! It may be tricky at first but it’s a very enjoyable book to read. I am actually on my sixth time reading it, so get reading, you fo’c’sle crew!
My rating for this book is: Five stars! It was so fun to read. And I just loved the storyline!                   

Apr
19
2017

Return of the Padawan by Jeffrey Brown

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My book is called “Return of The Padawan” by Jeffrey Brown. It’s the second book in the series of Jedi Academy. The main character is Roan Novachez. She has two best friends named Pasha and Gaiana and her two enemies named Cronah and Cyrus who are probably Sith. This book takes place in the Star Wars universe before the Clone Wars.

Three adjectives that would describe Roan are hard working, force-sensitive and ambitious. She is hardworking because on page 64 it says,“I’ve been studying for star pilot simulator a lot, because I want to get the high score in class.” She is also force sensitive which means she can control stuff with her mind or hand, or befriend or hypnotize people or animals. Also, on pages nine and ten the book says she goes to Jedi Academy where force sensitive people go to train. She is ambitious because on page 64 it says, “I’ve been studying for star pilot simulator a lot, because I want to get the high score in class” (she really wants to be a pilot).

An important part of the book is when Roan throws a ball in dodgeball so hard that her best friend gets a black eye. This is important because it really changes the plot of the story and you don’t see it coming. Another important part of the the book is when Roan tears a page out of an important book that her friend’s father was studying. This is important because her last best friend stop liking her because he says he didn’t hear Roan apologize.
I loved the book mostly because it was about Star Wars. But, I also really enjoyed how it plays out with a lot of plot twisters. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes Star Wars. But also I would recommend it to people who like fast paced, plot twisting emotions. This book connects to all the Star Wars movies because they all live in the Star Wars universe. I would give this book five stars because I like Star Wars, and may the force be with you.