The book I read was Wonder. It was written by Raquel J. Palacio. This book is kind of in a series because there are special chapters that the author made to show the other characters that are mentioned in the book. The main characters are: August, Jack Will and Julian. This book is about how August has been homeschooled his whole life and when he finally goes to school he has such a hard time. He has a hard time because of his facial deformity. Like how Julian says have you been a fire or something. But when Julian says it Jack Will steps in and tells Julian to shut up. And that’s when August made his first friend. One day August walked in and saw Jack Will and Julian looking for August because he was supposed to where a Boba Fett but came in as bloody scream. So August listened to there conversation and heard Jack Will say that I look like Darth Sidious (Julian’s costume). So he told him something like I don’t want to be friends anymore. (Couple days later) After some months they did make up. After that Julian started to put notes in our during the locker because Jack Will punched him in the face. But Julian did get suspended for two weeks. During those weeks they went on a nature retreat and on that nature retreat the seventh graders started a fight and then amos came in and wrecked them and they ran. When they went back to school August was popular. And Julian was super suspicious. And Julian was really unpopular. In the end August was awarded the award of being brave and stuff like that.

I believe August is brave, smart and sensitive. I believe August is brave because he went to school and put up with all of that teasing (even when he wasn’t in school he was teased). I believe August is smart because when he came into the school tour he wanted to join the science elective which is the hardest class in the whole school. August is sensitive because when Jack, Will, and Julian were talking August heard them and got really upset. He was upset because August heard that Jack Will said that August looked exactly like Julian’s mask, which was Darth Sidious a.k.a Emperor Palpatine. I believe that Jack Will is caring, ingenious and two faced. Jack Will is caring because when August came to the tour and Julian said something really mean Jack Will stood up to him. Jack Will is ingenious because the things he does just makes him seem really original like how he was kind of popular and caring because some people let popularity get to their head. Like how Julian did and started to be really mean. Jack Will is two faced because he is good friends with August but he was talking to Julian about something really mean about August. I believe Julian is short tempered, untrustworthy and popular. Julian is short tempered because after him and Jack Will had their “beef” soon after he started to do these really mean post it’s and putting them in their lockers. He is untrustworthy because he and Jack used to be best friends but then he stabbed him in the back and got punched in the face because of it. Julian is very popular because the second he made “plague” everyone believed him. There is only one rule do not touch August or you have the plague.

The most important part of the book in my opinion was in the end of the book when August won the award of being brave and things like that. This was important because August has some serious facial issues which made it more important, that August won the award it.The second most interesting part of the book in my opinion was when the seventh graders were bullying August and Amos and Miles stepped in and started a fight with the 7th graders.This is important for two reasons. One reason is this shows that even with a kid like August involved who grosses everyone out, there are still allies. The other reason is that people can change because Amos and Miles used to be in Julian’s group and now they are with August. Another interesting part of the book is how Charlotte only ever pays attention to August when the teachers teachers are around, otherwise she only nods hello. Jack Will is nice to him automatically but Julian I think we all know how he is to August. This is interesting to me because they were both asked to be August’s welcome buddy but only Jack Will was nice to him other than summer were nice to him. An important quote from the book was the first paragraph. The paragraph is, “I know I’m not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. I mean, sure, I do ordinary things. I eat ice cream. I ride my bike. I play ball. I have an Xbox. Stuff like that makes me ordinary. I guess. And I feel ordinary. Inside. But I know ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don’t get stared at wherever they go.” This is an important paragraph because it really shows what August feels and who he is. It shows that August is pretty normal but people are judging him by his cover not the inside.

I enjoyed this book very much. I enjoyed this book because it  has many different ways you can think about the book. Like which side are you on, Julian or August. Another reason is because it has a very interesting backstory and a even more interesting story line like how everything changes when August came into the school. Another reason is that this kind of continues the talk about bullying and allies. I would recommend this book. I would recommend this book to people who lies the kind of books with things happening on every page, not to readers who like take things in slowly. This book reminds me of nothing because nothing really has this book’s same story line, well nothing has the same story line of this book. What I’m trying to say is that this book really sticks out to me and many of other people have read this book and liked it to. Now for the one to five rating. One = I didn’t like it that much. Two = I didn’t like it. Three = It was pretty good. Four = I really liked. Five = I loved it. I want to read it again. And I would rate this book five.

I read a Mother Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick. It is the same author that wrote Absolutely Truly. The book is about four girls in sixth grade (middle school) and the girls are all very different. Their names are Jess, Cassidy, Emma, and Megan. Cassidy plays hockey, Jess lives on a farm, Emma wants to be a writer, and Megan wants to be a fashion designer. At first they don’t really get along, but then they become bffs. It starts with their mothers starting a book club, when Emma, Jess, Cassidy, and Megan weren’t getting along. They read Little Women in their book club. I think the book club really brought the girls together.

Cassidy is brave, stubborn and self conscious. She is brave because she got pushed into the boards during hockey, but she kept playing. She is stubborn because she made a plan to tryout for hockey even though her mom told her “no” a thousands times. Cassidy is self aware because after she was really disrespectful to her mother, she realized she had been rude. Even though she realized what she said was wrong, in the end she didn’t apologize which I don’t think was right, but at least she realized!

I thought it was interesting the way Heather wrote the book. She wrote it so that the chapters or sections were either Emma’s, Jess’, Cassidy’s, or Megan’s perspective. I thought it was interesting because I’ve never read a book written like this and I like it. One of favorite parts was when the girls became friends, because it released a lot of tension between them. That I didn’t enjoy too much, it felt like one huge sass-off between the girls. A quote I thought was important was “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” This quote is important because the girls are learning how to steer the ships. I think steering your ship means to manage life.

I enjoyed this book, but it did have a slow start. The reason why is that at first they had to introduce the main characters (Jess, Emma, Cassidy, and Megan) which took time. I liked it because there were always these little events that kept the story exciting, like The “Beauty and the Beast” play. I found some beautiful language in my book. Since we marked beautiful language in Color Me Dark, I thought I would do it in my book. I also wanted to mark it because there were some good beautiful I liked: They’ll be ripe soon, just thinking about the way the thick purple skin burst when I bite down, releasing the sour juice inside makes my mouth start to water.” “My voice is as sharp as the blades on my skates.” “I fly up and down the rink, free as a bird.” “I close my eyes, feeling its thunder echo in my bones and in the hollow part of my chest.”

I would recommend this book because it is very different. It is different because it isn’t really one big plot, there are little events in the whole story. I think there is more books in this series but I don’t know. This author of this book doesn’t only write kids books she writes adult books as well. I rate this book three stars – it was pretty good.

I read Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff. The book is about a girl whose brother died and is really cautious. The girl’s name is Annie and her brother’s name is Jared. She has to find her way back to not being so cautious. On the way she also has some trouble with a friend named Rebecca. I think that the book takes place around now because she has messages on a phone. I think this book takes place more in the countryside because they are taking their bikes around and they aren’t that old. Maybe twelve or eleven. Also Rebecca has a back yard.

Annie Richards is very cautious, sad, and creative. She is cautious because after Jared died she wanted to make sure that she didn’t either. At one part she started sweating and thought that she was sick. She is sad because whenever Jared is not around at a family event it reminds her of old times and gets sad. She is creative because in the book it said before her brother died she loved making obstacle courses and the doing them. You have to be creative to make a good obstacle course.

I think that one important part in this book is when Annie spits out some stuff about her brother and how he is more important than a hamster. I think this is important because it shows that it is hard for her to think about her brother. Another important part of the book is when she gets told to close her umbrella. She got told to close her umbrella because when Jared died she got really cautious. Closing your umbrella is basically saying to Annie that she should stop being so cautious. When she told Annie to open her umbrella they were talking about Annie’s brothers birthday. I think that this is important because if she was not told to open her umbrella she would not have tried and let go a little. One more important part of the book is when Tommy, Jared’s friend, is talking and being nice to Annie. This is important because he also feels her pain about Jared dying.

I like this book for a lot of reasons. One is that the book is sad. I like books that are a little sad because it gives the book a nice plot to reflect on. The second reason is that I liked how she had a little problem with her friend. I like this because it makes the book more interesting when the book already is interesting. I would recommend this book because it always has something new to make it interesting. For example when she was just riding her bike and then a kid came and scared her. You did not see it coming, and it made it a lot more interesting. I think that this book is unique because does not remind me of any book or movie. Another reason why this book is unique is that in this book she has many problems not just one. I would give this book a four star rating because it was really good and I really liked it. I would not give it five because it wouldn’t have the same reaction if you read it again.