Category Archives: Friendship

Mar
09
2016

Northwood, By Brian Falker

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Imagine you get stuck in a forest that is in the deepest of the town where no one steps in by choice. You get grabbed by the dark trees that you can barely see in the night sky, 13_jpg_4e42af4ed8and of course don’t forget the giant black lions that will kill you in one bite. The main character in my story is Cecilia Undergarment. She is really optimistic. This book takes place in a town called Brookfield. I think it’s a small town because everyone knows everyone. This story probably takes place (time period) in 2010 or 2011. I think this because they had helicopters, phones (but like not high tech like nowadays), and tvs.

The main character Cecilia Undergarment is interesting, courageous.  She gets stuck in Northwood because her house falls apart (the house is made of balloons) and she is stuck in Northwood until something happens….  An example from the text to back up this information is “Cecilia didn’t panic, because she once read that usually if you panic you end up in a much worse situation than the first place.” Another example from the text is “I think she’s the only person that has come into this forest and tried to help everyone to get out” said a person that had also been stuck in North Wood. This shows how Cecilia wasn’t afraid and used her knowledge even though she is in a dangerous forest with no one expect a dog, and man eating black lions roaming around.

One thing Cecilia comes across on her journey are to twins named Avery and Evan.  Cecilia and them become really great friends throughout the book. Avery and Evan lead Cecilia all around the castle where Cecilia stays along with the many others that had been stuck in the forest. Throughout the book Cecilia always tries to come up with plans to escape but….WAIT.. I can’t spoil the book!

I really enjoyed this book because the characters all had a really well and thought out personalities so that made it easier to understand what was happening and why. One example of this was how Avery in the beginning of the story mentioned how Evan was the smarter one and later in the book he was the one who came up with a gameplan that was the most effective.  I would recommend this book for readers that can keep up with a lot of things at once since this book had many characters and different things going on at the same time.

One connection to my life in this book is that before Cecila got stuck in Northwood she had a neighbor that was super nice and a little chubby with a big beard but then he lost a lot of weight and cut his beard and became really rude. I had the almost same thing happen to my neighbor! I would give this book 5 stars because the end made sense to me and I realized how it all tied in and how creative the author was when creating characters. I really wish I could read this book over and over again!

Mar
09
2016

Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret

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417aglZcY4L                                                      〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰

Margaret Anne Simon, the narrator of Judy Blume’s engaging Tween 1970s novel, moves from New York City to Farbrook, New Jersey and learns more about being twelve than she bargained for.

Margaret is in 6th grade and she is an only child. This is Margaret’s first year in Farbrook, New Jersey and in the school she is going to.

Margaret’s best new friends are Nancy, Janie and Gretchen. They have a club called the Four PTS’s, which stands for Pre-Teen Sensations, which I think means they think they are fabulous. I don’t really agree with that because they’re not the most sensational girls on earth, they’re pretty normal. The club meets every Monday after school, and mostly they discuss a “topic” which I don’t feel comfortable talking about much less writing about, especially in front of boys. So from here on in, I will refer to this “topic” as “Dot.” What does “Dot” stand for you ask? All I can say is it’s something that starts happening to girls every month when they reach a certain age that is different for every girl but it usually happens between ages eleven and 15. Fine, I’ll say it once… menstruation.

Okay, now that I’ve admitted I’m uncomfortable writing about “Dots,” I realize I’m also kind of embarrassed talking about all of the physical changes that go along with “Dots.” Like the things that happen that make the PTS’s decide they will “All feel each other’s backs to make sure we’re wearing our…” I’m talking about a piece of clothing people! An undergarment! A Tiny Tank-top! You get the picture.

Anyway, about the TT’s Margaret says, “We all were.” (Wearing them.)

There is this girl in Margaret’s class named Laura Danker. Everybody is jealous of her including Margaret because Laura is pretty, tall and popular. Not only that, she looks like she actually needs to wear a TT unlike Margaret and her friends.

One day in the library when they are studying together after hours, Laura tells Margaret she’s not supposed to copy “word for word” out of the encyclopedia and Margaret gets so angry, she says a bunch of really mean things to Laura, like “I know all about you anyways…About how you and Evan and Moose go behind the A&P.” The A&P is a grocery store.

Again, I’m not very comfortable telling you what Margaret thinks they do behind there, but it’s kind of gross. Like too gross to ever imagine.

Laura gets really upset and tells Margaret it’s not true and Margaret believes her because she happens to know her friend Nancy, the one who told her that, is a liar because she lied about having her “Dot.” When Laura asks Margaret how she would like being the biggest girl in class, Margaret realizes that even though she thought Laura didn’t have any problems, she actually does, and it makes her feel really, really bad for being mean.

Margaret’s mom is Christian and her dad is Jewish. Margaret says, “I’m not any religion.” This is an interesting thing for her to say because she struggles with the idea of religion throughout the book and talks to God every night about the important things that happen to her during the day. Margaret’s friends, like her parents, are either Jewish or Christian. The Jews go to the Jewish Community Center and the Christians go to the Y. Margaret tries out different religions: she goes to Church and Temple and once, after being really mean to Laura Danker, she tries to go to confession, but she doesn’t feel God in any of those places. Margaret finally asks, “Why do I only feel you God when I’m alone?”

Margaret has only met her dad’s mom, Sylvia Simon, whom she loves because she’s fun and nice. Sylvia takes her to concerts at Lincoln Center and hand knits sweaters with tags that say, “Made Expressly For You…By Grandma.” When her mom sends a card to her parents, they send a letter back saying they are coming to visit. They have never met Margaret before and Margaret has never even seen pictures of them. It’s kind of like Margaret’s mom doesn’t have parents. Margaret gets really sad because they are coming the day she was going to fly on a plane, by herself, to see Sylvia Simon in Florida. Something she had been looking forward to for weeks, and now her trip had been canceled.

Margaret is really happy when Sylvia and her boyfriend come for a surprise visit after her mom’s parents leave. By the way, no one likes her mom’s parents because they are the exact opposite of Sylvia. They’re not nice or fun.

I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend this book to ages 10 and up. This book has some girl stuff in it so I wouldn’t recommend this book to boys. If boys liked this book review, there is a book by Judy Blume which is technically the same but for boys, called Then Again, Maybe I Won’t. The genre of this book is Realistic fiction. I would rate this book Five stars out of Five stars.

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Mar
09
2016

The Princess, The Scoundrel, And The Farm Boy. By: Alexandra Bracken

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urlIn a library not so far away… Alexandra Bracken’s The Princess, The Scoundrel, and The Farm boy. The novel that I am reviewing is part of a series that has three books in it, and if you love Star Wars this is definitely a good book for you to try. The main characters in this book are Luke Skywalker (the farm boy) princess Leia (the princess) and Han Solo (the scoundrel). The rebels consist of these three characters and more rebel soldiers. The rebels are trying to change the fact that the evil rule the galaxy. This book takes place in a galaxy far, far, away in the future.

Han Solo’s actions are effective but yet very subtle, he steps in at the last minute and helps the rebels get the victory. He is also very kind and aids the rebels supplies. The most important parts in the story are where. The most important part in the story is when Han Solo joins the rebel’s cause. Where Princess Leia joins the rebellion. the ending is very important. The main character makes the very big decision that was very surprising and changed the path of the story.

I did not really enjoy this book because I feel this book was not really the strong point of the series but  I definitely recommend So You Want To Be A Jedi? by Adam Gidwitz. The genre of this book is fiction. If you like mystery this is a good book for you. I rate this book three stars out of five.

          ★   ★   ★

www.alexandrabracken.com

Mar
09
2016

Book Review Three Fantastic MR. FOX

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Book Review Three Fantastic MR. Fox

By Alfredo

In the forest near three barns lives a fantastic Fox… Hello this is Alfredo’s third book review and the book is … Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl! The main character of this book is Mr. Fox. The main problem is that three ugly, fat, skinny, and short farmers are trying to kill Mr. Fox because he is always tricking them, an example is he always is eating their chickens or turkeys when they don’t see him. This book was made in 1970 and I think this book takes place near a forest in 1970.

Mr. Fox has at least three adjectives that describe him (I’ve been using the number three a lot). The three adjectives are… smart because he survives after three farmers try to kill him. He also is quick because he is always running from them. The last adjective is brave because he doesn’t get scared the whole time. One interesting part of the book is when Mr. Fox gets his tail shot off! One other interesting part is when he knows where Boggis, Bunce, and Bean (the three farmers) house’s are from underground. There are so many animal characters in this book like the raccoon, the mole, the rat, and their families. The final interesting part is that Mr. Fox can survive for a long time with no food, (those are not all the interesting parts, those are just some of them!) The biggest change is that the farmers almost catch Mr. Fox several times.

This book was very good in my opinion but one problem is that it was too short. I also liked that it was kind of diverse because of all the different things happening. I recommend this book to all ages. This book relates to everyone’s life because it reminds us we all have to survive. I would rate this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and one half.

Mar
09
2016

Flora And Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

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   flora-ulysses  Do you like superheroes? If you do check out Ulysses the Super Squirrel!! The title of this book is Flora and Ulysses, written by Kate Dicamillo. The main characters are Flora, a girl who has few friends and likes superhero graphic novels,  and Ulysses, a squirrel who is a superhero and likes poetry.  The problem in the book is Flora’s mom doesn’t like Ulysses near Flora, and she wants to get rid of him for good. This book takes place in a neighborhood in present day, even though the plot might seem a little crazy.

Ulysses is comforting to Flora like ! In the beginning of the book Ulysses gets swooped up with a vacuum cleaner and becomes a superhero!! when he sleeps near her bed. Flora feels safe because Ulysses is a super squirrel that means he saves the day as a Superhero. Ulysses is also very poetic. He loves to write poetry and express his feelings through poetry. For example when he wrote a poem to Flora about how he liked how he felt near her. Most importantly he is heroic like once he punched a evil cat off Flora’s dad’s head Also later on in the book a cat seems to attack Flora’s dad on the head! But then Ulysses save him by vanquishing the cat. Can’t you wait to hear the next thing that Ulysses confronts! Well I’ll tell you a little. The enemy kidnaps Ulysses! You’re going to have to read the book to see who the enemy is. Remember how there Ulysses got swooped up by a vacuum cleaner. When he did something happen to him… he became a superhero!
      I enjoyed this book because I liked how the Kate Dicamillo made the superhero the squirrel and the sidekick a human instead of the other way around! I also liked how whenever Ulysses writes a poem they show it on the page. I recommend this book 1 because it tells you in the way that you’re capable of doing great things even if you’re a different species. 2 because it’s such a nice book and it teaches you lessons maybe that you knew or didn’t know. The genre of the book is a mix of comedy (it’s actually not so funny) and adventure. I would rate this book four out of five stars because some parts I either didn’t get or thought were boring. Other than that, read the book to see who the enemy is and what she will do to Ulysses.        

Mar
09
2016

The Vanishing Violin By: Michael D. Beil

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Can you solve three mysteries at the same time? Well, the Red Blazer Girls can. The Red Blazer Girls are from The Vanishing Violin by Michael D. Beil. The Vanishing Violin is very different from my other books because I usually read realistic fiction or magical realism but this book is mystery. Mystery is very different than realistic fiction because a lot can happen that is not realistic but depending on the book a lot can be realistic too. This book is part of the Red Blazer Girls Series. They call themselves that because they wear red blazers for school. “They” is Sophie St. Pierre, Rebecca Chen, Margaret Wrobel and Leigh Ann Jaimes.

 

In the first book – The Ring of Rocamadour – they found the ring of Rocamadour and now in the second book they have to figure out who is sneaking into the school and cleaning it, crack a bunch of codes that lead to a violin and last try to find yet another stolen violin. This book does not ever mention when it takes place but I am guessing around the same time it was written which was 2010. I also think it is about modern time because there are iPhones, motorcycles and the subway. This all takes place in New York City and sometimes at their school, St. Veronica’s.

 

I think I would describe Sophie as silly. For example,  When someone says “Hey, loooosers.” she responded “Nice to see you, too, my dearest darling pal,” She also really likes math so that helps her figure out some mysteries. Like when she said “The ring is about three inches in diameter, so the circumference is a little over nine inches. (That’s pi times the diameter, if you’re keeping score-I love math.)” This book is interesting because it is from Sophie’s perspective like when she says “I” or “me”. An important part of the story is that Margaret is getting mystery letters from somebody that leads to the mystery violin. All the friends help her and figure out more clues. Will the clues ever stop? Also, the head of their school is counting on them to figure out is cleaning the school but with two other mysteries on their hands that can be lot!

 

Some of the events that change the direction of the story is at Mr. Chernofsky’s (Margaret’s friend) violin shop he hires someone else that seems a little suspicious considering he went to jail…  I really enjoyed this book because of how the author sets up the story and I also really enjoyed the ending that the author makes. Another reason I enjoyed this book is how everyone’s personalities. I would recommend this book to readers that like series since this is part of the The Red Blazer Girls series. Some connections is to the friends because I feel sometimes I feel like the friends are a lot like my friends. I would definitely rate this four stars. ☆☆☆☆
How does it all connect? 

Mar
09
2016

Love of the Game, By John Coy

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9716851The book that takes place on a football field is called The Love Of The Game. It is a sports book. The author is John Coy. The genre of my book is sports and more specifically, football, and the author has also written other books about sports but I have not read them. The book takes place in  Manhattan in the year 2015. The main character, Jackson, is interesting because he is funny, tough, and sometimes obnoxious. These characteristics are seen when he talks back a lot and stands up for himself.

 

The main challenge Jackson faces is that he needs help picking whether to play offense or defense on the football team. Jackson is very nice because he notices when people are not    feeling right and talks to them and tries to make them feel better. He is very fast and this is demonstrated by the fact he is able to tackle the player with the ball before he can score a touchdown. Jackson is strong both physically and mentally. He is able to figure out what the opposing team is trying to do and deflect their plays. His physical strength enables him to carry out this defense. Initially the main problem is that Jackson can’t choose between playing offense and defense. He likes both and he is good at both, but he really wants to be a starter so he decides to play on defense. He reasons that since there are fewer kids playing defense he has a better chance at starting in the game.  He plays defense and plays it well in the football games. Another important part of the story is about how Jackson is adjusting to starting middle school. He has a few friends but not many, and then meets Ruby. They become friends and agree to support each other’s activities. She is an actor, so he attends her plays and she attends his football games. Their friendship grows and he learns about what it means to be a friend.

 

I really liked this book because it is humorous and it makes sense. This is illustrated when one of the characters scored a touchdown against a team called the Eagles and a player yelled  “tweet! tweet!” to mimic the sound of an eagle to taunt the team. I would recommend this book to people who like football or at least understand football and somebody who likes humor. I give these qualifications because it is mostly about football so if someone doesn’t understand the game of football, he or she is not going to like it. I have never read a book like this before in my life and I particularly enjoyed it. I give this book four out of five stars.

Feb
24
2016

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Old School by Jeff Kinney

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imgresThe book that I read is called Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Old School. The author is Jeff Kinney. This book is part of a series called Diary Of A Wimpy Kid.  I have read some of other books in this series. The main character in this book is named Greg and a lot of unlucky stuff happens to him. He is in middle school and has two brothers, a mom and a dad, and a lot of friends. This book takes place on a farm and in the town’s park it’s in the school year. The story is about a normal kid just living his life.

The main problem for the main character in this book is that he’s stuck at a farm that he hates. Greg keeps trying to escape but he keeps failing. One really interesting part in the book was when Greg brought baby wipes to the farm. I think this is funny because baby wipes are for babies not for middle schoolers. Another thing that was interesting was when Greg’s dad made up the story of Silas Scratch because he wanted a shed with a workable toilet all to himself. Silas Scratch is a made up story about a farmer that lost his farm land so he grew really long nails and that is why his last name is Scratch. This was interesting because Greg was really scared of Silas Scratch.

Greg is determined because Greg kept on trying to get out of the farm but never could until it was over. Greg is also brave because he went in the woods at night to get firewood. Greg is also unlucky because everything he tries not to do, he does. “Don’t break the car,” Greg says to himself and then ten minutes later, “Dad’s going to kill me, I broke his car!”

I enjoyed this book because it was really funny and I really like funny books. It had a mystery and I love mysteries. I recommend this book because it’s a book that both girls and boys would enjoy because it’s really funny. This book reminds me of Diary of a Wimpy Kid the movie because it’s basically the same thing. I would rate this book 5 STARS!

Jan
23
2016

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

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UnknownOne book I read over winter break is called Nimona.  Nimona is by Noelle Stevenson. Nimona and Blackheart are the main characters. The main problem is that Nimona splits herself into two parts, the fear self and the strong self. The strong self turns Nimona into a dragon; the fear self makes her small, like a child. Nimona is a book about power, because Nimona is a villain with Blackheart, who is an evil scientist. Nimona is a shapeshifter, which means she can turn into anything. The book takes place in a lab, where Nimona and Blackheart work.

One part of Nimona that I thought was interesting is how evil Blackheart and Nimona are. That is very interesting because in most stories the main characters are good. One big event that happened in Nimona was when she split herself into two parts. The dragon part can talk, but also talks back a lot, which is really Nimona (she talks back a lot). Then it was up to Blackheart to either leave her in the fire that she was making as a dragon, or get her out of there. This event is so important because everything was fine but then Nimona burnt it all down. 

Nimona is different because she is a shapeshifter. One time she turned into a old lady, to steal an apple. Another word to describe Nimona is powerful. Because she is a shapeshifter, she can turn into anything, like a dragon or a girl with a monster’s arms, and have that person’s or thing’s power. “I have NEVER lost my powers,” Nimona said. One more word to describe her is unexpected, because she can creep up on you at any time. An example is when she robs a bank, because you don’t see her coming.

I LOVED Nimona because it was so suspenseful. One example is when Nimona turns into a cat and gets stuck in the middle of a carnival. Another example is when Nimona punches down every single door in the lab because she is mad. In both cases, I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see how it would turn out. I would recommend this book because it is really kid-appropriate. It is also a book about changing the way you think about someone when you get to know them and go through something scary together. This is an extraordinary book – there is nothing else like it. It is unique because it is a book about passion and working together, and happiness. I would give this book five stars — maybe even one hundred stars, if I could! This is a one-of-a-kind book, so I bet you will love it if you read it.

Jan
19
2016

The G-Man Super Journal by Chris Guiarroso

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The book that I read is called G-MAN SUPER JOURNAL AWESOME ORIGINS written by Chris Guiarroso. The main character in this book is G Man. All of G Man’s friends are getting super powers one by one. G Man is the only one without super powers so he uses a blanket as a cape then he gets super powers. This book takes place at G Man’s school in the future.

One thing that I found that was interesting was that every time one of his friends got a super power then G Man tried to get that kids super power the same way that kid had gotten it. I found this interesting because he fails over and over again. Another interesting thing was that a blanket gave him super powers. G Man’s family had a special blanket that they would use whenever they were sick to make them feel better. He got desperate for super powers and he thought since the blanket had magical powers to make his family feel better that he could use it for a cape to fly. He cut a piece off and he could fly. In the end his brother got jealous that G Man got super powers so he uses the rest of the blanket as a belt and then he flies too. One big event that happened was when there were superhero tryouts at G Man’s school. He couldn’t go because he got detention for talking back to the teacher.  It changed the whole book because he couldn’t go to the tryouts to get super powers because he was in detention.

G Man was determined because he kept trying to get super powers.  He kept failing but eventually he got super powers.  He was determined because when he had super powers he had to fight a bad guy and he didn’t quit until he won.  He was emotional because many times in the book he got mad and sad.  He got sad when he could not go to the super hero tryouts.  G Man was brave because when someone said to him “This is my flying area, you are not allowed to fly here,”  G Man said, “Well guess what, who said we can’t.”

I enjoyed this book because it’s about super heros and I like super heros. I would recommend this book because it’s really fun to read. There is a lot of action in this book. This book reminds me of AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON.  It reminds me of this because at the end of the book they are all fighting the bad guy. In the movie, at the end they all fight the bad guy too. My rating for this book is five stars! It was so fun to read. I felt like it was happening all around me. It was so cool.