Category Archives: Historical Fiction

Genre

Jan
15
2016

It’s Like This, Cat by Emily Cheney Neville

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818095The book I’m reviewing is called It’s Like This, Cat, by Emily Cheney Neville. The main characters are a cat named Cat and a boy named Dave. Cat is Dave’s cat. Dave is trying to achieve a lot of thing but one is to get his own pet. The book takes place in the 1950s in lower Manhattan.

One very big part was when he and his best friend Nick had a fight and wouldn’t talk to each other for a week or two. The fight was about Dave being grumpy about the movie they had seen with some girls. This is really important because Nick and Dave do pretty much everything together and now won’t talk to each other or hang out. One thing that is important is that Dave goes on his first date with a girl named Mary. This is interesting because Dave doesn’t seem like a kid who would go on dates because he is calm and low key. He doesn’t seem like a guy girls would want to go out with, or like a guy who would want to go out with girls. The date is also important for the plot because he can share everything going on at home with Mary. Another thing that is important is that Cat runs away into a cellar of a building and gets stuck in a cage. When Dave got down to the cellar a college age boy freed Cat.

An adjective to describe Dave is that he is brave. He is brave because he fights his best friend when his best friend insults him. Dave is also good in school. He is a good good in school because he took extra classes because he was smart. Dave is also friendly. He is friendly because a lot of kids want to hang out with him. One quote that helped me understand Dave better is he said “Do I have to pay for the girl at the movies,” said Dave. This helped me learn about Dave because it meant that he liked the girl but he was not willing to pay for her.
 I really liked this book because it told me a lot about the 1950s and the story was told very well. I also really liked this book because I never spaced out because the book was boring. I would recommend this book to someone who likes history.  I would also recommend this book to someone who likes Historical fiction. This book doesn’t really remind me of anything because I don’t read a lot about the past. I would rate this book four stars.

Dec
10
2015

Goddess Girls, by Joan Holub

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imgresMy book is called Goddess Girls. It’s by a woman named Joan Holub. The main character in my book is a girl named Athena. She gets an invitation to go to a school on Mount Olympus in Greece where gods and goddesses go to school because she is a goddess. The problem is that she can’t fit in because she used to think she was a mortal so she still acts like one.

  Athena has three friends who help her fit in. One important thing that happened was when Athena got invited to the god and goddess school. First Athena was REALLY excited, then she was REALLY scared but when she got to the school she felt better.

A different important thing that happened was when Athena met her roommate, Pandora. Athena didn’t really like Pandora but once Athena really got to know her  and had to save Pandora’s life, Athena liked Pandora better.

Athena was excited because she won the object fair because she invented the olive. First she drew the olive, it was round and it was a pale green color then she actually invented the olive with her magical powers (she has magical powers because she is a goddess)

This book is very enjoyable because the author really explains what is going on and how it is happening. An example of this is when she [the author] tells us when Zeus (the king of the gods) eats the olive, The author really explains how the olive tastes. In this part of the book Zeus says “So sweet but also sower.” Another example is when the author says how a statue seemed to breath because it looked so life like.

This book would be fun for kids who like fantasy because it has a lot of fantasy and mythological references in it and the title really pulls the reader in (if he or she likes fantasy). The title also gives the reader a taste of what the book is about. I think this book is rated five stars meaning the best. 

This book would be fun for kids who like fantasy because it has a lot of fantasy and mythological references in it and the title really pulls the reader in (if he or she likes fantasy). The title also gives the reader a taste of what the book is about. I think this book is rated five stars meaning the best.

Sep
08
2015

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

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 51wmXrwrNTL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg is a novel written by Rodman Philbrick. The book is about a boy named Homer Figg. Homer is trying to get his brother Harold back. He was illegally sold into the Union army by their uncle, Squinton Leach. The book takes place in the 1800s during the Civil War.

There were many events that changed the direction of the story. For example when Homer’s brother Harold was drafted into the army this caused Homer to leave his uncle to try to save Harold before he was killed in the war. Another important event was when Homer’s guardian left him in New York City when they were trying to find his brother. Homer then met someone that offered to help him find his brother. One big decision Homer made was when he shot his brother in the leg to stop him from getting killed in battle. Homer does save him, but after a while his brother gets an infection where he was shot so they amputate his leg. ”Now all rebel eyes-and rebel guns-will be upon him.” Homer knew he had to shoot his brother so he would drop the flag and this would prevent him from being killed by the rebels.

I enjoyed this Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg because it had a lot of action and adventure. I also liked reading this book because I learned a little more about the Civil War. People who enjoy books with suspense and people who like historical fiction books will enjoy Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. I give this book four out of five stars because I liked the book, but I didn’t love it.  

Sep
08
2015

From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

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511Y1shNp+L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_ This summer I read From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. The story takes place in a laundromat, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a school, a fountain, and Mrs, Frankweiler’s house. I think the story takes place in the present. The main characters in the book are Claudia and Jamie, who are brother and sister, Mrs. Frankweiler and her lawyer, Saxonberg. The main problem is that Claudia and Jamie are trying to find out if a sculpture of an angel in the Met was made by Michelangelo.

The story is about Claudia and Jamie running away from home and staying at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. An event that changed the direction of the story was when Claudia and Jamie saw Angel for the first time. Claudia wanted to learn more about Angel and Michelangelo so when she learned that Mrs. Frankweiler sold the statue to the museum for $250 she decided to find her. Claudia made a big decision by running away. At the end they resolved the problem of learning about Angel from Mrs. Frankweiler.

I “kind of” enjoyed my book because only a few parts were interesting, like when the kids were at Mrs. Frankweiler’s house and they had to find the sketch of Angel. I didn’t love the book because I thought it got less interesting when Claudia and Jamie started to learn about Angel. One more reason why I didn’t love my book was because it ended without you knowing what Claudia and Jamie did with the sketch of Angel. I think any type of reader would enjoy this book because it doesn’t really have a specific genre. I would rate this book three stars.

Feb
26
2015

Number The Stars By Lois Lowery

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51dKKLBZ1jL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_The book I read is called Number The Stars by Lois Lowry. The book is mainly about a girl named Annemarie Johansen  who is living during World War II in 1943. It is about how she lives through this and how she helps her best friend Ellen who is Jewish not get found and captured. The main setting of the book is Copenhagen and some other settings are Sweden and Denmark.

Three adjectives to describe Annemarie are fearless, polite, and honest. She’s fearless because when she first meets one of the Nazi guards she does not get scared and she just tries to stay calm. She’s polite because whenever she gets frustrated she does not get very worked up about it like when her little sister Kristi  was about to tell the Nazis that they were helping Jews go to Sweden. She gave Kristi a serious look indicating that she should not say anything. Annemarie is honest because when she talks about her sister Lise who died, she did not try to sugarcoat it, she just said the cold hard truth.

There were many important things I learned when I read this book. One of them is about this thing called the Resistance which is like a secret organization to stop the Nazis. The second thing that I learned was that the Nazis would somehow know if you are helping Jews stay safe and go to Sweden. I think they know Annemarie’s family is helping Jews because her sister was part of the Resistance. A third thing that I found important was that the Nazi guards had guard dogs and people would carry little handkerchiefs  of  a scent and if the dogs smelled it then it would numb their sense of  smell and then they would be unable to smell. Another thing that I found interesting was that during the war no one could eat butter and if they were lucky some people would have butter but very little. The people did not have butter because the Nazis had better privileges then the people living in the war.  The Nazis had taken most of the butter and they would never even eat it. They did not eat it because they just wanted the people living in the war to suffer.

I enjoyed this book very much because I got to learn a little bit more of people living during the times of dictators and why they might have left their homes. This book is not related to any movies I’ve seen, but this book is similar to Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez. It is also an immigration story around the same time period but in a diffrent place in the world.

I give this book a rating of 5 stars because I really liked it. I would be happy to read it again.

 

Feb
26
2015

George Washington’s Socks A Time Travel Adventure By Elvira Woodruff

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imgresI read a book called George Washington’s Socks, by Elvira Woodruff. I don’t know if this is in a series or not but Elvira Woodruff wrote other books. The main character’s name is Matt. There are four other main characters, Q, Tony, Hooter, and Katie. The setting is in Nebraska and  New Jersey. The time is the 20th and 18th centuries. One night on their first club camp out, they were reading a book about George Washington when he crossed the Delaware River. They didn’t really feel that cool so they wanted an adventure. There was a lake near where they were camping so Q, Tony, Hooter, Matt, and Katie all camped out by the lake. When they got to the lake they saw a boat. Now just think of this, the name of the boat is Emit Levart, if you look closely you’ll see it. Read the title.

 

One thing I think is important to know is when the kids cross the Delaware river  they are wearing 20th century clothes. Think of how strange it would be to be a soldier seeing them. Another thing that I think is important to know is that when they time travelled  they came back at sun rise so the parents didn’t know what had happened. Except when Katie the little sister told her parents what happened the past night. One adjective that I thought goes well with Matt is courage. An example was when Matt was riding Blackjack the horse through the dark woods. Another adjective is bravery. An example was when Matt pick up the muskets to tried to scare the Hessians. He, Hooter, and Tony all failed. The last adjective is confident. The example was when Tony got mad that they could not get home but Matt always said “We will get home, I promise.”

I liked this book because there is always a problem. You can or can’t guess what what the next thing is going to be. I recommend this book to people that like adventures. Also to people that like time travel. This book reminds me of a book we read last year called “The Magic Tunnel.” That book was also about time travelling. But The Magic Tunnel was when the English took over New Amsterdam. I rate this book five stars. *****

Feb
26
2015

Miss Emily by Burleigh Muten

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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!