Category Archives: Mystery

Genre

Jun
09
2017

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

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Gregor the Overlander is about a boy and his little sister who fall through a grate in their laundry room. They land in a strange world full of giant spiders, mice, bats, cockroaches, rats and more. Gregor’s dad is missing. It turns out he’s been trapped in the Underland for the past two and a half years. There is a prophecy, the Prophecy of Gray, that includes Gregor. Gregor teams up with a group of humans, their bats,  two cockroaches, two spiders, and one other very important creature from the Underland to find his dad and rescue him. This book is the first in a series called The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins.

 

Gregor is pathetic, bored, and scared. He becomes awesome in the second book. In the first book, the best characters are Rip Red, Luxa, Ares, and Boots. Luxa is brave, annoying, and stubborn. Luxa is stubborn when she is mad at Gregor, even when he is not upset with her. Luxa is brave when she fights the rats. She is annoying all the time; she’s a queen and overuses that responsibility on Gregor and always tells him what to do. As the books go on, there are more common characters who you learn more about.

 

My favorite part was probably at the very very end (warning: spoilers) when Gregor and Ares bond. This is significant because Gregor gets his own bat. Ares has a sad back story. Also Now that I have read the whole series it’s also kind of sad because I know sad stuff is coming. (spoilers over). Another favorite part is when Boots and Temp the cockroach meet. That is very funny and throughout the series Boots and Temp serve as comic relief. It’s funny because it’s a 2-year-old and a giant cockroach having a conversation and the 2-year-old isn’t even scared.

 

As the books go on you learn just how many prophecies Gregor is in. If you love the first book, be warned the other books are gorier. If you don’t like gory stuff don’t read them. This is a very fast paced book. The first two chapters are kind of slow. Like Harry Potter, it takes a while to get into the action but once Gregor falls into the grate it’s like snap snap snap and he’s on an amazing quest. Some important things happen before that so you need to read those two chapters (some very funny stuff happens like when his Grandma calls him “Simon”). those books where there are tons of characters and also it’s kind of a mystery with the prophecies – they need to find them and unravel them. This series is sad, happy, and violent. If you know how Suzanne Collins writes, if you read the Hunger Games, you will see this is much better. I rate this book on a ten star scale 100 stars.

Jun
09
2017

Warriors

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My book is Warriors. The author of my book is Erin Hunter.

 Image result for warriors book 1

The main character of my book is Rusty. Rusty is a cat but not an ordinary one. He has yellow and orange stripes. Meaning he is a tiger cat, a tiger cat is actually just a cat that looks in a way like a tiger. He has a lot to talk about and a lot to think about.

One night Rusty was just taking his nightly nap. Rusty has been having this one dream where he goes to the forest just across his owners fence and tries to catch a mouse but every time it runs away. Rusty’s owners give him the duelist worst tasting and ugliest cat food ever. He can’t even taste it, but it is the best he has so of course he eats it.

One night Rusty just happened to go outside and when his owners called him to come sit on the bed and cuddle with them. He ignored them and stayed outside and “talked” to Smudge. Smudge is a White and Black cat with a big attitude. He says that another cat went into the woods but Rusty denied it.

If I would give this book blog a rating it would be a 4 because it was ok I would prefer more exciting books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jun
09
2017

Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen

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I read a book called Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. Hatchet’s main character is named Brian. The story takes place in the Canadian wilderness in a few years before modern day. Brian Robeson and a pilot go through a deadly plane crash and only Brian survives. He only has his Hatchet that his mother gave him as a birthday present, and a tattered windbreaker. He has a family secret. His parents are divorced. Now, Brian has to get help.

 

Brian is resourceful, persistent, and smart. He is smart because he knew when to eat, when not to, and when to go outside. He is persistent because when he saw dead bugs in a lake, he used a small dam to block the bugs, and drink the water. He is resourceful because he made fire, and a small home.

 

Two of the most interesting parts of the book were when the plane was crashing. I liked this part because I didn’t know if Brian and/or the pilot would survive. Also, it was full of action. Another interesting part of the book was when Brian saw a bear, and even though the bear didn’t attack Brian, he still was not intimidated. An important quote from the book is when Brian thinks, “Spearwood, he thought, and it rolled all over him…

There were these things to do.” This quote is important because it tells you about Brian’s experience in the Canadian wilderness.

 

I didn’t really like the book, it was too slow, not enough suspense, etc. I’m not saying it was terrible, but it wasn’t the best. But if you like challenging reads, or survival, this is definitely your choice. This book is related to many books, including Holes, Percy Jackson, Spy School, and more. In Spy School, Ben is trying to survive in The Academy of Espionage, in Percy Jackson, Percy, Grover, and Annabeth are trying to survive alone; on a quest. In Holes, (if you read my last review, you already know.) Stanley and Zero are trying to survive at Camp Green Lake. I would give this book a three-star-rating. It was okay.

Jun
09
2017

The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart

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The Mysterious Benedict Society is by Trenton Lee Stewart. This book is about four orphans who are all different in some way. One is very smart and brave. Another is very smart and nervous. One is a little smart but resourceful, handy, and athletic. The fourth is stubborn, short, and surprising (there is a little secret at the end of the book that will surprise you if you chose to read this book.) They all end up in this strange, secret, group of people who are trying to figure out a mystery. It was a dangerous mystery and almost the whole world relied on them. Little did the rest of the world know what was going on. The four children were informed that they were the one’s who needed to solve the mystery. The main characters in this book are Reynard Muldoon who is the very smart and brave one (Reynie for short). George Washington, the one who is very smart and nervous (Sticky for short). Kate Wetherall, the one who is a little smart, resourceful, handy, and athletic. The fourth is Constance Contraire who is stubborn, short, and surprising. I think that this book took place in 2017, if anything in the future. That is because although I don’t think that it mentions cellphones anywhere, but they do have technology that can brain sweep you, can project messages into your head without doing it one by one, and can make you feel good, relaxed and addicted to the machine all in one machine. That one machine is called The Whisperer. They also have secret codes, traps, secret entrance, and a whole lot more. This book takes place mostly in a boarding school.

 

One adjective that I would use to describe all four is dependable. Reynie is dependable because he is very smart, very brave, and the leader of The Mysterious Benedict Society. Sticky is dependable because he is very smart and even though he isn’t very brave and fierce, but when the moment comes when he needs to be brave, he does it and he does a very good job. Kate is dependable because she always finds a way to get the best out of something. For example, Sticky, Reynie, Kate and Constance were talking about how disable the computer’s connected to The Whisperer. Kate decided that she would do it. She went off to where she thought the computers would be. She saw that where she thought that it would be was covered with cement. Instead she found out some very, very important information by eavesdropping that would help them a lot on their mission. Constance is dependable because, like I said, she is very surprising. Alike Sticky, she is surprising (in a good way) at the right moments. Another adjective I would use to describe the four is brave. Reynie is brave because he is almost willing to do anything to help his society with what they’re trying to figure out. For example, Reynie had a session with The Whisperer and Reynie told everyone to sneak in on him and sabotage The Whisperer. He was that brave that he believed that his team could do it. Sticky is brave because when he needs to, he will do anything to help his team achieve their goal. Kate is brave because she is willing to do anything, hide, beat up teachers, search through buildings, anything. One example from the book is when Kate was running away from the executives and she climbed up a wall. Kate always carries a bucket full of tools. She dropped all of her tools while running away. “What good is your bucket doing now?” One of the executives asked. “I’m glad you asked!” Kate said, as she leaned over to fill the bucket up with water from the brook. It was instantly as heavy as a bowling ball. She gave the executive a friendly wink and dropped the bucket. Constance is brave because when she gets angry and wants to do something about it, she will not let anything in her way of stopping her from what she wants to do. Another adjective is smart. They’re all smart in different ways. For example they all solve problems in different ways. Reynie would probably would think of a very smart plan and use it. Sticky would think really hard on what to do then do it no matter what his mind told him to do. Kate would fight and jump and defend herself. Constance would put her mind set to making sure that no one would get in her way of doing what she wanted.

 

This was probably my favorite book ever. I had so many favorite parts. If I had to pick three though, one would be where at the beginning of the book, Reynie was going through all the secret tests to see if he was fit to be a part of their society. This was one of my favorite parts of the book because that was one of the parts of the book where I really felt a part of that story. I could really imagine what it would be like being either next to Reynie, or being Reynie. Another one of my favorite parts of this book was when at the end of the book, almost seven people were fighting the enemy who is the headmaster of the boarding school. That is one of my favorite parts of the book because it is very dramatic. Especially because it is about twenty pages from the end of the book so whatever happens there decides what the conclusion is for the book. My third is when the four children meet the headmaster of the boarding school and he looks exactly like the boss of their society! They get all mad and angry. Then they finally remember that the boss of their society said that he has a twin brother. That is another one of my favorite parts of the book because that could change the whole book. Would they have to fight the boss of the group that they were fighting for? No. They just got confused.

 

I really enjoyed this book because of how similar it was to reality, yet it still would never happen in reality. Two reasons that that is true is because one, they’re at a boarding school, but inside that boarding school is a machine that projects messages into people’s minds. The second is at first Reynie is taking a test to win a prize, next he discovers that that test is to see who is fit to be part of a secret society. This book doesn’t really remind me of anything. It is so unique because I don’t know another book or movie that includes this much information about everything that is going on at all times everywhere. If I had to rate this book between one and five stars, I would rate this book a five out of five stars.

Jun
09
2017

Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

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  The Phantom Tollbooth is about a kid named Milo who travels to a different dimension with a tollbooth. And he goes on a mission with two new friends that he makes in his travels. They are going on the mission to find Rhyme and Reason who are two sisters who used to fix every problem between the two kingdoms Digitopolis and Dictionopolis. They got taken away and put in a castle in the sky and Milo and his friends had to find them.

 

Milo is daring, brave and adventurous. He is daring because when he was willing to go on a mission to find the two princesses Rhyme and Reason. An example of when he is brave is when he encounters demons in Digitopolis and he outsmarts them. Milo is adventurous because in the book he goes on all of these missions in the new dimension.  

 

My favorite part of the book was when Milo, the Humbug and Tock the dog got into Digitopolis after their long hard journey. It was my favorite part of the book because it took them so long and most of the book to get there and it sort of felt good when they got to the destination, but that was not the end of the story. Also, I really liked when Milo, the Humbug and Tock rescued Rhyme and Reason because their escape was really cool and the two cities Digitopolis and Dictionopolis came to agreement for once. My favorite quote from this part of the book is when Milo says, “We’ve come to rescue you both,” Milo explained very seriously, “And the worried demons are close behind.” said the Humbug, still shaken from his ordeal. This was exciting because it explained why they were in a hurry to rescue them.

 

I liked this book because it kept you very eager to read. My reasons are almost every chapter ended in a cliffhanger and there were a bunch of different stories and every character had a different unique personality. I would recommend this book to people who like adventure because it has a lot of action and cliffhangers.It does not remind me of any other thing because they use really sophisticated language and words that don’t make any sense that I have not seen in other books. I rate this book four stars because it was really good but I am a picky critic.

 

Jun
09
2017

Shadowmagic by Joshua Khan

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The book I read is called Shadowmagic by Joshua Khan. The book is about a boy named Thorn and the leader of Gehenna, (grand city) Lilith (Lily) Shadow. There is a person trying to kill Lily Shadow and Thorn arrives and they find out who the killer is. In the book it takes place in Gehenna. To be more specific it takes place in Port Cutlas before moving to Castle Gloom and ends in the City of Silence. I have a zero percent clue of when it takes place.

Thorn is a smart, fearless, and a strong boy. Thorn is smart because he figured out who was trying to murder Lily. Thorn is fearless because he defeated a few of Gehenna’s and Lumina’s (also a grand city) soldiers while trying to get into Castle Gloom. Thorn is strong because he fell off a roof and did not break any bones or injure himself.

THE REST DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS.

Three important parts that happened were when Thorn found his father, when Lily used magic and when a guard said to Thorn, “Your father murdered Lady Shadows family.” It was important when Thorn found his father because he said he did not kill Lily Shadows family. It was someone else! It was also important when Lily used magic because boys are only allowed to use magic. This was important because if a girl uses magic they would be sentenced to die but she summoned a ghost puppy named Custard and nobody knew!!! Lastly it was important when a guard said to Thorn, “Your father murdered Lady Shadows family.” Even though this is not true it was important because it made Thorn look like a bad person even though he is a great hunter and was trained and raised in the woods and he knew his father wouldn’t do that.

I enjoyed Shadowmagic because it always left you hanging so it really didn’t matter where you ended. For example when you finish chapter 47 which is the end of being in Castle Gloom and move into the City of Silence, Thorn realizes that Lily’s uncle (Pan) is using the Mask of Azeroth or the mask of the ,undead, to kill Lily and Thorn jumps on a  bat that is dying named Hades to save Lily. I would recommend Shadowmagic because it always gives enough detail to make you feel like you are there. For example on page 293 it says “The spectators surrounded them on all sides. She tried to back away but it was too late. They caressed her with icy fingers.” This made me feel like I was actually there that is why I recommend this book. This book reminds me of Heroes of Olympus: the House of Hades because it mostly takes place in the underworld and that is where it probably takes place (look at the map in the front if you read it). I would give it an infinity star rating but I can only give five so five!

Jun
09
2017

Spy on History, Enigma Alberti and Tony Cliff

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9780761187394.jpg (1760×2475)I just read a book called Spy on History, the authors are Enigma Alberti and Tony Cliff. This book takes place in Washington D.C. around the time of the Civil War. I don’t think this book is part of a series. This book a historical fiction. This book is about a woman named Mary Bowser. She is a spy who work in the White House. She tries to crack cases. She gets information that President Davis gets from the Union. Davis is the president of the U.S.A

 

Mary is Brave, smart, and sneaky. She is brave because she keeps going into president Davis is office to find information even though she’s not allowed to. She is smart because she couldn’t read or write but Mary had world knowledge. That means that she came get information from the thing a round her. She was sneaky because she mostly got away with things like going into President Davis’s office without anybody knowing.

 

Mary has a friend who’s also a spy that works at a clothing shop. Her name was Bet. Bet is an important part of the story because she found a way to solve a very complex code. The code gave Bet and Mary lots and lots of information about the Union. I’m sure Mary and Bet work for the Confederacy and cracking that case gave the confederacy lots of information about the Union. The Union and the Confederacy are to organizations that don’t like each other. Another person who is a big part of the book is the baker. The baker helped Mary with some codes because the baker passed on information from the Union so she could have a better knowing of the Union. In the book Mary accidentally gave the president’s wife a flower called Rhododendron. That’s the flower for danger. A maid called O’Melia scolded Mary forgiving the president’s wife the wrong flower.

“I didn’t know, I didn’t know.” said Mary. This helped me realize that Mary doesn’t really know what is what even though she had world knowledge.

I really liked Spy on History. I liked the book because I could really  imagine the Mary doing secret stuff. I would recommend this book for people who like spy work. If you do, this book is just right for you. This book reminds me of James Bond. It reminds me of it because James Bond is a spy who cracks code just like Mary. This book also reminds me of Sherlock Holmes because Sherlock Holmes is a detective and Mary is also like a detective in her own way. I give this book 5 stars because I would totally read this book again and again. And I bet each time I read it I will still love it.

Jun
09
2017

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The book I read is called Stella By Starlight by Sharon M. Draper. The main characters in this book are Stella, Mom, Dad, her little brother, her neighbors (I would say the neighbors names but that would take up too much space) and her teacher. This book is about an African American girl named Stella who lives in a segregated town called Bumblebee in North Carolina. One night her little brother wakes her up and takes her outside. The Ku Klux Klan is burning a cross very close to her house. Throughout the book they must face the KKK and other segregation. Stella also figures out who one of the Klan members is. Stella’s father and neighbors register to vote and in the end are able to vote. This book takes place in the early 1900’s.

 

WARNING – SPOILER ALERT THESE PARAGRAPHS GIVE AWAY IMPORTANT INFORMATION IN THE BOOK

 

Stella is brave, quick to act, and smart. She is brave because she has to deal with all kinds of awful stuff but she gets through it. She is quick to act because when her mom is bitten by a venomous snake Stella acts fast and makes her a bandage. She is smart because she recited a long important quote easily and she is a good writer even though she thinks she is not. Every night she practices writing.

 

At one point in the book Stella gets a typewriter. She uses it to write newsletters to herself about stuff that has happened. One time her friend who really likes track gets beat up by these really mean and racist people. Then Stella writes a newsletter about that. She also writes a newsletter about when her neighbors, the Spencers get their house burned down by the KKK. A really important part of the book is when the KKK is burning a cross near Stella’s house because that starts the story off with a bang and Stella sees one of their horses and recognizes it. Another important event is when Stella’s mom is bitten by a rattlesnake and the white doctor will not help. That is important because it proves the guy is super cruel and cannot be changed. I think the last really important part is when Stella saves the white doctor/ KKK members daughter from drowning. Then Stella finds out that the girl’s father really is part of the KKK and Stella finds out that he is abusive. A quote that describes Stella is “The roosters don’t go far from the pen. I wonder if they ever think about flying. I do.”  This describes Stella because she is wondering about stuff bigger than Bumblebee and if there was no segregation.

 

I really like this book. I like it because it is a mystery when Stella is trying to figure out who is in the KKK. It is really suspenseful because you never know when the KKK is going to strike next.

I would recommend this book because it is a good length. Also it is educational and teaches about segregation and that kind of stuff. It is a good book and it makes you want to keep reading. This book reminds me of Turning Fifteen On the Road to Freedom. It reminds me of that because they are both about segregation and take place in the South. I would rate this book four stars.

Jun
06
2017

The End by Lemony Snicket

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Warning: This contains a lot of spoilers about the book and series.

 

 

The book I read is called The End. It is part of the Series of Unfortunate Events by the author Lemony Snicket. The main characters are Violet, Klaus and Sunny, and the sub characters are all the colonists of the island including Ishmael, Count Olaf, The Extremely Deadly Viper and Kit Snicket. This is in the recent past but is fictional, on a random island in the middle of an unknown ocean.

Klaus Baudelaire has good memory, he is a liar and is a bookie. He has good memory because when he looked at a book that nobody knew about he realized that it was his parents handwriting. He is a liar because when was insistent on putting his commonplace notebook into the arboretum but instead he put it into his pocket. He is a bookie because he loves to read that’s why he read that book that had his parents’ handwriting and why he kept his commonplace notebook.

An interesting part of the book was when Kit Snicket arrived on the island. This is important because Kit has played a small but also a big role in this story. A really important part of the book is when Ishmael shot the harpoon gun at Count Olaf that let out the Medusoid Fugues that can kill with the hour.   

I enjoyed this book so much because one, I love this series so much because well it’s awesome and well just fun to read. And two because of the mystery and the ending is, well, odd but good. I would definitely recommend this book if you like mysteries and adventure. If you want to read this you have to read all the books before it in the series, if you finish it it’s a big accomplishment at least for me it was.  A similar  show is on netflix and it is a little off but most of it is part of the book and most of you I know have watched  it. I would give this book five stars.        

Jun
06
2017

I Funny by James Patterson

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The book I will be talking about today is called “I Funny.” It takes place in high school in the present. The main character’s name is Jamie Grimm who enters a comedy contest in NYC. He is really excited to be in the contest.

 

Jamie is very funny, nervous from stage fright and is “old-school” as you can probably tell by the book cover with the mustache and glasses and fuzzy eyebrows. Every single time Jamie performs, he is sweating so much that his clothes become wet. In the book he does a lot of research on old comedians and their work. He is also funny for that same reason. Here is one of his jokes: “So a woman and her baby walked into a bus. And the bus driver said ‘Man, that’s one ugly baby!’ So the mom’s all angry and grumpy and says to the man next to her ‘That bus driver insulted me!’ So the man said ‘Go tell him that. I will hold the monkey.’” Pretty funny right?  

 

Jamie’s family died in an car accident but he survived with an injury to his butt. Jamie’s injuries have left him in a wheelchair though. He lives with his aunt and uncle. They are really very boring! They don’t laugh at all until the middle of the book.

 

My rating is ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ because it really cracked me up. To be honest, this is probably one of the most funniest books I have ever read. It is amazing and I highly recommend it.