For our last book review we had a choice out of many options to choose what we wanted to do. I chose to make a movie. First I made a script and then I did each characters part. I read this book because it helps you understand the struggle of kids with problems, living in World War 2. It tells you about history with a twist. Some things were hard for me to understand because I couldn’t ever imagine that somebody would do something so cruel. In my video, I played all the characters, which was pretty hard. I think one of my least favorite parts was when I had to be a character named Miss Smith, and when I had to fall on the street about six times. Not to forget I was on the STREET! I would rate this book FIVE STARS AND A SMILEY FACE :D!
Category Archives: Mystery
The Wig In The Window by Kristen Kittscher
For our final book review, our teachers told us to be creative. They gave us options about how to do the review. Some of the options were: a diorama, a movie, dear diary etc. This isn’t just an ordinary, boring review, it’s a dear diary review! The book that I wrote this about is called the Wig in the Window, by Kristen Kittscher. It’s about to girls who are troublemakers. They always need to know what’s going on around them, and sometimes that just gets them in trouble, but sometimes it doesn’t…
Oh Dear…Diary!
Dear diary, as you already know, Grace is my best friend/spy partner. Now we’re in 7th grade, and Dr. Agford (aka Dr. Awkward) is one of the teachers. Agford is my neighbor. She has a group of kids under her “spell” and they’re in a little club of hers. Their group name is S.M.I.L.E. It stands for the Society for Making Improvements in Lives Everywhere. There was always something that seemed a little off about Agford but I could never really put it together or I thought it was just in my head… until our first late night spy mission to Dr. Awkward’s house, and everything fell into place.
First there was blood and a knife (I saw it through the window.) Then the door opened. Then a phone call to some mysterious person, and finally threatening and screaming. It was all so unbelievable. Then I ran, but I tripped and fell in a small ditch. I think she saw me, but I’m not sure. It was dark outside and she might not have seen my face, but she definitely saw someone.
The next day things got even worse, let me just say Agford definitely saw me last night. Then when I got to school the principal made me tell everyone what happened last night. Then Agford cleared EVERYTHING up. The blood was from beets. The knife was to cut the beets. And the phone call still remains a mystery. I still think Agford is very suspicious. I don’t trust her. And I don’t want to leave school because the principal is sending a note home to my parents, and I don’t want to find out what my punishment is going to be.
When I got home my parents were so disappointed in me. They were also very mad, and they said my punishment would not be a good one. My punishment turned out to be even worse than I thought. I was grounded for months and even worse I had to do therapy with Agford every week! And the worse part of this whole thing is my parents think Agford is a nice innocent women. But at least no one suspects Grace was a part of it, and Grace is home schooled so I don’t think Agford even knows her. There’s no way I’m going to rat her out. She’s my best friend!
Now weeks have gone by and Agford is at my house again! She’s not as bad anymore, but there are still some things that still seem a bit off about her. Now she is in my room! She is looking around and then she said something that I never thought about before. She said that I remind her of her when she was my age. When she left I couldn’t stop thinking about what she said. Am I going to grow up like her? Is she right? Agford seems kind of wise now. I wonder if she is that bad person we think she is? She has to be! But what if she’s not? Have we been wrong all along?
Percy Jackson and The Battle of The Labyrinth
I read Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan. I chose this scene because I felt like in this book battles mostly happen the forest against his enemy Luke so I did that. I also thought Percy usually wins a lot anyways so I put him next to a river ( which gives him an advantage since he’s son of the sea god.) Also because it feels like it would be major scene in the whole series.
Here is my diorama:
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs
Shoshi’s Final Chapter
Introduction:
The main character is called Dashiell, but he goes by Dash. In Space Case there is a murder. Dr. Holtz is the person who got killed. Dash thinks he got murdered, but everyone else thinks Dr. Holtz was going crazy.
There is a girl who is Dash’s age called Kira who also lives on the moon. They secretly teamed up to solve the murder. They couldn’t let anyone know or else they would get in HUGE trouble!
Dash and his family temporarily live on the moon. They will only live there for three years, and then they will go back to earth. NASA has recently developed homes on the moon. Because both of Dash’s parents are scientists Dash gets to be one of the few lucky kids to be invited to the moon. Everyone else who wanted to go would have to pay billions of dollars.
Dash’s best friend is called Riley, who lives back in Hawaii (which is where Dash lived before he traveled to the moon.)
You might be thinking life on the moon is great. But it’s not. The food is HORRIBLE, kids can’t go outside, the toilets do not work properly, and to top it all off, someone has been murdered.
The big problem in this book is the murder. It’s what the book is all about. I think the person who killed Dr Holtz will be sent back to earth, put in prison and Dash will become the hero.
The chapter that I wrote about my book takes place after Dash arrives back in Hawaii. Everyone found out that Dash and Kira solved the murder and now they have become the heroes. But Kira doesn’t live in Hawaii so Dash is all alone with the paparazzi, fame, and questions.
My chapter starts on chapter 22 because the real book ends on chapter 21. I tried to make it so it would literally be the next chapter of my book. The chapter that I wrote is about one last adventure that Dash goes on back home in Hawaii.
Chapter 22
By Shoshi
I woke up to the sound of my mom yelling at the paparazzi to go away. She was very upset because they rang the doorbell at four in the morning to get a picture of me. I was all over the news.
“Young kid solves murder on the moon. He is finally back on earth. Find out how he did it!” Everybody wanted me on their channel. I was so famous. So, that’s how everything started. Then, later on that day at noon the President called. She wanted to speak to me.
She said, “Hello, is this Dashiell?”
I said, “Yes. Speaking?”
“Chelsea Clinton. President of the United States of America. I would like to organize a meeting with you.
I nearly fainted. It was so surprising and awesome!
I replied, “Umm of course, of course that would be amazing but why? Why do you want to speak to me? Is it something about the murder that Kira and I solved on the moon? Like some award or something?
“No, Dashiell. There has been a murder and we need you to solve it.”
So the President called me and asked me to solve a murder for her. But she didn’t hang up yet.
“Oh, and I need to have a secret meeting with you at three in the morning tomorrow.” Chelsea Clinton said.
“Where will I meet you?” I asked.
“Right outside your front door. I’ll take you the rest of the way.”
“What will I tell my parents?”
“You won’t.”
“What if they hear me leaving?”
“Then you’ve blown it. Listen Dashiell, do you want to help or not?”
“I don’t know, I just got back…”
“Listen, how many people do you know who get offers from the President of the U.S. to solve a murder with them?”
“None,” I said sheepishly.
“So is that a yes?”
“Fine. I’m in.”
“Ring, ring, ring, ring, ringring ringring ringring ringring ringringring ringringring ringringring.”
My alarm clock went off. At three in the morning. I was already dressed in appropriate clothing, black pants, a black shirt, black sneakers, and a black hoodie. I was prepared. I also brought a black bag, which had a water bottle, a flashlight, batteries for the flashlight, and an apple in it.
I crept down the stairs, careful not to step on the stair third to the top, it squeaks really loudly. It would definitely wake up my parents.
I opened the front door as slowly as I could, so it wouldn’t creak. There, as she promised, I saw Chelsea Clinton waiting outside for me. But there was no car or any sort of transportation.
“Will you tell me where we are going now?” I asked Chelsea.
“Patience, Dashiell, patience,” she responded.
“I know. And please call me Dash.”
“I’ll consider, Dash,” she said with a wink.
“Follow me. Whatever I tell you to do you do. Understand?”
“Yes Ma’am.” I said.
“Now, stay behind me,” she said. She turned the corner. I followed. She turned another corner. I followed. She turned another corner. I followed.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Shhh. It might take a while. We’re walking. Four miles. We should be there in the next half hour.” She said like this was going to be the easiest thing ever.
One hour later…
“Uggh. How much farther?” I asked, still wheezing from our early-morning run.
“About… 1, 2, 3, 3 steps,” she replied.
“Phew. This run has really tired me out.”
“Well, here we are!” She said. Not even panting or looking thirsty. I was the exact opposite.
“Where?” I asked.
“Right through here,” she opened a door.
“Now get low and don’t make a peep,” she commanded me. I nodded.
There were voices. Two of them. The first one said,
“I know what happened to your daughter. And did I have something to do with her death? Well, I can’t tell you that.” The first voice said.
“Why did you kill her?” The second voice asked, sounding bold.
“You drowned her. Why?”
“She was interfering with my plans. I had to stop her.”
“What were your plans?”
“Don’t you know? I thought you would have figured it out by now, James.”
“Henry, just give it up already! I know that she stole your idea but is that a reason to kill her?”
“I won’t answer any questions I would not like to answer. I will do what I want to do, and no one will stop me. As for you, you know too much. Goodbye James.”
“Stop.” Chelsea commanded the guy addressed as Henry.
“And why should I listen to you? Chelsea. You may be the president, but you can’t kill me. Then you would be a murderer with no witnesses and no evidence about what I’ve done to Brooke,” Henry said. Not even flinching that it was the president he was talking to.
“How do you know I don’t have a witness? How do you know I’m not recording this on a tape that I will show to the police? How do you know anything about what I’m doing or why I’m here?”
“Again, I will not answer any questions I would not like to answer. Now back to business. Is there someone else with you? Someone Hiding, perhaps? I can sense another person in the room. Give it up or else.”
“Or what?”
“I’ll kill James.”
“Oh no you won’t.”
“How do you know I won’t. I killed Brooke. I can kill her father.”
“But how do you know where James is?”
“He’s right over there, James, come here. Now. What? Where did he go?” Henry growled.
“He’s gone.” And then I knocked Henry out with the back of my hand, and he felt splat on the hard concrete floor, unconscious.
“Good job, kid.” Chelsea said.
“Thanks.” I replied.
“Now what? We can’t turn him into the police. There’s no evidence.”
“I was recording it.”
“That’s helpful.”
“So, what do we do with Henry?”
“Well, the best solution is to stay with him until he wakes up, and then turn him into the police. With the evidence, of course.”
“But what if he tries to fight us?”
“He won’t.”
“But what if he does? You always have to be prepared for the worst.”
“Then, I will give him electric shocks until he stops. Each one getting harder and harder, worse and worse. Eventually, he will stop fighting and surrender to us, which is when we turn him into the cops.”
“Okay, but first he has to wake up.”
A hour and a half later…
“What? What happened? Where am I? What did you do to me Chelsea?” Henry asked.
“I did nothing. You did it all yourself.” Chelsea replied.
“Huh? I did nothing.” Henry stated, calmly.
“Oh, yes you did. You murdered Brooke and I intend to find out how. But, first I must bring to you to a place where you can’t harm me.” Chelsea said, without blinking.
“And where might that be?” Henry said with a laugh.
“I only answer questions I would like to answer, and that is a question I would not like to answer. And next time, don’t question me.” Chelsea said. Now Henry looked like a whole new person. He looked small and scared, like a puppy who was just born, and taking its first glimpses at all the scary things around it.
“Now, if you don’t want to get harmed, do exactly what I say, when I say it. Understand?” Chelsea asked Henry.
“Yyyyyyes.” Henry managed to say through his fear.
Then Chelsea brought Henry to the cops, along with her evidence of him saying he killed Brooke. The cops took him into a cell for questioning. Then Chelsea brought me home.
“Thanks,” I said to Chelsea as she was leaving.
“It was just like old times, back on the moon, except with Chelsea Clinton instead of Kira. Thanks for that.”
“Anytime.” Chelsea said with a wink. And then she picked up her motorcycle, which was hidden behind a tree the whole time!
“Bye Dash!” She called.
So I crept back upstairs into my room, changed into PJs, and slept. For two minutes. Then,
“Ring, ring, ring, ring, ringring ringring ringring ringring ringringring ringringring ringringring.” My alarm clock went off for the second time that day. I did not want to get up. But, it was my first day of school and I couldn’t be late. After all, I was the most popular kid in school, and I had the highest grades. I had to show up to keep my reputation alive. And after the first few days of school, everything was back to the way it was before. Just like old times.
The end
Dr Fell and the Playground of Doom
I will ask 8-10 questions about my character and answer with quotes and texts from the book. The book is called Dr. Fell and the Playground of Doom. It is by David Neilsen. This book takes place on Hardscrabble Street. The main character is funny and daring. The main characters are trying to figure out a mystery about Dr. Fell. The book is about a “wizard” and three character who’s name is Gale are trying to expose him.
The Interview
Main character: Gale
Jett: Were you scared when you were in Dr Fell’s lair?
Main character: Yes the whole thing was scary. But it was an adventure to bring him down. But I would not do it again.
Jett: Did you think you were going to escape Dr Fell’s Lair?
Main character: No I didn’t. I was really scared once we were in I didn’t know if we would make it out alive.
Jett: What was the hardest part of Dr Fell’s Lair?
Main character: When I was looking at the monster, he was literally solid darkness. I had no idea what he was. But I knew he did not want to be locked up in there.
Jett:What was the scariest injury you saw?
Main character: When one kid died. He had no pulse then Dr. Fell brought him back to life.
Jett:What was your favorite part of the playground?
Main character:Jett: When we went to the pirate ship.
Jett: What did you think when old lady Witherton said she had to go alone to defeat Dr. Fell?
Main character: I was really scared and didn’t think she could do it. After all she was just a little old lady who could barely move.
Jett: When Dr. Fell moved into the house what did you think?
Main character: At first I thought he was a little weird, but then I knew something was up with him when he built the playground.
Jett: What was your favorite part of the playground?
Main character: I thought it was dangerous but if i had to choose something I liked the pirate ship.
Jett: What is your favorite thing to do?
Main character: I like to play with my friends and solve mysteries.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
The title of my book is The Lightning Thief. It is the first book of the Percy Jackson series and the author of my book is Rick Riordan. The main characters in my book are Percy Jackson and his best friends Annabeth and Grover. The main problem in this story is that Percy Jackson gets attacked by a bunch of monsters and is blamed for stealing the bolt, a lightning bolt that belongs to a Greek God. Percy Jackson is trying to get the bolt to Zeus. The setting of my book is in New York City, but sometimes they travel.
A big event that happened in my book was the first time Percy battled a monster. The monster was a “Fury”. He had no clue what to do until his teacher threw him a pen, and then when he uncapped the pen it was actually a sword. Percy trembled as he couldn’t believe his eyes. What I found to be most interesting was when he is in water, he is always dry. He can breathe underwater because he’s the son of Poseidon, which is a God. This is interesting, because it is like having superpowers in the water. Another thing that I thought was interesting was that there were so many Gods, because I did not know very much about Gods.
One adjective to describe Percy Jackson is brave, because he went on a scary quest in the book to find the lightning bolt to give back to the owner. Most people who go on quests never come back. Another way to describe my character is prey, because all of the monsters want to attack and eat him. Another adjective to describe my character is sneaky, because in the book he snuck into the teacher’s office. In the office, he quietly listened to what the teacher and Grover were talking about. He also had to sneak into the underworld and pretend he was dead. One quote in this book that I think describes the character is, “I have to save these people.” This describes him well, because he will do whatever it takes to save other people before he saves himself.
I enjoyed this book a lot because it is very mysterious, and I love mysteries. It is also a good bedtime story because it is spooky and gives me fun dreams. I definitely recommend this book because it is an amazing story to read: it is happy and sad at the same time. If you like happy and sad mysteries you will like this book. This book reminds me of the movie Goosebumps because it has mysteries and fairytales in it. I would give this book five stars ★★★★★.
The Secret Of the Old Clock, Carolyn Keene
Even though it was a book, The Secret Of The Old Clock, painted a clear picture in my head. The book I read was The Secret Of The Old Clock by, Carolyn Keene. It is part of the Nancy Drew series. The central character in my book is Nancy Drew and Carson Drew. The major problem in this book is that Nancy needs to find a will to help some people get more money. She looks for the will by looking for relatives of the man that died to give hints to help her solve the mystery. This book takes place in River Heights and around 1980-1990.
Nancy Drew is kind because she tried to help some people get more money. Something else that makes Nancy kind is that in the beginning she saves a little girl’s life. Nancy is also curious because she wanted to get involved with a mystery. She is adventures too because she went on an adventure to figure out the mystery. A part of the book I found very interesting is when Nancy sees some robbers robbing a house. It was interesting because Nancy had to stop the robbers from stealing furniture. Also she saw the robbers twice and had to stop them two times.
Another part I found interesting is when Nancy goes to someone’s house and hears a big scream. It was interesting because I never knew what was going to happen next. A big decision Nancy makes is when she decides to go do something dangerous and if she gets caught she might get hurt or even be killed! One other part I found interesting is when Nancy gets so close to the answer of the mystery. It was interesting because it made me have a lot of thoughts while reading it.
I enjoyed the book because it had some surprising parts that I would not expect. Also at first I thought the book was going to be boring because I do not like mystery but I liked this book. Another thing that made it interesting was that Nancy would do anything to solve the mystery. I would recommend this book to kids who like mystery books and surprising things, also to kids in third or fourth grade. The genre of my book is mystery. This book connects to my life because I am curious just like Nancy. I give this book three and a half stars.
Northwood, By Brian Falker
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, 
and 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!
The House of Stairs By William Sleator
In a house made entirely of stairs on one of the shiny pure white steps lay a book called:The House of Stairs by William Sleator. The house of stairs is about five 16 year old orphans named Oliver, Peter, Lola, Blossom, and Abigail that all get blindfolded and one by one get taken to a place that is not a prison and not a hospital. It’s just a maze of interlocking stairs.
My favorite character is Lola. I would describe her as brave, because she always stands up for herself and others, mischievous, because she would make lots of trouble at her old orphanage and tough because she would never let anything get to her. A part that I found interesting was when they first found the food machine and got it to work. How they got it to work was when Peter and Lola first met Blossom. Blossom leaned over a red screen with a hole in it. When she stuck out her tongue and a pellet would come out of the hole. An event that changed the direction of this book was when Lola and Peter decided not to eat or go along with the food machine. The food machine is significant because it keeps tricking them into being mean to each other.
I really loved this book because of the way it told the story and how different from other book it is. I would recommend this book to someone who likes science fiction because that’s what this book is. A connection to another book is that in the Isle of the Lost (not a series) all of the characters are 16. I would rate this book five stars.
Book Of Sith by Daniel Wallace
You may venture far into the public library, but beware the power of the Sith in the science fiction section! The book I read was called The Book Of Sith by Daniel Wallace. This book takes place a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away. The book explains all the untold stories of the Sith’s role in the Star Wars universe. The main characters are all Sith lords I feel like people of all age would like this book because it can make anyone say : “huh, I never knew that.” It contains many interesting stories and journal entries about the Sith that span the Star Wars saga . The Sith are an ancient force of darkness as old as time itself. The Sith are the sworn enemy of the Jedi and are controlled by no one. All Sith seek to achieve power and domination, and would even kill each other to get it.
One event that changed everything was the end of the old republic wars. After that war many Sith lords died and the Sith order needed to regroup (and that took about 30 years). This event marked a turning point for the Sith order allowing them to create an army of robots called battle droids. I found it interesting that Sith not only use the universal weapon of force wielders, the lightsaber but they also use enchanted swords, razor bladed frisbees and metal boomerangs. The Sith also use fire, ice, and lightning to attack their enemies.
Three words I can use to describe the main characters are powerful, stubborn and cruel. Five Jedi would still be out matched to one Sith lord. A Sith could not only move a mountain with their powers, but they could crush one as well. Once a Sith has decided on a plan, anyone who objects may need to run away at top speed if they would like to keep an arm. Sith do not only crush their enemies but they also torture them.
I enjoyed this book because it explains all the ins and outs of the Sith order. I am also a star wars aficionado and I really like S W . I would recommend this book to anyone who has liked S W at one point or another. Also any on who likes science fiction. This book definitely reminds me of S W the lost missions. (A cartoon network series.) From one to five stars I would give this book five stars.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐