Category Archives: Realistic Fiction

Genre

Mar
17
2017

Crenshaw, by Katherine Applegate

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Image result for Crenshaw book cover.

The author of this book is Katherine Applegate. This author also wrote The One And Only Ivan, if you liked that book you should definitely read this one! This book is about a boy who had an imaginary friend called Crenshaw, who comes back to the main character Jackson when he is in need of him. At the time it’s up to Jackson to figure out why. Jackson has a little sister named Robin, a dog named Aretha, and a mom and a dad. The story has some sad parts where the family is in poverty and struggles to regain money. I feel like the book is very well written so it feels like it is happening in real life! So at some points I got a little teary.

If I were to give three adjectives to describe Jackson they would be that he’s an optimist, fearful, and sometimes he thinks he’s imagining things. He’s an optimist because even when he’s living in poverty he looked on the bright side and said, “As long as we have a roof over our heads, I am grateful.” He is fearful because he’s afraid that he’s going to get made fun because he has an imaginary friend when he’s in 5th grade, and by the look of it he doesn’t really see anyone else that has an imaginary friend. He sometimes thinks he’s imagining things when Crenshaw magically appears, for example in the middle of the night he once he heard Crenshaw in his bathroom taking a shower!

There’s lot’s of interesting parts of the book. If I were to give two interesting parts about this book they would be when Crenshaw pops up in places at random moments. I think it’s interesting how Crenshaw pops up at random moments because it’s really cool to discover what Crenshaw will do next. For example, once when Jackson was watching a baseball game at Best Buy because they sold their T.V Jackson saw Crenshaw on the Best Buy T.V doing a headstand behind the ref in the booth! I also think it’s interesting to see how Jackson and his sister Robin react to all the change that’s happening in their lives. It’s interesting to see how Jackson reacts to living in poverty because if I were in the same situation as Jackson and Robin I would be freaking out.

This book is really well written so it makes you feel like the story actually is happening in real life. I love how the author makes it so you don’t want to stop reading and if you do it mostly ends on something stressful, so you want to read more. Also I love the book because there’s an animal as one of the main characters, and if there’s an animal as one of the main characters in the book, I’m in for it. If you are looking for a book this is definitely a good one! This book is exciting and it pulls you into the world of realistic fiction. I think the book is exciting because it is suspenseful and that makes you not want to stop reading. If I were to rate this book through 1-5 stars I would rate this book 5. (Partly because there’s an animal in the book, which means I always love it)!  

 

Thanks For Reading !!!!!!

 

Mar
17
2017

The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron

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I read a book called The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. The book is about a girl named Lucky that is 10 years old and her mom died. Because of that she has a guardian to take care of her. But then after awhile she thinks her guardian is going to move. She runs away to prove to her guardian that she actually wants to stay. At the end when they find Lucky  she does something that she would not have done if she did not run away. The book takes place in a town called Hard Pan in California. The time period is sometime before 2007 but there were computers. I know this because they did not have I-phones but they did have computers.

Lucky is really brave, sometimes cranky, and sometimes really sad. She is brave because she ran away from home in a dust storm. This makes her brave because in a dust storm people are trying to get inside and away from the dust but instead Lucky  is going out. She is cranky because whenever a little boy that is five years old comes to her house she gets really mad and tells him to get out. He does not deserve it because all he wants her to do is read him a book called are you my mother. Also Lucky is not always this cranky it is only when the boy is there.And last Lucky is sometimes sad because when she thinks about her mom she starts crying. Like wants she started crying into her mom’s ashes which were in a flower pot.

In The Higher Power of Lucky, it is important that her mom dies. This is important because if her mom did not pass away Brigette would not be her guardian. Also Lucky probably would not have ran away. Another important thing is that Lucky found the passport in Brigette’s bag. This is important because if she did not find the passport she would not have thought Brigette was going to leave. She would not have ran away if she didn’t find these clues.

I kind of liked this book because it is very slow and at the beginning nothing is happening. This goes on for about three fourths of the book. Like at the beginning it was mostly talking about her job at a place where they share their stories. Once you get to the last fourth of the book it gets interesting and you want to know what is going to happen next. Once I got to the part of Lucky  running away, I just wanted to keep reading. I would recommend this book because at the end you can’t stop reading you just want to know what is going to happen. I also would not recommend this book because at the beginning it is so so slow. I think that The Higher Power of Lucky is unique because in no other story that I know of there is a girl who’s mom died and feels not loved so she runs away. If I gave this a one to five star rating this book would be a three.

 

Mar
17
2017

Because Of Mr. Terupt By Rob Buyea

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The book I read is called Because Of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea. It takes place in a town where the kids go to a school called Snow Hill School. The book is about seven kids, Peter, Anna, Jessica, Luke, Jeffery, Alexa, and Danielle. They all end up in the same fifth grade class with Mr.Terupt. All of them don’t have much in common and they never seem to get along. But when they all end up in the same class things start to change.

Peter is sneaky, insensitive at the beginning, then compassionate at the end. He is sneaky because he tries to get into trouble without anyone noticing. For example, he put Elmer’s Glue on the bottom of Luke’s shoes. He is insensitive because when Mr. Terupt said the class was going to the Collaborative Classroom, a class with kids who have disabilities, he called the kids “retards.” Peter became compassionate because he started to realize that the kids at the Collaborative Classroom were not as bad as he thought. He even started to make friends with a kid named James from the Collaborative Classroom.

WARNING! DO NOT READ THESE  PARAGRAPHS IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE BOOK TO BE SPOILED!

One of the most interesting parts of the book is when Mr. Terupt goes into a coma. This is interesting because this part of the book reveals a lot about Mr. Terupt. The seven kids learn that Mr. Terupt did a lot of wrestling while growing up. When Peter threw the snowball at him, it cracked his skull. Another interesting part of the book is how Danielle’s family does not approve of Anna and her mother, Terri. I found the history of their families very interesting. Apparently, Danielle’s family did not approve of Terri being such a young mother.

Personally, I loved this book. I always like to read books where each chapter switches from each character’s point of view. Also, I felt the plot was very brilliant. All the drama and excitement made the book a page turner. I would recommend this book to people who like realistic fiction and school fiction. If you do not want to read a long book you should read this book. It’s fast paced and well written. This book is very unique. It seems like it would be like any other school book but the plot is so different. I have never before read a book about a teacher that helps bring a group of kids together, then randomly goes into a coma. I would rate this book 4 ½ stars.

Mar
17
2017

Wayside School Is Falling Down, by Louis Sachar

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This series is called The Wayside School. But I am focusing on one of the books called The Wayside School Is Falling Down. The author  of the book is Louis Sachar. The book is really funny.  If you want to laugh read it. It is about a school called The Wayside School and their school year. There is no main character because it switches the perspective of the different students. The book does not tell you where it takes place but don’t let that make you not  read it.

All the characters have different personalities. Like one of the characters named bebe is really funny because she pranked the teacher by putting a dead rat in her desk. She also is a good drawer she drew 1,000 planes. She is really self conscious because she lost her two front teeth and she says she is not cute any more.   Also my favorite character, Calvin got a potato tattoo on his ankle! Who would do that? He is very clumsy because he knocked down his fish tank and the by accident he swallowed a fish!!!!

One of the most interesting parts of this book is when sharie brought in hobo Bob for show in tell. I found this part interesting because it is sort of pointless and funny. Also Hobo Bob does not wear socks because when he was younger he won a spelling bee without socks on. And now he says it is a good luck charm. I have a question for him, if you have good luck why are you homeless?

This book is similar to the series My Weird School for two reasons.One is that the art is the same. Secondary, they are both really funny. I rate this book four stars. It is a good quick read. Read it!   

Feb
16
2017

If I Were You, by Leslie Margolis

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The book I am reading is called If I Were You by Leslie Margolis. This book is set in Malibu in 2016. The book is about two girls, Katie and Melody who wish to redo their summer as each other. Katie wants to be stunning and rich like Melody while Melody wants to have two adorable little brothers like Katie. When their wish comes true they realize the grass may not be quite so green on the other side. In this book, each chapter is from Katie’s or Melody’s point of view.

Melody is friendly, positive and she is sensitive to her friends. She is friendly because whenever she is with Katie’s two younger brothers she always wants to hang out with them even though they can sometimes be demanding and annoying. Often, the brothers wake Katie up at 6:00 am to play superheros. On top of that, the brothers usually fight over who is which superhero. She is positive because whenever something isn’t going well she tries to think on the bright side. Melody is sensitive to her friends because she tries not to do things that hurt her friends feelings and when she does she feels bad.

The book talks a lot about friendship and what to do and what not to do. One of the most important parts of the book is when Katie and Melody get in a fight because Melody kept a big secret from Katie. This moment is important because it explains how friends should not keep secrets from each other because it can impact the friendship in a bad way. Another important moment from the book is when Katie and Melody make the wish to redo their summer as each other. This moment is important because it is the moment that drives the rest of the story.

Personally, I enjoyed this book. I liked how each chapter was from either Katie’s or Melody’s point of view. It made the book more interesting because you got to see through each character’s eyes and experience how Katie or Melody felt. I also enjoyed Katie and Melody’s personalities.They are so different from each other it makes the book more unique. I would recommend this book to people who like realistic fiction and people who liked the movie Jessica Darling’s IT List. This book reminds me of the movie Jessica Darling’s IT List. This movie reminds me of If I Were You because the characters are very alike. For example, Jessica is just like Katie. They both have long brown hair, are stubborn, and have a tomboy sense of style. Secondly, Melody is just like Bridget. They both have curly blonde hair, are popular at school, and have a girly-girl sense of style. I would give this book four stars.

 

Feb
16
2017

The War That Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

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The War That Saved My Life is about WWII happening in London. Kids had to leave London for their safety because of bombing. They had to go to the countryside and move in with random people. The character the book is focusing on is a girl named Ada Smith. She has a twisted foot and a very cruel mother. The mother keeps Ada locked up in her apartment by herself. Ada sneaks off to the countryside with her little brother Jamie because her mom was being to mean to her. They were forced upon a pretty nice woman named Susan Smith. Then when they all are there they learn to love each other

           Ada Smith is brave, nervous and resilient. She is brave because she was strong enough to sneak away from her mother and walk very far without stopping. She is also brave because she taught herself how to ride a pony. She is nervous because in the book she gets scared, angry or nervous about what other people do. She is resilient because WWII is happening and she is following everything other people say to do, to stay safe.

          One of the most interesting parts in the book is when Ada learns to write because she asks a lot of questions about what words mean. So learning to write might help her to understand those words and it will help her learn to read. Another interesting part of the story is when the villager tells all the other villagers that if they put up black curtains in the night the German spies will not see anything when they come to invade.

           I definitely enjoyed this book because it is a very interesting part of history. Even though Ada Smith is a made up character, kids actually were sent to the countryside to stay with a stranger. It is such an interesting and unique book because of its theme and I have never read a book about WWII. I would definitely recommend book if you like realistic fiction or history books. Ada Smith is unique because she has a clubfoot and she has to survive through WWII. I would give The War That Saved My Life a five star rating because it is so amazing.

 

Feb
16
2017

Diary Of A Wimpy kid Old School By Jeff Kinny

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid Old School is a book about school drama. It is funny, and it has cool characters. It takes place in modern time because they have TV and iPhones. The main character’s name is Greg Heffley. He has a  younger brother and an older brother. His older brother is the troublemaker in the family besides Greg. Greg is spoiled but he does not think he is because of his lifestyle, he is lazy and kind of selfish but that partly makes the book good. This book is about his adventures. Greg mostly has to deal with problems that will get worse in the future. In this book he goes to a camp and has a bad time with the help of cabin mates and bad parents. He ends up surviving camp.

Greg is lazy, a trouble maker, brave,and determined. Greg is lazy and kind of a couch potato because once he tried to stay inside and play video games for an entire summer. He is always a troublemaker because  . He is brave because he traveled through the sewers to go to his friends house. He is determined  because he stayed at camp and didn’t .

I found Greg’s family is interesting. Greg is being lectured by his mom and dad all the time. His dad is always saying “you should get out more,” “When I was your age all I did was play outside” and getting him to play and be a “man.” His mom is always telling him to learn more like “let’s start a reading club!” Or “Why don’t you go outside more it’s a sunny day.”I also thought his friend Rowley is interesting because he is a goody two shoes and can’t have fun with his parents around. They will say, “Rowley Jefferson put that stick down this instant!” Greg always finds a way to get out of a mess, though most of the time he gets in trouble.

This book series I would recommend if you like easy reads, fun stories, and interesting characters. I would rate the series 3 and a half out of 5. I rate this that way because sometimes the series is slow but the characters are fun to learn about. And the characters always have funny reactions to what Greg or others do and there are other characters to learn about in the series.

Feb
16
2017

PAX By Sara Pennypacker and Jon Klassen

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The book I read was Pax by Sara Pennypacker and it is illustrated by Jon Klassen. It is realistic fiction and there are some nice illustrations. This book is about a boy named Peter who has a pet fox named Pax. They are inseparable, but when Peter’s father goes off to war, he forces Peter to abandon Pax in in the forest. The story starts as Peter drives to the forest and leaves Pax. Then Peter has to live with his grandfather while his father is fighting in the war. Peter realizes it was wrong to leave Pax and decides to go on a journey to find him. The main characters are Peter, Pax, some foxes that Pax meets, and a later, a character that Peter meets: Vola. Pax is set in modern times. It is set in a very big forest, Vola’s farm, and the road to the forest where Pax is while Peter is trying to find him.

In this book Peter is the main character. Peter is brave, determined, and strong. He is brave because he went on the journey alone. The journey is dangerous and he does not think he will have help. He is determined because he knows he will find Pax no matter what. He even wants to keep looking for him when he breaks his leg. He is strong because he gets hurt a lot, for example, breaking his leg and he never cries.

After Peter breaks his leg Vola finds him and takes Peter to her farm to help him. Peter is there for a lot of the book. Breaking his leg causes him to live at the farm for a while and that is why it is an important event. Another interesting part of this book is when Pax first meets the other foxes. It makes the reader want to learn more about the foxes, but the reader can’t learn more about the foxes right at that time because the chapter is over. This is because in this book each chapter switches from Pax’s perspective to Peter’s perspective. For example, in the chapter Pax meets the foxes the reader will be reading about Pax and the foxes but the next chapter will be about Peter.

I enjoyed the book because it was suspenseful. I also liked this book because it was hard to know what was going to happen next. For example, I never knew Peter would break his leg and someone would find him and take him to live at a farm. I would recommend this book because it is an adventure, but it does have some violence. Sometimes the violence can be a little intense. Also the pictures are really pretty. Pax has 276 pages so it probably won’t take too long to finish. Pax reminds me of The Good Dinosaur, because in that movie, Arlo, the main character, is far from home on a journey to to get back home. Arlo has a pet Spot, who he loves. Spot reminds me of Pax because he is the main character’s best friend. Arlo the dinosaur reminds me of Peter because they are both main characters on a long journey. Then Arlo meets some T-rex’s who help Arlo get home and they let Arlo and Spot stay with them. The T-rex’s remind me of  Vola because Vola helps Peter and they help Arlo. The T-rex’s help Arlo get home and they let Arlo and Spot stay with them. The T-rex’s remind me of Vola because Vola helps Peter and the T-rex’s help Arlo. I would rate this book 4 stars.

Feb
16
2017

Crenshaw, by Katherine Applegate

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Crenshaw is about a boy, Jackson, in a not so wealthy family who is having some rough times but when he meets a old friend, the rough times get a lot more interesting.When he meets Crenshaw, his old imaginary friend who has come back to Jackson for a reason that Jackson is trying to figure out. Jackson’s parents were forced to move out of their house because they couldn’t pay the rent.

I think that Jackson is very silly, smart, and also really nice. He is silly because who’s imaginary friend would be a surf boarding, skate boarding, and extremely smart cat for a imaginary friend!? He is smart because one he is very good with building and he really wants to be a scientist when he grows up (also when their was a raccoon in the house, he was the one who got it out when everyone was freaking out!). And last but not least he is nice because when his sister woke him up at one in the morning because she couldn’t fall asleep, (this happened about five times throughout the whole book) he just went into her room and read her her favorite book, Lyle.

One night Jackson is playing a made up game called cereal bowl and Jackson sees a giant cat that is jet-skiing which confuses Jackson because he thought that he was way past his imaginary friend. The next night Jackson heard splashing in the bathroom so he decided to check what was going on in there at that late hour. He peeked in, and it was Crenshaw. And from then on, Crenshaw and Jackson have been hanging out more and more and Jackson has been learning more and more about Crenshaw and realizes more and more about how much Jackson needs Crenshaw.

This book is a very interesting book. It is really full of curiosity because it has so many different topics in the book. The reason that I really liked this book because it really changes topic a lot which is really nice because it really it always makes you wonder what is going to happen next. If I had to pick a one to five rate with stars, I would give this book four and a half  stars because of how much it makes you wonder about that jet skiing cat. 

Feb
16
2017

Super Fudge by Judy Blume  

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Super Fudge is a fantastic book. It’s set in the 1980’s about a boy named Peter who has a little brother who they call Fudge and a new little sister called Tootsie. Judy Blume has many books in the series like Tales of A Fourth Grade Nothing, Double Fudge and so on. Peter, the main character, thinks his life is already bad when his parents knew for two months that they were going to have a baby! Now he realizes that for a year his family is moving to Princeton. Peter is a boy who has a best friend named Jimmy Fargo, and has a dog named Turtle. He named it after the one turtle that he got at Jimmy Fargo’s birthday party that got eaten by his little brother Farley, who is called Fudge by his family. You never know what’s to come in these books!

Peter is funny, easily annoyed, and a confusing person. He is funny because he loves to make jokes like making a big deal of everything. He is easily annoyed because of his little brother who is always up to something. For example, announcing to the whole school that the principal is fat (not exactly in those exact words but he did kind of did say that). He is confusing because in the book he keeps on saying he’s going to run away, but he never does.

The book is so exciting, there’s so many things to share! Some of the most important and interesting parts I thought were when Tootsie, a new family member got born in the book, because it made the story so much more exciting! (With the little brother called Fudge and the little sister called Tootsie, maybe they wanted to own a candy factory?  Another interesting thing I thought was at the end of the school year in Princeton a special drawing guest came in named Brain Tumkin who was going to call someone up to describe a person, with their features. At the end Brain Tumkin will end up drawing that person. Peter’s little brother came up and described the fat principal using the word fat, Mr. Green, for the special guest. Poor Peter, he almost got humiliated to death! I thought that was interesting because doing what Fudge did doesn’t usually happen regularly. The last fun, interesting part I thought was when Peter told his dog to sic his enemy Sheila Tubman because he knows she doesn’t like dogs. When his dog started to chase her and lick her, she started to cry and complained to the doorman that Peter wanted his dog to sic her, even though she doesn’t know what sic means!

I really enjoyed this book. All the characters make the whole book so exciting. I think it’s funny that Peter is a calm nice brother, when his little brother is so crazy! For example Fudge was playing hide and go seek with his little sister who is 3 months old, and hides her in a closet for a long time and just leaves her there till his parents ask him where she is. In a different book in the series, Fudge ate Peter’s turtle. He literally ate the turtle! If you are searching for a book to read, this book is a great one. It is  SO funny, every book in the series has little crazy parts, and lots more! If you like Diary of A Wimpy Kid I would say the two books are kind of related. In both books the main character has a friend. In Super Fudge Peter has a friend named Jimmy Fargo. In Diary of A Wimpy Kid his friend is Rowley. In Super Fudge He has a enemy called Sheila Tubman, in Diary of A Wimpy Kid he has an enemy, his older brother. In Super Fudge he has a really annoying brother called Fudge. In Diary of A Wimpy Kid he has a sometimes annoying brother named Manny. If I were to rate this book I would give it 5 stars.

Hope you liked reading!