Category Archives: Sports

Genre

May
12
2017

The Mighty Dynamo by Kieran Crowley

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The book that I chose to read (or the book Tara told me I had to read) is called the Mighty Dynamo by Kieran Crowley. Noah is the main character of this book. The setting is Ireland in the present day. The Mighty Dynamo is what Noah’s mom used to call him before she passed away. Noah gets into a fight at one of his soccer games, a fight that he did not start. As a result, he gets kicked off of the school’s team, Saint Killian’s.  When Noah gets banned from Saint Kilian’s soccer, he sets his eyes on building his own team under the name of another school.  Noah has a genius friend named Stevie who was the one to come up with the idea of starting Noah’s own team. The idea is to start a new team for the all girls school St. Mary’s.

Noah is not pleased that he is playing for a girls school but he knows this is the only way he can play in the big tournament. The St. Mary’s principal lets Noah’s play under her school’s name but she says they must have at least one girl on their team. Noah is not pleased with this either but again he knows that this is the only way he can play. The girl on the team is Maggie O’Connell. Noah met Maggie at the park to see if she was any good at soccer. He found out that she was really really good, so he started to appreciate her. The first thing Maggie did when she saw Noah was pull out a tennis ball and they had a Juggle off which is when you try to keep the ball in the air for as long as possible. The Juggle Off was so hard because it was with a tennis ball not a soccer ball. Maggie wanted the Juggle Off as a way to test Noah’s skills.

Noah is unstoppable, athletic, and stubborn. Noah is unstoppable because when he got banned from the soccer team he didn’t give up. He still wanted to play in the big tournament so he made his own team.  Noah is athletic because he is the best player on his soccer team. He is also the leader of his soccer team and he is the captain because he is the leader. Noah is stubborn because once Stevie presented the plan of starting a new team under the name of the a all girls school, he didn’t want to do it at all. It took a lot of Stevie arguing with him before he agreed.

Noah was eventually into the idea of starting this new team because he wants to play in the big Tournament, the World Cup. When Noah’s team realizes that the first manager/coach doesn’t work out he hires Stevie to be the manager/coach. This is the most interesting part because Stevie is not that good at soccer but he is a great coach. Stevie was happy from then on out, but when Noah wasn’t looking he always had this look in his eyes that he wanted to be a player. I think the quote I chose resembles Noah’s leadership, “Come on team we can do it. We have to get better.” This quote shows Noah’s leadership because he is saying encouraging words to the players.

I loved this book so much because it was a step outside my comfort zone, that’s big for me. Tara told me that I needed to take a look at fiction, not only nonfiction and I listened to her. Now I’m reading so many fiction books that sometimes I have to read a little nonfiction. I would recommend this book if you like realistic sports fiction. This book takes a lot of surprising twists and turns, but it is still very realistic. Things happen that could totally happen today. This book reminds me of a typical sports story, it isn’t unique. There are a lot of parts of this book that remind me of Matt Christopher and Tim Green books. If you don’t know, those two are some very famous sports writers. I would give this book four stars because I really liked it.  I would have liked an epilogue so I could find out if Noah ended up playing in the Premier League when he grew up.

 

May
04
2017

Ghost, By Jason Reynolds

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The book I read is called Ghost. It takes place around now in a small neighborhood. It is by Jason Reynolds. The main character is named Ghost (Castle). He loves basketball but finds himself on a track team. Ghost finally has something to take his mind off of his dark past. One night, Ghost is in his bedroom sleeping when his mom comes in screaming for him to go. When he is running down the hallway with his mom, he sees his dad with a pistol pointing at him. That was the night Ghost learned to run. Several years later, Ghost is on a track team, considered a newbie. His father went to jail, leaving his mom to take charge. They are very poor so Ghost can’t afford track gear, much less anything that he needs for track. His Coach creates a strong bond with Ghost throughout the book, and they find out later that they have more in common than they think. The main question in the book is, Is Ghost running for his life or from it?

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Ghost is brave, smart and mischievous. He is brave because he is willing to do almost anything, and he is determined about it. He is smart because he finds his way out of things, in a clever way. He is mischievous because he steals a pair of sneakers, without getting caught.  He dosen’t have enough money to buy track shoes, so he cleverly does it. He also is one of those characters that you don’t know if what he is saying will happen or not.

The most interesting part was when Ghost created bonds with the other ‘newbies.’ They told each other their biggest secrets, they were surprisingly similar. A famous quote from the book is from Coach “Trouble is, you can’t run away from yourself.” Coach snatched the towel from his shoulder, folded into a perfect square, and set it in the space between us. “Unfortunately,” he said, “ain’t nobody that fast.” I  think this quote is important because it shares a lot about Ghosts life. He wants to run away from his past but can’t, so this track team helps Ghost a lot. When you read this book, that quote will stay with you throughout the whole book.

I definitely enjoyed Ghost. I loved every character’s personality, and how they were all so different yet the same. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves sports, a fast-paced book that you can’t put down and a book that you make connections with everyday. Ghost is very unique and has his own, teen, spunky and slang-talking personality. I would rate this book 5 stars because the book is all about sports and has a very unique setting. 

 

Mar
17
2017

Strong Inside, by Andrew Marahiss

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The title of my book is called Strong Inside by Andrew Marahiss. The book is a biography about a basketball player named Perry Wallace, who is facing a lot of racism and segregation. He is black in the 60s and in a still segregated college in Nashville, Tennessee. He is grown enough to understand segregation.  People put signs on his door saying mean things, they talked trash in basketball games, the fans threw food at him, and he was not allowed to be part of a fraternity group because he was black.  People treated him differently and it influenced him a lot.  He became more quiet, knew to avoid people and stay away from segregationists. Perry Wallace had to be a lot more cautious.

Perry Wallace is quiet, mature, and perseverant. He is quiet because he grew up in the South and he learned to be shy and stay away from all of the terrible things that were happening there.  Instead of speaking up and standing up to the bullies he stayed away from all of them and didn’t do anything and let the racist slurs roll off his back.  Wallace is mature because he always knows what to do.  He drove away when there was a riot, like someone who is mature would, instead of getting into it. Another instance is when he was the first black player on the Vanderbilt team. He could handle all the pressure; that’s what’s mature about him.  Perry Wallace is mature because when people hang bad signs on his door, he doesn’t go berserk about it.  He is perseverant because he doesn’t give up when all of the racist segregation happens.  He didn’t give up when in a Mississippi game all the fans were talking trash and throwing things at him and not giving him a chance. He still played a great game. Perry Wallace has great characteristics because he is all of these things.

One of the most interesting parts is when the author talks about Perry Wallace maturing. This is the part I chose because it is not how a typical sports story would go. A typical sports story would intro the player, talk about him or her, then talk about the games and end the book by making the player win or lose. That’s what a typical sports story would be; but not this time, this book talks about Perry improving. It talks about his experience of being a black athlete in the mid-60’s. He is threatened, and he is cursed at. Another really interesting part of the book is realizing how he was treated. I’m just saying, it was hell. Why do you think he was treated that way? The worst place he played at (racist wise) was Starkville Mississippi and Auburn. Perry called it “Four Days in Hell”.

I liked this book because it is unique and it tells a different story than most other sports books do. The time period is very interesting to me since it’s not how we would live today. We don’t have segregation anymore and sports players of all colors, and other people, are allowed to do whatever they want. I have two feelings about recommending this book to other students. I think you should read this because it’s such an inspiring and realistic story.  It teaches people how hard it was for people of color in the 1960s.  Also, I do not recommend this book because there are a lot of curse words in it. This book reminds me of the movie Race; it is about Jesse Owens and him overcoming racism just like Perry Wallace did. Overall, I would rate this book with three and half stars. The reason I only rated it with three and a half stars is that it’s not a kid’s book, because of that I thought that it was a little slow moving. If you are a kid that likes grown-up books you will like this book, but if you’re a kid that likes fantasy and things like that, then this probably isn’t an amazing book for you, but otherwise it was great.

Jun
14
2016

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

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imgresThe Harry Potter series is by J.K. Rowling is a really magical book series. The book takes place in Hogwarts, and the main characters are Harry, Hermione, and Ron. This book is different than the ones before, because there is a twist at the end and it will surprise you. You should still read the series in order, because, if you don’t, you’ll get confused by a lot of things in the books. On a scale of one to five, I’d give this book a four because the book is really magical, but I was a little disappointed: I wanted something to happen that didn’t happen. The book is magical because there are so many cool creatures, spells, wizards, witches, and mysteries. Enjoy the book review comic!

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Jun
14
2016

The Harry Potter Series by J.K.Rowling

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9780545162074_p0_v2_s1200x630This review is on the great series called Harry Potter by J.K Rowling.  This is a series of 7 books: The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, The Order of the Phoenix, The Half Blood Prince, and The Deathly Hallows. Each book tells the story of a year at Hogwarts and the summer vacation except for the last book which covers some of the future. These are probably the best seven books I have ever read. The main character is an eleven year old boy (in the first book) named Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The big problem in this series is that a dark wizard named Voldemort is trying to kill Harry.  This series takes place in England in 1991.  

It is very challenging to choose the most important events in such a big series, but I have chosen three. One huge event that changes Harry’s life is in The Prisoner of Azkaban, when Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban (the wizarding jail). Throughout the series Sirius becomes more important and a bigger part of Harry’s life, this is why his escape is important. Another big event is at the end of The Goblet of Fire. This is when Lord Voldemort comes back and tries to kill Harry. Harry just barely escapes, but that’s the least of his worries…now the darkest wizard is out to basically kill everyone but his closest followers and nobody will believe Harry that he is back. A third big event is the the Battle of Hogwarts in The Deathly Hallows. Many people close to Harry die in this battle which affects his life greatly for the worse.

Harry is very fair. I say this because in the fourth book ha could have cheated in a tournament but chose not to. Harry is also mentally strong. I say this because he is literally having a conversation with the most dangerous person ever and does not break down. A third thing I would describe harry as is brave. I would say he is brave because he was willing to go somewhere where there was a 99% chance he would die. A quote that explains harry is “I don’t go looking for trouble, trouble usually finds me”. I think this explains Harry because he’s always getting himself into a bad situation but he does not want to be in them.

I loved this series! One reason why I thought it was great was because it was I am an adventure fan and this is definitely adventure. I would totally recommend it, especially if you like Percy Jackson. I think any adventure fan would like it. On a scale of 1 to 5 I would give this series a 1,000!

I hope you like my Show Me. Just so you know, there are some random pauses in it. Sorry!

Jun
13
2016

The Last Kids On Earth by Max Brallier

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51BtFHNN45L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_The book that I chose to read is called The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier. The book is part of a series by the same author. The main characters are Jack, Quint, Dirk and June. The main problem is that the planet has been invaded by zombies and monsters and the main character Jack is trying to stop the zombie apocalypse. He is trying to turn the zombies into humans again. The setting of the book is at the school, the treehouse in Jack’s backyard and in the neighborhood where they all live.    

One big event that changed the story was when Jack met his friend because he was going to be all by himself and then he just found a partner. This event was important because, it was easier for him to fight because then he’d have another person and an extra person is really helpful. One thing that I found most interesting was when Jack first shows up at Quint’s house and Jack starts killing all of the zombies. I liked that part because it involves a back yard and a person silently killing a bunch of zombies. Another thing that I found interesting was when everyone at once attacked Blarg who is the big monster in the story. I liked that because I like big battles.

The first adjective I would use to describe Jack is brave. He was brave because he would attack all of the monsters. Another adjective to describe him is determined because everyone else wanted to give up at one point but he said “Now, if we just try a little harder, we can do it.” And he didn’t let them give up. He has a big heart so he is caring. All he wanted to do throughout the whole book was to save this girl named June from the zombies. One quote that Jack said was “I’m an orphan.” It is an important quote because it shows that he only needs to take care of himself since he doesn’t have a family.

I enjoyed this book because it involved a lot of war and it involved monsters and zombies. I like those things because they both involve weapons. I recommend this book because it has a great story, great author, and great illustrations. I think this book is related to the TV show called The Walking Dead because that’s like a town that gets invaded by zombies and the book is like a town that gets invaded too. I would rate this book 4 stars!!!!!!!!!!!

Mar
09
2016

Love of the Game, By John Coy

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

 

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

 

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

Mar
07
2016

Who was Jackie Robinson? By Gail Herman

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9780448455570_xlgThe book that I am reading is Who Was Jackie Robinson? The author is Gail Herman. The book is about Jackie Robinson trying to be the only black major league baseball player in history of the United States of America. The reason Jackie Robinson was and still is so famous is because he was the first ever black baseball major league player. When Jackie Robinson died it was a really sad moment for everyone, even some of the white baseball players not on his team.

The most important thing that happened in the book is that Jackie played in an all-black baseball league until he met someone who wanted him to play in the major league for the Brooklyn Dodgers.  That was the most hard decision that he ever made. If he joined, he would rather get bullied by the white baseball player or they would just leave him alone.

After he thought about it, he said “Yes! I would love to.” I think this quote he just said was one of the most interesting things in the book, because what would’ve happened if he said no? I also think that when Jackie stole home for the win was really cool because I had never read about somebody stealing home for the win before.

 Jackie Robinson is brave. He is brave because he wanted to take the risk of playing an all white American game that was be shown in front of hundreds of people that thought he shouldn’t be playing the game of baseball. He is also is  smart because he never gets into fights with other people that think he shouldn’t be playing baseball or think that he is a terrible person because he ruined the baseball because of his skin color. I also think he is thankful because he liked to play the game not let anyone take the game from him. A really important quote he said was that “all black and whites should play this game baseball.”

I think you should read this book because it tells you all about Jackie Robinson’s life. I think Jackie Robinson’s character reminds me of Babe Ruth because he is really good and so is Jackie. I would rate this book 4 stars because there are a lot of facts that I never knew.  

          

   

 

Mar
01
2016

The Miracle on 49th Street by Mike Lupica

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904597The book I’m reviewing is the Miracle on 49th Street by Mike Lupica. The main character is a girl named Molly. What Molly is trying to achieve is to convince Josh, a great basketball player, that he is her dad. Why Molly thinks Josh is her dad is because Molly’s mom who died dated Josh. The setting of the book is in Boston in about 2006.

One big event that happened was that Molly snuck into Josh’s car to have a face to face conversation with him. Why this is important is because if she got the face to face conversation with him, he might tell her the truth. Josh doesn’t believe that Molly is his daughter is because he thinks Molly’s mom would have told him. I found this interesting because now I know how hard it is to have a parent who died because they can’t back you up when you have a problem. Another interesting part was when Josh gave her court-side seats to one of his Celtics games. The Celtics are a basketball team. This was interesting to me because I thought Josh wouldn’t do anything for Molly.

One adjective to describe Molly is brave. She is brave because she goes on trains by herself from Boston to New York without her fake mom’s, Barbara’s, permission. Another adjective to describe Molly is thoughtful. I think this because she tries to see from everybody’s point of view. Another adjective to describe Molly is smart. I think this because she thinks up really good plans. One adjective to describe Josh is thoughtful. Why I think this is because he gave Molly court-side seats to a Celtics game. One quote that helped me understand Molly is: “Josh Cameron right here on this bench!” said Molly. This helped me understand Molly, because she was drawing attention to Josh when he wanted to have a calm day. So she was trying to embarrass him, like kids sometimes try to do to their parents.

I really liked this book because the way it’s written was amazing. Another thing I really liked was how Mike Lupica could describe a scene, like when he made me feel as if I was in Rockefeller Center. I would recommend this book to people who like sports because the book is based around sports. This book reminds me of Mike Lupica’s other books because they are about life connected to sports. I would rate this book four stars.  

Feb
24
2016

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Old School by Jeff Kinney

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

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

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

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