Feb
25
2015

The Penderwicks in Spring

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The Penderwicks In Spring

This month I read The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall  a New York Times bestselling author who also wrote The Penderwicks, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street and The Penderwicks at Point Mouette. My book is set in a small town on a small street called Gardam street. Gardam street is near a woods.

The main characters are Batty, Ben, Linda, Sky and Jane.They are all siblings in the Penderwick family. Batty is ten years old. She is kind and likes to explore the woods near her house. Batty starts a ridiculous dog walking business and spends a lot of time with a very fat dachshund named Duchess. Batty loves to sing.

Ben is six. He is silly and loves rocks. He even takes rocks in the bath tub. Ben is being chased by his, little sister Linda, who is bananas.

Linda is four years old. She loves Ben. She is very good at escaping cribs and baby gates. Linda does not want to sleep in her big girl bed (a Twin sized bed, not a crib). Batty has to sleep in Linda’s big girl bed to convince her to sleep in it.

Sky is fifteen she likes to read and play soccer, and she does not like to bake. Sky ignores Batty because something happened between them that Sky will never forgive Batty for, or at least that is what Sky thinks.

Jane is thirteen. She is quiet and she is writing a romantic book about Sabrina Star, a girl who saves people. Jane can never stop talking about her book. Jane is a romantic, book loving girl. She is a very smart girl who loves her family, but she also has the teenager blues.

The Penderwick’s best friends Jeffrey and Nick, are the peace keepers sometimes however sometimes they are part of the problem. The Penderwicks older sister, Roselind, is coming home from college. Nick is coming back to Gardam street from war. And Jeffrey is coming to see them from Boston.

Batty’s problem is her dog walking business. The dogs will not listen to her! Also, she lost her voice and can’t sing anymore. Sky’s problem is that she is mad at Batty, and it is hard not to talk to your sister for a long time. Sky is really mad at Batty for a silly reason. When Batty was born, their Mother died. The doctors said she could die and save the baby or live and be sick and the baby would die. Their Mother decided to die without telling her family. When the sisters found out what she was going to do. They cried and said good bye, but Sky did not understand. When Batty grew older, Sky always did not like her because she thought it was Batty’s fault that their mother died.

Roselind the older sister is coming home right when Nick is coming home, and Roselind has a crush on him. But Roselind brings home a new boy named Oliver. Oliver is not very nice, but Roselind still likes him. Oliver is a movie maker. Nick does not like him because Roselind does not spend any time with him now. No one in the Penderwick family likes Oliver except Jane and Roselind of course. Jane likes him because he talks to her about Sabrina Star. Oliver talks to her not because he likes it but because he wants to turn it into a movie like every thing he sees that is not a movie. Linda is really mad at him because Linda loves Nick and Nick gave her dandelions for her princess crown. Oliver tried to take them out, and Linda said “no”, but he would not listen to her.

Ben was very excited to see Nick even though he had never seen him before. Nick had sent Ben a toy helicopter that he really likes. Ben runs over to Nicks parents house across the street from their house sometimes at night to see if Nick is home. Nick likes Ben too.

My book is about how your family does not always get along with your friends and your friends don’t always get along with your family. Also living in a big family is good in some ways and bad in others. For example if you live with a lot of people you do not have a lot of privacy. A good thing is that you have lots of people to play with. Sometimes there are family crises.

I enjoyed this book because it is about sisters. I like book about sisters. I am a sister. I recommened this book to people who like adventure. I would read the books in order our you will be confused. I give this book Five stars!!!!!!

By Mia

Feb
25
2015

A Mango Shaped Space

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I read a book called A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass. The book is about a girl named Mia who sees colors in her head. She has something called synthesia. Many people have it but its always different for everyone. Some people have it when they smell and some when they taste. Its called a mango shape space because she has a cat named mango that means everything to her the rest  I can’t tell because it spoils it. Mia goes in a group with a bunch of people with the same thing  as her and one girl said that she did acupuncture and she saw the colors in different ways. The colors were more like clouds of colors.

 

Throughout the book, Mia tells you about how she gets through school and how her friends understand the colors. Mia thought everyone saw colors until one day in third grade the teacher asked her to write down her thinking on the board. She thought it would be correct to write them in their color. The teacher thought it was ridiculous and when she said she saw colors she thought she was trying to be funny and sent her to the principal. The principal called her parents and mia didn’t know what to say so  she said it was a joke.

 

Her cat Mango is everything to her because when her grandpa died she saw him and he had the same eyes as her grandpa. I think Mango reminds her of her grandpa. In the book she said that she had a good relationship with her grandpa so mango makes her feel like a part of grandpa lives in Mango.

 

I highly recommend this book a lot it is one of those books that you can read as many times as you want and is as good when you read it the first time. If i give this book a rating it would be a ***** star rating. I don’t think just one type of person i think everyone would love it.

-Zoe

 

Feb
25
2015

Dork Diaries Tales From A Not So Popular Party Girl by Rachel Renee Russell

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Dork Diaries 2 Book Review

 

The book I read for this book review is book2. This book is about a girl named Nicky Maxwell who goes to a middle school called Westchester County Day, which Nikki calls WCD. The school is having a halloween dance which is basically the center of the story.

If I were to describe Nicky with three adjectives, number one would be “dorky.” Nicky is dorky because she always calls herself a dork so you have to assume that she is a dork. Another adjective that describes her is   “funny” because Nicky makes people fill out an information sheet to use the bathroom in the library. The final adjective that describes her is “unlucky” because the bully of WCD stole Nicky’s duffle bag with all her stuff in it, and left Nicky wearing a stinky rat costume. How unlucky is that? An interesting and important part of the book is when Nikki is supposed to be in three places at once. At the same time she has to wear three different costumes at each place. I think it is interesting that Nicky thinks that it is fun to work in the library even though other kids think that is boring. In the library Nicky likes to: ride on book carts, read all the books and magazines, and give people an information sheet if they need to go to the bathroom.

I enjoyed Dork Diaries  a lot because this book is funny and it made me laugh. I also really like the pictures; this book is not a picture book but it does have drawing/pictures because you are reading Nikki’s diary, and Nikki really loves to draw and she is really good at drawing, so she draws a lot. I would recommend this book to people who like when characters from books break the fourth wall. I would also recommend this book because it gives you tips about life like, don’t do this or do not do that. I guess that this book is similar to Diary Of A Wimpy Kid because this book is someone’s diary (but I am not sure because I have never read Diary Of  a Wimpy Kid.) The other books in this series are also similar to this book (this is the second book in the series so I recommend reading the first book first.) I give this book 4 ¾ stars because nothing is better than Harry Potter..

 

Feb
25
2015

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabinstein

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Book Review Number 3

by Max Taetle

My book is called Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, by Chris Grabenstein. It is about 12 kids who have to escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. The main character’s name is Kyle Keely. The other characters are Akami, Miguel, Sierra, Haley, Charles, Andrew and Mr. Lemoncello. The story takes place in Mr. Lemoncello’s library.

If I could describe my main character, I would say he’s loyal, because he never betrays his team (even if he can). He is friendly, because he invites everyone who wants to be on his team onto his team. He is also clever, but you have to read the whole book to find out why. I found the book interesting when Haley  betrays her team. I also find it interesting when Kyle’s team uses a board game to find clues on how to get out of the library.

I enjoyed this book because the characters were weird and the story was exciting because in some parts they never did anything that bad, but if they did challenges (to try to earn clues to help you get out of the library), and the character failed, he would be out of the game. You only had a one chance so the the game was suspenseful.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic book and/or adventure books. A few books that are a little similar are Divergent (a little) and The Island of Doctor Libris. It is similar to Divergent because in Divergent the clans have different personalities and in this book each person has a different personality. Doctor Libris is written by the same author.

 

***** I loved it!

 

 

 

 

Feb
25
2015

A Wrinkle In Time

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The book A Wrinkle in Time is about a girl named Meg who goes on an adventure to find her runaway dad. She goes with her little brother Charles Wallace, her friend Calvin, and the witches Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs.Who, and Mrs.Witch. The book was written by Madeleine L’Engles. Meg goes to find her father in five different dimensions. The witches can go through dimensions by tessering. Tessering is like shortening distances so you can get to places quickly. Tessering is also known as wrinkling because if an ant were to walk across a cloth  wouldn’t it be easier just to shrivel it to a smaller piece of cloth and walk less? That is how the witches travel.

Meg is a very caring person because when her brother got taken over by IT she went back and saved him. She is also very brave and loving. When she went to look for her father she tried to defeat IT. IT is an evil shadow that is trying to take over the universe. The witches bought Meg, Charles and Calvin to this planet called Camazotz. In Camazotz all the people are exactly the same because they are controlled by IT. IT is the thing that controls Camazotz.

I enjoyed the book very much because it was easy level.  It had very good language and it left you wanting to read more. I would recommend this book because i think people would enjoy reading it.If i had to rate this book I would rate it 5 stars.

Feb
25
2015

Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo

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Thomas Book Review Three

Charlie Bone and the Time Twister

The name of the book I read was Charlie Bone and the Time Twister and the author is Jenny Nimmo. It is the second book in the Charlie Bone Series and there are eight in the series. The book is about Charlie Bone finding someone who he is related to but the catch is that he should be dead. The main characters are Charlie Bone, Henry Yewbeam, Billy Raven and Runner Bean. The setting of the book is The Pet’s Cafe, Bloor’s Academy and  Number Nine in the years 1916 and 2006.

Billy is  young, quiet and nice. He is nice but quiet because he’s shy but if you really get to know him he’s nice. Billy is young because he is seven, turning eight. My favorite part of the book is when Henry comes out of nowhere with a marble in his hand in Bloor’s Academy. I think the most important part is when Henry goes to live with James. Another important thing is when Charlie figures out that there is a secret passage from the Pets Cafe to Bloor’s Academy so he can get to Henry on the weekends. Bloor’s is closed down on the weekends so it makes sense that there is no way to get in on the weekends. I like it when Henry goes back to James and it feels like it’s a big HAPPY family reunion (without the sisters).

I enjoyed the book because there is mystery and adventure. There’s adventure when they explore Bloor’s Academy to figure out new mysteries to solve.  I would recommend this book because it takes a long time to read the whole series. Another reason I recommend this book is because it is action packed with spying, misbehaving and hypnotizing. There are no books similar to the book that I have read. I give this book I give this book FIVE STARS but I do not want to read it again because there are sooooooooooooooooooooooooo many other ones in the series.

 

 

Feb
25
2015

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

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Antonio

The book I read is called Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. The book is about a boy named Jeffrey Magee who is homeless. After his parents died he moved to his Aunt’s house (like Harry Potter) but then ran away because the Aunt and Uncle hated each other. During the story he moves into four different homes. The story takes place in Two Mills, Pennsylvania.

 

Maniac is really generous because he always helps people out and fixes problems. There was a time when he helped a family do everything like dishes, cleaning, and repairing a stove. He is really talented at everything because he always scores a touchdown or wins races. For example he scored 49 touchdowns in one game making the score 295 Magee 0 Hands Down, which was his friend’s team. He is also very encouraging to people around him. He suggested to his friends to go to school even if they didn’t want to go. My favorite part in the book was when he first moved into a house with a girl named Amanda Beals. She was so nice and offered him books to read. Another good part was when he got a baseball glove that belonged to his old friend named Grayson for Christmas. The funniest part was when he was in church and he screamed A-MEN! and everyone laughed because he just couldn’t hold it in anymore. It was contagious.

I really enjoyed this book because it was an awesome adventure about a cool character. He shows us how to unite a black and white town. Maniac Magee made me laugh when he’d make jokes about himself. He joked about how he was so good at everything. I recommend this book because you can read it quickly and easy. I would recommend it to people who like adventure novels and stories about boys. This book is unique and I never read anything like it. Maniac Magee is like no other book that I read because it is about a homeless boy who is awesome at everything he does. I don’t know why or how.

I give Maniac Magee ***** STARS

Feb
25
2015

Kiki Strike, Inside the Shadow City, by Kirsten Miller

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Alon

 

I chose to review a book that I really liked and read a lot , as much as I could every night, and it was really interesting. I actually couldn’t stop reading it. This book is called Kiki Strike, Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller. It is part of a series of three books called Kiki Strike. This book is about 6 delinquent girls who find an underground city beneath New York City. All of the girls have abilities that they use to help them explore the underground city, also which they call “The Shadow City.” The main characters are the delinquent girls: Ananka (the storyteller), Betty, Deedee, Oona, Luz, and Kiki Strike. The setting is NYC, I don’t know exactly which time period though. It does seem like modern day though.

 

The main message of this book is that things don’t appear as they seem. Kiki is mysterious, brave, confusing, and clever. Kiki knows multiple languages and Martial Arts In the book, until the end, nobody knows where Kiki lives and who her mom and dad are.   “ It took three men to take her down, but since they were all burly men, eventually they took her down because she was short.” ( Kiki is 4 feet tall, well, a little more to be honest). “ The poster said she was in Hong Kong, but it also seemed the job Betty’s parents got described Kiki (that meant she was in NYC)”. The book itself was really interesting, but one of the most interesting and important parts of the book was when they first discovered “The Shadow City” because without that there would be no story. The story is based on “The Shadow City” and how the delinquent girls discovered it and protected it from villains and other people. They wanted to keep it secret. The second most interesting part was when they all got kidnapped.  I really wanted to hang on and see what happened next in those parts. The third interesting and shocking part is when you find out Kiki’s true background. I really enjoyed that part because it was so interesting to see, what happens next.

I really enjoyed this book because of the urge that I had to keep reading, not many books have that, and it was really hard to stop reading. I also really enjoyed this book because of the constant focus on adventure and not on a lot of other parts of it. Like Ananka and the main characters life. I would recommend this book to people who like adventure because this series is about constant adventure. Another reason I recommend this book is because it is rare to find this type of author who writes books of this kind, the type that focuses on adventure more than telling a story of casual life. In addition, this book is about girls who are heroes, and not many other authors choose girls to be the main heroes of an adventure book. I think this book relates to no other book that I know of. I would rate this book 5 stars but I wouldn’t want to read it again because I know what happens.

Feb
25
2015

Out Of My Mind

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My book is called Out Of My Mind by Sharon Draper. It is about a disabled girl named Melody Brooks. She is disabled because she can’t walk, move her arms, or talk. But she is very smart and nobody (except her parents) knows it. She goes to school with a helper, named Catherine, who feeds her and helps her go to the bathroom (she wishes she could go to the bathroom by herself) and do the rest of the things she can’t do herself. She also orders a machine that helps her talk. She enters a team made of some of the smartest kids in the school and she makes the team and has the best marks out of EVERYONE. Her teammates think Catherine told her the answers and she cheated. These girls named Claire and Molly are really mean to her. Her team gets past the first round and everyone is preparing everything for the trip to Washington. Melody is sooo excited and her parents buy her new clothes, bags, and other things. She is just so excited. When they get there she doesn’t see any of her teammates.

 

WARNING: DO NOT READ ANY MORE UNTIL YOU GET TO CONTINUE BUT READ IF YOU WANT ME TO GIVE WHAT HAPPENS AWAY: Ok, so she gets to the airport and talks to  the woman who works there. Her mom said that they really needed to go to Washington because of the group and the woman said that she actually saw a group come in earlier and they already went to Washington. Melody stayed home a few days and the day that the group was coming back from Washington and she was DESPERATE to go to school for some reason. It was raining and she didn’t bring her talking thing so she couldn’t talk. Her mom was very stressed and was not happy. Melody saw her little sister Penny run into the street and she started screaming and crying and trying to move her arms but her mom could not stand it any more and she slapped Melody right on the leg! But Melody kept screaming and crying and Penny had to go to the hospital. Ok I’ve said WAY too much.

 

CONTINUE. Melody is smart, funny, and loved by her friends and family. She is smart because she beat everyone trying out for the team. She is funny because she is always thinking of funny jokes. And you know she is loved by her friends and family because her mom and dad are always taking care of her. Her sister Penny always wants to play with her. And her adult friend Mrs.V helped her study to make the team. And Catherine (not an adult but a teenager a teenager  is close enough) always helped her and made jokes and stood up for her.

 

I really like this book and really recommend it! If you like stories that make you feel for the characters then read this book I would give it FIVE STARS! You don’t read a book like that every day!

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Feb
25
2015

A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

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41ZUdisjQKL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_Mia is a normal kid to everybody, but is she really inside her head? I read A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass. This book is about a girl with a sort of disease called Synesthesia. The most common type is that each word you hear or read or write has a color or a couple of different colors and she has that. It is about how she had not told her parents or her best friend and she had no idea what it was called so she was kind of helpless. The main character’s name is Mia. The setting of the book is modern time and usually she is at her house or at school.

I think that Mia is shy, because when she went to the doctor to find out what was wrong with her she almost didn’t talk at all. She is caring because when her friend got mad at her for not telling her she tried and tried to calm her friend down. She is responsible because even though she has a hard time with work because of her colors she tries as hard as she can to finish it. Another interesting part was that her brother (Zach) was really into fortune telling and the future. Also her sister (Beth) was a really pretty girl trying to make boys interested but after she went on a school trip for two weeks she was into yoga and potion-making. Her best friend’s (Jenna) dad just left and now she hates pretty much everything because her dad is dating other women.

 

I liked this book because I think that Synesthesia is really cool and now I really want to know more about it. I also thought that the author did a really good job describing things because sometimes she did not even say what was really happening she just relied on you to figure it out. I would recommend this book because it is a really fun book to read because you can learn so much about Synesthesia. Also Out of my mind by Sharon M. Draper is like this book because the main character in that book feels lonely because she has a disease. No other books are like this because of Mia and her Synesthesia.

I would give this book a 4 star rating because there were some parts that weren’t realistic.