Tag Archives: partly romantic

Jun
09
2017

The Wishing Spell, by Chris Colfer

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The Land of Stories

Image result for the wishing spell cover

When I was little I wondered what happened to characters like Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood after their stories ended. Well in the Land Of Stories series, you can find out. The book I read is called the Wishing Spell and it is written by Chris Colfer. This book is about two kids, Alex and Conner, who are brother and sister. They are going through a hard time because there father recently died. For their 12th birthday, their grandma gives them a book called The Land of Stories. One night the book starts humming. Weird right? Alex then starts dropping her pencils on the book and they fall into the book! Eventually Conner and Alex jump into the book! When they land into the different world they realize that all fairy tale characters they knew growing up are real. As much as Alex and Conner enjoy this world they realize the only way back to the old one is to get the Wishing Spell.

Alex is smart, brave and cautious. She is smart because she remembers thoughts and lessons from the past and uses that to help her in the future. She is in the top of her class (unlike her brother) and pays attention to things. She is brave because she takes risks to do things that pay off in the end. She is cautious because she doesn’t trust everyone and makes plan B’s.

I thought the most interesting part of the book is when they realize their family used to live here. I thought it was interesting because the way the two twins reacted differently tells a lot about their personality. Alex is surprised and happy, she feels like she finally has a connection to some place because for the past year the twins had to move around a lot. Conner on the other hand doesn’t want his friends to know and is highly embarrassed. I think that Conner has less confidence and sometimes does things he might not necessarily want to do, for other people.

I enjoyed this book because I thought the ‘after stories’ made a lot of sense and by the end of the book I felt like I knew each character. I would recommend this book as well as the other two books. (A new one is coming out shortly.) Chris Colfer is in many shows and movies such as glee and struck by lightning. I think the Bailey twins are very unique because they share both many similarities and many differences. They each know so much about each other, but respect their differences. A quote from the book that I think would best explain Alex would be, “I think what I’ve learned from all of this is that villains are mostly people villainized by circumstance.” I think this explains a lot about her personality because in the beginning of the book, Alex only thought that the heros or princesses were the good people. But in the end like it said in the quote, they were mostly villainized by circumstance. They were originaly good people and something they did wrong made them an outcast. Even if Alex is wrong, she would usually not admit that she knew she was wrong. She learned that its OK to be wrong after her experience in the fairy tale world. I would rate this book 5 stars because of the creativity and the bonds between characters.

 

 

 

Jan
15
2016

The Candy Smash by Jacqueline Davies

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imgresThe Candy Smash, by Jacqueline Davies, is a book about siblings named Jessie and Evan Treski and their friend Megan. They are in fourth grade in room 4-0. Their teacher is named Mrs. Overton. One day at morning recess, Jessie is working on her newspaper, The 4-0 Forum, when she accidentally knocks over her Valentine’s day box and something falls to the floor. Candy! Then Jessie won’t rest until she knows who put the candy in the box.

One day when Evan comes home, he discovers a new way to write poems. He goes into his room and locks the door and looks around the room. Then he picks up some Post-it notes and a #2 pencil and sits down at the desk. He starts to think about his Grandma and then writes words on the Post-its. Then he creates a poem about his Grandma from the notes. This is important because Evan finds something he’s good at, but he doesn’t want anyone to know about his new ability because he thinks that people will make fun of him. One big thing that changed the story is when Valentine’s day comes and The 4-0 Forum is published. This is important because Jessie is under a lot of pressure to get everything right. This changed the story because if Jessie doesn’t get the The 4-0 Forum ready, she will have an angry class of fourth graders to deal with.  

Three adjectives that describe Jessie are smart, kind, and persistent. Jessie is smart because she skipped third grade to be in fourth grade. Jessie is also smart because even though she is younger than everyone, everyone asks her questions if the teacher isn’t there. Jessie is kind, because she watches out for her friends. She does this by helping them and others.  Jessie is a very persistent person, because she does not quit until she gets her story. For example, she kept on asking questions to Megan about her crush in public to get a good cover story. When her brother calls her a pest, Jessie tells him, “I’m not always a pest, only when I really need something.”

I really enjoyed this book because it is about the friendship between two fourth graders. I also like this book because I can relate to this book a lot. I relate to this book because I am in fourth grade too. I think people should read this book because  it makes you think about what could happen if you were in Jessie’s shoes. It also makes you think about what would happen if you were a reporter. A few books like this are: Seaglass Summer by Anjali Banerjee, The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School by Candace Fleming, Calli Be Gold by Michele Weber Hurwitz, and Bobby vs. Girls by Lisa Yee. I would give this book four out of five stars.

 

 

 

Apr
30
2014

Al Capone Does My Homework, Gennifer Choldenko

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search*°•The Al Capone series doesn’t need to be read in order, only the first and second book need to be read in order•°*

 This is the last book in the series.

Moose and the gang are having fun, spying on the cons, helping them to. Moose needs to help Capone, who has already gotten nat into a special school for kids with disabilities. Moose is nice, and now it is working against him flowers for Mae Capone, Al’s mom…

 

He needs help and has a limited time period to do it. He has to look like he is alone, not with his friends on the boat, ware Mae will be.

 

But there are some cons with them on Alcatraz that are up to something of their own.

Piper has found a list, not just any list, a list made by cons, and not just any list from a con, but a game, but not any game… a game that can kill, literally. And it looks something like this: And guess who the new assistant warden is; Moose’s dad…Nat is also getting really smart.

 

Apr
03
2014

Al Capone Does My Shirts, By Gennifer Choldenko

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Al Capone Does My Shirts, By Gennifer Choldenko

 

This is a great book. I would rate it 4 stars out of 5.

 

The main character is Matthew “Moose” Flanagan. In the book his real first name is only mentioned a few times. It is set in 1934 on Alcatraz. Alcatraz is an old inactive prison. There is an old saying, it is “Break the rules, go to prison. Break the prison rules, you go to Alcatraz. Alcatraz is also a small island off the coast of San Francisco. There has never been a successful escape.  Mouse has his friends on the rock: Annie, Jimmy, Theresa and Scout, who is an old friend from the city and is a great baseball player.

 

Moose has a dad, a mom, and a sister. But there is something wrong with one of them. Is it Cameron “Cam,” his dad, Helen, his mom, or Natalie “Nat.” It’s Nat. Every year, When it is Nat’s birthday, she turns 10. Over, and over, and over again. Now, There is a new school for 4-12 year olds that have disabilities. It’s called Esther P. Marinoff. Nat is actually 16. This helps power a decision that the school has had in mind for years.

 

Al Capone hears about this, some how and helps Moose with something… Something that could change the Flanagan’s life forever

 

The reason they moved onto Alcatraz is because they needed money, and Moose’s dad became an electrician on Alcatraz. They live in building 64, the main housing building.

 

There is a warden, he has a daughter named Piper Williams. They have money and live in a giant mansion. She seems nice and attractive at first, but is stuck up, sensitive and rude. She persuasively lores Moose into a laundry scheme. Since there is no school on Alcatraz, they attend school in San Francisco. Piper tells all of the kids that Al does their laundry. It’s true. She collects money from the kids to let them have their clothes washed by Capone. But when Moose’s laundry comes back, (he doesn’t need to  pay, because he lives on the island) There is a note from Al Capone… In Mooses laundry. I would recommend this to people who like mystery and history books.

This is the first book out of 3 books.

 

Feb
27
2014

Spy School, by Stuart Gibbs

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Spy School is a book filled with action…

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It’s about a kid named Ben Ripley. He is in 5th grade. He is very smart (I mean… VERY smart) but has a very boring life. One of the only things that he does is that he watches spy movies and looks at the CIA website…

 

But a second later, in the middle of the school year; a CIA agent named Alexander Hale  breaks into his house and tells Ben things he knows about him. The Hales have generations of CIA agents and Former ones. Keep in mind that skill skips a generation. Before Ben knows it, he’s being told about spy school: a school for future spys.

 

But Ben’s parents would know if Ben was missing… and the school is top secret. So there’s the lie that convinces the parents. The lie is: it’s the academy of science (they don’t say anything else). His parents say yes, and there he goes… of the Spy School.

 

But why is this happening in the middle of the school year…

 

That’s all I have to say. This is just the beginning and There are so many spoilers that that’s all I can say.

 

I would rate this book 6 out of 5 stars (yes, 6.)

 

Enjoy!

 

Jan
08
2014

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

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The Hunger games is an amazing book by an amazing author.  The Hunger Games is about the 12 districts in Panem (the ruins of North America) surrounding the harsh Capitol that thinks they always need to remind everyone of how much power they have. They do that by having a yearly hunger games.


                                                                    Important facts, skip paragraph (not recommended) for rest of review.

 

A boy and a girl get reaped by their names getting drawn from glass ball filled with paper slips with names (when you get picked to fight in the hunger games on live tv.) If you are poor (like many of the people in district 12 are) you can get free food (grains and oil) by signing up for tesserae but you need to enter your name 1 extra time. The reaping day parade is when they pick the people for the years hunger games. To be eligible to be reaped, you need to be between the ages 12-18. Every year towards 18 you get your name put into the glass ball one more time. Sometimes people can volunteer to be a tribute if the person warts or needs to. This is often done by career tributes (kids that train their whole life for the games and are the best players in the games, really good with weapons. Then they volunteer) The districts that tend to have careers are the more wealthy districts 1,2 and 4. Even though it is illegal to train for the games before they are reaped, the capitol allows it because their districts are more wealthy and trade better goods to the Capitol. Sometimes they let other people in even if they are not careers for certain reasons. Last few things before we start about the book: Effie Trinket is the escort for district 12, and Haymitch Abernathy is the mentor for district 12. A mentor is a previous hunger games victor and
gives the tribunes tips on how to win. Escorts are people from the Capitol to do parties and escort you. If you win, you get fame and fortune, losing means certain death.

 

Now for the good stuff! 16 year-old Katniss Everdeen wakes up reaping day and goes hunting (strictly illegal and punishable by death) with her best friend Gale. They talk in the Capitol accent and say “may the odds ever be in your favor.” They’re pretending it’s all fun and games until the parade arrives; her 12 year-old sister Primrose ‘Prim’ Everdeen is reaped, her name was only put in the ball once. Katniss’s father is died in a mine explosion (the districts industry is coal mining), it’s also the same one that killed Gale’s father. Ever since Katniss’s father died, she took over the family. Katniss volunteers and is the district’s first ever volunteer, very big deal. Now for the boys, Peeta Mellark is reaped. The peace keepers take them to there room where they will say their final goodbyes to their families and friends.

When they arrive at the Capitol via hi-speed train they go the penthouse (very luxurious) they get amazing food and really cool showers. They meet their stylist (to help with the interviews and opening day parade,) and Katniss Gets a new stylist, Cinna, who chose district 12 (they hardly ever/maybe only twice won the games) and, he’s great. Past stylists have made the tributes from district 12 look ridiculous and haven’t gotten very many sponsors (if they like what they see they get the mentor and during the games give them supplies to help them survive and/or fight.) The new tributes from district 12, Katniss and Peeta Mellark are… on fire. They look amazing and win the crowd and sponsors. Katniss earns the name ‘The Girl On Fire’.

Training and, ‘‘The 74th annual Hunger Games!.” In the training center there are many stations: archery, camo, hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting, knife throwing climbing, ect, ect. Haymitch said don’t show the others what your really good at.
 Katniss avoids archery and Peeta avoids weight lifting (his family owns a bakery and he throws 100 pound bags of flour over his head.) Katniss visits the plats station to find what plants are edible and which are not. See already knows very well from her family’s book, hunting and her father. See does little fighting stations and sees the careers showing of. They train for 3 days then have their private sessions. Now Katniss does her Archery magic. since Katniss is last person to go the and game makers (what they name is, they do) are drunk and and eating, katniss gives them a surprise… The interviews are on and Katniss again steals the spotlight. She talks about her 11 in training out of a possible 12, best of all the other tributes. “…let the games begin!” Haymitch advises Katniss to stay away from the cornucopia, the giant horn where all the good stuff is. Katniss sees only one bow and arrow but is late to react to the gong so she manages to get a back pack food and stuff. She runs of into the woods.

 

Thats my reveiw,  there is much more of the games in the, but too many spoilers in the rest! The whole series is from Katniss’s point of view. I time period is future.

I love it partly because of the twist of a bad future, not a good future. There is also some really cool teach in the book.

 

I would rate this book 6 out of 5 (yes, 6) stars because you will go to sleep thinking about it. It’s a great book, READ IT!!!!!!! 🙂 Highly addictive. BEWARE!!! 🙂