Bridge To Terabithia

 

The reason I chose this scene from the book to be in my diorama because I think it’s an important scene in the book. It is also when Jess (the main character) and Leslie (Jess’s best friend) made their land which they call Terabithia.Terabithia is a made up fairy tale place that sort of takes them out of the real world. I think this is an important part of the story because Jess and Leslie go on little missions, like to slay a giant (really just a big bully in school). This story is very thoughtful and fun, but take your time when you’re reading it don’t rush. Even though it is a good book it can be confusing. This diorama is showing the scene in the story that most speaks to me.Sofia's Diorama

Frindle, By Andrew Clements

    The book Frindle is a frindle about a boy named Nick Allen who lives in a small town in a suburban area with bigger towns further away. I think Nick is unique because he has so many factors to him. He is not solely a happy type, a mean type or a funny type, he is all of the above and more. For example, in the text it says, “If you asked the kids and the teachers at Lincoln Elementary School to make three lists-all the really bad kids, all the really smart kids, and all the really good kids, Nick Allen would not be on any of them. Nick deserved a list of his own, and everyone knew it.” This shows how Nick is unique and not like anyone else. Nick wanted Lincoln Elementary to be more exciting so he thought of a great idea and involved some friends.  His Language Arts teacher, Ms. Granger, loves the dictionary. She absolutely cherishes it. When they are learning why words are words and why they are called what they are, he wanted to change the word “pen” to “frindle.”  Ms. Granger does not like this one bit, because she thinks all words should stay the same if there no point in changing it but that doesn’t stop Nick.

When Nick launches his new word, he gets the whole fifth grade to hold up a pen and say, “Frindle” on Picture Day.  The photographer that was taking the school picture didn’t have any film left over to take another since fifth grade was last. Ms. Granger decided this was taken to far and wants to put a stop to it. Another really important part in this book is the penalty for whenever a kid in Lincoln Elementary School says the word, “Frindle”. Ms. Granger will keep him or her after school and force them to write the sentence, “I am writing this punishment with pen” 100 times. The school office started having mad parents on the phone very often, and everyone was tired of it except the children. Nick was finally making his school a more exciting place, but it came with consequences.

About two weeks after the big punishment, Ms. Granger gave out and things started to get too crazy. The principal, Ms. Margaret Chatham, is sent over to Nick’s house to talk with his parents about the “Frindle” situation. When Ms. Chatham arrives in the room she is big, scary, and firm. Very firm. She talks slow but meaningful, and always sticks to her word. For example, in the text it says “Once Ms. Chatham on my first day of kindergarten promised me a gummy if I did a good job at school that day. At the end of the day, I got a gummy. A big red delicious gummy.”  This shows how she always sticks to her word. Ms. Chatham asked Nick, “…”  Oh, wait. You have to read the book to find that out…

I really enjoyed this book because I thought that the author developed the characters really well, and they all had a backstory with a distinct personality which I thought made the book that much better.  Another reason I really enjoyed the book is at the end of almost every chapter there was a cliffhanger.  I thought this was a smart idea so the reader will question the next chapter if they have stopped reading,  and will encourage them to continue to find out what happens next.

 Whenever I had to stop reading at the end of a chapter, I always wondered what was going to happen next. I would recommend this book, because you won’t ever get bored with it. There’s always something exciting or fascinating happening that you won’t want to stop reading. One connection I have to this book and my life is one time my friend started calling carrots “Pushas.” Everyone started saying it, so our teacher decided it went too far and made us stop. Some kids kept saying the word and had to talk with the teacher. I would rate this book five stars because it’s funny, interesting, and tells a good story about a boy and his bond with the 5th grade language arts teacher, Ms. Granger.

“Eleven” Book Review, By Lauren Myracle

357936The book Eleven is about an 11 year old girl named Winnie who lives in Atlanta and loves cats. Winnie is just starting middle school and is thinking it’s going to be great, but there are bumps in the road and problems she has throughout the year. For example, Amanda, Winnie’s BFF is ditching her for Gail, a new girl who is incredibly rude. Another example of how the year is not going her way is that her sister Sandra is being so grumpy that Winnie can never do her homework, which leads to bad grades, and Winnie’s mother cannot stand bad grades. Winnie hopes she can fix the mess she’s made including the fights with both her mom and Amanda. 

Valentine’s Day is coming up in school and everyone is talking about it.  Everyone has a valentine in Winnie’s grade except her. Winnie really wants one, so one night she asks Ty her little brother if he will call Deren and find out if he likes her. The only problem she comes across is that Ty is not a good person to do the mission she asked for. He hung up five times and made Deren’s brother really angry. Winnie is the only one sitting alone on Valentine’s day.

I really enjoyed this book because it has a lot of unexpected things that will pop out at you. For example, Winnie is having a great time at the beach with her family when Sandra breaks her ankle unexpectedly.

The book has very descriptive words so it’s fun to read and listen to how the author ties it all together.  I would give this book 4 stars, because some of the parts or characters really didn’t have a meaning. For example, when it was winter time, Winnie’s mom got stuck on the road and Winnie almost had to stay overnight. I didn’t understand why the author put this in, because it was totally off from what I was reading in the sentence before. I still really recommend this book if you like drama, unexpected plot twists, and silliness.

Pish Posh, by Ellen Potter

I read Pish Posh, a book by Ellen Potter. The main character is Clara. She is eleven and has her own apartment because she’s rich. But a girl named Annabelle tries to steal from her. What do you think Clara thinks about that? Meanwhile she was still working at Pish Posh, her parent’s restaurant. Thinking about Dr.Piff  someone she met who is very mysterious. You will find out more about Dr.Piff if you read the book yourself.

I would rate this book five stars out of five.This book would be good for 3rd and 4th graders.