Category Archives: Realistic Fiction

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Jan
14
2015

Out of My Mind by Sharon M Draper

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35Out of My Mind

 

 

The book that this book review is about is called Out of My Mind, it is by Sharon M Draper. In this book there is only one MAIN character, and her name is Melody. The main problem is that Melody cannot walk or talk, and that means she is in a wheelchair, and she cannot eat by herself so she needs to be fed, and she is in 5th grade! Most of the story takes place in Melody’s house, her neighbor’s house or the school that Melody goes to. But the actual state is Ohio, and the time is  the present.

If I were to describe Melody with three adjectives they would be, one smart. I say this because when Melody was 5 she went to the doctor to take a test to see if she could go to school. when she took the test she got more right answers than I would have, but she can’t talk! I also think that Melody is funny because she makes people laugh a lot. I also think that Melody is kind. Melody only has one friend, Rose and she is always really nice to her. Most of Melody’s problems are at school. One of the most interesting things that happens in this book is, when Melody finds a way to talk. Another interesting part was, when I saw the cover(the cover has a fish jumping out of a fish bowl and thought How does this have to do with anything? I think that the direction of the story does change, because Melody decides to take a test to be part of her school’s quiz team but I don’t want to give away the ending.

I really liked this book because I think that it is really interesting. But I don’t like this book because Melody’s sister almost gets killed, but I am not going to tell you how or when, I am just telling you Penny almost dies.  I would recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic fiction books because this book is realistic fiction. My class is reading the book Wonder. I think the book Out of My Mind is a lot similar to the book Wonder. I rate this book five stars

 

 

Jan
14
2015

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

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The main character Tommy knows something weird is going on and it starts with Dwight. This book is the first in the Origami Yoda series. The main characters are Tommy, Dwight, Harvey and Kellen. Tommy is trying to figure out if origami Yoda is real. The setting is 2011, and takes place at Macquarie Middle School.

The main character Tommy is nerdy, because he is obsessed with Star Wars. He is resilient, because he is also obsessed with trying to figure out if Origami Yoda is real. He is also friendly because he gives Dwight (the weirdest kid in school) a chance. Tommy trying to find out if origami Yoda is real and there are bumps along the road. The plot is also about the friendship and hatred that goes on with the characters. One of the parts I find interesting is when Harvey makes his own origami Yoda. Another part that I find interesting is when Tommy asks Sara to the dance, because it was all part of a bet. An event that changes the story is when origami Yoda gives advice for the first time, because the kids now know he gives good advice and they think it’s amazing that a puppet can give advice.

I enjoyed this book because the characters are all different but they all love Star Wars. Another reason why I enjoyed this book is because I really like realistic fiction, because it’s not normal but never gets too crazy. I would recommend this book because it has something for everyone. I would also recommend this book because the story can go anywhere. The genre is realistic fiction, because it has the weirdest plot ever but it’s calm . This book is connected to a book called Better Nate Than Ever. I rate this book 5 stars *****

 

 

Jan
14
2015

Counting By Sevens

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Counting by Sevens is a great book. It’s by Holly Goldberg Sloan.The main characters in my book are Willow Chance (the main main character) Dell, Pattie, Mai, and Quang-ha. At school she does so well on the test (because she is a genius) that it is impossible for kids her age to have done so well on the test so they think she cheated. So the IMG_20130715_192833principal sends her to Dell who is a counselor for kids who are bullies or cheat and stuff. The main problem is Willow’s parents die in a car crash and Willow needs to find foster parents because she doesn’t have any relatives that she knows. While her friend Mai lies to the police about her family knowing Willow’s family for years instead of a couple of weeks because Willow learned one of the languages she spoke just so she could talk to her in that language. She explains to her mother Pattie what’s going on and Pattie signs the paper to take care of Willow but it’s not permanent so Willow spends a few months with her. They are in Bakersfield, California.

 

Willow is smart, not super sensitive, and a good friend. Willow is smart because she is a genius like she did so well on a test everyone thought she was cheating. She is a warm hearted but not super sensitive and barely ever cries. And she is a good friend because she learned a language just for her friend Mai. In the beginning of the book Willow counted by sevens because she found it soothing. But after her parents died she stopped. I think the most interesting part is when her parents died and when she found out. I think that was my favorite part because it was the biggest part of the book. Something cool about the book is there are 49 fish on it and 49 is a multiple of 7 which is Willow’s favorite number.

 

I really liked this book because it was realistic.I would recommend this book  to people who like realistic books. You can connect to some of the characters like I can connect to Mai because she’s a regular kid who likes to decorate things and has lots of friends. The book is confusing and I suggest you start on the second chapter because the first one gives away an interesting part. I’d rate this book three and a half stars because it was confusing at first and then REALLY good and then it was kinda boring but don’t take me the wrong way I liked and it was a good book.

 

 

Jan
14
2015

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing By Judy Blume

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Peter, in the book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, has a problem in his family. My book is Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing By Judy Blume. The main characters are Dribble the turtle, Fudge, and Peter. The story is about a boy named Peter who is in fourth grade. He has a little brother named Fudge who is very annoying. All the chapters have a mix of different problems in their life. The book takes place in New York.

 

Peter is very patient because Fudge sometimes does not want to do activities and is babyish. So no matter what Peter encourages Fudge to play nicely. Peter gets frustrated when his mom doesn’t support him when he is arguing with his brother. Peter is also very annoyed that he has a little brother because Fudge is always messing around with Dribble. In fact Fudge actually ate him. One part I found interesting was when Fudge thought he could fly so he jumped off the top of the jungle gym and lost his two front teeth. Then Peter kept calling him “Fangs” because it looked like he had fangs. This made his mother mad but I thought it was funny. Fudge really didn’t care and joked pointing to his mouth saying “All gone.” The funniest part is when Fudge actually ate Dribble… Peter discovered Dribble was missing from his bowl and Fudge was pointing to his belly saying “Dribble in this tummy!” Then his mom took Fudge to the emergency room and the doctor gave Fudge castor oil, milk of magnesia, and prune juice to get Dribble out. Finally at midnight Dribble came out! Fudge came home from the hospital with a hand full of presents from his mom because she felt bad for him. Then their dad came home from work with the biggest present of all. It was for Peter and instead of a new turtle it was a dog!! Peter named it Turtle to remind him of Dribble. The dad said it was for Peter ONLY. This made Peter feel so happy and loved.

 

 

I loved the book because Peter has a lot of things to deal with and it is very funny. I recommend this book to people who read the other Judy Blume books because it is awesome. This book is not really connected to any books I have heard of. I give this book 3 stars because it is not that interesting. I prefer books that are long and take a while to read and are about adventures.

:0 🙂

Jan
12
2015

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford

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This book is called  Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little. The author’s name is Peggy Gifford. The name of the Series is Moxy Maxwell. This book is about a little girl named Moxy.She has some friends and their names are Sam and Pansy. She has a big brother named Mark and she has an uncle named Ajax. Moxy’s teacher gave the whole class an assignment. The assignment was to read Stuart Little. Her brother read it on the first day of summer but Moxy has not started the book and it is the last day of summer. The setting of this book is in Moxy’s house and the time is September.

Some of my favorite parts of this book are when Moxy keeps stalling so she does not have to read her book. Even though her and Stuart Little are almost inseparable. I also like the part when Moxy comes up with a great idea but it does not turn out so good and when she tries to clean her room! Moxy is kind of bossy because in the book she tells Pansy and Sam what to do. Moxy procrastinates a lot because she does not like to do what she is told! She is a troublemaker because in the book she floods her mother’s prize dahlias!

I really liked this book because it is really funny how she puts off reading until it is too late. I would recommend this book for people that like family books and who like funny books! For example she has one day to finish her book and she wants to train her dogs. And I think it is a family book because it includes her friends and family. This book reminds me of Ramona’s World because they both get into so much trouble! I would give this book 4 stars!

The End!

by:Sierra McDonald

Jan
05
2015

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Bloom

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imgresMy book is Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.  The main characters are Peter, Fudge, and their mom and the dad.  The book is about Peter the fourth grader and his little brother Fudge who always drives Peter crazy.  The setting is New York City and some specific places are Peter’s house, the park and Peter’s dad’s workplace.

The plot of the book is Peter gets a turtle at a party and he names the turtle Dribble.  Peter is very protective of him but Fudge always messes around with Dribble and Peter gets mad at Fudge. I would describe Peter as protective of Dribble because whenever Fudge touches Dribble Peter gets mad.  One time Peter spanked Fudge because Fudge did something very bad to Dribble. I think it is funny when Peter gets so mad at Fudge just because Fudge touches Dribble. I would describe Fudge as immature because he went on top of a climber and jumped off the climber because he thought he could fly.  I would describe Peter’s dad as nice because he got Peter a special surprise at the end of the book to make him feel better.

I sort of liked the book because it was sort of funny and interesting.  One sort of funny thing is when Fudge pretends to be a dog.  One part that is sort of interesting is when Fudge goes on TV.  I would recommend this book to others because it is very silly.  The plot has a lot of random events but it is funny.  I give this book three stars.

 

Jan
05
2015

Double Fudge by Judy Blume

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DbleFudgeThe title of the book is called Double Fudge by Judy Blume and the series is called Judy Blume Hilarious World of Fudge. The main characters in this book are Fudge and  Pete and they are brothers. The book is mainly about a boy who has a little brother called Fudge and he is crazy. Also Fudge loves money. He makes Fudge bucks and plans to buy the entire world. Also the book is about crazy relatives taking over their house and Pete doesn’t like that. The book takes place in  New York City and in their small apartment and in the money factory in Washington D.C.  The time takes place in present time because it is like what is happening now.

The book is also about a lot of cousins coming to their house to go trick or treating. Also a thing about the book is that Fudge gets stuck in the elevator. Another thing that’s important is that Fudge and Pete have to deal with twin cousins and it gets crazy. For example, the twins run around and are loud and knock stuff down. Also a  thing about the book is that Fudge is crazy and in the book one of the cousins is like Fudge and they call that person mini Fudge. The final thing about the book is that Pete does not like having a lot of cousins so he is trying to get rid of them. I would think of Fudge as someone who is wild because he runs around the house and knocks down stuff. I also think of Fudge as a funny boy because he plans to buy the entire world. I also think of Fudge as smart because he made his own money.

I enjoyed this book because Fudge is kind of like me because he has a lot of energy and I have a lot of energy too. I also enjoyed this book because it was fun and there was no boring part in the story. I would recommend this book to readers who like funny books. I would also recommend this book to readers who think of themselves as a little crazy  because then they can relate to it.  I love the whole series, and  if you like this book you will like the whole series too. I would give this book a 4 because I loved it but I will not read it again.

****

 

Jan
05
2015

Counting By Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloan

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51P+NH7nQyL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_My book is called Counting By Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloan and there are three books in the series .  The main character’s name is Willow Chance, who is really smart . One day Willow’s parents die in a car accident and Willow gets really sad and starts loosing parts of her old self and a lot of her old habits. Some of those are counting by sevens every day before going to bed and planting a big giant garden filled with exotic  plants and foods, and saying at least five giant words  that grown – ups might not even know in every sentence. Just letting you know she’s a genius.It’s mainly about how Willow bit by bit gets parts of her old self back. The setting is in a town called Bakersfield in California.

Two parts that were interesting was when a person named Jairo won twenty – thousand dollars just for buying two books and being the 1,000,000th customer!!!! It’s funny because when he bought the books he won like a million bucks. Another interesting part is when they describe a person named Dell Duke’s A.P.T house. They say it has wet leaves in it and orange fur lying around (Dell had a cat until he lost it) and empty beer bottles lying around. This was interesting because his apartment sounds really messy . I would describe Willow as shy, very smart, and easygoing. She is shy because in one chapter she said, “I don’t speak unless someone asks me a question”. She is very smart she always gets her tests right. She is Easygoing because when it was Willow’s special day, somebody  was kind of making her special day a person ignored it and did what he wanted to do but she didn’t care.

I liked the book because the book did not just focus on only the main character it focuses on all of the characters, I also liked it because it could have been a real life story and I don’t really like a lot of fantasy stories. I recommend this book to people that can take sad story’s. I never really seen a movie or read another book like this. I rate this book four stars.

 

 

Jan
05
2015

The Bridge to Terabitha by Katherine Paterson

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Bridge to Terabithia

 

The book I read was Bridge to Terabithia, the author of this book was Katherine Paterson. In this story there are two main characters. They are Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke. Jess really wants to become the fastest kid in the fifth grade. But his plan gets thwarted when the new kid strolls on to the boy’s side and demands to run in the boys race. Later Jess’ desire to be the fastest kid is not really important thanks to the new kid Leslie Burke. She just moved in near Jess. Jess and Leslie are not close in the beginning of the book. But then they become king and queen of Terabithia, Terabithia is Leslie and Jess’s kingdom. This book takes place in Lark Creek, in the early 1970s.

I thought a part that was most interesting was when Leslie and Jess created Terabithia, their imaginary kingdom, when they crossed the dried creek on a rope. I thought that was interesting because it was so creative how they came up with all their rules and structures. I also thought it was extremely important when they made Terabithia. The reason that part was important because it was the start of a great friendship,and important bravery for Jess. I think Leslie is brave because when it was pouring she tried to get across the flooding creek when the rope could break to protect Terabithia from disaster. She is also determined because she kept trying to talk to Jess to become friends when he was mad at her for winning the race. She is really caring to Jess because for Christmas she gave Jess paints and she knew that Jess always wanted paints because Jess really like drawing.

I really liked this book because I always enjoy tough friendships. In the book the tough friendship between Jess and Leslie was when they raced and Leslie won. It was difficult for Leslie because Jess was mad at Leslie because she became the fastest kid and he wanted to be that person.I would recommend this book to fourth graders because it is the right amount of sadness and happiness. Also it is a good creative book. There aren’t any TV shows, movies, or books that I know of that are similar (but you can ask Dan). I would rate this book 3 stars ***.   

Jan
05
2015

Toby Wheeler Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer by Thatcher Heldring

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I read Toby Wheeler Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer by Thatcher Heldring. The main character’s name is Toby Wheeler. The story takes place mostly in Pilchuck Junior High in Seattle. Toby loves basketball but has never played on an actual team. When Toby is playing at the rec center one day, his friend JJ points out that the coach for their school’s travel team is there. JJ is determined to make the roster. Toby meets the coach and the coach gives him a flyer that is his ticket onto the team if he wants to play. Toby doesn’t care so much about the team; he just wants to keep up with his friend JJ. The plot is about how Toby learns to be a good teammate even when he’s sitting on the bench.

 

 

Toby really wants to be on the court in a big moment in a game and when he finally gets to, he realizes that he should just play hard whatever the chance you get, big or small. Toby makes friends with the coach’s daughter, Megan, and he thinks that that friendship is making things worse with his coach, effecting his playing time. It’s not. Toby is just not playing up to his coach’s expectations. Toby thinks Megan wants to be more than friends so he writes her a note that makes the situation even worse. Megan then turns away from Toby. Meanwhile, JJ has a new friend in his band named Steven. Steven’s sister Valerie and JJ have a thing for each other. On Halloween, Toby wants to go trick-or-treating and JJ goes off with his new friends instead. Losing Megan and JJ, Toby feels sad and thinks he has no friends. When he first joins the team, Toby is overconfident in his basketball skills and is surprised to see that he’s not a starter or a key sub. He’s a reserve (benchwarmer). Toby is strong because at the end he’s able to bounce back and with hard work becomes a key sub. Toby is nervous when he wants to ask Megan to the school dance and his nerves get the best of him.

 

 

I liked this book because it was about a sport I play and also because the scenes with the basketball team are hilarious and funny. There’s one part where Toby does an imitation of his coach. It’s like a cold, it’s contagious, everybody on the team starts copying it. Toby’s old rec center rival Vinny Pesto plays for the league champions of the last three years and Toby is determined to beat him for his second time ever. They have lots of trash-talking battles which are crazy. For example: “That’s a nice costume, Pesto. I didn’t know they sold dog-butt masks.” I would recommend this book to sports fans because it is packed with basketball action. I would also recommend it to people who like stories about friendship because this book has friends and frenemies. This book is similar to some of Matt Christopher’s books which are about sports and friendship. I would give this book a rating of 4 stars on a 5-star scale. I can’t give it a full five stars because at some points there is too much happening and it gets a little complicated.

 

                                                              ****

Reviewed by Drew Kaufman