HARRY POTTER and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling: Reviewed by Hunter L.

HARRY POTTER
AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

I just finished Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban and it was great. I bet most of you already read the series, but to those who haven't there I encourage them to read them.

Harry Potter is now going into his third year at Hogwarts Academy for witches and wizards. He has already faced The Dark Lord and explored dangerous and unheard of places, but this year he doesn't know what trouble he'll get into. Towards the end of summer vacation his Aunt Marge comes, and Harry does not like the visit one bit! Aunt Marge always states that Harry's parents died in a car accident because Harry's father was drunk, but she didn't know the dreadful truth. He is so fed up with her he blows her up accidentally, and then runs away. He eventually ends up at the Leaky Cauldron, and meets Ron and Hermione there. At the Leaky Cauldron Harry finds out that the criminal who had escaped from Azkaban, supposedly murdered innocent people, and could have been part of Harry's parents' death is out to kill him. On the way to Hogwarts they pass a Dementor (hooded figures who suck the soul and happiness out of wizards), which makes Harry faint. At school there are all the same teachers, except three: professor Lupin, professor Trelawney, and Hagrid. At one of Hagrid's lessons they get to encounter a hippogriff. Hagrid explained that you must be careful, and gentle with them. Malfoy wasn't, and he ended up in the hospital wing pretending to be hurt. At one of his first quittich games hundreds of Dementors spread on to the field because they can't resist the thousands of fans, but Harry got all dizzy, and fell of his broom loosing it in the Womping Willow. Now Harry doesn't have a broom, and he still gets nervous around dementors. The next day he goes to professor Lupin to take anti-demantor lessons. After several lessons he is able to make a patronus to protect himself against dementors. Harry, Ron, and Hermione get a letter from Hagrid stating that Buckbeak one of the hippogriffs was going to be decapitated because of Malfoy's "injury", and there was nothing they could do. The next day they went down to Hagrid's house to comfort him before the decapitaton. As they leave they see Scabbers (Ron's rat) was scampering across the grass from Hermione's cat! Scabbers and the cat ran to the Womping Willow,and were greeted by a big black dog (the one Harry saw on his street). Ron was pulled under by the dog, and Harry and Hermione followed........

If you really want to know what happened next, you'll have to read the book to find out!

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin:Reviewed by Simran P.

Where The Mountain Meets the Moon is a book I really enjoyed. This phenomenal novel is by the award-winning author and illustrator Grace Lin who lives in Somerville, Massachusetts. To briefly describe the plot, I would say that the story is about a young girl of a village in Fruitless Mountain who goes on a dramatic journey to bring fortune into her small village. Minli's Ma and Ba spend long hours in the fields, trying hard to provide for the family. Minli's Ba tells her tales about the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon, while her Ma discourages him for filling the little girl's head with foolishness. Minli though, strongly believes in the remarkable stories, and starts on her quest, leaving her parents hopeless and worried. Along the way, she meets helpful characters and a large dragon with a very big heart as well, that accompanies her on her journey.

The two main characters in this story include a hopeful, kind ,wise, courageous, and very determined young girl named Minli, and a dragon who is caring, protective, and humble. Like Minli, he too has a goal or dream. With a gigantic and powerful partner by her side, Minli is positive her journey won't be a thing her family, friends,and she herself will ever regret. The characters in this book are not only inspiring, but also very enjoyable to read and get to know.

I would give this excellent book a rating of 5/5 stars. There are many reasons why I chose to give this book such a high rating. First of all, I love the genre of this book. Fantasy is definetly one of my favorite genres, and I'm glad it's the genre of one of my top favorite books.

Also, Grace Lin is an author I'm very inspired by. All of her books are very welcoming, and likely to just reel you in by the very first chapter. Last but not least, I love how there are little stories within the story that help you understand it better. I think this is a book that both a girl and boy would enjoy. All in all, I loved this book!

This 278 paged book will in no doubt catch your interest. So, now that you have a pretty good idea of what this magical novel is like, rush to the library or local bookstore to get it. If you get there fast, you might even be lucky enough to get the hand-autographed copy of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. I hope you enjoyed my review! :)

Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton: Reviewed by Caroline S.

Have you ever wondered what the dangers are when you’re playing your favorite sports? Well Bethany Hamilton didn’t really think about it that much before her accident occurred. That's why Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton is such a shocking book. While Bethany was doing her favorite sport, surfing, she got the last thing that she wanted.

Halloween morning, she went out for her normal morning surf. While she was surfing, she got attacked, just like that. She didn’t even know that a shark was coming towards her. She just was lying on her surf board, waiting for a good wave to come with her arm dangling in the water. She thinks that because of her watch that was on her wrist, and something reflecting off of it is what attracted the shark. She only felt a pinch when the shark bit off her arm. That’s the total opposite of what I would think! I think she didn’t really think it hurt because she was in total shock. I thought that she would just pass out on her surf board. But nope, she persevered and got back to the beach. She obviously didn’t paddle back to the beach by herself because then she would just go in a circle. So it was good for her to know that whenever she needed help, she was able to get it from someone that cared about her.

Throughout this whole experience, she knew that God would help her through it all. Not physically, but mentally. If I were Bethany, the only thing that I would be thinking about would be, “Will I ever be able to do this again?” You won’t believe the fight that Bethany fought to get back out in the water. She knows that it won't be easy, but she was still up for it.

I recommend people reading this book because Bethany Hamilton really makes you feel like you’re in her feet going through this whole experience. I think that any one that likes to read about someone in a bad situation and see them triumph, then I think that you should read this book.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Review by Jonathan

I read Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. This book is about a boy named Marcus Yallow who was close to the Bay Bridge in San Francisco after there was a terrorist attack on it. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and three of his friends are brought to a secret prison near San Francisco by the Department of Homeland Security (the DHS). After days of being interrogated, Marcus, and two of his friends (Jolu and Vanessa) are let go. One of his friends named Darryl is not let go. Marcus is mad that they didn’t let him go, and Marcus wanted to have revenge on the DHS. After the bombing on the Bay Bridge, security in San Francisco got a lot tighter. Pretty soon, every time you went past a stop light you were being recorded by the DHS that you were on some street at some time. If your travel pattern, you would be pulled over by the police. This made Marcus and a lot of other people on the xnet (an illegal internet server for a new type of Xbox called the Xbox universal) very angry. Eventually, the people on the xnet discovered a way to “jam” the DHS tracking server, which would cause tons of people to be pulled over, even if they had a completely normal travel pattern.


Marcus is forced into a position of power in the xnet, with his screen name “M1k3y”. M1k3y soon became very famous on the xnet, but infamous everywhere else, especially the DHS. Is Darryl still alive? If so, will he ever be let out of the prison? What will happen to M1k3y and the DHS? Read this book to find out.

Everything on a Waffle, by Polly Horvath

http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Waffle-Polly-Horvath/dp/B001JDL4EI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258377217&sr=8-2

Review by Ms. Greenberg

I just finished Everything on a Waffle, by Polly Horvath, and I loved it. I found out about the book when Ms. Connolly gave a book talk about it earlier in the year, and I've noticed a lot of you reading it.

For those of you who haven't read it, the book is about a girl named Primrose whose parents are lost at sea. Everyone thinks that they are dead, but Primrose knows they're still alive and will be home soon. While she is waiting for her parents to return, she makes friends with the owner of a restaurant called The Girl on the Red Swing, where every single item on the menu is served on a waffle. Primrose is a resilient character who seems very realistic, even though she is going through a situation to which few of us can relate.

I would recommend this book to anybody. Although the main character is a girl, I think that boys could relate to her as well.

I'd like to ask to those of you who have read the book: what do you think of the recipes between the chapters? Were they a distraction and a chore to read, or did they add to the experience of reading the book? Make comments on what you think!

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief is a fantastic book to read. The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan, is a mystery where Zeus's master lightning bolt is stolen and the main character, Percy Jackson, is thought to be the person who stole the lightning bolt. Percy Jackson is a kind person and sometimes is confused about things. Percy has ADHD and is dyslexic. Percy Jackson is also determined to finish anything that he thinks is important and tries his best to do things. This book is a great fiction novel because it tells you some things about the Greek myths and is interesting because of all the descriptions of Percy Jackson and all the Greek information in the story. My opinion about The Lightning Thief is that it is a great story and is terrific for people who love fiction and Greek Mythology novels. I feel this way because it gives very long and descriptive details in the book so you can understand the book easily and there is a lot of humor in the book, with many hilarious moments and different adventures. The Lightning Thief also has some sequences of action in the most unexpected times and moments that are unbelievably exciting and shocking.

Reviewed by: Nate

Artemis Fowl the Eternity Code by Eion Colfer

The book I read was Artemis Fowl the Eternity Code by Eion Colfer. At the beginning of the book Artemis tries to make a deal with Jon Spiro who is a successful businessman and he tries to get 1 metric ton of gold to keep the C Cube (which is made of fairy technology) off the market for a year. Then Jon Spiro gets angry and leaves then all of the people in the restraunt drew a weapon and then Butler who is Artemis`s bodyguard says Richard of York gave battle in vain which triggers a grenade of compressed sound which sends the people flying and hit walls. Then Butler checks the kitchen and while he is gone Arno comes in and shoots but Butler jumps in the bullets path but Artemis gets him into a cryogenic chamber so he can get Holly (who is a fairy) to heal Butler. But Butler grew at least 10 years because of the cryogenic freezer. Another problem is that Arno Blunt got the C Cube which has information on the fairies and Artemis must get the C Cube back. If they do not get it back in time then Jon Spiro will figure out that fairies exist.

Reviewed by: Kevin

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Buck is a pampered St. Bernard living in a big house in sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley of Alaska. All of a sudden Buck gets kidnapped from his loving home and gets sold by strange men. Once sold, Buck gets beaten several times which teaches him to be loyal to the men and to follow their every command. A few other dogs and Buck get shipped deep into the north and thrown out into the cold, brutal wilderness. Buck gets put as a sled dog and learns how to defend himself against the men and the cold hearted team of dogs. He must be strong to live and attack when threatened. After many battles Buck grows stronger, gets more experience and finally becomes leader over the team of dogs. Though a leader, living in Alaska is very hard, and when living in the wild, survival is all that matters.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London gets five stars in my opinion because of all the action and many very suspenseful scenes. I also like it because it is historical fiction so it is not as hard to believe all of the pictures in your mind. What also makes it such a great book is that all of the drama makes you feel like you’re in the book. I liked the way Jack London described the setting and the dogs. The Call of the Wild is definitely one of my favorite books.

Reviewed by: Larissa

Kidnapped

Kidnapped is about a 11 year old girl named meg.She gets kidnapped, and her 16 year old brother,aiden is trying to rescue her.meg does a lot of this weird secret stuff so aiden can find her.in the beginning and and the end its kind of like a mystery. If you like mysterys you would like this book.meg is a very brave little girl.She attepmpts very dangerous things so she can be rescued.aiden is also brave . he is brave because he trys to follow the kidnappers and get to meg.he does all of this by himself.But at the end agent harris helps aiden try to find her in time. A blizzard starts and the dont make it. when i first started this book it was a litte creepy.But after,when i was in the middle it was so interestin that i couldnt stop!this book is a really good book thats why i picked it to put on the book review.some adjectives are ,awesome, brilliant,mysterious,bold,hectic,heroic,interesting,and clever.

Reviewed by: Angelica

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Review by Alex

The hobbit is a wonderful story written by J.R.R Tolkien. The Hobbit or There and Back Again is a book about a midget, as some would call it, or as it is called in the book, a hobbit. The main character is a hobbit named Bilbo, along with his accompanists’ 13 dwarfs Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Thorin. It happened one Tuesday morning when Bilbo was on his front step smoking a pipe. An unexpected guest comes and talks to Bilbo. It turns out to be an old friend Gandalf the wizard. He asked, “Won’t you come to tea tomorrow”. So when the next day comes, instead of Gandalf, 13 dwarfs come. They talk about Thorin’s grandfather’s old castle built into the Lonely Mountain. They danced, sang, and partied all night. Bilbo woke up and didn’t think he’d ever see them again. The next day, Gandalf comes saying that he needs to go to the Prancing Pony because he is going with them and he needs to be there by 10:00 and it’s already 9:50. So Bilbo goes on the adventure with Gandalf. This is the beginning of Bilbo’s adventure and The Lord of the Rings.

Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff

Review by Sara

Eleven is about an 11 year old boy named Sam Mackenzie. Sam does not read well, but does love woodshop. He's family loves him. Which includes his grandfather, Mack, a shop owner Amrita, and Onjy.One day when Mack was out doing something, Sam went upstairs to the attic. Sam found a box with a lock on it. Somehow sam managed to open it. Inside sam found an old newspaper, that said M-I-S-S-I-N-G- in big red letters. Then on the bottom it said "A boy named Sam Bell is missing." Sam just sat there. Sam couldn't read well. He couldn't make out the other words. From than on Sam is very frightened. He wants' to know about his past. So, sam want's to find someone that will read it for him. At first he thought,"should I ask mack?"Then he decided not to. So right the next day sam found the perfect person. One day a girl from another town comes to Sam's school. For the reason that sam cannot read well, sam was looking for someone to read the newspaper for him. Sam becomes friend's with the new girl. Sam grows more and more impatient. The next day sam plans to ask the new girl if she would come to his house and read the newspaper for him. So, the next day the girl comes to his house. Her and Sam go upstairs in the attic and the girl reads a lot of the newspaper for him. Sam is frightened from what he learns from the newspaper. As the story goes on, sam learns a lot of things about his past. He intends to learn more.

People who might enjoy this book are people who have already read, Harry Potter ,and Savvy. I hope whoever reads this will just want to read on, and on and on. Just likeI did. If you're one of those people who read's half of the chapter and sais" I'm bored."Well believe it or not, for this book you will not. Have a good time reading this.

King of the Lost and Found by John Lekich

Review by Sam A.

King of the Lost and Found, by John Lekich, is the story of a kid named Raymond J. Dunne. Raymond seems like a normal kid, but as normal goes he is way off. Raymond has an unrecorded disorder, he sneezes, has nose bleeds, and, weirdest of all, he faints. He's been called everything: Speed bump, Freakshow, The Human Rug, and Drop Dead Dunne. The only thing he hasn't been called is what he wants to be called the most: "cool."

Raymond reaches out to Jack Alexander, a troubled 12th grader who is the star of the basketball team, for friendship. But when all of a sudeen the portrait of Percy Hargrave is stolen, everything gets out of whack and Raymond gets closer to Jack than he ever thought he would. On the raod of being cool, raymond changes for the worst. he starts lying left and right, even to Mr. Bludhowski and his dad. Which life will he pick at the end, the popular life with jack Alexander, or the lost and found life with Mr. Bludhowski? Which life will he betray?

This is a great book filled with suspense, hilarity, and wonder. I recom end this book to any reader who loves a great tale.

Operation Red Jericho by Joshua Mowll

Operation Red Jericho by Joshua Mowll
Review by Dan

The book Operation Red Jericho is about two children named Doug and Becca. Doug and Becca are misfits and can't find a relative that can stand them. Their last relative is their Uncle Fitzroy Macenzie. Their uncle is the captian of the Expedient, a ship made fo "exploring the sea." When the Expedient get a surprise guest with an interesting story, the twins start their adventure. I liked this book, and I would give it a four out of five stars. This book is not a book that everyonek nows, but it is still a solid book. What I liked most was the story lines and the footnotes. What I did not like was that sometimes you would not understand something. This happened when they were explaining how the engine worked and how this and that works. This book is the first of a three book series, so you will want to read the rest of the series when you are done with this book. This book is a thrilling book that is a little bit intense, so if you're looking for a funny book this is not the book for you. This book is a book that will keep you on your feet.

The Golly Whopper Games by Jody Feildman

The Golly Whopper Games by Jody Feildman

Review by Jacob



The plot of this story is about a boy named Gil Goodson who wants to play in the Gollywhopper games. They are kind of like the Olympics, but it's about a toy factory.



Gil is a 12-year-old boy. He's normal sized, and he meets a friend named Bianca who is tall, arrogant, and wants to become a model.



I liked this book because Gil goes through a ton of things like running into bullies and losing his ticket to get into the stadium. But Gil gets through all of it.



The competition isn't only about physical games, though. You have to take tests and do puzzles and a whole lot more. What they do is get an envelope and read what it says. Then it will say a brainteaser like, "'My coat keeps me the warmest during this January freeze,' bragged Tracy." If the above sentence equals zebra, what does the following sentence equal? "The pain in Matthew's elbow lingered through the month of March." And it's bowling. Then if you get the question right you have to do what they call a stunt. The first stunt they did was, "You must knock down all five pins, and stand behind the red line. You can bowl asm any bowls as you want and your best bowler can do most of the bowling."

This is a great story by Jody Feildman.

The Schwa was Here by Neal Shusterman

The Schwa was Here by Neal Shusterman
Review by Naomi

This book that I took out of the libray is called The Schwa was Here by Neal Shusterman. This book is fiction. I know that because there is no kid that you see walking around wearing the same thing as the background; that's just impossible. The plot of this story is about a boy named "the schwa" and his clothes blend into the background, so it's hard to see him. So a boy named Ansy tries hard to figure out his life story and why no one sees him. They also try to find out why he dresses up like the background. Also something fascinating happened that has to do with the Schwa and Ansy, but of course you would have to read the book to find out what it is.

The character description of the Schwa ist hat his clothes blend into the background. Also, he is very expressive. I say that he is expressive because when Ansy once asked him what happened to his mother, the schwa started to get loud and a little mad, kind of like he didn't want to talk about it. And I think that beacuse he is expressive. My opinion of the book is that I would say that the book is all right but not so great. I say that beacuse it has some unnecessary words in it. For example, I saw a couple of swears in it. My opinion based on that is that people who are not too mature should not read this book.

In conclusion, I just told you the genre of the book which is fiction. I also told you the plot fo the story, but I did not give the surprise away. Also, I told the character description which was about the Schwa. I also told you my opinion of the book and I said that it was not so great. And that was my free reading book review.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Review by Tommy H.

This quarter I read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle as my FRB. This book is about a young girl named Charlotte who is on her way to America to reunite with her family. But I must warn you if you fear highly intense, heart-pounding action I highly recommend you do not read this book. But ify ou're not scared of a little action this could be a really good book for you to read.

In this story, Charlotte makes friends with Zacharia, the cook on the ship, and they spend most of the day talking to each other and telling stories. But one day when Charlotte finds a round robin, Zacharia gets killed. Charlotte feels it's her fault, so she volunteers to be a replacement on the crew. This choice sets up a lot of trouble for Charlotte.

Charlotte is aboard the Sea Hawk with the captain of the ship, Andrew Jaggery, who first seems like a gentleman but might just be evil enough to commit murder. When Charlotte makes one mistake, she is accused of murder. She is accused because the dagger that killed the man belonged to her. It was a gift from Zacharia that turned into a ticket to death. Charlotte knows the penalty for murder is to hang by your neck until dead. Will Charlotte get out of this pickle? Read to find out!

Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris

Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
Review by Chloe

Once Upon a Marigold, a fantasty story by Jean Ferris starts out as the story of a forest troll named Edrick (nicknamed Ed) who was walking in the forest when he found a young boy. The boy he found was named Christian. Christian told Ed that he ran away from his parents and didn't want to go back. After a while, Ed decided to let Christian stay with him. And 11 years later is where the story starts. Christian is now about 18 years old. He is an inventor, and he can invent strange and wacky things. One of his inventions is a telescope which he looks through. One day, when he was younger, he was looking through the telescope when he spotted the King and Queen and their four daughters. He became fascinated with them and began to watch them. One of his other inventions was P-mail. P-mail are pigeons that fly to deliver letters. Using P-mail, Christian sent a letter to the youngest daughter in the royal family, Princess Marigold. She responded back. Later on, they would be mailing letters to each other, but Christian never told Marigold his real name. One day, Christian decided to work for the royal family so he could see Marigold without her knowing who he was. He said goodbye to Ed in the forest and set out for the royal territory. He began to work there as a servant. While he was working, he overheard Queen Olympia plan to overthrow the king and Princess Marigold so she could become the ruler of the Kingdom. Will Queen Olympia's evil plan work? Will Princess Marigold ever know who Christian really is? Read Once Upon a Marigold to find out!

The River by Gary Paulsen

Can you imagine your friend being put in a coma? The main character in this book is Brian Robeson. Brian is very brave for going back up to Canada and reliving his two month long nightmare in the woods. It is Brian's responsibility to take his friend who is in a coma down the raging Canadian river to safety. Can he do it in time before his friend dies? Brian is a determined person and shows this in a couple of ways. One way he shows it is by going back into the woods and teaching others how to survive. Another way he shows determination is making sure that he gets his friend to safety.I think this is a great book because it keeps you on the edge of your seat because the action is changing every minute. You want to read this book AFTER you read Hatchet. If Hatchet excited you, then this will be a good book for you.

Reviewed by: Stephen

Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen

Brian’s Winter, a fictional story by Gary Paulsen, is a sequel to the survival story Hatchet, where Brian was rescued at the end of the story. But, what if he wasn’t able to trigger a radio signal for the pilot to locate him and what if he was never rescued? In this story, the winter Brian began to fear the most in Hatchet has come to challenge him in more ways than he could ever have imagined.

The story takes place with Brian a thirteen year old boy all alone on the island with just his hatchet and survival pack. He struggles to survive the long hard Canadian winter by learning how to kill animals to eat and to stay warm. Brian experiences many hair raising and life threatening situations. One day, Brian encounters a skunk. He and the skunk become friends and Brian names her Betty because he thinks she looks like his aunt. The skunk eventually saves Brian’s life when a very large and hungry bear comes sniffing around to eat Brian’s food and possibly him. Brian is moments away from death when Betty jumps out and sprays him with a bulls eye aim right in his eyes and the bear takes off running and screaming in severe pain.

Brian’s Winter is a suspense packed story that is being told by Brian as he is living it. He makes you feel like you are on the Island with him. The more you get into the book the harder it is to put it aside because you want to know what happens next. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy adventure and survival books. If you are wondering if Brian survives the winter, you will just have to read it to find out.

Submitted by Ryan

The Somebodies, by N.E. Bode

The Somebodies, by N.E. Bode

Review by Kevin

My book, The Somebodies, is a fiction book by N.E Bode that I find very well. It is about a curious girl named Fern that is very curious, and her best friend Howard who isn’t that curious in either way. Fern is an Anybody, a person that can shape-shift, hypnotize, and shake things out of books, and she wants to go down to the city of Anybodies for the convention of the Secret Society of Sombodies, or S.S.S. She does not know that the head of the S.S.S. is really the Blue Queen trying to take over. Will Fern be able to stop her?

Fern has puffy red hair, and big green eyes. She has tried, but never succeeded, to be normal. She is an Anybody. Howard, on the other hand, is very normal. They accidentally got switched at birth and now they’re best friends.

I think this is a good book for two main reasons. First, it was very funny. Second, it has a lot of interesting things in it like people and twists in the story. One important piece of info about this book is that the author frequently refers to his various experiences hiding from his jealous creative writing teacher that is trying to kill

Wild at Heart by Michael Morpurgo

Review by Sammie

One of the many books I read in Wild at Heart is the birds began to sing by Janet Frame. It was about twenty or so blackbirds singing on a telephone wire all day and all night. A woman asked the birds after her long journey to get to them, what the song was because she didn't recognize the song. She thought that song that they were singing was very lovely. She explained she was a human being, and that if they told her the song she could print the music after she listens and make it a song. She would even perform it with only the finest musicians in the country. After she asked one last time they stopped singing and they all flew away.

One other book I read in Wild at Heart is Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. It was one slow rainy day. It was upsetting Wilbur and his plans. He wanted to go out and dig a new hole in the yard. But with the rainy day and his lonely and friendless life he had nothing to do. Someone was spying on Wilbert--who? Charlotte the spider. She was Wilbert's new friend. She explained what she was, and what her webs were, to Wilbur. They became friends. She laid some eggs, she explained about her eggs to Wilbert with a true friendship. After he discovered all the good stuff about her that he liked she was gone.

Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath

Review by Jane

Everything on a Waffle is a story about a young girl named primrose who is on an adventure to find her parents who are lost at sea. Primrose is a determined, polite girl. She enjoys solving people’s problems. She becomes an orphan and needs more care than just a babysitter. Her babysitter gets paid three dollars an hour, from her parent’s bank account. The bank account is running out of money, but Primrose can’t go homeless she needs care. Pesky Mrs. Honeycut wants Primrose to go to an orphanage, but Primrose strongly believes that her parents are coming home. Primrose talks to a woman named Ms. Bowzer. She owns a restaurant called The Girl on the Red Swing. At this restaurant everything is served on a waffle. Will Mrs. Honeycut get her way, or will Primrose get hers? I enjoyed this book because it had a little of everything! It had sad, happy and much more! My favorite part was at the ending, read it to find out! Inside of this book are many recipes that have to do with the story. So if like to cook this isn’t a bad book either! I recommend Everything on a Waffle to people who enjoy fiction stories that include drama, sadness and happy endings.

Amok by Robert Holland

Review by Carl

Amok is a very interesting story which takes place all around Martha’s Vineyard. There are actually three main plots in it. The first one is that a mobster from Boston moves to Martha’s Vineyard and claims that he has seen an amok on the island. An amok is somebody who can turn from a normal person to a mad man killing a lot of people in just a split second. The plot is that Charlie and Pete’s football team is about to play for the state championship. The last is that Charlie moved into a house with a lot documents and journals in it about these two spies. Somebody is sending people to try to kill Charlie and his family but he doesn’t know who. The main character in Amok is Charles Oliver Jones. Charlie is a very intelligent character who is very elusive. Charlie is very independent and has the courage to do just about anything. Charlie is very strong and is 6 feet tall. Personally, I think that Robert Holland write a great and interesting story. I like it because it has everything I want in a book, action and a little bit of mystery. This book is written from two characters perspectives. Make sure you read who it’s by at the top of the chapter. Also, this is sort of a hard book to follow so make sure that you do a little re-reading every time pick up the book.

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer

Reviewed by:Ricky

Artemis Fowl The Arctic Incident is about a boy named Artemis Fowl. He is an evil master mind. Who took over his father’s evil empire after he was kidnapped by the Russian Mafia. So Artemis and his servant Butler and his nemesis Holly and Commander Julius Root that are fairies that work for the LEP which are similar to our police. So they join forces to find Artemis Fowl’s father and to find out who is organizing the B’ wa Kell or goblins that are attacking Haven witch is there main city. So Artemis, Butler, Holly and Commander Root go to northern Russia where the people who kidnapped Artemis’s father are. But on their way to one of the Mafia’s apartment they were attacked by goblins. Also all the guns they had brought were made by a fairy named Opal Koboi. Also Opal Koboi is the person who was organizing the goblins and was helping them so she shut down all the guns that Artemis, Butler. Holly, Commander Root and all the LEP officers had so no fairy had guns that worked. So Artemis and his team came back and found out who was in control of these goblins and had to find out how to stop Opal Koboi. So they went to talk to a criminal called Mulch and he had the blue prints to the Koboi Lab and so they broke in from under the ground unnoticed and they caught Opal Koboi and her partner. Also Foaly a centaur who is very smart recorded Opal’s partner say that he wanted full control and that he was going to take out Opal after he was done taking out the LEP. So Opal herd it because Foaly sent her the recording. So she got mad and killed her partner and the Holly knocked her unconsciousness and put her in jail. Then Foaly found out a way to get rid of the goblins by putting on a noise on the speakers in the city and they left and he saved Haven. But Artemis Fowl, Butler, Holly and Commander Julius Root still have to find Artemis’s father and get him back from the Russian Mafia.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Review by Patrick

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dogs Days is the 4th book in a series called Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This book is written by Jeff Kinney. This book is about a boy named Greg Heffley who happens to be in middle school as well, but during this book it is summer for him so that means no school. He is a lazy boy and his dad is always trying to get him to play sports but he would rather be playing video games. He also goes to the beach with his best friend Rowley and they get in lots of trouble there, or should I say Greg does. My favorite part of the book was when he talked about how he was on the cover of a book and the book was called Your Child and Constipation. Like I said before, he is in a family of 5 so I think I have to dedicate a few words to them. Greg has a younger brother named Manny and he is really funny and a big jokester. Greg’s older brother is Roderick and he is a drummer in a band with his friends, and they play all over the town. Last, but not least, are his parents. His mom is kind of moody, one minute she is so enthusiastic about something, and then she’s really negative about it. His dad is always in a bad mood, he’s never happy. In all, I think this book is two thumbs up.

Bone by Jeff Smith

Review by CJ

In my opinion, Bone was a really good book. The book was about a character named Bone. He was from a town called Boneville. In this book, he visits a place called Barrelhaven and makes new friends. One of his new friends is a girl, named Thorn, took him to the spring fair and went to look for a honey- seller because Thorn loved honey. When they got to the honey-seller Bone was jealous because he thought Thorn liked the honey-seller and Bone likes Thorn. The honey-seller was making jokes about his nose so they were yelling at each other. Thorn was getting embarrassed by Bone so they left the honey-seller. Thorn yelled at Bone about how she was embarrassed about he was acting to the honey-seller. Thorn ended up walking around the Spring Fair alone and Bone was trying to find honey for Thorn to make her impressed. Bone remembered about how the honey-seller said to him about how to get honey from the bees. He had to get some grass. Then, light the grass on fire. As soon as Bone got to the hive, he was wondering why there weren’t any bees guarding the hive. He realized why there weren’t any bees guarding the hive. It only takes one bee to guard the hive because how big and strong the bee is. Bone was a great book and it just kept me interested in reading it more.

Swindle by Gordon Korman

Review by Erin

Were you ever put in the situation of fighting against a 40 year old man for a one million dollar baseball trading card? Well, Griffin Bing was. This would of never happened if Griffin hadn’t slept over in the Rockford’s house! Griffin Bing is a young boy fighting to regain his million- dollar Babe Ruth trading card. He is also called “The Man with the Plan”. Griffin is a daring kid who doesn’t let anything or anyone hold him back from getting what he wants.

It all started when Griffin planned a sleepover at an old vacated house. AKA the Rockford house. Griffin planned the sleepover with his entire grade. Griffin and his best friend were the only ones who showed up. Ben had fallen fast asleep like a light that night. So, that left Griffin awake and all alone. That’s when Griffin decided to go and explore. Most of the house was empty except for a desk that appeared to be empty. Griffin looked in the drawer and there was only a Babe Ruth baseball trading card. He knew it would be worth big money. With this, Griffin decided to go to an antic store and sell his card for 120 dollars. Later, while watching the news on television he heard the antic dealer (guy he sold the card to named Swindle) saying he was selling it for one million dollars. Griffin is on his way back to getting his card.

I loved the book Swindle and would rate it 3 out of 4 stars for the following reasons. I gave this book such a high rating because the author used such great descriptions. I really liked how he described the guard dog as a menacing, sharp toothed, guard dog! The only reason I didn’t give Swindle 4 stars was there was lots of history and unnecessary background knowledge that did not grab my attention. I suppose these details are appealing to other readers. Especially, when I heard awesome reviews from my classmates who really enjoyed really enjoyed the book Swindle as much as I did.

Review by Jackie

I read the book “Everything on a Waffle” by Polly Horath. The genre was realistic fiction. It was about a girl named Primrose, who's parents get lost at sea and she gets put into foster care until or if they ever return. Before that she gets cared for by her uncle, and he usually leaves her home alone for most of the day. As you can see Primrose has a couple things wrong with her life, but always has hope. She is a very strong girl and kind to others. Also she likes to cook and writes down recipes in her mom’s cookbook. There is a restaurant called The Girl on the Red Swing and Primrose met the cook. They became friends and she goes over to learn new recipes. You should also know Primrose gets hurt a few times that lead her to the emergency room. These are most of the things you should know about Primrose and the book, Everything on a Waffle.

I think Everything on a Waffle is a good book to read. I would rate it 3 out of 5 stars. I liked how it had recipes you could make. I thought it was a little too dramatic how Primrose was always getting hurt in the book. On the other hand it gave you the feeling of what is going to happen to her next. I would read the book again and recommend people to read it.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
By Jeff Kinney
Review by Charlie

This book is an autobiography that takes place in the life of a boy named Greg Heffley. This book is about Greg who is always coming up with crazy ideas that most of the time get him in trouble with his parents and others. When his dad threatens to send him to military school, Greg decides that he better listen to his dad and shape up and keep out of any trouble.

Greg is a funny kid who gets into trouble easily, embarrasses himself and his family. He is also a prankster who loves to play jokes on his friends and relatives. He has good intentions but they always seem to backfire on him!

I thought that this book was excellent. I loved it so much that I could not stop reading it. I got hooked into the storyline and characters. Kids my age sometimes think that something is a good idea and we don’t always think things through and we end up getting in trouble. I could identify with Greg and his troubles. I think it was a fabulous book that everyone should read and would enjoy.


I think that Jeff Kinney is a great author and writes a lot of fabulous books. Mr. Kinney writes in a way that young kids can relate to and really enjoy the story. I cannot wait to read his next book!


By: Charlie
Group 67

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko

Review by Eric
Book Report 10-29-09

Can you imagine living on Alcatraz Island and only being a kid? This is what happened to young Moose in Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. This fiction story was a phenomenal read because it had a great plot and easy to follow.
There was a boy named Moose and he lives on Alcatraz Island with Americas most wanted criminals. After a while, Moose didnt realize that he was among criminals, he felt it was normal. Moose is a very energetic kid, especially when it comes to baseball. Moose plays baseball on Monday with Scott. Scott is his best friend.
The book takes place on Alcatraz Island, on the boat to the Mainland, and on the Mainland. The other characters are Piper, a friend of Moose and a troublemaker, and Natalie, Mooses sister. Natalie is often mad at Moose and throws a lot of fits. Piper tries to get Moose in trouble. At one point, they were trying to get money to go to the candy store, and they got caught by the warden, Pipers dad.
Thought the title says, Al Capone Does My Shirts, nothing really happens with Al Capone. He washes Mooses shirts and leaves notes in them, like Done and Your Turn, but nothing happens with the notes.

Heat by Mike Lupica

Heat by Mike Lupica
Review by Jackson

Heat by Mike Lupica is a fantastic book. The book is fiction with a sports theme. Heat is about a boy named Michael who came from Cuba to New York. Michael’s father died and he lives with his older brother Carlos who is only seventeen. Carlos wouldn’t be able to take care of him any more if someone found out that their dad was dead. Michael is a very good baseball player and plays on the best team in the area called the Clippers. He is the star pitcher on the team and his team wants to go to the Little League World Series. Another team’s coach accuses him of being too old to play in league, but everyone knows that he is 12 which is not too old to play. Since his father died he cannot find his birth certificate which is in Cuba. Michael and Carlos don’t have any relatives in Cuba so they are unable to get the birth certificate and don’t think they will ever get it. The Clippers keep having games without Michael and they win some and they lose some. But without Michael the team isn’t the same.
I think you would like this book if you like baseball or just sports in general. I recommend this book to anyone because when I read it I liked it. All in all, I think you should read this book or another book by Mike Lupica.

By Justin

Icefire by Chris d'Lacey

Icefire by Chris d'Lacey
Review by Jackson

Icefire is an excellent fiction book by Chris d’Lacey that is the sequel to the book The Fire Within. It is about a boy named David Rain who is a tenant at the Pennykettle’s house. David is an 18 year old boy who is very smart. He is in a geography course at Scrubbley College. He can be very lazy at times but he wants everything to be alright and he cares about others. The only problem about where he lives is that Mrs. Pennykettle and her daughter Lucy sculpt clay dragons that come alive. He is starting to understand about dragons. Although, it is still a big mystery to him and he is trying to figure it out.

When David first came to the Pennykettle’s house, they made him a special writing dragon named Gadzooks. This dragon writes things on his writing pad to help David figure out mysteries or problems he has. One day Lucy made a wishing dragon for David called G’reth. G’reth can grant David any beneficial wish about his surroundings anytime he wants to. One day David wished he knew where the fire tear was. The fire tear is the auma (energy) of the last real dragon on earth (not made out of clay). When the dragon died, it dropped its tear and a girl named Guinevere caught it. She hid it and nobody ever knew where it was from that day forward. After that wish, an evil lady named Gwillanna appeared at their house. David, Lucy and Zanna (a college friend of David that he likes) figured out who she is and what her plans are. They then decide they must stop her to protect themselves and the rest of the dragon world
from a bad ending.

In my opinion, this is a great book if you like surprises and action. Although, it can be hard to read at times, I still highly suggest it to you. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year! Have fun reading it!By Jackson

The Book without Words
by Avi

Review by Claire

The Book without Words by Avi is a captivating fantasy novel. Like many other Avi books, this story has a lot of darkness in it and is very magical. Master Thorston, an evil, greedy, arrogant man, owns a book without words, or so it seems. Only people with green eyes and a great desire can read the magical book. Master Thorston has the desire to live forever, and the book without words provides an immortality spell, along with how to make false gold. To live forever, Thorston must take the lives of two others, whom he decides will be his poor meek servant, Sybil and his wicked old raven, Odo. Disguising himself as an alchemist, Thorston keeps himself, Sybil and Odo hidden in the decaying, ancient and neglected town of Fulworth. That is a terrible place to be committing a crime when Ambrose Bashcroft is in charge. When Thorston is in the middle of completing the spell to make himself immortal, he dies for the first time. Sybil, who is much more intelligent than Odo and Thorston take her for, buries Thorston and puzzles over his last words, in which he tells her about the “life stones” that will make him immortal. He also asks her to keep the stones and the book away from the mysterious “green-eyed one.” She must solve the mystery and make things right.
I think that this book is good for people who like dramatic and scary fables with magical happenings, where you can never guess what will happen next. This book was also suspenseful and good for mystery-lovers. I liked this book because Avi does a very nice job of making things exciting and describes everything so well that I can picture everything all the time. I felt like I was one of the characters sometimes. You should definitely read The Book without Words!

Brian's Winter

Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen

Review by Chris

Brian’s Winter is a realistic fiction novel by Gary Paulsen. It is the second book to Hatchet. As in the book Hatchet, it is about a young boy named Brian who got into a plane crash while traveling to see his dad. He is stranded alone in the woods. However, in this book you pretend that Brian did not get a radio to call for help in his rescue kit. Brian faces many challenges. Such as food, shelter, and being attacked by wild animals. He faces food problems in the beginning of the winter because the lake is frozen so he could not catch any more fish. Therefore, he had to hunt larger game such as deer and moose. One problem Brian struggled with was the process of making arrows to kill them. Brian also faces dilemmas when he needs to winter proof his shelter so the cold or wind does not get in. He gets frightened while being attacked by wild animals. Once a moose attacks Brian while he was hunting it. After he shot it with an arrow, the moose started to attack him. Does Brian survive? Read the book to find out. I did and really enjoyed it.

By: Chris

First Light by Rebecca Stead

Reviewed by: Samantha

First Light is a fictional book about a young boy named Peter and a young girl named Thea. Peter is currently living in New York when his father gets assigned a job of research for global warming out on the Greenland ice. Peter, a thirteen year old, and his mother ,father and a helper Jonas fly to Greenland and live their for six weeks. Peter has some ups and downs living in Greenland. He likes Greenland because he gets to miss school and he has a favorite snow dog-Sasha. He dislikes Greenland because it is cold and boring. And he has these awful headaches and not so good food. Thea was born in a world under the ice of Greenland. She is thirteen years old and lives with her Aunt Lana because her mother passed away. She has very strong beliefs and ideas. She always follows her dreams, even if it involves danger and getting into trouble.

When Peter first arrives in Greenland his parents are strict about what to do. They wouldn’t let him roam around or stay home alone or anything! After a little while Peter convinces them to let him be “home” alone. When he finally is allowed to stay “home” alone his parents and Jonas go down to the nearest town (a couple of miles a way) and Peter is left alone. Peter gets worried because they aren’t back yet and freaks out. When they do come back he plays cool but he never stays “home” alone again. Thea and her people under the ice run a small town under the ice called Gracehope. Thea has a strong personality and tells out what she believes in the Council meeting. Everyone disagrees with her and tries to find a way to show proof of her beliefs by having her cousin Mattias help her. Her dangerous risks of life doesn’t stop her. Mattias keeps telling her to turn back but Thea doesn’t listen. Then Mattias’ life almost comes to an end.

This book is interesting. The beginning is starts of slow but then the book gets intense and the ending is superb. I would definitely recommend this book for people who like intense books.

Free Baseball by Sue Corbett Felix

Reviewed by: Mark

In Free Baseball by Sue Corbett Felix has a baseball star in his family. It is his dad. Felix is a huge baseball fan and loves to watch his dad play in Cuba. His family is from Cuba and they speak Spanish. His family said he could live on a baseball field. Felix’s dad risked everything to send his family to America, because they wouldn’t let Cuban people into America.

Felix won tickets to a baseball game. The opponent was a team from Cuba. Felix followed the Cuban team to their plane. He sneaked on the plane and followed them back to Cuba. The team thinks he is the new batboy so he goes with it. He went with the team to Cuba to find out the reality of his family past, if his dad is a baseball star or not.

This book is pretty good if you like baseball. If you do not like baseball it’s not that great for you. I say that because it’s all about the Cuban baseball team and Felix’s favorite baseball team, the East Naples Egrets. It also tells how he won tickets to his favorite team’s game on the radio but had to have a babysitter go too.

James and the Giant Peach

Reviewed by: Dan

I read the book James and the Giant Peach. James is one of the main characters in the book. James once had a really fun and loving life, but one day his parents wanted to go shopping in England. So they went there in the middle of the day. It was a crowded city and they got eaten up by an angry rhinoceros on the loose from the zoo. This was really bad for James because that meant he had to live with his “evil” aunts, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. One day just after Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker had finished yelling at James, James ran away from them to the other side of the garden and started crying. A minute later an old man appeared and showed James something very special inside of a bag, they were tiny green things rustling about very quietly. The green things were 1,000 little slimy crocodile tongues boiled up in the skull of a dead witch for 20 days and nights with the eyeballs of a lizard, the fingers of a young monkey, the gizzard of a pig, the beak of a green parrot, the juice of a porcupine, 3 spoonfuls of sugar, he stewed it for another week, and then he let the moon do the rest. When all of these ingredients are combined with ten hairs from your own head and mixed with a jug of water, the potion becomes magical. You then drink the potion and wonderful thing begin to happen to you.

With the idea of having a new wonderful life, James immediately ran up the hill to drink the potion. Unfortunately, the bag spilt during his run up the hill. It was scattered all over the ground near an old peach tree. Immediately a peach began to grow and grow and grow until it was as big as a house. The aunts were very pleased with this because they came up with the idea of making people pay to see the massive peach. They thought they could become rich with this idea. One night the aunts told James to clean up after all sight seers. When he was out side, he saw a hole in the peach and decided to climb in. Upon reaching the core, he saw a door, opened it and climbed in. He saw terrifying giant insects inside. He was told not to be afraid. They were waiting all day for him to come so they could cut the stem and roll away from the aunts.
The peach rolled down the hill, over the aunts and over the cliff into the water. The peach actually floated to there surprise. When they all became hungry, James decided they should eat the peach. They didn’t want to stay in the water with hungry sharks circling them, so the silk worm and spider made string to lasso thousands of birds to help lift the peach out of the water. So they were pulled up and up and up until they reached “Cloud men”, who were practicing for winter by dropping hail stone off the clouds. The giant grass hopper was insulting them, so Cloud men began to throw hail stones at the peach and chased them. They were getting close so James and the insects cut a few birds off to allow them to drop slowly.

Eventually, the birds had carried them into New York City where they were thought to be a big bomb. They landed on top of one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city. Police, fire and other citizens thought that they were aliens until James appeared over the side of the peach. He told the people that the giant insects were harmless. They were all helped down from the peach and became famous. The centipede became V.P. of a shoe company, the earthworm became employed by a company that made women’s face cream, the spider and silk worm had learned how to make nylon thread and made rope for tightrope walkers, the glow worm became the light inside the Statue of Liberty, the grasshopper became a member of the New York symphony orchestra and the lady bug married the head of the fire department. James Henry Trotter lived in the remaining peach stone. He was often visited by many friends and curious people. James, who used to be the saddest person on the planet, is now the happiest person in the world.

Brian's Hunt by Gary Paulsen

BRIAN’S HUNT is about a fourteen year old kid named Brian and he decides to go back into the Canadian wilderness. And he is there for a good amount of time maybe about 1 to 2 months. And one night there Brian comes back from hunting and he sees that his hut is all wrecked. He said to himself who did this what was it. And then Brian will go on a big hunt to try to find out who did this to his hut and camping site. As you already know the main character is Brian. Brian is about fourteen years old and he is very creative when it comes to nature or mostly anywhere. He is a very brave, intelligent, and creative person Brian is very lonely in the woods but he does keeps himself occupied everyday any time. I though that this book was fantastic. If you like books that have a lot of surprises or like to see creativity then you will love this book. I was just hanging on the edge of my seat to see what happened and I just loved it. I will highly suggest that you read this book. If you liked hatchet then you will love this book brains hunt. This is a series of books of these but to understand this book you must read hatchet first.

Reviewed by: Dan

Diary of A Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Review by: Luke

I read the book Diary Of A Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. This 200 page long book is about a 6th grader named Gregory Heffly who has some trouble surviving in middle school. His mom got him a diary so he could write down his feelings. Well, Greg thinks differently about it and says he is just writing in the diary so when he famous the media can read it. The book has another character named Rowley. Now Rowley is supposed to be Greg’s best friend, but he is not sure how long that is going to last. Greg also has a brother named Roderick who drives him insane with his heavy metal band. Also he has a neighbor named Fregly, but he’s not exactly the brightest bulb in the large bunch. When Gregory join’s the safety patrol he thinks he has it made. But Greg is kicked out of the safety patrol and he is officially ex-friends with Rowley. Can the two of them save their friendship before it is too late? Is Greg going to be friends with Rowley or is he going to have to be friends with Fregly? In addition, does Rowley have the heart to forgive Greg?

Flush by Carl Hiaasen

Review by: Tanmay

Flush by Carl Hiaasen is a realistic fiction book. It is about the Underwood family living in the Keys in Florida. The story starts when Paine Underwood is in jail for sinking Dusty Muleman’s gambling boat the “Coral Queen”. He claims that Dusty Muleman has been dumping the “Coral Queen’s” holding tanks in the sea contaminating the water closing beaches and threatening animals’ lives. A ship’s holding tank is a tank that holds all the human waste on board. Dusty Muleman is dumping the ship’s tank in the ocean so he can save money instead of pumping into the tank on the shore and having the coast guard taking it way, even though he earns a few thousand dollars a night. Noah Underwood and his sister Abbey are trying to help their dad nail Dusty Muleman and try to make sure their mom doesn’t divorce their dad. Noah is a young boy maybe ten to twelve years old. His sister Abbey is about 8 to 9 years old. Noah and Abbey can work together nicely. Jasper Jr. Dusty’s son and his best friend Bull always bully Noah and his sister. Noah first tries to nail Dusty by going to Lice Peeking who used to work on the “Coral Queen” who has personally witnessed the holding tanks being dumped in the ocean. Noah asks if he could sign a document stating that he has witnessed the tanks being dumped in the ocean, for his father’s boat. But on the day Lice said he would come to the Underwood’s house with the document he mysteriously disappears with the jeep. His girl friend Shelly finds the jeep a few miles away with blood stains in the jeep. They believe Dust Muleman is connected to what happened to Lice Peeking. Since Shelly also wants revenge on Dusty she joins Noah and Abbey trying to turn Dusty in. Mean while Noah and Abbey’s father is out of jail since served his time and is put in house arrest. One night Abbey tries to nail Dusty by sneaking out at night through the window with the video camera gets on the boat hides and records Dusty dumping the ships waste in the ocean. But since the video camera is a bit old the night shot picture isn’t really the best kind so it turns out to be very blurry. The next plan Shelly, Noah and Abbey put together is “Operation Royal Flush”. Noah and Abbey buy 37 bottles of purple food coloring to flush in the toilets of the “Coral Queen”. Shelly gets a job as a bar tender on the ship so Noah and Shelly divide about half of the bottles of food coloring. Noah’s father is taken out of house arrest and Noah’s parents go to the movies and dinner to celebrate. Noah and Abbey leave the house and go to Noah’s friend Rado’s house and use his boat since he lives near the shore. The boat is a bit old so they take a little while to get to the marina and Noah sneaks on the ship and after the ship leaves he hides in the lavatory and starts flushing all the food coloring in the toilet. To assure complete privacy Shelly puts an “Out Of Order sign on the door. After he dumps the food coloring he escapes the lavatory and runs up to the top deck which. On the way he was chased by the watchmen, but when they catch him on the deck he tricks them and jumps off the side of the boat and yells “GERONIMO!” as loud as he can. That is when Abbey is supposed to come and rescue him. The rest of the bottles are emptied by Shelly in her toilet breaks. It takes a long time for Abbey to come and get him so he has to swim half of the trip back to the marina until finally Abbey shows up. Noah and Abbey are chased all the way back to the marina where they are caught. This mysterious pirate guy who seems to know Abbey and Noah saves them. This is when they flee the marina in the boat. Since the boat was old and in bad condition (which was the reason Abbey was late) it broke down and Abbey and Noah were stranded in the sea over night until they are found. The next day Noah calls the coast guard and reports the dye which is traced to the “Coral Queen”. Noah’s dad is rewarded 1,000 dollars from the coast guard but he has to use it for the damages to the “Coral Queen”. A few days later the “Coral Queen” which was shut down is back in business with a deal from the government. Noah’s dad gets mad and punches a door and fractures his knuckles. A day later the “Coral Queen” is burned and Noah’s dad is accused of burning it especially since he has casts around his hands so the detective thinks it was him. Noah’s mom then shows the hospital reports that he fractured his hands. Actually Dusty’s son had stolen some his dad’s cigars and beer so they went into a shed and he started to smoke one. His friend Bull was there at the time. Jasper had burst out coughing after he smoked the cigarette and threw it. Since there was a party that night for the reopening of the “Coral Queen” there was left over fireworks in the shed which lit because of the cigar and blew in the “Coral Queen”, burning it down. When Jasper and his friend Bull were asked what happened Jasper blamed it on Bull but Bull gave an explanation of exactly what had happened. I think Flush is a very interesting book that you can't put down at all. The timing of the events makes the book exciting. If I were to grade this book I would give it an A.

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Review by: Kendall
The genre of the book is fiction. Matilda by Roald Dahl is a book full of surprises. It’s about a five year old girl named Matilda who has a mean principal Ms. Trunchbull, and very strange and different parents. She is determined to get rid of Ms. Trunchbull and she also wants to try to talk some sense into her parents. Matilda, by the age of 4 was reading adults chapter books. She was one of the smartest toddlers there ever is. Her parents don’t believe in reading books. They think it’s a waste of time. On a daily basis they would rather be watching TV than reading. Instead of trying to talk so sense into her parents, Matilda has a clever mind and pulls pranks on them.Matilda is very smart, responsible, and polite. She definitely knows what’s to be done, and the right thing to do. This may be hard to believe but Matilda has some evil in her too. She will do some pretty crazy things in this action packed book. She is surely my favorite character in the book! I totally recommend reading this book! It’s full of great and exciting parts, and when I was reading Matilda I couldn’t put it down. If you like books with many different problems, and a good sense of humor, you will like this book. In summary, Matilda was a great book and I totally suggest reading it.

Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse

Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Heese is the story of a boy whose parents invent the teddy
bear. Joseph is a boy who lives in Brooklyn, New York. He knows he’s lucky and fortunate but he feels his parents spend too much time with the teddy bear. No longer does Joseph get to play stickball with his friends instead he is busy making bears. Joseph is respectful to his favorite aunt called “The Queen’’. The two relatives have a secret code used to open the door. But when “The Queen’’ dies Joseph is really sad. He discovers she saved and helped lots of people, by bringing them from Russia to America. Joseph is also adventurous because one day he experiences his dream alone. In the end of Brooklyn Bridge Joseph discovers secrets about some of his family. I liked the book Brooklyn Bridge because it tells the story of Joseph a lucky boy but also tells the story of sad children living in squalid conditions under the Brooklyn bridge. In Joseph’s family there’s Mama, Papa, Emily, Ben and him. Mama is the one who first thought of creating bears. This family’s life changes because they go from regular people to rich people. You might think people look up to them but some people are angry that they have more money, like Joseph’s friends. The story of Brooklyn Bridge is fiction and if you like reading about people in the 1900’s you might enjoy Brooklyn Bridge.
Reviewed by: Carolyn

Warriors Don't Cry

Ever wondered what it would be like to be an African American teenage girl thrust into the battlefield of the civil rights movement? You might have an idea in the deepest darkest corner of your imagination… think again. Melba Pattillo a sixteen year-old in 1957 has been in enrolled in Central High School along with 8 other African American students… the Little Rock 9. After the Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education she and her classmates become warriors, no longer care free teenagers. As she enters the school grounds a mob of bloodthirsty people greet her. Once she is inside, the terrible swear words still echoing in her head, she approaches her new classroom. The minute she steps in new swear words are distributed to her. She sits in class trying to focus on her schoolwork as everyone around curses and discriminates her. After class she rushes into the hall only to walk into another crowd of people. Through out this story you will see her clothes singed by lighted pieces of paper as she stands helpless in a bathroom stall, you will see her hold in her tears as the teachers refuse to help her. You will cry as she washes burning acid from her eyes another classmate’s “prank”. Feel her pain as she crashes to the floor after being pushed down a flight of stairs. But Melba never backs down she never cries and always keeps fighting. This book is beautifully written, an intense yet uplifting book. I loved it and I hope you do too. This book is for the warriors within us, we to have warriors who don’t cry.

First Light by Rebecca Stead

The book that I read is First Light by Rebecca Stead. The genre is fiction. When Peter is told by his dad that his family is going on a six week trip up to Greenland, he is thrilled. But a few months after his twelfth birthday, he starts to get strange headaches, just like his mom. A few weeks after he goes to Greenland, Peter finds out why he and his mom get the headaches. Thea has always wondered what lies outside of her cavernous home under the ice. When she gets into a fight with her grandmother Rowen, also the chief of the council, she is more determined than ever to find out what lays in the wider world. Pretty close to the end, Peter finds out about Thea's world and what connects him to it. I really enjoyed this book because it has a little magic in it, and because it gives different ideas about what things could be invented and where people could live. It is a very enjoyable book, and it is very easy to get through. If you are looking for a good book to read in your spare time, this would be a great one.
Reviewed by: Megan

Fudge-a-Mania by Judy Blume

Reviewed by: Caroline
I read the book Fudge-a-Mania by the famous author Judy Blume. Judy has written all the Fudge books which are all great, even if you don’t read them in order. Now the main character in this book and normally all the books is Peter Hatcher, but that doesn’t mean his little brother Fudge doesn’t exist! Fudge is maybe one of the biggest trouble makers ever, and he’s only 5! Fudge has orange hair, is very, very energetic and is a little crazy. Its summer break and everything for Peter is fabulous, until that is his mother said that he, Fudge, grandma, daddy, Turtle (Peter’s dog) and she are going to Maine with the Tubman’s. Peter thinks three weeks with Mr. Mrs. Shelia, Buzzy Senior (their grandpa) and Libby Tubman would be torture! Mostly because the house they are staying at is connected. At first you might think ‘that’s not so bad!’ but it is bad, bad, bad for Peter and Shelia (a.k.a the cootie queen!) because they can’t stand each other, and because Fudge wants to marry Shelia! About a week later Peter’s cool best friend Jimmy Fargo comes with his dad to Maine so Peter is happy for awhile until he hears the bad news... Later in the story Fudge meets a girl who is even crazier then he is! Her name is Mitzi, the ‘famous’ monster spray maker! Who Fudge thinks is the best girl in the world, and they soon become best friends! After that Buzzy and grandma seem to be spending a lot of time with each other, what could this mean!-do they like each other??? I liked this book because the fantastic chapters are short, it’s funny and you don’t get bored while reading – all of the things I am looking for in a book! All in all I highly recommend this book!

Saffy's Angel bv Hilary McKay

Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay is a story about a girl named Saffy whos mother died in a car crash. Her grandfather drove her from Siena, Italy to her aunt Eves house where the Casson family lived in a house called "The Banana House". Eve, a fine artist, has a paint chart on her kitchen door with all of the Casson children’s names. Cadmium is the eldest, then comes Saffron, known as Saffy, Indigo the only boy, and Rose, the youngest with their father named Bill who is usually at his work station in London. When Saffron finds out that her name wasn’t on the paint color chart, and the other kids were, she figures out that her grandfather had brought her over with all of her toys she had, so that Eve could watch her. When her grandfather dies, they are given his will and each one of the kids get one of his belongings. To Caddy, was his house in Wales, Indigo got his car, and for Saffy he wrote on another piece of paper. It said: For Saffron, her angel in the garden. The stone angle. Saffron did not know what her angel meant but later in the nights she kept having dreams about when she was little and holding her grandfathers hand and walking into the garden in her old house on 16 Via S. Francesco, Siena. When she meets a girl in a wheelchair named Sarah, a rich girl who always gets what she wants, they go on a journey to go to Siena to find Saffy's angel. Sarah's family and Saffy stay at a fancy hotel in Siena for seven days and found her old house. They tried opening the garden door but it was always locked. On the last day of the trip to Siena, Saffy and Sarah find that the garden door was open and Saffy met a lady who lived upstairs in her house when she was little. She told her that her angel had been taken from her grandfather. Indigo and Rose looked everywhere in the house for Saffys angel but they could not find it. Later on, Caddy gets her license and Indigo, Rose and Caddy go out on a long trip to Wales to find Saffys angel. At their grandfathers old house, they find in the garage their grandfathers old smashed car with a nailed box under it. They wondered why it was nailed. Could it be Saffy's angel?
Reviewed by: Courtney

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney is a really funny and exciting realistic fiction book based on a normal kid, around my age, named Greg Heffley. Greg looks like an average sized and has a couple hairs at the top of his head as his hair. He also has circular ears and a long nose pointing outward. He wants to spend all of his summer vacation in his room with the shades down and the lights off while he passes the time by playing video games. This however is not what Mrs. Heffley; Greg’s mother has in store for him. She wants to spend the summer packed with outdoor activities and family togetherness. This does not make Greg happy. During his summer, he gets forced to be in a book club but the thing is that he’s the only one in it because everyone else dropped out, including Rowley, his best friend. He also has to spend time at the family pool which isn’t so bad because the girl he really likes named Holly works as a life guard there. The worst thing is that Greg is forced to go to this water park, but the thing is, the water park is for little kids and Greg and his brother are not little kids.
My favorite part of the book is when Greg and Rowley watch a scary movie that they found in Rodrick’s (Greg’s brother) room. Greg and Rowley watched this movie without their parents knowing and it was about a muddy hand that kills people but only if you’re the last person it sees. So the cliffhanger was that at the end of the movie, the bloody hand stares at you through the TV because then you would be the last one it sees so that it would make u scared. After the movie they were both scared to they ended up sleeping somewhere which got Greg’s father mad when he woke up in the morning so his parents found out anyways about them watching the scary movie because there not allowed to.
Overall, this is one of my most favorite series ever because Jeff Kinney makes it funny and once you pick the book up its hard to put down. Although this book was not he greatest one out of all four books in the series, I still enjoyed reading about the miserable and quite funny and entertaining life that Greg Heffley experiences! I encourage all of you out there to just pick up one of Jeff Heffley’s book and I bet you, you won’t be able to put it down.
Reviewed by: Kaitlyn

Brian's Hunt by Gary Paulsen

Reviewed By: Ryan
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Brian’s Hunt is one of the best nonfiction books I have ever read. It is about after Brian gets rescued from the middle of the woods and Brian decides to start a new life and go back to the woods. One night when Brian was sleeping in a canoe in the middle of a lake he hears something on the shore and carefully moves closer to shore incase it is a bear and finds out that it’s a dog. Once his eyes adjust to the darkness when he’s on shore he finds out that the dog has a huge cut on his side so Brian uses stitches from his safety kit to help close the wound, and while he is stitching he wonders what could have caused the wound and he knows that is wasn’t a human and why the dog came to Brian instead of going back to where he lives. After a couple of days Brian goes off to find where his friend named Susan Kay-gwa-daush lives. When he gets close to her house he senses danger. To find out what happens you have to read the book for yourself.

The main character, Brian, is very determined and brave in the story. He shows a lot of bravery in the story and some determination.

I like this book because it is very suspenseful and surprising. What surprising is how good he has got with a bow and arrow sense he crashed in the middle of the woods in an air plane. As the book might be shorter then Hatchet I personally think they are both very good books.

Vanishing Act by John Feinstein

Review By Elias

Vanishing Act by John Feinstein is sports fiction novel. This story is about Stevie Thompson and Susan Carol Anderson (a couple of 13 year olds) trying to find out a mystery. They are friends and are going to go to The U.S Open. Stevie also is staying with Susan Carol at her uncle’s apartment in New York City. Susan Carol is smart, pretty, and a little bit of a showoff to Stevie, at least in his point of view because he thinks she is better at him than anything. Susan Carol and Stevie Thompson are trying to unravel a mystery which is who kidnapped this famous female tennis player. Stevie throughout the story thinks that Susan Carol’s Uncle Brandon is somehow involved in this since he is an agent and he was talking with a different tennis player’s family and he was seeing very suspicious. I thought this was an excellent book this book made me keep on reading because I wanted to see what really with the kidnapping. I think people who like mysteries would really enjoy this book a lot don’t forget to read some of the other books in this series too before you read this one. SO READ THIS BOOK YOU WILL LOVE IT!!

Bone Treasure Hunt Book 8 by Jeff Smith

Bone Treasure Hunt (book 8)
By Jeff Smith
Review by Tommy C.

In this fiction story, Bone, Thorn, Smile, Phoney, and Grandma Ben are in Athea to visit Grandma Ben’s teacher. Althea is a city that has been blocked off by the ghost circles, which are spiritual gates to the dream world that only worthy people can enter. Bone and his friends want the teacher to help them figure out what’s happening in their dreams and to learn what’s going on in the ghost circles. The Hooded One is trying to take over Thorn through her dreams! The main character, Bone, is adventurous, smart, very handy, and funny! He is always equipped with the tools he needs to defeat the Hooded One- who is Grandma Ben’s sister who has been taken over by the evil Lucas King.
I would recommend this book as it has everything that most people want in a story: action, adventure, and it’s really funny! This is the 8th book in a series of graphic novels but I would recommend beginning with the first one to see how the adventure develops. Reviewed by : Tommy

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
Review by Andrew

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko is a fiction novel based on Alcatraz Island. It is about 12 year old Moose who lives on Alcatraz Island with his mom, his dad who is a guard and electrician on the island, and his sister, Natalie. She is 10 (really 16) and has autism. The reason they are at Alcatraz is so she can go to the Ester P. Marinoff School. Moose also lives with famous criminals like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly. Moose meets the warden’s daughter, Piper and some of the other kids on the island and gets into some trouble when they try to sell the Alcatraz laundry service. Also, Natalie doesn’t get into the Ester P. Marinoff School and Moose tries to fix it with the help of one of the biggest criminals in Alcatraz, Al Capone. Will Al Capone help? Will Natalie get into Ester P. Marinoff? Read Al Capone Does My Shirts to find out.
I liked Al Capone Does My Shirts and I would recommend reading it. I feel that way because it is a good book with a lot of action and a good plot. Also, novels are my type of book. In conclusion, Al Capone Does My Shirts is a good book which you REALLY SHOULD READ!

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Best Friends and Drama Queens by Meg Cabot

Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls: Best Friends and Drama Queens
by Meg Cabot
Review By: Stefanie

Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls is by Meg Cabot and is a fiction novel .Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls Best Friends and Drama Queens is about a girl named Allie Finkle, who just got back from winter vacation. Allie Finkle is excited when a new girl, who comes all the way from Canada, joins her class at Pine Heights Elementary. Now Allie won't be the new girl anymore! But her excitement turns to dismay when the new girl, Cheyenne, starts telling everyone in the fourth grade what to do! Soon Cheyenne has everyone, including Allie's best friends, Caroline, Sophie, and Erica, believing that if they don't do what she says; they'll be what Cheyenne accuses them of being babies! Allie Finkle had just moved in September, so she knows what it feels like to be the new girl. Allie is very bright and has a positive feeling about making a lot of friends quickly because she moved to a new town and now is going to a new school and has made three really nice friends, Caroline, Sophie, and Erica .Allie reminds me of myself because I just moved to a new town and I am going to a new school and I already have a lot of friends. I always had though, an easy time making friends, there is just something about me that everybody loves. I really liked this book because I can relate my life to hers and we have a lot in common and Allie writes tips of if you’re stuck what to do. Sometimes these tips can be really helpful but others just make me laugh of make me compare it to my life. Even though I really don’t like to read, I really enjoy Meg Cabot’s entire book series and it makes me want to read a little bit more that before.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief by Rick Roirdan is about a boy named Percy who is a half-blood. he has been expelled from many schools and is about to get kicked out of another. but before that happens his English teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. Soon his Latin teacher comes and flips him a pen that turns into a sword that he used for his coliseum day. Soon the monster was upon him so he did the only thing that he could do. he swung the sword. soon after that he is on a quest for his father (who is the Greek god Poseidon) to get Zeus’s master bolt back and return it to Zeus before the end of the summer solstice. But before he gets the bolt back he runs into a lot of trouble soon he needs to find out where the bolt is so he can make his father proud. Soon Percy catches the thief and challenges the god of war Ares to a sword duel. Percy lands a wound on Ares and he gets Hades helm of darkness back and gets the bolt. but one question remained how will he get home before the end of the day. For once in a lifetime thing he flew in a airplane. Then everything was happy as soon as the bolt was returned to Zeus.

Rules by Cynthia Lord

Have you ever read the book, Rules by Cynthia Lord? It's a great Non-Fiction story that you don't want to miss out on! I could not put the book down! The main charactor is a twelve year old girl named Catherine that is loving, forgiving, shy, helpful,and just a down right awesome girl!! She has a little brother named, David that has autism and embarrasses Catherine in public like, in the video store. She meets a girl next door that just moved in and her name is, Kristi. She also meets a boy that can not talk with words. She met the boy (Jason) from the opitic that she helps with writing words for his word cards. The plot of the whole awesome story was to help others and be forgiving and try different things! I really love the book and it was the best MCBA book I ever read so far of all the MCBA's!!! I recommend this book to anyone. Trust me...you will LOVE it. That's all for now and have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Posted by Grace

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

New Moon is a fictional story written by Stephenie Meyer. It is the second book in the Twilight series. The setting for this book takes place in a town called Forks. Forks is a small town with lots of mountains, rain and fog. The town is almost like another character. This story has three main characters. Bella Swan who is an ordinary soon to be 18 year old girl who has brown hair and brown eyes and is very clumsy. Her boyfriend is Edward Cullen who is a vampire and Jacob Black (her best friend) who has his own secret. Their story is about love and loyalty. Bella's 18th birthday is coming and she has been dreading it for quite a while now. She is upset because Edward will never be older than 17 and she does not want to be older than him. The dreaded day has come and Edward's whole family is throwing her a party. Everybody is upbeat except Bella. Edward forces her to go to the party because his sister Alice has made the best cake and party favors. Bella goes but when it's time to open presents the unexpected happens. Bella gets a paper cut and bleeds. Without any control Edward's brother Jasper pounces towards Bella and Edward has to push her away and ends up crashing her into a glass table. After getting stitched up by Edward's father, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Edward takes Bella home and is acting very uneasy. The next day Edward takes a walk with Bella and tells her he must leave before anything else terrible could happen to her. He tells her she will never see him again. The story changes completely. Bella goes into a state of shock and depression. I can actually feel her sadness. Jacob Black steps up and is her best friend. They start to ride motorcycles and do dangerous things because Bella thinks Edward will come back to save her. The book keeps you on edge waiting for Edward to show up any second. You start to wonder if Bella will really get hurt. After finding out Jacob's secret Bella knows why he and Edward would never get along. Bella goes through many challenging things in this story. The most intense is when Edward thinks Bella is dead and Bella and Alice must go on a race against time to stop him from killing himself!!! Will they get to him in time?? Their journey is breathtaking and unforgettable.
I thought New Moon was very enjoyable. If you liked Twilight I would highly recommend this book for all the action and romance it brings. This story makes the reader anticipate reading the next book in the series called Eclipse.
Review by: Lauren

Swindle by Gordon Korman

Do all you want is to have money and not move after you get friends in a town. Well in Swindle by Gordon Korman that is all that Griffin Bing wants he wants to get money so he doesn’t move. Griffin (aka the man with the plan) is a sneaky, smart kid that has got all these friends and got used to this school and then his mom and dad are running out of money so they are going to move to a cheaper neighborhood till one night he goes to a haunted house inviting his friends because he wanted it to be a skate park instead of a museum so they sleep there so they won’t demolish with them in there. But Griffins plans don’t work our right he and his friend Ben are the only to that show. But maybe it wasn’t a stupid plan after all when Griffin goes around the house and finds a Babe Ruth card. Maybe the house got destroyed but they have a million bucks in there hand till they go to S. Wendell Palomino (aka swindle) and he says it is fake and rips them off for the card and for that one million dollar card they get $125. Then swindle is going to sell it for a lot of money and griffin and his friends got to get the card back and get through swindles alarms, a heavy safe and a viscous guard dog. My rating of this book is 5 out of 5 stars because of all the suspense action and lastly just a book you cant put down there is so many surprises. Will they get the card back or will they get caught and get in trouble or jail for life. Read Swindle by Gordon Korman to find out.

Review by: Kenny

Without a Trace by Carolyn Keene

The book I read was Without a Trace by Carolyn Keene. It is a fiction book and Book One of the New York Times best-selling series Nancy Drew girl detective. The main character in the book is, of course, Nancy Drew. Nancy Drew is a young lady who is very smart and extremely confident. She is a good and loyal friend who loves helping people. An example of this is when she volunteers at her local animal shelter. When Nancy is on the trail to solve a mystery, she seems unstoppable. She believes she has a sixth sense about anything odd or mysterious. Her close friends think she is always looking for trouble but she says that trouble just has a way of finding her.

The story takes place in a typical Midwestern town called River Heights. This town reminds me of the town that I live in. Nancy and her friends often enjoy visiting the local coffee shop to catch up on things and it is the place that they usually find out what is going on in town.

The plot of the book is mainly two mysteries that are presented to Nancy at the same time. The first mystery is that someone has been smashing the neighborhood zucchini patches and the angry neighbors are beginning to point fingers at one another. Meanwhile, a new resident in Nancy’s neighborhood is frantic when she discovers that an old and precious Faberge egg, which is a family heirloom, has been stolen. Everyone is looking to Nancy to help solve these mysteries!

I really enjoyed reading this book. Even though the mysteries included were not hugely suspenseful, the characters and events were exciting enough to make me want to continue reading to discover what the end result would be!

Reviewed by: Allison

Hot Hands by Mike Lupica

42-42 tied magic’s have ball Lenny passes it to Billy, Billy is WIDE open like nobody near him he was about to shoot but Liam is coming to try and stop it he was scared so he quickly passed it to Lenny wanted Billy to shoot so Billy went back to the hoop and Lenny passed it back to Billy, Billy tries to make the layup. Everybody was scared. Hot Hands by Mike Lupica. The story takes place everywhere at the YMCA, Billy’s house, Lenny’s house and etc. The problem is that Billy wants to take his team all the way to the championship and win it and make his parents come back together but him and his dad need to sort that out.

I did this book review on Hot Hands because I love sports and when I saw this book I knew I wanted to read it. It is a really good book because it is about basketball and he is trying to get his parents back together. Billy’s dad is the coach for his team and when he fights with his dad he misses basketball games. He and his best friend Lenny are the two best players on Billy’s team. He has a brother Ben who loves to play piano and Billy really loves his brother but Ben changes in the story he starts skipping recitals and Billy finds out he wants to help. To find out more about this story read Hot Hands by Mike Lupica

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Review of To Kill a Mockingbird
By: Sam

The plot in To Kill a Mockingbird, revolves around a court case. The main characters are Scout, Jem and their father Atticus. Atticus is a lawyer and he is defending Tom Robinson who is charged with the beating of Bob Ewell’s daughter, Mayella. Tom is an African American man who worked for Mayella. Atticus believes him to be innocent but most of the evidence is against Tom.

Scout is a girl around 10 years of age. She is a tom boy. Her best friend is a boy named Dill. Dill is around 10 and lives in Canada. They met when he ran away one year and after that Dill would come and spend every summer with them. Scout’s brother, Jem is around 12 years old, is in seventh grade and plays football. Tom’s trial occurred during the summer and Scout, Dill and Jem went to the courtroom everyday to watch the trial. They too thought Tom was innocent.

I think To Kill a Mockingbird was a great book because it was a challenge for me and I like challenges. The story was very interesting. Another fact that was interesting to me was that Atticus was in the State Legislature.

My Sister the Vampire No. 1 Switched by Sienna Mercer

My Sister The Vampire No. 1 Switched is a fantasy by Sienna Mercer. Imagine you are an only child and all of a sudden you find out you have an identical twin sister. My Sister The Vampire No. 1 Switched is about two girls, Olivia Abbott is a perky cheerleader who absolutely loves PINK! Olivia soon learns after her first day of eighth grade at her new school Franklin Grove Middle School that she has an identical twin sister that she was separated at birth from named Ivy Vega. Ivy is no ordinary goth girl she is actually a vampire! Ivy’s favorite colors of course are BLACK, DARK PURPLE, NAVY BLUE, GRAY, AND BURGANDY RED. Since Olivia is a new student she has lots to learn. She has to learn that the cheerleaders are not as nice as she thinks, but worst of all she has to put up with a group of bad vampires named the Beasts!

I would give this book five stars because it is packed full of action, mysteries, romance and teen drama. If you think you would love this book I have news for you, there are three more books in this series. Over all this is really great book.

Reviewed by Jennifer

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

Maximum Ride: The Angel experiment
by James Patterson
Review by Olivia

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to have wings. And fly like a bird. Well think again. Max and her "family" Nudge, Iggy, Gasman, Fang and Angle. They were all experimented on as infants and are now 2% bird so they have wings. When suddenly Max and her family need to leave there home and are on the run from the "white coats" who want them to do more experiments and tests on them. suddenly they watch as Angel is ripped out of their hands and harts taken away to who knows where or worse school now that angle is gone. Max's baby Angel is gone and who knows what horrible things could be happening to her.
Max is the leader of the group. she is willing to take on the responsibility fore five kids at the age of 14. Max always looks on the brighter side of the problem. She is always on the run and trying to fight for her life. I give this book five stars because it is action packed with secrets plots and always keeps you on your toes. All I know is that I would never want to go to the school. Read the book be where of the warning you never know one day a couple of white coats might be knocking at your door.


Other books in the Maximum Ride series
The Angel experiment
School is out forever
Saving the world and other extreme sports
The final warning
Max

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko is a Historical Fiction book. In Al Capone Does My Shirts the problem is that Moose Flanagan has to move to Alcatraz because his sister Natalie has a disability. The main character in Al Capone Does My Shirts is Moose Flanagan. I think he is a nice brother. I think that because he always helps his sister Natalie. Natalie has to go to a special school. Also I think he's nice because when his mom and dad are at work he watches Natalie and takes her wherever he goes. Also I think he is responsible. I think that because when the warden's daughter Piper was trying to sell clothes washed by cons from Alcatraz at school, Piper asked Moose if he would help and Moose said no. So I think that was responsible of him to say no. I think this book is very good. I think that because it is very exciting and you never know what is going to happen next. Also I liked that this book is about Alcatraz because Alcatraz is very interesting. Also I liked it because it was about cons. I think cons and prisoners are cool and fun to read about. Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko is a really good book. You should read it to find out more.
Reviewed by Nick