Below is the list of book reviews for the summer. Keep them coming!
Woodsong
I read the book Woodsong by Gary Paulsen, This book was bout this survivor man who likes to dog sled (like in the Iditorod). Through out the book he told about his experiences while you was preparing for the Iditorod. On the end of the book it finished with him completing the Iditorod. Just to finish the Iditorod was a big because it was hard. I like this book because it had a lot of action like what is going to happen next. I would recommend this book to someone who is always on there feet while reading a book.
-MC
Fair Weather
Fair Weather is written by Richard Peck. This book was about a family who lived in the country in Illinois in 1893. They got an invitation to go see their Aunt Euterpe who lived in Chicago and they got to go to the World's Columbian Exposition. So, Rosie, her sister Lottie, their brother Buster, and their granddad set out for Chicago. They are amazed by all the people, all the electric lights, how big the Columbian Exposition is, etc. They have so much fun and they help there widowed/depressed aunt to stop wearing black and she starts to get some friends. The book explained well about how it was to live back then. I really enjoyed my next book The Red Pyramid and will write about it sometime soon.
-IP
Hoot
Hoot was written by Carl Hiaasen. This book was about a small group of kids trying to save some burrowing owls that are 8 to 9 inches small and live on a construction site. The kids kept doing things to slow down the building of "Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House". The leader did most of the stuff, like puting crocodiles in the porta-potties, pulling up the survey stakes, puting snakes on the site to scare away watch dogs, etc. In the end they found out that Mother Paula's didn't have the right papers to build on the site because the owls were protected animals. I think that the book was a good book because it showed that when people set there mind to somthing that is right they can do it.
-IP
Wrinkle in Time
I read the book Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. This book was about a regular family living in the forest. One day a creature appeared during a thunderstorm. The creature was helped the family find their father who had disappeared while working for the government. The book finished with them finding their father. I would recommend this book to someone who likes adventure. I personally did not like this book because there was not enough action so I got bored.
-MC
The House of the Scorpions
I have just finished reading The House of the Scorpians by Nancy Farmer. It is about the struggles Matt has to endure because he is a clone. Matt is looked down upon by everyone in the ranch, but nobody dares to insult him because of El Patron, the dangerous old man who Matt was cloned from. Matt generally enjoys his life on the ranch but when the time comes when his heart is needed as an implant to save El Patron's life, he decides to run away to Saint Louis. He runs into many problems along the way such as the awful working conditions at the krill farm, Carlos the corrupt communist krill farm supervisor and the feared border control. He prevails by using his charisma, quick thinking and his longing for freedom to get him through. I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 because of a gripping storyline, great characters and descriptive writing that makes you unable to put this book down.
-AV
The Sky is Falling
The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson is about two children who live in England during WWII. When their town starts being bombed, their parents decide to send them away to Canada as "war guests." When they arrive, they are put with a wealthy family called the Ogilvies.
The older girl, 10, is called Norah. Her younger brother, 5, is Gavin. Norah is resentful towards her parents about sending them away, while Gavin is too young to really understand what's going on.
Mrs. Ogilvie, their new "grandmother," takes an immediate liking to Gavin. Norah, of course, resents that. She was already grumpy and mad at everyone because she was sent away, so it just adds on the her anger and depression.
Later on in the book, she attempts to run away, taking Gavin with her. She doesn't get far before realizing how much she needs her new family. On returnal, she has a much better attitude towards her family, as Mrs. Ogilvie does towards her. She quickly learns to accept them and her new country.
-PC
The House of the Scorpion
The House of the Scorpion was written by Nancy Farmer. Its about Matteo Alacran, who is the clone of El Patron. El Patron is a powerful drug lord of a small country, Opium. Matt is a normal boy in every other aspect, except most look down on him because they don't think he's a normal human. Matt has few friends--El Patron himself, Celia (his caretaker) Maria (a girl his age) and Tam Lin (his bodygurard).
When Matt discovers he is to be used as a donor for El Patron's sickly heart, he flees Opium, causing El Patron to die. However, Opium isn't the only dangerous place for Matt. He arrives in Atzlan, where Maria lives. However, he is immediately put to work in an orphanage, despite his wish to go to San Luis, the city where he hopes to find Maria. Eventually he escapes the orphanange. He finds Maria and ends up living happily with her and his three new friends from the orphanage, away from the dangers of Opium and the power-hungry Alacran family.
-PC
Bad Boy
Bad Boy is a memoir written by Walter Dean Myers. It tells the story of Myers' childhood life in Harlem leading up to his teenage years and adulthood.
Myers was born in 1937. He lived a mostly blissful childhood in Harlem. He was a mischievous boy, often getting in trouble with his teachers. However, he had a secret love for literature. He was constantly reading, often having to hide books from his peers for fear of being made fun of. As he grows older, he begins to write poetry as well.
When Myers started high school in an advanced placement class, things started going badly. Problems with segregation arose. Myers wanted to fit in with the other boys, but felt he couldn't because of his love for reading and writing. Then, when Myer's uncle died, Myer's father became depressed and dragged Myer's mother down with him. Myers began to skip school more and more often up to the point where he went to school one day only to discover it was out for the summer. That was his senior year, meaning he had run out of chances to graduate and have a better life. Finally, after a long period of barely surviving on low-paying jobs, Myers realizes it was not the life he wanted to have. He turned back to literature for comfort. After making a sufficient amount of money writing for men's magazines, Myers entered a writing contest in 1968. He won and his first book was published. He has been writing ever since.
-PC
The Battle of Jericho
This week I read The Battle of Jericho by Sharon M. Draper. It's about a high school boy named Jericho and the struggles he has to go through to get accepted into the Warriors of Distinction. The Warriors of Distinction is a very exclusive high school club who are known to wear the best clothes, throw the best parties and to contribute to society. But the club initiation ceremony is a long, hard, treacherous week full of unbelievably disgusting rituals such as dunking your head into toilets and getting dragged around on leashes. All of that though is nothing compared to the last pledge ceremony in which they are forced to jump out of a second story window. Everything goes horribly wrong when Jerichos' cousin, Josh lands on his head and dies. I would rate this book a four out of five because of great characters and a compelling story-line. I would recommend this book to sixth graders because simple word choice but older ideas.
The House of the Scorpions
I have just finished reading The House of the Scorpians by Nancy Farmer. It is about the struggles Matt has to endure because he is a clone. Matt is looked down upon by everyone in the ranch, but nobody dares to insult him because of El Patron, the dangerous old man who Matt was cloned from. Matt generally enjoys his life on the ranch but when the time comes when his heart is needed as an implant to save El Patron's life, he decides to run away to Saint Louis. He runs into many problems along the way such as the awful working conditions at the krill farm, Carlos the corrupt communist krill farm supervisor and the feared border control. He prevails by using his charisma, quick thinking and his longing for freedom to get him through. I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 because of a gripping storyline, great characters and descriptive writing that makes you unable to put this book down.
-AV
The Sky is Falling
The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson is about two children who live in England during WWII. When their town starts being bombed, their parents decide to send them away to Canada as "war guests." When they arrive, they are put with a wealthy family called the Ogilvies.
The older girl, 10, is called Norah. Her younger brother, 5, is Gavin. Norah is resentful towards her parents about sending them away, while Gavin is too young to really understand what's going on.
Mrs. Ogilvie, their new "grandmother," takes an immediate liking to Gavin. Norah, of course, resents that. She was already grumpy and mad at everyone because she was sent away, so it just adds on the her anger and depression.
Later on in the book, she attempts to run away, taking Gavin with her. She doesn't get far before realizing how much she needs her new family. On returnal, she has a much better attitude towards her family, as Mrs. Ogilvie does towards her. She quickly learns to accept them and her new country.
-PC
The House of the Scorpion
The House of the Scorpion was written by Nancy Farmer. Its about Matteo Alacran, who is the clone of El Patron. El Patron is a powerful drug lord of a small country, Opium. Matt is a normal boy in every other aspect, except most look down on him because they don't think he's a normal human. Matt has few friends--El Patron himself, Celia (his caretaker) Maria (a girl his age) and Tam Lin (his bodygurard).
When Matt discovers he is to be used as a donor for El Patron's sickly heart, he flees Opium, causing El Patron to die. However, Opium isn't the only dangerous place for Matt. He arrives in Atzlan, where Maria lives. However, he is immediately put to work in an orphanage, despite his wish to go to San Luis, the city where he hopes to find Maria. Eventually he escapes the orphanange. He finds Maria and ends up living happily with her and his three new friends from the orphanage, away from the dangers of Opium and the power-hungry Alacran family.
-PC
Bad Boy
Bad Boy is a memoir written by Walter Dean Myers. It tells the story of Myers' childhood life in Harlem leading up to his teenage years and adulthood.
Myers was born in 1937. He lived a mostly blissful childhood in Harlem. He was a mischievous boy, often getting in trouble with his teachers. However, he had a secret love for literature. He was constantly reading, often having to hide books from his peers for fear of being made fun of. As he grows older, he begins to write poetry as well.
When Myers started high school in an advanced placement class, things started going badly. Problems with segregation arose. Myers wanted to fit in with the other boys, but felt he couldn't because of his love for reading and writing. Then, when Myer's uncle died, Myer's father became depressed and dragged Myer's mother down with him. Myers began to skip school more and more often up to the point where he went to school one day only to discover it was out for the summer. That was his senior year, meaning he had run out of chances to graduate and have a better life. Finally, after a long period of barely surviving on low-paying jobs, Myers realizes it was not the life he wanted to have. He turned back to literature for comfort. After making a sufficient amount of money writing for men's magazines, Myers entered a writing contest in 1968. He won and his first book was published. He has been writing ever since.
-PC
The Battle of Jericho
This week I read The Battle of Jericho by Sharon M. Draper. It's about a high school boy named Jericho and the struggles he has to go through to get accepted into the Warriors of Distinction. The Warriors of Distinction is a very exclusive high school club who are known to wear the best clothes, throw the best parties and to contribute to society. But the club initiation ceremony is a long, hard, treacherous week full of unbelievably disgusting rituals such as dunking your head into toilets and getting dragged around on leashes. All of that though is nothing compared to the last pledge ceremony in which they are forced to jump out of a second story window. Everything goes horribly wrong when Jerichos' cousin, Josh lands on his head and dies. I would rate this book a four out of five because of great characters and a compelling story-line. I would recommend this book to sixth graders because simple word choice but older ideas.
-AV 