Posts Tagged ‘JUV’

Season of Secrets: A Review by Emily

Monday, July 25th, 2011

Season of Secrets by Sally Nicholls

4 Stars

In Season of Secrets, Molly Brooke and her older sister, Hannah, live with their grandparents. Their mother has passed away and their father needs time to find a good job and get things straight.

Not far from her grandma’s house, Molly has found a man who was hurt badly by a hunt. She learns that he thrives in summer because he is the god of summer. And the man that hunted him was the Holly King, the supernatural being that thrives in winter. Winter is, in fact, drawing near and Molly’s man is growing weaker by the minute. She visits him often in an old abandoned barn until winter arrives and he disappears.

Meanwhile, Molly and Hannah’s father visits them and Hannah is having a hard time coping with all that has happened lately. She disobeys her grandparents and father a lot. At school, Molly and Hannah meet new friends. In the spring, Molly is invited to Emily’s birthday party. Emily was such a shy girl but she turns out to be a very fun person. Also, spring is when Molly’s man comes back.

It is the man’s turn to hunt and defeat the Holly King so that summer may come. He takes Molly along and they soon are victorious. Summer comes and brings Molly’s birthday. She has her family there (including her dad) along with Emily and another friend from school named Alexander. They play a game of tag. During the game, Molly meets with her man one last time. He is in the woods and she, the god, and all the trees sway and dance. Molly returns to the game.
So, in the end, Molly’s father finds a job and will soon be taking them back to their home with him. The girls are happy to be with their dad, but I think they will also miss their grandparents because they stayed there for so long.

How To Steal A Dog: A Review by Aditya

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

How To Steal A Dog by Barbara O’Connor

4 Stars

I read a book called How To Steal A Dog by Barbara O’Connor. The book is realistic fiction. It is about a girl named Georgina who is very poor and her family is forced to leave their apartment and live in a car. The car is the main setting. One day when the family is looking for money, Georgina sees a lost and found reward poster for a dog. That is when she gets an idea. All she figures out she has to do is steal a dog and wait for a reward poster, the claim that she found the dog. She makes up a plan. She gets her friend/sidekick name Toby and tries to steal a dog. One day when the dog’s owners are not at home, Georgina and Toby find the dog in the backyard fence and the carefully hook it off the leash and get it to a shelter. They keep the dog in the shelter until the owners put up a lost and found reward poster to return the dog. Soon Georgina and Toby are getting very excited when the reward posters come up. They get ready to return the dog. What will happen next though? Read the book to find out.

Jake Drake Class Clown: A Review by Luis

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Jake Drake Class Clown by Andrew Clements
5 Stars

Jake Drake has always been a good boy, but when he got Mrs. Bruce as a teacher his life was changed. It started at the class spelling bee. The rule was say-spell-say but the first person just spells the word which was mouse. She started to spell the word mouse but she only got to say the ‘m’ and the ‘o’ when the teacher stopped her and said she was out. Then it was Jake drake’s friends turn. But he was too scared to say anything so he was out too. Then it was Jake Drake’s turn and he said ‘’mouse m-i-c-k-y mouse’’ and then Mrs. Bruce told him to see her after school but in his mind he secretly said no. That was the first time he had ever made a joke or made the whole class laugh and he was not even trying so he wondered what would happen if he actually tried. So at dinner he asked his dad what hand he uses while eating ice-cream and his dad said he uses his right hand and then Jake Drake said that that was funny because! he always uses a spoon. Then the next day he burped a good long burp and them everyone started laughing and then Mrs. Bruce ran out crying. This book gets 5 stars because it’s a great story. The best part was when Mrs. Bruce ran out crying.

Summer Recommendations by Ali

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

Getting Air by Dan Gutman
4 Stars

Getting Air by Dan Gutman is an adventurous book about skateboarding and surviving. The book starts with a couple of skateboarding kids known as the Woodpushers. they are normal kids trying to make it big in the skateboarding world. When they get to go and watch the X Games it’s an opportunity they will not pass up. While on the plane Jimmy, one of the Woodpushers, is nervous and then hears a scream. Now a murder has occurred on their plane. This story has now turned into a life or death adventure. Henry, David, Jimmy, and Jessie now have to fight hijackers in order to save the plane. Everyone helps to defeat the hijackers and they come out victorious, but it’s too late for the dead pilots. In an attempt to save the passengers Henry steps in to take the place of the pilot. Even though he tries his best, the plane crashes, and Jimmy is knocked out. When he awoke he found his two friends , his sister Jessie, a flight attendant Arcadia, and an old lady named Mrs. Herschel. They lost many people from the crash and now have to work together to survive in the woods. They go through food and water challenges and troubles getting along. This book is a fun and exciting read. I enjoyed Getting Air, and would recommend it, and give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Gimme a call by Sarah Mlynowski
5 Stars

Gimme a call written by Sarah Mlynowski is a great look at a what if story. Devi banks is a senior who thinks her life is falling apart and her life is over. She has broken up with her boyfriend and lost all of her friends when her phone falls into a fountain. After retrieving it, it seems to be broken and only calls her own number. Even though she knows she is calling her own number someone is picking up. After freaking out about this weird exchange, the person picking up also claims to be Devi Banks. She realizes she has been talking to herself a s a freshman. Now that Senior Devi has explained this whole confusing situation to Freshmen Devi she has an idea. She decides to fix her mistakes by guiding herself to do the right things this time around. Even though Senior Devi or Ivy is happy with the changes, Freshman Devi or Frosh is overwhelmed with all the new found work Ivy is heaping upon her. With all the interactions between each other Ivy’s phone is dying. With time running out they must move ti extreme measures and it leads to cheating. this book is a good quick read for children of all ages. I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies
5 Stars

The Lemonade War written by Jacqueline Davies is a sweet book about sibling rivalry. Evan and Jessie are brother and sister and they are going head to head to sell the most lemonade. Anything goes in this fight to be number one. The winner will not only keep all profits, but they will also get the others profits. It’s winner takes all and a big deal, especially Evan who has never been able to keep or manage money. Jessie and Evan have never been ones to fight, but when Evan realizes his sister may be skipping a grade and in his class he is furious. His anger is scaring Jessie because her brother is his only friend. These mixed feelings cause their bet to see who sells the most lemonade will be the winner and get all the money. The war starts out slow, but hey each develop strategies like partners or their location. The money really starts coming in then it gets competitive the resort to sabotage and stealing. This becomes a bigger deal then ever. Neither Evan nor Jessie has had so much money or been committed to something so strongly. This book is a good book for boys and girls and a must read. I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Skeleton Creek: A Review by Alex

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

skeleton-creekSkeleton Creek by Patrick Carman
5 Stars

This book is about two kids, a girl and a boy. They are best friends and they live in a town called Skeleton Creek. Well, the town is haunted is what they say. So the boy’s name is Ryan and the girl’s name is Sarah. They explore a place called the Dredge and this is were they mine for gold and silver. Well, they used to now it is so old that the floor and the steps and also the rails are decaying. So, on night they are exploring and Ryan gets hurt he is out cold. Sarah doesn’t know what to do.

If you want to find out more you will have to read the book Skeleton Creek!