Category archives for Previous Bloggers
Posted by BOOK NAME: A Strong Right Arm: The Story of Mamie “Peanut” Johnson
AUTHOR: Michelle Y. Green
This is a biography about an African-American girl who wants to play baseball. Her name was Mamie “Peanut” Johnson. Mamie loved baseball so much that people think that she was born with one in her hand! She wanted to play in the higher leagues but they wouldn’t let her because she was African-American. They would yell at her if she tried to go in any training facilities because they are for Whites only. So Mamie tried out for the Negro League and made the team. She played hard with a winning record of 33-8 and a batting average of .284. Mamie is still alive and lives in the Washington D.C. area.
I read this book for a biography book report. I chose her because I was a softball pitcher so I thought that I would like to read a book related to that. Mamie is an awesome baseball player I found out. She even struck Babe Ruth out! I don’t read biographies often so it was cool to learn about someone I hadn’t ever heard of.
If you were to write a biography about yourself than what would you title it? EXAMPLE: Jordan; the Blog-Writer. Leave a comment with your answer.
Posted by BOOK NAME: Shepherd’s Quest: The Broken Key #1
AUTHOR: Brian Pratt
Chad Kelon and Riyan Borenson dreamed of nothing but adventures. They continuously tell each other stories of themselves rescuing fair ladies and defeating monstrous creatures. Then there was Bartholomew Agreani who is known as Bart. He is one of Riyan’s new friends and is handy with all sorts of tools used by thieves.
Accidentally, Riyan stumbles upon a cave which contained a few copper coins worth a lot of money. Unsure of what other treasures might remain deep in the cave Riyan informs Chad and Bart of his discovery leading to an adventure beyond their imaginations and their made-up stories. Along the way, the boys meet Kevik, a magic user. They have courage and bravery while they suffer the loss of many things, but they also benefit in the discoveries that they find.
When I read the summary on the back of the book and saw the cover I wanted to read this book. It seemed mysterious and maybe kind of scary. I read it to discover that it wasn’t scary at all. I think the vocabulary in this book is geared more for readers 10 and up. Shepherd’s Quest: The Broken Key # 1 is the first of three books. I found this book intriguing so I am going to read the other two in the series.
Posted by BOOK NAME: The Hunger Games
AUTHOR: Suzanne Collins
16-year old Katniss Everdeen lives in the country of Panem, which represents the last remnants of North American civilization as we know it. Each year, the capital hosts the Hunger Games, an event that makes the people of Panem realize that they are under the supreme power of the capital. During the Hunger Games, a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18 are taken from each district to participate. The Games are a fight to the death in a giant arena, and the last person, or tribute, alive wins. When Katniss’s little sister Prim gets picked at random to be the female tribute for District 12, Katniss volunteers to take her place. The rest of the story follows her journey in the Games.
You’ll have to read more to find out what happens as Katniss journeys to the Capital and enters the games. Katniss really inspired me with her bravery and love for her family. She stood up for what she believed in and made sure she was doing the right thing. I think that a lot of themes from the book translate really well into everyday life, and one thing I liked about this book is that you get to see everything from Katniss’s point of view. I also love books that I can’t put down, and The Hunger Games is that kind of book-I was even reading it during class sometimes! It’s an enthralling storyline that makes me need to keep reading, and seeing it from Katniss’s perspective made me feel like it was me going through all of the terrible ordeals. This is a book that takes a more mature mindset, so I would definitely recommend it for middle-school aged kids.
Posted by Reed recently had a chance to interview one of his favorite authors–Gary Paulsen! Gary Paulsen has written more than 175 books, three of which were Newberry Honor winners: Hatchet, Dogsong, and The Winter Room. Read Gary’s answers to Reed’s questions.
REED: Hi Mr. Paulsen, I’m Reed and I work for the National Geographic Kids DogEared Blog. I’ve done reviews on two of your books: the new one Woods Runner, and Hatchet. Is it OK if I ask you some questions?
GARY: You bet!
REED: What were you like as a kid?
GARY: I’m going to try and be as honest as I can be. I was a really poor student and I had a rough childhood. I barely made it through high school. I was a poor reader until a public librarian turned me on to reading. That saved my life.
REED: Who was your favorite author when you were a kid?
GARY: I had a bunch, but ultimately Herman Melville, who wrote Moby Dick. It was an adventure story. It changes each time you read it. I’ve read it 12 times, maybe.
Read the whole post »
BOOK NAME: Woods Runner
AUTHOR: Gary Paulsen
This book is a good historical fiction because it has a lot of Revolutionary War facts and a lot of action combined into one book. After every chapter, Gary Paulsen picked one important fact about the Revolutionary War and it would usually be a fact on the chapter you just read. Gary Paulsen actually used all of the guns in the book to get the feeling of them for the story.
The book is about a 13-year-old boy named Samuel who loves hunting and lives in a cabin with his Mom and Dad. He was out hunting one day because he feels so calm and relaxed in the woods. But before he went out, one of his neighbors told him there was a war in Massachusetts. He turned back because he heard something behind him and he saw smoke. He thought of the British Army, and he sprinted back…
I’m not going to tell you the rest because I want you to get the book and read it, but it’s about adventure and survival.
I’ve written a review on another Gary Paulsen book: Hatchet. Woods Runner is Paulsen’s newest book. It was published in 2010. It’s different than Hatchet because it’s historical fiction and Hatchet doesn’t really have any history. In Woods Runner there are more characters than Hatchet where there’s really on Brian, the main character. Gary Paulsen also read diaries from kids in the Revolutionary War so that he could get actually know how people like Samuel actually felt and acted.
BOOK NAME: So B. It
AUTHOR: Sarah Weeks
Heidi’s Mom is not normal. She’s been diagnosed with Down syndrome and can’t talk right. Heidi doesn’t know anything about her mother’s past. They live with a friend named Bernadette who took care of them after Heidi’s mom was caught wandering outside with a baby. Heidi has been living with Bernadette for years now. Bernadette, on the other hand, is afraid to go outside ever since her father died so both Heidi and her mom has to go get the groceries and other chores.
One day Bernadette finds an old camera in the closet with peculiar pictures in it. One of them had her mom at some Christmas event next to a sign that read: Hillside Home. Heidi decided to take a bus all the way to Liberty, New York alone to try to find out the history of her family. The trip takes her about three days to arrive in New York, when she discovers the secret about her family.
I enjoyed reading this book because l liked the story line to it. It did get a little boring at parts though. I took a long time to get started since the first six chapters were from the past rather than present. My favorite part of the book was when Heidi found out that the manager of the Hillside Home was her grandfather and one of the mentally disordered men was her dad. My least favorite part of the book was at the end. I would like to read another one of her books because I like her creativity and the way that she writes.
BOOK NAME: Blessed Child
AUTHORS: Ted Dekker and Bill Bright
For 10 years Caleb was raised in a monastery by Father Matthew. When his life was threatened, relief expert Jason Marker and French Canadian nurse Leiah risked everything for the precious life of this young boy. After being taken away from his easy, calm life in a monastery, Caleb’s relationship with Jason and Leiah gets stronger, but at the same time his faith is slowly fading. Caleb cures many people, but can he cure himself and make things right with God? Will God forgive his sins and renew his faith?
The attention towards Caleb isn’t the only reason some people despise him. Caleb happens to know something about a man running for president that nobody else knows about. He has no desire to tell anyone about this valuable information, but if he did this man’s popularity would be corrupted. Caleb doesn’t know what is in store for him and he doesn’t have much time to figure it out!
The amount of faith Caleb has amazes me! In my mind, Caleb is just a small, innocent boy, but when he felt a certain way, I felt it too. The author did a glorious job getting me into the book. Honestly, I attempted to read this book once before, but just wasn’t ready to read it! Then I started again and was interested in it. It doesn’t matter if you’re a guy or a girl… this book is enjoyable! I really hope that y’all read it and that it “grabs” you like it did to me!
BOOK NAME: Hatchet
AUTHOR: Gary Paulsen
Brian Robeson, a 13 year old boy, is flying to visit his divorced Dad who lives in Canada. The pilot has a sharp pain in his chest and he has a heart attack. After the pilot’s heart attack, Brian ends up flying the plane for about two minutes. After finding that the radio is broken, he crashes the plane into a lake.
This story is about Brian and how he survives in the wilderness for 42 days with nothing except a hatchet and a ripped up windbreaker. At first, he had pains all over his body, so he just slept on the sand. The next day, the pain was getting better, so decided to build a lean-to shelter. That’s just the beginning of all the excitement.
He ends up fishing, hunting and picking berries for food. And there’s also dangerous times like a tornado, and standing about six feet from a black bear.
Gary Paulsen is a three-time Newberry Honor author and he’s very good. He also has a good book called Guts which is all about his real life. It is very exciting and the reason why I wanted to read Hatchet.
That’s all for now. I hope you read this book. Until next time – bye!
BOOK NAME: Tom Sawyer
AUTHOR: Mark Twain
Adapted Tim Mugg, Writer and Rad Sechrist, Artist
This is a graphic novel of the famous story Tom Sawyer. It’s about a boy named Tom Sawyer and his best friend Huckleberry Finn, who’s an orphan.
They have these crazy adventures. Once Huck found a dead cat and he said that if you put it on a just-buried persons’ grave, the devil will come and take the cat. And as a reward, the devil will take a wart away – no matter how big it is. So they put the dead cat on a grave and Tom thinks he sees the devil. But really it was grave robbers. Tom and Huck go hide behind a tree and the grave robbers end up getting into a fight and one gets killed. Tom is an eye witness and has to go to court because he saw what really happened. He frees the guy who didn’t kill him, and says who it really was – Injun Joe. Joe jumps out the window and runs away.
The rest of the book is other cool adventures like once they went to an island and they forgot to tie their raft up. They were stuck there for a day! But don’t worry…he meets Injun Joe again.
This is just one classic book that’s a graphic novel. There are others in the series like Dracula.
I’m reading The Magician’s Elephant next. It’s by Kate Dicamillo who also wrote Tales of Despereaux which I reviewed. See ya next time.
BOOK NAME: Travels with Tarra
AUTHOR: Carol Buckley
Tarra the elephant was sent from Africa to California to a man named Bob who wanted attention for his tire store. Then a college girl, the author Carol Buckley, ends up buying Tarra and teaches her all sorts of tricks, but she’s most famous for her roller skating. Tarra’s roller skates are specially made to fit her feet – they’re huge! For about twenty years, Carol and Tarra appeared at circuses, theme parks, and zoos.
This is a picture book that is for older kids. It’s very interesting because Tarra has a very cool life. She meets Carol’s dog Tasha, and they become friends. There’s a picture of Tarra holding up the dog with her trunk!
Tarra ends up living in a bunch of zoos but finally settles down in Buckley’s elephant sanctuary. A lot of other elephants live in the sanctuary with Tarra. The sanctuary is in Tennessee, is 800 acres big, but you may not go visit the elephants there.
Buckley created the sanctuary so that Tarra could settle down and not have to move to different places.
I really like this book. Until next time – seeya!
BOOK NAME: Scat
AUTHOR: Carl Hiaason
This story is about Nick and Marta who go to school in Florida. Their teacher Mrs. Starch is a mean and weird teacher who you don’t want to mess around with. After the disappearance of Mrs. Starch on their field trip to Black Vine Swamp things start to get spooky. First this kid named Smoke has a bad reputation with Mrs. Starch so they think he has something to do with her disappearance. Second, Nick and Marta go take a look around her house and another intruder drags them to his car and brings them back home. And lastly, a panther has been spotted at Black Vine Swamp.
This is one of the many books written by Carl Hiaason. He seems to like writing stories in Florida. I liked the book but half the time I was reading I was scared and had to turn on my closet lights or go under my covers. You will enjoy reading this because it has a lot of surprises. The point of view keeps on changing so you will have to keep up.
This book’s genres are mystery and fiction. If you like this book then you can read some of his others like Hoot (which is also a movie), and Flushed.
Keep on reading!
BOOK NAME: Escape from the Carnivale: A Never Land Book
AUTHOR: Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Hi, it’s Reed again. For my next book, I thought this was a really good adventure book. I hope you like my blog.
This book takes place in Never Land – an imaginary place that has mermaids and other mythological creatures. I’m pretty sure that all of you have seen Peter Pan or at least heard of it. This is the same Never Land from Peter Pan.
It all started off when this little girl, named Scallop, went down to play with the mermaids. The mermaids wanted to play “Deep Pearl Diving”. While they were playing one of the mermaids got lost. They didn’t notice until they got back to the shore. Scallop thought it was all her fault, but the other mermaids and her dad said it was not her fault.
Scallop is a princess of beautiful Mollusk Island. A pirate ship called the Carnivale is going to attack the island because they want the land to make a show with all the beasts that they’ve captured from Never Land – including mermaids.
The lost Mermaid, Surf, was caught by those pirates who were looking for weird beasts. The Captain of this ship is Captain Hook.
You’ll have to read the rest to know more about this fantastic story.
Thank you for reading my blog. Have a nice day!
BOOK NAME: The Book of One Hundred Truths
AUTHOR: Julie Schumacher
Thea spends six weeks every year at her Grandma’s beach house, but this year is different. She spends most of the time there either babysitting her nosy 7-year-old cousin, or writing in the Book of Truths that her mom gave to her. The thing about Theadora Grumman is that she is a liar. Because she’s such a liar, Thea’s mom is making her write a book with 100 true things, like the story that when she was at Three-Mile Creek and her friend almost fell through the ice and died, and the truth that she doesn’t even have very many friends.
Thea’s cousin is always trying to find out what Thea’s writing in her book. She is bugging Thea like crazy, but what is also bugging her is that something is going on with her aunts. They’re acting very secretive and suspicious and they won’t tell anyone what they are up to so it’s up to Thea to find out why.
This was definitely a book I would read over again! I like how the author really made it a fictional mystery and exciting all at the same time. I could never put it down! really hope that the author has other books of hers that I can read. I hope you find it somewhere because you don’t want to miss out on a great read.
BOOK NAME: Swindle
AUTHOR: Gordon Korman
Hi, it’s Reed again. I’m going to tell you about a book called Swindle.
It started when Griffin and Ben had a sleepover at the old house. Griffin found a Babe Ruth card (by the way, Babe Ruth is one of the all-time best baseball players ever!). The card was worth millions of dollars, but he didn’t know that. He knew the card would be worth some money, but didn’t realize how much! It would help his family be able to keep their house.
He goes to a card store and a cashier tells him that it’s worth $120.00. Griffin says “fine.” Griffin never knew that the cashier cheated him.
You have to read the rest to find out if he gets the card back or if he gets millions of dollars or if he doesn’t. I’ll give you a hint: there’s a lot of police, a robbery, and a dog chase.
This book is for 8 and 9 year olds. I hope you read the book because it has a lot of twists and turns. I read it so fast that my brain was full of facts. It’s a good action book. If want this book you can go to Barnes and Noble. I hope you read it!
Posted by BOOK NAME: The Mysterious Benedict Society
AUTHOR: Trenton Lee Stewart
In this book, four kids about 12 years old and one extremely smart 2 -year-old go on an amazing adventure. But what they all don’t know is they all came from the same types of family which makes them come together even more. After taking maybe the most life-changing test EVER, they meet the writer of it all, Mr. Benedict.
Mr. Benedict sends Kate Weatherall, Reynie Muldoon, Sticky (George) Washington, and Constance Contraire to his twin brother’s school for the gifted where they stop future drama and meet new friends on the way. While their summer isn’t going quite how they planned,
Kate and her dad Milligan save their friends Reynie and Sticky from the whisperer while Constance uses her well-known way of rejecting things to try and shut down the whisperer. I was up reading for hours every night hope you enjoy this book as much as I did
BOOK NAME: Eleven
AUTHOR: Lauren Myracle
Winnie is turning eleven and realizes that things are changing in the world and in herself. First of all, her best friend Amanda is dumping Winnie for another girl who is just a snob. Then, her older sister is moody all the time. Next a dork in the class wants to hang out all the time with Winnie and that does not help Winnie’s coolness factor. Lastly all of the girls in her class have a boyfriend except for her. Winnie will find a way to make things better but that might mean giving up something.
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My friends had been telling me that it was such a good read and I needed to buy it. It has many sequels which I will surely get and blog on. It is very interesting because there’s love, competition, friendship and fighting. It’s neat because the story is told in each month of the year so that means that there are twelve chapters. It never EVER got boring and it was a learning adventure.
I would definitely not miss reading this book especially if your are a girl who likes some fun fiction. Post a comment if you have ever been dumped by a friend like Winnie.
BOOK NAME: A Wrinkle in Time
AUTHOR: Madeleine L’Engle
Meg, an unattractive, unintelligent, and an unpopular girl lives with her super brainiac brother, Charles Wallace, her twin brothers and her mom. Meg’s dad disappeared a few years ago so life has been hard for their family. Meg wants to find her dad but doesn’t think that there will be much chance left.
One stormy night, a strange lady knocks on her door and she tells them her name is Mrs. Whatsit. She says that she can help them find their dad. Meg eventually meets these three witches who say that they can help Meg find her dad. They take Meg, her friend and her brother on an adventure. They get taken to a planet called Camazotz where Meg’s dad is being held captive. One problem is that IT hypnotizes Charles Wallace while trying to save their dad so Meg has to save her brother AND her dad before IT has already taken over the world. They get help from octopus-like friends from another planet. Meg finally believes in herself and stands up to IT. She defeats IT, save Charles Wallace and her dad and goes back home to her family.
This book is one of the most confusing books that I have read for the blog! This book was a one that I had to read for a Parent-Choice book project at my school. I struggled reading it at parts because it kept on carrying on about every little thing. This is definitely a book for good readers who are up for a hard challenge and who like Fantasies and Mysteries!
Have you ever read a book that you thought was confusing and you almost gave up on it? Which book was it?
BOOK NAME: The Wizard of Oz
AUTHOR: L. Frank Baum
The Wizard of Oz is about a little girl who lives in the grasslands of Kansas. She lives with her aunt and uncle. One day a cyclone comes and twists her house up in the air. Dorothy lands in the middle of a world that is unknown to her. In the land she meets the Good witch of oz who tells her how to get back. Dorothy is told the she needs to go find the Wizard of Oz. On her journey she encounters many friends and enemies.
I LOVED this book!!! When I first got it I thought that it would be boring but it is the exact opposite. There are so many adventures all in one story so you’ll never get bored. The book is MUCH better than the movie because the movie takes out most of the fun things. A few things that aren’t in the movie are the scene in which the characters visit a dainty China Town where everybody there is made from china! HOW COOL IS THAT!!! You have to read this book.
This book is for readers who like fantasy and adventure (or scarecrows!). Don’t miss out on the movie once you are done with reading book. Which do you like to do first, read the book or watch the movie?
BOOK NAME: Feathers
AUTHOR: Jaqueline Woodson
“Hope is the thing with feathers” was Frannie’s favorite poem. Frannie is a twelve-year-old girl who lives during the time of segregation. She was born in an African-American family and has a brother who is deaf. At school she is bullied by two boys named RayRay and Trevor, and there’s some new kid from the white side of town moves into the town and now goes to their school. To make matters worse Frannie’s mom has been acting a little weird when she finds out that she’s pregnant. The story is all about how Frannie struggles through tough times in and out of her private life.
I would give this book 3 out of 5. It was pretty hard understanding at parts but by the end it got easier. It’s kind of an interesting topic in a sort of way that it’s not the usual thing that you see sometimes in books. It is definitely not the kind of book that has action in every chapter, but it’s more about what’s going on around the characters. I was glad to see that it was a short read just because I needed to take a break from those heavier books.
Post in the comments if you have ever felt strange at a new school or felt left out and can relate to Frannie.
Posted by BOOK NAME: Fudge-a-mania
AUTHOR: Judy Blume
This book is about two families that live in New York City, the Hatchers and Tubmans. The parents from each family like each other but the kids from each family do NOT like each other. The parents of the families decide to go to Maine for the summer. The kids think they are going live in houses next door to each other, like neighbors. This would be bad enough, but they actually have to live in the SAME house for the summer.
The main person in the story is Peter. He is the oldest kid in the Hatcher family and Fudge (not his real name) is the youngest. Sheila is the youngest kid in the Tubman family. Sheila and Peter are enemies. This makes for a lot of trouble during summer vacation. What makes it even harder is that Peter and Sheila are both given the job of taking care of Fudge during the summer and Fudge is a lot of work!
But it goes from bad to worse when Grandpa Tubman (Sheila’s grandpa) and Grandma Hatcher (Peter and Fudge’s grandma) decide to get married. This means Peter and Sheila, although they are sworn enemies, are now related and in the same family. But they made a promise that even though they are related, they will always hate each other!
I really liked this book. I tried to read it all at one time, but my parents told me I had stop reading and turn off my light since it was a school night!
BOOK NAME: Superfudge
AUTHOR: Judy Blume
Superfudge
is a fun book about a regular a boy named Peter and his brother named
Fudge. Fudge is going into kindergarten but he’s a little out of
control. Peter absolutely wants to have nothing to do with Fudge but
when he finds out that their mom is going to have another baby things
only get worse. On top of that, they are planning on moving for a year
out of the city. Peter tries to handle moving, two crazy siblings and
staying cool all at the same time, but things tend to get a little
hectic!
I LOVED reading Superfudge! It was so much
fun to read all the wacky things that Fudge ends up doing. I am
definitely planning on reading the sequels to it. It was an easy read
so I could take a break from all of the other much harder books I have
for school. The book reminds me of my own life in a way that I am in
6th grade and Peter is too. My youngest brother Brady is SO the Fudge
of the family. He and Fudge are like wild childs. We really do have a
lot in common with them.
I rate this a FIVE out of FIVE! It
is a great read for people who like humorous fictional types of books
or Judy Blume’s others in the series. If you have a ‘Wild Child’ in
the family, tell me about it.
BOOK NAME: Ramona Forever
AUTHOR: Beverly Cleary
This is one of the books of the Ramona series. These books follow a girl named Ramona Quimby. She is a third grader who gets into trouble a lot. Not serious trouble, but the fun kind of trouble
This is a story about big changes for Ramona, her family and the Kemps, their neighbors. Ramona’s mom is going to have a baby, she no longer has to go to the babysitter after school and there is going to be a wedding, only no one knows it yet.
Ramona’s mom is going to have another baby and is feeling really tired and needs a little extra help. Her sister, Ramona’s Aunt Bea, is coming to help out. At around the same bout the same time, a new visitor comes to the Ramona’s neighbor’s house. It is their Uncle Hobart. Howie, Ramona’s neighbor, had told her that her Uncle Hobart had a lot of money. But when he drives up in a muddy van, wearing old jeans and a faded T-shirt, Ramona was surprised because she thought Uncle Hobart would arrive in a limousine and be dressed in nice clothes. Anyway, a very strange thing happens. Aunt Bea and Uncle Hobart actually know each other. While they are both living in the same neighborhood, they decide to get married.
On the wedding day, the ring that Aunt Bea is giving Hobart gets lost. Everybody goes crazy looking for it because the wedding can’t go on without it. It’s a lot of fun to follow Ramona as she looks for it. This was the best Ramona book because it has a lot of action and excitement.
BOOK NAME: The Tales of Beedle the Bard
AUTHOR: J.K. Rowling
The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a fairy tale book only it takes place in the wizarding world of Harry Potter. The characters always learn from their journey and leave you with a moral. At the end of each story, Albus Dumbledore tells you the meaning of the story. He explains why certain stuff is there and he gives you his review of the story. In my opinion it does get a little boring at that part but it’s always worth it in the end.
There are five stories in the whole book. Here is a look at three of my favorites. In the story called The Fountain of Fair Fortune there were three witches that were seeking the fountain of glory and they each needed it for different reasons.
In the story Babbitty Rabbitty and her Crackling Stump a foolish king wanted power all by himself. He gets magic lessons from a fake sorcerer then he decides to have a magic show in front of his people.
In the last story The Tale of Three Brothers, which was my favorite, three brothers each wish for three objects: an invisibility cloak, a rock to bring back the dead and a wand of more power than anything imaginable.
I will have to rate this four out of five. This book is good for people who like the whole Harry Potter series and fantasy stories like those. Write back and give me a story topic that you think J.K Rowling should use if she were to make more of these types of stories.
BOOK NAME: Sideways Stories from Wayside School
AUTHOR: Louis Sachar
Seriously!
This book is hilarious. It’s all about the kids in Ms. Jewel’s class at
Wayside School. The reason it’s called “wayside” school is because it
was built sideways. The school was supposed to be 1 story tall with 30
classrooms. But the builder made a mistake and built the school 30
stories high with each story only containing a single classroom. There
are a lot of crazy things that go on at Wayside.
Ms. Jewel’s
classroom is on the 30th floor of Wayside. At the beginning of the
year, Ms. Jewel has a substitute teacher named Ms. Gorf. She is mean
and can turn kids into apples. I know it sounds weird, but it’s true.
If you do anything wrong or give an incorrect answer, Ms. Gorf wiggles
her ears, sticks out her tongue and then…poof!…you are turned into
an apple. Pretty soon, all the students had been turned into applies
by Ms. Gorf. All of the “apples” demand to be turned back into kids
and they plan an “apple attack” on Ms. Gorf until she gives and turns
them back into kids again! After that, Ms. Gorf leaves the school and
never comes back and Ms. Jewel comes back to teach her class.
This
is only one of the stories from the book. There are 29 more chapters in
the book that talk about each kid in Ms. Jewel’s class. Once they get
passed Ms. Gorf and her apple turning magic meanness, Ms. Jewel’s class
has a pretty crazy rest of the year. There are 3 books about the
Wayside School. I liked them because they were all funny and
silly…and made me want to read the others.
BOOK NAME: Millicent Min, Girl Genius
AUTHOR: Lisa Yee
Millicent Min, Girl Genius
is one of my favorite books that I have ever read. The story is about a
girl named Millicent Min who is a super smart 11 year-old. She is so
intelligent that she skipped grades all the way up to her senior year
in high school. Millicent doesn’t have very many friends until a new
girl comes into town; her name is Emily Ebers. Emily and Millicent meet
when both of them have been forced into volleyball by their moms. They
aren’t very good so they decide to hang out.
Millicent ends up tutoring basketball star, Stanford Wong who
is not very smart with a report card full of “F”‘s. Millicent doesn’t
want Emily, her only friend, to think that she is geeky-smart, and
Stanford, who has a major crush on Emily, doesn’t want her to think
that he is dumb. So they agree not to tell Emily, but she finds out
anyway. Millicent and Stanford think fast by saying that Stanford is
tutoring Millicent instead! Will both Stanford and Millicent be able to
face Emily with the truth, or will Emily find out the truth first?
I loved reading this book. What I liked about it was that the story
moved fast – it wasn’t boring! The cool part of the book is that its’
sequels are from Emily and Stanford’s point of view at the same exact
time period. I read the So Totally Emily Eber‘s book a while ago and am planning to read Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time very soon.
I suggest this to all you readers who like books that are almost like
a real teenage life. It’s also more of an older kid’s book. PLEASE read
this book and I promise you that you will like it. Then put a comment
of something that has happened in your life that is kind of similar to
something that happened in the books.
