"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read" ~Groucho Marx

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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

The Fall of Reach

Nylund, Eric. The Fall of Reach. New York: Random House Publishing Group, 2001. 340 pages. (Sci-Fi)

Lieutenant Keyes, Lieutenant Keyes what do you see?
I see John playing by me.
John, John what do you see?
I see doctor Halsey playing with me.
Dr. Halsey, Dr. Halsey what do you see?
I see Chief Mendez training Spartans for me.
Chief Mendez, Chief Mendez what do you see?
I see Spartans all around me.
Spartan, Spartan what do you see?
I see John leading for me.
John, John what do you see?
I see Covenant soldiers dying from me.
Covenant, Covenant what do you see?
I see a war between humanity and me.
Humanity, Humanity what do you see?
I see John protecting me.
John, John what do you see?

I would tell anyone who has ever played Halo to read it, mostly because you have to know a little bit about the game to understand parts of it. I would and have read another book by this author. If I was to sum this story up in one word, I would use “Epic” because it is a really awesome book with a climactic ending.

Reviewed by: Pink cheese cake

Eragon

Paolini, Christopher. Eragon. New York: Random House Children’s Books, 2002. 507 pages.

Exciting
Round the world of
Alagaesia adventure between a boy, Eragon, and his dragon, Saphira.
Galbatorix an evil king tyrant who is ever wanting more power and is the
enemy of Eragon.
On Eragon and Saphira’s adventure the meet a shade, elf, dwarves, Varden.
and the son of a dangerous alley to Galbotorix They go on such an
adventure
Not to feed their need for adventure, but to save the Varden, Elves, dwarves,
the people in the Empire, friends, family and everything the two hold
dear.

What a great, exciting, nail biting book. I read it once and it was so good I read it again! I would definitely recommend this to a friend. If you like magic, adventures, battles and enchanting, magical creatures this is the book for you. Watch out for the rest of the books in the Inheritance Cycle. “One boy…one dragon…a world of adventure”

Reviewed By: naturegrl

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

Boyne, John. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas. NY: Davis Fickling Books, 2006. 216 pages. (Historic Fiction)

Once upon a time, there was a happy family
Until Bruno had to move
To a dreaded place because his father was a Nazi Officer.
With nothing to do, Bruno went for a walk to a fence.
Inside, were many people including Shmuel.
They became best friends, but they
Had a fence between them.

Bruno, being young and naive, he
Really wanted to go on the other side of the fence.
Underneath the fence, he went in his striped pajamas.
Nobody knew who he was or what would happen next.
Outside the fence, the word spread of his disappearance.

So a massive search began,
Holding on to hope was all they could do.
Maybe he had run away because he hated Out-With,
Until they found his clothes by the fence.
Everybody knew he went under the fence.
Like any reluctant Nazi parent would, they searched the Jewish camp.

I really liked this book because it was very suspenseful. I never wanted to put it down because I always wanted to know what would happen next. Often I found myself trying to tell Bruno and the other characters what to do. I would tell Bruno not to go under the fence, until I realized it was a book. If I were to rate this book, I would give it a ten out of ten. My favorite part was the ending. I would never expect what happened. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Holocaust.

Reviewed by: Son of Bigfoot

The End

Snicket, Lemony. The End. New York: HarperCollins, 2006. 327 pages. (Adventure Series)

Under the sun the Baudelaires and Count Olaf
Needle each other as they are pushed farther out to sea.
Finally there is a storm and
Olaf is washed over board.
Rapidly the orphans are washed onto a coastal shelf.
Then they are found by colonists on the island next to the shelf.
Unfortunately Olaf tries to join too, but is left behind.
Never did the Baudelaires dream to be so lucky.
At first life in the colony is
Tranquil compared to the Baudelaires regular life
Even though the food and everything else is a little bland.

Everything changes when a figure from the Baudelaires past shows up on a
Vast cube of books. The islanders turn them away from their
Establishment, leaving the Baudelaires and their friend who is
Nearly finished with her pregnancy.
Then the Baudelaires meet something that they hoped to never see again and that could
Slaughter everyone on the island.

This book was
High-quality writing and very enjoyable
Especially when the author constantly tried to discourage his readers from

Enduring to read the book and suffer with the Baudelaires unfortunate lives.
Nevertheless, I wish that the author could have told the readers the secrets the siblings
Discovered as they read the history of the island.

Reviewed by: FunkyZebras19

Maximum Ride School’s Out – Forever

Patterson, James. Maximum Ride School’s Out – Forever. New York: Little Brown and Company, 2006. 409 pages. (Sci-Fi Series / Adventure)

Max and the rest of the gang are out to find their parents.
Are you wondering if they are going to be all right?
Xeroderma or any dryness aren’t present in this book.
Iggy finds his Mom?
Many twists and turns are in this book.
Ultimate endurance is what Max needs in this book.
Major problems face our heroes.

Ready for an action packed book?
Imagine the usual deadly Erasers, now with wings.
Deranged scientists plot against them.

Exceptionally written, well punctuated, makes this a great read.

Reviewed by: Bananasandwitch91

Monday, June 1, 2009

The Greatest Battle

Nagorski, Andrew. The Greatest Battle. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc, 2007. 316 pages. (Nonfiction)

Stalin, Stalin what do you see?
I see death in front of me.
Death, Death what do you see?
I see coldness killing thee.
Coldness, Coldness what do you see?
I see soldiers dying from me.
Soldiers, Soldiers what do you see?
We see a comrade falling near we.
Comrade, Comrade what do you see?
I see hope escaping me.
Hope, Hope what do you see?
I see Germany crushing me.
Germany, Germany what do you see?
I see misery caused by me.
Misery, Misery what do you see?
I see Moscow not giving to thee.
Moscow, Moscow what do you see?
I see Hitler antagonizing me.
Hitler, Hitler what do you see?
I see time slipping away from me.
Time, Time what do you see?
I see war destroying a family.
War, War what do you see?
I see citizens killed by me.
Citizens, Citizens what do you see?
I see German “Liberators” killing thee.
Liberators, Liberators what do you see?
We see terror caused be us.
Terror, Terror what do you see?
I see resistance fighting me.
Resistance, Resistance what do you see?
I see a light at the end of this terrible journey…

I think this book is an intense tale of one of WWII most bloodiest battles. Nagorski gives The Battle of Moscow the story it deserves giving the account of the intense fighting, miserable conditions, and fierce betrayals. I recommend this book to all people who love learning of WWII and those people who love a good, intense war story. A one word label for this story would be MASSIVE.

Reviewed by: Biglipbubba52

Shadowmancer

Taylor, G.P. Shadowmancer. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 2003. 300 pages. (Fantasy)

Searching for infinite power,
Horrid Obidiah Demurral
And his ugly assistant Beadle
Direct horrible creatures and people to destroy an
Orphaned Thomas, Wild Kate, religious Raphah, and the
Wicked Jacob Crane who are the only ones who can stop him.
Many people
Aid our heroes, but some end up nearly getting them killed.
Nevertheless, they usually end up all right, but you must read this
Cunning book to
Ever know what
Really happens to our three (or possibly four) heroes.

If I were to give this book a one word label, it would most likely be Different because it just is! Compared to other fantasy novels, it has a lot more religion involved, the antagonist wasn’t really anyone special like a king or wizard; he was just an old, white-haired man who wants limitless power. If that doesn’t motivate you to think it's different, then I simply don’t know what else to say!

Reviewed by: Cake1313

The Year of Secret Assignments

Moriarty, Jaclyn. The Year of Secret Assignments*. New York: Scholastic, 2004. 339 pages. (Fiction)

The Year of Secret Assignments has
Heated arguments, and
Exciting travels.

You never know what will happen when letters become somewhat
Evil.
A plot begins to help a friend, and soon even more
Rivalries form between Ashbury and Brookfield Schools.

On a trail behind school a shocking
False Identity is found.

Secrets will be revealed, and
Everyone will be surprised.
Come into a world of secret missions, false alarms, and some lock picking.
Re enter the world of high school drama.
Enter, you are welcome here.
Treasure your friends and achievements.

And realize…
Some
Secrets shouldn’t be told,
In case someone without
Good intentions could
Never let you forgive yourself.
Maybe you will overcome, but you should
Enable yourself to because
Not all friends are
True
Some are just there, but true friends are better.

This is an AMAZING book! I could not put it down because of all the new twists and turns. I felt I had to know what was happening next. With all of the twists you can never get bored, I would definitely recommend this book who likes page turners because this is one! If I were a book reviewer, I would give it an A+.

Reviewed by: crazemonke6

Twilight

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. N.Y. :Hatchet Book Group USA, 2005. 498 pages. (Fantasy Series/Vampires)

Taking a trip to Forks,
Was hard for Isabella Swan.
In a new school,
Liking a mysterious boy,
Information that she shouldn’t have heard.
Getting to like and know the Cullens,
Having to live with her dad,
Taking the trip to Forks was a good idea for Isabella Swan.

I would read new books by Stephanie Meyer because she is a great writer. All of her books that I have read like New Moon and Eclipse are great in detail, and if you have a good imagination, you will fall into the book yourself. I hope you love Twilight as much as I do.

Reviewed by: GinniGirl

Twilight

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. New York. Little, Brown and Company. New York. 2005. 498. (Fantasy Series/Vampires)

A girl from Arizona, Bella was her name.
She moved to a small town in Washington by the name of Forks.
All in all it was a very good choice,
She noticed a group sitting at the corner of the cafeteria.
A very stunning group:
Edward, Alice, Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper.
All were very beautiful, “foster children”,
But the weirdest thing of all they were…vampires.
Bella was ticked when Edward did not speak to her;
He was all sorts of weird around her.
She was going to confront him, but he did not show up at school.
A week went by and still no-shows.
So Bella and Jessica go to Portland to shop for prom dresses;
Bella ends up at a book store.
A group of boys came and started harassing Bella,
But Edward came to the rescue
And scared them away.
He was disgusted at the way the boys were thinking.
He wanted to rip there heads off, but he didn’t
To find out if Bella and Edward fall in love
You must read the book.
______________________________________________________

I would most definitely recommend this book to another person.
I would read every book that she has written, but then again, I pretty much already have.
If I had to choose my favorite scene, it probably be the baseball scene. It was totally unexpected when the nomads showed up.
It was the number one best book I’ve ever read.
Reviewed by: 90210