Who Was Mark Twain?

Prince, April. Who Was Mark Twain? NY: Grosset&Dunlap, 2004. 100 pages. (Non-Fiction / Bio)

The main character in this book is Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) America's best loved author who was a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi river, a gold miner, a newspaper writer and a world traveler. This story took place in a Mississippi river town Hannibal, Missouri in the 1800s.There weren’t many problems that were big. There is no problem Mark Twain has to solve. 0ne of the interesting things about this was when he wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. I selected this book because I have read other kinds of these books before such as Who was Harriet Tubman? and Who Was JFK?

Reviewed by: McKibbles

The Ghost in the Third Row

Coville, Bruce. The Ghost in the Third Row. New York: Dell Publishing, 1987. 134 pages. (Mystery)

The main characters in this book are a girl named Nina Taneleven, her best friend Chris, and the ghost of the Grand Theater, Lily Larkin. The story takes place in a Grand Theater in Syracuse, New York. The problems they face in the story are that the ghost keeps haunting the Theater, and she is also doing terrible things. She is ripping up scripts, tearing up dresses, and scaring people till they drop to the ground. But this ghost isn’t an evil ghost she is just very lonely. The girls try to solve the problem by figuring out who killed her and what made her so sad. Some other interesting events in this novel are when the two girls find out that the ghost was killed in the theater by a falling chandelier. But the weird thing about this ghost is you can only see her if you believe in the theater.

I think that this novel was the greatest book that I have set my eyes on. This book isn’t only mysterious, it’s very unpredictable. Some of the events that happen in here are just amazing for instance, the girls see the ghost behind them and she motions them to keep quiet, or that you can only see her if you believe in the theater. But I find this to be a very good book and suggest that a lot of people read it.

Reviewed by: Lonalama13

Eagle Strike

Horowitz, Anthony. Eagle Strike. NY: Philomel Books, 2004. 256 pages. (Action / Adventure Series)

The main character in this book was a boy named Hunter. This book was about Hunter’s uncle, a spy who was assassinated on a family vacation. Now Hunter was trying to find out who assassinated him. He wanted to make sure the assassin always remember his name, so he tried to convince the police that Yassen Gregorovich was the assassin. Yassen had a huge yacht in the bay to keep a low profile the perfect place to plan his assassinations. When the police got to the crime scene, Yassen was questioned as a suspect. He lied. The police believed him, but Hunter knew that he was lying. The police then asked Hunter to stay out of the investigation before this got too personal for him. In order to find out about the rest of the book, you are going to have to read it.

If I had to label this book with one word it would be “magnificent” because it is a very exciting book for young adults to read . This book was a great book if you like action books and thriller books. I highly recommend this book for young adults.

Reviewed by: Antwain

Brian’s Return

Paulsen, Gary. Brian’s Return. N.Y.: Random House Inc., 1999.110 pages. (Survival Series)

Meet Brian Robinson: he is just like one of us, a young teenager. He likes the Canadian wilderness, having fun, reading books, and cooking. The story takes place mostly in the Canadian wilderness. He is very unhappy in the city because he does not like going to the arcade and playing videogames with his friends. Brian needs to return to the wilderness to be happy, because all of the technology used in the city, Brian does not like it. So out in the wild he is surrounded by his natural friends. Brian goes back into the wilderness where he was stranded in the book Hatchet to see it again.

I did not like this book because it was not as exciting as Brian’s Winter, Hatchet, and Brian’s Hunt. In those three books he got attacked by a moose, a porcupine, and a bear. I would not recommend this book because it is not what Gary Paulsen would usually write in his Brian books. He usually writes like more adventure with a lot of bad things in Brian’s way as he is going through the woods.

Reviewed by: LT28

Angels in Pink, Holly’s Story

McDaniel, Lurlene. Angels in Pink, Holly’s Story. New York: Delacorte Press, 2005. 227 pages. (Fiction Series / Romance)

This is the third book of a series. The main characters in this story were Holly, Kathleen, Raina, Hunter, Carson, and Chad. The story took place in the hospital and Holly’s home. The problem that they all face is that something tragic happened to Hunter while he was working, so now everyone is so upset that they don’t want to do anything for the holidays. They solve the problem by just having to get over it, and move on. Another interesting thing that happened in this novel was that Holly meets a boy online, and she’s interested in him, but she has to hide it from her parents, because her parents don’t approve of meeting people online. Also, she doesn’t know if she likes him as much as he likes her. Kathleen also tries drinking for the first time and goes overboard, and now she can’t remember if she went too far with Carson.

I would completely recommend this to someone to read. It kept me reading, and I didn’t want to put it down. It’s a great story about friends who can get through almost anything. I think it’s written VERY well.

Reviewed By: Garfield3

Catalyst

Anderson, Laurie. Catalyst. New York: Vikings, 2002. 233 pages. (Fiction)

Meet Kate Malone- goddess of organization, daughter of widowed husband/minister, sister of Tony (the god of sloppiness), girlfriend of Mitch Pangborn (he’s going to Harvard) and oh yeah, did I mention she’s a strait-A student at Merriweather High applying for M.I.T.? Of course we can’t forget about the Litch family. Teri- a punk, she doesn’t want anyone in her life but her two year old son Mikey. One ordinary night Kate was going about her business when the Litch family showed up at her house, all because the Litch’s house burned to the ground. This all was very surprising to both Kate and the Litch’s. It was upsetting to them, especially for Kate, because Teri had to stay at Kate, her arch enemy, because Teri’s house burned to the ground.

After a while Kate’s whole life was going crazy with them staying there. Her grades went down, the relationship with her friends are going horribly and to top it all off she’s still waiting for the acceptation letter from M.I.T., if she doesn’t get in then all the work that she’s done for the past ten years will go down the drain!

Do you think that Kate will get into M.I.T.? Will Teri and her family finally get out of her house? Well I’m not going to tell you! You’ll have to read the book yourself. You can find it in the school library in the fiction section. Here are ten words on how I chose this book “People change over time depending on what people they meet.” Why did I choose this? Kate used to be a smart girl, was almost perfect and always helped with everything whenever she could. But now that she’s met Teri, she realized that Teri has shown her what it’s like to be free and to just do your own thing.

Reviewed by Jodancer6696

Trixie Belden: The Mystery of the Phantom Grass Hopper

Kenny, Kathryn. Trixie Belden: the Mystery of the Phantom Grass Hopper. Racine, Wisconsin: Western Publishing, 1977. 210 pages. (Mystery)

Trixie Belden a tricky 13 year old girl who loves to solve mysteries. She usually gets into some kind of trouble. Her older brothers, Mart and Brian, love to tease her. Her best friends Honey and Di love to help her out with all of her “shenanigans” as her brothers would call it. Then there’s Dan and Jim, Honey’s adopted brother. Together (even though her brothers call it silly) they form a group called the Bob Whites (The Bob whites came up with their own signal for when they get in trouble). Even though the Bob Whites love to solve mysteries, they can also get themselves into trouble. In this particular story, Trixie gets kidnapped because of her curiosity, and her ability to clime trees.

The story takes place at the Belden’s Farm and at the old Town Hall. They need to solve the mystery of who stole the missing weather vane, Hoppy. When they try to solve the mystery, they find out that Hoppy is hallow on the inside and that someone started valuable, 100 year old coins and old buttons made by a silver smith inside. I think Trixie is like me because she never gives up and keeps trying and gets teased by her brothers. She also loves to ride horses and explore new places she has never seen. She also doesn’t care about what people say about her because she knows who she really is. She is smart and easy going, she loves being (believe it or not) a tomboy and she is always curious

Reviewed by: Black Pearl

The Good Dog

Avi . The Good Dog. NY: Aladdin Paperbacks 2003. 243 pages. (Survival / Mystery)

The main characters in the book I read The Good Dog, are Jack the kid and the owner, McKinley the malamute and the dog of Jack, and the wolf Lupin who is trying to get all the dogs of steamboat to join her pack because it is running out of members. This story takes place in Steamboat, Colorado. This story is about a dog, Duchess, who runs away from her owner, Pycraft, because he is treating her abusively. She successfully gets away but Pycraft sends a search party for her. McKinley is trying to stop this so he goes to tell Duchess to hide but this big wolf named Lupin is protecting her. She asks McKinley to join her pack but he is loyal to Jack. Later in the book the town’s people went up into the wilderness to find the wolf Lupin. The hunt was lead by Pycraft and Red Barron the dog who wants to be lead dog. McKinley jumped and knocked the gun out of the hunters hand but it still shot Lupin in the in the side of the leg. McKinley took her to an abandon house and brought her food and water. He tried to help Lupin by getting her back to the wilderness but the hunters were going to attack Lupin. So he went back and then the hunters were pointing the gun so Jack jumped at the hunter from behind a rock because the hunter thought he was a wolf. There is a character in this book that I really do not like his name is Red Barron. He is betraying his dog friends by helping his owner find the missing dog that was trying to get away from her owner.

Reviewed by: Superbeau42

Chew on This

Schlosser, Eric and Wilson, Charles. Chew on This. NY: Houghton Mifflin Books, 2006. 259 pages. (Non-Fiction)

Chew on This is mainly all the things that happen before the fast food gets to the store to be sold. Also, it’s about what can happen to your body if you don’t make good, healthy choices about your eating. It is trying to tell you everything you don’t want to know about fast food in the hopes that you’ll stop eating it. The whole book takes place around the world and gives you the history of all the biggest fast food industries such as McDonalds, Burger King, Tyson, and even the so called “healthy” Subway. Chew on This tells you about what is really lurking in your cardboard box filled with chewy deliciousness. It also goes behind the scenes at slaughterhouses. It’s not just the animals dying, it’s the workers too.

I felt that this book is just trying to help all of it’s readers. The farmers, the slaughter houses, and the fast food restaurants all know what is happening behind closed doors; They all know how animals and workers are being treated for our enjoyment. We are the only ones that don’t know the truth: that what we eat, every bite we take, can lead to life or death. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone I know. I want the best for everyone: I want my friends and family to be healthy and live.

Reviewed by: PinkPopper

The BFG

Dahl, Roald. The BFG. New York: Puffin Books, 1982. 208 pages. (Fantasy)

The BFG is a great book; it makes you want to keep reading all night long. The main characters are Sophie, the BFG (big friendly giant), the bad giants, and the Queen of England. This story takes place around London, and in the giant world. Sophie faces a huge problem: she needs to get back to her world because the BFG snatched her when she was spying on him. She needs to stop the giants from eating more human. Sophie has a plan to put the giants in a giant hole, so they can’t get out. The hole will be over 500 feet deep. One of the most amazing parts in this book is when the army went to giant land with the BFG and picked up the giants and put the giants in the big hole.

I found this book at my house and I remembered that this was a great book. My 4th grade teacher read this to me. I enjoyed this book so much, I really wanted to buy it. I would read any book from this author if I saw one of his other books.

Reviewed by: Mastercraft

Zombie Survival Guide.

Brooks, Max. Zombie Survival Guide. NY: Crown Publishers, 2006. 272 pages. (Sci-Fi / Horror)

This book is about defending yourself against a zombie outbreak. The first chapter tells you a thing or two about zombies like eyesight, hearing, and bodily functions. The second chapter tells you the difference between the voodoo zombie, and the regular zombie, like that voodoo zombies feel pain, and that zombies don’t think. In chapter three it tells you about early detection, like to look out for people who died from bites, or tried to attack friends or family before they died. Next it tells you how to defend different types of houses. From apartment complexes, to single story house’s. The next chapter is all on weaponry; it tells you what kinds of weapons are most effective against zombies. Chapter 6 tells you some equipment/previsions you should carry around with you (lots of ammo, and food). In chapter seven it gives you a lay down of all the outbreak classes. From class one (1-50), to class four (an undead world.) In chapter eight it talks about different vehicles, and terrains that are efficient. Zombies can’t survive in a desert and neither can you! The next chapter tells you some different tactics how to defeat zombies. The last chapter is about recorded attacks throughout the years.

Reviewed by: Royboy

Jack’s Run

Smith, Roland. Jack’s Run. New York: Hyperion, 2005. 246 pages. (Mystery)

Brother and sister, Jack and Joanne Osborne, now live on Roanoke Island after moving across the country hiding with the Witness Security Program. Their father, Mr. Osborne, was sent to jail for drug trafficking. Before he got caught, he had written a very detailed journal about Alonzo Aznar and all of his drug operations. If the authorities got a hold of this journal, Alonzo would be sent to prison for life. Alonzo knew about this notebook and tried numerous times to get rid of the Osborne’s and the notebook.

Mean while Joanne moved to California to attend UCLA. Her plan was to become an actress some day. She auditioned for a TV show and made it to the semi-finals. When Alonzo see’s the audition on TV, he immediately sends his men to Joanne’s house to kidnap her and Jack. When the kids were kidnapped they were immediately flown out of the U.S. When their parents here about this they hatch a plan to get their two children back.

This book makes you keep reading. Every page is just as interesting as the first! I want to read more of Jack and Joanne’s adventures and struggles, even though I have finished the book. I am very glad I picked this book to read. It tells a lot about mystery, it also has a lot of action to keep you interested every second that you are reading it.

Reviewed By: ME

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. NY: Sarah Crichton Books, 2007. 229 pages. (Non-Fiction / Autobiography)

The main character in this book is Ishmael Beah; he ranges from twelve to sixteen in the book. He also has some friends that come and go in the story. The story takes place in Sierra Leone, Africa during a war torn time in that country. Ishmael is thirteen, has lost his family, is on many drugs, and is forced into the war for his own survival. Ishmael does not, at first, try to solve the problem because he has been brainwashed to think that what he is doing is doing the right thing. By the end he is in rehabilitation and tries to become sober and free of thought about what he had done to people. In this story a lot more interesting events happened: he almost meets up with his family; he has many adventures in the wilderness, and Ishmael comes to New York City and sees snow, many cars and many other things for the first time.

As a reader, I would recommend this book because it’s great and keeps you turning the pages, but as a student I don’t know if I would recommend this book because it is goes into detail about the blood and harsh way the people were treated. The scene that had the greatest impact on me and made me think for awhile was when I imagined the rebels going into town and being very harsh and violent killing unborn babies and children, also crude and wild to the mothers and other women. I don’t think this author would make a good teacher or professor but would be a great to person to talk to about. This book was heart wrenching, sad, and made you look at the world in a different perspective because of what the people are going through.

Reviewed By: Urbs518

Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death

Peck, Richard. Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death. New York: Dell Publishing, 1986. 185 pages. (Mystery)

The main characters in this book are a girl named Blossom Culp, her friend Alexander Armsworth, and Princess Sat-Hathor. This story takes place in Bluff City. The problem is that Blossom and Alexander have been cursed by an old Egyptian ghost princess whose tomb has been robbed, and her mummy has been stolen. The only way to undo the curse is by going and finding the princess’s sarcophagus with the mummy inside. The characters solve this problem by going and searching for the mummy and they found it. Then it was on its way back to Egypt back to where it belongs along with all the princesses’ jewelry and treasure. One interesting part in this book was when the ghost princess appeared and how the author explained her entrance.

I thought this book wasn’t a very good one because, out of fourteen chapters, it took ten just to get into the main story. Then just when I started to read it and it got interesting, the main plot was over just like that. I selected this book by choosing an author that I have never heard of, but it turned out that it didn’t really work out to well. Also, I don’t really think I would read one of his books again because I don’t want the same thing to happen again.

Reviewed By: Anawanasakian

New Moon

Meyer,Stephenie. New Moon. NY: Little Brown and Company, 2006. 563 Pages. (Fantasy Series / Vampires)

In the beginning of this book, the Cullens, including Bella’s beloved Edward, leave Forks, Washington rather than risk revealing that they are vampires. It is almost too much for eighteen-year-old Bella to bear, but she finds solace in her friend Jacob. Bella and Jacob spend almost every day together, and become really close to each other. Then, Jacob joins a “cult” and changes in terrible ways. He stops talking to her , and Bella doesn’t know what all this change is about. Bella begins to find out that Jacob and his “brothers” have a secret very similar to Edward’s. She once again finds herself involved within a mythical world hidden within ours.

The scene that had the most impact on me, as a reader, was when Jacob takes Bella to meet the rest of his “brothers”. Jacob and Paul, the short tempered one, get in a brawl over Bella’s knowledge of their secret. That is when Bella realizes that things are more complicated than she realized. She also realizes that the cult is no joke, and fear for her friend increases. The scene really opens new doors for Bella and the reader. New Moon is part of a three book series(Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse) Read them all!

Reviewed by: Sccrsteph3

A Bad Beginning

Snicket, Lemony. A Bad Beginning. NY: HarperCollins,1999. 162 pages. (Adventure Series)

A Bad Beginning starts three children on a beach. When theses three children Klaus, Violet, Sunny Baudelaire were on the beach, a man Mr. Poe friends of their parents told them the bad news. Mr. Poe said, “Your parents have perished in a terrible fire.” These three children were sent to a foster home. The man they met sent them to live with their foster parent Count Olaf was mean man and sent them to a horrible room in the top of the house. He wanted to be part of the Baudelaire family because they were very wealthy. So he tried to marry Violet the kids tried to do whatever they could to keep him from doing that. At the end Klaus had to climb up a building and get Sunny out of a locked cage so Count Olaf didn’t press a button and let her fall.

I am most like Klaus because of what he did in the end of the story. He climbed to the top of the building to save his sister from getting dropped by Count Olaf by hitting a button. I am like him because I had to climb up a big tree to get a cat and to get a football.

Reviewed by: Dimwitt

Surviving the Applewhites

Tolan, Stephanie. Surviving the Applewhites. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2002. 216 pages. (Fiction)

The book, Surviving the Applewhites, is about a troubled boy named Jake Semple. Jake has scarlet colored hair that he gels into spikes, he always wears black, and he has a numerous amount of earrings on his face. He was originally from Rhode Island, but he either burned down the schools he went to or he did something just as terrible to the other ones. As you can already assume, he was kicked out of those schools. Jake had had many different foster families because his parents were in jail and his grandfather didn’t want to take care of him. Jake’s last option was to go to the Applewhite family who lived in North Carolina. When he got there, he met E.D., Destiny, Zedidiah, Archie, Lucille, Sible, Randolph, Cordelia, Hal, and their dog Winston. Although he didn’t like how the Applewhites did things, or how they always forgot to go grocery shopping, he had to live with them or go to Juvenile Hall. All of the kids, E.D., Destiny, Cordelia, and Hal, were home schooled. Their school at home was called the Creative Academy. Jake wanted to find his place in the Applewhite family, but he doesn’t know how. Until Randolf gives him a great opportunity.

I really liked this book because it’s very enjoyable to read about Jake and all of the troublesome things that happen to him. Once you get into the book more and more, you start to like Jake and feel sorry for him. I really liked how the author intertwined Jake’s and the Applewhite’s lives. Jake was so different from everyone else, but he found a way to fit in even though he thought that he didn’t want to.

Reviewed by: LESH

Brian's Winter

Paulsen, Gary. Brian’s Winter. New York: Delacorte Press, 1996. 144 Pages. (Survival Series)

The book Brian’s Winter is about a boy named Brian who has survived a plane crash and now has to face winter. In the first book Brian was headed to his father’s house in a plane. The pilot was showing him how to fly the plane on the way there. Out of nowhere the pilot had a heart-attack and the plane is going to crash. When the plane did crash it landed in a lake. Now that he survived the crash he is faced with winter. Brian realizes the first thing he needs to do is build a shelter. So he goes around looking for things he can use. Once he does find things he builds a shelter that leans against the tree. Brian goes into the freezing lake to see if he can find anything useful in it. What he finds is a bunch of freeze dried food and a first aid kit. Also, he finds a 22 rifle with the stock of the gun full of bullets. This would be very useful to him. Later on he starts a fire to keep him warm. Days go past and he still has nowhere to go. One day he is attacked by a bear, which tore down his shelter. After the bear left he had some scrapes on him. He had to build a new and stronger shelter in case the bear came back. Also later on he meets a skunk and names her Betty. After several days in the wintery woods Brian hears a gunshot in the woods. To find out what happens next you have to read the book. I would recommend this book to people who like the author Gary Paulsen. Also, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure books.

By: Cenafan21