Flush

Hiaasen, Carl. Flush. NY: Random House, 2005. 263 pages. (Fiction / Humor)

Flush is a great book that shows how important our environment really is to others and the turtles that are going extinct because of the dumping. The main characters in Flush are Noah, his dad Paine, Dusty Muleman, and Abbey. These people live on the shores of Florida and Noah’s father was a successful fisherman until he committed many crimes and lost his boat license. He lost his boat license because of the crimes he committed. Noah faces the problem that Paine has sunk Dusty Muleman’s casino boat because he’s dumping his sewage into the ocean, which is illegal. So Noah’s father is sent to jail and while there Noah and his sister try to catch Dusty in the act of dumping the sewage into the ocean. Noah and his younger sister Abby go out in the middle of the night once the casino boat has closed and try to catch Dusty in the act of harming nature. They go through a lot of problems to get the evidence but you will have to read to find out.

I would have to describe myself as Noah trying to defeat the troubles that aren’t only bothering him but also his family. I would also describe myself as Noah because I love to help the environment as much as possible. The scene that had a great impact on me was when Noah described how the waters looked and smelled. The waters looked green, disgusting, and disrespected. It smelled like old sewage and dying plants and animals because of the pollution. It made me feel bad and depressed about what Dusty was doing to the waters that future generations would swim in and even his own kids. In ten words I would describe this book as adventurous and sad, but it can also have a big impact on how you do things in your everyday life.

Reviewed by: Urbs518

Dear America: When Christmas Comes Again

Levine, Beth. Dear America: When Christmas Comes Again. NY: Scholastic, 2002. 168 pages. (Historical Fiction)

This book was about a girl named Simone Spencer who lives in New York City with her mom who she calls “maman”, her dad who she calls “papa”, and her brother Will, who will soon go to war. There are also some other characters in the book: Sam (who she falls in love with), Alice (a friend), and Francie (a friend from New York). The story takes place in 1917-1919, in New York City and the Western Front (Paris and France) in World War I. Shortly after Simone’s brother went to war, Simone decided that she too wanted to go. She began talking with her parents who finally decided to let her go. Before she went to war, her friend Francie gave her an angel she saw in an antique store they went shopping at. Simone really liked that angel and was so happy to get it. While on her way to the war, she was hoping to see her brother. When she got there, she worked as a switchboard operator. She was known as the “hello girls” by the soldiers. I loved this book so much. It was hard for me to put it down. I love books about history because they are interesting and are fun to learn from. I really recommend it to anybody because it was a GREAT book and was funny and fun to read. It had some sad parts, but it turns out to have a happy ending. In the back of the book, there is a story of what the family did and what they moved on to become. There is also a true story of World War I. In the book there are pictures of New York City from 1917 through 1919.

Reviewed by: ChickenNoodleSoup23

Hoot

Hiaasen, Carl. Hoot. NY: Yearling Random House, 2002. 292 pages. (Fiction / Humor)

The main character in Hoot are two teenagers: Roy Eberhardt and Beatrice Leep. Another character whose real name does not show up until the end of the story is Mullet Fingers, Napoleon Bridger Leep, who can catch mullet, a small fast fish with his bare hands. The story is set in Florida. There is a single lot of land in Florida which has many burrowing owls living in the soil; a Mother Paula’s Pancake House is going to be built on this land unless the kids prove that it’s illegal. Bridget, Roy, and Mullet Fingers have to prove the the burrows are not abandoned and they actually do have animals in them. One thing that was interesting is the kids kept vandalizing the property until they could come up with a better idea to stop the Mother Paula’s Pancake House.

I thought this book was very interesting, and I liked it very much. I have and I am reading other Carl Hiaasen books. I would suggest Carl Hiaasen to any other person who wanted to read a good book. I have known about Carl Hiaasen, so I was suggested this book and others by my family. I would easily give this book a ten out of ten for all the main aspects of the book.

Reviewed by: MasterChief40

The Thief

Turner, Megan Whalen. The Thief. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1996. (Fantasy)

The Thief has everything a good story should have: “fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…” Well, it has everything except the true love and monsters, but you cannot have everything, can you? It follows the exploits of Eugenides, named after the God of thieves, who is recruited from the king’s prison by his royal scholar, the magus, to obtain an item of extreme importance to the king. What the object is and why Gen must obtain it remains a mystery that only the magus and the king hold. In return for his services, the king offers to grant Gen a pardon and set him free upon his return or place a bounty on his head so high every freeman “from this country or any other” (13) will come looking for him. Joining him on his quest are the magus; Pol, a soldier; Sophos, possible heir to the thrown; and Ambiades. From the dark of his prison cell to the light of the distant mountains, Gen makes his way to an unsure future. The best thing working for the novel, aside from the fact that it is wonderfully written, is that it is character driven. The characters are well developed and multi-leveled. It is Gen’s pride and boastfulness that land him in prison at the beginning of the novel, but it is these traits that ultimately redeem him by novel’s end. The worst thing working for this novel is that it is character driven. That is to say that at times the book might be too slow for some younger readers who might grow impatient with the pacing, but, should they be able to pass the halfway mark, they will be well rewarded as the action picks up and the true story is spun.

Reviewed by: Disreputable Dog

Sealed with a Diss

Harrison, Lisi. Sealed with a Diss. NY: Alloy Entertainment, 2007. 248 pages. (Fiction / Clique Series)

Sealed with a Diss is about the mega popular Massie Block whose clique of girlfriends includes Alicia Rivera, Dylan Marvil, Kristen Gregory, and Orlando, Florida native, Claire Lyons, whose love of anything sticky, sweet and gummy is never-ending. Massie has been offered the ultimate chance to be the eighth grade alpha next year. Everything in this series of books are in the cutthroat social world of OCD: the exclusive private school located in Westchester, New York, where the most common brand names around are Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang, Miu Miu, and Prada.

There is a special secret room in the basement of OCD that is set aside for the most popular eighth grade girl ( the alpha.) The former alpha, Skye Hamilton, is hiding the key to the room and Massie has found it and is on her way to alphahood. Along the way, Claire discovers that her boyfriend, Cam Fisher, has been carrying on with Nikki, a girl from his summer camp. Massie’s boyfriend, Derrick Harrington, or Derrington, as the clique secretly calls him thinks that Massie is too “immature” and Massie thinks the same of him. Derrington wears shorts all of the time, even in winter and wiggles his butt when he’s happy. Massie has a mission to hook up Skye Hamilton with Chris Abely, a former crush of Massie’s. Since Chris just broke up with his über-blonde girlfriend, Fawn, it’s not easy in the least.

All of the girls in the clique must have a date for the upcoming dance or they will be disqualified from the race for the Room. They all show up with dates at the dance, even though their dates abandon them in the middle of the dance, they become the new alpha’s of next year eighth grade alphas.

I thought that this book was a clever rendition of a group of young girls who go through their own “troubles” in their Prada-filled world. (I put “troubles” in quotes because their so-called problems are nothing compared to a real person’s life.) However, it was well written and humorous,s and I am eagerly waiting for the next book to reach our libraries and stores.

Reviewed by: JackSparrow136