PERIOD+1+BOOK+REVIEWS

PERIOD 1 - POST YOUR BOOK REVEIWS BELOW.

Keenan H.**
 * __The Alchemist Book Review__

The book “The Alchemist” written by Paulo Coehlo is a deeply philosophical book. This book tells the story of a young man personal journey in discovering himself and a universal language. Santiago, the main character, is a young man looking for his destiny in life and also a treasure of gold. The path he follows leads him on a discovery of “transforming his dreams and listening to his heart.”

To start, this book is about a boy named Santiago who is a shepherd. For his work as a shepherd he must travel across Spain to find fields and meadows for his sheep to graze. He has these repeating dreams of being in front of these huge pyramids in Egypt and is just about to find a giant treasure when he wakes up. After much thought about these dreams, he goes to a gypsy to find out what his dreams mean. The gypsy lady tells him he should go on his quest to find this treasure, but only a wise man can truly tell you what this dream means. At first he thinks the lady is crazy, but then a man that calls himself King Salmon tells Santiago about omens and Personal Legends, and that Santiago's Personal Legend is to search for the treasure. King Salmon, after having a deep conversation with Santiago, gives him two rocks. One is white and it is called Unimmum and the other rock is black and it is called Thummim. These two rocks are very important because they will answer any questions or doubts he may have. To get ready for his journey, he has to make money. So he goes to a market man and sells the sheep he has grown to love. After that, he gets on to the boat heading to Morocco. When he gets to the shore of Morocco, he goes into one of the many cafes. Santiago asks one of the men there if he knows how to get to Egypt. The man says he does, but will need money. When they step outside, the man runs away with his money. When the café closes, he is left in the street. The next morning Santiago meets a Muslim crystal shop owner who offers him work. After working in the shop for over year, he’s made the store a complete success and has made enough money to go on to Egypt or go back to Spain and buy back his sheep. While packing his belongings, Santiago sees the black and white rocks and asks himself if he should finish his hunt for treasure.

This book is choke-full of connections, but I am only going to list a few. To begin, if you have ever felt that you need to do something, but you don’t even know why, this book is for you. If you really like books that make you think about what you’re reading and what it means in life, this book will be heaven to you. Lastly, if you are fascinated with different cultures or have traveled a lot, you would love this book. Also if you were a fan of Harry Potter and his search for his true purpose or if you were a fan of Percy Jackson of the Lightning Thief and his quest to find out about himself, you will not be able to set down this book. I highly recommend “The Alchemist”. //The Fire Eternal// //By Chris D'Lacy// //Book Review By Ann Marie C.// __**SPOILER WARNING**__ **This is a spoiler for the whole David Rain Series. Read at your own cost!**

**Summary:** This series begins as a new college student is renting a room in the Pennykettle's home. For David, who is trying to win a writing contest to go to the Arctic, this house is stranger than it seems. When he finds the secret of the clay dragons that flying to and from in the house, he is shocked. He finds it annoying if these flying lizards and make Gazooks, his dragons almost turn to solid stone. Later he meets the Sibly, the sister of Liz, Mrs. Pennykettle. She tries to kill them but she fails, but succeeding to notify Zanna she too is the sibly by giving her the mark of the sibly. As she tries to release the dragons from the other realm, she kidnaps Lucy, Liz's daughter. David, with the help of his goth girlfriend Zanna, they stop the invasion but at the cost of David's life. Causing him to be lost in the arctic. As the fourth book in this scaly series begins, so does a whole new hero's legacy. Five years have past and Lucy is 16 now but still can't accept David's death. She has decided that the whole world will know the name, David Rain. Her strategy for this project is to email a biographer to write his story, Tam Farrell. Of course she is doing this against Zanna's and the Pennykettles' opinion of keeping it a secret. As Tam starts to snoop around Zanna's life, looking for David's secrets, he has her believe he is interested in her. Meanwhile, in the arctic, the polar bears are starving and Gaia is restless, forming a storm that is ripping apart the arctic sky and tearing holes in the ice. When Zanna discovers that Tam has been using her for his research, she is furious. So she curses him with the mark of the Sibly. This causes a huge argument between Zanna and Lucy, causing Lucy to do an extremely rash act. For the whole world, the end is just beginning.

The first half of Fire Eternal includes many connections. To begin, just like the other books in the series, this is a suspense killer. As you turn the page, each word leads to another shocking secret, as though the characters guide you though them selves. As every page will reveal a new secret kept hidden from nosy ears until now. Even though I have only read the first half of the book, I am sucked into the story line, watching their lives like a god. Just like the first books, it is impossible to put down as love, deception, celebration, suspense, and action screams in your face! Out if all the series I have read, I highly suggest this fire breathing one.

For those who finds this book intriguing, I HIGHLY suggest you read the other books in the series. Because this is the most recent book, please read the others or it will make no sense! The first is The Fire Within, then Ice Fire, then Fire Star, and finally, The Fire Eternal. Other than that little issue, this is a great series for ANY dragon lover. It has big dragons and little dragons, ancient dragons and new dragons. It has all the aspects needed for any and all fire-breathing lizards of the sky!

**Point Blank by Matt S.**

Summary-

Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz is a very exciting book. This book keeps you interested and wanting to read more. __Point Blank__ is about a 14 year old spy named Alex Rider. Alex became a spy because his uncle was killed in a mission. Once Alex found that his uncle was a spy, the company that his uncle worked for told Alex that he had to become a spy for his company to replace him. In __Point Blank__ when Alex goes back to school he notices that there is something different about his old school and his old friends. One day Alex walks by an ally and notices a white car and kids going by it, reaching in the car and taking out a bag full of stuff. Alex is very confused so he decides to find out why that mysterious white car is there.

Connections- I have many connections to this genre. First, I connect that if you have been in tough situations, you could connect to this book very well because Alex is forced to be in will many tough situations. Second, I also connect to this book because Alex is confused at times. You like this book if you enjoy action adventure books. This book is the second book of six exciting books. If you want to read the rest of the books you have to read the first two books in the series.

Read or Not Read- I would recommend this book to people who are interested in action adventure books. I wouldn't recommend this book to people who read fairy tails and princess books. Even if you have never read an action adventure book you will love this series. To me this series is perhaps one of the best or the best action adventure series that I have ever read. In conclusion, the book __Point Blank,__ is one of the best books.

**Final book review #2 Andrew J.**

Halo”First Strike”, is an exciting sequel to the first two Halo books. The book is based in the far future, where Earth and the humans are fighting to prevent extinction via the Covenant aliens. Even though, Earth may look exhausted for all of it's minerals, but they have a few tricks up their sleeve. The Spartan super soldiers are the ace in the sleeve. They are stolen from their parents when they are only seven years old. They do everything that all the other soldiers deem impossible. They infiltrate alien bases without fear or regret, and they can perform much better than the normal soldiers. They use their wits and quick reflexes to survive in territories that are controlled by aliens. They infiltrate enemy planets that sometimes used to be Earth's control centers and that are considered things that Earth can no longer do anything about. These Spartans are considered myths and legends to all of the other soldiers,but when they see one in action, their morale soars. This book shows the tug of war between the survival of humanity and the utter destruction of it.

It has a lot of action that can sweep the reader of their feet. This book is an awesome book for readers that use discretion because it has some bad language in it. The book goes in an extremely fast pace that you might have to read the chapter again to grasp the true meaning. This awesomeness is due to the author, who uses detail and descriptions. This book really is coming off the topic of the movie” Independence Day”. The movie is based on aliens invading Earth and trying to kill all the humans. This book is having humanity fight for survival, where the movie also has humanity fight for survival. I relate these two because they are based on the extinction of humanity.

**Hush, Hush Review By Mallory S. By: Becca Fitzpatrick** Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick is about a girl named Nora, who has one chubby best friend and a guy who could be the answer to her best friend's mysterious broken arm when she walked out of a store wearing Nora's jean jacket. He might even be the answer to the masked guy in the middle of the road and looking into her window in the middle of the night. The guy's name is Patch and from one day sitting next to him Nora can tell something is not human with Patch. He knew more about her than her friends did. Patch quickly wrote all these facts about her and she never even said a word. Even though Nora feels as though Patch is just a normal person trying to get Nora to like him but what she doesn't know could hurt her.

This book was easy to connect to. The first thing Nora noticed when she first met Patch was the strong scent of cigars embedded with in his scary looks. When I read this part I remembered the day I went for a walk and this couple past me. The guy was smoking and as he past me he looked at me with his freakiest look he could do. There was an awful smell of cigarette smoke trailing behind him. He also was wearing all black which was how I had envisioned Patch. When I read book I could not stop connecting it to Twilight. Both Patch and Edward have the presence of a guy who should not be talked to. Both were wearing plain, dark clothes making people think that even though they are cute, stay away.

This book has many distinct reasons why many people should read it. For one, this book includes a touch of romance giving fans of romantic books a very promising reason to read Hush, Hush. Also, I believe that if you are a big fan of the Twilight series this is a book you should definitely look in to. Though they are different books there are just a few similarities. All in all, this is such a great book that a lot of people should read it.

**Milkweed Review by Taylor D.** The book __Milkweed__ by Jerry Spinelli explains the life of a nine year old boy named Misha Pulsudski during WWII. Misha has been living on the streets for his whole life after being kidnapped. He was steeling food from the wealthy, grocery stores, candy shops,and abandoned shops to stay alive. Misha was neither Catholic, or Jewish but he is a Gypsie who is kind of like a sidekick who tells what peoples future will bring them. It not only shows the life of this boy but several other people including their reactions to the war especially when they are constantly being bombed. As they adventure through the city lives change in different ways and in different perspectives.

Connections to this book could practically fill a dictionary. Misha has lived on the streets his whole life but got taken in by a man named Uri. I am certain that anybody who has lived on the street for even a day could relate to his troubles. A suicidal mission would perfectly fit Misha because on the streets Jackboots (anti Jew or Gypsie soldiers) roam around forcing Jews and Gypsies to do terrible things such as mopping the streets with their beards, and Misha kept telling them about his life as a Gypsie and how much he wants to be a Jackboot. Finally his caretaker Uri helped him realize that Jackboots hate him and that he is in the middle of a world war so that is just like being reborn or reeducated.

I would highly recommend this fantastic book for anybody who is interested in the life on the streets or even WWII. I not reccommend this book for anybody who gets annoyed by poor language because this book has poor language in almost every paragraph. for example a women was walking down the street and saw a small boy steel a loaf of bread from a market and she pointed at him saying "runt should die!" which I call poor languge. This book includes many morals, lessons, and it also shows what not to do at certain times. Over all this book is a great book and takes you on a wild adventure.

**By : Courtney B.**
 * __ The Lost Boy Review __**

__The Lost Boy__ by Dave Pelzer is a very mixed emotional kind of book that will make you cry one minute and the next minute make you jump with joy. This book is the sequel to __The Child Called “It”.__ When you read the beginning of the book, __The Lost Boy__ “It” who is David has ran away from home from his crazy mother. On his way to a place were him and his family use to go to before there family fell apart, he stops at a pizza shack. A man that worked there called the police saying a missing child was there. David was so angry that he didn’t say one word to the officer because he knew that he was going back home where he gets abused, and beaten twenty four seven. The next day when David went to school he noticed he had a new teacher subbing for the day. His old teacher never took time to look at how bad he had been abused. But the new teacher did, and she took the situation very serious. She sent David to the nurse’s office so they could call a police man. When David was on his way to the hospital he was very scared and nervous. They examined him from head to toe, gave him a bath, and told him he had no more feeling left in his bruzed and battered fingers. When they left the crowded hospital they arrived to a magnificent house. It was white, and had the biggest driveway David had ever seen. They slowly walked up to the house David new that this was his new home for now he filled up with joy and happiness. I pictured happy tears rolling down his check inch by inch. David and the police officer stepped inside this lovely woman and seven other children welcomed them both. Before they could look around the whole house he was served with delicious food. Who knows will David stay in the home and be a foster child or be taken home to his horrible nightmare that is actually his life?

__The Lost Boy__ is not a very good book to make connections with unless you have been abused, and betan before. About 75% of all people that read this have probably not been, and 25% probably have. Unless you’re like me and you can only make connections that are like when David is very nervous to go to the hospital. That reminds me of me when I get scared to go see the doctor. I absolutely hate the doctor, and get cold feet and butterfly’s the first step I take in there. Or when David steps in his new home with seven other children and sits down for dinner. That reminds me of when we go to my uncles for dinner with the whole family.

Personally, I loved the book __The Child Called “It”,__ and __The Lost Boy.__ I would recommend the book to the kind of people that can handle a sad story. When I mean sad mean can read about how this poor boy is brutally abused by his mom, and dad. But not only that but when he finally gets a chance to get away he gets taken back to his unsafe house. If You are not that kind of person that cant stand reading sad and depressing, true life stories then don’t read the book,. The reason why this book is completely true is because the author is David as a child.

**Lock and Key Review by Katie T.**

The book Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen is about a 17 year old girl named Ruby Copper. Ruby is living with her mother who's name is Ruby Copper. But soon her mother abandons her for her boyfriend. When Ruby comes home from school she is gone and she cant find her. So Ruby tries living on her own for a few months, and it works, but then her landlords come in and find that her mother is gone. They take her to the Poplar House were she gets picked up by her sister who has already been to college and is married. Ruby now has a big luxurious house, goes to a private school has new clothes, and a chance of a good future. Then she meets the neighbor boy, Nate.......

This book is easy to make connections to because Ruby doesn't fit in with the crowd, everybody comes from rich families and they can have what they want whenever they want. If you have ever felt like an outsider than this book is for you! I also made connections to how she makes new friends in her new school. With Ruby at a new school she takes on a new personality. Her new personality lets Ruby make new friends with out any question about her past.

I would recommend this book to people who have ever moved around in their life. If you like adventure than this is the book for you. This book shows that life isn't perfect it has its ups and downs, but in the end it all works out for the good. The book __Lock and Key__ shows Ruby making new friends with no questions about her past. Ruby has a new life so she creates a new personality to go along with it. __The Sister Switch Review__ by Morgan E. In the book __The Sister__ Switch, by Jane Mason and Sarah Stephens is about two girls are playing in their backyard talking about how they are so excited to start middle school. Andie is playing soccer, and Caitlin is practicing clarinet. Caitlin doesn't get how Andie can play soccer. She hates sports and Andie hates music. On the first day of school, Caitlin is told in p.e. that if she fails the test she will have to stay after school to keep working on passing the test. Failing the test would mean missing band. That is something Caitlin does not want to do. In p.e. class she has to go running around the tracks and figures out she will probably fail the test because she cant run and her teacher hates her. Andie is in math her worst subject and finds out that for no reason her math teacher has something against her. I think this happened because she was looking out the window at the new soccer field and ignored the teacher. So the next day while the two girls are getting ready, Caitlin suggests that they switch places for a day and pretend to be each other. She wants to do this because know she will fail the fitness test in p.e. And will have to miss band. Switching means that Andie can miss math and go to p.e. Andie agrees and they switch in the morning. To see if this switch works, read the book and find out

Furthermore, __The Sister Switch__ has many connections to the real world. This book relates to me because I am just like Andie in the way that math is my worst subject and I love sports especially soccer. This book relates to the real world because I know twins that have tried to switch places.I have also seen in movies that lots of time twins tend to switch places fot the better of each other.

Wrapping it up, there are only a few reasons why this book would be one to read. I would recommend this book if you were a fourth grade girl. I say that because it is not a very hard reading level and is just pretty boring. You can predict what is going to happen and so this book is not very exciting. Also, there are no interesting vocabulary words. Out of 5 stars, I would probably give it 2 stars. But if you are in fourth grade then I guess this would be a pretty good book for you. I know that my sister really like it but she was in fourth grade when she read it. So to figure out if you would like this book I guess you would have to read it. The chapters are very short and switch of being in Caitlin and Andies' prospective.


 * //__ The Island of The Blue Dolphins Review by Creighton D. __//**

__ The Island Of The Blue Dolphins __ has many connections to real life. To Begin, in the beginning of the book a crew of Aleuts came to the island to hunt for otters and kill them for there fur. Karana's dad wanted to get paid for every otter the Aleuts killed. The Aleuts had finished killing the otters and were about to leave and karana's dad ran towards the Aleut leader to ask him for the money and he got killed.

This connects to real life because people usually don't keep there word on what they were going to pay. This happens daily all over the world that are killing people because they did not get what they want. This is happening in the ghetto areas where they sell drugs and other bad stuff. It is very sad that this has to happen to people. Mostly the young and foolish people are dying.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books with a lot of cliff hangers that always leave you wondering about the story. This book will always leave you “hanging”. This book would also be great for any girl or boy in elementary school. This book is a really inspirational book but I wouldn't recommend this to everyone from the ages of 5 to 11.

Witch and Wizard Review by Tyler A. James Patterson The book __Witch and Wizard__ by James Patterson starts with Wisty and her family at their public execution. There, in an unknown stadium on the platform with a noose around her neck, she begins to reflect on how she got there, starting with that fateful night only days ago, to her and her brother finding a stronghold of people like them planning to overthrow the oppressive government. This book puts an extreme twist on communist ideas. Oddly, with the government destroying everything not possessed or controlled by them, they still make the people they rule think it is right, and that turning in those like Wisty and Wit (her brother), those with a chance to stop the Government of The Ones and return the world to a version of normality is the “good” thing to do.

This book reminds me of the book __Eragon__, because in both books, powerful people are hidden by their parents in a shroud of normality that is doomed to collapse and reveal their powers to them and the world. This also reminds me of __Brisingr__, where the book switches characters periodically, providing different perspectives on the same situations. And finally, this reminds me of __The Belgariad__, where people are being arrested on false charges to scare the foreigners out of the country, even though in my book, the charges are true (and completely ridiculous), the essential idea is the same, to scare others away from the country.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes action, suspense, humor, and a brushing of magic, and the ever present fiery explosions and rebellious kids present in James Patterson's greatest novels. This book is for teenagers, young adults, or anyone else looking for a good read who can stomach the details of oppression. James Patterson has really outdone himself with his novel of rebellion, spells, and the struggle against the injustice of a cruel and single-minded government, the ending basically screaming sequel. As this book slammed the door in my face, it left me craving more, especially since I know there will be more to come.

**Excalibur Review by: Benjamin S.**

The book Excalibur by Bernard Cornwell is the third book in the Winter King series. The book starts with the same plot as before, which is, Mordred is figure head king and Aurther rules Dummnonia. Then Aurther is placed as a governor in Siluria, and Mordred is fighting Franks and is close to death and trapped. Derfel goes to a Dummnonian town and every one is dead, Derfel suspects it was Mordred faking death and killing everyone who was against to him as a kid.

The connections you might make is if you were a brat and every one who was involved in raising you beat you up and you want to hurt them, you might relate to Mordred, only he has absolutely no self control. Also you might relate to Aurther if you are surrounded by freakishly superstious druid people with strange traditions, and you don't care for that, then you know what it would have been like to be Aurther in that respect.

You should read this book because it is good and interesting. This book is great and keeps you reading till the end.This book has a lot of fighting, betrayal, emotion, and hate.

//**TimeLine Review by Vince C.**// In the fantastic book //Timeline// by Michael Crichton, the main characters are Chris Hughes, Professor Johnston, Andre Marek, Kate Erickson, Dvid Stern, and Rob Doniger. They are graduate students at Yale studying abroad in France with Professor Johnston. The company ITC gives them funds for excavation at a site in southern France. Accidentally, they gave them the most complete drawing of the site ever. The Professor became suspicious and visited ITC to investigate, but he never came back! It ends up that he was sent to a parallel universe in the 1300s.

The battles in the book //Timeline,// Michael Crichton describes the battles so well, I wonder if they actually happened. Greek fire is referenced in the book and is an incendiary weapon mainly used in naval battles made by the Byzantines. It was mainly used with grenades filled with Greek fire or an ancient form of flamethrower.* Michael Crichton has a way of making the beginnings slow in most books, and middles fast.

If you've read Jurassic Park before and liked it, I highly recommend this book and you will enjoy almost as much! They follow almost the same lines with a very rich and greedy company creating a machine never seen before, that introduces a very weird, new technology. Also, if you want to learn about the medieval times, you can learn a fair amount in this book. I definitely award it 5/5 stars because it seems most of the time is action and the suspense makes you keep reading!

**Princess Academy** Book review by: Mikaela Madsen **
 * By:Shannon Hale

In the book Princess Academy by Shannon Hale is about a girl named Miri who lives in a petite rural village called Mt. Eskel. Miri's job is to wake before the sun and herd goats. One day an arrogant messenger, sent by the king, comes to their miniature village to spread the word that all the girls ages 11 and up were to attend an academy that would transform these dingy mountain girls into peer royalty. Throughout the whole book, you have a good idea of whose going to win, but as the girls rashly fight their way to the top, a secret is reveled. Not only will the last girl standing astonish you, but will force you to seize the book with a frustrated death grip making you grasp the cover long after the book is over.

A few connections you will make while reading this book are If you have taken quintillion. being forced to grow up and eat diminutive sandwiches with bleach white gloves, is mostly what Miri has to go through, including how to talk politely and act like royalty. Another connection is Sharon Osborn’s charm school. If this reality show is your cup of tea, you will also enjoy Princess Academy. This is because in both, a large group of girls are battling to win. They win by being the most altered, poised, social skills, and overall has ideal etiquette. Lastly, when reading the book Princess Academy, it reminded me of an action movie! I know princesses and blowing things up doesn’t fit together, but the climaxes of the stories are identical. For example they both start of really mind-numbing, but suddenly you find yourself incapable to unleash the book, mouth hanging, eyes as big as watermelons!

The first 100 pages I have read of princess Academy have been **FANAMINAL!** I strongly suggest this book to girls from age 9-13. The range of recommended ages is so vast because it tells a fantasy, castle in the sky story, in such a sophisticated and endearing way any girl will concur it was remarkable.

__**The Zombie Survival Guide by Hayden C.**__ __**Summary**__ __ The Zombie Survival __ Guide by Max Brooks explains how to survive a zombie apocalypse using certain vehicles to get to point A to point B. They also explain what weapons you would use to defend your self against an army of undead trying to devour your brain. The weapons that it explains are fire arms, explosives, and hand to hand combat. It instructs different locations and landscapes that you can use to your advantage.

__**Connections**__

This book is an enjoyable read even if you do not enjoy zombies or zombie books and movies you would most likely enjoy this book. If you like phoney information you would love this book. You would most likely love this book if you want to know how to know how the zombie killers in the movies are using the wrong weapons or the right weapons.

__**Read Or Not**__

If you like zombies and surviving you would probably really enjoy this book. If zombies aren't your favorite topic it's still a very enjoyable because it is very funny and humorous. So even if you despise zombies this book could come in handy even in normal life. If somebody breaks into your house the __ Zombie Survival Guide __ list a lot of tactics that could apply to people.

by Bryce M **
 * Maximum Ride Book Review

__Maximum Ride__’s story line is so interesting that it keeps the reader from putting it down until they finish it. The flock, Angel, Gasman, Iggy, Fang, and Max, go with some scientists to Antarctica for global warming research. Next, Angel goes missing and Max and Fang go out in to the open to find her. After that, they find themselves stuck in a blizzard. While waiting for the blizzard to end, they are captured and brought to Miami with Gasman and Iggy. In Miami, the captor almost auctions them off, but they escape. After they escape, they are flying around when someone nearly snipes Max.

__Maximum Ride__ has many connections to the real world. First, when I read the part where they escape, I had a movie going on in my head about Hurricane Katrina, because the hurricane in the book was category 4 and directly hit Miami just like New Orleans. The second connection is when the person tried to snipe Max. This is like when someone throws a snowball at you, and when you turn around, you don’t know who threw it. Last but not least, the main character, Max, is trying to save the world, but there is always another problem. This is just like a soccer game where you need to score, but every time you get past a person, there is always another there.

I would recommend this book because it has plenty of action and is very fast moving. It has lots action like in the part when they escape from the man that almost auctions them off. It is fast moving in parts like when Max and Fang rescue Angel in Antarctica. Out of five stars, I would give it four stars because the story line is kind of confusing. An example is when they escape the person who tried to auction them off. I would definitely recomend __Maximum Ride__.


 * Review by Michael P.**

This book reminded me of my life in some ways. This kid is a video game addict! He wants to play games all the time. His mom wants to have a fun filled summer OUTSIDE. Greg thinks other wise. He wants to play games all summer and never come out. At one point he hissed at the sun.

Although some people have normal lives, Gregory doesn't. The Dairy of The Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney portrays the story of Greg and his family. To start Greg is a lonely teenager with one friend. He often spends most of the time playing video games. Another interesting fact is that Greg wants to date older women, which hasn't worked out for him. In the end, Greg has a lot of crazy Adventures

This book is great for anyone is junior high. This kid go's though so many things. Its like the author knows everything about me. It is kind of creepy. Towords the end of the book you will get mad because it is a cliff hanger.

__Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban__ Review Lizzy Y.

__Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,__  written by J.K Rolling, is a wonderful book that will take you on the ride of mystery. The book starts out as a regular day on Privet Drive, where Harry lives with his horrible aunt, uncle, and fat cousin, when he runs away and finds himself alone on the streets. When Harry is found by a wizard bus for lonely wizards, he lives the good life in the magical Wizard World. Enjoying his summer vacation eating ice cream and hanging out with his best friends, Ron Weasley, a tall red headed boy with a billion freckles, and Hermione Granger, a girl with bushy brown hair, when suddenly Harry finds out that a famous deadly murder is after him. This isn't any old murderer though, this is Serious Black, the man believed to help Voldemort, the evil sorcerer who is feared all over, kill Harry's parents and change his life forever. Serious is a man not to run into, he has black shaggy hair and is as skinny as a skeleton. All goes well at Hogwarts, Harry's magical school, when suddenly Serious Black is spotted there by one of the living portraits. Once more Serious Black is spotted at Hogwarts, hanging over the sleeping Ron with a dagger, when he scurries away. How is Serious sneaking around the castle? Is he turning invisible, under some sort of disguise, or using dark and evil magic? Will Harry ever live without a murderer on his back and is he ever going to find out the truth of his parents death?

There are a ton of connections you can make with the book __Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban__ , page by page. If you like mysterious movies and T.V. Shows like C.S.I. and Nancy Drew then you will connect with this book. Also if you ever got a really cool gift, you can relate to Harry's new Fireblot, the best broomstick in the world that is slick as mental and fast as a Ferrari, that he received for Christmas from a mysterious wizard. As you can see this book is full of things you can relate to.

You should absolutely read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban! This book will make you jump with amazement and is as good as and ice pop on a summer's day. If you like mysteries that will leave you exploding with anticipation, like the murder of Harry's parents, then you will love this book. Everything is not what it seams and people that are known to be dead are not so. This book is full of fantasies and magical creatures like hippogriffs, a magical creature that is half bird, half horse. There are also transforming animals that will surprise you. Find a comfy spot and start the wild adventure!


 * Review: by Cole K.**

Hellboy by Mike Miganola is a book about a creature that fights monsters to save peoples lives. This book has many different adventures that are about 3 pages each. Hellboy is a demon that they found after the Nazis opened a portal to the universe. Hellboy is supposed to be the prince of darkness, but he holds in his inner evil and fights for good.

Connection:

It was very easy for me to make a connection but not for some people. My connection to this is that Hellboy sees some really creepy things. How I made my connection is, when I am in a dark place I think I see scary things but I really don't. Usually the scary things that I think I see are just house hold objects.

Read or not Read:

I recommend this book to anyone that likes mysteries and fantasies. This book is one of my favorite book because it is a bunch of different really small mysteries put into 1 book. Overall I would rate this book about a 9 out of 10.

Blind Side Review by Andrew S. The book the __Blind Side__ is a story that can relate to all real life things. To begin with, the main character, Michael Oher, lives on the streets with no family after his dad left him and he was taken away from his mom. Michael was staying on the streets until his sophomore year when he was adopted by a rich family called the Tuohy's. When Michael was applying to a Christian School where his new family went to school they only let him in because he was big and was really good at track and basketball. If Michael wasn't athletic he wouldn't have been accepted because his GPA was 0.6. If Michael wanted to play sports he would have to get his GPA up to a 2.1 and so he got a tutor. Michael wasn't able to play any sports until he his senior year in high school. But when he played sports he had never played football before so he was terrible but then his mom told him to picture the team as his family and then he started doing good because he was graded in the 98 percentile for protective instincts. Michael played the Blind Side (left tackle) for football and he also won state for track in the Shot Put. When Michael graduated he wanted to go to the Ole Miss University where is family went to school but he would have to make a 3.0 grade average. By the time Michael graduated he got his grades up he was able to go to Ole Miss and played starting left tackle for them. Michael graduated after 4 years and went to the pro draft and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens.

While I was reading this book I was able to make many connections. To begin with, Michael and me are both great athletes and are very good football players but we do not play the same positions. Next, Michael was separated from his family and parents and kids need to be careful because this stuff can happen a lot. Lastly, Michael became a really good athlete just like many of the good athletes today.

When I finished reading this book I was said to see it finally end. While I was reading this book I really liked it because I love sports and it talks a lot about sports in this book. I think that all genders will like this book because guys will love the sports part and the girls will love the sad story with all of the drama of his new life. If I had to rate this book between 1-10 I would give it a 9 because it was a great story to read.

**Robinson Crusoe Review by Kurt S. By Daniel Defoe** "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe is a book that has owning a plantation, adventures, and learning how to survive. Owning a tobacco plantation in Brazil was a way he kept his mind off of the sea. He had always wanted to be the captain of a ship, but he never did get to be the captain of one. The adventures he has throughout the book include going through violent storms and getting marooned on an island. Going through severe storms he gets shipwrecked during the second storm on an uninhabited island. Surviving on a island can be devastating because you have to learn how to build a fort, a fence, and how to find food. After owning a plantation Robinson Crusoe's adventures surviving on an island continue for more than thirty years.

The connections from this book to the real world are living on an island, surviving life, and keeping your mind off of the unimportant stuff that you don't need to get done. Living on a island would be fun, but it can be very dangerous. Surviving life would probably be the hardest one out of the three because you would have no one to talk to on the island. Keeping your mind off the unimportant stuff that you don't need to get done would be hard because you can get sidetracked with it. These connections help me get ideas about how to solve difficult situations in my own life.

Should you read this book? Yes, you should read this book because there are a lot of life lessens. Kids under the age of ten should not read this book because it would be hard for them to relate to Robinson. Over all the book is an exciting one and it is best that I have read.


 * __Diary of a Wimpy Kid “The Last Straw”__**
 * __Book Review by Alex C.__**

The third book in the series is an entertaining laugh packed realistic fiction. Its about a boy who journals all of the crazy and random events that happen to him. Greg Heffely the main character,has an older brother(Rodrick),younger brother(Manny),and a mom and dad. He always seems to get the short end of the stick. He gets picked on by his older brother, and blamed by his little brother for everything under the sun. So he trys to escape from his wacky family by going to his best friend Rowley's house.

I think you should read this book for many reasons. This book is illustrated and greatly might I say. This book provides non stop laughs for whoever may decide to read this book. The crazy events in this book keep you wanting to turn the page to find out what will happen next.This book is easy to relate to so it is a humorous book for all ages. Diary of a wimpy kid has appropriate content. So no one is left out.

If you like cartoons this book is definatly for you. There is many great illustrations If you like series of books there is four so far and soon to be a fifth.This book is great for car trips and flights.It will keep you occupied and waiting for more the whole time. I give this book 5 stars.

__ The Indian in the Cupboard __ Brandon Thill

__The Indian in the Cupboard __ describes how Omri's toy Indian comes to life over night when her puts him in his cupboard. Omri is amazed and confused when he finds a live Indian in his cupboard. Omri tries to explain to his friend what happened but he wont believe him. So Omri takes his friend's toy cowboy, stuck it in the cupboard and it comes life . Omri tries to tell his friend but the friend won't believe him. This new Indian becomes friends with Omri and tells him that his name it Little Bear. Little Bear is trying to live much like a true Indian lives. He builds a hut and eats corn bread. At one point in the story, Little Bear gets hurt and Omri has to get a toy doctor to come alive and help heal Little Bear. Little Bear gets a horse and loves to tell Omri stories about being an Indian and all of his wars with the Cowboys. When Omri finally tells his best friend and shows him Little Bear, his friend wants to bring a Cowboy to life. So they bring a Cowboy to life and now, even more fun begins.

Little Bear and the Cowboy make me think of the Cowboys and Indians in the Movie, Night at the Museum. When Omri is trying to tell his friend about Little Bear, I don't think that I would believe my friend either if he was trying to tell me that he had a live miniature Indian living with him. I also don't think that I would believe that it came alive in a medicine cabinet. I thought of all the times that I haven't listened to someone because I thought they sounded crazy.

I do recommend this book to anyone that likes fiction books or if it sounds interesting to them. It was sometimes funny with the stories but to me it was just an "ok" book. It was a little slow at times and a little long.

**__ Eragon __** Book Review By Chris C.

These are the most important points in the book of __Eragon__. It is about a very poor boy, who while hunting deer has an event that changes his life. While hunting in the forest, he found a magical stone that no one could even tell what it was. This stone contains some sort of special creature that will change his life completely. The stone will help Eragon attempt to take down the evil leader named Ra'zar. Lastly, Eragon is sent on to a rough trip that could bring peace across the land. But, his trip is filled with adventure, hardship, and lots of action. Those are the main points of the book __Eragon__.

I truly believe everybody should read the book __Eragon__. The book is full of surprises, and unexpected twists and turns. This means you never will want to put the book down. It is like a terrible addiction to something that's really good for you. Second, this book will never get boring and there is always something happening that is amazing. You'll never get bored even in a whole lifetime it even seems. In addition, whenever you begin to think it is beginning to be dull and nothing seems to be happening, something will just pop out. Then before you know it, you’re right back in the action and you’re excited again. Those are the reasons why you should really read this book.

With this book you can make numerous connections to the book’s plot. To begin with, have you ever had something happen unexpectedly and you can't even explain why or what happened? If you can relate, it is because that’s what happened to Eragon when he found the strange stone in a forest, just completely out of nowhere. Next, Eragon is always under intense pressure because he is told by everyone that he is the hope to defeat the evil leader Ra'zar and create peace. So, I know you were probably not in that kind of pressure but, I believe you can relate if you were ever under extreme pressure. Lastly, Eragon was just expected to learn to use the creature from the stone just like that. If you were ever expected to be a quick learner of something very difficult, you could easily relate because I couldn't learn I know for sure as fast as Eragon did in the book. Those are the many easy connections that you can connect no matter who you are.

__Among the Free__ By Monika D __Among the Free__ is the last book in the shadow children series this is an amazing book for it's impeccable word choice and it's amazing mystery that you have to unfold. This book takes place in the future where third children are not aloud to live, because of the lake of food and the government believes that third children are the reason for the shortness of food but Luke doesn't. Luke is a third child too and he thinks the population police are the enemy,and not third children. Luke begins to wonder if the third children are free and if the population police are out of power, after he joined the population police to have food then he runs away from being forced to shoot a lady on a stage and when he meet a boy which Luke thinks is a bit of a snob. When he runs away he runs into a crowd of people out side of the population police head quarters, there is dancing and partying, could this really mean that Luke is free? Then Luke see's an old enemy of his Oscar he was Smit's old body guard when he had a fake ID card as Lee Grant. He begins to wonder if he can trust Oscar after he heard him and the leader of the population police talking. Maybe Oscar is helping the population police to get to the third children is this true? Find out if Luke is really free and what happens next!

__Among the Free__ can relate to the real world in many ways it connects to me because I know how it feels to be shut out of every one and how it feels to hate how your world as it is. First, This book reminds me of hide and seek, this is because in the first book Luke has to hide in an attic so the population police can't get to him and don't find him. Once you read more of he series you can see that Luke is slowly letting go after he loses a friend very close to him Jen. She taught him how to let go and to be free "no one will stop you from being free" she said, Luke has to find a way how to live and save his friends, if you have ever felt alone, lost or endangered you can certainly relate to this book.

I recommend this book to anyone that loves to read mystery's, this is a great book to read to a class or even by your self, this will keep your mind and heart racing as your set on an adventure to unfold a great mystery. This book shows passion about third children and what the future may hold. You can visualize every word of what Margaret Peterson Haddix was writing in this book, your mind will be challenged as you read every page. I found my self wanting to read more and keep turning the page I wanted to find out what was happening next. I recommend this book to everyone, you might not enjoy reading mystery's but this book is an excellent book, find out what happens in the last book of the Shadow children series read this amazing book and uncover what has been read by millions of readers across the globe!

__**Three Cups of Tea**__  Written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Book review by Ellen R.

Three cups of tea starts with the main character Greg Mortenson and his goal to hike K2 the tallest mountain in Pakistan in honor of his sister who had passed away. While hiking Greg accidentally loses his group that he is hiking with. He stumbles upon the small village of Korphe. The people of Korphe take Greg in and feed him some of the little food they have and give him and a place to rest. Soon Greg is found by his group and they all stay in Korphe for a few days before going back down K2. Soon Greg learns how hard life is for someone living in such a remote village. The closest doctor lived a week’s walk away, almost all the food they had had to either be grown or hunted, and one out of every three children died before the age of one. What surprised Greg the most was when he saw where the children went to school. The kids were outside in the cold, without a teacher, writing in the dirt. Before Greg left he promised that he would build a school for the children of Korphe.

I think it is amazing how generous the people of Korphe were to Greg. They took a stranger into their homes, and treated him like he was family. They shared almost everything they had with him even though they hardly knew him. This book reminded me of one of the stories from the bible where Jesus is watching people donate to the church. The wealthier people donated more to the church but to them it wasn't a lot of money and they wouldn't miss the money they had donated. A poor woman came up and donated two small coins which was all she had. Jesus had pointed this out and said that she was more generous than the wealthier people. The old woman in this story is the people of Korphe and the church is Greg. The most recent thing that I can relate this book to is the earthquake in Haiti. We are donating to people we do not even know just out of the goodness of our hearts.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to make a difference in the world by helping others. This book is inspiring and I would recommend it to anyone. I give this book a five out of five star rating! I couldn’t put it down!