The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

By: Brian Selznick

KBS 

Fiction/Mystery

ISBN:9780439813785

Do you guys like mystery books, because I do? In the book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, it’s more than just mystery, it is also fiction. It is a cliff-hanging story that keeps you on the end of your seat all the time. When I read this novel I could not

stop reading. So step on up and read The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  

                The story takes place in Paris, in a clock house, that’s in a subway. Hugo, the main character, is a very smart boy and soon becomes lonely after his father died in a fire and then his uncle mysteriously vanishes. Now it is up to Hugo and his new friend Isabelle to crack the secret message his father has left. You might also want to keep the other characters in mind because they all have a role in the book.

          I would give it a four out of five because I personally love fiction. The book literally falls together like a puzzle. The only bad part is it barely has a lack of action which made it a little boring. I really like this book, because I think it is very unique that it also has a lot of pictures you have to follow. I encourage any reader to read this book.

The Killing Sea

The Killing Sea

Rating 5 out of 5

ISBN 978-1-4169-3620-6

      The Killing Sea, by Richard Lewis, is historical fiction based on the actual stories of people who experienced the devastating tsunami that stunned the world in 2004.  The Killing Sea is a survival story that paints the reader a picture of the aftermath of one of the world’s worst natural disasters.  The survivor’s stories will leave you feeling sad and helpless but also hopeful that people survive and move on when confronted with such a terrible tragedy.

     This story takes place in December of 2004 on Tiger Island in Indonesia.  In the book the author introduces the reader to people who have survived the tsunami and are struggling to find their families and struggling to survive.  Ruslan, an Indonesian boy, Sarah, a westerner and her younger brother Peter are brought together in the aftermath of the tsunami.  While Ruslan searches for his lost dad, Sarah is trying to get medical help for her ill brother.  They travel through the terrifying destruction together and are faced with death, disease, filth and hunger.  They never give up hope even though the odds are against them.

The author wants you to know that everyone that survived the tsunami has a different story but they all shared the same agony.  Also, the author tries to show that life goes on not matter what circumstances you are faced with.

  I am more aware of the devastating effects of natural disasters and the struggles survivors face.  I feel sad for all those lost lives and for those left behind to rebuild their lives.  I would give this novel two thumbs up and I would recommend it to readers who prefer survival stores about real events.  How people can overcome such horrible circumstances and never give up hope amazes me. 

AG

Swindle

Swindle

Gordon Korman

Adventure/Suspense

5 out of 5

13:978- 0 -545-05591-8

10:0-545-05591-1

Swindle is a thrilling book that you just can’t put down. Gordon Korman has done it again with another masterpiece. He ties together teamwork, friends, trust, betrayal, theft, and a Babe Ruth baseball card that Griffin found all in one book. Like Griffin, Gordon Korman is the “Man with the Plan”.

Griffin Bing has and ever will be the “Man with the plan”. After he makes a sleepover in an abandoned house that will be knocked down soon Griffin finds a Babe Ruth card. Hoping to make some green later that day with his friend Ben, Griffin sells the card to Mr. S. Wendell Palomino for a little less than $150. However a few days later Griffin hears the card is up for grabs at 200,000 dollars. Now Griffin has to round up a team of friends (and maybe a enemy) to outsmart Swindle and get his card back.

My rating is 10 out of 10 because you will probably never see a book that shows kids trying to steal a 1,000,000 dollar baseball card. I also liked it because of the characters, they were very unique. And it brings back the good memories of baseball.

I would recommend this book. I also think that people that like suspense would like this book. However if you are trying to get your mind off of a robbery….probably not the best choice. I really liked the book because I’ve always got into unique books like the Percy Jackson series.

I hoped you enjoyed and understood my review and I hope you like the book.

(DD)

AL Capone Does My Shirts

Al Capone Does My Shirts Book Review

Book Review by NB

Al Capone Does My Shirts

By: Gennifer Choldenko

Puffin Books Publishers

ISBN: 0-14-240370-9

225 pages

©2004

It is late summer, almost time for the school year to begin, when your parents inform you that you will be moving to Alcatraz! What do you do – freak out! Or, in Moose’s words, “Today I moved to a twelve-acre rock covered with cement, topped with bird turd, and surrounded with water.” This is a quote from the book Al Capone Does My Shirts, a one of a kind, page-turning, historical fiction book written by Gennifer Choldenko.

Moose Flanagan is an ordinary boy living on Alcatraz in the year 1935 with a very unusual family. Moose’s father is an electrician and guard on Alcatraz. Moose’s mom works a full time job. Because of this, everyday after school Moose has to watch his unusual sister, Natalie. Natalie is mentally distressed and always getting herself in trouble, so Moose has a big job on his hands and barely ever gets any free time. All Moose wants is an ordinary life, but what can he do to get one?

Al Capone Does My Shirts is a superb book choice for any middle schooler who likes exciting historical fiction books. I thought that it was an amazing novel with a compelling storyline. I would rate it five out of five stars. Al Capone Does My Shirts was good enough to keep me up reading all night. The author does a great job weaving a lot of Alcatraz history into a great plot. Although this book isn’t the type of book I normally read, I still very much enjoyed reading it, and so would you. This page-turning story gets more exciting every chapter. It is especially exciting when Moose meets some new friends on Alcatraz. Al Capone Does My Shirts won the Newberry Honor Award in the year 2005, so you can’t go wrong reading this book.

Gennifer Choldenko has also announced that she is writing a sequel to Al Capone Does My Shirts titled Al Capone Does My Shoes. So the fun on Alcatraz doesn’t have to stop after you read Al Capone Does My Shirts.

The Nutcraker

The Nutcracker

Fantasy; Rating: 5

 ISBN#: 0-7607-7470-6

Written By: Robert Innocenti

Book Review By: MF

     The Nutcracker is an enchanting book about a young, beautiful girl named Marie Stalbom. She has wavy blonde hair, pale skin, and a loving heart.  Marie is the youngest person in her family. She has an older brother named Fritz, and an even older sister named Louise.

     At the Stalbom home on Christmas Eve, after the children open their presents and go to bed, Marie is awakened by the sounds of battle. She goes into the family parlor to find her new, beloved Nutcracker and Fritz’s toy soldiers battling against hundreds of mice. The hideous Mouse King with seven heads is fighting against Nutcracker, and Marie is overcome with fright. She faints and falls into a glass cabinet, injuring herself so that she must stay in bed for the next two days.

      Two nights afterward, Nutcracker slays the hideous Mouse King, and gives Marie the seven crowns from his head. Then, they go away to the Land of Sweets, and they feast on candies while watching amazing dances preformed by beautiful snowflakes and other amazing things. She soon falls asleep, and the Nutcracker takes her home.

           In this book, I think the author wants us to know that if you love something, keep loving it! It does not matter what other people think or do to try and stop you. Just be yourself.

        This book is a classic, enchanting tale that everyone should read. It really puts you into the Christmas spirit, and stays in your mind forever. I rated this story a 5 because it is so full of love, and I cannot resist it! I would recommend this story to fantasy readers because it is such an adventurous story! I love this book and would read it a million times more!

A Mango Shaped Space

One False Note (The 39 Clues Book 2)

One False Note

By Gordon Korman, who wrote the famous book Swindle.

ISBN-978-0-545-06042-4

          Now, imagine your parents are dead. The one person you looked up to was your grandma, Grace Cahill, who is now dead too. In her Will she asks you to find 39 clues and a life or death situation. This is what happened to Dan and Amy Cahill. They are now hunting for 39 clues, they are up against their cousins Jonah Wizard, Irina Spasky, Ian and Natalie Kabra, The Holts, and Alistair Oh. Will they make it in time and get the 39 clues before their cousins do? This is an adventure and mystery type of book.

          In this book Dan and Amy are trying to find the next clue. The first one they had was “iron solute”, but the Kabra’s stole the clue before they had a chance to keep it. Amy Cahill is a student/bookworm. She is a walking encyclopedia. Dan Cahill is a collector/troublemaker. His skills are code-cracking and math. Jonah Wizard is an international superstar. His skills are rapping, dancing, and drawing a crowd. Irina Spasky is a secret agent. Her skills are spying, interrogation, and hiding poison in strange places. Ian Kabra is a jet-setter. His skills are bribery and blackmail. Natalie Kabra is a socialite/pint-sized assassin. The Holts are fitness buffs/bullies. Their skills are knocking people over. Alistair Oh is an inventor. His skill is smooth-talking.

          I think people who like adventure and solving things would like this book. I would give this book five stars or as Dan would say “Awesome.”  I think the author has big cliff-hangers so you will want to keep on reading. I think the author was trying to teach us, in the book, about famous people because you have to use clues that were left behind by Mozart and his sister and other kinds of famous people. If you like this review, I would suggest that you start the series by reading the first book The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan, who wrote The Lighting Thief.  After you read the first and second books, you should look for the third book, The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis, who wrote the famous series Spy X.

JO

The Battle of the Labyrinth

Book Title:  The Battle of the Labyrinth

Author:  Rick Riordan

Genre:  Greek Mythology

Book Rating:  5

Review by:  AS

ISBN:  978-142310146-8

      The Battle of the Labyrinth starts off with immediate action.  The main character, Percy, is attacked by Empousai.  Percy has to fight Empousai in the middle of Orientation Night.  This battle happens in the first chapter.  By going into immediate action, the author grabs your attention and pulls you into the book wanting you to continue reading.  The author also uses cliffhangers to keep your attention. For example, there is a part in the story that Percy makes a bargain.  The bargain is that if he cleans the stables filled with man-eating horse manure before sunset, then he and his friends can go free.  This part of the story is a cliffhanger, because the reader isn’t sure if Percy will finish the task on time which will cause the guy he is bargaining with to sell him to the antagonists for gold or if the manure will eat him.  Another cliffhanger is when Percy tries to stop antagonists and tries to put out a fire by making a flood of water explode out of nowhere.  He ends up getting himself blown out of the cave.  There are many other cliffhangers throughout the book.  The cliffhangers put you on the edge of your seat, and they make you want to keep reading to find out what happens to Percy.  Throughout the book the author keeps the reader familiar with the characters from the previous books. Rick Riordan keeps the characters consistent with their personalities, but introduces other character traits that the reader hasn’t seen yet.  This helps the reader understand what the characters are feeling and thinking. 

“I pointed my sword at Antaeus.  Winner takes all.  I win we all go free.  You win we die.  Swear upon the River Styx.  Antaeus laughed.  This shouldn’t take long.  I swear to your terms!”  This piece of the story demonstrates how much fighting there is in the book.  This quote also shows how courageous Percy is.  It shows Percy’s bravery, because he did not have as much experience as Antaeus.

This book took place in the Labyrinth.  The Labyrinth is a gigantic maze that is underground.  The maze contains many traps and tries to confuse the person going through.  Time passes quickly for those who enter the Labyrinth.  The main character is Percy Jackson, a 15-year-old boy who is a half-blood.  A half-blood is half mortal and half Greek God.  Percy’s dad, Poseidon, is the Greek God of water and his mom, Sally Jackson, is a mortal.  Percy Jackson is brave and tries to help his friends as much as possible.  Every year he goes on a quest.  In this particular book, Percy had to stop Kronos and his army from invading Camp Half-Blood.  He had to find some way to navigate the Labyrinth in order to find Daedalus.  He had to get to Daedalus before Kronos, because Daedalus had a string that could help him navigate the Labyrinth.  Being able to navigate the Labyrinth could make Percy unstoppable.  When Percy found Daedalus, Kronos had already gotten there.  I think the themes of the book are determination and friendship.  The characters showed determination in the Labyrinth, because if they weren’t they would probably not make it out alive.  The characters could count on their friends for support and rely on them. 

This book was one of the best books I have read.  The author builds up to the suspense by providing details.  He incorporates clues to make the reader think about the story events.  These clues help reveal what is actually going to happen in the story.  I recommend this book to people that like Greek Mythology, action, and humorous books.  This book is about Greek myths.  It has a lot of action like fighting and wars.  In parts of the story that were series, the author adds some humor.  This book is a phenomenal read, because the way the author writes.  It immediately gets the reader hooked to continue reading.  The only downfall is that every book in the series has the same kind of plot.  Percy has to go on a quest and conquers what he encounters.  I like this book, because Percy is courageous which keeps the book interesting.  For example, Percy challenges Antaeus to a duel when Antaeus is stronger and probably has had more experience as a fighter.  I loved this book, and you can too.  Just pick up The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan.  However, I would read the other books in the series first to help you understand this book. 

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

            Douglas Adams

            0-671-52721-5

            “All right,” said Deep Thought. “The Answer to the Great Question…”

            “Yes…!”

            “Of Life, the Universe, and Everything…” said Deep Thought

            “Yes…!”

            “Is…” said Deep Thought and paused.

            The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is an amazingly funny book. Douglas Adams included some crazy, bizarre, and cocky things that will make you laugh your pants off in this fiction novel. Anyone sixth grade and up will enjoy reading this. If you are a fan of funny fiction I’m sure you’ll find this a four or five out of five rating! The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy will leave you wanting to read the rest of Douglas Adams’ hilarious stories.

            This book includes many crazy twists in the plot. In the beginning, you start out reading about Arthur Dent who lives on Earth, unlike some of the other characters. He is a very sensible person who likes everything in order. Arthur’s friend Ford is from a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. Luckily, both are rescued by the Heart of Gold, a space ship, from suffocating in outer space. They get pulled into the search for a planet called Magrathea. This place, many millions of years ago, manufactured other planets. Almost every living creature thought that Magrathea was just a myth. Many obstacles

such as missiles got in the way of them finding it. Even though they have a lot of things that could’ve messed up their journey, they had the improbability drive that helped them out of every situation. All you had to do was activate it and it would calculate how improbable it was for something to happen. Then, it would take that one chance and use it, creating many strange things. To find out what insane things happen, you should read it.

Many books have a meaning, point, or reason behind the plot. I think that The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has one main moral. Basically, I believe Douglas Adams wants you to know that people can be a little over obsessive about the meaning of life. I think he just wants us to know that we should just live life to the fullest and go with the flow. Also, Adams wanted to make the book silly. This book has a good meaning that is important.

            The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was a very good story. I enjoyed reading it. Personally, I thought it would not have been as good if Adams had not included all the random and funny things he added. Anyone who likes comical fiction books that is sixth grade or older will enjoy reading this. The many strange things in this novel make it a page turner. I would highly suggest reading this tale if you’re in need of some time to laugh.  CJ

Regular Kid

Regular Kid                      KN

                                                                6-B 12/18/08

        Imagine if you were switched at birth that would suck. That is what Gus and Bobby are going through in the book The Regular Kid. This book is a Fantasy. I would rate this book as a Three. Because it was, a mystery and I love mysteries a lot. 

        This book takes place in the U.S.A. I would have to say the main character was Gus because he was the one who started all of this mystery in the first place.

        Somebody- Gus

Wanted- He wanted to find out if he was switched at birth with Bobby.

But- He Just did not have enough proof if the was in actually switched at birth with Bobby.

So- He got a detention to go through the files to figure out if he was born at the same hospital as Bobby and if he was born on the same day as Bobby.

        Bobby is Gullible, Unselfish, Gentle, and Loveable

Gus is Rude, Mean, and Lazy.

        I would rate this book as a Three because it is a Mystery and it has good detail in it. I highly Recommend this book if you like Mysteries Because this is the Mystery  

You have been waiting for.