Hyde's Summer Reading Program

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling shared by taamr

2011-08-18T05:42:00.000-07:00

The book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets depicts Harry Potter (a boy who lived a magical curse driven by the powerful sorcerer, Voldemort) once again, in his second year at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The story starts off illustrating Harry at his despicable, loathed Aunt’s and Uncle’s house (his temporary guardians). After accidentally humiliating his uncle, Harry gets locked up in his room with no way to escape. Yet luckily, he is rescued by none other than his best friend, Ronald Weasley in a flying car. At Ron’s house, Harry is shown a new way of transportation and is then introduced to a far unusually cocky man named, Gilderoy Lockhart. When it is finally time to board the Hogwarts Express, Harry and Ron miss the train. However, Harry and Ron do make it to Hogwarts via flying car, but get into far more trouble than expected. When it is time for classes to be in session, Harry learns that the unusually cocky man that he met was his new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. After a few weeks, when Harry and Ron are in detention for the flying car incident, Harry starts to hear strange voices inside the walls of Hogwarts. He then finds a petrified cat, and large words written in blood saying, “the chamber of secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware.” Now, Harry, Ron, and Hermione (another good friend of Harry’s), set out to figure out more regarding the Chamber of Secrets. After months of judgment, all three find out that the Chamber of Secrets was a place in Hogwarts where a powerful wizard, Salazar Slytherin, had built a chamber where he kept a monstrous creature in his custody. At one point, Harry finds a diary in the girl’s bathroom; he discovers that the diary had belonged to someone named Tom M. Riddle and that it has unusual and bizarre powers. Powers such as, when Harry had written, “Hello, my name is Harry Potter,” it responded, “Hello Harry, my name is Tom Marvolo Riddle.” Amazed, Harry started to ask questions about the Chamber of Secrets. The diary told him that he, Tom Riddle, had seen Hagrid, his close friend, open the Chamber of Secrets 50 years ago, and set a monstrous animal into the castle. A few days following this event, Harry and Ron ascend off to Hagrid’s and discover that he has to go to Azkaban (Wizard Prison). Nevertheless, before leaving, Hagrid does tell them this, “Follow the spiders.” Aching to solve this puzzle, Harry and Ron set off to follow the spiders; however, they are discontinued to learn that their dear friend, Hermione Granger was petrified. They still continue though, for they know that this was what Hermione had wanted them to do. Several nights later, Harry and Ron sneak into the Forbidden Forest to follow the spiders. They discover the monster that killed the girl fifty years before was not a spider. They also discover that a girl's body was found in a bathroom the night the real monster attacked, and that Hagrid is innocent. Yet, seconds later, the boys almost get killed by a colony of giant spiders. As they escape, Harry and Ron decide their friend Moaning Myrtle from the bathroom must have been the girl killed by the monster. When Harry and Ron go to meet Hermione in the Hospital, Harry finds a crumpled up old paper inside her hand. It had described a snake called a basilisk. They finally deduce that the Chamber monster is a basilisk. Before the boys act on their knowledge, the teachers announce that Ginny Weasley (Ron’s little sister) has been taken into the chamber. Harry and Ron find out that the Chamber entrance was in the bathroom itself where their friend Moaning Myrtle was killed. While Ron waited, Harry enters the Chamber of Secrets to encounter Ginny Weasley’s still body and Tom Riddle (the man from the diary). To Harry’s surprise, Tom turns out to be a younger version of Voldemort, who has been enchanting Ginny through his diary. Harry calls for help from Dumbledore and suddenly, A phoenix and a magic hat arrive. Tom finally summons the basilisk; yet, the hat produces a sword, which Harry uses to kill the giant snake. Harry sticks a basilisk’s fang through the diary, destroying Tom and awakes Ginny. Harry explains his adventure to Dumbledore, and once again, all is well in the castle as the students leave for their summer vacations.

Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf shared by acgab by

2011-08-18T05:39:00.000-07:00

This book is about an 11 year old girl named Malidia and her village being taken to a camp. The men and women were separated, the women were sent to a school to be trained as a German, the girls all had blonde hair and light colored eyes. As of the men they were sent else where to be killed. Malidia was trying to remember her real identity as time went on. She was soon adopted by a German family. Eva was well treated and became close to her new family. Malidia/Eva found out that her real mother was alive and went out looking for her. She soon found out her real identity. Eva met her mom at Prague. She also found put that her father and her close friend tezerie was killed. As the story ends malidia lived with her mother in Prague.

Wild Card by Tiki and Ronde Barber shared by paris

2011-08-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

Tiki and Ronde are having a great year on their football team, the Hidden Valley Eagles. But disaster strikes when their star kicker, Adam, is thrown off the team for academic restrictions. Without their star kicker, the Eagles have to go for two-point conversations, which won't be good, because other teams can stop it easily. Tiki has to be the replacement kicker, which he doesn't really like. So, Tiki and Ronde decide to help Adam get better with his studies. Adam needs to ace both of his make-up tests to go back to the team. Adam aces both tests and is allowed back on the team. He then nails a game-winning field goal to lead the Eagles back into the playoffs.

The 39 Clues Book 1: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan shared by jeril

2011-08-18T05:34:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed being in the adventure with Amy and Dan in The 39 Clues Book 1: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan. It is mostly about how Amy and Dan’s grandmother, Grace Cahill, left certain Cahills an assignment or they could collect $1,000,000 from her will. Amy and Dan travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Paris, France to find small clues that Benjamin Franklin wrote to lead to the next big clue. While there, Amy and Dan encounter relatives that make it hard to find the clues. This book is a fun way to learn about historical famous people and places.

39 Clues Book 3: The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis shared by jeril

2011-08-18T05:32:00.001-07:00

I really enjoyed the 39 Clues Book 3: The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis. There were some challenges in finding the clues because of their relatives and it was exciting. I liked how they started befriending their uncle, Alistair. In fact that's the main part of the story. The reason they start liking him is because he saved their lives and helps them. They start working together as a team. We learn that their Uncle Alistair promised Amy and Dan's parents that he would keep the kids safe. I enjoyed the humorous comments of the characters.

The Wish List by Eoin Colfer shared by chkev

2011-08-18T05:28:00.000-07:00

Belch and Meg Finn, her partner, attempt robbery from an old man. When he came down because of all the noise, Belch's dog bit him. Meg didn't want to kill the old man, so she made Belch call him off. After that, Belch needed to preserve his pride after a girl threatened him. His dog chased her all the way until she backed into an ally with gas tanks, and Belch caught up. after a brief conversation, he shot the gas tanks and killed both of them. Meg saw her body as she floated out of it as a spirit. Soon, she floated into a tunnel, met Belch who melded with his dog, and they separated at the end. Belch went down and Meg crashed into the Pearlies wall. She found her way into Earth and a mite gave her two rocks with spiritual residue. Belch was given a personal help hologram and was sent to stop Meg from helping the person she harmed so she would enter Satan's realm. Meg found herself in a spirit form and in Lowrie's (the old man's) house. She learned she could merge with his physical body for a while and control it with increased stamina. What would normally kill Lowrie would not now. Lowrie told her she must of been sent back for a reason, so he gave her a list of things to help him do that he regrets not doing. The first item was to kiss his friend from a long time ago. They succeeded even though Belch tried to kill Lowrie, the security guard that had to be hypnotized, and the fact the TV camera was still running. Belch was sent back to Satan after a wave of pure goodness swept him away. Second, Lowrie wanted to kick a soccer ball in Croke Park. He had to climb a giant fence but luckily Meg was there to take over and get across. Unfortunately, they were found by a security guard. When he found out Lowrie was the old person from the TV, he asked for the truth on why. They made up a quick lie and totally fooled him into getting them a soccer ball. They kicked it and left for the third task: to punch someone named Ball. When in his cottage, Lowrie was surprised when Ball apologized for making Lowrie call Ball "sir". After leaving, Meg asked if she could have that wish. She wanted to punch someone named Franco for punching her mom and stealing and selling her ring. Unfortunately, Belch already sucked the life juices out of him, so Meg got mad and threw a vase at her. the vase happened to hold her mom's ashes, and since ashes are sacred, demons are allergic. That made Belch stuck in a dying body. The last task was to spit over the cliffs of moher. it was inspired by a poem, so they drove there to spit. Unfortunately, there was a storm so it was hard to climb. Belch tracked her down and almost killed them, but ran out of energy and was back with Satan. Meg gave one rock to Franco and one to Lowrie. With that, she went to Heaven.

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson shared by soand

2011-08-18T05:27:00.000-07:00

The book, Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson starts out when a 14 year old girl named Mattie lived and worked with her diligent mom in the flourishing coffeehouse without her father, because of a broken neck. So her grandfather was replaced to help serve the coffeehouse. When the days pass by slowly, the Yellow Fever spreads across Philadelphia and people start dying everywhere, including Mattie's mom and her friend, Polly. Mattie was forced to follow her grandfather to a better place to live. When her grandfather caught the fever, they were dragged off the wagon on a deserted area far off from their coffeehouse. Meanwhile, Mattie was carried into a makeshift hospital by her grandfather for a few weeks. When Mattie and her grandfather returs home, she found the coffeehouse robbed by thieves and desperately helps her grandfather from getting killed by them, so she grabbed the sword from him and killed one of the thieves. Unfortunately, he was killed. One day, Mattie found a poor little girl named Nell on her way to home and took care of her the whole time. When the winter season came, the fever was wiped out and the business was back to normal. Finally, Mattie found her frail mother with the Lundington farmers and they lived happily ever after. I recommend this book to people who like adventure books.

The Circuit by Fransisco Jimenez shared by bumoh

2011-08-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

The story The Circuit by Fransisco Jimenez was about a migrant family of ten who constantly struggled in their attempt of making a living. They illegally crossed the border from Mexico to California when their family consisted of only Panchito, Roberto, and their parents. They started of staying at Santa Maria where they had a job picking cotton. Panchito also went to school there but his biggest obstacle was learning English. From Santa Maria, they moved to Corcoran also to pick cotton but since it was raining, they went to Orosoi to pick grapes for Mr. Patrini. They got a nice home there. The family later moved back to Santa Maria where they could pick cotton, Panchito could go to school, and Roberto could be a janitor. They were settling well in Santa Maria but a short time after the moved back, the Border Patrol caught Panchito and eventually the rest of his family for illegally crossing the border.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling shared by j-sof

2011-08-18T05:18:00.000-07:00

Harry's summer was "o.k", but lonely. The times are tough now, and manypeople are calling Harry "The Chosen One" which gives Harry a lot ofpressure to deal with. All around students think he is the one who will
conquer Voldamort, but will he? If Voldamort is iimmortal how do you
conquer that? It's a tough job, but everyone's counting on Harry.

Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix by J.K. Rowling shared by j-sof

2011-08-18T05:16:00.000-07:00

The Ministry of Magic, the wizarding community, and the DailyProphet are all againest Harry Potter just because of what he saw inthe Triwizard Tournament Even with the Order of Phoenix on his sidehe still can't warn everyone that Voldamort came back without soundinglike a lunatic Harry's situation is bad enough, but even worst comes
ahead.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling shared by j-sof

2011-08-18T05:14:00.000-07:00

Disaster comes to the Quittich World Cup, wizards are missing, and now trouble and blame comes to Harry at the Triwizard Tournament An unexpected name flies out of the Goblet of fire,and now Harry is treated like a cheater when he didn't even touch the goblet of fire. How did happen? Was it a error the goblet made, or did someone really put Harry's name in the goblet?J.K. Rowling shows true bravery in Harry and that is something needed both in keeping friendships and even fighting evil.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban J.K. Rowling shared by j-sof

2011-08-18T05:13:00.000-07:00

J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban:When Harry Potter finds out how the prisoner of Askaban helped Voldomort find and kill his parents he is furious and wants to getrevenge. Now that the prisoner has escaped Askaban there'sa rumor saying that he wants to finish Voldomort's plan and go afterHarry. Harry soon uncovers the truth about the night his parents weremurdered, and learns the story of a innocent man.

Redwall by Brian Jacques shared by chkev

2011-08-18T05:11:00.000-07:00

Redwall by Brian Jacques is about a mouse named Matthias who needs to find the sword of Martin the Warrior to save the town of Redwall from being conquered.

Matthias and Constance the Badger saw Cluny and his evil band of rats traveling toward Redwall. He told the Abbot about it but they dismissed it because Cluny was a legend. However, Cluny came on a mission to talk to the Abbot for giving him Redwall. The Abbot denied him and they were seen out. Martin contacted Matthias through his mind and told him his tapestry was in danger. Matthias saw a rat stealing it but the rat got away. Matthias went on a search for the tapestry, trying to steal it back. There, he met Basil Stag, a hare who taught Matthias how to camouflage. He went to a sentry troop and while Basil distracted the rats he tried to see where the tapestry was, but it wasn't there. Redwall itself was about to be sneaked into. Cluny tried to use a plank to get over the Redwall wall, but Constance the badger flung the plank injuring Cluny and the weasel who thought the idea up. Cluny hired a fox named Sela to heal him. Sela decided to double-cross Cluny to get money from the plunder of Redwall from him and to sell plans of attack to Redwall. Meanwhile, Matthias and Methuselah, two mice, tried to solve a riddle to find the sword of Martin the Warrior. they solved 3 riddles to find the sword belt and shield of Martin, but they had yet to find the sword. Following another riddle, they put the shield in a slot at 1:00 in the morning. The shield reflected the moonlight to the weather vane. When a squirrel went to get it, they found it was taken from the place. Even worse, the squirrel was attacked by sparrows. They accidentaly shot down a little sparrow named Warbeak. The Abbot healed her but Warbeak was ungrateful. Matthias took the sparrow to the roof to return her, but Matthias was captured while the bird was back with his own kind. At Cluny's camp, he ordered Sela and her son to be killed for betraying them. At the sparrow's nest, Matthias was spared and kept as a pet for Warbeak. After a long while, he found out the king sparrow had the scabbard of Martin's sword. Back at Cluny 's camp, Jess the squirrel and Basil stole the tapestry back. Martin stole the scabbard, found out the whereabouts of the sword, and fled. At Redwall, Chickenhound the fox ( he survived his execution at Cluny's camp) stole things from Redwall, killed Methuselah, and hid in a hole. Unfortunately, it was the home of an adder named Asmodeus, who killed him. After a brief rest in Redwall, Matthias set out to find the whereabouts of the snake who holds the sword. On the way, he met shrews who helped him, a cat, and an owl. After finding the snake hole, he killed the snake with help from Martin and stole the sword. When he arrived back in Redwall, most animals had already been caught. Matthias, shrews, and sparrows freed them and they all attacked together, decimating the rats and defeating them.

Artemis Fol:The Lost Colony by Eoin Coiffer shared by nichi

2011-08-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

When fairies began to live underground, only one family, the demons, created a time spell, and took their whole colony into Limbo. The demons have also been planning to attack the humans. And that spell was breaking, which means demons are going to appear all over the place. When a single demon appears in a theater in Italy, a human girl who has predicted the demon materialization kidnaps the demon before Artemis. Holly and Artemis will take the demon back, in order to save themselves. Artemis and the other genius will have to work together. Then Artemis risks his life going to Limbo. With only 2 warlocks, a demon, a fairy, and a human, will they come back alive?

Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers shared by tasog

2011-08-16T05:45:00.000-07:00

The book Bad Boy is about a boy named Walter Dean Myers, the author. He was adopted at a young age by a lovely family in Harlem. He adored his new neighborhood, but what he enjoyed the most were the streets that were filled with music. Everyday, ye would go in the streets and dance along to the rhythm of the music, and sometimes receive a couple pennies from a walker. Afterwards, he would take his earnings and go to the grocer to get some icy pops. Once finishing a bucket full of icy pops, Walter headed home. On his way, he started crying fiercely, because of a dreadful stomach ache. All of sudden, ye was lying in the hospital. After a few tests the doctor told his parents that he consumed so many icy pops, that the food color was going straight through. Meanwhile, first grade was coming up for him, and he was more than anxious. When he first started school, everything was going great, until Walter accidentally spilled some paste on his lap. His classmate found it amusing, and started to laugh, so Walter took some paste and put it on his classmates lap. Finally, first grade was over, and it was time for second grade. During second grade, ye realized he had speech problems. When one of his classmates started teasing him, Walter simply punched him right in the face. Years passed, and he was walking home from the fourth grade when his stomach really started cramping up. With lots of struggle, he eventually arrived home, where his mother took him to the hospital. An hour after arriving he was told he needed to get his appendix removed. Once he was released from the hospital all he was allowed to do was lay in bed. Shortly, he became bored and decided to take his bike for a spin, (even though he was warned not to). While riding he saw his father coming and rushed home. His belly hurt terribly, while trying to bring the bike up the stairs. When his father came he pulled up the covers and saw blood oozing from his bandaged stomach. Once again, they headed to the hospital to get his stomach stitched again. On the other hand, he was at the next level for athletic ability, but also, had a true passion for books. At this point Walter was twelve, and was going to have his birthday party on August 13, when he was awakened early by his mother. Unfortunately, he was told that his uncle Lee was killed last night. Ye didn’t know his uncle that well, so his death didn’t really upset him. On the other hand, Mr. Dean was devastated, and soon became depressed. Meanwhile, Walter was headed to Stuyvesant High. During his junior year he was completely lost, and didn’t know what direction he was going, or what direction he should be going. Ye were also doing poorly in school, so he decided to stop going. Simple math problems eluded him, and if it wasn’t for English, he would have never returned. At sixteen, Walter wanted to write short mythical stories. He also wanted to write the complications and fears of his own life, as well as a safe path through that labyrinth. Soon that was over, and he started to write gloomy mournful poems. Meanwhile, Walter had missed so many days of school, that to stay out of juvenile, ye had to go to a counselor. The counselor was a beautiful bright woman named Dr. Holiday. Every week they would have a meeting to get him to open up. Surprisingly, Walter let all that go, and decided to join the army. Eventually, he was released from the army, and glad to be. Afterwards, he worked at a series of low-paying jobs. He decided once again to start writing, and soon produced poems, short stories, articles, and ideas for advertising campaigns. Overall, I found this book alright. This book was a little surprising to me, because Walter Dean Myers seems like such a calm person, but during his childhood he was the exact opposite.

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan shared by hujul

2011-08-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

The bookI read was Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan. This book is about a dog that is very dopey and not that bright, but he ends up stealing his owners' hearts. When John and Jenny, a newlywed couple, were children, they each had obedient and loyal dogs. Before they decided to have a baby, they decided to get a dog for practice. They named him Marley because they always listened to a Jamaican singer named Bob Marley. Marley started growing at an astounding pace, and he began driving his owners crazy. Soon, Jenny found out that she was pregnant. After 10 weeks, she went to the doctor to see the baby, but he couldn't see anything. That meant there was no baby, and it was a miscarriage. John and Jenny knew that one in six pregnancies end in miscarriages. Jenny was so sad, and Marley somehow understood that was always calm around her. Soon, Jenny was pregnant again, and soon was born a healthy baby boy. They named him Patrick because of John's Irish heritage. When Marley was around Patrick, he was also calm and quiet around him, gently licking his face. After seventeen months, Jenny was pregnant again, but the baby was coming too soon. The doctor said that she had to avoid moving so the baby wouldn't come too early and be unhealthy. Jenny was becoming really angry with Marley with his crazy antics like tearing up many of their furniture items. She wanted him gone-- out of the house for good. After waiting several more weeks, Conor, their second baby boy, was born. Soon, John got a call because a new movie was casting roles, and the casting director thought Marley would be perfect for the part of the dopey family dog. He wouldn't cooperate with what he was supposed to do. He kept jumping out of the van before he was supposed to and chewing on his leash that the little boy actor was supposed to hold. When the movie came out two years later, everyone was laughing at Marley's performance. Not long afterwards, another baby girl named Colleen was born. Marley was still eager with John and Jenny, but gentle with all the kids. He followed at John's heels wherever he went, even just down the stairs for water or to the bathroom. Soon, John got really into gardening, so he had the whole family move to Pennsylvania so he could become a writer for a gardening magazine instead of a column writer for a newspaper. After a while, John realized that he wasn't happy writing for a magazine, so he took a job writing a column for a local newspaper. As the days turned to weeks, weeks to months, months to years, Marley began aging as quickly as he came. When the family went to Disneyland, they left Marley behind in a local kennel. While they were there, they got a call from a kennel attendent saying that Marley was really sick and his stomach was bloated. They were going to put a tube down his throat to remove all the excess air in his stomach, but there was a 1% chance he was going to live. After a couple days, Marley's chances were boosted up to 5%, and when the family got home, Marley was back to his usual self, but he wasn't as jumpy. He mostly just laid around all day, but still followed John around although his weak hips allowed him limited movement. One day, Jenny took the kids to Boston to visit her sister, and John dropped Marley at the vet's so he could have special attention while he went to Philidelphia for a news coverage of a plane crash site. Soon, he got a call saying that Marley was bloated again, and the vet said that he tried to stop the bloating the same way the kennel attendant did, but it didn't work. the other options were to put him through surgery or put him to sleep. Putting him through surgery would just be too vigorous for an old dog like Marley. He called Jenny to ask her about it, and they both knew it was time. Marley had been a part of their lives for almost 13 years. Soon, he was gone. John, Jenny, Patrick, Conor, and Colleen moped over Marley for months. John buried him between the shade of two pretty cherry trees in their front yard. They found it a little easier without Marley following them around everywhere and without dog hair all over the house. Eventually, John wrote a column about how Marley was a cunning, loyal, stupid dog. He got a lot of responses because the column reminded a lot of people of their dead dogs or their dogs who were just like Marley. John and his family weren't the only ones who had their hearts broken by a recently deceased family pet.

Four Truths and a Lie by Lauren Barnholdt. shared by khgar

2011-08-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

Scarlett Northron just wanted a fresh new start. Her father had been caught stealing money and everyone at school teased her about that, so she decided to switch schools. When she got to her new boarding school she found out that her new roommate Crissa was not nice at all. In her Language Arts class their teacher told them that they would be writing to unknown pen pal at the boarding school for boys. Her pen pal wrote her a letter saying that he is going to play the game four truths and a lie with her and if she gets a statement wrong she will be “destined for darkness”. Her pen pal also tells her that he knows her father’s secret and will tell the whole school if she doesn’t do the dares. Some of the dares cause her to sneak out and get in trouble. Her pen pal James came to visit her and tells her that doing the four truths and a lie game was Crissa’s idea. She wanted Scarlett to do the dares, get in trouble, and eventually get expelled. He told Scarlett to stop doing the dares, but she was determined to complete them. For one of the dares Scarlet sneaked into the headmistress’s office after curfew to see some secret files, but gets caught and put on probation ,but Scarlett still wanted to do the last dare. The last dare was to find out if her bff’s dad was really stationed overseas. When her bff found out that Scarlett didn’t truly believe that her dad was in the military she got mad and asked Scarlett to leave. Scarlett was on a suspension for three days, probation, and lost her best friend, her life was a mess! She confronted Crissa and Crissa said that Scarlett was lazy, carless, and that she deserved it. The head mistress said that Scarlett can’t go to the school dance and if she broke any more rules she would be expelled. Scarlett decided to give Amber (her bff) her costly dress to wear to the dance and Amber forgave Scarlett. When Scarlett got to her room she saw Crissa crying and Crissa told her that her mom was always pressuring her about studying and other that she didn’t want to do. She said that she was really sorry about what she did to Scarlett and Scarlett forgave her. Scarlett also decided that it was time to forgive what her dad had done and start talking to him again. She also forgave James and they became a couple.

Mossflower by Brian Jacques shared by chkev

2011-08-15T19:27:00.000-07:00

Mossflower by Brian Jacques is centered around a mouse called Martin the Warrior. Other main characters include Tsarmina the cat as the main protagonist, a mouse named Gonff, and a mole named Dinny. Martin, Gonff, and Dinny look for Salamandastron, a mountain where their only hope in saving their home and friends in Mossflower from Tsarmina's rule.

Martin the Warrior fought a band of Tsarmina's Dad's weasels. After a quick fight, Martin was captured and put in a cell. A fox entered the room of Verdauga and gave him medicine that was actually poison. Tsarmina, who banded with the fox, inherited the crown and banished her brother. Gonff the Mousethief was captured for stealing and put in the same cell as Martin. Soon, the woodlanders (peaceful resisters to Tsarmina) gave the mousethief his tools and both Martin and Gonff escaped by picking the lock. They met some woodlanders and were carried across a river to camp. Tsarmina the Queen soon ordered for Gloomer to be sent in the water. The otters released their own underwater battler, a giant pike named Stormfin, into the water. A battle quickly emerged as the titans did battle, but in the end, Gloomer the Water Rat drowned and lost. The woodlanders needed a spy. As a result, they hired a robin named Chibb for the price of a few bags of candied chestnuts. After a while though, Ferdy and Coggs who are two baby hedgehogs ran away to fight Tsarmina. Martin decides to go on a journey to Salamandastron the mountain to find Boar the fighter, the only one who can save Mossflower. They search for a hidden map purely from riddles, found it, and started the journey. After a long period of walking, they found a pond, looked for food, and continued. They were captured by three of Tsarmina's followers. However, they quickly escaped. They crossed a river and were saved from a snake and a new by a shrew named Log-a-Log. They sailed down a river, bailed out before a waterfall, and encountered bats. Meanwhile in Mossflower, the woodlanders started to resist Tsarmina. They killed one of her generals and broke prisoners out of the prison by infiltrating their castle. After helping the bats, Martin and his friends were captured by toads but broke out when they freed an eel who loves toadmeat from a pit. The woodlanders themselves thought up a brilliant idea. they decided to flood Kotir the castle with water from a river. By the time they got to the shore, they were hungry and thirsty. Gonff cheered the group up by dancing with a crab, and they left again. They encountered three hares who took them to Salamandastrom. There, they met Boar the fighter, and Martin got a new sword. He practiced with it and learned from Boar. Soon, a Sea Rat invaded Salamandastron and Boar, six hares, and Martin's group fought the many fighters. Boar died in the battle and all the others escaped in a river to Mossflower. In Mossflower, Bane, a fox, joined forces with Tsarmina. The woodlanders surrounded Kotir and squirrel archer shot any who tried to escape from windows or doors. As revenge, some woodlanders burned Tsarmina's room. Soon, Martin, six hares, one mole, and one mouse arrived back in Mossflower. The woodlanders and Martin's group surrounded Kotir and made a proposition: either flee and live or stay and die. Choosing to stay, Tsarmina's followers shot a volly of arrows to where the woodlanders used to be. Squirrels fired a quick volley of arrows. Because the mole dug holes from the river, Kotir started to flood. The woodlanders made a siege catapult and broke Kotir. Tsarmina was swept away, but Martin tracked her down and killed her.

The Roar by Emma Clayton shared by chkev

2011-08-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

The Roar is a fiction book based on twins who have supernatural power along with other mutants. The story is set in the future city of London and the Animal Plague. Throughout the book they find their entire life was built on lies.

Before the main storyline, Ellie (one of the twins), was kidnapped by the main villain in the book, Mal Gorman.

Ellie, who was being held by Mal Gorman, escaped on a Pod Fighter, a device for two to fly on to London to see her brother. After a skilled chase, she was shot down by Mal's people and recaptured in a coffin. Mika, her brother, feels pain in his bed as all that occurred, so he was sent to the hospital. At the hospital, the government finds out about his webbed feet mutation. Soon, he is sent to see a psychiatrist named Helen who tells him to play the newest game after drinking Fit Mix, which makes people get strong and grow. Everyone plays it and flocks to the arcade after school. Even though they live in the "Shadows", a dark, poor place where people ate moss, they still gathered at the arcade. The game was called Pod Fighter, a simulation where kids fly a real Pod Fighter. On the first week, Mika had already adapted to all the controls and instinctively manned the Pod. However, he needed a good gunner by his side. Right before a big competition, he met Audrey, a really good gunner. As a team, they rose to the top of the first round and won. At the second round, they went to a plastic beach resort because there were no real ones. There, they ate real food (not the moss they were used to) and learned how to use a harpoon gun and how to scuba dive. As the test, they had to shoot robotic fish in schools. The organizers of the contest showed him how to move something with his eyes because he was special and took the right tablets. In the final test of the second round they shot sharks that were attacking seals. Unfortunately, Mika himself was shot by accident. The final round was held at Cape Wrath. They used Telekinesis in the first test to see who was strongest of the group. Ellie was in Cape Wrath as well, and both twins sensed their presence. Mika was put in a labyrinth and found his way to a pit full of robot wolves. He was put in a cage and ferried across. There, Mal Gorman himself chose six of the nine remaining finalists and told them to come back tomorrow. At night in the luxury home he won, Mika heard booms and a mob of people from the Shadows wrecked all the luxury homes above them. To escape, they stole a Pod Fighter and went over the Wall that separates London from the rest of the world. He sees a forest there but all are supposed to be dead. They were attacked by a few robotic hawks but got to Gorman's place. As promised, he saw Ellie and both literally glowed and flew in a Pod to London.

The Doll People by Ann Martin shared by khmeg

2011-08-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

The Doll People is a book about a family of eight people including the nanny. Since the last 45 years one of the family members named Sarah is missing. She is the Aunt of Annabelle and Bobby Doll. Without her gone there is just Papa, Mama, Uncle, and Nanny. With big sister Annabelle, little brother Bobby Doll and Baby Betsy left. Annabelle is a very restless soul and she has to do something because she thinks she will die of boredom. Annabelle remembers the time when she was played by Katherine Palmer who is now a grandma of Kate Palmer which the dolls are currently owned by her not Nora, Kate’s younger sister. The dolls were also played by Katherine’s daughter and Kate’s mother Annie Palmer. At night all the dolls would sing together for some family time when all the family members were asleep including Captain, their pet cat. Later after family time the dolls had some private time to themselves. Annabelle decides to go to the dollhouse’s bookshelves in her free time. She finds some books which are real and on that bookshelf she finds the unexpected diary of her Aunt Sarah. Annabelle quickly hides it under her bed covers and decides to keep this diary a secret. Aunt Sarah’s diary had many drawings of spiders which were carefully labeled. Annabelle read the diary any moment she could. She got so confused that how her Aunt could have so many different drawings of spiders while in the dollhouse there were not many spiders.

Soon Annabelle figures out that her Aunt used to go out of the dollhouse and she confronts this to her family. Then the Uncle, Bobby and Annabelle Doll go to search for Aunt Sarah in the Palmer’s living room at night except they find Nora’s packed birthday present, the Funcraft’s family. The Funcraft family is also like the Dolls except they do not have a nanny. They have a Dad, Mom, big sister Tiffany, little brother Bailey, and the youngest of all Baby Britney. As soon as the Funcraft were unpacked they went to the Doll’s house and invited them to their house for a party the next day. The Dolls could not visit the Funcrafts because Annabelle was taken by Nora after Kate scolded her for playing with her dollhouse instead of playing with the dollhouse Nora got. Annabelle starts to go for the dollhouse when Kate forgets to look for her. Annabelle gets home safe and Tiffany comes to visit her. Then Annabelle tells her secret to Tiffany and they decide to call themselves as Society for Exploration and the Location of Missing Persons. For short they call them SELMP. Next time Tiffany and Annabelle go to search for Aunt Sarah they forget to keep track of time and they reach their homes a bit late. Her parents scolded her and she also found out her parents did nothing when Aunt Sarah was missing which was the reason of the argument between her Uncle and her parents. So now her uncle stays away from the Dolls except Annabelle. Annabelle and Tiffany get together and go to the end of the diary and find a page telling the way into the attic except it is in a different handwriting. The Dolls finally decide to go to Tiffany’s house. Uncle Doll also comes with them because Annabelle convinced him to come. Annabelle was so exited but she did not know that something terrible was about to happen that her uncle got caught by the cat and her father saved him but then disappeared. Annabelle and Tiffany search for him and watch the Captain for strange behavior. Then the girls observe the cat for days and see the cat going toward the armoire which Annabelle’s Papa was on top of. The Papa Doll gets down with the help of the Funcraft’s but, unfortunately breaks his leg. Just then Grandma Katherine comes while the other dolls hide and see the cat with Papa doll. She scolds the cat and puts Papa Doll in the dollhouse the next day with glue on his broken leg. Now the girls go to their first assignment to find Aunt Sarah in the attic. They search for her the first time. They do not find her that time but the second time they find her. Annabelle and Tiffany tell her what she missed in 45 years. Annabelle tells her family that she found Aunt Sarah and Uncle Doll says let us go to the attic. Aunt Sarah reaches the dollhouse in the same way Papa Doll did because she just could not appear in front of the Palmer family without anybody bringing her there. And Annabelle tells her Uncle that she knows he wrote in Aunt Sarah’s Diary. There is a double celebration in the Dolls house for Aunt Sarah’s return and Annabelle’s birthday.

The Secret School by AVI shared by pasha

2011-08-13T10:03:00.001-07:00

Ida is an eighth grader and she wants to be a teacher but unfortunately her teacher has to leave to take care of her sick mother. So that means no exit exams and if the there are no exit exams that means no going to high school this year! Ida doesn't want her teacher to go and she wants to take the exam, then her friend Tom tells her she can have her own secret school and teach the kids while Mrs.Fletcher is gone but after sometime her work is ruined, no she is in a serious situation!.......

Letters From a Slave Girl by Mary E. Lyons shared by pasha

2011-08-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

This book has letters that a slave girl named Harriet wrote. She works for

a nice lady until this lady dies she is given to Doctor Norcom , one of this lady's relatives.

Doctor Norcom and his wife are very cruel to her. Finally she is allowed to live with her aunt

and she married a white and gave birth to a son and later a daughter. She runs away from Doctor Norcom and tricks him in selling her children to her white husband. The white man is nice but does not free them. She stays in her Grandmother's house, where she hides in the attic. She wants freedom...

Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson shared pasha

2011-08-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

Island Of The Aunts by Eva Ibbotson :

This book is about 3 aunts who kidnap threechildren Fabio, Minnette, and Lambert who is a horrid boyto help them take care of their secret island. This island is filled with creatures from the sea, mermaids, and seilkes which are seals. Then the children come upon great surprise, The Great Kraken and they have to care of its child. Meanwhile in the city searches made and posters of these kids and aunts were hung up all around.........

The Graduation of Jake Moon by Barbara Park shared by kwjam

2011-08-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

The Graduation of Jake Moon was a very intriguing book and once I started to read it, I couldn't put it down. The main characters were Jake Moon, a middle school boy who has a grandfather with Alzheimer, Skelly, a senior citizen with Alzheimer and Jake's grandfather, Mrs. Russell, Skelly's certified nurse or just a person to look after Skelly, James, Jake's cousin, and Aunt Marguerite. Skelly was a kind and calm man before he got Alzheimer. He had this kind of effect on people that would make them more confident and feel good about themselves. However, once he was diagnosed with Alzheimer, he became more frantic and would blame Jake for stuff he lost. His Alzheimer kept getting worse and he would keep getting things wrong and put his pajamas in the fridge or oven. Skelly was still healthy enough to paint and do woodwork. One day though, while carrying a table down the stairs, he fell and broke his wrists. He got very worried and refused to do anything related to his wrists after that. One day, Jake had a sleepover and everything was going well until Skelly came into his room naked. Then his reputation at school went way down and everyone knew his grandpa as a "perv". Skelly had dug into the dumpster at Jake's school and Mrs. Russell had to get him. When Skelly and Mrs. Russell went out for breakfast, Skelly went missing. He was reported missing on the news and his hat had been found in front of the lake and everyone thought he drowned. He didn't drown and just went to the lake to drink some water. He came back home in a cab when a cab driver found him wandering around and saw his ID tag that had his address and said he had Alzheimer. Everyone was very relieved. Soon it was Jake's graduation and Skelly almost went missing again. Jake sat Skelly back down and recieved his diploma.

Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer by John Grisham shared by kwjam

2011-08-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer was an interesting mystery novel filled with suspense. The main characters were Theo Boone, an eighth grader who dreams of being a lawyer, Ike Boone, Woods Boone's brother, Woods Boone, Theo Boone's father, Judge Gantry, a criminal judge, Julio Pena, an immigrant from El Savador that goes to the same school as Theo,and Bobby Escobar, a phantom witness and Julio's cousin. The biggest crime in Strattenburg attracted lots of attention. It was said that the defendant was guilty of murdering his wife. The defendant had a good lawyer and the state didn't have any evidence or witnesses to prove him guilty when he really was. Theo had his peers come to him time to time to ask him for legal advice. One day, Julio came to him and told him that Bobby was eating lunch on the day of the murder and at the time of the murder and saw the defendant going into his house. The defendant put on his golf gloves and came out soon and drove away. Bobby's identity could not be revealed because he was an illegal immigrant. Then soon, Julio came back with the gloves that the defendant had thrown away on the day of the crime. Bobby was a cusodian at the golf course and was cleaing the trash bins when he was the defendant throwing away perfectly good and new golf gloves away into trashcan bin fourteen. Bobby thought that was suspicious and took the gloves to Theo. Eventually, Theo went to Ike and asked him for advice. He said he'll do what he can. Soon Theo convinced Bobby that he wouldn't be arrested for not having papers. He told his parents and Judge Gantry what happened. Judge Gantry held back the mistrial to a later week and now there was a new witness that would expose the truth.

(The end of the trial was not given away for some reason.)

Best Foot Foward by Joan Bauer shared by shemi

2011-08-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

Best Foot Forward is about a girl named Jenna It is summer and she is working full-time at a shoe store. One day she was working in the shoe shop when a teenage girl and her little brother went in. The little boy went directly to the name covered tree. Soon after, a teenage boy came in and looked around. The girl started to shout that her stomach hurt and that she needed water. Jenna went to the back to get her some water when she realized something was wrong. She ran back, but the boy already had four boxes of shoes and ran out the door. One of the other staff members started to shout and chase after him. Jenna realized that the girl and the boy were still there; the staff members told them that unless they told them who he was, they wouldn’t let them leave the store. It turns out that he was their brother and that he stole a couple of times before. They caught him and asked him a couple of questions. His name was Tanner. Since he came back with everything and told them his situation, Jenna and the others decided to let it go. One of Tanner’s parents was an alcoholic and the other was in jail. He was sorry and said that he could make it up by working at the store. The owner of the store, Mrs. Gladstone, decided to let him work. Jenna couldn’t tell if this was a good or bad thing. While the staff was asking Tanner questions, the little boy wrote his name on the tree and read a book out loud. Tanner was the one that taught him. After a week, Tanner started to work. He was really good at his job. After a while, he was a different person. Mrs. Gladstone let him sell shoes and he was even better than he was at packing boxes. Mrs. Gladstone decided to have a program called Best Foot Forward since their shoes weren’t selling as much. It was basically a different coupon a week or month. Mrs. Gladstone’s store was known for their quality and service. However, there was a problem. Jenna and Tanner realized that the quality of the shoes were terrible. After doing a lot of research, Jenna found out that their shoes were made in Thailand instead of the USA and that children were working too. Mrs. Gladstone was fuming and said that it needed to stop even if it started with her salary. She didn’t want to abuse the people. Jenna thought that most people wanted fame and money, but Jenna thought that helping people and making them happy was even better.
Opinion:
I think that Best Foot Forward is a really nice book. It is realistic like Dreamland.

Water Ship Down by Richard Adams shared by kwjam

2011-08-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

Water Ship Down was the best book I've read the entire summer. The main characters were Hazel, the main protagonist, Fiver's brother, and the leader of the warren, Fiver, a small, but weak rabbit that occasionally has visions that saved the group's lives, Bigwig, an ex-Owsla (rabbit officer) officer who was very strong and devised most of the battle strategies, Blackavar, a rabbit who used to live in Efrafa, but escaped with Bigwig, Kehaar, a seagull who helped the warren with favors in return for saving his life, Hyzenthlay, a female rabbit who escaped Efrafa with Bigwig,and General Woundwort, the main antagonist of the book who is a viciou, brutal, and strong rabbit who was the leader of Efrafa. At the beginning of the book, Fiver had a vision that their current home would be destroyed by humans. He told Hazel, ho told the leader of their warren. Their leader thought they were crazy and did not believe them. Hazel and Fiverthought they needed to save as many rabbits as possible. They took Bigwig and some other rabbits and started their journey to find a different warren. They bump into a rabbit named Cowslip in the middle of their journey. Cowslip invited them to stay at his warren. They had ample food, but lso a human farm near them, which made Fiver very suspicious. Before Hazel and the other rabbits were about to leave the warren, Bigwig got caught in a deadly trap that could've killed him if Fiver had not found him. They left the warren right after this. A rabbit named Strawberry joined their group at this point. They finally find a safe place they can call home, until Hazel realizes they don't have any does, or female rabbits. Without does, their warren would be completely gone once everyone there is dead. Kehaar the seagull did them a favor and located a nearby warren, which happened to be Efrafa, a warren where rabbits are mistreated and live like prisoners. Captain Holly and other rabbits went to Efrafa to request some does. While they were gone, Hazel went to a nearby farm and helped two does escape their cage. Hazel's rabbit team barely come back to their warren alive. Efrafan rabbits said they could not leave, and when they had tried to leave, the rabbits tried to kill them. Bigwig went to Efrafa and helped Blackavar, Hyzenthlay, and other does escape Efrafa and took them back to his warren. Efrafan officers tracked them down and fought Bigwig. Hazel went back to the farm to get a dog to come with him and attack General Woundwort. Bigwig fought to the death. The dog killed Woundwort and the other officers ran away.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas shared by leali

2011-08-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

Edmond Dantes was a happy young man, who was about to marry a beautiful young woman named Mercedes and about to become a captain. However, he had some jealous rivals which he did not know of: Fernand, who was Mercedes' cousin and also loves Mercedes, and Danglars, a friend who become jealous of Dantes' successful future career. On the evening of Dantes' wedding, Fernand writes a fake letter "proving" that Dantes is a Bonapartist traitor and frames him. Villefort becomes his judge and when he finds out that the letter was addressed to his father, his fear instructs him to sentence Dantes to be in prison for life. During his prison life, he meets a clever man who helps him realize his enemies and teaches him (he used to work under a royalty) to take revenge on his rivals. Before the man dies, he informs Dantes of a great treasure hidden in the island of Monte Cristo. With great wealth, knowledge, and power, The Count of Monte Cristo attracts readers with a great story of revenge, hate, and forgiveness of the newly transformed Dantes to the Count of Monte Cristo.

This book is currently one of my favorites, for it is an interesting classic book. I usually do not enjoy classics, but after reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and White Fang, I decided that they are not as bad as I thought. The Count of Monte Cristo was a very long book, which sometimes encouraged me to stop reading it, but the exciting events and discoveries made by the fascinating characters told me not to do so. The author made a good balance of descriptive words and the events because I was easily able to picture the events in my mind. For example, when the author wrote about Edmond's jealous rivals, I was able to see Fernand and Danglars smirking at him and talking behind his back.

The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket shared by hujul

2011-08-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

This book is about the sneaky and cunning Count Olaf who is trying to get ahold of the Baudelaire orphans' giant fortune. He dressed himself up in many various disguises to be their guardian and eventually get their fortune. Mr. Poe, their protector, placed them in a city, called V.F.D., where they would be raised by the people who lived in that village. The orphans were given the options of many different villages, but they chose V.F.D. because in their last adventure, The Ersatz Elevator, their friends Duncan and Isadora Quagmire were kidnapped by Count Olaf. They had the Quagmires' notebook, which had the letters V.F.D. in them, so they thought they might have something in common. When they got to the city, they were put under the care of the town's handyman, Hector. He showed them a couplet, a poem with two rhyming lines that he found, that read, "For sapphires we are held in here, Only you can end our fear." Violet and Klaus, the two oldest Baudelaires, figured that Isadora wrote it, because she loved writing couplets. Sunny, the youngest and only a baby, spoke nonsense a lot, but her siblings knew what she meant. All day long, the orphans and Hector had to do uptown and downtown chores because V.F.D. was absolutely filled with crows, and they roosted uptown in the morning, and then they migrated to downtown. At night, they found another couplet that read, "Until dawn, we cannot speak, No words can come from this sad beak." under Nevermore Tree in Hector's backyard. The next day, they thought about the couplets as they were polishing the towns beloved, but ugly, statue of a crow. They also heard that Count Olaf had been captured, and that he was to be burned at the stake. When they saw him, he looked much different, cleaner and not as thin. The townspeople decided that he was going to be put in jail so he could be burned the day after. Violet and Klaus said that it wasn't him, but they thought it was because of the one eyebrow across his face and the tattoo of an eye on his left ankle. At night, Sunny said that she was going to wait under Nevermore Tree for another couplet to arrive so she could see if someone was delivering them. Hector showed Violet and Klaus to his barn where he had a large inventing studio and a library, but they were forbidden because of the thousands of rules V.F.D. had. They were in their place of best interest, so they were able to work through the night, Violet was helping modify Hector's self-sustaining mobile home, which was a bunch of hot air balloons connected and would never have to come down. Klaus was reading rule books to see if he could get the fake Count Olaf out of jail. Sunny gnawed on dead and fallen twigs while she waited. By morning, Violet had finished modifying Hector's invention, Klaus had figured out how Jacques, the fake Count Olaf, could attempt to get out of jail, or being burned at the stake, and Sunny found another couplet. Jacques was could give a speech pleading his innocence, according to Klaus. The couplet read, "The first thing you read contains the clue: An initial way to speak to you." On the next day, Jacques was found dead in his jail, and the Baudelaires were found guilty. They were to be burned at the stake the next day. They were put in jail, until Hector came around. He gave them another couplet that read, "Inside these letters, the eye will see, Nearby are your friends, and V.F.D." They looked at all the couplets again: "For sapphires we are held in here, Only you can end out fear." "Until dawn, we cannot speak, No words can come from this sad beak." "The first thing you read contains the clue: An initial way to speak to you." " Inside these letters, the eye will see, Nearby are your friends, and V.F.D." They looked at the first letter of every line, it spelled FOUNTAIN. They realized that Duncan and Isadora were in the fountain, but when they were scrubbing it, they didn't see any openings. Detective Dupin, Count Olaf's latest disguise, had fooled everyone into thinking he was dead. He told them he was going to take one of them so he could get their fortune, and the other two were going to burned at the stake. They were able to break out of the jail using water, a spongy loaf of bread, and a bench. They stacked on top of one another, and Sunny was biting onto the bird's open beak. Violet and Klaus toppled over, but Sunny was just dangling off the bird's beak. she started biting higher and higher until she bit onto the crow's eye. Suddenly, the beak opened wider and wider, until out popped Isadora and Duncan Quagmire. Now, Detective Dupin came, and they were to immediately be burned at the stake. Out of nowhere, Hector came flying above them and a rope ladder hung down. Isadora and Duncan climbed up first, followed by Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. Officer Luciana, Olaf's girlfriend, Esme, used a harpoon and shot down the ladder in between Duncan and Violet. She said that if they climbed up, they would still fall.They just climbed down and were left to deal with the angry villagers to V.F., or the Village of Fowl Devotees.

Magic Tree House Afternoon on the Amazon by Mary Pope Osborne shared by imtak

2011-08-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

Jack and Annie have to find special thing for Morgan. Jack and Annie went to the tree house and rain forest book was open. They went to the Amazon. They hear the sound like something is walking over leaves it was 30 million flesh eating army ants!

They ran and they found canoe and they climbed in to the canoe but they forgot to get paddles and the canoe started moving. Annie saw fish but it was piranhas! The canoe float under some vines Jack thought he can use them so he stand up and grabbed the vine but he grabbed was long green snake. They saw little monkey the monkey grabbed fruit and throw to Jack and Annie then the monkey back in to the forest.

Soon thunder roll in the sky and the monkey came back and monkey helped them. They got lost but Peanut helped and they find tree house. They find tree house but they have to find the thing and there is monkey siting in the window. The monkey had a fruit and gave to Annie then they saw Pennsylvania book. Then they go back to home.

Opinion: Jack and Annie think monkey was mean but the monkey is not been mean they just think monkey is mean. If some people look and laugh at you maybe they are talking about fun thing. That means if you think there mean you just think there mean so don`t get mad just talk to them.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan shared by khgar

2011-08-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

She had a rich family and a large and beautiful house, Esperanza’s life was perfect. That was until her father went out one day and was killed by bandits. One of her relatives took over her land and proposed to her mother. Esperanza and her mother were now poor so they decided to go with a group of family friend servants to Mexico to find work. They all found jobs at El Rancho de lass. Esperanza had the jobs of taking care of the babies, cooking, and sweeping. A dust storm hit the ranch and after it was over Esperanza’s mom just wouldn’t stop coughing. The doctor said that she had Valley Fever and may not survive. Esperanza knew that her mother needed her mother. So, Esperanza started working in the fields to earn money to bring her Abuelita to the ranch. Then one day Hortesia’s (family friend) son Miguel had left with Esperanza’s money. The doctor told Esperanza that her mother’s health was improving and that she would be able to come home in a week. Soon Miguel came back with a surprise, he had bought Abuelita! One day Esperanza was teaching Miguel’s cousin to knit, and when she messed up Esperanza told her, “do not ever be afraid to start over”.

Savvy by Ingrid Law shared by khgar

2011-08-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Beaumont family has had a secret that they had hidden for many generations. They each possessed a “savvy”. A savvy was a power that they each got when they turned 13. Mississippi (Mibs for short) Beaumont had been counting down the days until her thirteenth birthday. Everything was going fine until they got a horrible phone call. Mib’s dad had been a car crash and was in critical condition. Her mom and older brother Rocket were going to Salina, to a hospital where their dad was. Miss Meeks threw Mibs a birthday celebration, and during the party Mibs, Fish, Samson, Bobbi, and Will got on a bus that would take them to Salina. While Mibs was on the bus it seemed like the tattoos and ink on skin were talking to her; that was her savvy. Lester (the driver) stopped to pick up a lady whose car had broken down and she (Lill Kiteley) joined their trip. Lester stopped to pay someone money that he owed a cruel woman named Carlene. She said that it wasn’t enough money and didn’t accept it. They got into a huge fight and she called the police. One of the policemen was Will’s real father and took the kids to the hospital where Mib’s dad was. When they got there Mib’s remembered that her dad had a tattoo on his back. She told it not to give up many times, and finally her father opened his eyes. It took her father a while to recover, but when he did everything was perfect on Mib’s fourteenth birthday.

Extra Credit by Andrew Clements shared by soand

2011-08-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

The book, Extra Credit, by Andrew Clements tells about a girl named Abby who struggles in class, because of her poor grades. To get her grades up before school ends, she'll have to finish all her homework ontime, get at least B's on every test and assignment, and do a special assignment, which would require her to exchange letters with a person from a different country and culture. After receiving her first letter from Afghanistan, Sadeed was chosen to be Abby's penpal. However, boys in Afghanistan weren't supposed to correspond with girls, so Sadeed's sister, Amira dictates and signs the letters. After a while, Sadeed decides to tell Abby the truth, Amira wasn't the one writing the letter, it was Sadeed himself doing the work for his sister. Unfortunately, Sadeed was not allowed to send letters to Abby, because of a crime in his village. In the end of the school year, she did a presentation of Afghanistan. She learns a lot about its unique life. Extra Credit is a great book for kids ages 8 to 12.

Back in Time With Thomas Edison by Dan Gutman shared by paris

2011-08-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

Robert Edward Stevens, nicknamed "Qwerty", is just digging around his backyard when he finds a machine called the Anytime Anywhere Machine. So, Qwerty and his friend Joey are trying to connect the machine to his computer. When they manage to connect it, his sister Barbara scans a picture of Qwerty on his report on Spain. When Qwerty presses the "Enter" key, he finds himself in Spain. Barbara then manages to bring his back by pressing the "Escape" key. A man named Ashley Quadrel then sees the machine and wants to take it away from Qwerty, but he can't. Meanwhile both Qwerty and Barbara go to Thomas Edison's house. Ashley gets into Qwerty's room and transports himself to Edison's house, but gets arrested for using counterfeit money. Then Joey gets Ashley, Barbara, and Qwerty home by pressing the escape key on Qwerty's computer. Ashley then gets arrested again when the police think that he took Qwerty and Barbara away.

The Get Rich Quick Club by Dan Gutman shared by paris

2011-08-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

Gina has set a goal of being the first person to become a millionaire when she becomes a teenager. To get to a million dollars, she recruits Rob, who is the genius of the club, Quincy, who speaks Australian, and Eddie and Teddy Bogle, who are twins. Gina makes herself the CEO, Rob the vice preisdent, Quincy the creative officer, and the twins as the drones. They take fake pictures of the "UFO" and send it in the news. They get fifteen dollars as their profit. But someone must have told the news that the pictures were fake, because the newspaper says that the pictures are fake. And who should it be but Rob, who felt guilty about taking fake pictures.

Letters From Camp by Kate Klise shared by paris

2011-08-13T07:17:00.000-07:00

Charlotte, Charlie, Barbie Q., Brisket, Ivan, and Mimi are at Camp Happy Harmony because they all have something in common: they are at the camp because they keep on fighting with their brother or sister. When they arrive at the camp, one of the people at the camp, Dwayne Harmony, takes away Charlie's travel stereo and all of his CDs. Charlie tells Charlotte and the others about this, and it isn't feeling good for the six of them. Later, the head counselor, Dorothy Harmony, wants to kill Lyle Harmony and sell the camp. But Charlotte, Charlie, Barbie Q., Brisket, Ivan, and Mimi figure out their plans and get the Harmony family arrested.

Charmed and Dangerous: The Rise of the Pretty Committee by Lisi Harrison shared by basau

2011-08-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

Massie Block lead a very boring and ordinary life with a clique called 'Ahanabees'. their names were Ahana, Shana, Lana, and Dana. Massie was always the odd one out. They went to Merri lee Marvil's( a TV show's host) party since they were invited. when the ahnabees were dancing, Massie's charm-bracelet broke' and the five charms fell off:a pig, a microphone, a crown, a horse, and a bell.Lana found the horse, and shana found the the bell. In the mean time,

a dancer by the name of Alica Rivera, tripped over Massie’s golden crown during a performance. Massie ran backstage to retrieve her crown, and to apologize to Alica. So Massie got her crown back and made friends with Alica too. Since the party was on TV, Kristen who was one of the viewers, was baby sitting. She saw that some girl named Massie lost her charms. When the owners of the house returned, the mistress found the microphone at the party when she came back. She didn’t know that the charm was Massie’s, so she gave the charm to Kristen. Kristen knew that the charm was Massie’s, so she snuck in the party to give Massie her charm, when she ran in to Dylan Marvil, (Merri lee Marvil’s daughter), but she didn’t turn her in, in fact she made Kristen her friend instead. She also happened to have found Massie’s pig too. Kristen told her that the charm was Massie’s and so both of them went to find Massie. Then soon Kristen and Dylan ran into Massie and Alica. Kristen gave Massie the microphone, and Dylan gave Massie

the pig. They realized that it was the new year, so they went to the ball drop. They got top seats and Massie knew that from that moment onward, from the moment that ball drops, it was going to be a new year, a year with a new clique, but despite her perfect clique, she felt like something is missing. Massie didn’t know. That missing thing was Claire, who was all the way in Florida, not knowing anything, that soon she will be moving to Massie’s guest house some day.

Getting Air by Dan Gutman shared by paris

2011-08-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

Jimmy, David, Henry, and Jimmy's know-it-all sister Julia are flying from New York City to Newport Beach, California for a skateboarding competition. But problems start to rise when Jimmy, his sister, and his friends are hijacked while on the plane. Now, their summer vacation is all about finding shelter and food with Arcadia, the flight attendant, and Mrs. Herschel, who is an old lady. David abandons the group when he needs food to survive.He gets bitten by a snake, but he manages to survive. Also, Jimmy, Henry, Mrs. Herschel, and Julia take a bath in the rain naked. After the bath, Jimmy and Henry are forced to wear women clothes.Finally, after a week, they are rescued in Canada by a police officer.

The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr shared by paris

2011-08-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

This book is a boy named Simon Green who has to get money for his teacher Miss Rogers. The way he has to do it is by herding 1000 turkeys across the West and get to Denver, where he can get a suitable profit. A problem for Simon is that before he gets to go, some bullies from his school tease him about going with turkeys across the West. Another problem is that he meets his father, who later gets put in jail with his thieving friend Clover for creating a public problem once Simon makes it to Denver.This actually happened in the mid 1800's.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney shared by paris

2011-08-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

Greg is really glad to get back to school because he had to go back to swimming again. Another reason why he wants to go back to school is because something embarrassing happened to Greg. While spending the week at Leisure Towers with his grandfather, his older brother Rodrick steals his journal and tries to flush it down the toilet. Miraculously, Greg gets the journal back and tries to destroy it himself. But he doesn't know that he accidentally went into the women's bathroom. The whole accident was on TV, so if Greg tells on him, then his accident will be out and he will get embarrassed. Greg also enters into a talent show, and he and his partner Scotty try their best, but are the only ones who failed to make the cut. Rodrick's band made the cut and preform, but can't get anything out of it because when Greg's mom filmed it, she made too many comments, and when the school filmed it, it was zoomed on Greg's mom, who was dancing. Rodrick eventually gets so mad at Greg that he tells everyone about the accident and Greg gets prepared for the worst to come. But surprisingly, everyone congratulates him because they think he saw girls in high school. Finally, Greg helps prevent Rodrick from flunking out of high school.

Week in the Woods by Andrew Clements shared by paris

2011-08-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

This book is about a boy named Mark who is a new student at Hardy Elementary School. At first, Mark isn't paying much attention to the teachers and he also daydreams in class. Then Mark starts paying attention when he hears about the annual Week in the Woods field trip. Problems start rising when Mark's science teacher, Mr. Maxwell, accidentally suspends Mark because he had a knife given to him from his friend Jason. Later, Mr. Maxwell finds out that the knife was Jason's and Jason gets suspended.

No Talking by Andrew Clements shared by paris

2011-08-13T06:49:00.000-07:00

This book is about a boy named Dave Packer who thinks that boys can talk less in two days than girls, while a girl named Lynsey Burgess thinks that girls can talk less in two days than boys. The argument steams up when Dave challenges Lynsey to a " no talking" contest. The problem with this is that the fifth graders at Laketon Elementary School have been the noisiest in history. Teachers start to notice and want to stop the silence immediately, but one of them thinks that the silence will start a new way of communication. In the end, neither side wins, since both sides talked a grand total of 47 words each. I liked how the contest became dramatic and exciting.

Dear Mr.Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

2011-08-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

Leigh Botts, the main character's, parents are divorced so he has to move to a new town with his mom. He only gets to talk to his dad sometimes on the phone barely seeing him anymore. At school he has no friends and his lunch is stolen by someone without him knowing everyday. Leigh keeps on waiting for the day when his dad comes to pick him up to stay with him for a while. One day, Leigh calls his dad telling him how sad he is because he lost Bandit, his beloved dog. Then, in class he has to do a report so he writes to Mr.Henshaw, an author. Soon after, Mr.Henshaw writes back and Leigh's mom makes him reply. After a while, him and Mr.Henshaw become good friends and keep writing to each other. Leigh tells him about all the problems he faces and why he is sad most of the time. Mr.Henshaw gives him advice and talks to him making him feel happier. Later on, Mr.Henshaw sees how well Leigh's writing skills are and Leigh enjoys writing so Mr.Henshaw tells Leigh to write in a journal instead of to him all the time. Doing so, Leigh writes in the journal until he is fully comfortable with expressing himself and his teacher at school encourages him to join the school contest. In the contest, the students have to write an essay so Leigh writes about riding in his father's truck one day. His story wins an award and he goes to a special lunch for doing so well and participating. Then, he makes a trap for his lunchbox finding the thief. Many kids in his school enjoy the protective alarm and become friends with him while talking about it. He thanks Mr.Henshaw and suddenly, his father comes home bringing back Bandit. Leigh realizes that will all of his goals he doesn't feel so alone and he gives Bandit to his dad for on the road company.

Trading Faces by Julia DeVillers and Jennifer Roy

2011-08-07T15:18:00.001-07:00

Trading Faces is about two identical twins, Emma and Payton. Payton is the popular, fashionable one while Emma is the one with the brains. When they start seventh grade for the first time in a different place they moved to after the summer, they try to fit in. The only problem is everyone keeps mixing them up. Emma has trouble with braniacs who act better than everyone while Payton is having trouble in the popular group. One day when they go to dinner, a waiter asks if they ever acted as each other to fool anyone. They said no and thought that was a rude thing to do but after a few days, Payton gets into a huge fight with Sydney, leader of the populars, and so Emma makes them switch clothes and everything taking Payton's life for the rest of the day. While Emma acts as Payton, she uses WWPD/ WWPS, what would Payton do or say and Emma answers only one question per class and says the wrong answers. Then, in pe, Emma stood up and courageously talked to the group like she didn't care what happened at lunch and even though everyone was being mean she ignored them and finally Emma (as Payton) and Sydney made up for the lunch incident. After that they go on for a little longer because it is fun for them. The only problem that happened the next day is that Emma's math teacher suggested that if she has a throat problem she should write it on the board so then Payton (as Emma) asked Jazmine for help. Luckily, the teacher understood how she chocked since he has had times like those but he says to answer the question next time. Later, Payton( as Emma) gets stuck in Emma's club while Emma (as Payton) gets stuck at the mall with Sydney. Then Emma likes Ox and finds out Sydney does so she sacrifices her crush for Payton's popularity. After that, she goes to the football game and Ox disses Sydney so she gets mad but while Emma( as Payton) sits in the front Payton (as Emma) is on Vogs tv and she messes up when being interviewed so Emma runs there to talk to her. Unfortunately, Payton not knowing her mic is on starts talking to Emma and everyone hears what they did. They get into big trouble and apologize to everyone making some things all right. They are happy just the way it is and plan not to switch any time soon.

No Talking by Andrew Clements

2011-08-07T15:17:00.001-07:00

No Talking is about a boy, Dave Packer, who reads about Gandhi in social studies and wants to experience going one day without talking. In the lunchroom, he and Lindsey Burgess get into a fight over who talks more, girls or boys. Then, they make a bet that they both have to go two days without talking along with all of their friends. So they make a group of boys and girls join and they make the bet with one rule you can only talk to teachers and adults in 3 words responses but they cant talk at home. The team who talks the most loses and their captain, Dave or Lindsey, is forced to wear a big, red letter L which the opponent team captain writes on their forehead. So when lunch is over the teachers are surprised that the unhushables are quiet and they are very pleased when they learn why. Although the teachers feel this way the principal feels she is losing control so she is against this whole game. The first to talk is from the boys' side. Soon after many other accidentally speak when they cant or more then they can.Then, because the principal tries to stop the contest Dave yells at her and is charged with another 27 words. Near the end of the bet on the second day Lindsey sees that the boys have talked much more than the girls so she says a sentence with 27 words to even out the amount.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

2011-08-07T15:16:00.001-07:00

This story is about an eleven year old boy, named Jonas, who lives in a place where there is no pain, fear, fighting, or hate. Everyone is treated equally not individually by person. Jonas and his classmates are about to turn twelve and during the ceremony for twelve year olds, everyone is given a job. When everyone is at the ceremony the principal starts listing the names and their jobs. During the time when she lists names, Jonas doesn't get called on his turn. He worries because principals are known not to make mistakes so he thinks they don't know what job to give him but in the end, she calls Jonas and says he has been given the job of the receiver. He goes home and thinks about what is the receiver, what do they do, and why did his principal say he will feel pain. His parents and sister don't ask him about it because in there society/place it is considered impolite. The next day he goes to his job and meets the old man who is his teacher. He starts explaining to Jonas that for generations one individual has been given the job of the receiver and they are the only ones to receive the memories of long ago when there was pain, fear, fighting, and hatred. He says a certain person will be examined and every year they will pick a receiver. To explain this further to Jonas, he tells him to lay on his stomach and close his eyes on the couch. Doing so, the old man puts his hands on Jonas' back and sends him a happy memory of snow and riding on a sled for the first time. Jonas likes the vision and asks the man what is the white stuff which to he replies it is snow. After that, the old man tells him its time for Jonas to go home and to come back tomorrow. Jonas then asks the man what his name is to which he says, call me the giver. So each day onwards Jonas comes and learns a little more about the memories. The Giver tells Jonas how he can lie and ask anyone anything because he is the receiver. Jonas then tells the giver he wants to feel a vision of pain to which the giver gives him one. Jonas doesn't like it but he knows he has to feel happiness as well as pain. After a few weeks, Jonas asks the giver about the last receiver and why it was a failure. The giver explains that the girl was his daughter and she asked for the memory of pain but got scared and asked them to be released. Then, a few days pass and Jonas asks to see the what happens during her release. Seeing the video, he feels angry that his father put a needle in his forehead and killed her but then understands that his father thinks she is put to sleep. Jonas then talks about what he thinks to the giver and they come up with a plan to inform their society/ place of all the memories. The next night, he takes Gabe, the baby his family was helping to nurture which was soon to be released, and rides his bike to a community elsewhere in which he finds the hill with snow and he rides the sled. Thats the end which the author leaves unanswered for the readers to decide for themselves what happened

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen shared by shemi

2011-08-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

The story is about a girl named Caitlin. The night before her sixteenth birthday, her sister ran away. Her sister, Cass, was two years older and was going to Yale for college soon. Cass was a perfect role model, and won many awards. She was always studying or hanging out with her popular friends. Caitlin was always in her dust. Cass really liked Caitlin and tried to make time for her, but she couldn’t. Caitlin was different from Cass. She didn’t get the best grades and wasn’t good at everything let alone great. Caitlin really envied Cass’s life. So when Cass ran away to stay with her boyfriend in New York, Caitlin was shocked. Cass gave up Yale to stay in New York. Cass’s mother cried terribly and didn’t understand why Cass did it. Caitlin was sad, but thought that maybe this was a chance to do something that Cass didn’t do. She didn’t know what to do, and her best friend, Rina, convinced her to do cheerleading. Caitlin didn’t like it and was uncomfortable, but thought it was wrong to quit. After her first football game, she was on her way to a party, when the person that drove her there needed gas. She saw a boy there who talked to her. The boy was strange and looked a lot older than he really was. She ended up dating him. They got to know each other and Caitlin knew his style quickly. She kept thinking that her new boyfriend was the only thing that her sister didn’t have. However, no matter how strong and sturdy he looked he would throw a fit if any other boy talked to her. Every time she talked to a boy (including teachers) or came late, he would hit her. Rogerson, Caitlin’s boyfriend, took up more and more of her time. She skipped a lot of her cheerleading practices. After a while, the other members of the squad kicked her out. Caitlin got bruises everywhere because of the hits, but somehow still wanted to be his girlfriend because he would be extra nice to her the next day. On the day Rina invited her to the lake, she said she couldn’t because she had to meet Rogerson. Rina said that Rogerson took too much of her time and when her mom told her to go, she agreed. Caitlin tried to call him, but couldn’t. By the time she came back, Rogerson was waiting. He punched her many times and she couldn’t see or stand up. Her mother saw from the window and called the police. Rogerson went to jail and Caitlin went to a place for therapy so that she could calm down. She was going to stay there everyday until she thought everything through. She realized that she was wrong about Cass, and that she wasn’t perfect or else she wouldn’t have ran away. Caitlin realized that she couldn’t judge people on what it seems like and she had to dig deeper to find the real truth about the person.

Opinion

I think this book is nice and realistic. The book could have been based on a real story about a real girl.

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer shared by yochi

2011-08-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

Captain Holly Short and her commander, Julius Root is on a mission, and it leads to the appearance of Opal Koboi, a pixie who was thought to be already caught. She was back, and she had come not only to kill commander Root and Holly, but also Artemis Fowl. When they are tricked right into a trap, Opal kills Root but lets Holly live. Holly then saves Artemis and gets him to help her with the case. When they meet Koboi, they figured out that she had put human growth hormones in her body, so that she was a human.Then she left them in a place called The Eleven Wonders Theme Park. She had tried to kill them again, with trolls. Luckily, Artemis outsmarted them. She mesmerized a scientist and told him that there was much more iron farther into the earth, and directed him towards the fairy village. There was no time for the People to evacuate, so Holly and Artemis decided to trick her. They sent Mulch Diggums, the dwarf, to steal from Opal. She didnt know until they were far away.

Code Orange by Caroline Cooney shared by tasog

2011-08-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

The book Code Orange is about a carefree guy named Mitty Blake. He is in high school, but unlike many other people his age, he doesn’t care about grades, school, or anything else. Mitty might not be the best student, but at least he never missed a day of school. He adores music. For example, in class instead of taking notes he scuttles his earphones up his sleeves and listens to music. One day during class his teacher was talking about a bio report that the class had been working on for four weeks. Ye told the class that ten pages of notes were to be received by Monday. Meanwhile, the Blake’s would go to their country house. Mrs. Blake has a huge hoard of old medical books at the country house. Luckily, Mitty can find all the information he needs. Once they arrive he goes and gazes for books on infectious diseases. After awhile, he found four books on Smallpox. In one of the books there was an envelope containing Smallpox scabs, but Mitty didn’t know, so he touched them, smelled them, and rubbed his eyes. After reading the page he found the envelope on, ye realized they were smallpox scabs. On Sunday they returned home. Mitty started to think he was going to get Smallpox, so he posted an e-mail asking everyone if it is possible to get infected. This e-mail was free for anyone to see, even terrorists. One week later, ye were just striding in the streets when a foreign lady stopped him. When Mitty woke up, he was duck taped to a cement ground, (he had gotten captured by terrorists). They eventually, took him and heaved him in a room with no way out. A week later, he tricked them by putting coal on his body to make pustules. Unfortunately, he had to be in the hospital due to the bio terrorists. In my opinion, I think Mitty should have been more cautious of what he puts on the internet. I feel a lot safer that now that Smallpox doesn’t exist anymore.

The Hunt for the Seventh by Christine Morton-Shaw shared by caken

2011-08-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

The Hunt for the Seventh is about a boy named Jim Brown and his sister, Sally Brown, and their father, James Brown . The story also mentions the current Lord Minerva , Lord Loius Minerva
3 , and through out the story line it mentions , Lady Ellen (Nellie) Minerva, Lord Thomas Minerva, Lady Beatrice Minerva, Lady Harriet Minerva, Lord Oswald Minerva and his cat, White Maurice. Finally, the seventh that is mentioned who does not like the first six children of Lord Minerva is named Lord Henry Minerva (Einstein). Harriet and her siblings are urging Jim to "find the seventh." Einstein knows more of this "treasure hunt" than Sally or Jim but what is most curious is that he rarely speak. Einstein may be a very smart kid but he is also very autistic. The storyline is that there was once this prophecy and it states that if the chain is broken innocent people will die in Sevenstone. But what they do not know is why do the deaths that have happened from the Minerva Bloodline. In the end, Lord Minerva 3 (Loius) and his butler, Montegue get arrested and Jim's father buys Minerva Hall.

Opinion:

I belive what Jim has done is very intresting. I think it is a great book.

Just Another Day in my Insanely Real Life by Barbara Dee shared by zasaw

2011-08-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

Cassie's life isn't the easiest. Unless you consider that a seventh grader, would cook dinner every night, think that her little brother has a reading disability,and go out shopping for cat food on her own at nine o'clock in the night. Cassie's dad left her, her mom, her little brother, and her older sister. Her older sister, Miranda would always be against her father, though Cassie would defend him, though she believed that her father would have to give her an explanation on why he left after he came back. Things aren't any better at school, considering that her English teacher hates everything she does, her grades are deteriorating, and that she's getting mixed signals from a boy she likes. Can Cassie keep up with her insanely real life?

Flipped by Wendelin Can Draanen shared by zasaw

2011-08-04T10:28:00.001-07:00

When Bryce Loski first met Juli Baker, he wasn't much too thrilled about her. Although, Juli was head over heels for Bryce. Through the years, not much changed, though when it came to eight grade, the book took a turn. Juli started raising chickens, which eventually made eggs. Juli was delivering her eggs to her neighbors and then thought that she would deliver her eggs to Bryce for free, instead of making him pay. When she delivered them to him, Bryce talked it over with his family, and they were all scared of salmonella poisoning,since the Bakers yard was a mess. Juli kept giving Bryce eggs for two years, though she didn't know that he threw them away until she caught him. Julie lost all her interest in Bryce, although Bryce developed a crush on Juli. The book takes weird turns over and over again, though in the end Bryce and Juli end up really meeting each other after living next to each other for over six years.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore shared by jaruc

2011-08-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

Summary: The book Graceling by Kristin Cashore describes a journey of a Graced girl who is only 11 years old. A Graced person is someone who is born with normal eyes but soon wake up with two different colored eyes. This means that they have a special talent. The Graced girl is named Katsa and her Grace is killing with her bare hands. She is forced by her uncle, King Randa, to hurt innocent people. But soon she meets Po who is Graced with a power almost like mind reading. They go on a very dangerous journey to find the person who kidnapped Po's grandfather. There were many interesting twists.

Opinion: I would say that there were many words that were out of my vocabulary limit. But it helped me to get to a higher vocabulary level. And most of the time, I didn't want to put the book down. I really liked this book and reading about how Katsa (the main character) took responsibility and becomes friends with Po who helps her to fight. Katsa even fights a mountain lion!

Flush by Carl Hiaasen shared by soand

2011-08-04T10:19:00.001-07:00

The book, Flush, by Carl Hiaasen started out when Noah's dad, Paine Underwood was arrested for sinking the Coral Queen casino boat, because the owner of the boat Dusty kept on flushing poop into the basin. Even though Noah's dad failed to succeed, the 14 year old Noah was determined to help his dad and catch Dusty by then with a little help from his sister Abbey and a bartender named Shelly. Their plan was to flush food dye into the basin so the Coast Guard could take pictures of the dirty water and send it to the police to punish Dusty. In the end, Noah's plan worked and Dusty was finally punished. I recommend this book to people who care about the world's enviroment.

I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan shared by goana

2011-08-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

This book is about four teens with a dark secret. One of the teens receives a note simply stating, "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER", and madness and paranoia ensues.

I absolutely loved this book! It satisfied my desire for suspense and action, without going gory like the Hunger Games (which, don't get me wrong, is still an amazing series). Overall, I really enjoyed the way it was written, and can't wait to read more books by Lois Duncan!

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney shared by goana

2011-08-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

The Face on the Milk Carton is about Janie, a teenage girl who finds out she was kidnapped when she was only 3 years old. It starts out with Janie talking with her friends during lunch on a normal school day. Until her friend pulls out a milk carton, advertising a child who went missing 12 years earlier, who Janie recognizes is herself. It says that a young girl named Jennie Spring was taken from a shopping center in New Jersey. Janie begins to lose her grip on reality, but when she gets home and sees her normal house, she dismisses the milk carton. Then she starts remembering things like brothers and sisters she doesn't have now, and walking off with a lady who bought her ice cream. She begins to find things that don't add up, like how there are no pictures of Janie from before she was 4 and how her mom refuses to give Janie her birth certificate. She decided to explore the attic, thinking she might find something there. She found a black case marked "H" filled with school work of someone named Hannah. Under that, she found the dress she was wearing in the picture on the milk carton. The next day Janie finally works up enough courage to question her parents about everything, and finds out that they are really her grandparents. Their real daughter, Hannah, had joined a cult. One day she showed up with a little girl, and Janie's parents decided to keep her. Janie feels relieved that that was all it was, until she realizes there's more. Her neighbor Reeze takes her to New Jersey, and Janie finds the address of the only person in New Jersey with the last name Springs. She goes there, and sees children enter the address who look just like her. She tells Reeze to take her home. Over the next few weeks, Janie is an emotional mess. She loves her parents and doesn't want them getting arrested for kidnapping. She becomes alienated from her friends, her family, and even Reeze. She starts writing in a notebook about all her theories on the kidnapping. She writes a letter and addresses it to the Springs, but it falls out of her binder before she can send it. Reeze contacts his sister Lizzie, a lawyer, and she helps come up with the theory that Hannah kidnapped Janie for company, then left her with Janie's parents. Lizzie fills in Janie's parents, and they all decide it would be best to let Janie's New Jersey parents know that Janie is safe. The book ends with Janie calling her New Jersey parents.

The Face on the Milk Carton was a really good book! It was very suspenseful, and kept me wanting to read more. Although, the ending wasn't satisfying enough for me, and left me with a lot of questions. Hopefully they'll be answered in the sequel! I loved figuring out Janie's past along with her, and can't wait to read the next installment!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J.K. Rowling shared by taamr

2011-08-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

The book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, portrays a picture in my mind of the quite extraordinary adventure of an “ordinary” child, Harry Potter. The story starts off showing Harry at his disregarding and self-esteemed relatives, the Dursley’s. Their definition of caring would be to lock up Harry into a closet and call it his “room”. As Harry starts growing up, he observes bizarre things that he can’t explain. And as the events start getting stranger, the Dursley’s (and Harry), move out to the ocean. Suddenly, at the struck of midnight, when Harry wishes himself a happy 11th birthday, a large man steps inside the Dursley's house hold. This large man, Hagrid, had come to tell Harry that the reason of these outlandish events was because he was a wizard. Hagrid tells Harry that his parents did not die in a car crash, but by being killed by a powerful sorcerer, Voldemort. He additionally explains that Harry was the only one to survive Voldemort’s killing curse and drain out all of Voldemort’s powers. Hagrid then takes Harry to Hogwarts, the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry makes friends fast and even joins the Quidditch team (a magical sport played in the school). But soon, Harry notices that something strange is happening at Hogwarts. He and his two friends, Hermione and Ron, discover that a three-headed dog in the top-most corridor is guarding something. As events start bubbling up, the trio figures that the three headed dog is guarding the Sorcerer’s Stone. This stone is said to create an elixir of life, and turn any metal into gold. Who other than Voldemort, himself wouldn't think of this as an opportunity to come back to full power? In the end, after going past numerous obstacles, Harry defeats Voldemort once again and ends this remarkable tale.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins shared by sikar

2011-08-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

In the The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, there are twelve districts
in Panem, a nation located in North America . Sixteen-year-old Katniss
Everdeen and her family reside in District 12. When the Reaping day
comes, Prim is chosen to be District 12's female tribute for the 74th
Hunger Games. Formed to punish the districts for rebelling against
Panem's Capitol, the Hunger Games gathers 24 tributes and pits them
against each other. Katniss replaces Prim and, with the male tribute
Peeta Mellark, takes part in the Hunger Games. There, they fight to be
the last ones standing, and become allies when the two of them both
get an opportunity to live. Katniss and Peeta, who has always loved
Katniss, become a couple in the audience's eyes, and therefore get a
lot of support. Katniss takes advantage of this and pretends to fall
in love with Peeta. When Katniss and Peeta are forced to fight to the
death after they are the only tributes living, they both attempt
suicide with nightlock berries, and they are stopped and declared
winners of the Hunger Games.

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender shared by caken

2011-08-04T09:43:00.001-07:00

Bad Girls Don't Die is about a girl named Alexis Warren and her sister, Kasey. Shara Wiley is the dead mother of the lead cheerleader, Megan Wiley. Sarah is a dead girl who once lived in Alexis's house. Alexis tells Kasey a story in the basement, and Alexis thinks it is weird that her 13 year old sister wants to hear a story. Megan and Alexis did research and found out the cause of Shara's death. Kasey becomes "friends" with Sarah's ghost. Megan tells Alexis that she thinks Kasey is possessed. Alexis finds out that Kasey is possessed by Sarah's ghost because Kasey's eyes changed color when Kasey entered Alexis's room late at night. Kasey wrote a list of people (and their descendants) who caused Sarah's death. Kasey and Sarah end up trying to kill the descendants of those who mocked Sarah to her death. In the past, Sarah was chased by students from school all the way home. They didn't like that she carried her doll everywhere and thought she was weird. Sarah reached her home, and climbed the tree in her yard. The students threw stones at her until she fell out of the tree. She died when she hit the ground. Shara Wiley is trying to help Megan and Alexis prevent Sarah from killing the descendants. The descendants didn't mock Sarah or kill Sarah.

Alexis is positive that the story is what woke Sarah up. Megan and her mother used to live in Alexis's house. Alexis and Megan fought with Kasey. Alexis and Megan joined the two halves of a heart charm. Sarah is afraid of the heart charm, and so Kasey was afraid too. A doll in the attic is the power center for Sarah. Alexis goes to the attic and uses a baseball bat to destroy the doll. While Alexis is in the attic, the house catches fire. Alexis leaves the heart charm behind on accident while escaping the attic from the fire. Alexis jumps out a window onto a tree. A fireman helps her down the tree. Six months later Alexis and Kasey move.

Opinion:

I think Bad Girls Dont Die is a great story, The author used really descriptive words to describe the scenes. My favorite character was Alexis.

My favorite scene was when Alexis destroyed the doll.

Gossamer by Lois Lowry shared by caken

2011-08-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

Gossamer is about Dream-givers and their enemies that inflict nightmares. Gossamer is about a young dream giver named Littlest One assigned to a house. Her trainer thinks they are too old, so she assigns Littlest One to a new trainer. Two humans are in grave danger at the house because of the enemies of the dream givers. The enemies inflict nightmares and the dream givers have to fix the nightmares. The humans can't get rid of the nightmares even though they try. One of the humans is weak and can't fend off nightmares very well. Littlest One wants to touch the pet dog even though it is forbidden. Littlest One talks about it with her trainer and he says it is OK because it is going to save the human from nightmares. Then Littlest One touches the dog. The dream givers are afraid of the Hoarde coming because the dream givers can't do very much against the Hoarde. Because of her light touch on things, Littlest One was renamed Gossamer at the end. Gossamer was reassigned to a new house because she finished training at the house. Gossamer trained New Littlest as a dream giver.

Opinion:

I think the book Gossamer by Lois Lowry is a great book and that others should read it too. The characters are very interesting. The character's actions are exciting throughout the story.

The Melting of Maggie Bean by Tricia Rayburn shared by zasaw

2011-08-04T09:33:00.001-07:00

Maggie Bean had a tough year. Ever since her father had lost his job, he spent more time watching T.V. than paying attention to his family. When Maggie's true calling called her, she denied. . Maggie felt insecure about her body, so she swore never to go in a pool ever since she gained loads of weight, because of eating lots of chocolate. Maggie ended up practicing for hours and hours everyday on her own, without the support of her best friend. When Maggie tried out for the Water Wing team, she was heartbroken when she didn't make it. Even if things didn't turn out the way she planned them, they ended up adequate. Maybe people finally saw behind her extra weight, a gifted swimmer.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer shared by zasaw

2011-08-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

Twilight is about a girl named, Isabella Swan who transfers to Forks High School, to live with her father,since she had lived with her mother her entire life. When she gets there get met a family of vampires called the Cullens. Bella easily fell in love with Edward Cullen. Having a boyfriend, that was a vampire wasn't the easiest thing for her since, Jacob, who was part of the werewolves; rivalry to the vampires, was in love with Bella, as well. Bella faced many challenges, in which of one of them she nearly died, but thanks to Edward she doesn't. The book has its intense and seductive parts, though it also has its, suspensful, romantic, and affectionate parts. Twilight is a love story...with a bite!

THE PRINCESS DIARIES Book 1 by: Meg Cabot shared by lemeg

2011-08-04T09:29:00.001-07:00

The Princess Diaries is a really funny story of a girl's life with many twists and turns. Mia Thermopolis is a ninth-grader, known as a "freak" by most people in her school. She's struggling through high school, and flunking algebra. Then, crazy things happen. Her mom starts dating her algebra teacher, and her grandma suddenly shows up and tells Mia that she is a princess. Mia is overwhelmed and unhappy by everything. If people in her school find out that her mom is dating the algebra teacher, or Mia is a princess, she'll be busted and be known as a even bigger freak. Mia struggles to juggle school, princess lessons which she hates, and keeping everything a secret. Someone leaks to the press that Mia is a princess, and Mia is horrified. But being a princess actually isn't that bad. Mia soon learns that being a princess is pretty awesome. Aside from the princess lessons, she had alot of things she never had before, such as a bodyguard, a driver, money, popularity, and a lot of attention.

FLIPPED By: WENDELIN VAN DRAANEN shared by lemeg

2011-08-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

Flipped is a really short but sweet book. It's like a funny love story. Juli Baker had a crush on her neighbor Bryce Loski since she was 7, when Bryce moved onto her street. Bryce was scared of Juli. She was annoying, and he avoided her at all costs. Weird Juli loved ugly sycamore trees, and raised chickens in her backyard. In eighth grade, when people were going to cut down Juli's favorite sycamore tree, Juli would not get out of the tree. She stayed there and begged Bryce to come up with her. She thought if more people came up the sycamore tree, they wouldn't cut it down. Bryce just ignored her. Juli's chickens laid many eggs. Every week since 6th grade, Juli would give a dozen eggs to Bryce's family. Bryce's family was scared that the eggs were unhealthy because the Baker's backyard, where they raise the chickens, was dirty. So Bryce threw the eggs away every time. In eighth grade, Julie caught Bryce throwing away her eggs, and was very hurt. Then everything changed. Juli started to think Bryce was a jerk, since he avoided her, made fun of her, and didn't care about her feelings. Bryce started to think that Juli Baker was pretty cool since she stayed up in that tree, and raised chickens by herself. When Juli stopped caring about Bryce, Bryce realized what a jerk he's been to Juli, and started "seeing" people for their true selves.

MY SISTER'S KEEPER By: JODI PICOULT shared by lemeg

2011-08-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

My Sister's Keeper is a really sad story that makes you think. Anna's sister, Kate, has a really rare blood and bone marrow cancer..Kate's parents searched for a match that could donate blood, bone marrow, etc. for Kate. Anna was the answer. She was a perfect match for Kate. As a result of this, she had saved her sister's life by donating her blood for surgeries and bone marrow transplants many, many times. But because of Kate's condition,their mother barely paid attention or cared about her other children. Jesse, Kate's brothers, screwed up his life doing drugs, alchohol, stealing, etc. for the attention that he never got. One day, Kate had a kidney failure. Her mother wants Anna to donate a kidney, even though it may affect Anna for the rest of her life. Anna didn't want to donate a kidney, so she hired a lawyer to fight for her own medical rights. During the case, everyone realized out that the lawsuit wasn't all Anna's idea, but Kate didn't really want to live with her condition anymore. In the end, the judge ruled in Anna's favor. On the car ride home, a terrible car accident happened, and Anna died. Her mom was so worried about Kate her whole life, she didn't expect anything to happen to her other children. Later on, doctors used Anna's kidney for Kate's transplant, and stored her other organs for future use. Kate lived through the process.With this shocking surprise, Jesse started turning his life back around, and stopped doing drugs. The family started to love one another more, because what happened bonded them together.

LOVE, STARGIRL by Jerry Spinelli shared by lemeg

2011-08-04T09:25:00.001-07:00

This book is very unique and is an interesting read, because Stargirl is different from most people. She doesn't fit in with everyone else. In her old town, 16-year-old Stargirl was lonely and rejected and sad because no one liked her. She decided to move to Pennsylvania for a new start in life. In Pennsylvania, Stargirl befriended a5 year old girl, Dootsie, and her neighbor, Betty Lou. Betty Lou is actually really nice, but is known as a witch because she never comes out of her house. Betty Lou is scared of everything outside.When winter came, Stargirl decided she wanted to have a Winter Solstice party. She invited everyone she met in her new town to her party. Days before the party, Stargirl feared that no one would come to her party, and everything would be the same as it was back in her old town. On the day of the party, everyone she invited showed up, and even Betty Lou too. Everyone enjoyed the magic of winter together. Stargirl felt very happy and not alone.

Mattimeo by Brian Jacques shared by licar

2011-08-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

Mattimeo is a touching story about the son of Redwall’s hero and heroine Mathias and Cornflower. Mattimeo was the son of the brave Warrior Mathias and the charming mouse maid Cornflower. Their son was spoiled when he was young mainly because his father saved Redwall from the Cluny the Scourge. However, though Mattimeo was not good at his studies in Redwall, he can sense trouble when a suspicious rat comes in and joins Redwall. Latter when their yearly feast comes, a fox is at their gate, and secretly kidnaps all the young ones in Abbey. All that did not toast on the wine that the fox gave are slain with the only exception of one survivor that was severely wounded. What happens now? Mattimeo is taken by the fox and chained on a wagon as a slave to do hard labor. He cannot escape. So what can he do now? As son of the brave Warrior he is supposed to save his friends like his father did, but can he after all he does is fooling around in Abbey?

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeeffer shared by kitae

2011-08-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

"Life As We Knew It" is a very good book because it shows what could have happened or could happen in the future. It's about a girl named Miranda, her two brothers Jonny and Matt, and her divorced mom living together when a meteor strikes the moon and knocks it closer to Earth.

Due to the increased gravitational pull, there are gigantic tsunamis and natural disasters. School is canceled, gas prices double, and stores are looted. Islands are submerged, the world is covered in ash, and there is a gigantic food shortage. Everyone grabs as much as they can before it runs out.

Miranda's family, along with their elderly neighbor, Mrs. Nesbitt, stockpile on goods and prepare for a long, grueling, cold summer.

Mrs. Nesbitt tells Miranda that when she dies, they should take her stuff before anyone else did. Miranda reluctantly agrees. A few days later, Mrs. Nesbitt dies of age.

Months later, the family is hit by a flu and barely survives. Their food supply starts to dwindle. Miranda heads into town one last time. On her last vestiges of strength, she makes it to City Hall, where she receives food from the mayor's shipment.

She makes it back and they rejoice. It had been hard, but they had lived through the experience with minimal losses.

I liked this book because it was very realistic and displays what humans can do when faced with supposedly insurmountable circumstances.

Overnight by Adele Griffin shared by shemi

2011-08-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

The main character of this book is Gray, a sixth grade girl. However, each chapter a different girl from the Lucky Seven (A group Gray and her “friends” made) is expressed with her thoughts. Gray was a quiet girl that thought and worried a lot. On Caitlin’s (a friend of Gray) birthday party, everything was going nicely. She didn’t want to play Caitlin’s game so she went to get some juice. She spotted an interesting woman that was staring at her. Gray thought that she might have been one of Caitlin’s neighbors so she invited her in. When the woman said she was, Gray was relived and thought she was harmless. When Gray said that she wanted to go home to pick up her sleeping bag, the woman agreed and said that they should go instantly. Then Gray thought that she was from Helping Hands. Helping Hands is a program to help people with cancer. Gray’s mother had cancer and they often helped Gray do errands that her mother couldn’t do. Gray didn’t think that she was a Helping Hands type of person, but she agreed anyway. However, the woman didn’t bring Gray to Gray’s house. The woman took her to her house. Gray was scared and asked why she was there and the woman just said that she needed to take a nap for a couple of hours. Gray then asked to use a phone, but the woman just said that they didn’t have one. Gray stood there while the woman went into a room to nap. Later, she saw a phone underneath the couch, but she didn’t know how to make it work. She realizes that she was kidnapped, but surprisingly didn’t panic. The other members stared to wonder after a hour has pasted. Catlin told her mother and they started to look inside the house and outside to. After three hours, they called the police. Even the police didn’t know where she went. Gray thought a lot about the Lucky Seven. She thought the group was falling apart. The only reason that she was still in the group was because of pity and because their mothers were friends. She then thought that Martha (the leader of the group) has been nothing but mean to her. She heard her talk behind her back too. Gray heard the woman’s boyfriend say that the house they were living in was actually someone else’s house. They quickly dropped Gray off on the road and left. Soon, a police car spotted her and brang her back to her home. Gray thought that she was going to quit the Lucky Seven and be with friends that were actually nice.

Opinion

In my opinion, the book is a bit confusing at times. I wondered why Gray did what she did. If I were Gray, I would have made different moves at different times. I think it is a bit confusing, but is still a decent book.

Where I Want to Be by Adele Griffin shared by shemi

2011-08-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

I find the book, Where I Want to Be, by Adele Griffin very interesting. At first, it was a bit confusing because Jane was on the other side, but came down to Earth to watch Lily. Even though Jane was on the other side she thought she wasn’t. Overall it was a good book. It is based on two twin sisters who are very different. The older sister’s name is Jane and the younger one is Lily. When they were young, they would visit their grandparents who lived near the forest and lake. The two would go off in their own world playing together. The thing was that Jane was different than other people; she had “special needs”. When they grew older, Lily stopped going to her grandparent’s house. She went to parties instead. She eventually stopped playing and barley spoke to her. When they were in high school, Jane was hit by a car and died. Lily kept thinking that it was her fault that she died. While Lily was growing up, Jane couldn’t. Jane always thought it was unfair because she thought Lily was prettier, had a lot more friends, and was loved by others. However, Jane claimed that their grandparents liked her more that made Lily a bit sad. Jane always felt that Lily was trying to ruin her life, when really she was trying to help her. For example the time it was the Senior Dance, Lily found a dress for Jane and did her hair a week before. However, Jane gained some weight and couldn’t fit in the dress on the day of the dance. Jane thought Lily was trying to make her look bad. Lily guessed that Jane didn’t take her medicine that day or something was bothering her. Even though Jane was dead, Lily could always feel Jane’s presence though as if Jane was following her. At the end of the book, both sisters thought they could have treated each other better. Some of Lily’s friends thought that Jane suicided. Lily thought if she treated Jane better, Jane might still be alive. Lily and Jane respect each other in the end.

The Report Card By Andrew Clements shared by khmeg

2011-08-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

The Report Card is about Nora Rowley who is a fifth grader and a genius but nobody just knows that yet. Nora always pretended to be an average student because she hated being pushed around and being different from everybody else. Her best friend was Stephan but he might not really admit it. Stephan thought he was bad and dumb at school if he ever messed up on tests and assignments. Nora did not like to see competitions with grades and kids separating into smart and dumb people. So to prove point she gets Ds in all of her subjects except a C in spelling. Soon her parents find about her report card, her 6 years older than Nora’s perfect sister, Todd the middle child of the family who is big brother of Nora and in eighth grade and finally all of her classmates. Nora and her parents have a conference with all of her teachers and they decide the counselor, Dr. Trindler will do extra evaluation on Nora. Mrs. Byrne the librarian figures out first that Nora is smart. Because she saw on Nora’s login account lots of research more than fifth and fourth combined. She talks to Nora about this and decides not to tell this to anyone yet. Nora has her additional evaluation with Dr. Trindler where she answers questions to an IQ test. Nora scores really high on the IQ test and everybody finds out Nora is really smart. Later Nora and Stephan come up with a plan to start a rebel against tests. Over the weekend when Nora thinks with a cool mind she thinks starting a rebel is not good at all because parents and teachers will be mad. The fact was Nora was the only one who was worried about grades, competition and tests. Stephan called Nora and she did not pick up the phone. When Monday came she found out that was a huge mistake because he made flyers for the rebel and a number of people got zeroes on their tests. To solve this problem Nora suggested that she and Stephan talk to the people who were in the rebel. Nora and Stephan talked to them and admitted their mistake to start the rebel. After that everything goes back to normal cause Nora does not have to take advance/special classes.

Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster shared by khmeg

2011-08-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

Daddy-Long-Legs is a puffin classic book. This is about a girl named Jerusha Abbott who lives in the John Grier orphanage. One day she gets called in Mrs. Lippett’s (someone who maintains the orphanage) office. She notices a trustee with long legs leaving the orphanage while Jerusha goes to Mrs. Lippett’s office. Jerusha gets an offer to go to collage and be a writer. She finds out the man who was leaving will provide her with money for collage. Her trustee did have two conditions. First was she needed to write to him every two months and she could never know who he is. She could address him as john Smith. And if something important arises then he would get his secretary to write to her.

Now Jerusha’s journey to collage starts with exploring and writing letters. In her letters she addresses her trustee as Daddy-Long-Legs like a pet name. Jerusha has a single room up in the tower like another senior who has a single room on the same floor as Jerusha. There are two girls Sallie McBride and Julia Rutledge Pendleton who room together and are on the same floor as Jerusha. Sallie McBride has red hair and really friendly. Julia Pendleton is from one of the first families in New York and did not really notice Jerusha yet. Jerusha changes her name to Judy although she is still Judy in the catalog but everywhere else she is known as Judy. She also catches up on reading small books which she never read like Cinderella and hears and learns more about Sherlock Holmes. Christmas holiday comes Daddy-Long-Legs gives Judy five gold pieces. With her own money she buys a silver watch, Mathew Arnold’s poems, hot water bottle, a streamer rug, dictionary of synonyms, five hundred sheets of yellow manuscript paper and a pair of silk stockings. Judy finds a friend for Christmas a girl from Texas named Leonora Fenton. Something horrible happened to Judy after Christmas she flunked in mathematics and Latin prose. So she promises to work harder. In Judy’s reexamination she passes both Latin and math. Judy gets sick so her trustee sends her flowers and a card. Later Judy meets Julia’s uncle Mr. Jervis Pendleton who she thinks is way better than Julia. Judy goes to Lock Willow Farm in summer vacation to work and meets Mr. and Mrs. Semple, a hired girl, and two hired men. She discovers that Mr. Jervis used to own that farm before he gave it to Mr. and Mrs. Semple. Judy is now a sophomore and is now rooming with Sallie and Julia. Judy goes to Sallie’s house for Christmas and meets her parents, three year old sister, medium-sized brother and Sallie’s big brother Jimmie. Sallie’s family throws a ball just for Judy. Later in her collage year Judy meets Mr. Jervis again. Judy wins a short story contest which seniors enter mostly. Judy goes again to Lock Willow Farm. Mr. Jervis comes there for some time. Judy gets a scholarship. In the summer Judy goes to tutor Mrs. Charles Paterson’s daughters who turn out to be difficult students. Judy is a senior and she goes to Lock Willow Farm for Easter with Sallie. She now graduated from collage and goes to live in Lock Willow Farm. Later she gets a letter from Julia saying Uncle Mr. Jervis is really sick. So Judy gets really sad because she found out so late that he was sick. When her trustee reads this letter he writes her a letter to meet him. When Judy goes to meet him she finds out that her trustee was actually Mr. Jervis Pendleton.

Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne shared y by suyur

2011-08-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

Title:Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1)

Arthor: Mary Pope Osborne

About the story: Jack and Annie found the magic tree house with a long rope ladder.
And the tree house was filled with books.
They found a book which was written about Pensylvania and dinosaurs.
Jack wished and said he could see a pteranodon for real.
Then, they came to 65 million years ago. they saw and felt a Pteranodon,
they see Triceratops, and they did baby-sit for duck-billed dinosaurus.
They picked a gold medallion.
Finally, they found the Tyrannosaurus rex.
They ran and ran, but Jack forgot these books. He cameback, and picked them up.
Tyrannosaurus rex was near to Jack. Jack can't ran away.
Annie had an idea. She found the Pteranodon, and talked with him.
Then, she roud on the Pteranodon, and helped Jack and went back to the tree house.
Jack opened the Pensylvania's book, wished and said that we go back to Pensylvania.
And they back to Pencylvania before dark.

opnion: I think it is so cool to ride the Pteranodon. And I want to see and try the magic tree house.

How I Survived Being a Girl by Wendelin Van Draanen shared by chraq

2011-07-29T17:35:00.000-07:00

The book, How I survived being a girl, by Wendelin Van Draanen took place in California, where Carolyn and her two brothers lived. The main character was a twelve - year old girl named Carolyn who lived in a friendly but sneaky neighborhood. Carolyn and her brother’s favorite thing to do was spy on their next door neighbors and throw rocks down their chimney. Carolyn had short red hair and was a tomboy. She was always getting into trouble. An example was when Carolyn and her brother snuck on top of their neighbor’s roof and threw rocks down their chimney. When the neighbors called the police, Carolyn and her brother raced home and pretended to be in the middle of a game. When their dad came home he made them clean up the house and make dinner because he had important news to tell them. The important news was they were going to have a baby sister in a few months. Carolyn cried but only because she was happy. When Carolyn met her new teacher she called her dragon lady and told every body she wore a wig. When the principle found out, he called her to his office and told her not call her teacher that and she is very nice once you give her a chance. The next week Carolyn had a choir performance that she had to go to, so her mom made her wear a dress and curl her hair. Things were a little weird between her and her best friend, Charlie, because he had a girlfriend that she didn’t really care for. After the performance was over, Charlie and Carolyn talked everything over and were okay again. I recommend this book to girls who have a curious mind and are opened to different options in life.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins shared by yinat

2011-07-29T17:31:00.000-07:00

In the action book Catching Fire Katniss and Peeta have to go back to the Hunger Games with all of the victors from the other Hunger Games for the Quarter Quarrel. In the games she makes a lot of alliances and almost got killed many times. Without a man named Finnick she would have lost Peeta and her own life. At the end of the games she blows a hole in the force field that surrounded the arena. After she did that the arena started to blow up. That’s when a hover craft from an undercover group comes and picks her up. In the hovercraft Hamitch and all the victors are there to explain why they helped her to stay alive. They needed her to stay alive because without her they can’t over throw the capitol.

"Only the Good Spy Young" by Ally Carter shared by yochi

2011-07-29T17:25:00.000-07:00

Cammie was back at Gallagher Academy, a spy school. Last summer, she was almost kidnapped by a mysterious circle called the Circle of Cavan. She and her friends find out that Joe Solomon, their teacher, was a member. Cammie wants to trust him, but she can't talk to him, for he disappeared, leaving Cammie with the words "Follow the pigeons". As Cammie and her freinds figure out what it means, she hears that her father who was thought to be dead, was alive. Cammie risks her life as she tries to find out the truth. Unfortunately, The Circle of Cavan was also looking for Joe Solomon. When she meets up with Mr. Solomon and the Circle, Cammie finds out the unbelievable truth. That her father was still alive. In the end, Cammie had no where to go, and she had no choice but to jump from the hill, which was more than just a few feet. She woke up in a hospital room, where her freinds were waiting for her. Mr. Solomon was found, and he was also alive. But the mistery of Cammie's father's whereabouts are still unsolved...

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins shared by sikar

2011-07-29T07:01:00.001-07:00

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry shared by bumoh

2011-07-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

The story Number the Stars is about how young Annemarie Johansen and her friend, Ellen Rosen, survive the Germans invasion of the Jews in Denmark. The Germans were desperately trying to find the Rosen's. They needed all the help they needed to hide or even leave Denmark for good. Annemarie's brother in law, Peter, helped make a plan for the Rosen's to be safe. Annemarie's uncle, Henrik, was the person who helped the Rosen's escape to Sweden. The Johansen's and Rosen's might never meet again.

The Homewrk Machine by Dan Gutman shared by bumoh

2011-07-29T06:38:00.000-07:00

The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman is about Kelsey, Sam, Judy, and Brenton, kids with completely different personalities, who get along with each other because of a machine that does their homework for them. The machine was built by Brenton, the smartest of the group. When these kids were assigned to work together in class, Brenton told the other about the machine and from then on they used the machine almost every day. People were starting to find out about the machine. The kids knew they were going to get into big trouble. They had to think of an idea to use the machine and not get caught.

Last Payback by James Van Ooting shared by gaadi

2011-07-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

In the book The Last Payback by James Van Ooting a girl named, Dorothea learns that her brother Dale died. Everyone says he got shot by his good friend Ronnie. Now, she was the only person left in the twin protectors club, a club that Dorothea and Dale created, and she can’t stop thinking about their one and only rule,” never delay a payback”. Now Dorothea knows what she has to do to make the score even. The rest of the book is about how Dorothea gets even with Ronnie. At the end of the book Dorothea finds out that Ronnie did not kill Dale but, that Dale killed himself.

Pop by Gordon Korman submitted by kitae

2011-07-24T21:21:00.001-07:00

Pop is a book about a boy that moves away to a new state and meets a random man in a park while practicing football. The man's name is Charles Popovich, a great NFL player who had a 17 year career. His nickname was the King of Pop. Unfortunately, he developed Alzheimer's from too many concussions and his family tried to hide his illness.

Meanwhile, the boy tries out for the football team and succeeds. He falls in love with a cheerleader, Alyssa, who used to be with Troy Popovich, Charlie's son. After that, he realizes that Charlie had Alzheimer's and why Charlie kept calling him Mac. He sneaks off with Charlie to Charlie's old college, where he appears to regain his sanity and remember everything. They go together to Troy's football match, where Charlie climbs up onto a statue at the top of the bleachers. He looks at Marcus, his eyes clear and lucid, and falls off.

I liked this book because it showed a lot of info about Alzheimer's and what it can do to people. It's like they're living in a different reality from us. It's very sad.

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan shared by ralia

2011-07-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

The Lost Hero takes place in modern-day United States , following a hero, Jason, and his friends through their many adventures in order to save the queen of the gods and defeat the Titans.

Jason woke up on a bus in a summer wilderness camp with a bunch of other kids. He had no idea who he was or how he got there. There were two kids there named Leo and Piper who claimed to be his friends. They said that they were headed for the skywalk at the Grand Canyon . When they arrived, they got ambushed by wind spirits and their protector/coach got captured. Jason and his friends got picked up by two demigods and were brought to Camp Half-blood .

They found out that Hera was captured and needed help from a demigod to free her. The mysterious appearance of the three demigods prompted the rest of the campers that they should be the ones to go on the quest. They set out on the quest and stopped to get directions from minor gods and to pick up their protector, coach Hedge, from an evil department store. They went to a mountain to defeat the titan Enceladus.

Then they went to the wolf house to free Hera from Porphrion. They got there in the middle of a battle between demigods and monsters Jason, Piper, and Leo took care of the rest of the monsters and set to work on Hera’s cage. Hera broke free and scared off Porphrion.

The three demigods became heroes and Jason got his memory back. I think this book was well written and fast-paced. I would give it I think this book was well written and fast-paced. I would give it 4 ½ stars.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown shared by whjer

2011-07-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

The Da Vinci Code follows Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu as they escape from the French police after being falsely accused of murder (in Sophie's case, assisting the so-called "murderer"). Throughout their journey, they try to solve a code that could unravel a secret that goes back for centuries, a secret about the Holy Grail.

Fish By Gregory Mone shared by nichi

2011-07-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

Fish used live in a house with many brothers and sisters. His brothers were all strong, but only Fish was weak. But he was gifted in the ability to be able to swim. One day, his family lost a horse, and they didn't have money either. So they had to give away Fish, because he was the weakest. So he was sent to his uncle's house, and there, he worked hard to earn money. Then when he was sent to give an important package, it was stolen by a pirate. As he tries to get it back, he ends up being in the group of pirates. He figures out the captain was going to go treasure hunting to find an enormous golden chain which was very priceless, although some of the crew didn't agree. Then his first assistant betrays the captain, along with other crew mates. Fish is on the captain's side, now knowing that the package was a clue for the treasure. It all ends when Fish and his new friends "fight" their enemies and finds the treasure.

Maze Runner by James Dashner shared by sobri

2011-07-20T16:17:00.001-07:00

The Maze Runner is one of the best books that I have read so far and leaves you wanting to read more from this series.Summary:A boy named Thomas wakes up in a place called the Glade.He has no memories of his parents,his home,or how his life was before he came to the Glade.After looking around the Glade,Thomas notices two things:There is only boys in the Glade and the Glade is surrounded by a maze.The Gladers don't know why or how they got into the Glade but they do know that the most important thing to do there is to figure out how to solve the maze so they could go home.Then the next day,a girl is sent up-the first and only girl in the Glade.What surprises Thomas and the Gladers is what the message that the girl delivers says.Everyday since the girl has arrived,Thomas starts to feel different and believes that she and him are the ones who know how to solve the maze.But in the maze,they have to be careful for those Grievers,creatures that attack you,or else they can get the Gladers and the girl killed.

The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez shared by coroe

2011-07-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

The book, The Circuit, by Francisco Jimenez describes the life of a migrant child and his

indigent family. Panchito’s family included his parents, four brothers, and young sister.

The family, which at first consisted of only Roberto, Panchito, and their parents, decided to sneak past the immigration illegally and enter California in order to leave their poverty behind. They first were given a job picking cotton in a Santa Maria.Unfortunately, Panchito could not pick cotton, for he was too young. He envied his older brother, Roberto, who was fifteen years old, for he was able to. Both Roberto and Panchito had a very difficult time at school, for they knew little English. Several weeksafter arriving in California, their mother gave birth to Torito, who became very sick. Although it took a miracle, a doctor was able to heal the newborn.

Later, they left Santa Maria and headed to Corcoran, where they again pickedcotton. Unfortunately, it rained often so they could not pick as much cotton and therefore,made less money. After the cotton season was over, the family traveled to Orosi, wherethey picked grapes for Mr. Patrini. They where given a nice home to live in, but it burned down when they used gasoline for their kerosene stove.

The family left again for Corcoran, but changed their mind because of Papa’sinability to work in the fields. Since Papa had a sore back, they moved to Santa Maria,where Panchito could continue his education, and Roberto could find a job. With the help of the generous Mr. Sims, Roberto’s old principal, he was hired to become the janitor and an elementary school.

Right when everything seemed okay, the Border Patrol caught the family. During the school day, they barged into Panchito’s classroom and led him to their car. Unfortunately for them, their efforts to leave their poverty behind would be wasted.

The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket shared by sikar

2011-07-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket is the continuation of the
Baudelaire orphans’ tragic lives. Now that Olaf isn’t their guardian,
Mr. Poe relocates the children to herpetologist Dr. Montgomery
Montgomery, or Uncle Monty. They’re happy and they’re reminded of
their old lives. He shows them the Reptile Room, where all of his
reptiles are. Among them is the Incredibly Deadly Viper, whose name is
a misnomer, and it becomes Sunny’s friend. But then Stephano, Uncle
Monty’s new assistant, comes to the house, and they realize that he’s
Olaf. They try to convey this to Uncle Monty, but are unsuccessful.
Instead, he believes that Stephano is trying to take credit for his
work, so he rips up Stephano’s ticket to go to Peru for a study.
Stephano murders Uncle Monty and tries to take the children to Peru
himself so he can get their fortune, but Mr. Poe unexpectedly comes
and learns of Uncle Monty’s death. He calls Dr. Lucafont, who says
that Uncle Monty was killed with the venom of the Mamba du Mal. The
children disprove that the snake killed him by showing evidence that
Stephano injected the venom into Uncle Monty. Stephano is revealed as
Olaf and retreats with the doctor, who is Olaf’s associate. Mr. Poe
takes them once more to find another guardian. I liked this book
because it was just as entertaining as the first, and it had new
things added into the storyline.

Mitch and Amy by Beverly Cleary shared by talis

2011-07-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

To put it really briefly, it just a daily life for Mitchell and Amy.

It starts when Mitchell and Amy start the new grade which is 4th grade.

And it goes 'till the next year, January.

There was a lot of problems and an answer but there is some that they couldn't solve.

For example, Amy was making a pinata for a class party but an Alan, who always bullies Mitchell, brakes it when Amy was walking to school. That was the problem but didn't got solve.

The example that did solve is when Mitchell finally got an interest to reading.

He was a sort of a bad reader and he didn't try to read either.

But on the Christmas vacation,

Amy got a book about an guns and the title and the front cover catch Mitchell's eye.

he starts reading a story secretly, because he don't want his family to know he's reading.

But his mother saw him reading so all the family congratulate.

and also, the Alan the bully got to talk with a principle because he was bullying at last.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins shared by sobri

2011-07-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

Catching Fire is a good book to read if you enjoyed the first book of the series,The Hunger Games.Catching Fire is about a girl named Katniss Everdeen,a sixteen-year old girl.After winning the Hunger Games,Katniss thought that she can go home happily to her family and her longtime friend,Gale,and forget that the Hunger Games existed.But Katniss thought wrong.Now there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol that Katniss and Peeta,a sixteen-year old boy,created ever since Katniss pulled out those poisonous berries in the arena.But what's worse is that she and Peeta have to go back into the arena to fight for the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Hunger Games.But those aren't just ordinary tributes that Katniss and Peeta have to fight,these are tributes who have won the Hunger Games before and now that they are in the arena,they must battle each other to death.So now this time,Katniss must decide who to trust because making one mistake in the arena can only lead you to one thing,death.Let the seventy-fifth Hunger Games begin.

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell shared by licar

2011-07-20T15:31:00.001-07:00

The book Black Beauty is a fascinating tale about a horse and her extraordinary life. Black Beauty is a horse that was born in a stable with her mother Duchess. Both lived a very peaceful life. Black Beauty spent his young life with his mother on Farmer Grey’s farm. Farmer Grey was a good, kind man and the horses that he had owned had a good life. His mother told him that not all people were as good as Farmer Grey. So she gave him some advice: ‘Always be good so people will love you. Always work hard and do your best’. Black Beauty tried to follow this advice all his life. He ends up being sold to Farmer John. He had a couple of good years with Farmer John. However, life goes on and Black Beauty is sold. What would happen next in her life? What type of owner has she been led too?

Gossamer by Lois Lowry shared by ataks

2011-07-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

Gossamer by Lois Lowry is really good. It is about a dream-giver named Littlest One who gives dreams to an old lady and her dog. She goes with her instructor, Thin Elderly, who teaches her how to collect fragments by touching things and how to make them into dreams. Soon, an angry boy comes to live with the old lady. The leader of the dream-givers, Most Ancient, senses that the sinisteeds are stirring. Sinisteeds are dream-givers who pressed things instead of touching and turned evil. They give nightmares to people who are weak. Thin Elderly and Littlest One find out that the sinisteeds are targeting the boy, John, who came to live with the old lady. Littlest One and Thin Elderly try their best to protect John. John's nightmares are about his mother, who is trying to find a job so that she can have John back. Eventually, school starts, and John goes to the school that his mom works at. Then, Littlest One no longer needs to give dreams to John and the old lady. She and Thin Elderly return to the Heap, their home, where Most Ancient shows Littlest One the new dream-giver that formed. The new dream-giver is named New Littlest, and Littlest One is now known as Gossamer, for her gossamer touch. This book is great!

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer shared by ataks

2011-07-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

I just read This World We Live In. It is in the Life as We Knew it series. In this book, Miranda and her two brothers and mom are struggling to survive. Last year, a meteor hit the moon and caused many deaths and natural disasters. Food is scarce, and Miranda and her brothers must scavenge the houses of the people that have died to find items such as toothpaste, shampoo, etc.. Miranda's brothers go fishing for a week, and her older brother returns with a girl named Syl, who he married on the trip. Soon, Miranda's dad, step mom and baby half-brother arrive with three people: Charlie, Alex, and Julie. The six of them move into one of the few standing abandoned houses. Miranda falls in love with Alex almost immediately. Alex wants to leave and leave Julie at a convent, but nobody wants them to go. Miranda and her dad take them to the convent, and find out that it is empty. They return, everyone is happy except for Alex. Alex tells Miranda that he and Julie have passes to a safe town, and that he wants Miranda to go to the safe town with them. Miranda says yes. Charlie and her dad want to go with them, along with Miranda's step mom and the baby. Just when they are about to leave, a tornado hits their home. Everyone rushes to safety. When the twister passes, Miranda discovers that a few lives are lost. This book is really good, and you never want to put it down!

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger shared by ataks

2011-07-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

I just read The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. This book is about a kid named Dwight who invents an origami Yoda. Dwight is really weird. For example, he wears the same shirt for a month, wants everyone to call him "Captain Dwight", and he wears an origami Yoda on his finger. However, the origami Yoda can predict the future. A boy named Tommy wants to find out how Yoda (a.k.a. Dwight's voice) can know so much. It could just be that Dwight has the Force or something, but Dwight is so dumb that Tommy thinks that Yoda is for real. To find out how Yoda can predict the future, Tommy puts together a case file about the questions people asked origami Yoda. One day Harvey, Tommy's friend, makes his own origami yoda. Harvey thinks that Yoda is a fake, and trries to prove it by making Tommy ask an important question to Dwight's Yoda: Does Sara like Tommy? Tommy asks both Yodas; Harvey says no, Dwight says yes. To find out which Yoda is right, Tommy has to ask Sara to dance at the PTA Fun Night. At the fun night, Tommy finds Dwight dancing with a girl named Caroline, who he had gotten into a fight with a kid named Zack for. Then, Tommy asks Sara to dance, and she says yes. It turns out that Dwight's origami Yoda is real! This book is great!

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead shared by ataks

2011-07-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

The book When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead is really interesting. It is about a girl named Miranda and her best friend, Sal. One day, Sal gets punched by a random kid. Miranda tries to get Sal home, but when they pass the crazy guy on the corner, Sal runs home. He stops talking to Miranda. Soon, Miranda recieves a note telling her that someone is coming to save her friend's life. It also tells her to write a letter about the events leading up to the time the person arrives. Soon, Miranda learns that the kid who punched Sal is named Marcus . Marcus is very into the theory of time travel. The notes continue coming. Finally, one day, Sal is walking home and Marcus comes up behind him. Sal starts running away, and is almost hit by a truck -- but the crazy old guy on the corner saves him. He dies in the process. Soon Miranda realizes that the old guy was Marcus and that in the future, Marcus would build a time machine to come back to the past and save Sal's life. I think that this is a great book! It's really hard to put down!

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff shared by chele

2011-07-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

Hollis Woods was a baby when she was left by her mother and for 12 years she had been transferred from one foster home to another. To the social agency, she is a mountain of trouble because she skipped school and ran away. She finally got a family, the Regans, a family willing to give her a real home, she ran away. She got put with Josie an old artist who is losing her memory, Hollis begins to feel needed and doesn't ever want to leave Josie, an old woman who knows a lot about friendship and love. Fearful that the social agency will separate them, Hollis planned an escape. This time she took Josie with her and returns to Branches, the summer home that belongs to the Regans. All along, Hollis wanted for her life with the Regans, and recorded every special moment with them in a gallery of pictures.

This book was amazing and sweet because a girl fought for what she wanted.

Help! I'm Trapped in Obedience School Again by Todd Strasser shared by chele

2011-07-13T16:28:00.000-07:00

Jake and Josh wanted something from their friend Andy, so in return Andy wanted something. A new girl named Mica who walked with her dog. Andy thought if he could borrow Jake's dog, Lance to meet her. When they went to Jake's house Jake's sister Jessica was with Lance and Jessica said he might have to go to obedience school again. They asked Jessica to borrow Lance, she said yes. Every time Andy got close to Mica Lance always went the wrong way, so Andy wanted Lance and Jake to switch bodies. It was possible because their science teacher made a transfer intelligence machine, which switches bodies. Mica's dog, Foo Foo fell in love with Lance. Then, Jessica came and she took Lance, so he could go to obedience school and Foo Foo also was going the same place. They all left the cruel obedience school and went home. Jessica and Lance came home to disaster, she had found out about the switch and was determined to know the truth. Andy and Josh convinced Jessica he was normal. Josh took Lance and Jake on a walk and went to go find Andy. Andy was at Mica's house. They got him to leave and they went back to school and changed back. Andy held his part of the deal and gave them things the wanted.

I thought this was a good book, but it was sorta strange how he can switch bodies with others. It was a funny book in all.

Call Me Hope by Gretchen Olson shared by chele

2011-07-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

In class they learned about racism and unfairness, it made Hope emotional. Darlene called Hope bad words a lot. Hope saw beautiful boots at Next to New and wanted them. She thought of a point system, so she got a reward for dealing with Darlene being mean to her. Hope had been grinding her teeth and had lots of headaches. This year for her birthday Darlene gave Hope $25 to spend. She spent some and then went to go eat with the Next to New workers. Hope gave one of Darlene's dresses to Next to New. She misses the bus home and then starts to talk to Brody and ended up telling him about her mom. Her mom came and when Hope got in the car Darlene had her dress-the one hope gave to Next to New- Hope got grounded and couldn't work at Next to New and couldn't go to ODS anymore . Hope freaked out in class and went to the counselor and told her about Darlene. The counselor came to Hope's house and talked to her mom. Hope said she wasn't sure if her mom loved her and she wasn't sure if she loved her mom. She also said maybe i should go away. Her mom got sad and let Hope go to ODS. Darlene is taking parenting classes.

I thought this was a sad story because the mother bullied her daughter, but in the end it became happy because the mother learned to treat her daughter better.

Things Not Seen by Andrew Clement shared by chele

2011-07-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

15 year old, Bobby Phillips woke up one morning invisible. His parents learned about his invisibility and told him to sleep. They left for work and Bobby went out to the library all wrapped in clothes. Bobby met Alicia Van Dorn and told her his secret. Bobby was watching the news and saw an accident and it was his parent's car. They come back from the hospital, all of Bobby's absences causes the State Department to investigate. Alicia's parent find out about Bobby, and Mr. Van Dorn and Mr. Phillips look deeper into his invisibility. They find out it was because of a problem with a Sears electric blanket. Bobby found another invisible girl named Sheila Borden. Alicia gave Bobby an idea and Bobby woke up visible. Bobby told Sheila about being visible again, but she didn't want to be visible.

I thought this was a great book and it sorta gave a lesson by saying even if you have a disability you can help in many ways.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum shared by leali

2011-07-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was the best book I've ever read. It was like a modernized fairy tale. When I was young, I only knew that there was Dorothy, a tin man, and a witch. However, when I was reading this book, there was much more than that. Dorothy ends up in a different world with her house and her dog, Toto, and coincidentally kills the Wicked Witch of the East. The kind Witch of the North gives Dorothy the Wicked Witch's silver shoes. She kisses her on the forehead, which leaves a mark, so that in her journey to Emerald City, no beings would hurt her. Dorothy travels to Emerald City, where the great wizard named Oz lives because she would like to go back to Kansas. As she journeys, she meets with three friends: the Scarecrow, who wants a brain, the tin man, who wants a heart, and the cowardly lion, who wants courage. In their journey, they begin to know the importance of teamwork and friendship as they save and help each other.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger shared by gaadi

2011-07-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

In the book The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger is about how a kid named Dwight invents a way of making an origami yoda. Dwight himself is not very smart and good at giving advice but when he put origami yoda on his finger and talks in his yoda voice he gives really good advice. Then Dwight becomes really popular throughout the whole middle school for his advice. Later in the book Tommy asks origami yoda if there would be a pop quiz in math and origami yoda said yes. After math class and taking the pop quiz Tommy told the teacher that he knew that there would be a pop quiz. But the teacher said he did no plan the pop quiz. I recommend The Strange Case of Origami Yoda to every one.