Slob by Ellen Potter shared by kumar

Slob by Ellen Potter:

Owen Birnbaum is a twelve year old who is 57 percent fatter than the national average for a twelve-year-old boy. He is fat, but very smart. According to Owen, he is one point away from a genius. At school, people make fun of him, even the PE teacher, Mr. Wooly. Mr. Wooly forces Owen to do a somersault the wrong way so people could laugh at him. At home, Owen is inventing a machine that shows what happened in the past and called the machine Nemesis. He wants to know who killed his parents in their deli. Nemesis works, so Owen is really excited, but in the end, he finds out his sister Jeremy tricked him. Owen doesn't find out who killed his parents, but he goes to the Hudson River to rip up the last thing his mom ever wrote: slob. Slob stands for salami on an onion bagel. He wishes that the murderer would be the unluckiest man who ever lived.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan shared by zkatn

I read the book Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

Summary:

All year the demigods at Camp Half-blood have been preparing to battle against the Titans, and their leader, Kronos. Many campers have gone to the enemy army after being convinced that their godly parents don't care for them. Many campers were also killed due to risky missions. A spy at camp has been telling Kronos about future attacks that Percy and his friends have planned, and the gods are off battling the monster Typhoon. Can the young demigods alone defeat the enemy army? Can Percy avoid the terrible fate that has been foretold to come on his sixteenth birthday?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins shared by caisa

Sometime in the future, there are 12 districts replacing a once known country called North America. Every year, one boy and one girl are selected from each district to participate in the Hunger Games. You win, you receive a fortune of food: grain, oils, bread, etc. You lose, you die. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark were chosen to be the tributes, or representatives, for District 12. During the Games, deaths occur, love grows, and above all, allies form. The two tributes will be forced to work with one another to stay alive. Two possibilities lie for their future; they are killed by another tribute, or they are destined for fame and return home.

Rapunzel's Revenge by Hale shared by kumar

I read Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale. Here is the summary:

Rapunzel's Revenge is a graphic novel about Rapunzel, but not the original story. Rapunzel lived in a nice villa with her "mother", Gothel. Gothel had growing magic and made the world outside die with no plants, but there were slaves. There were big, tall walls around the villa to protected Rapunzel from seeing the outside world. on her 12th birthday, Rapunzel was curious and went over the wall with rope. She met her real mother as a slave, but the guards took Rapunzel away. Gothel ordered her henchman, Brute, to take her to a forest. Rapunzel was trapped in a big tree, but her hair grew really long, so she used her hair as a rope and escapes on her sixteenth birthday. Rapunzel tries to go back to the villa to take revenge on Gothel, but she meets Jack, an adventurous boy who wants alot of money. They both go through many obstacles, like chasing hungry coyotes away from a village and killing a sea serpent, to get closer to destroying Gothel.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery shared by kumar

I read a book called Anne of Green Gables by L.M Montgomery. This is the summary:
Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla wanted to adopt a boy to help Matthew with farm work, but there was a mistake. Instead of a boy, they got a young imaginative girl named Anne Shirley. At first, Marilla wanted to take Anne back to the asylum, but Marilla decided to keep her. Over the years, Anne made many mistakes like starching Matthew's hankerchiefs and mistaking liniment as vanilla, but Marilla still loved her.

Anne of Green Gables is a great book to read.You always want to find out what kind of trouble Anne gets to next.

Folowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes shared by leali

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes explains about how a man named Charlie Gordon, who was born with an unusually low IQ, was chosen by scientists to be experimented on to increase his intelligence. It was already highly successful on a mouse named Algernon. The book is divided into by Charlie's progress reports. From the first page of the book, it is obvious that he is not very smart for an adult. For example, he wrote, "...32 yeres old and next munth is my brithday." The scientists' hope is that this intelligence be permanent. However, Algernon suddenly deteriorates. On Charlie Gordon's journey, he starts to discover about his past and his family.
I think that this book was very well written because the author did a great job of showing Charlie's progress and his discoveries at the same time. His intelligence seemed to help him accept the fact that people who he considered friends were teasing him. As he neared the end of his journey, he realized that it was easier for him when he had a lower IQ than when he is smart.

Dragon Wings by Laurence Yep shared by leali

Dragonwings by Laurence Yep was a book that introduced me to a whole new world. The story takes place in the early 1900s in San Francisco, where the Chinese men came to San Francisco to work for money to be sent home, mainland China. In China, it was now what is known as the Tang Dynasty. The Chinese ways and their beliefs were new and interesting to me, since I come from Korea. The whole story is about how the main character, Moon Shadow, greatly respects his father's dream to become a dragon. The Dragon King appeared in his father's, Windrider, telling him that in order to become a dragon, he must pass his final test: to fly. Through the many hardships, including the insulting threats from the whites and the earthquake, a white women and a girl are there to respect them and to help them each other. The aunt is named Miss Whitlaw, and the child is called Robin. They understand Windrider's wonderful dream and together, they build a plane, with the help of the Wright brothers' letters. In the end, Windrider understands that his family is much more important than his own dream. He gives up his dream and with the help of his friends, he is allowed to bring his wife over to San Francisco to live together as a family again.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead shared by srsam

In sixth grade Miranda and Sal know their street smarts; they know who
and what to avoid- and one of them is the man on the sidewalk corner
who always hides his head under the mailbox (Quack a.k.a. "the
laughing man"). But after Sal gets punched by a bully he ends his
friendship with Miranda; and Miranda needs to make new friends (she
meets Colin and Annemarie). Strange things start happening to Miranda
and her mother; the apartment key gets stolen from it's hiding space,
and she starts getting secret notes no one should read. The notes tell
her something tragic is going to happen and that she may just be too
late.

Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman shared by srsam

I read a terrific book today- called _Climbing the Stairs_. This book
was really close to home for me because it was set in Chennai, India,
the place of my birth. The book was about a girl named Vidya who is 15
years old and wants to go to college; an unusual dream for a girl in
British occupied India during World War 2. Vidya's father is beaten
and becomes brain dead. Vidya's contemporary family is then forced to
live in a traditional household with her father's family; including an
aunt who is thoughtless and cruel. Vidya's brother leaves to join the
army and the family is shocked. In the end Vidya is sent to medical
school; and manages to find a pleasant solution to the nagging problem
of marriage. I think it would be a little hard to understand the book
without much of a background, but I would still recommend it.

Twilight by Erin Hunter shared by sikar

In Twilight by Erin Hunter, Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight’s close friendship on the Great Journey has vanished as they begin to become distant because he wants to get close with his half-brother Hawkfrost, whom she mistrusts; she gets closer to Ashfur, a fellow warrior. Also, Leafpool and Crowfeather secretly love each other, though Leafpool is a medicine cat and they are from different Clans. They meet discreetly all through the book until Cinderpelt, Leafpool’s mentor, catches them. Leafpool decides to run away with Crowfeather after she is told by her great-aunt Spottedleaf to follow her heart in a dream. They turn back after they get word of an incoming badger attack on ThunderClan. Then Sorreltail, a queen, starts giving birth to her kits when the badgers attack, and Cinderpelt dies after delivering Sorreltail’s kits. WindClan comes to help, and the badgers are driven away. Crowfeather and Leafpool resolve to not see each other again. Stormfur and Brook, who lived in the Tribe of Rushing Water, suddenly come to ThunderClan for an unknown purpose. I recommend this book to anyone who loves cats, excitement and adventure; I thought it was a really great book, all in all.

Sunset by Erin Hunter shared by sikar

Sunset by Erin Hunter is the second book I have read this summer. Like most of the Warriors books, many things are occurring simultaneously. Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight stop arguing. But even though the tension has ended, Brambleclaw has to decide whether he will continue training with Tigerstar or refuse the power and be devoted to ThunderClan. Stormfur and Brook reside with the Clan until they decide to go to RiverClan, where they are kicked out by Hawkfrost. Angered, Stormfur attacks him, causing Leopardstar to exile them from RiverClan. Brambleclaw sees this and brings them back to ThunderClan, where Firestar takes them back in, due to Stormfur’s father being Graystripe. Sandstorm and Brambleclaw convince Firestar that Graystripe probably won’t come back, so he makes Brambleclaw deputy according to a dream Leafpool had. Leafpool discovers that Cinderkit is a reincarnation of Cinderpelt, her dead mentor, and that Mothwing’s sign from StarClan was faked by Hawkfrost. Fox traps have been planted in the Clans’ territories, and when Firestar is caught in one, Hawkfrost urges Brambleclaw to kill him and become leader of ThunderClan. Brambleclaw is loyal to Firestar and kills Hawkfrost instead, fulfilling the prophecy Before there is peace, blood will spill blood, and the lake will run red.

Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry shared by yinat

Call it Courage

By Armstrong Sperry

In the realistic fiction book Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry the main character Matafu is afraid of the ocean and he is trying to overcome that fear to make his father proud of him. To overcome his fear he packed food and water put it on a canoe and left with his dog. He promised himself that he would not to come back until he was not afraid of the water and to prove himself worthy to be the chief’s son. On his journey a big storm blew him to the island of the eaters of men. There his canoe broke and he had to make a new one. It took several days for it to be finished so while he waited for the canoe to finish he made a shelter, a fire, found food, and did what it took to survive. He found bones of a whale and made weapons from it. He made a spear, knife, and ax. On the day that the canoe was finished the eaters of men came back from another island. They saw Matafu and they chased him away from the island. Matafu had overcome his fear during his survival at the island. As he approached his home island Hikueru people came to the beach side to greet him. The first person to do that was his father. Matafu’s father was very proud and happy to see his son again.

Code Orange by Caroline Cooney shared by kitae

The book Code Orange is about a student named Mitty Blake who lives in Manhattan who tries to find a really easy subject for his science project about infectious diseases. He takes his mother's medical textbooks and randomly flips it open to variola major. He also finds an envelope filled with variola major scabs. He sniffs them and puts them back in the envelope. Later, he learns that variola major is more commonly known as smallpox, and also finds out that there's no known cure. He also learns that period between infection and symptoms is 12 to 14 days. Then he remembers that he sniffed in particles of the scabs, but dismisses it as no concern.

However, when he goes to school, he starts considering the tragic effects that smallpox could wreak in Manhattan. He immediately starts a wild internet trawl of medical databases and also emails and advertises about the scabs. It has been 12 days. Later that evening, he heads outside and is mugged by bioterrorists led to him by the advertising. They keep him in a warehouse in the outskirts of town for a few days when smallpox spots appear on his skin. They try to transport him to another warehouse but Mitty fights them off. He had tricked them by using coal dust from the warehouse to make spots on his skin. He had faked his sickness.

He did not have smallpox. However, his tangle with the bio terrorists required a hospital stay. I think this was a very good story because in my opinion, it was a story that demonstrated the possible dangers that someone can create from a foolish mistake. Smallpox was a very dangerous disease and I feel better now that it has supposedly been eradicated. If smallpox got into the hands of a bioterrorist, it could become a huge pandemic.

The Bridge to Terabithia shared by soand

In the book Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson the main character, Jesse (a.k.a Jess) Aarons tries to push himself to be the fastest boy in the fifth grade and was sure he was going to win the year's first school-yard race. However, Jess's victory was stolen by a newcomer who was a girl named Leslie. Somehow he finds himself sticking up for the girl who breaks rules during races. After that, their friendship grows when Jess shows Leslie his life in his rural town, and when she takes Jess to the imaginary world called Terabithia. Both Jess and Leslie rule over the oaks and evergreens and safe from bullies. Later, Leslie was found dead when swinging on the broken rope and drowned in the bottom of the river. I recommend this book to people who like adventure books about friendship and courage.

Code Orange by Caroline Cooney shared by gaadi

In the book Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney the main character Mitty has to write a paper for his advanced biology class but he had always been a carefree kind of guy, not worrying about grades, blackouts, or other kind of things. But Mitty chooses to actually do his homework for once, as Mitty was researching his topic he came across some 100 year old small pox scabs Mitty did not know what they were so he sniffed them up. Then Mitty continued his research and over time found out about smallpox symptoms and remedies. Later in the book Mitty started to feel the smallpox symptoms and got worried that he would get smallpox because he sniffed the small pox scabs. The rest of the book is on how Mitty deals with the thought of getting smallpox.
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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins shared by paruc

This book is about a sixteen year old named Katniss Everdeen. She takes her sister's place in an annual event called the Hunger Games. These games are when 24 kids are chosen (one boy and one girl from each district) and they fight to the death in wilderness. The last person alive is the winner, and they get a life of ease it they win. This story is about Katniss' fight for survival as she tries to be the last person standing, battling obstacles.

Pop by Gordon Korman submitted by gaadi

In the book Pop by Gordan Korman, the main character, Marcus moves to a new state in the middle of summer vacation. Marcus starts practicing his football skills alone when he meets Charlie Popovich also known as the King of Pop from his years of playing in the NFL. When Marcus starts school he meets Troy Popovich, the head of the football team and the quarterback. Troy is scared of getting hurt in football because his father got Alzheimer by killing to many brain cells when he was playing football. Charlie is going to get put in the hall of fame from his college, but he thinks he’s a teenager just like Marcus who plays football with Charlie in the park everyday. Charlie’s family is scared and does not let him go to the remembrance party so Marcus takes him anyway with out telling Charlie’s family, and gets in a lot of trouble. Later in the book Charlie was watching a football game and fell off the bleachers and dies the NFL King of Pop is dead.

Life as a Poser by Beth Killian shared by kushr

Seventeen-year-old Eva Cordes graduates high school early, puts college on hold and flies to LA to live with her aunt, a renowned talent agent. Eva grew up in Arden, Massachusetts with her grandparents, not knowing who her dad is and rarely seeing her mother, who was a once famous model. Eva wants nothing more than to make everyone in Arden, Massachusetts drool with jealousy. Instead of taking Eva to her house in Beverly Hills, Aunt Laurel installs her in an apartment complex full of other underage talent. Eva is expected to keep bad-girl socialite, Jacinda Crane-Lard, out of trouble. Eva realizes that isn't likely as soon as she meets her precocious roommate. Coelle, roommate number two, is a regular on a soap opera, in demand for commercial shoots, and spends all her free time studying for the college SAT. Although she has as much work as she can handle, Coelle's plan is to chuck it all, get into a good college, and become a veterinarian. Eva discovers that her absentee mother is living with Aunt Laurel and demands to see her. Although she doesn't expect much from her truant mother, Eva is still hurt when her mother tells her no one knows she has a seventeen-year-old daughter and she intends to keep it that way. Life as a Poser is the first book in the new MTV the 310 series. With LA as a backdrop, and filled with celebrity names and all the latest celebrity hangouts, Eva's story is promising but unfinished. Not all of Eva's conflicts are solved, but readers can look forward to the next episode.

The Subtle Knife & The Golden Compass shared by leali

The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman was a book that, in my opinion, was the most interesting out of the His Dark Materials series. If you do not recognize this series, I'm sure you are aware of the first book, The Golden Compass. The Golden Compass started in a world unfamiliar to us with Lyra. Lyra is a girl who lives in Jordan College and has a daemon called Pantalaimon. Daemons begin to take an important role in the second book, The Subtle Knife. This book starts in the world that we live in with Will. Will's mother gets sick and people start coming to his house to question about his father. One day, he sees a window to another world and steps into it. There, he meets Lyra, and starts to help each other to their own goals: to get the subtle knife, to find Will's father, and to find the source of Dust, the unique elementary particle introduced in the first book of the series.

Number the Stars shared by caisa

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry explains how two families living in Denmark are very supportive of each other. The Johansens fight to protect their close Jewish friends, the Rosens. Nazis invade Denmark, which causes all Jewish-run facilities and shops to be closed, and all Jews to leave the country. The Johansens do all they can to protect the Rosens, even after the parents of Ellen Rosen had to evacuate. The two are reunited, and eventually sail to safety.