Hero By: Sarah Lean

Leo likes to imagine. He likes to imagine he is a gladiator fighting big nasty creatures and that he is the hero. But in really life he feels like he can’t accomplish anything. Leo only has two friends and one of them is a little white dog named Jack Pepper. His other friend is a boy named George. One day George is sick and the popular kids invite him to join in there fun after school. When he is with the boys they dare him to do something he knows is wrong. Later when he is walking Jack Pepper the dog, the boys chase the dog, and as Leo try’s to save Jack, Leo falls into the pond. Jack Pepper saves him and pulls Leo to shore. Now Leo tells everyone that he saved Jack from the pond. Leo can only feel guilty now. But then Jack Pepper is in REAL danger. Can Leo fix things and be the Hero he has always wanted to be?

Three Times Lucky (By: Sheila Turnage)

I read this book because it looked interesting and because it won the Newbery.

Mo lives in Tupelo Landing. When she was a baby, Mo was washed up from the river  in a hurricane and has never found her real mother or father. Now, as a sixth grader, she lives with the Colonel and Mrs. Lana who both act like a mother and father to her and who raised her when she was little.

When a detective shows up and one of the neighbors is murdered, Mo’s summer has changed completely. As a hurricane hits Tupelo Landing, Mo and her best friend Dale become detectives and try to figure out who killed Mr. Jesse their neighbor. When Mrs. Lana and the Colonel disappear, Mo is all the more determined to find the murderer.

I enjoyed this book. It was exciting and made you want to keep reading. I loved how Mo was a detective and how she wanted to find her mother. I also liked the love between the Colonel and Mrs. Lana and Mo. I think the ending in the book went too far because when I was finished with it, I didn’t wonder what would happen next. I really like to imagine the characters doing more adventures and events but the book seemed to tie up everything.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

Jip His Story (By: Katherine Paterson)

I read this book because the author is a awesome person she wrote Bridge to Terabithia, Jacob Have I Loved, and Lyddie, also this book tells you what happened to Lyddie from that book.

 

Jip lives on a farm for poor people and people who have disabilities. When Jip was a baby he fell off a wagon and now he lives in the poor farm. One day a lunatic comes, he is caged like an animal, his name is Put. As weeks pass Put and Jip become friends. When peculiar stranger comes to the farm and asks Jip all kinds of questions, the stranger says he knows Jip’s lost father. Jip turns to Put for help and gets advice on what he should do. Can he and Put solve what happened in the past?

 

I enjoyed this book. Lyddie and Lucas from the Lyddie book are characters in this book and I liked learning what happened with them. mentioned in here.

Breadcrumbs (By: Anne Ursu)

I read this book because so many people said it was good.

Hazel and Jack have been best friends forever.  They fit like a puzzle. But one day everything changes  Jack stops talking to Hazel and starts acts weird. Hazel’s mom tries to tell her that sometimes this happens in a friendship. Hazel knows this is not true, and she is right. She finds out that Jack has a frozen heart and was taken into the a winter woods with a woman dressed in white. Hazel decides to save him because she wants to do this for her friend.

I had heard that this book was a great read. So, I expected a lot when I read it.

But, in the end, while I liked this book, it didn’t quite meet my expectations.  The storyline was interesting but didn’t keep my attention in the same way that others books have.           I thought that the book should have a different title name because it doesn’t mention breadcrumbs a lot.

If you know the story of the Snow Queen you will know the plot of the story pretty well. I hope you read it and tell me if you like it.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Some titles I would name it are:

• Frozen Heart
• The Snow Queen
• Friends Together
• Journey

Please tell me your favorite one or if you have a different idea for the title!

Hoot (By: Carl Hiaasen)

I read this book because my friends recommend it to me.

     

Roy Eberhardt has just moved to Coconut Cove in Florida. His new school is great, but riding on the bus to school is the problem. On the bus Dana Matherson (the school bully) gives him a hard time by squeezing his neck. But one day Roy see’s a boy run past the bus at the speed of lightning.  The next day he follows the boy and finds out that some burrowing owls are going to be plowed by a bulldozer! Now Roy and the boy need to save the owls!!

I enjoyed the book and I hope to read other books by him too!! This book also shows that you should protect animals and that they have a right to live to!!

I give this book 4/5 stars.

El Deafo (By: Cece Bell)

One of my favorite librarians told me to read El Deafo

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When Cece was a little girl she lost her hearing so she got a hearing aid pack.  Her first school was a class with kids with hearing aids like her! But when she starts a new school, one without people like her, friends were hard to make. But when she figures out that she can hear the teacher wherever she is, because the teacher wears a microphone around her neck. Cece believes that she has a superpower, and her super name is El Deafo!

I found it very interesting that it was in graphic novel form. Also this is the authors like story, the author Cece Bell had hearing aids too!!! I loved how she thought she was a superhero and how she made friends.

The Goose Girl (by: Shannon Hale)

I read this book because I was trying to read as many fairy tales as I could find and this book is full of fairytales.

                         

 

Ani is a princess, she lives in Kildenree with her mother, father, brother, and sisters. But when her father dies, her brother becomes king with her mother the queen. Ani is sent to Bayern to marry the prince there. As they travel in the forest her maiden betrays Ani, and takes her place as the princess.When her maiden gets there the prince and the king of Bayern they believe her story. Now Ani has to work as a goose girl. So will things end happily ever after?

I found this book very long but I loved all of it!! I like fairytales and this book is a bit like a fairytale. I found it interesting that she could talk to birds and her horse. But I always wondered why her horse had to die. But I loved the way how the story was wrapped up, but you could wonder what would happen next.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

 

Red Thread Sisters (By: Carol Antoinette Peacock)

I read this book because my friend named Sarah read it and loved the book. The other book  is called The Red Thred An Adoption Fairy Tale, this childrens story book is mentioned in The Red Thread Sisters.

                

Eleven year old Wen lives in China until a family adopts her. Before she leaves she makes a promise with her best friend named Shu Ling, her promise is that she will find a family for Shu Ling in America. When she arrives everything is hard. English is difficult and talking to her parents to tell them how much she loves them seems imposible. Also making friends is hard because her best friend is in China! Can Wen make friends, explain to her parents she loves them and find a family for Shu Ling in America?

I loved this book because it showed what it must be like to come to America, I also liked the relationship between Wen and Shu Ling and how hard she tried to find a family for Shu Ling.

I give this book 4/5 stars!

 

The Fourteenth Goldfish (By: Jennifer L. Holm)

I read this book because it looked good and I had seen some other people reading it and they said it was good.

Ellie is a only child and lives with her mom who is a actor. Her dad is a traveling actor and is divorced. Then, one day, a strange boy shows up. He’s cranky. He’s bossy. He acts like her science loving Grandfather Melvin. Her grandfather had been looking for a way to find eternal life.  Could this teenager really be her grandpa? Has her grandfather finally found eternal life?

I read this book in 1 day!!! Once I started it I could not stop! I liked the science in the book. I also liked the friend relationship between Ellie and Raj, a person from school. I also loved how they decided to do the right thing and not get famous and have awards. But I did wonder why they called the book The Fourteenth Goldfish because they only mentioned goldfish a few times.

I give this book 5/5

Lyddie Bookclub (By Katherine Paterson)

On Sunday, March 22nd we had our mother-daughter book club. We meet at the Zomers’ house and talked about Lyddie.

Lyddie is written by Katherine Paterson and it takes place in the 1840’s in Lowell, Massachusetts. Lyddie is a poor farm girl who lives with her crazy mother, brother Charlie, and her sisters Agnes and Rachel. When they can not pay the bills, Charlie and Lyddie have to take jobs. Lyddie works at a tavern as a housemaid.  Later, she finds a better job at a fabric factory in Lowell, Massachusetts. Little does she know about the conditions and the sicknesses that factory work causes.

The book is about how Lyddie figures out who she is, and what it means to be free.

At our book club we had maple syrup candies, Indian pudding, and plum cake. We learned how to tie a weaver’s knot. We talked about the bears in Lyddie’s life – real ones and ones inside of her. We talked about how life was so hard in the factory. We also wondered what happened to Lyddie and thought there should be a sequel.

Last summer we read The Great Gilly Hopkins by the same author. Both of the girls are strong and determined. Both of them learn new things about themselves. Both of them face hardships. I didn’t really like the ending of both of the books because I wanted them to end different ways. In book club, we talked about how life doesn’t always end up the way we want it to so maybe the book endings are more like real life

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