Student Book Reviews
We are pleased to share with you some book reviews from Mr. Guthrie’s Reading/Writing Workshop class this last quarter of the school year. Read on!
ReadWriteConnect
~~where Middle School can share reading reflections and information resources.Archive for May, 2008
Fever, 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Poojah Says:
This book is about the most thrilling historical fiction book you’ll ever read! Laurie Halse Anderson did a fantastic job of retelling the story of the Yellow Fever. I confidently say that this book is rated as a 10. This book is about the most fearful time of the life of the young teenage girl named Matilda. The Cook family lives by a coffeehouse that has been there as long as Mattie (aka. Matilda) can remember. Her friend, a coffeehouse servant girl, Polly Logan, dies from a disease that the doctors fear to be the Yellow Fever that had attacked Philadelphia many years ago. Desperately heart breaking, Matilda’s mother suffers from the hideous disease; as her wish, Matilda’s mother sends Matilda away with her grandfather to a farm that she was sure the disease would not reach. But then a disaster breaks in and suddenly the two of them are trapped in the woods with no food, even worse, her brave grandfather catches the fever and Matilda strives to rescue him. Just as if things weren’t bad enough, Matilda also catches the fever because of such a weak body. Now what can save her, how will she survive, will she even survive?
Such questions struck me as I read up to that part. Pages were flicking really fast as if I was using a fan. As all hope seemed to be lost, Matilda finally woke up at Bush Hill, a place where people with yellow fever get taken care of. Will she ever survive? How is her mother? Most importantly, is it a happy ending? I think the purpose of the author is to show that even a girl doesn’t give up even though she knows that not many people survive from this terrible disease; why should we give up in life?
Wild Roses, by Deb Caletti
Sirimas Says:
Caletti ‘s Wild Roses is one of the most enthralling and astonishing realistic fiction books that you will love. (Rating is10!) It is a story of Cassie who lives with her step father Dino who she describes as “both crazy and a genius, joy-impaired (hugely depressed), excessively imaginative (delusional), abundantly security conscious (paranoid as hell) or emotionally challenged (wacko).” Cassie tells her story through her humorous point of view as a teenager, sharing her life of dealing with her step father’s mental illness that she describe as a time bomber that you never know when it is going to blow. But as Ian Waters comes along her life starts to change without her realizing it.
Ian Waters was Dino’s violin student who comes for an audition at a fancy Music College. Dino demands that the two stay away from one another to avoid compromising the young man’s focus, but that is impossible. Cassie who always believes that love only brings pain falls in love with him at first sight. But she falls in love in the worst time when Dino’s mental illness starts to get worse when his concert was coming, and it frightens Cassie to see him blow off in front of Ian. But deep inside her heart, she knows that she could not love him, because there was a time limit for them to be together when Ian has a Music College to attend. Will Cassie be able to deal with Dino’s mental problem and her feelings for Ian? With her astonishing book, Wild Roses, Deb Caletti has given us a look into Cassie’s life and how she deals with her problem–her step father’s mental illness and hiding it from public, her relationship with Ian, and opening her mother’s eye about Dino.
Dark Angel: Before the Dawn, by Max Allan Collins
Gigi Says:
If you’re a fan of Jessica Alba, you’ll know her explosive start as an action star was with the 2003 TV series, Dark Angel. This book, Dark Angel: Before the Dawn is first in a trilogy of science fiction prequels that lead up to the series. Alba’s character, Max is an “X- 5 unit”, a genetically enhanced soldier running away from a genetics research facility called Manticore along with her siblings. Max was born in a test tube, giving her abilities that would make her a perfect soldier- enhanced strength, reflexes, senses, agility, logic and stamina, and had been through 9 years of training at the Manticore center, before her escape. The story starts off with 9 year-old Max’s escape, set in 2009, shortly after an event called the Pulse. a development set-back which plunged the United States to the status of a third world country. The streets are home to clans of thieves; people scurrying for food and soldiers with weapons of the future. Collins has drawn an elaborate setting that is vivid and very real. Then there is a flash forward to 2019, where Max is a young thief living in Los Angeles. She hasn’t forgotten her Manticore siblings, and she would do whatever it takes to find them again. When she catches a glimpse of one of her brothers on TV, instantly recognizing moves that only another X-5 could do, she sets off to reunite. Max mounts her motorcycle and rides north, into the story that is an elaborate web of betrayal, greed, revenge and selfless heroism that will further fuel her quest to uncover her past and seize hope for the future.
Before the Dawn is dense with action, and Collins has done an amazing job of putting it down into words. Unfortunately, the plot and characters can be confusing, and the language very advanced. The other weakness is that if you like the series and want to continue reading its sequel Dark Angel: Skin Walkers, there is a huge jump between what Max has been doing, making the characters not always clear. Furthermore, the part Collins missed was the most interesting part, Max going back to Manticore to free her siblings; instead of including this in the first book, the ending is very eerily calm amidst all the action preceding it. However, the strengths of the story heavily outnumber the weakness. And I would give it a ten out of ten. Max Allan Collins has done a marvelous job in combining romance, thrills, mystery , action and suspense with cliff hangers, flashbacks and amazing descriptions to make Before the Dawn a book not to be missed. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes science fiction and action mixed together around a heroine, and definitely anyone who was a fan of the television series.
The Long-lost Map, by Pierdomenico Baccalario
Sophia Says:
In my entire life, I have never fallen in love with a book like The Long-lost Map. It is the second adventurous book after The Door to Time. From reading this book, I started to develop my imagination and I was able to create my own images even though there aren’t many pictures in this book. There aren’t many books which I feel impress because my personality is very fast going and I like books that start with great hooks which keep me reading. There aren’t many books that give me lots of information about Egypt, plus, make me enjoy the book. But this special book includes those two qualifications. This book gave me a first hook with an ancient house with many strange ancestors’ portraits on a treacherous cliff.
The second book starts with eleven-year-old twins, sister, Julia and brother, Jason and their friend Rick. Their different hobbies and personalities bring out a great hazard to solve. When Julia and Jason stepped into a mature house, Argo Manor, they get entangled with the last owner named Ulysses Moore. The Kids find an odd-looking and huge door with four weird key holes. Once they sort of get to know about the door, they come into a place where none of the kids have been. Specifically, this book is how kids learn about Egypt and get some help from an Egyptian girl, against their enemy Obilia Newton who is trying to invade Argo Manor to become rich. Even though they’ve got lots of troubles, they were able to sort them out with three of them working together. Let’s JUMP into an incredibly thrilling story!
Dealing with Dragons, by Patricia Wrede
Angela Says:
This is one of the most humorous, wonderful, and adventurous fantasy novels I’ve ever read. If I were given a scale from 1 to 10, I would definitely rate it a 10! A fascinating fictional story, it tells about the adventures and life time of an utterly stubborn, improper princess, who one day finds herself as a hero. This novel has many different settings that Cimorene had ventured to. The author lets us experience the unbearable events that Cimorene, the stubborn princess, has faced in how she escaped her imprisoned life for freedom and unexpected adventures. Unfortunately, Cimorene had a problem, how will she get out, and where will she go?
As Cimorene makes her way through rapid, formidable journeys, she comes across a monstrous sized cave. Inside lurks the one and only, most dangerous dragons of all lands, Kazul. Although the author may have described Kazul as to be very dangerous and unbearably frightful, to Cimorene, Kazul was like a little pet. That’s because the author shows us how Cimorene deals with them! That’s how she came up with the fancy title. Cimorene decided that she could be the housekeeper, or in other words, the cave keeper. She could do the cleaning, washing, dusting, sweeping and other stuff that would be useful. So Kazul took her in. And Cimorene became quite fond of the dragon. They get along pretty well. In the end, Kazul didn’t turn out to be how everyone expects her to be. She was very nice. Although it doesn’t seem like it on the outside, but on the inside, she’s softhearted, but with great strength. Together, they unravel secrets that lay hidden for so long in the land where dragons live. And a mystery, too. But no one knew what happened, until Cimorene came to town.
Sunset (Warriors: The New Prophecy, Bk. 6), by Erin Hunter
Rishabh Says:
The book, Sunset (Warriors: The New Prophecy) by Erin Hunter (three different authors) is a fascinating book about clans of cats in an imaginary world. If I had to rate this fiction book from 1-10 it would receive 10. Sunset managed to secure #2 on the New York Times Bestseller List (children’s series section). In this book the author takes us deep into the forest where the warriors from four different clans hunt. Hawkfrost is plotting his evil plans to take over the forest and he creates several minor issues. The humans (twolegs) have planted some fox traps through out the forest. Hawkfrost is taking advantage of this and his first target is Thunder Clan.
Brambleclaw, the Thunderclan deputy, has known about his half-brother Hawkfrost but stays quiet. He doesn’t know if he should follow his half-brother or his clan. Some of his clan mates are starting to distrust him by the way he has started to act. Brambleclaw has to choose where his loyalty lies, with his half-brother or Clan. His loyalty can decide the future of the whole forest. The ending is something that no one could imagine. Through this book the author shows her affection towards cats and other animals she likes or dislikes.
Into the Wild (Warriors, Bk.1), by Erin Hunter
Oom Says:
The first novel of the fantasy series Warriors, Into the Wild, by Erin Hunter, is the kind of book that pulls the readers into the depths of the book, and leaves the reader crying for more. It very clearly showed me the path to its depths, and this is one of the many reasons why this book is my favorite. I would definitely, without missing a beat, rate this book a 10. Into the Wild tells the story of an ordinary housecat (in this book housecats are called kittypets) called Rusty who has a comfortable life and has always thought that there is no other place better than this. That thought remained definite until one day Rusty saw a pair of yellow eyes looking at him while he was sitting on the fence of his dwelling. His curiosity rose and Rusty determined to find out the owners of the eyes. Soon enough, he found the owners of the pair of eyes- a group of cats who call themselves “Warriors of Thunderclan”. Their leader, Bluestar, invites Rusty to join the clan. Rusty accepts the invitation and finds out that Thunderclan is in deadly danger and tries to help the clan, and his determination to help his clan puts him in danger as well.
Rusty is just an ordinary kitty pet until he becomes a warrior, and he has to cope with the sadness of leaving his home and kittypet friends behind. In Rusty’s new life, the Thunderclan territory in the dark forest, Rusty is given a new name- Firepaw. He is a normal apprentice and has to work with the other apprentices until he is strong and brave enough to become a full warrior. On the first day, though, Firepaw meets a tabby cat named Graypaw (who is also an apprentice) and the two apprentices get into a fight. But that is not the only problem. There are 4 clans altogether in the forest- Shadowclan, Windclan, Riverclan, and Thunderclan- and the sinister Shadowclan is getting stronger everyday, leaving Thunderclan in danger. The author, Erin Hunter, explains the difference between the lives of a kittypet and a warrior so clearly in this wonderful fantasy novel, Warriors: Into the Wild.
The Falcon’s Malteser: a Diamond brothers mystery, by Anthony Horowitz
Siriben Says:
For me, this mystery, The Falcon’s Malteser, is the most interesting book in the Diamond Brothers Mystery series. It is about the worst detective, Tim, who has a younger brother, Nick, who is smarter than him. Nick should go on a plane to Australia with his parents but he escapes from the plane to help Tim. Johnny Naples entrusts Tim with a malteser box and offers them £200 sterling just to look after the package, with another £100 in it if the package is safe on the day he returns. After Naples left Tim’s apartment, he got killed. Tim has the malteser box so that makes Tim involved in Naples’ murder.
Nick, a 13 year-old boy, lives with his older brother named Herbert Simple and he goes by the pseudonym ‘Tim Diamond’. When he got a job from Johnny Naples, a while later, Naples had died. Tim got blamed, Nick got the packet (malteser inside it), and every crook in town is out to get them. Nick and Tim had to find out about the secrets in the malteser that Johnny entrusted them to look after. I would rate this book a 10 because it is a very interesting book. The author describes the story very well. People who like to read mystery or adventure books will like to read this book.
Fire and Ice (Warriors, Bk. 2), by Erin Hunter
Anurag Says:
I read Fire and Ice, an adventure/fantasy book which is written by Erin Hunter. This is the second book in the series called Warriors and I strappingly give it a 10 because it is easily fathomable and it has a challenging vocabulary. It is a spectacular book to read and it gives a lot of statistics about succession in their clan. The main character is having a problem, solving the mystery of whether Tigerclaw killed Redtail or Redtail was killed by Oakheart. It is the mystery in the first and the second book. Ravenpaw saw everything but he is the only cat who was present at that time but he didn’t tell anyone besides Fireheart. Even Fireheart was new in the kin folk so he had to settle himself in the clan, too
The main character, Fireheart was a kitty pet that joined the clan and wasn’t treated as an equal member of the tribe. He has to solve the problem about the murder or the accident of Redtail. Fireheart doesn’t want to tell anyone but he still tells the leader about it but Bluestar doesn’t take any actions. Fireheart is hanging between two sides, on one side is Ravenpaw, his friend, and at the other side is Tigerclaw. His best friend, Graystripe, is in love with a cat in the River clan. Graystripe goes to meet the cat and is kind of going against the rules which Fireheart is sick of. He thinks of doing something to stop them meeting. The purpose of writing the book was to realize the dreams you wanted to become true.