Tuesday, September 6, 2011

…More Reviews

dorkDork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life

by Rachel Renee Russell , Rachel Renee Russell

The reason I chose this book was because this is an energetic and funny book for girls. The author Rachel Renee Russell catches your eye and brings you into a high schooler’s life. Nikki is the main character and she brings the story to life. She is a normal high schooler trying to enjoy her year at school. Every school, though, has a popular girl. Mackenzie is that girl and she is part of the ccp group (cute, cool, popular). She is the meanest girl in school, yet that’s an understatement for Nikki. Nikki meets some friendly girls, Chloe and Zoey, who become her great friends. While they are signing up for library shelving jobs they have an idea for the library trip to the New York library. Along the way, though, Nikki feels like Chloe and Zoey are ganging up on her. Will she be able to save her friendships? I feel this would be a good book for young readers. This shows how to get through a problem with your friend and make friends along the way. I enjoyed this book a lot and I hope you will too. Review by Hadassah

 

 

 

And..More Summer Reading Book Reviews

sammySammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief

by Wendelin Van Draanen

One day when Sammy gets home from school her Grandmother tells her that the woman who lives one floor below them in the apartment building received a threatening note. Sammy’s grandmother is angry at Sammy because this woman thinks that Sammy put the threatening note on her door. Sammy realizes then that the thief put the note on the door and that, in fact, it was meant for Sammy. The thief just made a mistake when he/she missed the correct apartment by one floor. This threatening note was Sammy’s first clue. I didn’t like this book because it was off topic too much like on page 129, “The minute I got to school I could tell Heather’d been doing a lot of talking.” This is a mystery book. Why the book got into Heather’s faked broken nose (injured by Sammy – but not broken!) is beyond me. I felt it was a waste of time reading about what Sammy has going on in her life beyond the mystery that she was trying to solve. I don’t care to know Sammy’s character behind the scene – I just like to listen to the clues and solve the mystery. Another reason I didn’t like the book was because the case wasn’t really exact – especially in how it was solved. I felt the clues didn’t connect cleanly. I like mysteries where the reader has the chance to solve the case before the author gives the final answer. I felt how Sammy came to the resolution to this case was a little unclear. For example, I like it when I can look back in the book and say, “Oh!” and realize that he/she or it did it. The only reason I like the book is because during the last pages/chapter there was a huge chase scene. It had a lot of suspense which was the main reason it was my favorite part of the book. Review by Chris

 

oneOne Day You'll Know (Heartland Series #6)

by Lauren Brooke

Times are anything but smooth sailing for Amy, her family, and their healing horse farm. Things are rough because Amy’s mother has died in an act of service to a horse that needed rescuing. She had the magic power to give the horses the treatment they needed. Now that she’s gone the healing power seems to fade from Heartland, despite the challenges Grandpa Jack, Amy, Lou (her sister), Ben and Ty (stable hands), and the horse doctor Scott try to keep the farm running. In every book Amy cures a troubled horse. In this book she cured Melodies, a foal. Amy’s sister Lou moved back to Heartland to help them overcome the loss of Mother. As the book progresses, though, the family issues get bigger and everything goes wrong. The last chapters of the book, though, are full of happy surprises. I gave this book 5 stars, 1,000,000 hearts, and 1,000 thumbs up! I appreciated how the author added suspense and surprises in places where you least expected them. I also like how she kept the problems real, instead of that they died because of an alien attack. The book was well-written and full of details. It was also full of horse facts, which was nice because I love horses. This book was great and I think that you should definitely read the Heartland series. Have fun and enjoy these awesome books! Review by Lauren

 

boy nextThe Boy Next Door (Candy Apple Series #2)

by Laura Dower

This book, by Laura Dower, involves neighbors Taryn and Jeff who have been friends since they were little and do most things together. Once they reach middle school they have more fights and even crushes. Jeff is always teasing Taryn in a nice way, but one day he takes it too far. They promise each other that they will never do it again. Jeff stands her up one night, though, and she becomes furious with him, even starting to ignore him. Will Jeff do the right thing and apologize? This book is great for 5th graders and middle schoolers. I would also recommend “The Accidental Cheerleader” by Mimi McCoy, “Miss Popularity” by Francesco Sedita, and “How to Be a Girly Girl in Just Ten Days” by Lisa Papademetriou. Review by Ellin