And..More Summer Reading Book Reviews

Sammy 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

 

One 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

 

The 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 5^th 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