The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt & Julie Graham-Chang
Lydia lives with her mom and one weird sister, is a really good singer, has to wear glasses and wishes she had more style. Julie lives with Dad & Papa Dad, and Bad Cat, she is good at drawing and wishes she could fly. Lydia and Julie have one year before Junior High starts. They devise a plan to observe the girls that are already popular and record their observations in a book. By the end of the year they will use the same tactics to become popular so that more people will like them, they will stop getting teased, they will get invited to cool parties, other people will be jealous of them, and they will get better parts in the school play.
Read more»The Hit-Away Kid
This book, The Hit-Away Kid, is a good book to read if you enjoy baseball. I could relate to Barry as I also like playing baseball and winning. The author kept me wanting to read to find out if Barry wins the dare. The author did a good job of showing what it is like to be a young kid playing under pressure. Although this book is fiction, the story happens in real life. In my opinion, this book is a must read if you enjoy baseball.
Captain Underpants
The story begins with two troublemakers/pranksters. George Beard and Harold Hutchins play a series of jokes that cause their school to lose a football game. Their Principal, Mr. Krupp, gets so angry at them he makes them follow a list of rules. If they don’t follow them, Mr. Krupp will give the football team a copy of a video. This video reveals George and Harold pulling the pranks on the team. Then they find a way of how to make Mr. Krupp hand over the video and forget the game. But it goes wrong and they turn Mr. Krupp into Captain Underpants and he fights many villains. The fate of the world lies in George and Harold’s hands. Will they succeed or fail…
If you read the first book you should read the rest of the series. I don’t recommend this book to any 6th graders. Because its easy and dumb. I also would recommend the book to younger children that enjoy dumb, funny books. I give this book three stars.
Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake
When little Betty Bunny has chocolate cake for the first time, it’s love at first taste. “I want to marry chocolate cake!” she says to her family. Betty Bunny longs for more. But, being "a handful," as her mother puts it, she has trouble behaving and being patient enough to earn her next serving.
The cute illustrations of Betty, her bunny family, her animal teacher and classmates by Stéphane Jorisch are full of fun details for all to enjoy, especially chocolate lovers and kids ages 4-8.
Read White Star!
White Star a Dog on the Titanic is a realistic fiction book that takes place on the voyage of the ship, Titanic. The main characters are Sam and Star. Sam is a teenage boy traveling to New York to see his mom. Star is a Champion Irish Setter used by his master for advertising. Star and Sam end up together fighting for their lives. Read this book to find out why.
This book is by Marty Crisp who makes his characters very interesting. This story is not predictable and makes you want to keep reading page after page. When Sam and Star first meet you would never guess how their relationship turns out. Anyone who has ever loved a dog will be able to relate to this book. I recommend this book to people who love animals and books with lots of action. White Star a Dog on the Titanic gets five stars from me.
Gregor the Overlander
Book 1 of the Underland Chronicles
In this fantasy, eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister, Boots, fall into an amazing underground world underneath New York City. This Underland is populated with humans and various giant-sized talking creatures. These creatures include bats called “fliers”, cockroaches called “crawlers”, spiders called “spinners”, and rats called “gnawers.” They have all lived in harmony but “The Prophecy of Gray” has changed that existence. The prophecy states that Gregor may be the “overlander” destined to save the humans from the warlike rats. Gregor is more interested in finding his way home, until he discovers that fulfilling the prophecy might also mean finding his father. Thus there are two quests unfolding in this story. One is that the Underlanders must fulfill the Prophecy of Gray and prevent being annihilated by the rats. The other is Gregor’s quest to find his father and bring him home.
Read more»Small As An Elephant
A touching story of self-reliance and survival. Eleven year old Jack Martel is abandoned by his mom, who is close to him but suffers from episodes of mental illness. He is left alone at their camping site in Acadia National Park in Maine. Jack must find food in any way he can—digging through trash for lobster leftovers, eating carrots from an older lady’s garden, dining on employees’ lunches while spending the night in an L. L. Bean store. He avoids authorities for fear they will permanently separate him from his mom. His passion for elephants sustains him as he steals a small elephant figurine for comfort, ponders elephant words of wisdom, and seeks to view a very special elephant.
Read more»Chains
Whose side do you fight for if you're a slave during the American Revolution? While our country is fighting for freedom from Britain, who will fight for the slaves' freedom? The truth is that sometimes the slaves would fight for whoever promised them their freedom after the war. This book of incredibly well researched historical fiction takes the reader through the harrowing times of a slave girl named Isabel, her little sister Ruth, and a slave boy named Curzon as they fight for their freedom.
This award winning book is a favorite for avid middle school readers. Don't miss book 2, "Forge" and not yet published, book 3 titled "Ashes" (recommended for grades 6-8, young adults and adults).
