Entries Tagged 'A-C' ↓
August 28th, 2010 — 2.5-3 Treasure Chests, A-C, Action & Adventure, Book Review, Fantasy, Humorous
by First Mate Keira
Title: The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl Book 7)
Author: Eoin Colfer
Format: Hardback
Page Count: 357
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Summary: A criminal mastermind is plotting escape from the underwater fairy prison in Atlantis. Everything is in place and ready to go when a series of lucky incidences go his way. First that Mud Boy, Artemis Fowl, appears to be suffering from a guilty conscience triggering a fairy psychosis called the Atlantis Complex. The boy sends his bodyguard away, lures several high ranked members of LEPrecon out into the middle of nowhere, and provides the perfect distraction for the mastermind’s plans. Nothing can get in his way now… cue sinister laughing.
Why I started this book:
I picked up Atlantis Complex because I have read the previous six Artemis Fowl books. It wasn’t available in audio from the library yet or I would have selected that format.
Likes:
- Atlantis is a secondary city for the fairies. It’s not as big as Haven, but it’s just as important. I wish there had been more time spent in and around Atlantis instead of just focused on the prison and the mastermind’s escape route.
- The giant squid was pretty epic. I like how it was a thinking creature and used tools, primitive though they were. (“I’m a nut!”)
- The reprogrammed amorphobots. Foaly’s peaceful scientific advances intent on looking for life on Mars becoming nearly unbeatable weapons was pretty cool and clever.
Dislikes:
- Orion Fowl was a waste of space both inside Artemis’ head and also on page. I expected more than bad poetry frankly as Artemis’ arch enemy.
- Foaly was completely useless. He was good for the phone he carried, that’s it. The rest of the time he was patently unhelpful always saying the goo-bots he built weren’t programmed to do what they were doing. Of course they weren’t! That’s why everything was going to hell in a hand-basket.
- Artemis should have been fully healed from the Atlantis Complex before the end of the book. I don’t like that it’s been left open for a plot device in the next book.
Buy: The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl, Book 7)
Rating: 3 Treasure Chests
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August 26th, 2010 — 3.5-4 Treasure Chests, A-C, Family Life, Friends, Guest Review, School Situations
by Second Mate Embry, guest reviewer
Title: Best Friends and Drama Queens (Allie Finkle's Rules For Girls: Book 3)
Author: Meg Cabot
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 240
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Summary: Allie gets excited when she learns that that they are getting a new student from Canada! Mostly because that means she won’t be the new girl anymore. But when she finally meets Cheyenne, she finds out how incredibly BOSSY she is! Allie thinks her life is over when Cheyenne’s rules make Allie fight with her best friends. What could she do to solve Cheyenne’s attitude? Will she get her best friends back? Will she lose them forever?
Why I Read This Book:
I read this book because it’s the third book in the series Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls. I can’t wait for the fourth book!
Likes:
- Cheyenne is the perfect 4th grade bully. She threatens people to make them do what she wants. She’s the perfect “villain” for this setting better than Rosemary from earlier in the series.
- I like how Allie doesn’t give into Cheyenne. She stays strong and doesn’t let her get her cruel ways.
Dislikes:
- I didn’t like how Erica, Caroline, and Sophie give into Cheyenne so easily! I mean, I think if Allie can stand up for herself than they can. Or at least make it harder on her to peer pressure them.
Buy: Best Friends And Drama Queens (Allie Finkle's Rules For Girls #3)
Rating: 3.5 Treasure Chests!
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August 24th, 2010 — 3.5-4 Treasure Chests, A-C, Family Life, Friends, Guest Review, School Situations
by Second Mate Embry, guest reviewer
Title: The New Girl (Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Book 2)
Author: Meg Cabot
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 222
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Summary: On top of all the moving problems, Allie has to start a new school. She thinks things are looking up until Rosemary; the school bully, threatens Allie by saying that she’s going to beat her up. Allie is terrified of her now and asks everyone for advice. But she isn’t sure who to believe! She is, in fact, the new girl. Will she trust someone’s advice that she shouldn’t? Was Rosemary serious? Or will Allie come to school one day with a black eye?
Why I Read This Book:
I read this book because I’m reading the series Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls and I enjoyed the first one so I wanted to see if I’d enjoy the second one just as much.
Likes:
- I like how the most unlikely person gave Allie the best advice! (Mr. Elkhart.) It just comes to show that anybody can be just as helpful as the next and that you should never underestimate someone.
- Allie had good friends to help her feel better about Rosemary. Caroline, Erica and Sophie promise not to let Rosemary near Allie.
Dislikes:
- I thought it was unnecessary that Allie got s-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o upset when she first found out Mewsette was a boy, not a girl like she wanted. I mean, something like that should not matter … right?
Buy: The New Girl (Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls)
Rating: 4 Treasure Chests!
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August 22nd, 2010 — 3.5-4 Treasure Chests, A-C, Family Life, Friends, Guest Review, School Situations
by Second Mate Embry, guest reviewer
Title: Moving Day (Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Book 1)
Author: Meg Cabot
Format: Hard Cover
Page Count: 240
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Summary: Allie Finkle is pretty happy with her life … even though her brothers are annoying and her best friend cries over everything. Things start going wrong when her parents announce that they are moving! What is she going to do now? To help herself survive though the move, she creates a book of rules that every girl should follow. Will her rules for girls help her? Or will her past happy life be gone forever?
Why I Read This Book:
I read this book because I found out that this book was part of a series (Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls) and decided to try it because I've been looking for more series to follow.
Likes:
- It was easy for me to relate to Meg Cabot's Allie Finkle because I had to move from a place that I had to live in for a L-O-N-G time and could relate with the main character on that point.
- I liked Allie’s comparison between the two elementary schools.
Dislikes:
- It seemed a little babyish and young for a 4th grader to be scared of a disembodied zombie hand in her attic to me. If it were me I would totally think it was a Halloween prop.
Last Minute Thoughts: I liked this book! And I’m defiantly getting the next book in the series to see what happens next and if it gets better.
Buy: Moving Day (Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls)
Rating: 3.5 Treasure Chests!
May 10th, 2010 — A-C, If You Love
by Captain Yarr
My two books for this comparison essay are Gregor The Overlander
and The Hunger Games
, both by Suzanne Collins. Gregor the Overlander is about Gregor and his little sister Boots falling into the underworld and trying to get out, but not knowing how. This book ends with Gregor finding his lost-since-he-was-little father and the two of them getting out of the Underland, knowing that they'll never be the same. Hunger Games is about Katniss taking her sister’s place when she's called into the Hunger Games and trying to survive in the arena with Peeta (the boy called into the Hunger Games for district 12). This book ends with her and Peeta winning the Hunger Games and the two of them happily returning to District 12 to their families and having an unforgettable experience.
There are many similarities between these two books. Such as: they both have mind blowing experiences. Gregor was in the Underworld and fighting to search for his father, and Katniss was fighting for survival in the arena. They also have similar plots, for they both are fighting and searching for their life. They both have someone as their sidekick/companion. For Gregor it was Boots, and for Katniss it was Peeta. These two books are alike because the main characters both cared for their friends and family and didn't want them to suffer. Katniss didn't want Prim to suffer, and Gregor didn't want his Mother and Boots to suffer. Gregor and Katniss both had similar solutions. They both return home safe and secure, and they're both not sure what's going to happen next.
There were also many differences between these two books. At first Gregor didn't know what he was getting into, when he was falling to the Underworld, but when Katniss volunteered to take Prim's place in the Hunger Games, she knew that she was risking her life. Gregor wasn't prepared for fighting and what he going to do in the Underworld, whereas Katniss was put into training and could defend herself, if she were attacked. These two books are different because Hunger Games is more of a young adult book, but Gregor the Overlander is a children's fantasy. The settings of these two books are different, because Hunger Games mainly takes place in the arena, and Gregor the Overlander takes place in the Underworld. In Gregor the Overlander there's no romance, but in Hunger Games Katniss and Peeta are shown to the world as a couple.
The author, Suzanne Collins wrote both Hunger Games and Gregor the Overlander. She became a writer for children books, when she met James Proimos and decided to write children books herself. Gregor the Overlander was inspired by Alice In Wonderland
. Gregor falls down into the Underworld just like Alice falls down the hole. Hunger Games was partly inspired by the Greek myth Theseus and the Minotaur. Besides the two series (Hunger Games and Underland) she has written Fire Proof
in 1999 and When Charlie McButton Lost Power
in 2005.
While I was reading these books, I used useful strategies such as visualizing and inferring. Using these skills made reading the books a lot better than just reading alone. I could taste what the characters tasted, smell what they smelled, see what they saw, feel what they felt, and I could hear what they heard. Predicting what would happen also made the book a lot better. Either the books could be read to find out what happens, or the reader could begin the books by predicting what will happen and making predictions along the way. The second way makes the books a whole lot more interesting, because it makes them interactive. After I finished each book, I thought about my predictions and how some of them were right, and some were wrong. I also thought how the story would change, if all of my predictions came true.
I would recommend both of these books. They were very enjoyable, and not one page did I think I would fall asleep. At first when I heard of Hunger Games, I wasn't sure if I'd like it, because I wasn't a fan of war. But everyone started reading it and saying that they loved it, so I decided that I would try it, and I loved it too! A friend also recommended I read Gregor the Overlander and I did, and I also enjoyed it. I would recommend Hunger Games to someone who didn't mind gory chapters and war-like books, but who also liked a hint of romance. I would recommend Gregor the Overlander to someone who likes bugs, rats, and bats. Even if they didn't, someone who'd enjoy a adventurous search with a adorable little sister who isn't afraid of anything would likely enjoy this book for it is both adventurous and humorous.
In conclusion I enjoyed reading both of these books, and I'm planning to read both sequels! The writing was terrific, and once I got into the book, I devoured it whole. I think that Suzanne Collins is a great author and want to read more of her books as they get published. I'm also planning to see the Hunger Games once it comes out in 2011!
4 Book Series to Read if You Loved Hunger Games or Gregor the Overlander:
- Harry Potter: Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows
- Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, The Last Olympian
- Artemis Fowl: Artemis Fowl, Arctic Incident, Eternity Code, Opal Deception, Lost Colony, Time Paradox
- Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide, The Seeing Stone, Lucinda’s Secret, The Ironwood Tree, The Wrath of Mulgarath
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