Entries Tagged 'Guest Review' ↓
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!
August 6th, 2010 — 2.5-3 Treasure Chests, Action & Adventure, D-F, Fantasy, Guest Review
by Second Mate Embry, guest reviewer
Title: Igraine the Brave
Author: Cornelia Funke
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 212
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Summary: As a daughter of two magicians, Igraine is expected to follow in their footsteps, casting spells and concocting potions, right? Actually, all she wants to be is a knight and have adventures. She gets her chance when Osmund the Greedy tries to take over the castle, and her parents are turned into pigs! Luckily her brother is making a potion to turn them back, but he needs one more ingredient. Will Igraine become a knight, save her parents, and beat Osmund? Or will Osmund the Greedy rule over the castle with an iron fist forever?
Why I Read This Book:
I read this book because I have enjoyed other books by Cornelia Funke and thought that I would try it. Also, that back blurb caught my attention in the library and sounded interesting.
Likes:
- I like the idea of a 12 year-old knight. She’s fighting for us pre-teens!
- I liked the magic used by Igraine’s brother and parents; it seemed unstoppable.
- So we know Igraine wants to be a knight, right? Well she would be a knight with one fear: Spiders. I thought it was hilarious that out of all the fears she could possibly have, her ONLY fear was spiders.
Dislikes:
- I found myself skimming this book to get it finished. It didn't really hold my interest and more than anything I just wanted to finish it. Some parts of the book I enjoyed, but I like to be totally captivated during the whole book, not just good parts here and there. I’d be all excited about something that happened and curious to read on, but then instead of finding more rising action it was more of a plateau and that got very dull very quickly. I think Cornelia Funke could have made this book a lot more intense by keeping the rising action strong.
Buy: Igraine The Brave
Rating: 2.5 Treasure chests!
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July 1st, 2010 — Guest Review, Movie Review
by Cook Cutlery, guest reviewer
Title: Eragon
Director: Steen Fagmeier
Duration: 104 minutes
Rated: PG
Summary: Eragon (played by Ed Speleers) sucks at hunting and one day when he’s out trying to hunt a deer he comes across a blue stone. But when it hatches Eragon is flabbergasted to meet Sapphira (voice by Rachel Weisz) who is a dragon. She’s the one who chose Eragon to be her Rider. Is it a mistake to make such a pathetic boy the last of the Dragon Riders? I think not!
Why I watched this movie:
Because I recently finished reading Eragon.
Likes:
- I really liked Brom because he was willing to train Eragon when he didn’t have to do so. He was also very wise all that he did and he risked his life to save Eragon from getting pierced through the chest by Durza (an evil Shade). Jeremy Irons was the perfect choice for Brom and a good actor.
- I also liked the way they did the special effects throughout the movie with spell casting, battles, and Sapphira. She looked real and not like she was C.G.I. She matched the world they built.
Dislikes:
- I didn’t like the fact that Brom dies in the movie while trying to protect Eragon. It’s too sad.
- I didn’t like that quite a bit of stuff was cut out of the movie, that was in the book. For instance they leave out when Brom and Eragon go off to different places in order to find more information about the Razac—specifically how to locate and kill them.
Differences between the movie and book:
- Araya (played by Sienna Guillory) was portrayed with long red hair in the movie, but the book says her long hair is black.
- In the book when he had reached the Varden Eragon had to go through the examination where the Twins entered his mind and probed through it looking into his thoughts and checking out his intentions. In the movie it just shows that he goes right Ajihad.
Buy: Eragon (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Rating: 4 Treasure Chests.
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