Entries Tagged 'Family Life' ↓
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 10th, 2010 — 2.5-3 Treasure Chests, Book Review, Family Life, Fantasy, Friends, G-I, Mystery
by First Mate Keira
Title: 13 Treasures
Author: Michelle Harrison
Format: Hardback
Page Count: 355
Grade Reading Level: Grade 5–8
Summary: Tanya knows that at age 13 she can no longer get away with talking to faeries or about them in front of others as both adults and kids couldn’t see them. Only her. She’d been tormented by them for years and the bullying wasn’t going to ever stop as far as she could see. When she tried to write about them in a journal, they discovered it and punished her. That punishment woke her mother which lead to more punishment… she was being sent away to live with her grandmother. The grandmother she is certain hates her and never wants her to visit. Oh and her grandmother’s place is stuffed with faeries inside and outside the house… talk about jumping from frying pan into the fire.
Why I started this book:
It looked really cute on the library shelf. Cover is very nice.
Likes:
- Tanya’s and Fabian’s friendship. They work together to solve the mystery of the girl in the woods. The girl, Morwenna Bloom, had gone missing ages ago and but her disappearance was blamed on Fabian’s grandfather. The town thinks he killed her, but there’s no proof. Or is there?
- Oberon is a good dog. He had a lot of personality infused in his character with just a few lines.
Dislikes:
- Raven, Gredin, Feathercap, and Mizhog, the bullying faeries that pick on Tanya.
- Morwenna Bloom. I just knew she wasn’t the sweet missing girl she’s made out to be throughout the story.
- Another thing I didn't get was feeling bad for changelings and trying to help them.
- Florence’s relationship with her granddaughter. The motivations were explained in the conclusion of the story, but it seemed rather weak to me.
- The 13 treasures the story is titled after appear in the novel as a charm bracelet to go with a legend. It didn’t do anything… I kept expecting it to end up being the real treasures shrunk down, but it was just jewelry.
- The concept of guardian faeries was very contradicting in terms of world-building. In the end I didn’t quite understand how if one or several of the faeries were on Tanya’s side how they could condone tormenting and torturing her. It didn’t make much sense to me.
Buy: 13 Treasures
Rating: 2.5 Treasure Chests
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August 8th, 2010 — 2.5-3 Treasure Chests, Book Review, Family Life, Graphic Novel, P-R, School Situations
by Captain Lyaf Yarr
Title: Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
Author: Rachel Renee Russell
Format: Hardback
Page Count: 279
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Summary: Nikki Maxwell is still the same dork. In this sequel, she has to deal with her two best friends Cloe and Zoey, her secret crush Brandon, and Mackenzie, Nikki’s locker neighbor; the most popular girl in school. Oh, and Mackenzie hates Nikki’s guts! A scheme of McKenzie’s pulls Nikki and four others in charge of the ENTIRE school dance. So not good. In addition, Nikki accepted an offer to be a giant smelly rat and help out Mackenzie’s aunt at her sister’s ballet party. To make everything better her friends tell her that they’ve decided to go with her idea and dress up as trash bags for the dance, but when Brandon finally asked Nikki to go with him so she decides to dress up as Juliet! Now she can’t wait to go to the dance and hang out just with Brandon… but what about the Halloween party and her friends?!? How can one dork handle all of this in just one night???
Why I started this book:
I read this book because I read the first book and I was eager to know what happened next!
Likes:
- I liked reading this book as a diary. I felt so sneaky! This format is what drew me into the first book also. There should be more diary styled comic books!
- I enjoyed the illustrations in the book. They we’re fun and it gave you a better idea of things that Nikki was talking about.
- I thought Cloe and Zoey were the best friends ever! They always stood up for Nikki and were very understanding.
Dislikes:
- This book was way too predict Buy: Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
able! A little dumbed down in places too. For instance, when Nikki was wondering what Brandon wanted to tell her, I was thinking “Gee, I wonder! (Sarcastically.) Could he, and for that matter she, be any more oblivious?”
- This book was an easy read. Maybe too easy. I need something a little more challenging now I think, so while I liked the book I wouldn't say I Liked the book.
- Why did Mackenzie tell Nikki that the dance rocked? Aren’t they supposed to hate each other? It just doesn’t make sense.
Rating: 2.5 Treasure chests!
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