Book Review: The View From Saturday

I just finished reading The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg. It is a two time Newbery Medal Award Winner. The story takes place mostly in New York, but one chapter of it in Florida. The View From Saturday is a book about 4 sixth graders, Nadia, Ethan, Julian, and Noah who are picked to be their class's academic bowl team. Nadia is a girl from Florida who has a particular fond for turtles, and she moved to New York with her mom when her parents got divorced. Ethan is a boy who doesn't talk much, and his grandmother marries Nadia's grandfather. Julian is a magician who lived on a cruise ship, and has a tea party at his house every Saturday at 4. Noah was best man at Nadia's grandfather and Ethan's grandmother's wedding, and is great at calligraphy. They make the Souls. The Souls end up being a great team. Read The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg to find out more about The Souls.

Good things about the book:

 

1. It was a well written, great story.
2. E.L. Konigsburg could of easily made that one story at least five stories.
3. I learned lots of new words in the book.
4. At the end of the book, they have 15 questions with 36 answers to show that they are many ways to answer a question

 

Bad things about the book:

 

1. They put parts of the contest in random places.
2. They introduced a Mrs. Reynolds, but didn't say for a couple of pages that she is the High School drama teacher.
3. Also, they said chops had something to do with the ability to do magic, but never really said what it was.

 

Homonyms:

 

1. When you think about the word alien, do you think of those green people who live on a different planet? It can also mean "Belonging to a foreign country or nation".
2. When you hear the word sound, do you think of things that you hear? Sound can also mean "A narrow stretch of water forming an inlet or connecting two wider areas of water such as two seas or a sea and a lake".

 

New words I learned:

 

1. Quaint-attractively unusual or old-fashioned.
2. Paraplegic-paralysis of the legs and lower body typically caused by spinal injury or disease.
3. Brigadier-a rank of officer in the British army, above colonel and below major general.
4. Sentinel-a soldier or guard whose job is to stand and keep watch.
5. Nanosecond-one billionth of a second.
6. Derive-obtain something from.
7. Vulgar-lacking sophistication or good taste.
8. Malice-the intention or desire to do evil.

 

Overall, I rate this book as a A+, and I think anyone interested in smarts should read it, and all elementary school and middle school students.

 

Have you read The View From Saturday?

 

Do you know of any books that you can relate to this?

 

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

About a week ago, I finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Here is a book review on it!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter is invited to go to the Quidditch World Cup by Ron Weasley. Harry goes and sees the World Cup. Next thing he knows, Voldemort's sign is in the air. He then goes to Hogwarts. To his surprise, he is entered in a deadly tournament against his will. He ends up fighting a dragon, saving a life, and fighting a villain thanks to that tournament. To find out more, read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling.

This book is 734 pages.

Have you read this book?

If so, did you like the book?

Book Review: The Third Wheel

Yesterday, I read the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, The Third Wheel. The Third Wheel is the 7th book in the series. Here is a review on the book:

In The Third Wheel, Greg Heffley's school is having a school dance. All the boys are changing the way that they act. They have these special invitations to get people to go to the dance with you. The invitations cost 25 cents each. Some people get 30, while others get 0. Greg is one of the people who gets 0. He tries many ways to get a date to the dance. Find out if he gets a date to the dance by reading The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney.

Have you read The Third Wheel?

If so, did you like it?

Book Review: Catching Fire

Here is my review on book 2 of The Hunger Games, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins:

      At the start of Catching Fire, they talk a lot about Katniss and Peeta's lives in Victors Village. That is where the winners of the Hunger Games live. Katniss' only neighbors were Peeta and Haymitch. Then, President Snow makes an announcement. The victors will compete against each other in the Quarter Quell. Next, they got new peacekeepers. Peacekeepers were the people who made sure that all citizens of Panem follow the rules of the Capitol. The new head peacekeeper whipped Gale because he found out about Gale hunting illegally. He almost bled to death from the whipping.

      Most of the arena was water. Instead of the weapons and supplies being in the Cornucopia like usual, they were in a pile on a mountain. Katniss was allies with Peeta, Finnick, and Mags. There was a force field in the arena. Peeta ran into it. He was dead for awhile. Then, Finnick brought Peeta back to life with mouth to mouth. Next, a deadly fog came. Katniss and Finnick could not carry both Mags and Peeta, so Mags ran into the fog to death. Later in the games, they added Johanna, Wiress, and Beetee to their alliance. Wiress realized that the arena was a clock. There was the fog, the big wave, the monkey attack, and other things that happened at the same time every day. Then Wiress died. After that, Peeta, Katniss, Finnick, Beetee, Johanna, Enobaria, and Brutus were rescued by Plutarch and Haymitch. Then, the part that happened at the end shocked me, especially the last sentence. Peeta and some of the others were captured by the Capitol. In the last sentence, Gale said, "There is no more District 12" to Katniss.

      I rate this book an A+ and it is by far the best book of the three in the Hunger Games trilogy.

The 2nd Ultimate Blogging Challenge: Round 1



The teams are Jaden and Mark vs. Jake and Ethan. Both teams will have two challenges. The first is write a post about your favorite sports team. The second is to write a book review. You will have one week to do both challenges. If you do the extra credit, you will get a life. The extra credit is to do as many posts as you can. If you do more than the other team, then you get a life.

Did you do your challenge?

39 Clues-Books 1-4

I've started a book series called 39 clues. I have been reading the for about 3 months. Right now, I am on book 5, but I'm almost on book 6. There are 11 books in the regular series. Then, there are 2 books in the Cahill vs. Vespers series. Book 3 will come out on March 6.

The 39 clues are about the biggest family ever. Almost every famous person ever that you can name was a Cahill. They are in a race for 39 clues. The teams are Dan and Amy Cahill, Ian and Natalie Kabra, Alistair Oh, the Holts, Irina Spasky, Jonah Wizard and Sinead, Ned, Ted Starling. The winner will become the most powerful Cahill of all-time.

The interesting thing is that there are about ten different authors for the 39 clues series. I have every single book.

Here are my rankings for the best books from one to five:

1. Book 5 by Patrick Carman

2. Book 1 by Rick Riordan

3. Book 3 by Peter Lerangis

4. Book 2 by Gordan Korman

5. Book 4 by Jude Watson

39 Clues has a website. It is a very good website. You can play the game and upload your cards. I recommend going on it. Here it is: http://www.the39clues.com/ I recommend 39 Clues to ages 8 and older.

Do you read 39 Clues?

Did you visit the website?

Review: GBM Corner

My friend Mark recently started a blog with reviews called GBM Corner. I'm guessing you're wondering what GBM stands for. G stands for video games. B stands for books. M stands for movies. They stand for video games, books, and movies because that's what he reviews. I think his blog is amazing. So far, he has only reviewed books.

The books he's reviewed are Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever, Encyclopedia Brown: The Case of Pablo's Nose, and Big Nate on a Roll. I've read Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever and Encyclopedia Brown: The Case of Pablo's Nose. He rates the books with letters. He rated Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever an A-. I would rate it an A. He rated Encyclopedia Brown: The Case of Pablo's Nose an A-. I would rate it a C+. You should go on his blog A.S.A.P.

Here is a book review I wrote for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever:

The book Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever is the sixth book in the Diary of a Wimpy kid series. Some of the book is about how he wanted to have a holiday bazaar. The newspaper would charge him one thousand dollars for the full page color ad he wanted. Greg (the main character) decides to call his friend Rowley to make their own newspaper. Then, they vandalize the school by putting posters on the walls. Greg goes to the principal's office and has to clean up marks the posters left.

Next, he had to survive being snowed in with his family. First, Manny plays on Greg's favorite game and changes his password. Next, he couldn't watch TV because Manny changed the parental lock. Later he couldn't play video games because his mom loved her new exercise video game. Finally, the snow stopped and the police came. He thought it was for him, but it was for last minute toys for the toy drive.

Have you read GBM Corner?

Have you read any of these books?

What would you rate them?

Book Signing: Scary School (Book Review Included)

This October, I went to my local Barnes and Noble for a book signing, reading, and costume contest.

 

Me and the Author

 

First, there were only two kids including me. The author, Derek the Ghost, did a choose your own adventure story. Both of us survived one day at scary school! That is very hard! Next, about 5 more kids came. He read a very scary chapter called, Dr. Dragonbreath's rules. Then, he took some questions. I asked a few. There is a secret chapter in the first book, so I asked him, " Is there going to be a secret chapter in the next book?". He said there are going to be a few in the next book. After that, he signed our copies of Scary School. Here is what he wrote to me:

 

 

Next, there was a costume contest. If you go to the top of this post you can see my costume. The only other person who competed didn't know about the costume contest, but he was in his basketball uniform. I won because of my helmet! Each of us got a handful of candy. Also, I got a free book because I won!

The book I won

He gave everyone a T-shirt.

My handful of candy. (I already ate two) Mmm...



 

My new book signed

 

Here is a book review I wrote:

 

The book Scary School is about the first school ever that combines regular kids and monster kids. It is told by the point of view of Derek the Ghost. He is an amazing author! The story is mostly about the fifth grade classes. The two fifth grade teachers are Ms. Fang, an 850 year old vampire, and Dr. Dragonbreath, who ate 28 of his 30 students in the first 12 minutes of school. Being dead is no excuse for being dead at Scary School because they have the best Nurse ever, Nurse Hairymoles. She can bring anyone back to life, but she makes it so they are very badly sick the next day. You do not want to go to detention because you have to spend it with Mrs T, who is a hungry T-Rex who might eat you before recess. I think you should get and read this book A.S.A.P.

 

Derek the Ghost's website: Scaryschool.com

 

Have you read Scary School?

 

Who is your favorite teacher?

 

What is your favorite chapter?

 

Who is you favorite kid?

 

What's your favorite book? (Scary School is mine)