Grade 5 and up. What should you do when you see a strange little man staring at you through your bedroom window at midnight? When this happens to Meggie, she runs to tell her father. Surprisingly, Meggie’s father, Mo, believes her. He rushes outside to meet the strange man. Suddenly Meggie’s life changes. This new man, Dustfinger, as he’s called, has a major message about Mo and Mo’s special skill. Mo’s special skill is reading. He reads so vividly that stuff actually comes out of the book. He brought the gold out of Treasure Island; it clinked to the floor in front of him.he is forced to use his power for evil Capricorn, someone that Mo has read out of a book. Dustfinger brings Meggie and her father to Capricorn, and Dustfinger betrays them to Capricorn, who then doesn’t keep his promise to Dustfinger. Now it’s up to Meggie to save them all by looking deep inside her self to find her father’s talent, and pray that her plan works.

curiousme

Grade Level: 5.9 The Youngest Hero. Jenkins, Jerry. New York, NY: Warner Books, 2002. 376 Pages.

Can you imagine a twelve year old playing baseball with other kids who are in high school? That is exactly what happens in the book The Youngest Hero by Jerry Jenkins. It is a story about a young, extremely talented baseball player as he struggles to cope with his parents being divorced and how his mom does all she can to get enough money to support the two of them. His greatest struggle is to reach his ultimate goal, the Major Leagues. I think that this is a really good book, especially for people who like baseball.
The setting takes place in Chicago, where a young boy, Elgin, and his mother move to after his parents’ divorce. Elgin wants to follow in his Fathers footsteps as a baseball player. Elgin struggles between past memories of bad things his dad did and the love and admiration he has for his father. When Elgin receives his father’s old pitching machine, he sets up his own batting cage in the basement of the apartment complex that he lives in. Elgin’s practice in his private cage makes him excel in baseball. The main question of the whole book is: will Elgin ever make it to the Major Leagues?
There are many good aspects of this book. The first one is that he lives in Chicago, which makes the story more realistic. Second, the book shows the story as Elgin sees it and as Elgin’s mother sees it. This makes the book really interesting because it shows two different perspectives. Another thing that is good about this book is that when Elgin got his dad’s pitching machine, the book describes the machine in great detail. The book gave me a vivid picture of what the machine looked like.
There are a few bad things about this book that I wish were changed. First, since the book switches between two different perspectives the story is long and tends to repeat the same scene, just in a different view. One other bad thing about this book is that I didn’t understand why when Elgin talks about his dad with his mother it is such a touchy subject and why Elgin’s parents were divorced until the middle of the book
I highly recommend this book to anyone. It is a book with an exciting and an action packed story line. If you’re looking for a good book about a boy who wants to make his dreams come true, this is a great book for you.

crmsrobobuilder

Gr 5-8 Eoin Colfer’s book, Artemis Fowl, is the beginning of an exciting series that is addictive to all magic-lovers. Artemis, an Irish boy genius, develops a cunning plan to steal the People’s gold. Captain Holly Short gets in on the excitement when she is taken hostage. The LEP have to get Holly back at all costs! This book is brilliant, thrilling and leads to other unpredictable adventures with the clever mastermind, Artemis Fowl.

ThomasEdison

GR 6-8- A CHILD CALLED IT is an unforgettable story of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California. This is a story of a young boy who is brutally beaten and starved to death. His emotional alcoholic mother has played these games for quite a while and he has to learn the rules of this game to survive. His mother no longer thinks of him as a son but as a slave, a no one. If you ask me this would be a great book to read it teaches you of other people’s lives. I’m late I’ve got to finish the dishes on time, otherwise no breakfast; and since I didn’t have dinner last night, I have to make sure I get something to eat. I can hear mother stomping down the stairs, I dip my hands back in the scalding rinse water. It’s too late she catches me with my hands out of the water. SMACK. As you can see this young boy has to work for new clothes and food, when he is just 5 years of age. This book is a true story of Dave Pelzer who was brutally beaten as a young boy. This is a story of strong emotional courage to survive. It, (the young boy) has to steel lunches from people just to get food. This has been going on for weeks now, and the teachers have talked to him and his mother about it but he is too scared to tell the truth. His father has tried reasoning with his so called mother but all she does is yells so the father leaves his son to fend for him self. What could happen to the young child? Will he survive these hateful games?
Lilcross123

GR 5-8- Too Young to Die is a book that was very eye opening to me because it tells me why people live and die. This book was one of the best I have ever read. Now I am not going to lie I am not a big reader, but this book makes me want to read a lot more often than I do. It taught me a lesson that I should be grateful for my good health. This book is so inspiring to me. I have never read a better book than this one. I hope you will consider reading this book so it can open your eyes and teach you the same lesson as well.
A girl that is about sixteen years old is diagnosed with a very serious illness but doesn’t want to accept what the doctor tells her. She is very sad after she realizes that she actually has it. After she realizes that she doesn’t have a very long time to live, she starts trying to have the best life she can, but she finds out that is not easy to do when she starts having a lot of pain and stress in her life. Her grades in school are dropping and she doesn’t focus on her school work as much as she used to. With the life changing news she has to deal with she starts to try to get as close to her friends and family and tries to find her inner strength and courage to find out the mysterious ways of living and dying before she dies. The girl I am talking about in this book is Melissa Austin and she really doesn’t want to die. What do you think will happen next? Do you think she will live or die?
Girl10

I have really enjoyed this book it is very interesting and very intense about who is going to win the baking contest. This book kind of reminds me of how middle school is it’s always a competition! The book is about a club of girls mainly in the 7th grade and two are in the 6th grade. They have a babysitting business, and in this episode some of the girls are entering into a baking contest while the rest work there babysitting the contestants children. The girls that entered are going against these girls that they like hate the one named Cookie is the main one and she is trying to scare the BSC. She keeps telling them she got a secret weapon and that they are going to loose. But the babysitter girls are not scared and really think that they are going to win. Now they are trying to find the most perfect recipe and are trying to also make it look beautiful and still taste good, and something that they can make fast. After they finally find there recipe, Claudia’s cake falls and then the first thing she has in her mind is that someone tampered with the recipe! Boy is she determined to find out who is the blame, but she better hurry the competition is getting more dangerous everyday!! The BSC are very into this baking contest and they want to win, but win they find out who is tampering with everybody’s recipe things will get back to normal and they can finish the contest far and square!

Blondechick1404

Gr. 6-9 – This book doesn’t just start off a series of catchy and mysterious books, it also starts an adventure of your very own. As the king of Del suddenly dies of an unknown cause, Jared’s best friend inherits the kingdom as well as the mighty Belt of Deltora, the source of magic for the prosperous land that keeps away the evil Shadow Lord. Several years later, the belt is stolen and the Shadow Lord invades! He sends all of the magical stones in the belt all over Deltora. He kills thousands of people and doesn’t let anyone escape. The king and queen manage to escape the Shadow Lord’s grasp and leave to the west to the Forest of Silence, a deadly forest that is forbidden to all but the Shadow Lord’s grey guards. Sixteen years later, Jared’s son Lief is sent on a mission to find the stones for the Belt of Deltora to defeat the Shadow Lord and free the people. The first stone is in the Forest of Silence. He is teamed up with an old castle guard disguised as a beggar. As they venture into the forest they are captured by a wild girl and are about to be fed to a vicious beast. They finally convince the girl to free them and manage to escape the beast. They soon reach a bigger problem. They find a strong warrior who is guarding the mystical Lilies of Life that can make you live forever. He also has the topaz, one of the stone to the Belt of Deltora. He thinks they are trying to get the Lilies of Life and he tries to destroy them. Will Lief be able to get the stone, or will he die in despair? The Forest of Silence is the first of a large series of Deltora books. The writer, Emily Rodda, has also written another series of fairy books. Rodda is a wonderful author who can catch you with the slightest phrase.

Thechosen1

The Cay is a fantastic book about Phillip and Timothy and their fantastic journey on a deserted island. This book tells about how they survive, learn life lessons, and become better people. The Cay was written by Theodore Taylor and is an excellent adventure book. I recommend it for grades four and up. In my opinion this would appeal to people who like adventure, excitement, and the movie Castaway. If you like those things than The Cay is the book for you! The Cay keeps you wanting to read more and more! The main Characters are Philip and Timothy. Philip is about 12 year old and Timothy is around 80! Philip is from Virginia and Timothy is from Jamaica. After their ship they were traveling on (to get back to Virginia) was torpedoed by a German sub they ended up on a raft in the middle of nowhere separated from the others and began to drift towards a deserted and uncharted island. The only other survivor that they knew of was Stew, the cook’s cat. Once on the island they began to set up a makeshift camp by building their own hut, mats, and a trough to catch rain water. They had to find their own food, water, and fuel for fire. They mostly ate fruit and fish.
Some of the adventures that they faced were shark attacks, electric eels, huge storms, and a disease called malaria. The only bad thing about the book was that it ended a bit quickly.
The reader wonders if Philip and Timothy will survive until rescue, if they do get rescued. The only way to find out is to read it yourself.

-yomamma

Gr-6 Up-Everybody wanted to be a wringer, but not Palmer. Palmer never really liked it at all. Palmer would be scared if he did not join when you he was supposed to that everyone would make fun of him. Palmer has mixed emotions. The people that he hangs out with are wringers and make fun of girls, but he likes girls and does not want to be a wringer. Palmer has to make a decision to stick with his friends or not stick with his friends and break the tradition for his dad. Palmer also has a problem when a bird follows him and everywhere he goes it goes with him. The bird flies away then comes back. Palmer will never tell his Dad cause he went through the same thing, but his Dad has a trophy for wringing so many birds. The trophy is a bird and he has to see it every day. So if you want to see if the bird lives or Palmer makes his final decision you need to get the book and read it. I liked the book a lot and if I could give it a rating it would be a 9 out of 10.
CMF12095

Grades 5-8 Flush is about a family who wants to catch a pollutionist that is polluting the Basin in Florida. The man who is polluting is Dusty Muleman and he is a very sneaky guy who hooks up with the coast guard when it is time to check their boat. The main characters are Noah and his sister Abbey and they are trying to catch Dusty in the act. The pollution scam is how he dumps human waste into the basin without permission and that is breaking the law anyway. After Noah’s dad goes to jail, Noah gets mad and is desperately trying to catch Dusty in the act but Dusty was persistent. Miraculously Noah’s dad escapes jail and is put on house arrest. When Abbey goes missing, Noah’s Dad takes the ankle bracelet off and the police are after him again but this time Noah’s Dad has a good reason but still goes to jail. In the end Dusty gets caught with the help of Shelly and The fuchsia food coloring. The reason the book is named Flush is because Noah and Abbey have to flush the food coloring into the basin to show the coast guard what really happened. This book has been successful because it hooks every reader in the first paragraph and is always making you read the next chapter with suspense and bravery. Some possibilities in the book are that you should always tell someone about a crime that they are doing and if they still do it then call the police. They will definitely get caught.

NRS07