By: Aly Marx Was it luck that I read this book? With the end of school coming up, I wanted to write a review on a book set during summer break. These Unlucky Stars is a sweet and tear-jerking story written by Gillian McDunn. It was first published on March 2, 2021 and is about a girl named Annie, who is convinced that she was born under an “unlucky star”. Ever since her mother left, bad things have been happening to her. She doesn’t have many friends and often feels left out. Worst of all, she has been wondering whether it was her that made her mother leave. But when one of her brother’s friends gives her a dare and she gets caught up in a loop of lies, will she make lemonade out of lemons? Or will she continue living under an unlucky star? These Unlucky Stars is an amazing and heartwarming book that you should certainly read. This book has all of the right components: fluent plot, relatable characters, wonderful word choice. But it also has multiple elements that stand out to me. First of all, the novel has intense emotion. I found myself crying multiple times while feeling sympathy for the characters. I was also able to feel their emotions through their dialogue and thoughts. Secondly, I was immediately able to care for and fall in love with the characters as their personalities developed. Finally, the volume includes several positive messages. It shows the importance of being kind, sticking up for yourself, perseverance, and the power of friendship. You should definitely read These Unlucky Stars. Don’t forget to return your bookroom books!
I hope you have a great summer! Keep reading! By: Aly Marx Star Wars. Origami. Puppets that predict the future. Do I have your attention? Good, because I think you would love The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. Originally published on March 1, 2010, it is the first volume in an eight-book series and is written by Tom Angleberger. It is from the perspective of a boy named Tommy. He recalls his sixth-grade year of school and all of the odd and curious “cases” around a paper finger puppet his friend Dwight gave advice through. Read the book to figure out what crazy predictions--and crazy problems--are made! The Strange Case of Origami Yoda is a sweet and humorous story that you should certainly read. First of all, the story has an engaging and exciting plot that kept me interested throughout the story. Secondly, the personalities of all of the characters are unique and relatable. They were fun to read about in general and made me want to come back to the story. The conflicts between the characters were realistic and also stimulating. They kept me on the edge of my seat. Another part of this book that I enjoyed was after the story ended. At the back of the book, there are instructions on how to make origami that is part of the novel. That element of the book made it all the more immersive and added another fun component to the novel. Finally, this book was extremely humorous. There were specific references to and spoofs off of Star Wars, as well as small drawings that made the story much more entertaining. I found this book better than other youth chapter books as it had a more interesting and thorough plot and more relatable characters, while still incorporating engaging humor. You should definitely try The Strange Case of Origami Yoda--you won’t regret it! Quick facts: Title: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda Author: Tom Angleberger Page count: 160 Lexile: 760 Main character: Tommy By: Aly Marx Magic. Missions. Moonlight. Memories. First published on August 9, 2016, The Girl Who Drank the Moon, written by Kelly Barnhill, is a fantasy book that has won multiple awards, including the 2017 Newbery Medal. The book is about a girl named Luna. When she gets fed moonlight as a child, her life takes a turn and she gains magical powers. But when Luna has to protect her friends and family, will she be able to do it? I know many people who enjoyed this book, however, I would not recommend The Girl Who Drank the Moon. First of all, there were too many components that took away from the story. One of them includes how Luna’s birthmark on her forehead was constantly hurting, which strongly reminded me of Harry Potter. This easily pulled me out of the story. Secondly, the line between believable and over-the-top was crossed too many times. There were borders set at the beginning of the story that immediately told me how much I could believe to be true with the magical elements, but I felt that the story exceeded those limits too often, which made the novel confusing and less engaging. Another reason that I did not enjoy this book was that several events in the volume were confusing. I had no idea how Luna figured out many of her issues and questions, and when all of the perspectives at the end of the story came together, they didn’t line up and connect properly, which made it even more puzzling. Many other aspects were discombobulating and made me think, “what?”. Finally, there was a miserably sad ending, which brought down my general enjoyment of the story. I did like the idea of the story, and there was great character development, but the plot was poorly executed and was unable to please me. Overall, you should not read The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Quick facts: Title: The Girl Who Drank the Moon Author: Kelly Barnhill Page count: 386 Lexile: 640 Main character: Luna As their prize, our three top readers from the March is Reading Month competition were interviewed about their favorite book! Our first-place winner, Harleen K, said that her favorite book was A Wrinkle in Time. She said that it showed perseverance when Meg tried to save her brother and her father. She said, “It was really good, I would recommend everyone to read it.” She continued by saying that it shows that you can do anything, you just have to believe in yourself. Harleen also said that Meg also shows lots of love, which helps her throughout the story. Our second-place winner, Deesha P, said that her favorite book was The Penderwicks. With five books in the series and daring characters, she said that, “It’s a very good book about how four sisters go for a summer vacation, and they’re lost because their dog chewed up their map.” She further explained how the story tells about how the sisters meet their new friend. She also said that the personalities of the characters are engaging. For example, one of the characters is short-tempered, which makes the story more interesting. Finally, our third-place winner, Liam M, said that his favorite book was Treasure Hunters. He said that, “The funny characters made me want to keep on reading.” He said that the book was mysterious and action-packed, filled with chases, adventures, and danger. In addition to this, he said that there was a super-smart sister named Storm, which made the story more interesting. He also said that the book teaches you about sailing and the characters’ boat, about the world, and any of the characters’ surroundings. You should definitely consider reading these books! Congratulations to our winners! Great job! What would you do if you got one million dollars? For the Peach family, it was to buy a food truck and travel the country. Published on April 6th, 2021, and written by Erin Soderberg Downing, When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie is a heartfelt story about the Peach family: Lucy, Freddy, Herb, and their dad, and how they come together through their newly-purchased food truck. After the Peach children’s mother passed, their family just wasn’t the same. But when one of her inventions sell for just over one million dollars, their summer takes a turn. Will their vacation be a blast? Or will their dad’s crazy idea turn out to be a total flop? When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie is one of my favorite books of all time, and I would certainly recommend that you read it. First of all, this book was impossible for me to put down. The volume started with a great hook and made me want to keep on reading. Secondly, this book had a great plot. I felt as though the story was very fluent and that I wasn’t confused about any of the events that happened. Next, the characters in the story were developed very well. I really enjoyed being able to see exactly what each character was thinking, and I could thoroughly understand each person’s emotions and point of view. This allowed me to connect to the book in so many different ways. There were multiple instances when I was able to share the characters’ feelings and remember times that I have been in similar situations, some of them including when Lucy was struggling with leadership, as well as getting along with her family members. Another wonderful part of this story was all of the great vocabulary that helped to make the book a more interesting read. Many other readers could easily find several events in the story to relate to. One of my favorite elements of this book was the information that it gives the reader. There are various tourist attractions and random facts in the story that are explained that enhance the personalities of the characters and make the story more interesting and realistic. Additionally, throughout the story, the perspectives would change, which gave me a better understanding of the characters’ thoughts and feelings. It also made the book more enjoyable. Finally, this book had modern elements, such as the locations included, events, and recently published books, which made the book more relatable and interesting to read. Overall, When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie is a wonderful story that is definitely worth reading. Quick facts: Title: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie Author: Erin Soderberg Downing Page count: 256 Main character: The Peach family (Lucy, Freddy, Herb, and Dad) This week’s author spotlight is on Erin Soderberg Downing! She has lived in multiple different places, such as New York City, England, Sweden, and Minneapolis, where she now lives with her husband and three children. She also has two dogs: a Goldendoodle named Wally (who was the inspiration for the main character of her books, the Puppy Pirates series) and an Aussie doodle named Nutmeg. Besides writing, Downing has had several jobs, including a waitress, a malt-maker, a cookie inventor, a children’s book editor, a boat tour guide, and as a worker for Nickelodeon. She says that all of these jobs have given her great inspiration for writing. Erin Soderberg Downing has several pen names, which include Kate Howard and Nessi Monstrata. She has written over fifty books. Some of her children’s novels include the Quirks series (published from 2013-2015), Best Friends (Until Someone Better Comes Along) (2014), For Soccer-Crazy Girls Only (2014), the Puppy Pirates series (2015-2019), Moon Shadow (2017), and the Daring Dreamers Club series (2018-2019). An upcoming book of hers is When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie (coming out on April 6, 2021). In addition to her children’s stories, she has written some romantic comedies for adults & young adults. She has also written many young-reader books with characters that other people have created. An interesting fact about her book, Quirks, is that she wrote ten drafts and took three years to publish the story. Downing writes whenever an idea strikes. One time, she had to write on a pizza-sauce-and-grease-covered paper plate while at a birthday party! She says that she works to “inspire a lifelong love of reading for fun”. To get ideas for stories, she explains that she listens and observes the world around her. Downing has many popular stories that interest many young readers. Be on the lookout for her newest book coming out! She will be visiting several classes at GATE on April 5th. If you would like to buy a signed copy of her upcoming book, you can buy it from here: https://www.redballoonbookshop.com/great-peach-experiment%C2%A0virtual-midwest-book-tour to get it shipped to your house or from here: https://my.cheddarup.com/c/signed-copy-of-when-life-gives-you-lemons-make-peach-pie through our school store. Author: Erin Soderberg Downing Website: https://www.erinsoderberg.com/index.html Sources: https://www.erinsoderberg.com/about-erin.html & https://www.erinsoderberg.com/on-writing.html By: Aly Marx
Have you ever been to our school’s bookroom? For most of you, probably not. At the beginning of the year, it moved to a larger room so that we could fit more books in. There are so many books in the bookroom - over 4400 different titles and 7900 individual copies, and growing all the time! We have been checking books out from the bookroom for a while, but do you know what it looks like inside? We have an awesome video with a tour of the bookroom from Mrs. Marx, our bookroom specialist, for you to watch right here. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yIIm9SGqSQ_V6Yv4HYJZCRdEE0AEIRq9/view?usp=sharing Thanks, Mrs. Marx! With that, please don’t forget to return any books that you are done with. There are so many that are missing! We need to make sure that others get to use our wonderful books. Additionally, Ms. McDermid has given me a list of great books in our bookroom that you may have not known about! Here they are:
Here are a few more awesome books in our bookroom to check out!
Make sure that you check out some of these books! Check with your parents or a teacher to make sure that the book that you select is age-appropriate. The bookroom is an amazing resource that we have, so you should utilize it. If you would like to request a book, you can use the same link (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfkdILDrXvr4v7yxNNHx2Izy1uRo_jSGLGi24D3evLU03lDWg/viewform) all year, and the book that you request will either be delivered to your classroom or sent home on the next virtual pickup day. You can find the book listing on the google form, remember that they are organized by type. Happy reading! By: Aly Marx Called the world’s number one storyteller, this week’s author spotlight is about Roald Dahl! Born on September 13, 1916, Dahl went to boarding school as a child: first at St. Peter’s, in Weston-super-Mare, England (from 1925-1929), and second at Repton, in England (from 1929-1936). Many of the events that happened during his time at school were portrayed in his book Boy (published in 1984). Also, he got to test chocolate bars at Repton, which gave him inspiration for his book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964). An interesting fact about Dahl is that he was enlisted in the Royal Air Force during World War II. In September of 1940, Dahl’s Gladiator (a type of plane) he was flying crashed, but he lived! Dahl also assisted in creating the Wade-Dahl-Till valve in 1960, which helps treat hydrocephalus in children. Roald Dahl wrote many books, some of them including James and the Giant Peach (published in 1961), Fantastic Mr. Fox (1970), The Twits (1980), The BFG (1982), The Witches (1983), Matilda (1988), and Esio Trot (1990). In addition to these children’s stories, he also wrote a few adult novels. Many of Dahl’s books have been turned into films. In 1971 the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was released based on his story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As well as this, many of Dahl’s stories were told on the popular show Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His Tales of the Unexpected also ran on television in the UK from 1979-1988. Dahl additionally wrote the screenplay for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, as well as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Founded by Dahl’s wife, Felicity Crosland, The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre is a museum where you can learn more about the author’s life, books, and characters he created. Furthermore, Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity (also founded by his wife) and is dedicated to helping children with severe illnesses and getting them the help they need. It was created because Dahl was committed to helping children get through rough patches in life. A fun fact about Dahl is that he created new words, such as “Biffsquiggled” (meaning to be confused) and “Bibble” (meaning to make a soft gurgling sound), that he used in his books. He did this to bring life and character to his stories. Roald Dahl wrote many extremely popular and memorable children’s novels that are joys for many readers today. Author: Roald Dahl Website: https://www.roalddahl.com/home/kids Source: https://www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl/about, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/roald-dahl-words_n_57d74c2de4b09d7a687f6b35 By: Aly Marx This week’s author spotlight is about Katherine Applegate. She was born on October 9, 1956, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Along with her husband and three children, she also has two cats, named Lightning and Scooter, and one dog named Stan, who have inspired characters in some of her books. She has also lived in several places, including Illinois, Minnesota, Florida, Texas, Italy, North Carolina, and California. A fun fact about Applegate is that popcorn is her favorite food. Katherine Applegate has written MANY books. Some of her popular novels include the Animorphs series (published from 1996-2001), Home of the Brave (2007), the Roscoe Riley Rules series (2008-2009), Crenshaw (2015), Wishtree (2017), the Endling series (2018-2021), The One and Only Ivan (2012), and its sequel, The One and Only Bob (2020). She also has published a few picture books, containing The Buffalo Storm (2007), Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla (2014), and Sometimes You Fly (2018). Some of her upcoming publications are Doggo and Pupper (coming out March 23, 2021), and Willodeen (coming out September 7, 2021). In 1997, she won the Best New Children's Book Series Award for Publishers Weekly. Additionally, in 2008, she won the Golden Kite Award for Fiction for Home of the Brave, and in 2013, she won the John Newbery Medal for The One and Only Ivan. Many of Applegate’s stories have become #1 New York Times bestselling books, but not without hard work and perseverance! Applegate has had many pen names besides Katherine Applegate, such as K.A. Applegate, L.E. Blair, Katherine Kendall, Pat Pollari, A.R. Plumb, and Beth Kincaid. As a child, Applegate did not like to read. However, once she read Charlotte’s Web, she began to enjoy the activity. Once that happened, she started to enjoy writing more, too! At the beginning of Applegate’s writing career, she wrote many romance novels, followed by many thriller books. Eventually, she moved on to a more kit-lit area of writing. Many of Applegate’s works are from the perspective of non-human objects or animals, such as a gorilla, a tree, and a dog. She says she likes to write from the perspective of non-human objects or animals because you can be more creative and look at the world from a whole different view. She also likes it because she gets to do lots of research and because she gets to challenge herself. She says that her favorite part of writing is getting to meet young readers and being able to inspire them and get inspired from them. Applegate advises other writers to “Be persistent… [she] didn’t become a published author until [she] was in [her] 30s”. She says that she almost gave up and threw away the manuscript for The One and Only Ivan, but she pushed through, published it, and it succeeded! Katherine Applegate has created many popular stories for readers of all ages. Be on the lookout for her upcoming books! Author: Katherine Applegate Website: https://katherineapplegate.com/ Sources:https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/katherine-k-a-applegate/,https://katherineapplegate.com/about, & https://kids.kiddle.co/Katherine_Applegate. By: Aly Marx Emotion, struggles, hope, and most of all, mustaches. First published in 2017, Mustaches for Maddie is written by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown. The story is about a twelve-year-old girl named Maddie. She’s fun, funny, likes to act, and loves fake mustaches. But she also suffers from a brain tumor. This girl is the authors’ daughter. This novel illuminates her battle against bullies, her tumor, her support along the way, but mostly, mustaches. A book about how far one small act of kindness can go, I would most certainly recommend that you read Mustaches for Maddie. First of all, there are so many connections I was able to make in this story. Maddie has little brothers that, above all, she loves, but sometimes gets annoyed with--this is something that many people can relate to. She also struggles with friends and other problems at school, just like many other students. Secondly, I liked how I could understand exactly what Maddie was thinking. It increased the emotion of the book and improved the development of the plot. Because of this, I enjoyed the story more as I was able to form a stronger understanding for Maddie and feel more connected to her. In the book, there is a very stereotypical bully that is extremely popular and picks on other girls. In a way, I was annoyed with this character, because she was not very realistic. However, this character had an important effect on the plot, as she helped to teach the reader many lessons and contributed to the message of the story. Mustaches for Maddie has so much humor that I found myself laughing out loud at multiple points in the plot. It showed me Maddie’s cheery and positive personality, even when she was struggling. Additionally, it made the narrative so much more enjoyable to read, especially when it made me smile. Finally, the emotion in this book was phenomenal. I cried so much throughout the volume and felt sympathy for the characters. It kept me hooked throughout the novel and made me want to hug Maddie so many times. Mustaches for Maddie is truly an amazing story and you should definitely consider checking it out. (Limited supply in the bookroom. Request quickly!) Quick facts: Title: Mustaches for Maddie Authors: Chad Morris and Shelly Brown Website: http://www.mustachesformaddie.com/ Lexile: 560 Page count: 245 Main character: Maddie Award: 2018 Ohio Buckeye Children's Book Award winner By: Aly Marx This week’s author spotlight is on Jeff Kinney, the author of the popular series Diary of a Wimpy Kid. As a child, Kinney had several passions; he liked to read, draw, play jokes, and program computer games. In college, he wrote comics for his university’s newspaper. He titled his comic Igdoof, which became a massive hit in many schools. After college, Kinney originally dreamed of being a newspaper cartoonist, but syndicates rejected his comics because they thought that the drawings were unprofessional. This issue caused him to start keeping a journal of anything that happened to him and any funny ideas that he came up with. Because of this, he got the idea to do his comics in a diary form from a child’s perspective, so that his doodles would be like ones a kid would do, creating the basis for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. It took him four years to come up with all of the ideas for his books, and four more years to write the rough draft! He originally thought that Diary of a Wimpy Kid would be an adult’s book, reminding the audience about what it was like to be in middle school. Once Kinney finished the draft, he went to Comic-Con to try to find a publisher. He began unsuccessfully but eventually found Charles Kochman from ABRAMS to publish his work. But instead of for adults, they wanted to publish it for kids. For a while, publishers did not believe that boys liked to read, and ABRAMS hoped to change that thought. It worked, and showed even more children that reading can be fun! In 2007, Kinney published the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. Although it got off to a slow start, after a month of being published, the book made it onto the New York Times Best Seller list! People kept on enjoying the newest books in the series as they came out. Kinney says that the Heffley family from his books were much like his own in an exaggerated version, making the characters more believable. Diary of a Wimpy Kid has won the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award four times and all of the books in the series have been printed in 45 different languages. Additionally, there have been four Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies made based on the books. In 2009, Jeff Kinney was on Time magazine’s 100 most influential people list for his impact on literature. In 2015, the author opened a bookstore with his family, called An Unlikely Story, in Plainville, Massachusetts, where he works today. Kinney’s books have been a huge success and extremely popular with children of all ages. Author: Jeff Kinney Books: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (15 book series) Website: https://wimpykid.com/ Source: Kinney, P. (2019). Who Is Jeff Kinney? Penworthy Company, LLC, The. By: Aly Marx Ms. McDermid is one of the many wonderful teachers here at GATE. She teaches 2nd and 3rd graders and loves books. Aside from teaching, Ms. McDermid also reviews books for her website StoryMamas. For this edition, I thought it would be wonderful to tell you a little bit about StoryMamas, as well as what Ms. McDermid looks for in a good book. Ms. McDermid started StoryMamas with her and two of her friends. They taught together in Chicago and would talk to each other about what they were reading to their kids. These teachers then started wondering if everyone knew about all of these great books that were out there. Ms. McDermid says that they, “Realized there was a need for an outlet for people to learn about literacy.” Their solution? StoryMamas: a blog where they would review books and promote them. They created the site for parents, kids, educators... pretty much anyone who could read. At first, they tried to do a blog a day, but that didn’t work out. Instead, they would review a book a day. Eventually, authors and publishers started reaching out to them and sending them books, and they’ve been reading and reviewing ever since. While I was talking to Ms. McDermid, I asked her what she looked for in a good book. She likes to ask herself: Does this book keep my interest? But most of all, she asks herself: Is there a kid I can picture who would like this book and why? She says that quality is a loose definition of a book because while she may not like it, other people or age groups might. She considers all angles of the story to decide on the best review for the book. Despite all this, she says that she, “definitely say[s] no to some books.” Ms. McDermid told me that as a kid, she did not enjoy reading, but now she loves to! I think that it is really inspiring to hear that you can make such a change just like that. If you don’t think you like reading, try again! It may just be your lucky day! Finally, I asked Ms. McDermid the hardest question you could ever ask someone. What is your favorite book? For picture books, she says it would be Thank You, Mr. Falker. This book was read to her in college and she says, “[It] gave me the chills when it ended. It was great.” For novels, she had so many examples, including Frindle, The One and Only Ivan, The Wild Robot, and Beatrice Zinker, all of which can be found in the book room. Being able to learn more about Ms. McDermid was so enjoyable for me, and I will certainly take her advice in my future book reviews. If you would like to check out the StoryMamas blog, you can go to their website: Storymamas.com, Twitter: @storymamas Instagram: @storymamas and Facebook: @story_mamas By: Aly Marx I’ll admit it, classic books are usually not a favorite of mine. However, Anne of Green Gables is an exception! Written by L.M. Montgomery, this book was first published in 1908 and is a part of an eight-book series. Anne of Green Gables has also been turned into a popular television series. The story is based on some of the author’s personal childhood experiences and is set in the mid to late 1800s on Prince Edward Island, Canada. The main character’s home, Green Gables, is a recreation of one of the author’s childhood homes. Anne of Green Gables is about an orphan girl named Anne. Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert wanted to adopt a boy. But when a mix-up occurs, Anne is sent to the Cuthberts instead. This book is all about Anne’s adventures and her lessons learned. You should totally read Anne of Green Gables. This book amazed me on so many levels. First of all, the book was so relevant, even though it was published a very long time ago. Many of the lessons that Anne has to learn, like to be more careful, to forgive, and not to lie, still apply in many instances today. Another reason that this book amazed me was because I made multiple connections throughout the story. Some examples include losing and gaining friends, making mistakes, and going to school. I could also relate to so many of Anne’s character traits. She is extremely talkative, optimistic, amazingly smart, and enjoys getting her fair share of revenge. Her characteristics are so realistic and make the book much more enjoyable. Anne’s ongoing “monologues” and the detailed and flowery narration utilize her character traits, adds in-depth imagery, and a little comedy to the book. Finally, there are many plot twists that make the story more interesting and suspenseful and make for a page-turner of a book that fills the reader with emotion. I cried so many times during the story and felt my heart ache for the characters and their misfortunes. All in all, Anne of Green Gables is a must-read as well as a wonderful book. Check it out from the bookroom next pickup day! Quick Facts: Title: Anne of Green Gables Author: L.M. Montgomery Lexile: 990 Page count: 336 Main character: Anne By: Aly Marx Animals. Emotion. Adventure. Art. If you like any of these things, then you MUST read The One and Only Ivan. This book is written by Katherine Applegate and won the 2013 John Newberry Medal. The One and Only Ivan is based on a true story about a gorilla named Ivan and is an amazing and heartwarming story. Ivan lived with multiple different animals who all were in captivity for most of their lives, but when Ivan gets his hands on some crayons, he begins to get creative. You’ll have to read the story to find out what happens next! This story has a recently-published sequel called The One and Only Bob, an equally exciting book. The One and Only Ivan also has been turned into a movie, but don’t watch it until you read the book! I would suggest that you read The One and Only Ivan. This book goes above and beyond in various elements of the story, including characterization, plot development, and emotion. But something that sets this book apart from others is the structure. This book is set up almost like a diary, giving you a full account of the emotion and perspectives of the animals. For example, each chapter’s title gives you insight as to what that chapter is about. Some of the chapter titles include “names”, “patience”, and “how I look”. In addition to this, the chapters are shorter than most other books, adding to the diary-like structure. This also helps for more of a day-by-day feel. It made me feel as though I was inside the story. Furthermore, the structure helped add to the emotion as I felt like I knew the characters in real life and I could visualize what Ivan was thinking. In so many different parts of the book, I would find myself crying and feel as if there were fifty-pound weights on my shoulders. Another great component of this book was the figurative language, such as similes and metaphors. The structure of The One and Only Ivan makes all of the figurative language very fluent and natural. Finally, the perspective of this story is extremely important and done wonderfully. You see out of the eyes of Ivan the silverback, which not only adds to the emotion in the story, but it is done in a way so that you feel a strong connection to Ivan. As well as this, you can see Ivan’s thoughts, so you get an even deeper understanding of this character’s perspective. In conclusion, you should read The One and Only Ivan for its tear-jerking emotion, unique structure, and perspective. This book is available in the bookroom and for class book clubs. Quick facts: Title: The One and Only Ivan Author: Katherine Applegate Lexile: 570L Page count: 336 Main character: Ivan Award: 2013 John Newbery Medal Written by Ed Masessa, Wandmaker is about a group of wandmakers (who are a lot like wizards, but don’t tell them that!) and their adventure to help a boy, Henry Leach the Eighth, unlock his potential and save the world. When Henry gets his wand-making kit, he is very curious about what he could do with his wand, if anything. But when Coralis, the creator of the kit, receives a letter from Henry, he investigates further, thus sending them on their expedition. Wandmaker has a sequel, The Wandmaker’s Apprentice. Not every book can be a favorite, and I would not recommend Wandmaker. The book began suspenseful and exciting, but as the story went on, the plot weakened and I didn’t enjoy the book quite as much. First of all, the story felt off at some points. Especially towards the end, I wasn’t understanding where some of the events were coming from and why some of the events happened. Secondly, some of the words that were chosen in Wandmaker did not fit the tone of the story. For example, the author would use elaborate language and then use the word “awesome”, which pulled me out of the story and made me say, “Wait, what?”. I additionally felt as though the story was lacking emotion. When something important happened, the scene would often feel skimmed over, and I would feel as though the story was incomplete after that chapter. The ending was a further disappointment for me. Not only did it end on a low note, but it also ended with a cliffhanger. This left me unsatisfied and wanting more. I think that this author did a good job of writing a magical book that was unique to other wizard stories, such as the Harry Potter series. The author also did a great job of giving each character unique traits and made them prominent, making the story more enjoyable in that sense. In addition to this, I liked how the author helped me to connect to the story by having Henry and his sister, Brianna, squabble, similar to how I argue with my siblings. Finally, I enjoyed the humor included in the book, as it made the story more fun to read. Although it was an interesting read, it was unsatisfactory and not enjoyable. In conclusion, I do not recommend reading Wandmaker. Quick facts: Title: Wandmaker Author: Ed Masessa Lexile: 790 Page count: 326 Main character: Henry Leach the Eighth By: Aly Marx The Lightning Queen by Laura Resau is an inspiring story that highlights the importance of following your dreams and sticking up for yourself and others. The Lightning Queen was inspired by the author’s experience from living in rural Mexico. This story is set in the fictitious town called the Hill of Dust in Oaxaca, Mexico “long, long ago.” This book has an interesting structure, as the main story is being told by a character in the book, and there is a whole other story being told at the same time. An easier way to describe it would be as a story within a story, similar to the structure of the book, Frankenstein. The main character in the story is Teo, who’s life was pretty uneventful, until The Queen of Lightning, Esma, and her caravan came around. Esma is a gypsy, or as she calls herself, Romani. In The Lightning Queen, Teo and Esma must overcome challenges and discrimination to fulfill their destiny and reach their dreams. This book was an emotional rollercoaster of which I highly recommend. The emotion that this book exerted was impactful towards me as the reader and strengthened the points and plot of the story. It also made the story more engaging and enjoyable to read. The story’s emotion was always changing; at one moment, I could be feeling excited and jovial, only on the next page to feel melancholy and dejected, which contributed to the fluidity and the plot of the story. Another great component of this book was the character development that was included in the story. Each character had distinct traits and dialogue that rounded out each character. I also enjoyed the different structure of the story that enabled me to see multiple perspectives and feel fully immersed in the book. Another great part about The Lightning Queen was the setting. To begin with, the time period was easy to relate to as some of the story was set in the present day, so I was able to connect with and become more engaged in the story. The second part of the setting that I found interesting was the location of the story. The main part of the story was in a semi-real place in Mexico, and the other part was in real locations in the USA. This made the story more relatable and understandable. A unique part of The Lightning Queen was the humor that was included in the book. There are multiple times where a character either cracks a joke or says something so absurd that you have to laugh. This enhanced my enjoyment of the story as I was able to smile and look at the story with a more relaxed approach. Finally, something that really reinforced my experience of reading The Lightning Queen was the description of the story. The strong vocabulary as well as the fluid text supplied vivid images in my mind and helped me fully understand and savor the story. In conclusion, I think that you should definitely consider reading The Lightning Queen for its emotion, character development, humor, and the story’s attention to detail. The Lightning Queen was a joy to read and I hope you decide to try it! Quick facts: Title: The Lightning Queen Author: Laura Resau Lexile: 790 Page count: 303 Main character: Teo Award: 2016 ALA Notable Children’s Book award You’ve most likely heard of the Disney movie, Frozen, and the recently made Frozen 2. Well, Jen Calonita has done the impossible and turned the tale of two sisters into a whole new story. Conceal, Don’t Feel is about the same two lovable characters, Anna and Elsa, but in a whole different way. When Anna is struck by Elsa’s magic powers, she is taken to the trolls to have her memories changed. But when Elsa alters the spell, the sisters forget each other, sending the reader off on a magical adventure and to answer the question, what if the sisters never met? This book is a part of the Twisted Tale series, which includes other “twisted” stories from Disney. The book is set in the fictitious kingdom of Arendelle and is structured in the way that there are two different perspectives, one perspective being Elsa’s, and the other being Anna’s. I would definitely recommend Conceal, Don’t Feel to you for many reasons. First, the perspective of the story is extremely engaging as the story switches between two different perspectives, giving me multiple views of the story. I also really liked how the book made specific references to the movie. It was really interesting and above all fun when I could make connections and notice lines in the movie. Another really enjoyable part of Conceal, Don’t Feel was the creativity that was used in the story. Since the movie that the book was based off of had already been made, the author did a great job making a new and unique story, while still using the same characters. Another great aspect of this story was the character development. The author did a great job of making it so that the characters in the story had the proper traits as well as some new ones to make the story more unique. The characters were thoroughly developed and were different from each other, making the story more interesting. Finally, the emotion that was shown in the book was significant as it really engaged me in the story. In conclusion, I would definitely recommend reading Conceal, Don’t Feel because it is easy to connect to, the author developed the characters and emotion in a great way. Quick Facts: Title: Conceal, Don’t Feel Author: Jen Calonita Lexile: HL630L Page count: 312 Main character: Elsa & Ann By: Aly Marx Check out our Book Review Archives and submit ideas for new reviews below! For this edition, I am doing a double book review. Both of these books are by the same author, Supriya Kelkar! She grew up in the midwest and went to the University of Michigan. Mrs. Kelkar learned Hindi when she was a child by watching three Hindi movies every week! She is not only an author, but is also a screenwriter, and has worked on many teams for Hindi films. Mrs. Kelkar has written many books, including Ahimsa, The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh, a picture book, American as Paneer Pie, Strong as Fire Fierce as Flame, Bindu’s Bindis, and That Thing About Bollywood. She has also won multiple awards, including but not limited to the ALA Notable Book award, the 2018 South Asia Book Award Honor Book, and the New Visions award. Mrs. Kelkar has a website as well! Check it out! https://supriyakelkar.com/ American as Paneer Pie is an amazing story that shows the importance of sticking up for yourself and describes the experiences of one girl who struggles with feeling like an outsider. American as Paneer Pie is a book written by Supriya Kelkar. It is about a girl born in America whose parents are from India and her struggles to find her voice and a balance between both “worlds,” home and school. Leyka, who lives in the fictitious town of Oakridge, Michigan, and has trouble with her classmates calling her names and teasing her based on cultural differences from the children at school. When a new girl from India moves in across the street from Leyka, she begins to discover a new self through building confidence and developing a relationship with this new girl. This book deals with discrimination and finding your voice. I would definitely suggest reading American as Paneer Pie. First of all, it has a great educational value. The inclusion of foreign languages, including Marathi and Hindi, provided me with a deeper understanding of the character’s experiences. It also was culturally educational, as it gave me a peek into the unique holidays and traditions of Leyka. It showed me some of the things that she believed, what she celebrated, and how her day was different and similar to mine. The author does a great job highlighting the different experiences we have in our homes based on our different cultures and how that makes all of us uniquely American. Another very enjoyable part of the book was the way that the author developed the characters. The author thoroughly described each character and made me feel as though I knew the character in real life. The plot was very fluid and kept me turning pages, wanting more. This book also is a great read for me because of the setting. It being in a modern setting in the general area of where I live makes this book so much more relatable. I think that my favorite part of American as Paneer Pie was being able to see into and understand Leyka’s life. Leyka has many different traditions and it was really interesting to see what she does and how she deals with discrimination she faces in the story. All in all, I would recommend reading American as Paneer Pie because it has great educational value and it develops the characters and plot in a thorough and delightful way. Quick facts: Title: American as Paneer Pie Author: Supriya Kelkar Lexile: 840 Page count: 303 Main character: Leyka PLEASE NOTE: This book is recommended for 5th graders and up because of content. Thank you. Ahimsa is an emotionally moving and empowering story set in 1942 during the time of the Indian revolution. Ahimsa is historical fiction written by Supriya Kelkar and is about a ten-year-old girl named Anjali, who lives in India. At this time, India was a colony of England and Gandhi was imprisoned while the people fought for India’s freedom. In the beginning of the story, Anjali tended to look down on those with less, but when her mom made a change, she saw a whole different perspective. Ahimsa is an ancient Indian principal of nonviolence. Ahimsa is the crucial overarching theme of this story shown through the characters persevering through violence and pushing through with peace. Ahimsa is about adapting to change, ignoring stereotypes and prejudice, and hearing all sides of the story. The main character undergoes major changes in character, life, and awareness. I would recommend reading Ahimsa for many reasons. First, it has great educational value. In Ahimsa, you get to learn about many of the unique customs and traditions that Anjali does each day, both from the time period as well as her culture. The author also included some of the native language instead of translating everything, which made it easier to connect with the story as well as stay in character. Another great aspect of Ahimsa was how the author incorporated suspense in the story. It really strengthened the plot and made me want to keep reading. Finally, the way that the author developed the characters was very impactful towards me as a reader and positively affected the way that the story was formed. This was shown through the way that the author made me feel sympathy, anger, and compassion while reading the book to help get points across and strengthen the story. The main way that this affected me was how I felt so many different emotions all at once which emphasized the messages in the story. In conclusion, you should definitely read Ahimsa. Make sure to go check it out in the book room! Quick facts: Title: Ahimsa Author: Supriya Kelkar Lexile: 830 Page count: 307 Main character: Anjali By: Aly Marx Be loud about something. For me, it’s how much I like this book. By Lynne Kelly, Song for a Whale is a fantastic read and is easily a favorite. This story is a great book for all ages, as the content is appropriate and can be meaningful to everyone. This book is the winner of the Parent’s Choice Silver Award as well as the 2020 Schneider Family Book Award. Song for a Whale was sent to me by Ms. McDermid over the summer. My mom read it and said that it was a must-read, and I’m very glad she recommended it. Song for a Whale is about a deaf twelve-year-old girl, Iris. Iris is a tech wiz, who has a hobby of fixing old radios, even though she can’t hear the sounds. One day in school, Iris’s class is shown a video of a whale. Iris can’t get the whale out of her head, and you will have to read the book to find out what she does to help it! There is one thing that feels out of place for this book, and that would be an event towards the end. An action that Iris takes is however thrilling and exciting to read about, it is unrealistic compared to the rest of the book, making it feel confusing. Besides that, this book has many good qualities, such as a fast-paced storyline that is mostly realistic. The book also thoroughly develops the characters and describes the emotions that each character feels in an admirable fashion. A large part of my enjoyment of the book is how I got to understand what it is like to be deaf through realistic characterization. To do this, the author utilized her experience with the deaf community to enhance her credibility. Song for a Whale is not only an enjoyable story, but it is also an opportunity for the reader to learn more about the deaf community through Iris’s thoughts and feelings. There are many plot twists throughout the book that keep you turning the pages, and wanting more. As well as this, the ending was very satisfactory and sweet. Finally, this book emotionally spoke to me, as I found myself crying as I read the text and felt sympathy towards the characters. I would recommend this book to students (and adults) of all ages because of the great writing examples, the eventful plot, and the emotion in the story. This book is currently available in our school’s bookroom, so next pickup day would be a great time to try and get it! Quick facts: Title: Song for a Whale Author: Lynne Kelly Lexile: 800 Page count: 309 Main character: Iris Coming next month… American as Paneer Pie |
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Violet M What would you like to suggest? The Great Shelby Holmes 3 By Elizabeth Eulberg. Why? I have read other books in the series and I really like them. Varsha What would you like to suggest? I would suggest reading The Aru Shah series. I think it is really fun, and it gives you a taste of hinduism. It has humor, and heart. In short, it's plain amazing!!!! What book did you read? Song For A Whale What did you think? I loved the book! Iris's journey to find this whale is amazing, and I loved it with all my heart. Roz What would you like to suggest? Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson is great, there is adventure in every page! you will also learn some interesting facts about the Greek religion! It is the first of like 5 books, but don't let that discourage you! you can really feel what the people are going thru. it is a first person novel. anyway, I would seriously consider getting it. What book did you read? Harriet the Spy What did you think? I liked it. Safia What would you like to suggest? I would like to suggest NOT to read the second book of the Stories Thieves series. I would like to suggest to read A Pinch Of Magic, by Michelle Harrison. I would really recommend Harry Potter for people who have been reading- and love reading- fantasy, adventure, and who LOVE suspense! I know that almost EVERYBODY has heard of this book, but have you actually READ it? If you have watched the movie, then you don't know the full story, or the story correctly. I the movie, there have been A LOT of changes, due to many things. So, if you read the book, you can get the tiniest detail. You can also read the parts that have been SKIPPED in the movie because they were small. If you REALLY think you TOTALLY CANNOT read it, take me as an example. I didn't even DARE touch it, because I thought it was the WORST book on Earth, for NO reason (I guess I did have a reason, I thought it was TOO overrated). And guess what? I ended up reading the WHOLE series multiple times and even sending a letter to J.K Rowling ( with a reply!!!!!) ! So, overall, I REALLY recommend Harry Potter, especially fans of Fantasy and Adventure. Bye! What book did you read? The One and Only Ivan What did you think? Great! |