Review:Choke

Title: Choke
Author: Obert Skye
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Pages: 327
Rating: 8/10



I looked back at the stone. It sank slowly into the soil a couple of inches, and the plant beside it was still. I gazed directly at the small plant and did what knew I had to do.
   “Grow,” I commanded it.
   Almost instantly the plant began to shiver. Its leaves shook, and a small black shoot shot out of the middle like a serpents tongue. It twisted up then arched itself back down into the dirt. Two seconds later it popped up next to the stone and quickly wrapped itself around it.

This is an excerpt from when Beck planted a stone, which was soon going to turn into a humongous dragon.

This book is in a series of two books, and the books in the series are Pillage and Choke. The author Obert Skye has written plenty other books like, the well known series of Leven Thumps: Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo. Leven Thumps and the Whispered secret, Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want, Leven Thumps and the Wrath of Ezra, and Leven Thumps and the Ruins of Alder. Obert Skye has also started a new series called Geth and the Return of the Lithens.

Beck Pillage is a trouble magnet. Since he last killed the dragons, Beck has lived with his dad in the mansion. When a mysterious named Whitey appears, he tells Beck that there is one more dragon left. It is the Queen dragon. He says, that Beck has to kill the dragon when it is young, otherwise the town of Kingsplot will get destroyed. With the help of his friends, Beck plants the dragon but doesn’t kill it because he thinks it is adorable. Will the town of Kingsplot fall into the hands of the Queen dragon and will Beck kill the Queen dragon?

I thought this book was very good. First of all, the description of the queen dragon matches the covers drawing. It was the same thing in Pillage. Secondly, at the end of each chapter Obert Skye includes a picture of a dragon that explains more about the book. My favorite part of this book was when they killed the queen dragon, named Lizzy. Obert Skye put so much detail in the book that it was like a movie going in my head. I gave it an eight out of ten because in some parts I got very confused, since Obert Skye did not describe some parts well. One of the parts I got confused was when Beck was talking to his dad and accusing him of being Whitey and for tricking Beck to plant the stone. I wondered how Beck knew that, and why Beck’s Father would want to trick Beck into planting the stone, because he was the one who wanted to put an end to dragons. Otherwise I loved this book, and I hope Obert Skye writes a new one.

I would recommend this book to people who love fantasy and people who like dragons.

Guest Post -- Review : The Carnival of lost souls

Title: The Carnival of Lost Souls (A Handcuff Kid novel)
Author: Laura Quimby
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Publishers: Amulet books
Pages: 339
Rating: 8/10

The professor curled his finger and motioned for Jack to move forward. “This Tattoo is the mark of the amazing Mussini, the magician.” It is my passage into the underworld. It guides my steps out of the now and into the dark abyss of the dead.

This excerpt is from when Jack, a boy who loves magic, and his foster parent Professor Hawthorne are talking about the Professors story.

This is Laura Quimby’s first book. It is about a boy, Jack Carr, who is an orphan and from the book I think his age is about twelve to fourteen. His hobbies are magic, especially escaping hand cuffs. Jack is adopted by Professor Hawthorne but the Professor sells Jack to evil magician Mussini. Jack has to travel with Mussini to the land of the dead. Jack is not the only one who is captured by Mussini, there are other children too. Jack thinks that he will be performing magic tricks in front of living people; instead he has to perform in front of the dead, in the Forest of the Dead.

Mussini steals people’s souls away, to make the dead come to his show all the time. Jack wants to get away from Mussini because he doesn’t want his soul taken away. Will he be able to run away from the amazing Mussini?

The main characters in this book are Jack, the Professor and Mussini. There are also others like Jabber, T-Ray, Boxer, Runt, Violet and Mildred. My favorite character of the book is Jack because he is very curious and is really cool. My least favorite character is Mussini because he is really mean to Violet, a girl whom Jack likes.

My opinion of the book was that it was excellent. The book was mostly serious, but had some humorous parts like when Jack tries to act all cool in front of Violet. It was very interesting to read about how Jack did amazing things like wrestling a pig and escaping from handcuffs. But I would say that the book could have been longer and could have had a little more humor. I hope the author makes it a series just like the first book.

I would recommend this book to anybody who likes adventure and mystery.

Guest Post -- Review : The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School

Title: The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School
Author: Candace Fleming
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Schwartz and wade books
Pages: 186
Rating: 7/10

‘Stuck!’ he wailed. ‘I’m stuck.’ ‘Oh, dear,’ said Mr. Jupiter. ‘That is a problem.’ Ham tugged and twisted. He pushed and pulled. He even tried tapping the jar on the edge of the desk the way his mother did when she could not get the mayonnaise open.

This is an excerpt of when Ham got his hand stuck in a jar. This book is about some fourth graders and how much trouble they make. They get a new teacher. Will the teachers make the kids better people? This book is not a series. This is about a bunch of fourth graders, and what they do at their school.

These are some of the students and teachers from the book. Mr. Jupiter is a fun teacher. Mrs. Turner is a librarian. There are many characters in this book, like Rachel, who likes to be quiet. Ham is a person who eats a lot. Stanford is a smart boy, and Rose is just an average person in school. Calvin is a person who is not smart. Humphrey is a good student. Amisha is a good speller and is a big show off. Lil is a person who is good at poetry.

I liked this book a lot because I am about to be in fourth grade and I would want to hear how they enjoyed or hated this grade. I think Candace Fleming did a good job with this book because she made it very humorous. She made it fun for kids. I would probably say that six to ten year olds could read this book. However, I still think she could make it better to read because in some parts it was boring.

I recommend this book for whoever likes funny books and books about school.

Guest Post -- Review : Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw

Title: Diary of a wimpy kid The Last Straw
Author: Jeff Kinney
Publisher: Amulet books
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Pages:217
Rating:8/10
Main Character: Greg

I was just hoping that the person who took the dictionary would hurry up and come clean, because I had two cartons of chocolate milk for lunch.

Greg says this when somebody takes the dictionary from the teacher. Whoever took the dictionary would stay in for recess. This is the third book of the Diary of a Wimpy kid series. Jeff Kinney has written more books like, Diary of a wimpy kid , Diary of a wimpy kid Rodrick Rules, Diary of a wimpy kid The Last Straw, Diary of a wimpy kid Do-it yourself, Diary of a wimpy kid Dog Days.

This book is about Greg and what he does on his summer vacation and school. In this book Greg has a lot of problems to take care of like he wants to be popular. But he gets embarrassed a lot in this book by his little brother Manny. He gets locked out of a hotel room one time in his underwear, and had to hide behind the vending machines. Greg sometimes pulls pranks on people and sometimes he gets fooled. Don’t you wonder if he will fix everything that goes wrong ? Will he be more and more embarrassed?

The main character in this book is Greg, the most sensitive Heffley of all. Manny is the youngest Heffley and the most annoying one. Rodrick is the laziest and not-so-smart Heffley. Greg’s Mom is the smartest and least focused Heffley. Rowley Jefferson is the second weirdest friend of Greg’s, the first is Fregley.

My opinion of the book is that it was very good, and very interesting because when Jeff Kinney writes about what happens in middle school it is fun to hear. Like I said Jeff Kinney is the best author for surprises. So it was a very surprising book. In this series Greg is very gullible. But he is still the laziest person in their family besides Rodrick. I think Greg gets the most embarrassed in his family. But he is the funniest of all. With the unluckiest life in the world. Greg is smart in different ways and in some ways he is really dumb.

I recommend this book to anybody who likes to hear about what happens in a boys life in middle school.

Guest Post -- Review : Diary of a wimpy kid: Rodrick Rules

Title: Diary of a wimpy kid Rodrick Rules
Author: Jeff Kinney
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Amulet books
Pages: 217
Main Character: Greg
Rating: 8/10

We had to do the whole skit in Spanish. Rowley asked what I would do for a candy bar, and I said I’d stand on my head.

This is Greg saying this when they are doing a school project in Spanish. This is the second book of the Diary of a wimpy kid series. Jeff Kinney has written other books in this series, like Diary of a wimpy kid, Diary of a wimpy kid Rodrick Rules, Diary of a wimpy kid the Last Straw, Diary of a wimpy kid Do-it your-self, Diary of a wimpy kid Dog Days.

This book is about a boy in his second year of Middle school. In this book Greg’s life is getting more humiliating and harder with Rodrick hitting him, and Manny the little pest, annoying him. But his Mom and Dad are still the same, with his Dad being focused on setting up a civil war battle field set and his Mom still trying to make Greg and Rodrick more responsible.

This book tells us about Greg’s activities during his second year of Middle School. Greg is still the laziest person. Sometimes he fails tests. Greg ia also wasting money to get the sweet secrets Diary. In this book Greg has so many problems like he has a crush on a girl. He also has some stuff to worry about when his mother doesn’t try to humiliate him but ends up doing it anyway.

The whole thing started when Greg’s Mom got him a Diary to write his feelings down. Greg doesn’t want anybody to know he writes in a Diary, because he doesn’t want to look like a wimp. He actually wanted a Journal, but instead he got a diary. There is one thing that I don’t understand about this book - why doesn’t Greg just leave his Diary at home? Then nobody would think he is a sissy. But he would have to hide the diary so Rodrick wouldn’t take it.

The characters in this book are Greg who is lazy. Rowley is fat and sort of selfish. Greg and Rodrick’s younger brother Manny is the annoying little guy. Greg and Mannys older brother, Rodrick is a person who hits hard and is sneaky. Greg’s Mom is a very boring person, and his Dad is a very focused person.

I think this book was good, very interesting and had a lot of surprises. I think that Jeff Kinney is the master of surprises like when Rowley’s baby sitter changes unexpectedly. I do think the first “Diary of a wimpy kid” was better. I hope Jeff Kinney continues the series of the Diary of a wimpy kid.

I would recommend this book to most of elementary school because I think they would really enjoy having descriptions of middle school.

Guest Post -- Review : Diary of a wimpy kid

Title: Diary of a wimpy kid
Author: Jeff Kinney
Genre: Realistic, Fiction
Publisher: Amulet books
Pages: 217
Main Character: Greg
Rating: 9/10

I don’t mean to brag or anything, but what we came up with was WAY better than the Crossland High School haunted house. This is an Excerpt from the book when they made a better plan then Crossland High Schools Haunted House.

This book is about a boy named Greg who is in for a lot of trouble because he is always doing something wrong. He basically fails most of the tests at school because he doesn’t study. This book is part of a series. It has six books in the series. Jeff Kinney has written Diary of a wimpy kid, Diary of a wimpy kid Rodrick Rules, Diary of a wimpy kid The Last Straw, Diary of a wimpy kid Do-It Yourself Book, Diary of a wimpy kid Dog Days. There will be another Diary of a wimpy kid book coming out in November 2010. It is called, Diary of a wimpy kid The Ugly Truth.

This book is about Greg and his friend Rowley about their life at school and at home. I wonder if he will survive middle school ?

Greg is a person who really loves video games. Greg’s, friend, Rowley is a guy who doesn’t really know how to draw. Manny’s and Greg’s big brother Rodrick is a person who is really not thoughtful. Greg and Rodrick’s younger brother, Manny is a person who doesn’t really understand anything. Greg’s mom, is a woman who thinks before she acts. Greg’s Dad, is a person who when he starts something, wants to finish it before he does something else.

My opinion of this book is that I would recommend this to anybody who likes comedy and who likes to draw. I thought Jeff Kinney did a very good job with this book, because he draws very well, and he puts a lot of surprises in the book like when Greg found out that Manny drew something on Greg’s door with permanent Marker. This book and the series is special because the drawings have speech bubbles.

I think Greg should work more harder. But I do think that Greg has sort of a wimpy life.

Guest Post -- Review : The Last Olympian

Title: Percy Jackson and the Olympians The last Olympian
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Publisher: Disney, Hyperion book
Pages:381
Rating 8/10


Main Characters: Percy, Annabeth, Grover.

The gods attacked. Lightning flashed. Arrows of gold and silver streaked into the cloud like a rocket tracers and exploded. Slowly the cloud ripped apart, and I saw Typhon clearly for the first time.

This is an excerpt from the book, where the gods are trying to destroy Typhon.

This is the fifth book of the Percy Jackson series. This series is based upon Greek Mythology and Greek gods. It has a main character, Percy Jackson, who is a demi-god. A demi god is a person who is a son or daughter of any Greek god and a mortal. In this book Percy is helped by two of his friends, Annabeth, who is a demi-god and daughter of Athena, and Grover who is a satyr. Some other Greek gods mentioned in this book are Poseidon, Hades and Zeus. Poseidon is the god of the sea. Zeus is the god of the sky and Hades is the god of the underworld.

The problem in this book is that the Titans and the gods are having a war. Also Kronos, who is a Titan, has been growing stronger, little by little and now he has a lot of power. Then there is Typhon. Typhon is a minion of the Titans. But he is different from the other minions because he is so strong. In the beginning of the book they try to get ready for the war and then the war starts. Will the Gods win or will they be defeated?

I thought this book was the second best book in the series. This book was really fun to read. In this book there was no quest at all. Rick Riordan got me really excited with his introduction. I was really anxious to see what would happen in this book. I recommend this book to all the readers who enjoy action.

Guest Post -- Review : The Battle of the Labyrinth

Title: Percy Jackson and the Olympians the Battle of Labyrinth
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Publisher: Disney, Hyperion books
Pages: 361
Main Characters: Percy, Annabeth, Grover.
Rating: 9/10

The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break, was to blow up another school.

This is an excerpt from the fourth book of the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series. This is Percy saying that he doesn’t want to blow up a school.. He is saying this, because if he blows up another school, then he would get in serious trouble, and he already has blown up one.

This series is based upon Greek Mythology and Greek gods. It has a main character, Percy Jackson, who is a demi-god. A demi god is a person who is a son or daughter of any Greek god and a mortal. In this book Percy is helped by two of his friends, Annabeth, who is a demi-god and daughter of Athena, and Grover who is a satyr.

The problem in this book is that Luke, a Demi-god, has joined the Titan army. They are planning an invasion, on Camp Half-blood through the Labyrinth which is a maze. So Camp Half-blood is sending some people in the Labyrinth, to convince the creator of the Labyrinth to not let the Titan army pass through. Also there is a string that will lead them to Camp Half-blood. This string is the only thing in the Labyrinth, that can help you through the maze, besides the creator.

Now Percy has to go in the maze and find the creator of the Labyrinth and convince him to give him the string and not to help the Titan army. Percy also has to be back on time, for the invasion at Camp half-blood, so he can defend Camp half-blood. Will Camp half blood win or will it be defeated?

There are a some gods mentioned in this book, like Pan. He is the god of plants. He is important because he has been lost for centuries. Luke is a demi-god who is really Kronos . Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Chiron are good characters, like inn the other books.

I thought this book was better than superb, because it had a lot of surprising parts. It also is my most favorite book in the Percy Jackson series. I hope Rick Riordan will be writing more of these types of books. This book is better than most of J.K. Rowling books, except “The Deathly Hallows“. I feel like I could read this book a bunch of times and never get sick of it or bored. This book is one the best books I have ever read.

Guest Post -- Review : The Titan's Curse

Title: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Titans Curse
Author: Rick Riordan
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Publishers: Disney, Hyperion books
Pages: 312
Characters: Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, Kronos, Nico, Bianca

Rating:6/10

A flicker of movement behind him, and another missile whistled so close to me that it nicked my ear. Something had sprung up behind Dr. Thorn like a catapult but more flexible… almost like a tail.

This is an excerpt from the book, where Percy is fighting Dr. Thorn (the monster from the school).

This book is the third book of the series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”. This series is based upon Greek Mythology and Greek gods. It has a main character, Percy Jackson, who is a demi-god. A demi god is a person who is a son or daughter of any Greek god and a mortal. In this book Percy is helped by three of his friends, Annabeth, who is a demi-god and daughter of Athena, Thalia, daughter of Zeus, and Grover who is a satyr. Some other Greek gods mentioned in this book are Poseidon, Zeus, Hermes. Poseidon is the god of the sea. Zeus is the god of the sky. Hermes is the god of thieves.

Percy, a demi-god in his third year of Camp Half-Blood, has permission to recruit demi-gods to Camp half-blood to train. Percy gets an urgent call from Grover that there is a demi-god at school. Also Grover tells him that there might be a few monsters. When Percy (son of Poseidon) and his friends, Annabeth, Thalia try to recruit the Demi-gods, the monster tries to fight them. Then Annabeth falls of a cliff. So Percy and Thalia have to go on a quest to go find Annabeth. Will they make it?

This book can be read easily by eight to nine year olds, because Rick Riordan writes simple words which are easy to understand. He describes the events in the book very well and he also writes with a lot of detail.

My opinion of the book is that the “Titans Curse” was a good book but did not have enough interesting parts. I thought that it was different from the other books. It was more mysterious than the Sea of Monsters and The Lightning thief. But if you like Greek mythology and a bunch of mystery you should read this book.

I don’t think this book is as good as any of the Harry potter books except Harry Potter and the sorceress stone or Harry potter and the chamber of secrets. But I still think it is one of the best books I have ever read.

Guest Post -- Review : The Sea of Monsters

This is a book review by Guest Blogger, KBoy (Emma's brother) : 

Title: Percy Jackson and the Olympians the Sea of Monsters
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Publisher: Disney, Hyperion books
Pages: 279
Rating: 8/10
Characters: Percy, Grover, Tyson, Annabeth, Ms. Jackson, Thalia
Setting: Camp Half-Blood, C.C’s spa resort, Princess Andromeda

“My nightmare started like this.”

This is the second book of the Percy Jackson series and in this book also there are some gods mentioned like Poseidon, Hermes, and Hecate. Poseidon is the god of the sea and earthquakes. Hermes is the god of thieves. Hecate is the goddess of sorceress.

The problem in this book is that somebody has poisoned Thalia’s (a demi-God) tree that protects camp half-blood, which is a training camp for demi-Gods. Thalia’s tree is important because it protects all of camp half-blood. Now monsters could get in Camp Half-blood.

Percy, a demi-God, has a dream that tells him that is friend Grover is in trouble. When his mom gets a message from Chiron the activities director in camp half-blood he says Percy cannot come to Camp half-blood yet because there is a problem. Percy must try to solve the problem at Camp half-blood and help Grover. So Percy goes on a quest to get the Golden Fleece, which is the only thing that can turn Thalia’s tree back to normal.

My opinion of the book is that it has many interesting parts in it. I think Rick Riordan does a good job trying to hook the reader in his introduction. What I liked most about the book was the part when Percy had a dream about Grover and how he was in trouble. I think this book was as good as any of the Harry Potter books. Even though the beginning and end of the book was good I thought the middle of the book was better. If you like Greek gods I recommend this book for you.

Guest Post -- Review : Percy Jackson - The Lightning Thief

This is a book review by Guest Blogger, KBoy (Emma's brother) :

Title : Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief
Author : Rick Riordan
Genre :Fantasy, Fiction
Pages : 375
Publisher : Disney, Hyperion Books
Rating : 9/10

This book is the first book of a five book series. This book is based on Greek mythology. All the gods who appear in this book are Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Athena, Ares, Hermes, Dionysus. Zeus is the god of the sky, Poseidon is the god of sea, earthquakes and Hades is the god of the underworld. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and battle, Hermes is the god of travelers, and Ares is the god of war. Dionysus is the god of wine.

The main character of this book is Percy. Percy finds out he is a demigod because he is the son of Poseidon and a human. Now he has to go on a quest to save his mom, find Zeus’s lightning bolt which is a weapon that Zeus picked and Hades helmet of darkness which is the weapon Hades had chosen. Annabeth the daughter of Athena, Grover who is half goat and half human are helping Percy with the quest.

Percy also has enemies like Kronos and Furies. Kronos is the father of Poseidon, Chiron, Zeus and Hades. Furies are Hades servants. Percy is brave, cool, trustworthy and nice. He never gives up. Will Percy return with the lightning bolt or will he fail ?

My opinion of the book is that it is very good because Rick Riordan puts many details in the story. So it helps the reader understand more and lets them know what is happening in the book. I think all of the parts were interesting. I think there were just the right amount of pages in this book. I think there could have been more characters in this book. But otherwise I thought the book was pretty good.