Review: The Red Pyramid

Title: The Red Pyramid
Author: Rick Riordan
Publishers: Disney Hyperion
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 517
Rating: 8/10


The building shook again. At the opposite side of the room, part of the wall exploded in a brilliant flash of light. Two people stepped through the gap-- the man and the girl we’d seen at the Needle, their robes swirling around them. Both of them held staffs.

This is an excerpt from where Carter is at a museum with his father and sister Sadie. Their dad, a famous Egyptian specialist, is trying to get his wife back from the dead. But then he does something wrong.

This book is in a series of two; this is the first. The second book is the Throne of Fire, which was published on May 3^rd. The author Rick Riordan has written other books in different series. He has written The Percy Jackson series, The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian, which are very successful. Rick Riordan has another series connected to Percy Jackson called The Lost Hero.

 The main characters in this book are Carter and Sadie. When Carter and Sadie’s dad tries to make things right by bringing back their mom to life, he makes a big mistake. He unleashes a very bad god named Set. He also imprisons himself in a tomb, with Set guarding him. Then Carter and Sadie discover that they are magicians. Magicians in this book are people who are trying to stop gods, especially bad gods, from being unleashed. Will they be able to save their dad, and destroy the Chaos god, Set?

My opinion of the book is that it was good, but not as good as some other books Riordan has written. I liked that on some pages the author had hieroglyphics explaining what hieroglyphics looked liked and meant. Also it was interesting that in this book Rick Riordan included artifacts that actually exist, like the Rosetta Stone, The Red Pyramid, and The House of Life. I bet that he had to do a lot of research. I loved the fact that Rick Riordan narrated the book from different view-points, like one chapter was narrated by Sadie, the next by Carter. He should use that strategy more often in his other books. I am definitely going to use that strategy when I get older and write books.

I thought this book was very cool. I would recommend this book to anybody who is fascinated by Egyptian History. I would also recommend this book to people who love Fantasy mixed in with a little facts.

Book Review: Princess Academy

Title: Princess Academy
Author: Shannon Hale
Genre: fiction,romance
Pages: 314
Publisher: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children’s Books
Rating: 9/10

‘ “Sir,” said the older soldier courteously, “we are here to escort the girls safely to the academy. These are the kings orders. We mean no harm, but I do have instructions to take any resisters directly to the capital.” ’

This excerpt is said by one of the soldiers who takes Miri to the academy. Miri is a girl who lives on Mount Eskel in the kingdom, Danland, with the rest of her village. A day before the soldiers come, the chief delegate of Danland announces that a girl who lives in the village on Mount Eskel, will be the future king’s bride. When they get to the academy, the girls of Mount Eskel will spend a year of princess training in hopes of becoming the princess. The girls are taken to be taught how to be a princess. But as danger appears, Miri, named after the tiny mountain flower, will stand up and defend herself and her classmates.

My favorite character is Miri. She is fourteen years old, and is quite small for her age. Her father will not let Miri work in the quarry, (where they mine linder, a plentiful, beautiful rock that is found on Mount Eskel) since her mother died from an injury she had gotten mining before Miri was born. As Miri works in the academy, she strives to become the best, the academy princess. And as she works, she puzzles over many things, quarry speech being one of them, and her family the other. She wants to marry the prince so her family will not have to worry about money or food, but her feelings of love toward her childhood friend, Peder, conflict and leave Miri unsure of what she should do.

One reason I like the book, ‘Princess Academy’ is because, one message it shouts out is: it doesn’t matter about your size, or your looks. What matters is your strength, and Miri proves just that, as she saves her classmates from danger.

Another reason I like this book, is that Ms. Hale, writes so that you feel you are Miri. No matter what type of personality you have, you can always relate to Miri, and can picture yourself with Miri. You can feel the tension, the happiness and the fright, one after the other.

Read the book, ‘Princess Academy’, and join Miri as she courageously does one brave act after the other, learns how to act like a princess, and adjusts to her new life, that has been changed by love and knowledge. I recommend this book to anybody who has read any books from Shannon Hale, or who likes a little bit of romance, and a lot of adventure.

Review : Diary of a Wimpy kid - Do It Yourself

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It Yourself
Author: Jeff Kinney
Publishers: Amulet Books
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Pages: 213
Rating: 9/10



This book is in a series of seven books. The series includes Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rodrick Rules, The Last Straw, Dog Days, The Ugly Truth, and The Movie Diary. You all have probably seen the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It Yourself, but have you seen the new and improved one? This new and improved book includes 16 new comics and 60 new fun pages.

Jeff Kinney writes this book as a question and answer book. For instance, it asks you about what you have done in your life that was bad. Also what was the best prank that you pulled off. And there are many more questions like these. When I read these questions I really laughed out loud. It was so funny! Also in the Do-It Yourself book different people write about different things. Like Rodrick, he writes about what he usually does. This book also includes different types of puzzles. Most of the puzzles are in a page called Rodrick’s things to do. This tells you what Rodrick usually likes to do. For example there are word scrambles and mazes. You can also make comics. You can finish comics that Greg and Rowley have started. There is more! In the middle of the book Jeff Kinney includes 32 colored comics which are written either by Greg’s friends or enemies. There are also multiple black and white comics. Jeff Kinney guides you in an adventure of humor. Now this is fun!

When I showed this to the people at my school, they loved the fact that there was a part where you could write your own Diary or journal. My friends pounced on me, because they wanted to read the book. It is fun to write a journal or a diary because you feel like it is really being published. Also that it feels like that you have accomplished something very good in your life.

Even though this book is very different from the other Diary of a Wimpy kid books, it is still very good. As I said this book asks you many questions, and once you have answered them, the answers are used to write your own story at the end of the book. This book asks you questions in a way that is funny, which makes it good. Also what I found out is that the book plans out your story by asking and answering questions. Once you have done that, you can write your story very easily.

I would recommend this book for people who love to write and read comics. This book is filled with comics and writing activities. Also I would recommend this book for comic readers because there are many comics in this book like Joshie or The Fart Police.

A new Diary of a Wimpy Kid is coming out soon, and it is going to get published in November 2011. I do not know what it is called yet. I bet it includes new pages of comics and laughter.

Book Of The Month: The Magician's Elephant

Title: The Magician’s Elephant
Author: Kate Dicamillo
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pages: 201
Genre: Fiction

The new book of the month is ‘The Magician’s Elephant’. Here is the summary:

When a fortuneteller’s tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask. Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller’s mysterious answer (An elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that Peter can hardly dare to believe it. But it is -- all of it -- true.

To choose the book, I went to a site that recommended good books. There were quite a few common books, but the first book caught my eye. It showed an elephant looking down. The author is Kate Dicamillo, the author of ‘The Tale of Desperaux’. Reading the summary, I knew what book I would choose. Hope you enjoy ’The Magician’s Elephant.’

Books, books and more books

I love to read books. I like to read different Genres. Also different book series. Here's a list of some good book series that I will be reading/have already read. I will be posting reviews as I read these series.

1. Gregor series

2. Leven Thumps series

3. Artemis Fowl series

4. Charlie Bone series

5. Rangers Apprentice series

   6. The Lost Hero series 

   7. Hunger games series

   8. 13 Reality series

   9.Septimus Heap series

  10. Narnia series

11.39 Clues series

12. Eragon series

13.Children of the Lamp series

14. Alex Rider series

15. Peter and the Star Catchers series

16. The Inkheart series

17. The Benedict Society series

18. The Savvy series

19.The Atherton series

20.The Pillage series

21.Wrinkle in Time series

22. How to Train your Dragon series

23.The Far World series

 24. The Free Fall series

25. The Invention of Hugo Cabaret book

26.The Maze Runner series

27. The Roar series

28. The Tapestry series

29. The Red Pyramid series

30. The Magicians Elephant book

31. The Fire Within series

32.  The Island series

Guest Post -- Review : Midnight for Charlie Bone

Title: Midnight for Charlie Bone
Author: Jenny Nimmo
Publishers: Orchard Books (Scholastic)
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Pages: 401
Rating: 7/ 10

The photograph that Charlie now held showed a man holding a baby. The man sat on an upright chair. He had thinning, grayish hair and a long mournful face. His crumpled suit was black and his thick pebble glasses gave his pale gray eyes a lost marble like stare.
Instead of pushing the photograph back into the envelope, Charlie continued to gaze at it. In fact, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from it. He began to feel dizzy and his ears were filled with mysterious sounds, like the hiss and swish of voices on the radio when you can’t pinpoint the right frequency.
“Oh,” he said. “Um, what…?” His own voice seemed far away trapped behind a kind of fog.
“What’s wrong, Charlie?” asked his mother.
“Is something happening?” Grandma Bone crept forward. “Aunt Eustacia rang me. She had one of her premonitions, Are you a proper Yewbeam after all?”

This is an excerpt from when Charlie bone discovers that he has powers. Also he discovers that he is a proper Yewbeam.

This book is from a series of eight. Like “Charlie Bone and the Time Twister,” “Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy,” “Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors, Charlie Bone and the Hidden King,” and “Charlie Bone and the Beast and more!” This book continues where the last one left off, so it is better to read them in order. This book is Fantasy because there are many kind of animals that are not real and also people who have different types of powers and abilities. For example Charlie has the power to hear what people are saying in photographs.

Charlie has figured out that he has powers to look in a photograph and see what is happening in the photo. The problem is that Charlie’s friend Emma has foster parents and she needs to find her real family. One family member is left - her aunt. Her dad was working and some thing went wrong with his work and he died. Now Charlie and his friends have to save Emma. Will Charlie succeed in his mission?

My opinion was that it was a good book. But, I think the author should have put more humor in the book. The book was a little confusing because there are so many characters and it is hard to keep track of them. I would think it could be better because it is not that clear at what they are doing. The chapters weren‘t organized well and the action wasn‘t continuous.

I would rate this book 7/10 because three was for the creativity, two for the illustrations and two points for the writing. Jenny Nimmo could have earned three more points by improving how she hooked the reader, how she emphasized events, and how she organized the book

I would recommend this to anybody who is a creative writer and likes to read fantasy. I say that because she has a lot of creative stuff - like Charlie’s amazing powers. Read on to find out all the cool stuff that happens in the book!!!!!

Book Review: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I Would Have to Kill You

Title: I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I Would Have to Kill You
Author: Ally Carter
Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
Genre: Romantic, Fiction
Pages: 284
Rating: 9.5/10
“I go to a school of spies. Of course, technically, the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is a school for geniuses---not spies---and we’re free to pursue any career that befits our exceptional education.”
This excerpt is from the book ‘I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I Would Have to Kill You’ and is thought by Cammie, Cameron Morgan. Cammie goes to Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. But Gallagher Academy isn’t a regular academy; it’s a school for spies. And at Gallagher Academy they are trained to do things far harder then everyday things. As a spy Cammie will go on missions, but will she experience her biggest mission when she falls in love?

Living the life of a spy isn’t easy. Nobody can know you’re a spy, and everybody thinks that Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women is an academy for snobby rich kids. Including her first boyfriend. Things are complicated. Josh doesn’t know who Cammie really is. And Cammie isn’t even allowed to have this relationship. Nobody besides Cammie’s roommates know about this.

“If I’m ever on a mission, I want Bex beside me, and Liz far, far away, with about a dozen computers and a chessboard."
This is thought by Cammie.

This excerpt describes my favorite characters in this book, Liz and Bex.

Liz, Elizabeth Sutton is one of Cammie’s roommates, and the brainy one. She is usually the one who is the look out and the one who gives all the information for the plans to be carried out. In their adventures Liz, Cammie, Bex (roommate), and Macey (also another roommate) are together trying to keep each other safe. Bex, short for Rebecca Baxter, is the energetic one. She likes to do spy missions like Cammie, and is the type that is up for killing a guy with her bare hands (if that person was a bad guy).

This is the first book of the Gallagher Girl series. After this there are so far 3 more books in this series. ‘Cross My Heart And Hope to Spy’, ‘Don’t Judge A Girl By Her Cover’, and ‘Only The Good Spy Young’.

This is the second Ally Carter book I have read. From what I have read so far, Ally Carter is a great writer. She includes a bit of romance in each book, but on the whole, the books she writes are full of adventures. I recommend this book and its series to anybody who likes some good romance and adventure.

Will Cammie’s relationship with Josh go well? Read ‘I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I Would Have to Kill You’ and find out.

Book Review: Mockingjay

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Genre: Fiction, action, romance
Pages: 390
Rating: 9/10
“My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am 17 years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games. I escaped. The Capitol hates me. Peeta was taken prisoner. He is thought to be dead. Most likely is dead. It is probably best if he is dead. . . .”
This excerpt is from the book Mockingjay, and thought by Katniss Everdeen, as she paces through the place, District 12, that was her home. Now Katniss has to lead the rebellion as the Mockingjay, against the Capital, the government of Panem (the government is the reason so many people are needlessly dying). The setting of this book is North America after a huge fire. The Capital is in the Rockies, and District 12 is in the Appalachian Mountains.

This is the thrilling third book in the “Hunger Games” series. In the previous two books, ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘Catching Fire’, Katniss fought in the 74th and the 75th hunger games. In the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss and her fellow tributes set up a plan to get out of the arena (the place that the Hunger Games takes place), but Peeta was captured by the Capital.

Katniss is now the head of the rebellion. She is also known as the Mockingjay. But now that certain events have taken place, Katniss is heading to District 13, the district rumored to be destroyed for rebelling against the Capital.

“I must now become the actual leader, the face, the voice, the embodiment of the revolution.”
My favorite person in this book is Prim. Full name: Primrose Everdeen, Katniss’s little sister. Prim, in this book and in all of these books, is an angel, is sweet, and is a quiet girl, who charms anyone. She is also a healer like her mother. But in this final book, will she help Katniss capture victory? Or will she and Katniss be surrounded by trouble ?

As Ms. Collins writes ‘Hunger Games’, ‘Catching Fire’, and ’Mockingjay’, she writes out feelings, making the book have a little of it’s own special uniqueness that makes me want to read it over and over again. It takes real skill to write a masterpiece, and with these books Ms. Collins has created a few.

Out of all three books I like the books ‘Catching Fire’ and ‘Mockingjay equally. Mockingjay, just confused me a little, since it seemed surprising that Katniss would actually do the things she did. But those are my opinions. Read them all, ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘Catching Fire, and ‘Mockingjay’, and compare them to see which ones you like the best.

Who will Katniss chose, Peeta or Gale? And the biggest part yet, in the end will Katniss put a stop to this evil? Read the Mockingjay to find the end of this thrilling adventure.

Guest Post -- Review : Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Ugly Truth

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Ugly Truth
Author: Jeff Kinney
Publishers: Amulet Books
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Pages: 217
Rating:9/10

It’s been almost two and a half weeks since me and my ex-best friend, Rowley Jefferson, had our big fight. To be honest with you, I thought he would’ve come crawling back to me by now, but for some reason that hasn’t happened.


I’m actually starting to get a little concerned, because school starts back up in a few days, and if we’re gonna get this friendship back on track, something needs to happen quick. If me and Rowley really ARE through, that would stink, because the two of us had a really good thing going.

This is an excerpt from the beginning of the book when Greg loses his best friend, Rowley.

This book is a series from the author Jeff Kinney, and this is book five from the series not including The Do-It your-self, and The Movie Diary. Jeff Kinney has written other 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 Dog Days.

In the other books Greg gets pushed around because everyone thinks he has a wimpy life. Also because he lets it happen and does nothing about it. For example, a bully picks on some random little kid (who happens to be Greg) for no reason. Then the kid is too scared to tell the teacher otherwise he might get pounded to pulp. The story is continuous from the first book to the last book, so it is better to read the books in order. This book is Realistic Fiction because all the stuff Greg goes through can really happen. Some of it has to be happen to everyone. For example, puberty can. Losing your best friend can also happen to anyone.

In this book Greg has to face many things, like puberty and the responsibility of being an adult. All without his best friend Rowley? That’s right! Greg and Rowley have had an interesting history. But this time will their friendship be over ? And will Greg ever grow up? There were many more characters like his Mom and Dad, who embarrassed Greg. There is also Rodrick, who just wants to annoy Greg so much, that Greg might as well go to pieces because of him. Then there is Manny the huge tattle tale, who just got more annoying. So mostly, Greg doesn’t like his family.

My opinion of this book is that it was great, fantastic. I rated it nine out of ten because three was for the humor and that is pretty good for a novel. I remember the time when Greg was trying to find a place to hide his egg from Manny because it was for school. So because Greg was clever he hid it in the easiest place possible, so that Manny would never guess. But it ends up that Greg’s Mom turns his egg into scrambled eggs on accident. There was also the time when they went to Jordan Jury’s party and ended up being the servants. But Greg was lucky that he had to go to a wedding, and didn‘t have to be a servant anymore.

Two out of ten, was for the pictures in the book. The pictures I liked the most were when Greg was shuddering because he had a new mean, ugly looking dentist. There were a lot of pictures! The book had lots of pages, probably the most pages in all of the books in the series, so I would give it a four out of ten, to equal nine. All in all it was a good book with everything added to it in proportion, like a good recipe. This is probably the best “DIARY OF A WIMPY KID” EVER! I would recommend this to everybody who likes the rest of the series, the humor, the twists and turns, and the comics that Greg makes.

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.