california!!!!!!!!!!!

hello people who are our friends! you may have heard of hurricane alex. and we do have storms. we passed by the local volleyball court and it is now a lake! shea will be coming to california on the 10th. she will be doing the jungle book and there are still spots avalible. the age range is 6-12 so sign up! shea would love it!

Book Review: Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief

Title: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Author: Rick Riordan
Pages: 375
Publisher: Disney, Hyperion Books
Characters: Percy Jackson, Grover, Annabeth, Mrs. Jackson, Zeus: lord of the sky, king of gods, Poseidon: lord of the sea, Hades, lord of the underworld, Kronos: evil titan lord
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Rating: 8/10

'Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eye.
My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.
She snarled, “Die, Honey!"'

This excerpt is from Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief the first book of this series. After being expelled from a school each year, 12 year old Percy Jackson returns from Yancy Academy and goes on a vacation with his mom to the Montauk beach. But when they get attacked by a monster, his mom asks him to go to a summer camp for his protection. Percy fights the monster (a minotaur), but his mom is taken away at the end of the fight. Percy must learn how to fight, and go on a quest to save his mother and father. He must find the lightning bolt belonging to Zeus, lord of the sky and another object belong to a god that is accused of being the thief. He must find these objects in 10 days or war will occur on Mount Olympus.

My favorite character in The Lightning Thief is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. She is my favorite character because as she, Percy and Grover go off in their adventure, she saves them quite a few times, but also makes many mistakes on what to do. This tells us that everyone is not perfect, because even though Annabeth is the daughter of wisdom she can also make mistakes.

I like Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief because for one there is no other book about Greek gods and goddesses, that shows that even their slightest mistakes can cause huge problems. Another reason is that even though there are books on Greek mythology this is the first book I have read where myths actually come alive, and where Gods are the cause of all unlucky and lucky things.

Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief is a book that describes what is happening just right so that it seems like you have to watch out if you don’t want to be losing your head to a sword! Also it is full of twists and turns that make it seem that Percy and his friends have already solved the problem but there is still a piece missing. Rick Riordan is an author who will constantly make you want to pick up this book to finish it. Also he keeps his readers in suspense so that you can’t tell if Percy did the right thing or if he made the decision that could end all humanity.

Will Percy and his friends find the lightning bolt? Will Percy be able to clear his father’s name? Will he be able to save his mom? Will he even survive his quest? If this book review makes you curious then read Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief. I recommend this book to anybody who is interested in any type of mythology and mysteries.

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.

Review: Dark Fire

Title: Dark Fire
Author: Chris D’Lacey
Pages: 567
Publisher: Orchard Books, and Hachette Children’s Books
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Rating: 9.5/10

“ ‘You can begin by telling me why my daughter appears to have wings growing out of her back.’”

Wow! Isn’t it intriguing? When would you ever hear this sentence? This is said by Zanna, David Rain’s girlfriend. David is the best selling author of the novel ‘White Fire’. If this excerpt makes you curious, you may want to read the book that this excerpt comes from, Dark Fire.

This is the fifth book of the Dragon Chronicles. The earlier books were about David learning about dragons and having an accident that appeared to have killed him. Before reading this book you may want to read the earlier books to find out all the details about dragons and their descendants.
After being dead for 5 years, David is seen by his girlfriend, Zanna and his daughter, Alexa. He comes back to work with his landlord, Elizabeth and her daughter (who live at 42, Wayward Crescent) to make it safe for dragons to come out of hiding from the Artic. But strange things are happening and the Ix (evil spirits) are at work again, trying to get dark fire to take over all of dragon kind. David, Professor Steiner, Liz, Lucy, and most importantly Alexa, come together with a bit more help to make dragons come out of hiding. Do they succeed or …..

My favorite character in Dark Fire is Alexa because even though she is so small she has a lot of problems weighing down her shoulders. And you usually wouldn’t place a lot of responsibility on a 5 year old, would you? Alexa is a playful young girl who can predict the future. She can also think of things (objects) and project them anywhere she wishes.

I like the book ‘Dark Fire’ because even though there are lots of books that talk about dragons, this book and the series talks about the last dragon, it’s descendants and how if affects their lives.

Dark Fire is a book that gives readers a thrill of excitement as they read the book. It’s a very good book because Mr. D’Lacey can easily change the readers mood in a couple of words. This makes the book very interesting and full of twists, turns and many surprises. One reason I like his writing is because he separates the main people and the action and then places the reader in suspense about one person while he goes and talks about the other. Another reason I like his writing is because Mr. D’Lacey’s writing makes me feel as if I was where the action was taking place. He also makes me feel as if I am the character and this is my life in danger.

Will dragons ever be accepted by humans? Will David ever be able to live a happy life as a father? Will he even survive? If you like a whole lot of mysteries and books full of different events then read the book Dark Fire by Chris D’Lacey.

New Book!

Title: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Author: E L Konigsburg

Publisher: Walker Books Ltd.

Pages: 125

This is the new book for august. I heard someone already finished it. I hope you liked it or if you haven't started it (like me.) I hope you enjoy it!I read this last year and it was one of my all time favorites this is why...

This about a girl named Claudia and she thinks her family doesn't care about her any more, so she runs away. But instead of running to nowhere she runs somewhere. The metropolitan museum of art in New York City. They sleep in the antique old fashioned beds, bathe in the fountain, and go fishing for coins in the same fountain they bathe in(they meaning here brother and her). But what makes it one of the best books I have ever read is that, She solves one of the world most unknown treasures. Who made the angel statue. The day she got there there was a big line and she wanted to know what is for so she cuts a couple of people in line and sees something amazing. Angel. To learn more read for yourself! If you like realistic fiction this is the book for you!

 -Cali-

Review: The London Eye Mystery

The London Eye Mystery
By: Siobhan Dowd
Pages: 323
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 4.5/5

The London Eye Mystery starts with 3 kids, Ted, Kate (brother and sister) and their cousin Salim who is moving to New York. When Ted, Kate and Salim go to the fair Salim wants to go on the London Eye. When the capsule he went up in comes down and everyone walks out, something incredible happens - Salim is not there. Ted and Kate come together to help find Salim. In the end they find out where Salim was and whether he was alive.

One good thing I found out of the many in the London Eye Mystery was that the author Siobhan Dowd always kept her reader in suspense until at the very end they find that Salim was alive or dead. I think that Ms. Siobhan has done an excellent job with ‘The London Eye Mystery’. It is a book complete with all the twists and turns that makes this story a wonderful book.

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