The Heart of a Samurai By Margi Preus

The Heart of a Samurai  is about a Japanese boy named Manjiro who is on a small fishing boat with four other Japanese fisherman. They get caught in a huge storm and their boat brakes. They go to a nearby island and an American vessel comes and gets the boys. Manjiro becomes good friends with the captain and the captain asks him two things. You can stay on the boat with the captain and go and live with him in America or Manjro and his fiends could get off at the next stop. Manjro decides to stay on the ship and his friends will go and live on the island. When he gets home with Captain Whitfield he starts school. All the people are making fun of him except for two kids, Terry and Job. Manjiro goes on another ship and Terry and him go to find gold in California and then he does he goes and gets his friends and goes home to Japan.

Someone who likes historical fiction would really like this book.     

by A.S.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 8: Hard Luck by Jeff Kinney

by T.S.

The summary of this book is Greg loses his best friend Rowley. Rowley ditched Greg just because he has a girlfriend!! Greg can't believe it. Without Rowley Greg has to face the truth. Will he be stuck in hard luck or will he get his best friend back?

Shiloh Season by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Shiloh Season is about a boy named Marty who worked hard for this dog named Shiloh. Then when they got home Dara Lynn, Becky, and Marty plays hide and seek. Becky got lost and they found her. A few weeks later Judd (the mean guy) dog get loose and bites Becky. She got bit by one of his dogs. Another few weeks later Judd's drinking heavier that night and gets into a accident. And Marty notices that Shiloh is the one who saved him. The next day at school everybody's talking about it. Everyone tried to help Judd to heal and get better. Oscar and Thomas both liked Shiloh Season more than the first book because it had more action and it was more exciting.

O.C&T.B

Mackenzie Blue by Tina Wells

     Mackenzie Blue is a great book if you like teenage reality. The main character is Mackenzie who is a sweet likes to get in people's business.
     This book about a girl named Mackenzie (her nick name is Zee) who just starts upper school.
    Zee's best friend Ally moves away to Paris and now it is even harder for Zee because she is going to a new school without her best friend. Meanwhile when Zee starts school she finds 2 friends named Jasper and Chloe.
   When Zee loses her diary she accuses her friend Chloe but she doesn't know if it is really her. When Zee finds out it wasn't her there is a big disagreement.
    If you likes books that are teenage reality you will love this book.  I liked this book because it had a lot of descriptive feelings and I could picture everything that happened in my head. That's why I liked this book so much.    by M.D.

Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo

 

by MD

Tiger Rising is about a boy named Rob. Rob is a nice boy who is very caring.  Rob is in love with a tiger he found in the woods.  But Rob is afraid that the tiger will be taken away, Rob will do anything to keep that tiger safe.
 
If you like the book Shiloh you will like this book because it shows the connection between the tiger and Rob. I liked this book because it had a lot of description in it.
 

Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo

This book is about a boy named Rob and he takes care of this tiger. The whole story starts out when Rob is going on the school bus and he sees this tiger. He goes back home and goes to bed. The next day the tiger is in a cage in his back yard. Rob goes to school and on the bus he meets this girl Sistine. They become friends and Sistine comes home with Rob. They feed the tiger meat very quickly because they don't want to get attacked by it. They meet these people Willie May and Beauchamp. Willie May and Beauchamp help Sistine and Rob with the tiger. They never leave it alone, they just help it and they enjoy it. I think people that like some action would like this book.
By:JN

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

by T.S.

Hatchet is about a kid named Bryan with a hatchet who has to survive in the woods alone with no food,shelter,or water. Bryan has many adventures like being attacked by a moose. How will he get out of here?

I loved this book.  It was really good.  I recommend it to kids who like adventure and survival books.

Treasure Hunters

by TS

Treasure Hunters is about 4 kids who have no mom or dad. They go on many cool adventures like meeting strange people,beach bullies,and scubadiving ninjas. They have to survive against robbbers, criminals,and hard punches !!!!! the 4 kids become rich beyond there wildest dreams !!!

I liked this book because the kids had to survive.  I recommend book to people who like action and finding treasure.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

 

Wonderstruck is about a boy named Ben who lives in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota. He lives with his aunt and uncle and a brother Robby. He goes to his mothers old house and he finds a locket and a book called Wonderstruck. He opens the locket and there is a picture of someone.Then he reads the book and he finds a note and an address and a phone number he finds out that the photo is of his dad. He calls his dad and then he gets stuck by lightning and he becomes deaf. He goes to New York to see his dad and finds out hes dead. But in New York he finds a frreind and his grandmother.

By A.S. and T.B.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

This book is about a boy named Hugo. This boy lost his father in a fire at the museum trying to save an automaton. So Hugo had to take care of the clocks and the automaton in the train station were Hugo lives. Hugo has no money so he has to work with an old man called Geoges Milies. One day Hugo finds out that Georges Milies is a movie maker of his fathers favorite movie A Trip To The Moon. So then Hugo made friends with Isabelle Georges daughter and got to live with all them. the Theme of this book is to never stop trying.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

 

 

This book is good because there is mysteries and action. There is a lot of chasing and stealing in the book. It is about this boy Hugo who is very smart and he can build pretty much anything. He built a robot called an Automaton. The Automaton can draw anything and can write up to two thousand eight hundred words. Hugo's father died in a fire and Hugo lives with this girl Isabella and here godfather was a famous filmmaker that Hugo was interested in . Hugo's dad's favorite movie was one  of his movies and Hugo found out that Goerges Melies was the original creater of the Automaton. The setting of the book is in a train station. The theme of the book is never give up because Hugo never gave up when he was making the Automaton. I recommend this book to people who like action and mystery. I could read this book over and over again. It was one of my favorite books.

 

 

By AGS

Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park

Keeping Score is a great book. The book is about this girl named Maggie (her nickname is Maggie-O)
One of Maggie's friend's Jim goes to war in Korea. Maggie keeps writing Jim notes to see how he is doing but Jim never writes back. In the meantime Maggie is a big fan of the Brooklyn Dogers. Maggie goes to lots of games. She really wants the Dodgers to win the series... but they never did. Will all Maggie is doing help or is it just a waste?
MD

Trouble Is My Beeswax by Bruce Hale

 Trouble is my Beeswax is about detective animals. Mr. Ratnose has accused Shirley, the chameleon, that she has cheated on a test. Now it's up to Chet, and Natalie to find a way that Shirley has not done it.
 I loved this book because I love mystery books and I also love animals.






H.K.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle

  Charles Wallace finds Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which in the woods near his house. He has and older sister Meg and two twin brothers. Meg knows that her father is in danger and wants to help him. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which take Meg, Charles Wallace and their friend Calvin on a journey through demensions to help their father.

  I liked this book. I would reccommend this book to people who like science fiction books like time travel. I was a really nice book and when I started reading it it was hard to stop. I think that any one who reads this book will like it though because it is very good.


By E.R.

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke

Dragon Rider is about a dragon named Firedrake. He goes to find the Rim of Heven. The Rim of Heven is a place were dragons can hide from humans. Dragons are afraid of humans because they will cach them and stuff them. He sets out on a wonderfull quest with a brownie Soral. They find a boy and take him with them. The quest is full of fairies, brownies, a professor, and a lot of magical creatures.

I liked this book because it was very interesting and it had a lot of excitement.  I would recommend it to people who like adventures and humor.


by B.S.

Villain.net Council of Evil by Andy Briggs

Villein's. net is a book that doesn't make sense in the beginning so give it a chance because it all comes together in the end. So the end is my favorite part of the book because in the beginning it raises about 10 questions or more and it answers all of them in the most interesting way. Thank Andy Briggs for this wonderful book.

AO

Animorphs The Invasion by K.A. Applegate

 

 

My book is about five kids trying to save the world from little slugs called Yeerks. They saw an alien that gave them morphing powers. Tobias, one of the five kids, used his morphing power that night. He went straight to Jake's house to tell him. Cassie's family owns a farm. One day, all the kids met in Cassie's yard. They were wondering where Cassie was and she came in the form of a horse. A police man came and Cassie didn't know what to morph into. Jake's brother, Tom is part of this club called "The Sharing." Tom, the police man, and Marco, Rachael, Tobias, Cassie, and Jake's vice principal are part of The Sharing. The Sharing is a fun meeting for controllers play and have secret plans. All the kids go to The Sharing meeting for once and spy on everyone at The Sharing meeting. They all go to the zoo Rachael's mom works at to find the animals they should morph into for when they go to the Yeerk pool. Some people that work there find the kids. They chase Marco and Jake who risk their life in a tiger cage as to Tobias, Rachael, and Cassie, they easily go back to where they should be, in the crowd.

I recomend this book to Zach because he read the same book from a different person's view.
I really, really, really liked the book.

by R.K.

An Alien Stole My Body by Bruce Coville

This book is a very good book.It is about a boy and a girl who are  looking for their Father.
BRK  is the bad guy in the book. He is who has the father. He is the villian in space.  He lives on a planet.

I think this book is good because it has a lot of adventure in the book . This book  is good for boys and girls.

JB

Quarantine: The Loners

 In the book Quarantine David Thorpe and his little brother Will Thorpe go to school on an average day in Colorado. One of  David's teachers coughs up big globs of blood and dies. All the teachers die and that is where the Quarantine starts. Soldiers close in on the school and force the kids in. Gangs form to get food from the drops from a helicopter in the sky. David meets his rival Sam Howard.
Will he survive? He never knew High School would be this hard.

SD

Sideways Stories From Wayside School

My latest book I read was Sideways Stories From Wayside School by Louis Sachar. This book is about a school that was under construction, but the school was built up instead of long ways. In this story you will meet a bunch of Mrs. Gorf 's class and learn all about them.
M.A.R

The Tiger Rising

The Tiger Rising is about a boy named Rob. Rob lives in a motel called the Kentucky Star with his dad. His mom died in Jacksonville, Tennessee. They moved away so no one would talk about it. There is a tiger in an abandoned gas station. One day he meets a girl named Sistene in school. She thinks people in the south are arrogant. At lunch she gets chased. Robs tells the people to stop chasing her. Later that day the principle tells him that the rash on his foot might be contagious so he will have to stay home after school that day. When he goes home on the bus he knows the rash will never go away so he never has to go to school again. Also Sistene sits next to him. Later on he tells Sistene about the Tiger. The next day Buaechamp who owns the motel gave him a job to feed the tiger. The next day Sistene comes over and sees the tiger but gets caught by her mom. The next day Bueachamp goes into town and gives Rob the key to the cage. Then when they free the tiger Rob's dad kills the tiger with a shotgun.

  DW

13 Treasures

13 Treasures is about a girl named Tanya who discovers real live fairies. She is no ordinary girl. She can see and hear fairies.
 
One day, a fairy came to Tanya's house and she took Tanya with her to the fairy's home. Tanya didn't know when she arrived there. She meets evil and and good fairies. Tanya makes a lot of new friends and she learns spells, and she also learns to rouse people from their deep sleeps.

But after she has spent a few months with the fairies, she wishes to go back to her own home to see her mom.

 I liked this book because I love fantasies and I love to read books.

  H.K.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter is special. He just does not know it yet. His mom and dad were great wizards. He thought his mom and dad died in a car crash, and that is how he got his scar. Now that is wrong. What really happened is Lord Voldermort killed his parents, but when he tried to kill Harry his powers vanished and all he was left is a scar shaped as a lightning bolt. Now that he knows that he is a wizard he starts his quest to kill he who shall not be named.
                            MY

Animorphs

The book Animorphs is about morphing, morphing is when you apply the DNA of something else and become it. In this story Tobias, Cassie, Marco, Rachel and Jake meet the Andalites and they give the 5 children the power t6o morph. The Andalite also tells them about Visser 3 and the Yeerks.The Yeerks are green slimy slugs that crawl into peoples brains and take over. Visser 3 is the leader of the Yeerks. The yeerks have to come out of the bodies sometimes and go into yeerk pools. They save a woman from the yeerks and escape. That is how the story ends because it is a a sequal.

SA

Eight Keys

Eight Keys is about Elise and her friend Franklin. Elise finds a key with her name on it in her uncle's workshop. She uses the key on the locked doors upstairs and it opens one. She finds eight keys one for each of the eight rooms. One room is empty but at the end she figures out she needs to fill it with stuff she cares about unlike the other room's about her family. Elise is amazed at everything but where were the keys popping up everywhere come from someone something?



MKR

A Wrinkle in Time

The book A Wrinkle in Time is about a girl named Meg her brother Charles Wallace and Meg's friend Calvin. They go on a dangerous journey to save their father from IT. IT is a live brain that makes you breath do and have your heartbeat on the same rhythm. When Charles Wallace get's taken by IT and tries for Meg to get taken too their father tesser or time travel to a planet leaving Charles Wallace behind. Will they ever get the real Charles Wallace back safely?

MKR

A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time is about a girl named Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and a boy named Calvin O' Keefe. One dark stormy night an old lady came to Meg house. She talked with Meg's mom but not with Meg's dad. Meg's dad was not home for a long time. The woman told her mom she knew about a tesseract. Her mom didn't know what to say. The next day Calvin O' Keefe came over. Calvin O' Keefe is a athletic kid on the basketball team. The same day Charles Wallace told them he knew the old ladies. He knew there were three, their names were Mrs.Witch, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs.Who. They told her terrasect was like travel through space and time. Mrs.Whatsit, Mrs.Who, and Mrs. Witch. They went to a planet where there was something called the dark thing it took over planets. Stars fought it when they gave there life to kill some of the dark thing. When they died they turned into what Mrs.Witch, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Who. Then they went to the planet where Meg's dad was held. There were a lot of people like things. Charles gave himself up to It. IT was a living brain. They found Megs dad and saved him from it. Then the dad tesseract to a planet with intesting looking aliens. There was one who really liked Meg they named her Aunt Beast. Then they tesseract back and got Charles back then fled with it close behind. It was only five minutes in Earth because a Tesseract warps space and time.


I would reccomend this book to Sam because it is an intresting story I think he would like.


DW

The Doll House

                                                              The Doll House
                                                        by Rummor Godden
In the story The doll e there lived a doll family who's owner is a girl named Maddie. She treated them very nicely. She got them everything they wanted, exept a doll house. Maddie could not afford a doll house. The (doll) family loved eveything Maddie did for them, but they really wanted a doll house. They needed a place to stay when Maddie was not playing with them. Not only them Maddie wanted a doll house, but her dad said she was getting to old for dolls. After all Maddie is 10 years old. Maddie got a job at a bakery. She had to sweep the floor every day for 2 months to buy a nice house. After 2 months she finally got the doll house.
MY

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

In the book Hatchet, thirteen year old Brian Robeson boards a plane to Canada. Meanwhile on the plane the pilot has a heart attack and then the plane crashes in a lake in the middle of the wilderness. Brian uses his knowledge and everything he can do to survive. It is no time for despair. Will he survive with no humans within his range alone?
SD

1 Direction Dare to Dream

In this book each of the boys in the band Zayn, Liam, Harry, Louis, and Niall, tell you about how they got together in a band and about there time on the x-factor. Some of them tried out for the x-factor before they went in together in a band. Each of them told you about there childhood and about there school and stuff. At the end of each chapter abot themselfs it told you there favorite things and stuff.

I liked this book because I love 1 Direction. The boys in 1 Direction wrote this book so I would reccommend this book to people who love 1 Direction. I would not reccommend this book to people who do not like 1 Direction. But I really liked this book.



ER

Sable

Sable is about a girl named Tate that really likes dogs but, her mom told her that she never can get a dog. One day her mom's cat is on the back porch and the cat starts acting up. Tate walks outside and see's a dog. It was really skinny and very weak. Tate asked her mom if she could feed it but, her mom told her no. Then her dad came out of his work shop and went straight inside and brought out a bowl of water and some food. Tate really wanted to keep it but, her mom said noand told her to go inside. Tate was really mad but, listened and went inside. Her dad built furniture for people and then he would bring it to the person. Sometimes if it was far away Tate would go with him. Eventually after alot of begging Tate was able to keep Tate in her dads work shop. Her dad told her that he was making cabinits for a doctor in Vermont so she could come. She was very surprised to see her dad putting the dog in the car. Once they got there Tate and the dog got out and started playing in the backyard. Her dad finished putting the cabinits in and started talking to the doctor. The doctor said that he had a nice dog. Tates dad told him that it was too bad that they could not keep it. The doctor asked him why and he said




PE

Judy Moody Saves the World

It all starts out with a crazy strips bandaid compition, whoever won the compition gets the design they made on crazy strips and everyone that buys crazy strips wears your design. At school Judy was learning about the forest and how people polute the earth and how alot of things come from the forest. Her teacher said that the rain forest was in danger. Judy went crazy about that and reused all of this garbage and at one point she even wanted to live in a tree. Her bandaid that she submited for the bandaid comition was the earth surrounded by bananna peels. Her brothers was Batty for bandaids and the words were surrounded by bats. They got one letter and one box in the mail the letter was for Judy and the box was for her brother they were both from crazy strips. Judy opened the letter it was a certificate. Judy won second place. Her brothesr opened his box.er brother was in first place. Judy was not happy. At school they were still learning the same thing. Judy had an idea the could raise money for the rain forrest by collecting cans it was one dollar to grow one tree.
They ended up with alot of cans. They could grow one hundred trees. Everybody was happy.

I did not really love the book. I would prefer a more challenging book to read. I would reccommend this book to people who do not really like challenging books. I would also reccommend this book to people that are a little bit younger then my age. But other people may like this book.

ER

Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney

The book The Third Wheel is about a boy named Greg. At his school they are having a dance school and doesn't think it is a good idea. Then he realizes what the people setting it up were doing. They set up a stand and you could send a letter to who ever you wanted to go to the dance with and it would cost around five dollars. there is only one problom in that grade there are more boys than girls so not every one will get to go to go to the dance with someone. By the time there are not alot of girls left Greg relizes he should ask someone so he doesn't end up without anyone. He ends up with a girl that he doesn't really know but, he doesn't care he realized he didn't have a ride to go to the dance so he needed to go to the dance with his friend Rowly and the girl he was going to the dance with. He was alittle apset that he had to go to the dance with him but, he didn't have any other ride. His dad wouldn't take him and his mom would inbares him so he had to go with Rowly.

PE

No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz

In the book No Safety in Numbers a boy named Marco was being chased by a guy named Mike. Mike chased Marco into the vents of the your everyday mall. Marco lost Mike in the chase. In the vents he found a black box that was beeping.........He called 911. Meanwhile the senator and her family were at lunch in the mall. She got a call and said" They found what?!" In the vents Marco had found a bomb that had pumped some sort of Spanish flu into the mall that is very contagious.  The whole mall got quarantined. Nobody knows how long they will be trapped. Mabye months? Mabye years?

SD

The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

The Lion,Witch, and the Wardrobe is about a girl named Lucy and Susan and their brothers Peter and Edmund. Lucy is the youngest out of all of them. One day they were playing hide and seek and Lucy hid in a wardrobe and the she gets really cold. She starts walking into the wardrobe, it was snowing. The place she was in was called Narnia. When she walked back out of the wardrobe she told Susan Peter and Edmund. They think she is tellling lies. Then they find out for themselves.

I like the book because I like Narnia and it was a great book I thought I would not like it but then I was reading farther into the book and it was really good.

MAR

The Chocolate Touch

The Chocolate Touch is a good book because it is about a boy who loves chocolate and one day ate too much chocolate and everything that he touched turned chocolate. He was freaking out. He went home and told his mom that everything he touches turns chocolate so when he took a drink it
turned into cold chocolate. He said oh no! I like the book because it makes me laugh a lot.

AB

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

Harry is living with his aunt, uncle,and cousin.On Saturday letters come flying into the house. Harry's uncle knows where they are from.They are from Hogwarts, a school for witches and wizards. What Harry does not know is that he is a wizard.Harry's uncle wants to get away from this but he can not. Someone named Hagrid knocks on the door Harry lets him in. Harid takes Harry to go school shopping .

I like this book because it has a bunch of adventures and it is a very fun and active book.
I recommend this book to people who like magic. This book is really good and I want a lot of people to read it.

JH

Fiona Finkelstein Meets Her Match!! by Shawn K. Stout

Fiona was happy and she did not hate school until Milo Brigewater came. Milo Brigewater was the new kid in school. He did not come in the begining of the year like most new kids. He came in the middle of the year. He came on the day that they were picking new jobs. Fiona was happy that it was finally the day that they got to pick out new jobs and she was sure that she was going to get the job that she wanted to get all year. She wanted to be the electrician. If she was the eletrician she would be able to turn the T.V. on and off. She would be able  to turn the lights on and off and all other sorts of cool stuff. It was finally time. They were drawing the names from the basket and Milo Bridgewater got the job. Fiona was waiting for so long and he only got in to the school that day. Then after that Milo started a meterology club and the principle told Fiona to start a metoroligy club. Milo took everything Fiona wanted to do.

I liked this book alot because it was nice book. It was not boring I think it was a fun book. It included school so I think children could actually relate to this book. I would reccommend this book to children in elementry school because it is not much of a chalenge to read.



ER