Student Book Review - A Series of Unfortunate Events

     

A series of unfortunate events: Book the first, the Bad Beginning

Lemony Snicket

If you don’t enjoy books with grief- stricken endings, then I wouldn’t recommend reading this review. However, if you don’t mind books with some, or rather many unfortunate events and would like to carry on reading, then don’t blame me for having trouble sleeping at night, thinking about the oh-so poor Baudelaire’s.

   Anyways, in this morose, a word which here means so bad, that the word “bad” just won’t do – story, the three young Baudelaire’s encounter ravenous count Olaf, a man so dreadful, few words can describe him. I don’t know if you remember or not, but I warned you about this ever much so unfortunate tale. This is the absolute last time you can turn back, as things are about to get much much worse.

   In the beginning, the Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus, and little Sunny while relaxing at the beach, without a care in the world, learn that their parents have just died in a mysterious fire. Like anyone who has just heard such horrid news, they were very distressed- a word which here means sad that their parents are now only but a memory. This is just the beginning of the Baudelaire’s abominable luck. So, without anybody to take care for these newly orphans, the 3 are taken to the closest relative they have, Count Olaf, a man who is nothing but hungry for the Baudelaire fortune, a fortune left for the threesome by their significantly rich but now dead parents. Upon living with Count Olaf, oh it hurts to even think about this extremely terrible man – the Baudelaire’s are treated so poorly, much more poorly than you or I have, or will probably ever be treated. Their new legal guardian tries many schemes to get a hold of the Baudelaire fortune, which can only be released when the oldest Baudelaire- 14 year old Violet is of age. But compared to what disastrous and life-threatening events that will soon- too soon present themselves to the ill- fated Baudelaire’s, the beginning is just a walk to an ice-cream shop.

   Nothing and I truthfully mean nothing can be compared to the unspeakable events that take place during the course of the Baudelaire’s sad lives. In all the 13- an unlucky number chosen to add to all the bad fortune to do with these books –stories in the series, very very bad things occur that probably will never occur to nor you or I.

   I would rate this tale a definite 5 out of 5. I mean this is an immense story filled with unpredictable yet exciting events. Also I absolutely adore the language used by my all time favorite author Lemony Snicket. I hope there will be more books in the series, but alas I can only dream as the last book is the end of all this misfortune. I would recommend this awesome read to anyone who likes action, and books about... well unfortunate events!

  

Student Book Review - The Great Bike Rescue

The Great Bike Rescue

By: Hazel Hutchins

Have you ever had your bike stolen? In this amazing book we hear the story of Levi and Riley’s adventure to find their stolen bikes.

A young boy who goes by the name of Levi enjoys spending long afternoons riding his bike with his best friend Riley. But one day while paying a visit to the corner store his bike goes missing and Levi does not know who to blame. Levi plans to do an investigation on his missing bike and finds out that many other bikes in the neighbourhood have been stolen. When Levis dad hears about the stolen bike he gives him some tips but not enough to solve the mystery. The next day Riley’s bike is stolen and now Levi and Riley team up to find the bikes. While the investigation is happening Levi and Riley spot Emily Grimshaw, one of Levis greatest childhood enemies. Riley doesn’t think that Emily’s a suspect but Levi has a strong feeling that she might be the bike thief. Is Emily the thief or are Levis bad childhood memories coming back to him. Later during the investigation Levi and Riley come across a second hand bike shop. When they ask the owners about the stolen bikes they deny that they’re the bike thieves. Another one of the possible suspects is the school bully also known as Steve Morrrow. The final suspect is a tattooed guy who was spotted near the scene of the crime. Are any of the suspects the bike thief or are Levis assumptions incorrect.

My favourite part of the book was when Levi and Riley found the bike thief and the mystery was put to an end. I liked that part of the book because all my thoughts of who the bike thief was were resolved. I would give this book 5 stars out of 5 because it was very mysterious and that’s the kind of genre of book that I like.

Student Book Review - The Bronze Pen

The Bronze Pen       By: Zilpha Keatley Snyder

            An odd black figure (perhaps a woman) living in a cave? Talking animals? Bumping under the bed? Well if those are the things you consider your interest, well then you’re in luck! This book is just the type for you and me!

          Our twelve-year old protagonist, Audrey Abbot dreams of becoming a writer, but with her father’s failing health on one side and the family’s financial problems on the other it seems like there is no space for what her overworking mother refers to as a “childish fantasy”. Keeping her hobby a secret, Audrey meets an old woman who can surprisingly read her mind. One day that old woman gives Audrey a bronze pen and tells her to use it “wisely and to good purpose”.  It feels perfect for her writing, but as Audrey starts writing odd things begin to happen, did her dog just talk to her? And what is that bumping under the bed? Is it that whatever she writes comes true? However things don’t always happen the way she expects, and it’s quite difficult to predict what will happen.Will Audrey be able to clear away all her problems and cure her father with the pen, or will the pen turn out to be more of a curse than a gift?

       My favorite part of the book was when Audrey’s pet dog start’s talking to her, because I never knew what was going to happen next and me flipping the pages to know what was about to come was necessary. I can relate to Audrey because even I have some secret hobbies that no one knows about.

          I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars because it had a very neat storyline and layout. Also it had chunks full of excitement, suspense, and curiosity, overall description, “AWESOME BOOK”!

                                                              Have fun reading!☺

Student Book Review - Drama

Drama

By: Raina Telgermeier

Have you ever been interested in theatre? But you have absolutely no idea about the hard work you have to do, well then you share the same problem as Callie

A middle school girl named Callie who dreams about living the life of a theatre, can’t sing. Instead she is now the set designer for the drama department stage crew that will make a Broadway about the production of Moon over Mississippi. But how can she risk taking charge when she doesn’t know much about carpentry, and ticket sales, and to make matters worse crew members are having trouble working together. And when these two cute boys enter Callie’s picture things start to go even crazier.

My favorite part of the book is when she meets the two boys because the book started getting interesting then. This book is compared to Smile and Sister, they are all written by the same talented author.

I would give this book 5 starts out of 5 because this book was interesting and different from the other books I had read in the past.

REBELLION!

So...hopefully you have watched the movie...I know it was long...but you did have a week. If you haven't watched it yet, please do so.

Next step, I want you to think about the Rebellions that were discussed in the film, and reply to this post with a COMMENT telling me a cause of the Rebellions.

Remember, as in previous posts, include one with your name and an identical post that is anonymous, so I can publish it.

You have two weeks to post your comment (after watching the movie) before I post the next assignment!

History continued...

Even though History is done for this school year, that does not mean you are completely ready for grade 8 history.

First of all, having NO history at all between now and September is far too long and I'm afraid you might forget...so my plan is to use the blog to make sure you are ready for grade 8 but continuing to review history:) ....no, no need to thank me;)

This video link covers what we will be discussing and reviewing on the blog. It is a long movie, and might be hard to follow at parts, but will give you an overview of what we will cover between now and June.

Happy Watching:)

Student Book Review - Maze Runner

Maze Runner                                                  

By: James Dashner

               This book is full of action and adventure, but it’s not too childish. For some of you this might be the perfect book. This book is about a group of boys that don’t remember any of their past but are sent to a maze. 1 boy is sent every month with 1 memory and that is of their name. A boy named Thomas was sent one month and the next day someone else had arrived. Not only was this really unusual but this had never happened before. To add on to that a GIRL was sent to the maze named Teresa. Things started to get suspicious and weird. I love this book because I enjoy reading books with action and adventure to it, without it being too young to read for my age. Thomas reminds me of myself because he seemed really carious in the book and just wanted to learn about his surroundings. There is also a movie on this book which I also really loved. This book is the first book to the Maze Runner series written my James Dashner. I rate this book a 5. I loved it and recommend it to everyone with a big imagination. 

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Student Book Review - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the book I read. There’s a boy named Harry, Harry Potter, he thought he’s just a standard boy living with his aunt and uncle. His father and mother died from a car crash, that’s what he’s been told however.

 Harry Potter is a wizard, there is a school called Hogwarts. Harry is going there, Hogwarts is a school for wizards.  Harry Potter made many friends two of his best friends are Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley and many enemies, one of them are Lord Voldemort he was the one who killed his parents. Lord Voldemort didn't kill Harry potter so when Harry went to Hogwarts everyone knew Harry because he was the only one who didn't get killed by Lord Voldemort . Harry Potter though Severus  Snape was the bad guy it was Quarrel one of Harry teachers he had two faces one of them are Lord Voldemort . Lord Voldemort wanted to get the philosopher’s stone so he cargo to his own body.

 My favourite part of the book is when Harry Potter was fighting Lord Voldemort when Harry was touching the Quarrel face he was burning and Harry stopped and Voldemort said Get him and Harry ran and touched Harry Quarrel he burned and then. Harry knocked out and when he woke up he saw many things however when Harry woke up he  had the philosopher stone in his hand I liked this part because it was when Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort the movie had some of the same parts the ending had parts of the movie and some new parts the book is similar like the other books like how its all about Lord Voldemort . One of the characters remind me like professor Severus Snape because sometimes people think I was the bad person however I wasn't . My overall rating of the book Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone I would rate it a five its an amazing book because it has so many amazing events in it how he finds out how he is a wizard and the truth or his family and how he has the scar on his head also how Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort also how he finds out all of the the things what happen . Thats my book review hope you like it .

The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You remember them, don’t you? They’re the Princes Charming who finally got some credit after they stepped out of the shadows of their princesses – Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Briar Rose – to defeat an evil witch bent on destroying all their kingdoms.           – Christopher Healy

Previously in the book, The Hero’s Guide to saving your Kingdom, all the Princes defeat the evil witch, Zaubera, whose plan was to capture all the bards from all the Kingdoms and secretly plan a spectacular hero vs villain showdown. But the story does not end there. Ever since the League of Heroes saved their Kingdoms from the clutches of Zaubera, the evil witch, you’d think they would have earned a little bit of respect. In this book, Briar Rose plans to get married to Prince Liam of Erinthia. Prince Liam doesn’t want to marry her so instead she sends her personal bodyguard to capture Liam. When Liam and finds out the reason Briar wants to marry him, he cannot believe that he was fooled. It’s time to reunite League of Princes (Prince Duncan, Prince Frederic, Prince Gustav and of course Liam) back. The gang soon realizes what Briar is wishing for. It was a precious gem that was carved to control the mind and body. With that Briar could control all the Kingdoms and rule the world, so she could take advantage of Liam to find the jewel. But at the end, the jewel ends up in the wrong hand.

I enjoyed this book more than any other book I’ve read. The humor, adventure and effort the author Christopher Healy put in this book and the series is magnificent. I enjoyed this book because it had that feeling; that feeling when you read one page of the book you can’t resist getting your hands off the book. This book made me laugh and it made me feel like I was a character in the book while reading it.

I would give this book a rating of 5 stars (*****/*****) because I liked the suspense and how the characters would react to one another and now I’m ready to read the last book in this series.

Student Book Review - Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid:

Cabin Fever

By:Jeff Kinney

   This book is called Cabin Fever. This is very awesome book. This book is funny and it has pictures! YAH! This book is about a person named Greg Heffley who is trapped in the snow outside with the power out WITH HIS FAMILY.

    This is about a person named Greg. He loves Christmas and other holidays but hates it before the holidays because his parents take it to their advantage for example when Greg pitches his little brother he gets a bad gift. If he does not do his homework, he gets a bad gift. Their parents found this doll in their attic; it was called “Santa’s Scout”. Therefore, Greg thinks it actually watches you, so every time he is around it he tries to do good deeds. Her mom’s glasses +got lost so she couldn’t take care of Manny so Greg and Rodrick had to take care of Manny but Rodrick never does his work so Greg had to do it. It starts snowing A LOT. Next thing you know there snowed in (snow is bigger than door). It starts flooding their basements, where Rodrick sleeps and he slept through it and eventually he woke up and tried to make it go away. Then there was a power outage so they were freezing and then Rowley came with cookies and when Greg checked, everyone’s houses had power so he knew someone sabotaged their home.

My favorite part of the book was when Santa’s scout was everywhere he went. I will rate this book 4/5 because I didn’t see as much as loaded dipper in it and Rowley was barely there. 

Student Book Review - Pokemon Adventures: Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum

  Pokemon Adventures Diamond, Pearl and Platinum

 

 This book was awesome! Imagine that 2 big dragon pokemon fight each other to make a universe. A guy called Cyrus from a team called Team Galactic tells them to fight. It is up to 3 kids,Dia, Pearl,   Platinum and their pokemon to save the Milky Way from the new evil universe.

 

 The 2 dragon pokemon were Dialga and Palkia. Dia,Pearl and Platinum send their pokemon out but Dialga and Palkia wiped them out. Then out of no where a legendary like Dialga and Palkia called Regiggas. It lifts Dia,Pearl,Platinum and their pokemon and puts them on its back. It breaks he fight up between Dialga and Palkia but they start fighting again. The pokemon champion Cynthia trys to help with her Garchomp, they still keep fighting. If you want to know what happens to the Milky Way read the book and the next book too!      

Student Book Review - Tom Gates

Tom Gates  Author: L. Pichon 

This book is very funny and crazy. It`s about a boy playing tricks on his sister and trying to make a band. 

Tom Gates is trying to make a band called dog zombies because that`s his favorite band. But he has a very annoying older sister who always makes fun of Tom whenever he does something bad or makes a mistake. Tom always gets revenge by playing tricks on her. 

Tom and his friend Derek needed a drummer for their band so they put a sign up sheet and nobody took it seriously, and their only choice was to take a crazy kid named Norman. Tom and Derek always find a way of getting out of the school band because they use plastic instruments that are recycled. And then there is Marcus, he is Tom`s enemy, they both hate each other so much. 

My favorite part of the book was was when Tom caught Marcus cheating on the gold award chart. This is my favorite part of the book because Tom wanted to get revenge on Marcus and got it also it was funny. I would rate this book 5 out of 5 because is my favorite book. It was so funny and interesting and it had pictures to show every page.

Student Book Review - DIVERGENT

 Divergent by Veronica Roth

Do you like reading books with action, adventure, and suspense? Or, do you love reading engaging chapter books? Well congratulation your perfect book has arrived! I loved this book because it had all my favorite attributes of a book. This book is about a girl named Beatrice Prior who lives in Chicago where society is divided into five factions. Each faction is keen to a particular part of a person. Every year, all the sixteen-year olds must choose a faction whom they will dedicate their lives for. For Beatrice, the decision is based upon two things: living with her parents or being herself. So she makes a decision that leaves everybody in shock (including her). During her faction’s tough start Beatrice renames herself Tris. Tris during the initiation has a hard time fitting in her faction. Also she has a secret, one that she hasn’t told anyone because it could mean death As the story goes on, she realizes that this secret would unwind her perfect society and learns that this secret might help save those that she cares about the most or it kill her. Tris reminds me of myself because she is brave like me and she knows how to handle herself. I have never watched the movie version and I have not read the other books in this series. My favorite part in the book is when Tris chooses her faction because it has suspense for what faction she is going to choose.

I gave the rating 5 out of 5 stars because it had a wonderful story with suspense and action.

                                                                                                                  ☺

Student Book Review - "Looking for Alaska"

LOOKING FOR ALASKA BY JOHN GREEN

   With the intention to find “A Greater Perhaps”, Pudge is granted admission into Culver Creek, a school with misfits and a charming yet enigmatic girl, Alaska Young. Surrounded by his friends, the Colonel, Takumi and Alaska, Pudge embarks on a journey through laughs, tears, betrayal and a shocking secret.

  In the book, Pudge enrols himself into a school called Culver Creek and as any new comer is pranked by a group of boys. The prank which could have nearly killed Pudge aggravates his roommate and future best friend, the Colonel. Colonel swears revenge on the boys who committed the prank and introduces Pudge to a new circle of friends including Takumi, Lara and Alaska Young. Pudge immediately takes liking to Alaska and the two become quick friends. Alaska and Pudge make a bet saying that if they can find out what the Labyrinth is in Alaska’s book, they would pull off an amazing prank and Pudge would get a surprise from Alaska. All was well until one day when the group gets horribly drunk and spills a few secrets which were meant to be kept hidden. Alaska awakes the next morning with no recollection of what happened and continues the day as planned with Takumi, Pudge and Colonel. The following evening, the group once again gets drunk and Alaska announces that she has unfinished business to take care of and that she needs to get off premises immediately. Pudge and Colonel use fireworks to distract the Dean of the school and Alaska drives off premises while intoxicated. The following morning, Alaska is found dead and interrogation about the accident begins. Colonel and Pudge uncover some evidence as to why Alaska suddenly left school and begin to create new theories and explanations about her. Pudge continuing Alaska’s case finds the Greater Perhaps as well as the Labyrinth. He realizes that the answer had been in front of him the entire time and professes his love to Alaska through his investigations.

My favourite part of the book was when Pudge, Takumi, Alaska and the Colonel all aggravate the Dean of the school because they were so close to getting caught and if they did, expulsion would’ve been the next step for these eccentric kids.

I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars because as much as I loved the language, feeling, emotion and the comedic sense, the plot twist was very saddening and continuing the book with one of the most important characters would have been much, much better than without her.

Student Book Review - Pippi Longstocking

Pippi Longstocking   

Pippi Longstocking is the most best, the funniest, and the most interesting book I have ever read. It interested me how the author introduced the book, this book was written by Astrid Lindgren  

The book is about a girl named Pippi Longstocking. She lives at Villa VillaaKula, she has red piglets, no parents to tell her what to do, a horse that lives on her porch, and a monkey named Mr. Nilsson. She has the best neighbors ever, they are Tommy and Annika. They are best friends with Pippi; they meet at school, tea parties, and etc. They are best friends.

Pippi is the right character that reminds me of myself because Pippi Longstocking’s favorite thing is that she likes to go to parties, the same thing for me, I love parties.              

What I would rate this book is four stars because this book is good, but it would have been better if they added mystery and violent, to attract the reader’s attention, then I would rate it 5.

In conclusion I would like to say that this was not a bad book, but it would have been better and better if it had mystery and violence in it.

Student Book Review - Just another day in my insanely real life

Mustard. A charity orange. Five apples. A half gone pint of charity cream cheese. An open can of Friskies. That’s all the food in the house when Cassie’s sister, Miranda forgets to do all of the shopping. It’s just the latest crisis in Cassie’s life since her father moved out and her mother went back to work, and Cassie feels totally responsible for keeping things together for her little brother.

In the wonderful book we meet the protagonist Cassie, who feels as if her sister Miranda forgetting to do the shopping is the latest crisis in her life. Ever since her father had “left the picture” and her mother has gone back to work it’s like there’s no more meaning to life. Especially living in a “ratty” old unit with no food or anything is not fun at all, having an older sister constantly nagging about her dream boy, and a little brother crying and whining all the time is no delight. Since her mother has gone back to work it’s like she’s the nanny of the house, with doing the groceries, covering her sister’s lies and teaching her brother how to read. It’s like she was just a regular seventh grader and now she’s almost acting like a mother. Home isn’t just a problem for Cassie because things aren’t any better at school. Cassie’s grades are plummeting, her best friends have turned nasty, she’s getting mixed signals from a cute boy, and then there’s Mr. Mullaney, the weirdest, hardest English teacher in the seventh grade who hates everything she does. What’s a girl to do when life gets totally insane?

One of the parts in this fantastic novel that I favoured the most was a turning point in the story. It was a section in the novel where the protagonist (Cassie) gets in trouble by her mother for covering for her sister, helping her little brother with his homework and taking care of everything. Cassie gets punished for helping and protecting her siblings, when she thought she was doing the right thing. This was one of my favorite parts in the story for the reasoning that it was a strengthening the conflict.

Overall, I would rate this enjoyable book 5 out of 5 as it had a wonderful storyline and it was a great book filled with suspense and mystery. It included great detail which helped the reader to further understand the book. I would definitely recommend this exhilarating novel for any readers who interest in suspenseful and adventurous books.