Mrs. Hernandez' Student Book Reviews

     Kari is faced with a life or death situation when she crosses paths with Rona Cummins. She is forced to reveal secrets that Kari didn’t  even know she had. With the help of Kari’s mom Sofia Kari is able to uncover those secrets and better to understand them. Lynne Robertson is Kari’s best friend. She stays by Kari’s side throughout the whole book, and even puts her own life in danger to help Kari.

Kari London is a regular fifteen- year old girl who lives with her mother in Willistown, Ohio. As the book progresses Kari finds herself becoming more and more doubtful about her true identity. She is faced with hard, life threatening decision that won’t only affect her but the people around her. She really grew throughout the story. At the begging at the story she was a girl who didn’t really know much about the past and never really bothered asking about it. Since it was only her mother and her, she figured out most of the stories her mom told her about her childhood were true. She had some doubts about somethings that didn’t make sense. By the end of the story she knew every thing about where she came from and who she really was. She went from not understanding part of her life to know the whole truth.

The setting of this book is in Willistown, Ohio and in Cryth   believed to  be in California. The story takes place in Willistown, Ohio. This book establishes an interesting mood. It has many twist, turns, and a lot of emotions that you wouldn’t think it was just another fictional story.

At the begging of the story Kari, Lynne, and two more of their friends are at a sleep over at Lynne’s house. The girls didn’t know what to do for fun so they decide to hypnotize Kari. While under hypnosis Kari said said some very strange things. One of them was,” Sazahly Molya ste eha dostahna.” This lead to strange and mysterious things yet to happen in this book.  Another important event in the book is when Kari’s mom disappeared. Her disappearance open the door for Kari to uncover many secrets about her past that she didn’t know. 

The authors overall message to the reader is that somethings are better off left unknown. Memories are important but dedicating your life to remember everry single thing that happened to you is not good. ( You need to remember all the good things in your life and most of the bad things too.) That’s just a part of life. 

I would recommend this book to others for many reasons. This book is interesting, exciting, and mysterious. The characters in this book are the same age as my friends and me which makes it even better. The things that are going on and the details the author uses make this fictional book seem real. I believe if I tell my friends or anyone else to read it, they will enjoy it as much as I did. I’m not much of a reader, but this book has really got me hooked. It keeps you guessing as new secrets are revealed. If it was up to me, I’d make this book into a movie. This book is truley amazing.

Old Yeller is a realistic fiction story by Fred Gipson, it is about a boy named Travis that lives with his little brother Arliss and his mother.  When his father left in a cattle run to earn some cash Travis takes up the job as man of the house.  Travis was depressed because his dog was killed by a rattle snake bite.  About a month after his father leaves the family takes in a “Yeller Dog”.  At first Travis hates the dog, was annoyed by it, and wants it to run away.  He eventually starts to like the more and more until the dog is his best friend.

My favorite part of the book is when Travis and Yeller are out marking wild pigs by cutting a design into the pigs ear.  Instead of getting a pig marking it and then repeating, he decided to try a differnt way. He climbs a tree and uses Yeller to get them around the tree, Travis then takes a rope and pulls a pig up one by one.  About half way through Travis fell into a group of angry wild pigs.  Luckily, Yeller quickly fought off the pigs.  Travis had a large gash in his leg, but Yeller had a really bad cut in his side.  In the book Rabies is spreading fast through animals.  So does Yeller survive the giant cut in his side?  Did either of them get Rabies?  Your just going to have to read the book and find out.

The best parts of the book are when Yeller saves the family(and he saved them about four or five times).  To me the book doesn’t have any boring parts, but I think that the worst part is the beginning.

Old Yeller recived a Newbery Honor in 1957.  The book also was turned into a movie in 1957.  Fred Gipson also wrote

The Vacation is a fiction book written by Polly Horvath.  The story is about a twelve year old boy named Henry, who lives in a small town in Virginia.  He has just started his summer vacation and has great plans to play baseball all summer long, but sadly Henry’s mom decides she wants to go to Africa to be a missionary, and drags Henry’s father along.  His father is not excited about this trip.    Henry’s summer plans are now ruined and he is left behind to be taken care of by his two annoying aunts:  Aunt Magnolia and Aunt Pigg.

Henry is miserable staying with his Aunts.  Their constant fighting is driving him nuts.  Henry often escapes by hiding in the closet and reading books.  The real adventures begin when his Aunt Magnolia, who is recovering from an illness, decides she wants to go on a vacation.    They travel from Virginia Beach all the way to Mount Rushmore.   Along the way, they regret taking Henry’s parent’s car because there is no air conditioning and it is scorching hot.  His aunts, sweaty and tired, get more and more crankier.

Camping in the Everglades, Henry wanders too far from camp and ends up floating in a swamp for four days.  While they are in Oklahoma Aunt Pigg meets a cowboy, falls in love, and decides to get married.   Aunt Magnolia and Henry leave her behind and continue with their vacation.  Soon, Henry’s mom contacts them and tells them that Henry’s father is sick with Malaria and they are coming back!  They join Henry and Aunt Magnolia in a town called Tulsa.   Henry is excited to see his parents, but sadly, when his parents arrive they are constantly fighting and not speaking to each other.   Soon Henry finds out that he can’t do anything about his parents fighting or his grumpy Aunt, and he is not responsible for their behavior. So he decides to ignore his parents and his aunt and enjoys the rest of the trip.      

I enjoyed how the author did a good job describing the places that Henry and his two aunts visited.   The author has a sense of humor and that came out in the story.   Something that I didn’t enjoy was that the author stretched the book out too far. The author added a lot of details that the book didn’t need.  It would have been great if the author had added some pictures to go along with the story.

All together  I liked the book very much.  It was interesting to read and I couldn ‘t put it down. The author described the whole trip in an understandable way. There was never a part in the book that was confusing.  I was always wondering what was going to happen next.   I highly recommend this book to everybody.  Before I read this book I didn’t like to read and now because of this book I love to read.

Liz always wanted to meet her parents. When liz was just two days old,her mother gave her away. she gave liz away because she was way into partying. Liz”s father was a bussiness man so he didnt have time for a child

So they gave her to her aunt. Liz’s aunt told her that she was adopted when she was 12.Liz is very rich and seccesful. She is also very stuburn. At school noone want to play or talk to her. Liz is very mean to everyone. One day when she was in her backyard she say a door,wear her green house was she walked in and say a garden with tulps,daisys, you name it. When liz was 26 she finally meet her parents !!!!!!!!

The author is Jeff Kinny.  There’s a kid named Gregory. He has a family. Their names are Manny, Rodrick, Mom, and Dad. He does many things like play video games all day. He does crazy stuff with his friend Rowley. Once they got a sled and a footbll so they could go down the snow. With the football they would try to hit each other. He also made a HAUNTED HOUSE inside his garage. Rowley and Greg put a bed in the garage. When people went under it they would start getting them scared. In school on the basketball courts there is a cheese. When somebody touched it they would have the cheese touch. You would have the germs. If you didn’t want them to tag you then you would have to cross your fingers. You would have to cross them like if you were playing tag.

 My favorite part is when they went trick’o treating. Their dad hid in the bushes and threw water at the kids when they pass by the house.  This is a great book I imagine writing my own serious of books like the ones Kinney made. This is a realastic fiction. It could take place on any month. Anywhere in his house, his school, or at his friends Rowley house. I would recommend it to my family. The author makes you feel like your there because when they get hit, it feel’s like your there in the story. The main character’s are beliveable because there in situations that could really happen. They are also going to make A movie.  The big brother Rodrick is always mean. The little brother Manny gets everything from his parents. This is an interesting book.  You’ll love the book too.

ICEFIRE

      David wondered why the Pennykettles were so weird, and he was about to find out. Liz (Ms. Pennykettle), Lucy (Liz’s 8 year old daughter), Zanna (David’s goth or witch-like friend from college), David (Liz’s tennant), and Aunty Gwyneth (Gwilanna, an ancient dragon lady or sybal) are the main characters. In this fiction book written by Chris D’Lacey. The story took place in a little town named Scrubbly.

Liz and Gwilanna were descendents of Gawain (the last dragon on earth) and his human wife, Guinevere. They each had a little bit of spark or auma in them, which means they can make the little clay dragons come to life. Liz had a lot of auma, but Gwilanna didn’t. Liz always made little dragons out of clay, but since she had a lot of auma, once she kilned the dragons, they came to life.

If you named a dragon, it became yours. David had two dragons; a writing dragon named Gadzooks and a wishing dragon named G’reth. David thought they were just for decoration. Since he was human, he could not “see” the dragons. One day, when Zanna went to talk to David, David showed her the dragon den (the place where Liz kept all her dragons). David was not supposed to show the den to anyone. Zanna found a little bronze egg and accidently quickened it. Liz was due to have a dragon baby on the full moon! I have said too much, you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens.

     This book was filled with action and told about many interesting dragons. My favorite part of the book was when Gwilanna, David and the dragons were yelling, screaming and wrestling. They were fighting because Gwilanna was trying to turn the dragon baby evil. She would turn him evil by feeding him a lock of Liz’s hair, that they were trying to prevent her from getting.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes action, fantasy, or dragons. It will leave the reader at the edge of their seat and make the reader want to continue reading. The first two or three chapters of this book might seem a little boring, but once the reader keeps reading, he/she will get drawn into the book and not want to stop reading it. This book is 421 pages, which might seem a little long, but trust me, it’s worth the read. Here are some more books by Chris D’Lacey that have to do with ICEFIRE: THE FIRE WITHIN, FIRE STAR, and coming soon, DARK FIRE.

I hope I have encouraged you to read this exciting book and also to read the other three books related to ICEFIRE.

The adventures of captain underpants is astory about to kids George and Harold. When they go to school they always change the signs outside the school. But they are good at one thing that is making comics about of captain underpants a super hero that they made up for the comic. But one day they saw a ring that was supose hypnotise anyone so they took it to school and they hypnotize their principle. Next the principle went out of the office and he had to stop a villain he called and the villain was on planning in destroying that little town they were in. So they had to make a new comic about captain underpants. They made a new one because he was losing the fight against the villain and the villain just to rid of him he hung captain underpants on a tree. So they made one where captain underpants was beating the villain and then when they took the man to jail they tried to put him back as a principle they could but he heard help he turned back into captain underpants. THE END.

Have you ever had the best year in baseball cut short because people thought you were too old? This happened to Michael Arroyo. This book is called Heat which is written by Mike Lupica. Michael is a 12 year old boy who loves baseball. He pitches very well, when he throws the ball very hard so the batters don’t have any time to react to the ball. Nobody believed that he could pitch that good. Michaels team made it to the baseball championship round, and he couldn’t play until he gets birth certificate. He pitched 75 miles per hour. The coach of a team that had a chance at winning the championship wanted to see a birth certificate proving Michaels age. Michaels birth certificate is back in Cuba where he was born. Both his Mom and Dad are dead. Nobody knows that Michael’s Dad is dead except for his neighbor Mrs. Cora. Michael lives with his brother, Carlos who is 17 years old.

My favorite part of  the book is when Michael  sings to El Grande, and El Grande sings back to him. El Grande sings back to him because El Grande is also Cuban. My connection is I didn’t know why the book was called Heat until I learned how fast I learned he threw.

I recommend this book  to all people who like baseball If you like all sports, you would also like the book Summer Ball which is a book about basketball, Travel Team which is also a book about basketball, and another The Big Field, another book about baseball. Mike Lupica is one of my favorite authors. When you read this book or any other books by Mike Lupica, you wouldn’t want to put it down.

The Lawn boy goes from as poor as dirt to a rich person in three about months. Lawn Boy is written by Gary Paulsen. This story takes place in the lawn boys neighborhood. The Lawn Boy is the main character in the book. The Lawn Boy wanted to buy a bicycle tube for his ten speed but his parents were having trouble paying all of the bills that have stacked up. In Lawn Boy he experiences two main problems. The Lawn Boy makes $50,000 from his buisness of mowing lawns but he thinks if he goes and gives the money to his parents that they will be affended because they might think that the Lawn Boy doesn’t think they can take care of themselves. Then, a ganster named Rock tries to steal money from The Lawn Boy.

I have thought I might get out my grandpas lawn mower and go around the neighborhood and do yard work for extra money. This book has definately influenced me to start mowing lawns. I think what if  I was able to be a $50,000 kid making his money from mowing lawns. That would be so cool! This book pulls you in and doesn’t let go. You will never want to put this book down. I enjoyed this book and i am sure you will too.

Here are more books by Gary Paulsen that you should also read:  Amos Gets Married, Dogsong, Time Benders, and, a very famous book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Esperanza was happy with all of her beautiful dresses and dolls made out of yarn until her life changes from riches to rags! Esperanza Rising is written by Pam Munoz Ryan. It takes place in Aguascalientes on El Rancho de las Rosas and in California. Esperanza is the main character in the book. She loved everyone at Rancho de las Rosas. They were Hortensia, Miguel, Alfonso, Papa, Mama, and Abuelita. They loved her back with all of their heart. In the book Esperanza  Rising four tragedies happen to Esperanza that forces her and her mom to move to the United States of America. Esperanza’s father is killed by bandits. Then her Tio Luis proposes to Esperanza’s mom. Tio Luis burns down their house and Abuelita breaks her leg from the fire.

When I was a little kid, I always thought that my life will be wonderful forever. When I first read Esperanza Rising I thought of my life right now. I always thought that I would be pampered forever, I never thought that it would stop. As I was reading the book I kept on thinking if Abuelita would go to the United States America, with Esperanza and Mama. I loved the book so much that I couldn’t put it down! Pam Munoz Ryan wants the reader to keep on reading and reading. You will not want to put the book down either.

My opinion of this book is so great that I can’t describe it! After each chapter the book insists you to read the next chapter. If you like fantastic endings, this book  is for you! I have read Esperanza Rising over ten times. It is like the best book ever written. Pam Munoz Ryan is my favorite author. If you like chapters that tempt you to read more, this book is definitely for you.