Toad Rage by Morris Gleitzman

   

     This six weeks I read Toad Rage by Morris Gleitzman. The book was first published in Australia by Penguin Books Australia in 1999 and the first America edition was in 2004. This book is fictional and written about a Cain toad and his cousin. The toads names are Limply and his cousin is Goliath. They go on an adventure to figure out why humans hate them so much. They want to put a stop to humans running them over.   

     The story is told in third person and follows Limpy and his cousin. The book starts off in a swamp near a highway. The highway is where the toads go to eat insects but get ran over by cars. Limpy did not understand why the humans were running them over. Limpy is scared for is family because he does not what them to die. Limpy has a collection of dead relatives in his room and he did not want to ad his mom, dad or sister to it. Toad Rage is a comedy book and an adventure novel. After reading the book I feel that it was fit for children. Morris Gleitzman kept my attention by keeping Limpy and Goliath in danger. The author’s style is to keep the character in danger. This keeps your attention by wanting to know what happens next. The author also keeps your attention through humor but sadly it's not that funny.

       This book affected me because every time I see a toad it will remind me of this book. This book didn't change any ideas about toads because I didn't think much about toads anyways. Throughout the book the humans judge toads by their looks and not how they act or who they are. I personally do not judge people at school on how they look but on who they are. This book did not bring up any memories of other authors or books, because I do not usually picked this genre of book.    

         This is a good book if you like funny adventurous books. I thought the ending could be more creative because Limpy never solve the problem of humans hating them. They only solve the problem of being squashed by cars. They did this by pole-vaulting out of the way of cars. I think the book would have been better for a younger audience.

    

  

Trey Wood   

Dec 18/2013

 ***3/5

Point Blank - Anthony Horowitz

       This six weeks I decided to read Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz. The first publishing date was in 2001. This book is an action adventure book. This book is about the adventures of a spy named Alex Rider. Alex finds himself in another job from MI6 Secret Service headquarters. An investigation into a series of mysterious deaths, leads MI6 wanting to learn more, so they send Alex Rider to the case. The people that died were all multi-million and billionaires, that all had 14 year old sons. They sent their sons to the elite prep school for rebellious kids.

       The story is told in 3rd person. Alex. The intended audience is meant for adolescents. It is because it uses world choice that adolescents would know how to use. Point Blank is a  action and adventure book. This book is about a boy that is a spy and has to solve why important people are being killed. The author kept me interested in this book by having very interesting story lines with the characters. 

      This book did not effect me. It did not effect me because it didn't relate to what is going on in the real world. This book reminded me of the James Bond movies. And other action adventure movies.

        I enjoyed this book. There were a few things that I did not like about Point Blank. I did not like how the story started. I thought that Anthony Horowitz should have added a little more information onto the beginning because when I started reading it I was confused at what was happening. Although I did not care for the beginning of the book I would recommend this book to any person who likes action and adventurous book.

Ben Jankowsky 

12/17/13

RATING: **** 4.5/5

Brain Jack - Brian Falkner

This six weeks I decided to read another book by Brian Falkner called Brain Jack. It was copyrighted in 2009. It is a fiction book that takes place in the future. Brain Jack is about a boy named Sam who is a genius when it comes to computers or computer programming. But more specifically hacking. It takes place in Manhattan with his friend Fargas. One day Sam and Fargas decide to pull of one of the biggest hacks in history. Telecomerica. All they wanted were some neuro-headsets with new high-tech computers. Sam and Fargas went in and out undetected. Until they were invited to a hackers convention where the received directions to a different hacking convention. You have to hack your way to that convention. Only the best hackers get in to that one. And Sam was the only one...

This story is told in third-person. I believe that it is third-person omniscient because the author uses context clues as to how the specific character is reacting to every situation. The plot is centered around Sam eventually being caught and asked to be recruited to work for the government. After the government found that Sam had hacked Telecomerica, they wanted him to work for them. They could use his type of skills. They want him to help keep the bad guys out of the important areas in the U.S. government. The intended audience is probably Teenager or even young adult because some of the topics in this book may seem tedious or, on the contrary, extremely intense. This book is definitely science fiction because of all the new technology introduced here. It may also have some action mixed in with it because of the intense fighting scenes. This book got me lost in the different scenes like trying to stop a plan from flying in to the pentagon with a computer!

This book made me realize that your reasons for doing things can change in an instant. Like when Sam went from using his skills to get unlimited money, to working for the government to try and protect our countries deepest secrets. It makes me wonder how do people get these types of skills. This book is a mix of James Bond and The Project.

This book is definitely one of the most interesting books I have ever read. It is so cool to see every scene happen in your head with the authors word choice. One thing that I did not like though was the absence of some information. But after reading this book, I can't wait to read another one of Brian Falkner's books!




Seth Silva
12/18/13
4.2/5

Russ the muss TPB

                                       The Princess Bride

    The Princess Bride is a fantasy romance novel the was publish in 1973 and was published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. The book was written by William Goldman, it is a 493 page book. So in the book their is a girl named Buttercup. She lives on a farm in the country on Florin where she verbally abuses a farm boy named Westley. She is always making him do all her chores and he would always say "As you wish" but he was trying to say "I Love you". After a wile she realize that she is deeply in love with him. and so he goes looking for money so they can get married. But then she herd news about Dread Pirate Roberts has attack the ship he was on and she was vary sad because he might never see her true love ever again. The book has a lot of fight scenes and lots of challenges for the hero to try to solve. 

    The book is written in first person. So the plot of this book is boy and girl love each other, boy goes to get money and gets attack by pirate and girl get sad. Girl get kidnap by a ghastly gang then turn out the boy was alive and goes to try to save the girls and he makes friend along the way. I think this book is intended for kids 12 and up. this book genre fantasy romance and this book fits in to it because it has a love story between a boy and a girl. The author keep me interested by having a lot of fight scene that was very cool. The author style is writing the whole story in one book like their is chapter but it just continue on from the last chapter.

     This book has not affect me. I did not change any of my ideas because of this book. It fits in with how i see the world because i know that you can find a true love in your life and in the book the girl find her true love. No it dose no bring up memories of other book i have read. 
     I don't have a lot of bad things to say about the book. However i would say the book is a little long. I would recommend that you don't try to read this book to fast because their is a lot of things to take in with all the fight and challenges.

Minhkhoi hoang/ Russell Hoang 
12/18/2013 
Rating: 4/5  

The Eleventh Plaugue - Cooper Geier

Cooper Geier, Period 1, December 17

The Eleventh Plague

By Jeff Hirsch

The Eleventh Plague is about a teenager named Stephen Quinn trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic America. It's copyright date was in 2011. It has many plot twists so don't get attached to anything. When Stephen's Grandpa dies and his Father falls into a coma, Stephen will do anything to get his dad up and working again, even if it means leaving him in a dark house to go along with strangers. This book's theme is to never stop believing  in yourself.

The story is told in Third Person Omniscient, because you see what Stephen is thinking, and what he is doing, however he isn't telling the story. When Stephen's Grandpa dies, he and his dad go out searching for a permanent house to stay at. But when his dad falls into a coma and Stephen is confronted by strangers, he has no other choice but to follow them to their town and hope for medicine. The intended audience are boys from ages 11-15. The Genre is Fiction, and the book fits into it by putting the reader in a post-apocalypse scenario. The author kept me interested by including a lot of action and plot twists. The authors style is a lot of action and plot twists, and it definitely kept me interested.


This book told me not to give up, and I have done better since then at that. It did not change any of my ideas, but I think that the scenario portrayed in the book could very well be the one in real life. This book reminded me of The Maze Runner series.


Although this book was good, it was also very dark. In the first few pages, Stephen's grandfather dies, then in the next few, his dad goes also. However, all of these did add up to the capability of a lot of plot twists in the conclusion and the middle of the book.



Cooper Geier

12/17/13

RATING: ***** 5/5

Yuening Li

1^st Period

December 17, 2013

Around the World in 80 Days

                Around the World in 80 Days was written by Jules Verne, and was first published in 1873. It’s a book about a nobleman called Phileas Fogg, who won bets, was rich, and traveled around the world in 80 days. He and Passepartout, a French nobleman, traveled together to experience the world and got a lady named Aouda. The theme of this book is that Fogg was anxious of running behind in his schedule and encountered Fix, an inspector that attempted to arrest him.

                This story talks about Fogg’s plan for his bet, the conditions while travelling, using spare time for other purposes, his experience throughout the trip, and dealing with Fix without any delay. The point of view is third person omniscient because the narrator could tell everybody’s emotions, thoughts, and conditions. The story started when Fogg made a bet to see if he traveled 80 days around the world. He used choices while travelling, such as rescuing Aouda, a lady from India, take a boat to Shanghai to reach Yokohama, and controlled a boat to Liverpool. He made track of his schedule to catch up to his plan and helped himself and Passepartout from getting delayed by the arrest warrant. After lots of burden and choice-making, Fogg, Passepartout, and Aouda made it on time. Fogg had won the bet and felt relieved. The intended audience is all ages. The genre is adventure; the book fits into this genre by having Fogg’s experiences and ideas mentioned. The author kept me interested and laughing with lots of characters’ humors, like Passepartout’s exaggeration, and I wanted to find out the result of Fogg’s choices and drastic changes outside of him. This is effective to the intended audience because it gives information about places and people around the world and had people interested to go to some of these places mentioned.

                This story reminds me to be wise while making choices like Aouda’s rescue, even if Fogg had some spare time. It also reminds me of “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?”, which is an awesome show and computer game is.

                The book made me feel excited because there’s tough conditions and I hoped Fogg would reach destinations on time. Overall, this is a fun story. I really like Fogg’s experience because there are plenty of good information of places and his plans to pass difficult places as quick as he can. I never felt bored but felt confident while reading this book.

Yuening Li

12/17/13

RATING: **** 4/5

Alex Rider: Ark Angel

 

For this outside of class reading project, I decided to read Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz. It was first copyrighted in 2006. It is about a 14 year old spy, Alex Rider, and it is the 2nd to last book in the Alex Rider series. Alex works for an agency, MI6, and when he saves a very wealthy business man's son from kidnappers, he instantly becomes friends with the child, Paul Drevin, and his father, Nikolei Drevin. He is invited to go on vacation with them to a private island, where the final touches to Nikolei Drevin's space hotel, Ark Angel, will be sent up in a rocket. Both of the Drevins, and Alex were all in for multiple shocks as they get to learn more about each other. The theme of the book is to trust your instincts, because they may save somebody, or something.

 

The story is told in 3rd person point of view. When Alex has himself kidnapped instead of the intended target of a wealthy business man's son, Alex comes face to face with one of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world, Force Three. After he is rescued, Alex wants to find out more the Drevin's family, which brings shock after shock to the reader. The intended audience is probably teenage boys because there is a lot of fighting, high speed racing, and explosions. The book "Ark Angel" is a fictional-action book. The author keeps you interested by throwing in betrayals and unexpected deaths that make you want to find out what happened and why. The author's style is comical and serious. It does work for the intended audience.

 

The book made me think of what it would be like to have billions of dollars, almost getting kidnapped, and then betrayed by your only family and friends. I didn't change any ideas because of it. It fits in with my personal world view because it deals with terrorism, which is a real world threat, and rich people being mentally and physically attacked by enemies who wanted revenge and/or money. It reminds me of the other books in the series, and it also reminds me of James Bond because it deals with spies.

 

I love how Anthony Horowitz uses lots of different locations in the book, unexpected twists and turns, and the use of very creative gadgets that Alex uses in the book. I highly recommend reading this book to anybody 12 and up. I ended up reading the entire book in two and a half hours on a road trip because I couldn't put it down.

 

 

 

Nate Schrobilgen

12/18/13

RATING: **** 4.5/5 

Son - Lois Lowry

I chose to read Son by Lois Lowry. It’s a science fiction book published in 2012, and for the most part it takes place in a Utopian Elsewhere village, as well as flashbacks to the point of the last three books in its series: The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger. This is a fictional world where colors and emotions don’t exist, so have a careful mind! The story is about a girl named Claire. Her son Gabe was taken (in reality, Jonas took Gabe with him), and she embarks on a quest to find him. I think the theme goes to the fact that you must find your strengths and face your fears.

      The story’s point of view is in third person, and it’s where Claire looks for her son Gabe so that she isn’t worried about him, and it’s inspiring for young teens, just like its precessors. It’s very subjective, which gives it an interesting rhythm and creates the style.

      All three of its precessors (and itself) have improved my eyesight’s color by .005% and I feel bonded to them. It reminds me of the Astronaut Academy series by Dave Roman and the Zita the Spacegirl series by Ben Hatke, as both take part in fictional utopian worlds that the main protagonists save from further danger (both series from the very first book!).

      Overall, I liked the vast majority of the book, especially the foreshadowing between books, and the return of a crucial antagonist – Trademaster. I also like the return of important characters, such as Jonas, Gabe, Kira, and many more! Mostly, I like how the ending seems more concise than the first book,  I would highly recommend this book for 10 & older, because you’ll need an open mind!

Caedan Clarke

10/17/13

Rating: ★★★★☆

Rot & Ruin- Jonathan Maberry

      This six weeks I read Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maderry. The book was first publish

in 2010 and is a fictional book about kid who lives in town surrounded by Zombies. The book takes place in a town that was made after first night. The book tells a story about a boy named Benny who is sixteen. Benny is looking for a job but can’t find one. He ends up going to work for his brother as a Zombie killer. I felt like the theme of this book shows that you could have it hard in life depending on where and how you grow up.

       The story is told in third person that follows the character Benny. The book starts off during First Night. This is when all the zombies first where seen, and all the madness began. The survivors came together and formed the town. Benny lost his parents on this night and had memories that haunted him about his brother and his parents being killed. Outside the town is the Rot and Ruin where the Zombies are. After first night a town was built where Benny now lives. The book is a Sci-fi adventure and is for people who likes zombies, adventure, and likes to be sacred. The book is exciting and goes in great detailed about zombies and how to kill them or fight. The author added a gut wrenching and scary style to the book.

     It was a great book that has some scary and sad parts to it. The book affected me in a small way. Just thinking how hard it would be to grow up in a world with Zombies. I haven't read a book like this one and I think I should look for more like this one.

      
     The book is super cool and exciting. The book is scary and keeps your attention through the whole book. The only thing it needs is it should have more gore for a zombie book. I would recommend this book to whoever likes zombies or scary books.

Trey wood

11/8/13

*****5/5

Best of the Best

      I decided to read The Best of the Best. The book was written by Tim Green and was copyrighted in 2011 by Tim Green. The type of book is a nonfiction sports book and is mostly about a boy that plays baseball that is going through a rough part of his life. He is playing for the all-stars and he is trying to gain money to support him and his mom because of the divorce of his parents. The theme of this book is patience because you need to be patient with life and with sports, such as baseball.

    The story is told by third point person view and is mostly told by the narrator. This book is about a boy named Josh, he loves to play baseball, he finds out that his parents are getting a divorce and his dad is moving out and that he already has a girlfriend. Later on he gets chosen to play with the All-Stars Team, and trys to get money so he can help out with his mom and himself. The book genre is sports drama because of his life and also while playing baseball. This author keeps me intrested beause of him playing a sport, even though im not that intrested in baseball and also because he goes through his rough life and while playing baseball.

   This book affected me by telling me if i should play baseball or nbot because you have to practice and practice to make a team and also how a sport could get you distracted in life. I did notchange any ideas that i had held in. Honestly it did not bring up any memories from books because this is my very first baseball book that I have ever read.

This best thing abou this book is that it shoed alot of foreshadowing and that the book was flowing really good.

Julian Vasquez
11/8/13
Rating:****4/5
 

The Fourth Stall

   The fourth Stall is a book that was written by Chris Rylander. the book was first published in 2011. this book is a realistic fiction book about a boy named Mac who help kids with their problems any were from test answer to helping with bully's. Mac and his friend Vince are has been running a business to try to get money to go to a Chicago Cubs World Series Baseball game until a one day when a third grade boy named Fred need to get protection from one of the most dangerous bull Staples. I think that this book is good if you would like to read a funny book.                                                                                                                                        The story is told by events and Mac and Vince solving it, and the point of view of the author is first person. The plot is that their is a bully named Staples he has stared a organization where kids can place bets on school sport to try to win money. However Staples has been sabotaging these games to make kids lose their money to him and then they will have to pay back but the amount of money is to high so the kids can't pay it of so he sends people to bully them also kids who works for his business can't leave. But there was one kid who try to leave and he is trying to get him so the kid goes to Mac for help. I think the intended audience is kids from 8-12 because they will get what is going on. The genre of this book is realistic fiction and i think i fits the book well because it is a fake story but it seems real. The author keeps me interested by telling us how Mac and Vince solve their problem. The author style is funny but it has some big words so i think it dose effective for the author intended audience.                                                                                                                                        This book affected me because i don't like a lot of books but this is so good that it is one of my favorite book. I didn't change any ideas i had of it. it does not fit in with what i think. This book didn't bring up any memories of other books or authors i have read.                                                                                            I like this book because it is in the fourth stall and i like that the book it funny. I also like how this story can happen in real life. There is not anything i hate about this book that i can think of. As i have said before I recommend this book for kids age 8-12 and anyone who like to read a funny book.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Minhkhoi  Hoang Thursday, November 7, 2013 Rating: 4/5                                      

The Project - Brian Falkner

      This six weeks I decided to read "The Project", by Brian Falkner. This book was published in 2010. It is a fiction book that takes place in the present and the future. This book is one of the most suspenseful stories I have ever read! It starts off in Iowa about a 14 year old boy name Luke and his best friend Tommy. Luke is originally from New Zealand. These two boys are major trouble makers. When they pull a prank on their school statue, their principle makes them do a report on the most boring book in the world. Little do they know what kind of power it contains and how much it is worth.
 
     This story is told in third-person. I believe it is third-person omniscient because the author really emphasizes how each character feels and what they are expressing with their body. The plot is centered around Luke and Tommy being somewhat spy-like. They discover that a man has recovered Leonardo da Vinci's drawings of a time machine. This man just happens to be a Nazi who wants to go back in time and give Hitler plans for a nuclear bomb that would change the world as we know it. The intended audience is probably teenager to adult because there are some pretty heavy subjects in this story. I think that this book is a mix of science fiction and a tad of action because of the intense imagery. The author kept me wanting more and more and I still do! The intense detail in every scene in my head made me lose track of time.

      This book made me come to realize that some people will do anything to have what they want. It also makes me think about people like Luke and Tommy and how they make incredibly brave decisions to save the world even. The idea is not only unbelievable but insane! For example, Luke and Tommy have to go back to Nazi Germany to stop a man from destroying the world! This book is like a mix of The Hunger Games and James Bond.

      This is definitely one of the best books I have every read and I am obviously going to read another one of his books. One thing I did not like though was some of the information was not that well said. But other than that it was fantastic. I was really excited to get to read it and I hope you will too!



Seth Silva
11/7/13
4.5/5

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer- Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

                The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was written by Mark Twain and was first published in 1876. It’s a book about a naughty boy called Tom Sawyer, who played tricks and was very clever. He enjoyed having adventures with Huckleberry Finn and became a hero and got rich. The theme of this book is that Tom experienced lots of things and became a better boy.

                This story talks about Tom’s habits, his tricks, and his adventures. The point of view is third person omniscient because the narrator could tell everybody’s thoughts. The story started when Tom played tricks with many kids around the village, like tricking other kids for painting the fence for him, participating his own funeral, and playing with his “pinch-bug” at church. Tom and his partner Huckleberry Finn went into a graveyard and happened to see a murder. He became a hero by telling what really happened. Finally, Tom and Huck became rich by finding a treasure box. The intended audience is all ages. The genre is adventure; the book fits into this genre by having Tom’s experiences mentioned. The author kept me interested and laughing with a funny writing style and Southern accents, and I wanted to know what will happen next in the book while reading.

                This story reminds me to be brave like Tom who told the truth in the court although the murderer might revenge on him. It also reminds me of a space adventure story called “Cosmic”, which is also a fun novel.

                The book mentioned about Negroes sometimes, which I don’t feel comfortable because slavery wasn’t abolished yet. Otherwise, this book is a good story. I really like the story of Tom’s adventure because it has many hilarious events. I never felt bored while reading this book.

Yuening Li

11/06/13

RATING: **** 4/5

Stormbreaker - Anthony Horowitz

      This six weeks I decided to read the book Stormbreaker, by Anthony Horowitz. This book was first published in 2000. It is an fiction adventure book that is based around spies. It is a very suspenseful book that will make you want to keep reading more. The story begins with a boy named Alex's uncle's funeral ceremony. When Alex is told to go to where his uncle worked he finds out that his uncle was a spy and how he died. The overall theme of Stormbreaker is that revenge is bittersweet because Alex didn't get revenge on the man who killed  his uncle. And to not trust everyone because the police lied to Alex on how his uncle died.

      The story is told in a third person limited point of view. It is third person limited because you are only able to see what is going on from Alex's perspective. The plot is centered around Alex, the spy agency Alex is working for, and Sayle Enterprise. The intended audience is for adolescents. It is for adolescents because it contains information about the latest technology and how the technology is being used in schools. This book would be considered a action adventure novel. It would be  an action adventure novel because Alex is forced to solve problems in order to get the information that he needs. Anthony Horowitz kept me interested in this book by having action on almost every page and never knowing what will happen next. 

      This book had a very big effect on my life. This book taught me that not every thing is as good as it looks. Also if you do something wrong it might come back to haunt you in the future. For example in Stormbreaker one of the main characters was bullied as a child and when he  became an adult he made a plan to get back on the people that bullied him. One idea that changed after reading this book was to always be nice to others. I would defiantly not want to live in the world that Alex is living in because if you do any small thing wrong you will be punished for it. This book reminded me of the James Bond series of books.

      I enjoyed this book very much. There were a few things that I did not like about Stormbreaker. I did not like how the story ended. I thought that Anthony Horowitz should have added a little more information on the end. Although I did not care for the ending of the book I would recommend this book to any person who likes action and adventurous book.


Ben Jankowsky
11/5/13
4.25/5