The Tale of Despereaux By:Kate DiCamillo March 4, 2010

The Tale of Despereaux is about a tiny little mouse born to a family living under a castle. He has Very large ear’s and he’s eye’s are open when he is born. Which is a very bad thing for mice babies! He was the only one to survive from his brother’s and sister’s. 

             When  Despereaux was older his older brother had him go up to the castle where the light was to teach him how to hunt for crumbs. Despereaux had found a book open and he read off the page ” Once apon a time there was…” And his Brother Furlough had freaked and was amazed at what had just happened.

           Furlough had run to their father and told him about it. Despereaux had to be punished and  be put down in the dungeon, where the rats belong. Where there was no light at all. And reader, what happen’s to Despereaux might shock you…

     I recommend this book for who might like stories with a princess, lying, betraying, and a whole lot of mice…

                                      By:  Sam

The sign of the beaver by Elizabeth George Speare March 3, 2010

Twelve year old Matt and his Father have finished building a comfortable cabin for their family in the Maine wilderness in 1769. Now, Matt’s father must leave to bring the rest of their family to the new settlement. Matt must survive on his own until his father returns. One day while hes on his own, he meets and old Indian cheif and his grandson, Attean. Many months pass with no sign of Matt’s family. Then Attean asks Matt to join the tribe and move north. Should Matt start a new life with the Indians, or should he wait for any hope that his family is ever coming?

I highly recommend this book. By Austin barber.

The Graveyard Book By: Niel Gaiman March 2, 2010

          The past few weeks I rea the book The Graveyard Book. The main characters in the book are, Bod Owens( bod short for Nobody Owenes), Silas, (Bods’ guardian) Scarlett,( Bods’ friend), Miss Lupescu,( a friend of Silas) and finally, the man Jack( the murderer. Those are the main characters of The Graveyard Book.

         The story starts out in a foggy night in the middle of summer. The man Jack stalks the house until everyone is sound asleep, the strikes open the houses front door. The knife is in his pocket, he goes up to the parents room and strikes quickly. “ Two down, two to go.” The man Jack says outloud. Next, moving swiftly towards the young girls room, he wipes the blood off the knife, and strikes once agian. ”One to go.” The man Jack goes up to the attic, opens the toddlers door slightly. He sees the boy sleeping in his bed. He holds up the knife and, bam! When he hit the boy, all there was on the Knife was the toddlres teddy bear. The man Jack got furios. He looked all around the house, the catches the boys scent. The scent led to the front door. There lay a diaper. The man Jack folled the scent to the graveyard. There was a couple picking up the toddler, saying how beautiful it was. The man Jack would have to wait, to get his next victum.

            Five years later Bod is in the graveyard making friends withe dead. He goes out of the Owenes tomb. His guardian, Silas, would be going away in a couple days. Bod met Miss Lupescu the day Silas was leaving. She has a pinched face ang grey hair. She also had croocked teeth. Bod did not like the idea the Silas was leaving him with this freak. She taught him tons of stuff about ghoust ond ghouls. When Silas returned, Bod was thrilled. Over the next few years, Silas taught him all about the dead, and in a bad situation, how to fade. When he turned ten, he finally went out of the grave- yard. Everyone was cleaning there tomb, or coffin, to get ready for the Mocabray. Bod went to Silas to find out what this Mocabray exactly was. He told Bod it was a huge dance in the middle of the town. Bod was not aloud out of the graveyard for saftey reasons. That night, nobody was at thier grave to play with Bod. He heard music, and decided to see what it was. When he saw what it was, he was stunned. The dead and the young were dancing together.

         When the next year came, Bod decided that he wanted to try real school. When he walked into school, nobody noticed him. Bod mostly spent his spare time in the library. One he noticed that a boy was getting his money stollen everyday. He walkes over to him and tells him to stand up to the bullie. It works. When the bullie comes after Bod, Bod gets scared and doesn’t go to school anymore. Over the next couple years Silas teaches Bod how to more quickly.When he turned fourteen, he met a girl named Scarlett. She liked Bod. At that age, Bod really wanted to learn about his family. Scarlett decided to help. When Scarlett askes a friend to help he  accepts. When Scarlett and Bod go over to the mans house, the man pulls out a knife and reviels himself as the man Jack. Scarlett and Bod ran back to the graveyard. Scarlett hid while Bod wanted to protected his home. When the man Jack reached Scarlett he put the Knife on her neck. Then Bod is down near Jack and Scarlett. The man Jack fools the Sleer of being its master. Next, a three headed snake comes out and swallows the man Jack up. When they get out the pit, they say it is all done to Silas. Silas takes Scarlett home and erases he memory from the past few days.

        When the end of summer comes he finally leaves the graveyard to go and explore life. That day Bod Owenes realizes that he can live his life, he doesn’t have to live in the shadows anymore.

      I would recomend this book to people that into mystery and happy enddings. Also to people that love suspense.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer February 26, 2010

                                                 I read the book “The House of the Scorpion” by nancy farmer. It was a great book. The story is about a boy named Matteo Alacran, who goes by the name Matt, who is a clone that came from El Patron, a very old man who used other clones’ organs to survive. He is in his one hundred and forties, and he is the ruler of Opium, the same place that Matt lives. Matt grew with a women named Celia, who loves him very much. He was six when he broke a window and escaped his house. He then finds out he is a clone.

                                                        After people find out he is a clone, nobody talks to him except El Patron, Celia, Maria, his new freind, and Tam Lin, his new body guard. Tam Lin gives him a lot of information about survival and nature. He also tells Matt about Eejits, people who have a chip in there brain that makes them do whatever people want them to do.

                                                           Matt is living a tough life. As he grows, he gets more enemies – like Rosa, a maid who trapped him and treated him like an animal, Tom, a boy his age who always is mean to him, Senator Mendoza, who accused Matt for killing Maria’s dog, and much, much more. Now Matt is in danger – El Patron might need more organs, and Matt is the only provider.

                                                          I think the House of the Scorpion is a great book, and it is probalbly the best book I have read this year. If you llike suspense, you will like this book. There is so much suspense, you will feel nurvous your self!

Because of Winn Dixie by: Kate Di Camillo February 26, 2010

This month I got the chance to read the book Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Di Camillo. It was a very heartwarming story with many main characters. India Opal Buloni is one of the main characters. She is very kind but lonely in the beginning of the book. She is very warmhearted and loves to listen to stories. She wants to learn about her mother throughout the book. The other main character is Winn Dixie. Winn Dixie helps Opal make many new friends. He has a very charming smile, and continues to put one on the face of everyone he meets. The story took place in a little town known as Naomi.

The first line of the book is ” My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog.” With those words, Opal begins her new life with the new family member that ends up changing her life. She names him Winn Dixie after the store. She was not sure what her dad would say when she brought him home  because dogs are not allowed in her trailer park. The preacher allows her to keep the dog because he is always talking about the less fortunate.

Her mother had left her family when she was three, and Opal starts to wonder about her mother having her father tell her ten things about her mother for the ten years of her life. As the summer goes on, Opal meets new people and gains friendship. She was very lonely to start, having to leave all of her friends back home. Winn Dixie helps Opal meet new people, every age and type. You get to hear about everyones story. Otiss’ trip to jail, Mrs Franny Blocks fight with a bear, and even Gloria Dumps superstitions with the bottles on her trees.

Everything was going great with her new friends in Naomi. Opal decided to have a party with Gloria Dump. The weather did not cooperate and the sky started to rumble. Everyone went in, and realized Winn Dixie was no where in sight. Opal went outside and screamed his name. She searched everywhere, and Winn Dixie did not show. The darkness hid Opals tears she was trying to hold back. Did Winn Dixie come back?? Did Winn Dixie get hurt?? Did someone steal Winn Dixie?

This book was so much fun to read. I loved hearing about Opals adventures in everyday life. I was able to relate to many of her struggles throughout the book. I wish we could read this out loud like “The Lightning Thief”. This book teaches a very good lesson everyone will enjoy reading about. At some point of a persons like they feel alone and lonely. This book shows you that you can make as many friends as you want. I actually started to pick up the book for the second time to read it over. I hope you will go out and read this book, I am positive you will enjoy it!!!!!