HOOK: "Herdmans-Ralph, Imogene, Leroy, Claude, Ollie, Gladys- were the worst kids in the history of the world. (even the girls).They weren't honest, cheerful, or industrious or cooperative or clean. They told lies and smoked cigars and set fire to things AND hit little kids and cursed and stayed away from school whenever they wanted to and wouldn't learn a thing when they were there."(pg. 4-5).








RECOMMENDATION:  Are you naughty or nice? Are you on Santa's bad side?! Do you smoke cigars, curse, hit little kids, or set buildings on fire? If you do this, this is the book for you because the Herdmans would take place in your shoes. We would recommend this book to people who like funny/bad things that kids do. The Herdman kids are the out-laws to the Woodrow Wilson School. The teachers have heard of them years before they had them. HUH NOT THE HERDMANS!


WARNING: BE AWARE OF THE HERDMAN'S BOBCAT AND STUNTS!!!!

Book: The Best Worst School Year Ever
Author: Barbara Robinson
Bolgged By: Emily S. & Morgan W.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Hook:

‘’The Herdsman’s were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls) and talked dirty and hit little kids and cussed their teachers and took the name of the lord in vain and set fire to Fred Shoemaker’s broken-down toolhouse. Of course nobody even thought about the Herdsman’s connection with the Christmas Pageant .’’

Pg.# 1 and 19

Recommendation:

Are you the bad kid in school? Well, in this book, the Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world!  The Herdmans get into the Christmas pageant at their church. The kids in school don’t believe them because they are really bad in school and don’t like being nice. Then the Herdmans ruin the Christmas pageant. Read more to find out more bad things that the Herdmans do in this book.

WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMP ANY OF THE THINGS THAT THE HERDMANS DO IN THIS BOOK!!!!!!!

Book by: Barbara Robinson

Blog by: Jenna J. and Michelle D.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Rules

 


Hook
"At four o' clock.  ' I catch his hand and hold it still so he'll pay attention. I pass him the sheet of paper. David reads aloud, 'Chew with your mouth closed. Don't open or close doors at other people's houses. Don't look in the refrigerator or turn on their TV. Use a fork for cake, not your fingers.'
'Catherine, I'll watch him,' Mom says 'Don't worry. Getting out of the car, I'm tempted to yell, 'Oh, yeah? Like you watched him at Melissa's party?' but I have bigger worries."
pages: 167-168




Recommendation
Have you ever meet someone with autism or any disabilities? Well here is someone who has. 12 year old Catherine just a wants a regular and normal life, but it is pretty much impossible! David, her younger brother with autism is an embarrassment to Catherine's life.  Catherine is trying and trying to teach David 'Rules,' so David does not make a fool of himself or anyone around him. Along the way, Catherine meets a young teenager, Jason with disabilities. Jason is in a wheelchair 24/7 and can't talk. Catherine goes to the OT (occupational therapy) because of David. That's where she met Jason. Catherine and Jason get along very well. Read to find out how Catherine's life ends up and how she deals with David.

I would recommend this to people who would like books with interesting endings and surprises!! Your eyes will stay caught on this book until the end!


Book: Rules
Author: Cynthia Lord
Blogged By: Emily S.
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Ripleys Believe It or Not 2013 edition

Hook:

"Engma has dedicated most of his adult life to covering every inch of his body with a jigsaw puzzle tattoo with as many as 23 tattoo artists working on him at one time!" (Page 126) 

Recommendation:
Do you like gross and disturbing records or amazing and death-defying stunts? This book is filled with them! There’s one boy who celebrated his birthday by putting on over 215 pairs on under wear! Did you know that one time a lizard was sent on eBay by mistake after the lizard snuck into a box that had a belt in it and was sent to a Phillipa Durrant? Luckily the lizard was safely returned to his home in England. This is just two of the crazy stunts in this book. Hope you enjoy it!


WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS GROSS AND DISTURBING EVENTS!  BE PREPARED!!

By: Stephanie
Author: Robert Ripley
 Genre: Nonfiction

Hook:

“I don’t really think about Mom or Dad much. They are mostly just an empty hole inside me, a forgotten feeling of long ago. I never knew Mom at all, because she died when I was born, and Dad was gone when I was three. After the doctor told Dad he had a year or two to live, he wrote me a bunch of letters for my birthdays, so I hear from him once a year. Uncle Hugh has the letters-somewhere, I don’t know where, I’ve looked.” (Page 18)

  

Recommendation:

Have you ever lost someone you loved? In this book the character Elise loses both her parents and goes to live with her aunt and uncle. Elise and her best friend, Franklin, are getting ready for their first year of middle school, and the day before that, Elise falls down a hill and gets scabs on her legs. When she enters the school, this bully, Amanda, also her locker partner, squishes her lunch, throws everything in the back so her things have room, and calls her ‘Scabular.’ So Franklin spots her sitting really madly and asks if things are okay, and she says no. She’s having trouble getting her homework done, and her Uncle Hugh sets up a goal journal with her. Her father set up rooms with his and Mom’s things that she can discover when Uncle Hugh and Aunt Bessie think she’s ready. She discovers her mom’s favorite reading chair, all the books her father read, and her mother’s stuffed bear, Miles. She finds a journal that stated all the things she did before her father died. She stopped reading it when she had tears in her eyes. Uncle Hugh got worried when she found the first key, but Bessie reminded him that they both agreed that she was ready for it. Elise then unlocks the biggest mystery of all: herself. What do you think will happen next? I would like to recommend this book to kids who enjoy mystery books. I would specifically recommend this book to Mrs. Ryan because I bet she’ll love it.

 

I hope you enjoy this book!

 

Blogger: Abby

Author: Suzanne LaFleur

Book : Eight Keys

Genre: Mystery / Suspense

 

My Hook

 "I turned to go, my mind blank, my eyes blurry. But then behind me Aunt Fannie said, 'Ah, that’s better.' I looked back. Her nose grazed the crystal ball. Her specs gleamed. 'Now we’re getting somewhere. Here’s your future, Helena! Here’s the one you can choose, if you dare." Page 57

 

My Recommendation

Have you ever wanted to have a very adventurous experience on a ship?  I would like to recommend this book to kids who like to read about mice, adventures at sea, and LOVE to read about historical fiction.There were four mice in the beginning, living in the walls of a Dutch house, and their humans, the Cranstons. But when the oldest child, Olive Cranston, needs a husband, they decide to get on a boat to go find her a husband. So the four mice, Helena, Louise, Beatrice, and Lamont hide in the youngest child, Camilla’s, trunk and get on with them. But along the way, Camilla finds love instead of Olive. Camilla finds love with a prince, and Olive falls in love, eventually, with the ship’s doctor. On the ship, while the mice scamper through the ship’s floors, they meet a huge group of mice. Afterwards, they have balls, parties, royal dinners with the Duchess of Cheddar Gorge, the Mouse-in-Waiting of the queen mouse. At the end, they find out Lamont and Louise are staying on the ship because Louise fell in love with the first mouse they met, Nigel, and Lamont was pursuing a career as Assistant Cabin Steward. What will Helena and Beatrice do now?

 

"If you don't like books by Richard Peck, there is probably something very wrong with you."

 - Lemony Snicket

 

Book By: Richard Peck

Blog By: Abby R.A. Gregory

Genre:Adventure

 

May Bird and The Ever After

Hook:
   "When May opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed were the leaves. And that she was still alive.
'Ouch,' she whispered, rubbing at her face. She sat up and squinted at the brightness around her, fearful and dazed as she tried to focus on the leafy branch above her, which seemed to be waving at her for attention. Beyond it a ......... or were they just spots of sky showing through?" ( pg.63)

"There before him, traced in the sand at the base of the rock, were the eyes of a lady, her face hidden in the sand-traced leaves of enormous tree. Above her, one hand extended upward, with one finger pointed along the sand." (pg. 101)

" She turned and leaped back to see she was face-to-face with a man hanging from the rafters by his knees, his hands hanging down below him, one of them holding a water gun filled with black liquid. May tried to run, but he pushed her up against the wall with on frigid hand, holding the water gun to her throat. He smiled a wicked, sickly grin at her. 'Welcome to the grotto. I hear yer looking for me." (pg 185)


Recommendation:
     Have you ever fallen in to a lake and felt like you wouldn't be able to come up again?
 This book is about May Bird who fell into a lake and ended up in another world, The Ever After. The Ever After is where the dead live. May meets a lot of new ghost friends. Her only friend in the real world is her cat, Somber Kitty. They are in search of a book the is called The Book of the Dead. This causes them great trouble. The Boggy man is searching for May. No alive people are allowed in The Ever After. Will she make it back to our world? I recommend this book to people who enjoy stories about ghosts, creepy, scary things and adventure. I don't recommend this book to people who like happy things. so if you like books about unicorns and rainbows don't get this book.

Book By: Jodi Lynn Anderson
Blog By: Rebecca Diller
Genre: Fantasy

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Cabin Fever

HOOK

"Me and Rodrick shared a room this summer for a weekend.  We had to spend a few days at Gramma's while Mom and Dad took Manny to a kiddie amusement park.  Gramma has a guest room, so I figured one of us would sleep on her couch and the other would get the guest bed.  But Gramma said the guest room was 'occupied,' so we couldn't sleep there.  She'd given the whole room to Sweetie, the dog we gave her.  But you'd hardly know he's the same dog, because Gramma feeds him so much he look like a tick that's about to pop." (half of pg. 184)

Recommendation

Have you ever been blamed for something you didn't do?  Greg Heffly has.  His brothers are always doing things around the holidays that get him in trouble. Like for example, Rodrick told Santa's elf that Greg stole money from his piggy bank.  Greg and family always do crazy things too, like their mom is always exercising.  ALWAYS.  Rodrick and Manny try to get Greg in trouble. Follow Greg and his family through their life.


PLEASE NOTE:  THIS IS THE 6TH BOOK IN THE SERIES.  TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THIS SERIES, READ BOOK 1 THROUGH BOOK 6.  ENJOY!!!!!


Blog By: Logan B.
Book By: Jeff Kinney
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Crash

Hook

“ … He was sitting on the ground with his back up against the tree trunk, and first I thought, great, he’s okay. But questions blew the relief away. Why as he sitting there? Why did he leave that board dangling from one nail above his head? Why was the hammer five feet away in the grass? Why wasn’t he moving?

Downstairs Abby screamed.”

Recommendation

As you get older, you become more mature and learn the ways of life. Take for example Crash Coogan, football player, fast runner, snobby 7th grader, and a bully to a boy named Penn Webb. In this story, Crash comes to realize what’s important in his life after his grandfather suffers a sudden stroke. Not only does it change him, himself, but it also changes his relationship with other people. Crash’s changes give us, in fact, important lessons in life—lessons anyone can use.

This book is suitable for young adults who have a good sense of humor, but can also handle real-life drama and tragedy. It is a well written and has a number of plots about relationships among friends and family. Crash changes for the better as he learns. Maybe, if you read the book you’ll better prepared for life.

Highly recommended.

Blog by Caraline Le Coz

Author: Jerry Spinelli

Genre: Realistic Fiction

The Adventures of Tintin

Hook

“Sir Francis slashed at him again, nearly taking his head off, but at the last moment, Red Rackham dodged, and the blade slit the ribbon hold the pirate’s mask over his face.

The mask fell away as the gunpowder trail burned down the stairs towards the magazine …

Captain Haddock stopped.

‘What?’ Tintin said. ‘What happened next?’ … ”

Recommendation

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go on a treasure hunt? This fictional story is about Tintin, a boy reporter. He travels around the world in search of the secret treasure of the Unicorn, a pirate ship. If so, this might be the book for you.

Come join Tintin, his trusty dog Snowy, and comical Captain Haddock find the treasure. Kids would really enjoy this book, especially if they have seen the recent movie. I recommend it to all readers, except for younger children (less than 9 years old). I recommend, as well, the original comics by Herge. (Please note, parents should know that Captain Haddock always wants to drink alcohol. He may not be the best role model for younger readers.)

Blog by Caraline Le Coz

Author: Alex Irvine

Genre: Realistic Fiction