A Dog Called Homeless

by Sarah Lean

     This is a beautiful book about about how people communicate in good times and in bad.    It is often not what is said in words that tells us the most.  So how do we tell the people that we love how much we care about them;  in words, a touch, a smile or a hug. In this book a family loses a parent.  How will they cope with the loss and move on.   The main character, a young girl named Cally learns to open her heart to love again. A homeless dog will melt your heart as it mends their broken hearts. 

Guest Review by Melanie

Theodore Boone:The Abduction

By:John Grisham

I really liked this book.  It is a mystery book and Theo’s best friend April is kidnapped.  This book would be boring to a lot of people because Theo is really interested in the government and would like to be a lawyer or judge.  The book has a lot of information about the law in it, and I think it would be a good book for 4th or 5th graders interested in politics.

Guest Review by Taylor:

Out Of My Mind

Sharon Draper

Out Of My Mind is a great book for people who love realistic fiction and love learning about different peoples lifes.  On a scale to one to ten, ten being the highest I would give it a nine, because certain parts got long.  Out Of My Mind is based on a girl named Melody who has cerebral palsy.  She ends being able to do something big, which is something very different for a person who can’t walk, talk and can barely move.  Hopefully you will read this book, and really enjoy it and understand it!  

Guest review by Amy:

Ginger Pye

By Eleanor Estes

Ginger Pye is about a dog that becomes famous for doing a bunch of crazy things.  The dog gets stolen and the owners and lots of people try to figure out who stole the dog.  The book is a mystery/realistic fiction.  It was easy for me but I think a third grader would like it.

Guest review by Savannah:

Day of the Blizzard

by: Marietta Moskin

Day of the Blizzard was an easy read for me.  It’s based on the Great Blizzard which actually happened.  This takes place in New York and that’s kind of cool.  I’d recommend this to maybe third or fourth graders.  I found the book really boring.  It’s only 79 pages.  On a scale of 1-10- 10 being the best book ever, I’d give this book a four.

Guest review by Zach S.

Artemis Fowl

By: Eoin Colfer

This book is about a spy prodigy that is about the age of a seventh or eighth grader.  This book is a real page turner, I could not stop reading it. I would recommend this book to somebody who likes action and suspense.  If you like this book, there are five more amazing books that make up the Artemis Fowl series.  

Guest review by Allyson:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

By: J.K. Rowling

I liked this book because it is about a wizard and a family.  The family doesn’t tell him that he is a wizard.  Then notes start flying in from know where and there all for Harry.  Then he finds out that he is a wizard.  I hope you all read this book.

Guest review by Ryan:

The Hobbit

J.R.R Tolkein

I chose the Hobbit because its a very good book.  The Hobbit is about a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins and he doesn’t like unexpected adventures and then 13 Dwarves come to Bilbo’s house to go on adventure.  They pass the Trolls, into the Misty Mountains, to Burons house, then forest of Mirkwood, Great men Laketown and the Lonely Mountain.  I like this book so much and it is for a 5th and 4th grader.

AMULET

By Kazu Kibushi

 AMULET is a very colorful book very little things wrong with it you have to look real hard to find a mistake in a grand total it was a WONDERFUL book. I think your going to really love it and best of all there’s more than one book there are  five and they’re all great I think the author is  a great writer. It’s an exciting adventures series.

Guest Review BY ROBERT

Guest review by Jamie:

The View From Saturday

by: E.L Konigsburg

This book is about a group of 6th graders and their journey to the state tournament of Academics.  I think this book really describes how it would be for them and how they are nervous.  Also the author is very good at describing details.  I think this would be a great book for ages 10 and up and I would recommend this book to anybody who likes realistic fiction.

Guest review by Evie:

CHARLIE BONE AND THE CASTLE OF MIRRORS

by:Jenny Nimmo

This book is a awesome book if you like book with magic in it!  This boy Charlie Bone has magic in his  family so he goes to a school where people are like him.  He has a friend who helps him on his to find this castle of mirrors.  When he was in a room with his friend it was dark and they were walking down some wooden stairs and the stairs would creak when you walked on them. Then they walked into a room and there was in the room was a....

Guest review by Anthony:

My Name is America

The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty

This is a book about a man that wants to be in the Marine Corps and is in boot camp and he is getting all this advice what to do. When he gets to his base it’s on a mountain and he has to get used to sweat a lot and take mile patrols. The food there stinks and they do not get a lot of supplies.

Guest review by Isaiah:

The Name Of This Book Is Secret

by: Pseudonymous Bosch

The book is one of the best books that I have ever read its about a girl named Cass. She is a person that likes to pretend  that she is a survivalist. She gets herself into a bad mess she gets a friend to do it with her. Her friend gets her in some big trouble and they almost get caught.

Guest review by Cade:

Hatchet

by Gary Paulsen

Hatchet is about a boy named Brian Robeson who has divorced parents.  When he is riding in a two person plane to his Dad’s house the pilot had a heart attack.  Trying to fly the plane he crash lands in the middle of a forest.  Now he’s left to survive on his own.

Guest review by Riley

Found

By: Margaret Peterson

Found is the first book in Haddix series.  The main characters in the book are a boy named Jonah and his sister Katherine.  The book is about Jonah and Katherine going on field trip to an airport and they get separated into two groups and the group Jonah is in is the kids that have been removed from their real time and have been taken to the 21st century and are being taken to the time cave.  This book is historical fiction.  I would recommend this book to 5th or 6th graders.

Guest review by Rosie

Rules

By Cynthia Lord

The book Rules is about Catherine and her little brother David.  David has severe autism and all Catherine wants to do is get away from it all.  She is struggling to teach him simple rules like, “If the bathroom door is closed you need to knock”, say “Thank you, when someone gives you something”, or “No toys in the fish tank”, and “A boy can take off his shirt to swim but not his shorts.” When the new girl comes all of a sudden Catherine is insecure about her brother, her looks, and everything else in her life. Especially when she gets mixed feelings about a disabled boy. I love the book Rules and would recommend it for anyone between the ages 9 and someone who just wants a good book to read.

Book review by Dylan

When You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead

I highly recommend this book for any young (or old) reader that likes to think and be confused. This mysterious novel will literally take your mind and tear it apart. The book is a mix of mystery, the real world, and confusion. Also, if you have read The Wrinkle in Time you like/love this book.

Book Review by:  Mitchell

Book:  Lawn Boy

Summary: The main character (name not said) mows lawns, but it goes into adventures that he never saw coming. He meets a person who buys him stock, has employees, and many other strange things happen.

Comment: Good book, but really not realistic at all. He makes a lot of money out of a old and trashy lawn mower. REAL REALISTIC. Possible, but the odds of that are probably 999,999 decillion to one. But still, it WAS a good book, with a good ending. But it was a short book, so you could read it in less than 2 hours. But don’t give it to anyone in less than 4th grade, because it has difficult vocabulary.

Rating: 

Book Review by Andie:

Sing Down the Moon

By: Scott O’Dell

gatheringbooks.wordpress.com

Sing Down the Moon was an amazing book. It was about a young Native American girl’s journey through the Ozark Mountains with her family. The Spanish soldiers came and later on the English raided their camp burned their houses and trampled their crops. After they forced the Navahos from their home they starved them then took them on a 200 mile walk to a camp that was extremely small for the size of their tribe.

Book review by: Rachel

The Hunger Games is an exciting, speedy, and action packed novel by Suzanne Collins, an amazing novelist for kids and young adults. This is by far my favorite book. It’s perfectly paced, brilliantly plotted, the characters seem real with full personalities, and the idea intrigues me, just like the characters. I also didn’t get the feeling that Suzanne was trying to fill up empty pages, which I feel in so many other books. The rest of the series is just as good. I think that anyone ages 9587979766865 and up would love the Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay.

 Book review by  - Jack

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Island of The Blue Dolphins

I thought that Island of The Island of Blue Dolphins was a very good book. If you read hatchet and liked it you will probably like Island of The Blue Dolphins. It is about a Native American  girl that lives on an island. One day people come and take her people away but the ship leaves her behind. It is a story of survival and a Native American girl. Along the way she has to fight wild dogs, make a shelter, and find food and water. The book is by Scott O’Dell.

 Book review by Alicia

The Wind on the Moon is a wonderful, enchanting book about two sisters that turn into kangaroos (using a magic potion) and get taken to a zoo. They escape, turn into humans again, and release the golden puma and the silver falcon into the wild again. Their father

went to war, and got thrown in prison, so along with Mr. Corvo, their dance teacher, the puma and the falcon, they set off to save their father, facing danger, kidnapping, and more.

Book review by Frannie

  

 

My Side Of The Mountain    

An enchanting adventure by Jean Craighead George. When Sam Gribley hears his grandfather once lived in the mountain before going to sea, he runs away to catskill mountains, and finds himself a perfect house. A tree. Really. he hollows it out with fire, and makes himself at home. He soon finds himself a friend in a neighboring weasel. Later known as the baron weasel. Being a well known run away, hunting, and caring for yourself is NOT easy. And Sam is no exception.

Book review by Quinn

Holes

By: Louis Sachar

I really thought that this book would not be good, based on the title, that seems pretty boring. But I started, and I had to finish. Louis Sachar wrote a story full of surprises about a boy who has a curse, passed on from his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather: he is very unlucky.

He was accused of stealing shoes from a famous baseball player, and sent to a camp in the dryest part of Texas, where every boy is assigned to dig a hole 5ft long, 5ft wide, and 5ft deep. And it gets over 100 degrees there year round. I would definitely read it again.

Laura was born in Pepin, WI

My favorite books growing up were the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  The original black and white drawings by Garth Williams perfectly compliment the light hearted stories that Laura so lovingly describes in her books. On a recent family vacation to the Ozark Mountains I visited her Rocky Ridge Farm home near Mansfield, Missouri.  I was delighted to learn the history of her life on the farm and how she started writing her books.  It reminded me of my own family history and how we all have a story to tell.

Rocky Ridge Farm

Play Ball!  As the baseball diamonds dry out after a long winter the young and old alike think about the first  pitch of the baseball season. To get in the mood for baseball pick up a baseball novel by one of your favorite children's book authors like Dan Gutman, Matt Christopher, or Mike Lupka.  I read Keeping Score by Linda Sue Parks.  She takes us on a journey back to the era of the early 1950's when legends like Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, and Joe DiMaggio were at the plate.  The art of scorekeeping is carefully described by the main character Maggie while she experiences the  All-American pastime.  Get your glove ready for the game and pick up a baseball book today!

We all want to feel like we fit in within our group of peers. It is especially important among a group of friends that we protect those relationships when threatened. Would you make a personal sacrifice to protect your best friend?  That is exactly what Hazel does for her best friend Jack in the novel Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu.  In a fantasy that reminds me of the Chronicles of Narnia an imaginary world where Hazel must risk her life to get back Jack from the Snow Queen.  A must read for the fantasy lover!

Series, series, series...books that is.  Some of the most popular books in the library are in a series.  Students love to follow characters through stories that extend through time.  One of my favorite series in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole books by Kathryn Lasky.  I've recently completed her series called Wolves of the Beyond.  This series follows Faolan's story as he grows from a vulnerable pup to a confident leader.

If you like animal books you will like Secrets at Sea. It's another great book by Richard Peck.  It reminds me a little of Poppy by Avi but with a more aristocratic air. The mice board a ship to England with their human companions.  They secretly explore the ship and find adventures at sea.  Narrowly avoiding being caught by unsuspecting humans or the ships cat. As always a happy ending that will make you smile.

When you pick up a book by an award winning author like Sharon Creech you can expect a good book.  Her latest novel, The Great Unexpected is no exception.   I loved this book.  Just like the title, you just don't know what you are going to get when you start a new book.  It may be happy or sad or just something you couldn't ever imagine.  That is just what Sharon Creech does in this book.  She gives you a mix of interesting characters, an unusual plot twist and just the right amount of mystery.  When asked what this book is about Sharon Creech says, "This is the story of how the unexpected can sometimes be great."  I wholeheartedly agree.  Take a chance on this book.  You won't regret it.