Excellent Reads

ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 144 pp. Penguin Group. £8.99. (Ages 13 and up) ISBN 9780141182704 Rating: ? Stars     This book is set in a future when animals are much cleverer than now. And because of their cleverness, the pigs started a revolution against the humans. Pigs could speak fluently in English unlike the other animals, and that gave them the power to be leaders. But, the story that follows only happened a few years after that...     Their first leader, Old Major, was kind and fair who knew animals should be equal. But when Napoleon became the leader it was very unpleasant. He made a rule that allowed the pigs to have better food and that forced all of the other animals to work crazily hard every day and night. That wasn’t enough, Napoleon wanted more power.     He decided to kill his brother, Snowball, so that he would be the only leader. Snowball was admired because he came up with a clever idea to build windmill. Sn...

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS Harry Potter Book 2 by J. K. Rowling Illustrated by Mary GrandPré 341 pp. Scholastic. $10.99. (Ages 9 and up) ISBN 9780439064873 Rating: ? Stars    This is one of the best books Ive ever read. Even if I read it when I was 6 also. It is a great book. I also like the other books. But you need to read it from the fist book so you can understand everything.   The three of them is always in the go. Like it when things always happens to them. It makes things cooler. The three is perfect. Harry is the main reason the problems happen, Hermione is the smart wizard, Ron makes everything much cooler.   It's not the best Potter book, particularly if you don’t like spiders and snakes, but it’s pretty easy to get through and will definitely whet your appetite for the rest of the series.   My favorite character is Hermione. She is smart and has an attitude. She was not born in a wizard family but she has good gra...

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE Harry Potter Book 1 by J. K. Rowling Illustrated by Mary GrandPré 309 pp. Scholastic. $10.99. (Ages 9 and up) ISBN 9780439708180 Rating: ? Stars   This is a very thrilling book for me to read. I have read this before, but when I was 7 years old. At that time I did not understand the story well. I only remembered the movies. But in conclusion, I like the book better that the movie.   Harry potter is a clueless kid. When he was born he did not even know he was famous. He didn't even care. I thought, like potter he would be a regular kid in Hogwarts. But I guess not. It's very sad that he has to be chased by a dark wizard and also be hovered by fans. I bet it would be really hard being him. I also like him because he can be not so braggy about his popularity   I like how the author writes about how Harry, Ron, and Hermione friendship began. In the book they also have fight but still stay as best friends. They he...

ASIAN SPINE CHILLERS VOL 1 by Andrew Lee 160 pp. Monsoon Books. £5.99. (Ages ? and up) ISBN 9789814423939 Rating: ? Stars    This book is a thrilling book about scary stories from around Asia. Some stories are about monsters, some are about ghosts, and murders. The book says that these stories are true. Sometimes I'm scared while I read it. It chills my bones from top to bottom. I hope they aren't true, cause it did a great job scaring me!   My favorite story is about the sunset hotel. Its my favorite story because it scared me the most. I love ghost stories because its scares me. The burning ghost scares me! If I was one of the characters that saw the burning ghost I would probably faint.   The story I don't like is about the fortune teller. The story is not thrilling for me. But I pitty the person who will have to be like that. It has no thrill in the story.   The conclusion is that The book is very thrilling

UGLIES The Uglies Series: Book 1 by Scott Westerfeld 448 pp. Simon & Schuster Childrens Books. £6.99. (Ages 11 and up) ISBN 9780857079138 Rating: ? Stars    I am going to talk about the cool teen series, The Uglies. This book is a great science fiction novel about a girl name Tally Youngblood. Tally tries to have a normal teen life but because of her friend, she cant have one. Now she needs to fix everything to have her dream wish, to be a Pretty.    Tally Youngblood is my favorite character in the book. I like her because she has her own thoughts. She is also like me, confused in every decision she makes. She is a 15-year old girl that has her world turned upside down in a few months. Her friend, Shay, dragged her in this revealing secret. She gives the readers unexpected turns in the story.    The language in the book is very complicated. There is some words that i cant understand, Like bogus or Bubbly. I think the author should make a glossary in...

TWILIGHT The Twilight Saga: Book 1 by Stephenie Meyer 544 pp. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. $15.00. (Ages 14 and up) ISBN 9780316015844 Rating: ? Stars   I love this book so much! It is the best romance book I have ever read. It starts out with explaining the main characters life. And how the person moves to the new town, Forks. The main character is Bella Swan, she is an 17 year old girl who just has moved to Forks with her dad. She started out hating Forks then ends up loving the place. She loves the place because the Vampire.   My favorite character is Bella swan. I like her because she is very brave. Even though she knows she likes a vampire she still fine (not freaking out). In some parts she is very romantic.   This book has the best romance in it. The author, Stephenie Meyer, has wrote the book so well that my heart is in the air for more than two days. The romance has caught my heart in romance. It makes me became addicted to the book ...

HUNGER GAMES The Hunger Games Trilogy Book 1 by Suzanne Collins 464 pp. Scholastic. $7.99. (Ages 12 and up) ISBN 9781407132082 Rating: ? Stars      I have read this book many times and I never got bored. The book is very exiting and has many types of characters. Every part of the book makes a story of how we really live. Capitol is the rich people around the world, and only the important people know what’s going on. All the other people in the capitol is just people who does not know what is going on in the world, they just think of them selves. On the other side, poor people struggle to give what they have to the capitol so they have money survive. Hunger games is mostly the same thing but it's just made to attract peoples attention and make them understand about capitalism that is happening on the world right now.      Katniss evergreen is the main character in the book. I really like her. She was a ordinary girl in the district that coul...

HEY, BABY, LOOK! by Kate Shannon Illustrated by Morgan Owens Board book. Blue Dream Books. $7.99. (Ages 0 and up) ISBN 9780991233007 Rating: ? Stars I have been reading ' Hey, Baby, Look! ' with my youngest child several times over the past couple of months. He is currently 15 months old. He seems to really enjoy the bright colours and the different images and enjoys trying to turn the pages to look at all of them. When I try to read the text on every page, however, he is often in a hurry to turn the page before I finish, and does not point to a particular image in response to the questions. I think this is just due to his stage of development, as although he understands some simple phrases and can say a few simple words he is not yet familiar with the questions in the book. He was able to point to the apple though after I repeated the question a few times and pointed to the answer myself. I think he will be better at this as he gets a bit older and I think I will try asking hi...

GENIUS IDEAS (MOSTLY) Tom Gates book 4 by Liz Pichon 320 pp. Scholastic £6.99. (Ages 9 and up) ISBN 9781407134505 Rating: ? Stars      This book won an award for the best book for children in 2012. It was also the winner of the Waterstones book prize in 2012. In my opinion, this book is suitable for all ages. The main character in this book is Tom Gates.(as you may have guessed.)      Tom goes through a lot of embarrassing phases and unbearable shocks. One of the 'embarrassing phases' was when his dad started a fitness regime, and wore really tight cycling shorts and a vest. One of the unbearable shocks was when he saw his sister... WITHOUT HER SUNGLASSES! His sister always wears her sunglasses and she NEVER takes them off. But when he saw her without them, it made him so shocked that he was late for school.      He has one shocking sister, an embarrassing mum and an extremely embarrassing dad. His best friend is called Derek,...

THE WOMAN IN BLACK by Susan Hill 208 pp. Vintage £7.99. (Ages 15 and up) ISBN 9780099288473 Rating: ? Stars     This book started off on Christmas day with a man called Arthur thinking about his past and then deciding to write a book about the experience he had with a ghost when he was younger. He decides to write a book about his experience for the other members of his family to read. The rest of the book is the book he wrote about his experience with the woman in black. It starts of with him going to an old house to sort out the papers of a lady who died. He decides to go to the lady’s funeral as he is sorting out her things. Surprisingly, he is basically the only person there. At her funeral he sees a lady wearing all black with bluish white skin. Strangely, when he asks who she is no one seems to want to talk about her. Also he begins to hear strange noises at night even though no one except him is inside the house. To find out more, read the book.  ...

THE STORY OF THE WORLD CUP by Richard Brassey 24 pp. Orion Childrens. £4.99. (Ages 7 and up) ISBN 9781444009460 Rating: ? Stars     This book review is for football fans just in time for the World Cup. This is a nonfiction book about the FIFA World Cup. People fight in football. English people decided the rules for football. A team close to England called Scotland won the 1888 World Cup, before the FIFA World Cup started. Pele is the best football player in Brazil, the world, and forever.     I like how the book includes sets from the FIFA World Cup. I think that 6,7,8, 9 and 10-year-olds would like this book because it has easy words and hard words. Girls should buy this book. also on the Guardian Children's Books Site

THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexie illustrated by Ellen Forney 236 pp. Andersen. £6.99. (Ages 14 and up) ISBN 9781842708446 Rating: ? Stars This book is about an Native American boy that is called junior. Junior is a poor boy that lives in the reservation* filled with Native American people. Junior is always bullied by most of the people in his school. One day, a teacher tells him to go to a new school to find hope for the himself, but he upsets his best friend. He goes to the new school and got bullied a few times but, after he manage to protect himself he made new friends. Not everything was perfect in his life…     This book is very interesting. This book has many emotions to it. Some parts are funny, gross, sad, crazy and awesome. When there is a part that is sad or makes you angry, the author puts in a joke to make you laugh. The book also has pictures that tell more about the character. the book tells a ...

YOUNG WEREWOLF by Cornelia Funke 64 pp. Barrington Stoke Ltd. £6.99. (Ages 8 and up) ISBN 9781781122686 Rating: ? Stars When I stared to read chapter 2 I noticed that I saw a dirty word called "stupid". So, if I changed it to "not very good" it would make it a better book. Wonder how does the boy called Matt turn in to a werewolf? Read the book to find out.

SHE IS NOT INVISIBLE by Marcus Sedgwick 384 pp. Orion £9.99. (Ages 11 and up) ISBN 9781780621098 Rating: ? Stars     How do writers describe the world in the books that you read? Take a look at a book you are reading, or have read recently and find a description of a person, place or thing. I would bet in most cases that the writer notes how things would look if you could be there and see what the writer describes. How often do the books you read have descriptions of the smell, feel, and sound of things? If you can see and have normal vision then imagine if you did not or were even born blind. What would it be like? How would a writer describe the world from the perspective of a person with a visual impairment?     Marcus Sedgwick, author of She is Not Invisible, performs several incredible feats of writing. For example, although he is a sighted person himself, he takes on the perspective of not being able to see and instead describes the world t...

FRANKIE VS THE MUMMY'S MENACE Frankie's Magic Football book 4 by Frank Lampard Illustrated by Mike Jackson 112 pp. Hachette £4.99. (Ages 5 and up) ISBN 9780349001630 Rating: ? Stars     This book is about four characters that are friends and go on a school trip. Suddenly they start to play football at the museum, so the teacher called Mrs Murray tells them off. But suddenly they go on a magic adventure to the pyramids to see the king's sister. But they did not have any football tickets for the ancient king.     I liked the book because I like football – mostly for tackles! I think 6 and 7 year olds will like this book because it is about time travel and because the book is short. I like the ways that the writer makes the book exciting and fun to read. also on Guardian Children's Books Site

SPIDER-MAN 2: THE DAILY BUGLE STORIES By Jacob Ben Gunter. 144 pp. HarperFestival. £4.99. (Ages 7 and up) ISBN 9780060571320 Rating: ? Stars SPIDER-MAN IS QUITE GOOD. FIRST HE WRITE A NEWSPAPER. WILL HE FIGHTS SOME MARSDERSE. BUT SOME PEOPLE HE A BADDIE. :-)

THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ; THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ; OZMA OF OZ Oz The Complete Collection, Volume One by L. Frank Baum 592 pp. Simon & Schuster Childrens Books. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up) ISBN 9781471117008 Rating: ? Stars     When I got these books I was surprised to find three books instead of one as I had always thought there was only one book about Oz, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. Actually there are fifteen books altogether. My favourite book of the three was “Ozma of Oz” because the plot and characters became more interesting in that book. I think ages nine to fifteen should read this book because it would seem a bit childish for those older than fifteen and a bit hard to understand for those younger than nine. This book definitely deserves five out of five stars.     “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was about a girl called Dorothy who was taken to the Land of Oz by a tornado. At first when she got there the Munchkins that lived in that par...

GREET THE DAWN: THE LAKOTA WAY By S.D. Nelson 48 pp. South Dakota State Historical Society Press. $18.95. (Ages 4 and up) ISBN 9780984504169 Rating: ? Stars     Greet the Dawn is about what the Lakota people do at dawn. They thank Mother Earth for everything that is on the Earth and Father Sky for everything in the sky. Dotted about the book there are songs in the Lakota language and translated in English.     The book is very colourful. I was amazed at the detail in the art and it was funny to see the way he turned ancient artwork into more modern looking artwork. I especially liked the picture of the meadowlark and her nest with the beautiful, colourful background. While reading I noticed that one of the pictures of a tent had a horse design that had a resemblance to my dress.

SAFARI ADVENTURE By Willard Price 240 pp. Red Fox. £5.99. (Ages 9 and up) ISBN 9780099482284 Rating: ? Stars     This book was kindly sent to me to review by the Guardian because my cousin enjoyed reading this series. I finally read it after Michelle Paver recommended it. When I first got it I thought it would be full of drama and was concerned that it would be like 'Running Wild' by Michael Morpurgo. It turned out completely different and brilliant.     'Safari Adventure' is about two brothers called Hal and Roger who fly to an African park to help get rid of the poachers and especially Blackbeard. On the way there the pilot is shot by a poison arrow. When they get to the camp a suspicious judge tries to cure him, but while doing so he nearly kills him. The brothers suspect the judge to be bad, but he could be someone they would never imagine him to be...     Even though it was a brilliant book I didn't understand w...

THE AUSTERE ACADEMY A Series of Unfortunate Events: Book the 5th. By Lemony Snicket. Illustrated by Brett Helquist. 224 pp. Egmont Books Ltd. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up) ISBN 9781405266116 Rating: ? Stars     I have actually read this book before, but back then I didn't review it. I have read it again and I am now reviewing it. I have decided to read this book again because Snicket is completely absurd - a word which here means he says contradictory things in a clever way. Lemony Snicket is a very interesting writer because Lemony Snicket isn't his name, it's a pseudonym. No one knows who he is as he keeps that a secret. I don't blame him as I would probably do the same if I had all that fame.     This book is about the three Baudelaire children when they go to boarding school. Because they didn't have parents or a guardian they had to live in the orphan shack. Inside the shack, fungus dripped from the walls, crabs crawled around and they slept...