Song for a Whale

 

Author- Lynne Kelly

Rating-⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION 

                    From fixing the class computer to repairing old radios, twelve-year-old Iris is a tech genius. But she's the only deaf person in her school, so people often treat her like she's not very smart. If you've ever felt like no one was listening to you, then you know how hard that can be.    

     When she learns about Blue 55, a real whale who is unable to speak to other whales, Iris understands how he must feel. Then she has an idea: she should invent a way to "sing" to him! But he's three thousand miles away. How will she play her song for him?

WHAT I THOUGHT

        I thought this was a super good book and I just loved the main character Iris and her journey to see the whale that she loved so much. Iris is so passionate and determined to meet this whale and she is so inspiring. Iris has loved whales and had a special relationship with them since the day she was born. So when she hears about a whale named Blue 55 and his story, she wants more than anything for him to know that he is not alone.  If you liked this book you might also like The Thing About Jellyfish.

The Mighty Heart of Sunny St.James

 

Author- Ashley Herring Blake

Rating- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

    When Sunny St. James receives a new heart, she decides to set off on a "New Life Plan": 1) do awesome amazing things she could never do before, 2) find a new best friend, and 3) kiss a boy for the first time.

Her "New Life Plan" seems to be racing forward, but when she meets her new best friend Quinn, Sunny questions whether she really wants to kiss a boy at all. With the reemergence of her estranged mother, Sunny begins a journey to becoming the new Sunny St. James.

WHAT I THOUGHT

This was a good book about a 12 year old girl named Sunny who needs a heart transplant. After it's over she wants to be a brand new Sunny. She wants new clothes, new friends, and even new hobbies. And when she meets Quinn, her new BFF her plans start to come together until she gets to number 3 on her list. Sunny is such a good character and is curious, funny, and caring. If you liked this book you might also like Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World.

Blended

Author- Sharon M. Draper

Rating-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

                      Eleven-year-old Isabella’s parents are divorced, so she has to switch lives every week: One week she’s Isabella with her dad, his girlfriend Anastasia, and her son, Darren, living in a fancy house where they are one of the only black families in the neighborhood. The next week she’s Izzy with her mom and her boyfriend, John-Mark, in a small, not-so-fancy house that she loves.

                     Because of this, Isabella has always felt pulled between two worlds. And now that her parents are divorced, it seems their fights are even worse, and they’re always about her. Isabella feels even more stuck in the middle, split and divided between them, than ever. And she’s is beginning to realize that being split between Mom and Dad is more than switching houses, switching nicknames, switching backpacks: It’s also about switching identities. Her dad is black, her mom is white, and strangers are always commenting: “You’re so exotic!” “You look so unusual.” “But what are you really?” She knows what they’re really saying: “You don’t look like your parents.” “You’re different.” “What race are you really?” And when her parents, who both get engaged at the same time, get in their biggest fight ever, Isabella doesn’t just feel divided, she feels ripped in two. What does it mean to be half white or half black? To belong to half mom and half dad? And if you’re only seen as half of this and half of that, how can you ever feel whole?       

WHAT I THOUGHT

This was a great book about a girl who felt like she was torn in two because her parents are divorced. One of the only things that both of her parents can agree on is that Isabelle is great at playing the piano. She has piano at both houses and that is one of the only things that relieves Isabella's stress. But on the way to a piano recital something big happens and Isabella may never be the same again.

Wish

AUTHOR- Barbara O'Connor

RATING-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same secret wish every day since fourth grade. She even has a list of all the ways there are to make the wish, such as cutting off the pointed end of a slice of pie and wishing on it as she takes the last bite. But when she is sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with family she barely knows, it seems unlikely that her wish will ever come true. That is until she meets Wishbone, a skinny stray dog who captures her heart, and Howard, a neighbor boy who proves surprising in lots of ways. Suddenly Charlie is in serious danger of discovering that what she thought she wanted may not be what she needs at all.

WHAT I THOUGHT
This was a very good book and I really liked the character because every day she found a different way to get her wish to come true. The cover was a little misleading and made me think that this book was going to be about a girl and how much she loves her dog and how she always has always wished for one but it's actually about this girl who doesn't have a loving family and has to spend the summer with her aunt and uncle and Charlie has a very bad temper and gets in trouble a lot but in the end she ends up with a happy family that loves her. 

The Hunger Games

AUTHOR-Suzanne Collins

RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

WHAT I THOUGHT

This was an amazing book and I loved the characters. It was a little scary and violent and I don't recommend reading it before bed but over all this book was really good and kept me reading for hours. If you liked this book you might also like The False Prince by Jennifer A Nielson.

Terror At Bottle Creek

AUTHOR- Watt Key

RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

When his dad disappears, thirteen- year- old Cort is caught in a battle against a Gulf Coast hurricane. Cort's father is a local expert on hunting and swamp lore in lower Alabama and has been teaching his son everything he knows. But when a deadly Category 3 storm makes landfall, Cort must unexpectedly put all his skills - and bravery- to the test. One catastrophe seems to lead to another, leaving Cort and two neighbor girls to face the storm as best they can. Amid miles of storm-thrashed wetlands filled with dangerous, desperate wild animals, it's up to Cort to win -or lose- the fight for there lives.

WHAT I THOUGHT

   This was an amazing book that was a bit scary and sooo suspenseful. I had to read a couple chapters to get into it but then I finished in like 2 hours. If you liked this book then you might also like Hatchet by Gary Paulson.

Things Not Seen

AUTHOR- Andrew Clements

RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

It's a Tuesday morning in February , and I get up as usual, and I stumble into the bathroom to take a shower in the dark. Which is my school-day method because it's sort of like an extra ten minutes of sleep.

It's after the shower. That's when it happens.

It's when I turn on the bathroom light and wipe the fog off the mirror to comb my hair. It's what I see in the mirror. It's what I don't see.

I look a second time, and then rub at the mirror again. I'm not there. That's what i'm saying. 

I'm. Not. There

WHAT I THOUGHT

This was a pretty good book and I really liked the characters but there wasn't a lot of action and the only reason I kept reading it was because I wanted to find out the cause of the situation.

CodeName Zero

AUTHOR-Chris Rylander

RATING-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

There are places in the world where heroes are born.There are places where brave men and women fight a never-ending battle against evil in order to keep our country and all other countries safe. There are places where the fate of our planet is being decided, even at this very moment,the consequences of which will echo through history.

NONE OF THESE PLACES ARE IN NORTH DAKOTA

Carson Fender, seventh grader and notorious prankster, knows this. He's lived in North Dakota for his entire life, going to the same boring school every day, the same boring movie theater every week, the same boring state fair every year. Nothing ever changes, and nothing ever happens. That is, until today. Because today a desperate man is going to hand Carson a package with dire set of instructions. And that package is going to lead him to discover that there's a secret government agency operating in this small, quiet North Dakota hometown. 

And that agency needs his help

WHAT I THOUGHT

This was a really good book because it's funny, full of mystery, suspenseful, and had lots of good friendships. This book was about a boy who thinks his life is full of routine and thinks that his life is boring but then he becomes a part of something big and realizes that his life isn't so boring after all. If you liked this book you might also like The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett and Jory John or Greetings From Witness Protection by Jake Burt.

The Cursed Child

AUTHOR- J.K Rowling

RATING-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

WHAT I THOUGHT
This was a really good book with adventure and time traveling and mischievous boys who almost bring back back Voldemort. There is a pretty good twist about half way through but it wasn't as good as the original Harry Potter series.

Ban This Book

AUTHOR- Alan Gratz

RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

It all started the day Amy Anne Ollinger tried to check out her favorite book in the whole world, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, from the school library. That's when Mrs. Jones, the librarian, told her the bad news: her favorite book was banned! All because a classmate's mom thought the book wasn't appropriate for kids to read.

Amy Anne decides to fight back by starting a secret banned-books library out of her locker. As word spreads, Amy Anne's locker stash quickly grows into a school-wide sensation. Soon, she and her friends find themselves on the front line of an unexpected battle over book banning, censorship, and who has the right to decide what kids can read.

WHAT I THOUGHT

 This is such a great book and this was my second time reading it. The beginning is a little slow but once you get into it you can not put it down. If you liked this book you might also like Property of the Rebel Librarian by Allison Varnes.

The Westing Game

AUTHOR- Ellen Raskin

RATING-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing's will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger--and a possible murderer--to inherit his vast fortune, on things for sure: Sam Westing may be dead...but that won't stop him from playing one last game!

WHAT I THOUGHT

         This was such a good book and it was always so hard to put down. The end has a good twist and there is almost no way you can predict how it will end unless you skip to the last couple of chapters. If you liked this you might also like The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson.

Little Women

AUTHOR- Louisa May Alcott

RATING-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

  Here are talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy, united in their devotion to each other and their struggles to survive in New England during the Civil War.

WHAT I THOUGHT

This was an amazing book and felt like you were right there with them the whole time and it had really cool characters. One of the reasons I liked this book was because parts of it were sad and others were happy. Another reason I liked this book was because it isn't like any other book because it was written a very long time ago.

Code Talker

AUTHOR- Joseph Bruchac

RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. They braved some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and with their code, they saved countless American lives. Yet their story remained classified for more than twenty years.

WHAT I THOUGHT

This book was about a boy who really wanted to join the U.S Marines but he wasn't old enough so he had to wait another year. The next year he had to do lots of physical training to become a Marine. Once he is a marine he becomes a code talker and learns a secret code so the Japanese won't figure out what they are saying. The war lasts for a long time before the Japanese surrender. If you liked this book you might also like Allies by Alan Gratz.

Allies

AUTHOR- Alan Gratz

RATING-⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

June 16, 1944: The Nazis  are terrorizing Europe, on their evil quest to conquer the world. The only way to stop them? The biggest, most top-secret endeavor ever, with the allied nations coming together to storm German- occupied France.

Welcome to D-Day
Dee, a young US soldier, is on a boat racing toward the French coast. And Dee- along with his brothers-in-arms- is terrified. He feels the weight of World War II on his shoulders.
But Dee is not alone. Behind enemy lines in France, is a girl named  Samira works as a spy, trying to sabotage the German army. Meanwhile, paratrooper James leaps from his plane to join a midnight raid. And in the thick of battle, Henry, a medic, searches for lives to save.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I liked this book because most of the characters were on deadly missions filled with action. It was very sad and lots of people died or were seriously injured.  The ending wasn't that good though because it made you feel like it was only the middle and it would have been better if  the author added and made the book longer. Over all though it was a pretty good book and I read in one day. If you liked this book you might also like Grenade by Alan Gratz.

The Sign of the Beaver

AUTHOR- Elizabeth George Speare

RATING-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Although he faces his responsibility bravely, thirteen-year-old Matt is more than a little apprehensive when his father leaves him alone to guard their newly built  cabin in the wilderness. When a renegade white stranger steals his gun, Matt realizes he has no way to shoot game and no way to protect himself. It is only after meeting the resourceful Indian boy Attean that Matt begins to discover new ways to survive in the forest.

And in getting to know his friend, Matt also comes to learn the heritage and way of life of the beaver clan, and their growing problem in adapting to the white man and the changing frontier.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I really liked this book because I really like survival books but it was also was a little about friendship because two very unlikely friends meet. In the end Matt is stuck with a really tough decision. If you liked this book you would probably like Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. They are very similar books because the main character has to survive alone in the woods.

The Losers Club

AUTHOR- Andrew Clements

Rating-⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Alex can't put a good book down. So when Principal Vance lays down the law-pay attention in class, or else- Alex takes action. He can't lose all his reading time, so he starts a club. A club he intends to be the only member of. After all, reading isn't a team sport, and no one would want to join something called the Losers Club, right?

But as more and more kids find their way to Alec's club, he realizes something. Words like loser and bookworm are just labels. And labels don't tell the whole story. Maybe it's time the Losers Club members take their story back.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I really liked this book because it was about other kids who loved books like me. I thought the part about him wanting him and Nina to be more than friends was not necessary. It teaches a really good lesson that labels don't matter; like nerds and jocks and in this case, bookworms and losers. If you liked this book you might like Ban This Book by Alan Gratz.

Our Castle by the Sea

AUTHOR- Lucy Strange

RATING- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Growing up in a lighthouse, eleven-year-old Pet's world has been one of storms, secret tunnels, and stories about sea monsters. But now the country is at war and the clifftops are a terrifying battleground. Pet will need to muster all her bravery to uncover why her family is being torn apart. 

WHAT I THOUGHT

This is a hard book to rate because the beginning was really hard to get into. It would be boring, boring, something good just happened. Boring, boring, and so on. The ending had a good twist and I could not put the book down. The ending was soooo good. If you liked this book you might also like The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

A Wrinkle in Time

Author- Madeleine L'Engle

Rating-⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Out of this wild night, a strange visitor comes to the Murry house and beckons Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O'Keefe on a most dangerous and extraordinary adventure- one that will threaten their lives and our universe.

WHAT I THOUGHT \

At first it was pretty weird and boring and it took a little while to get into it. Once I was a little more then half way through it, it started getting good. It was also kind of scary. But it had a happy ending so that was good. It was better than the movie and it followed the book book pretty closely. If you liked this book you might also like The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.

Cyclone

AUTHOR- Doreen Cronin

RATING-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Riding the Cyclone, the world famous Coney Island roller coaster, was supposed to be the highlight of Nora’s summer. But right after they disembark, Nora’s cousin Riley falls to the ground…and doesn’t get up. Nora had begged and dragged Riley onto the ride, and no matter what the doctors say, that she had a heart condition, that it could have happened at any time, Nora knows it was her fault. Then, as Riley comes out of her coma, she’s not really Riley at all. The cousin who used to be loud and funny and unafraid now can’t talk, let alone go to the bathroom by herself. No, she’s only 10% Riley. Nora, guilt eating her up on the inside worse than a Coney Island hot dog, thinks she knows how to help. How to get 100% Riley back. But what Nora doesn’t realize is that the guilt will only get worse as that percentage rises.

 WHAT I THOUGHT

It was pretty good. When I got to the last about 100 pages I just had to keep reading. That was when Nora could not hold in her emotions anymore. She was sad, angry, embarrassed, and full of regret. I really liked how Riley communicated when she was starting to talk again and it made me laugh out loud. If you liked this book you might also like The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin.

Wildfire

Author- Rodman Philbrick

Rating-⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Flames race toward Sam Castine's summer camp. Suddenly, a flash of heat blasts him as pine trees explode. Now a wall of fire separates Sam from his only chance to evacuate. There's just one thing to do: Run for his life. Run or die. 

Drought has made the forest a tinderbox. How will he survive? Sam struggles to remember survival tricks he learned from his late father. Alone and lost, with no chance of rescue, it's a stroke of luck to find another lost camper- Delphy, a tough older girl with spunk and wit. The pace never slows, and when flames finally surround Sam and Delphy on all sides, there's no place to turn. But a powerful bond that can only grow out of courage and hardship has been forged- as two unlikely friends beat all odds and outwit one of the deadliest fires ever.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I thought it was really good and liked how there were so many so close calls that kept me reading. But in the beginning I think it would have been better if there was a normal day at the camp before the fire started. if you liked this book you would probably like the I Survived Series too.