Fantasy League

Charlie Gaines is a fantasy football player. He wins every league and he is only 12 years old. In this book Charlie meets the owner of his favorite team, the L.A. Bulldogs. It will change his life forever. Charlie plays football, too, and he is the backup linebacker for his local team: the Culver City Cardinals.

Charlie starts to hang out with Mr. Warren along with his granddaughter Anna. Anna loves football as much as Charlie. When Charlie suggests to Mr. Warren that he should sign a veteran quarterback, Mr. Warren’s son Matt Warren get jealous. Charlie gets popular about Tom Pinkett doing good but Charlie can’t handle the popularity. Charlie got confident and said they should sign retired middle linebacker Jack Sutton. Charlie gets bummed that Jack didn’t do well and may have cost the Bulldogs the playoffs. He realizes that being a General Manager is hard and noticed that Matt’s decisions were good.

I liked the book because it was by my favorite author Mike Lupica. The book has a bunch of things going on so it kept me interested. I would suggest it to someone else

- Brett R.

The Miserable Mill

The name of the book I read was The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket. It is the fourth book in the Series of Unfortunate Events. The main characters in the book are Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. Violet is the oldest Baudelaire and she loves to invent new tools to help them all. Klaus is very smart and loves to read. He helps each other by knowing what words mean and pretty much knows everything. Sunny is an infant but even though she is she helps a lot. She is actually smart and even though she doesn’t speak real words they know what she means. Sunny also has sharp teeth to bite people.

In the story the Baudelaires are stuck with living in a small town. They all have to work machines to split wood and only get coupons for “money.” They all get to stop working when they come to age. The Baudelaires were working one day when Nero ( The principle of the Academy) introduced the new gym teacher, Coach Genghis, who is really Count Olaf, an awful enemy. He makes them do S.O.R.E, an exercise just for the Baudelaire orphans. They have to run nine huge laps that Coach Genghis made them paint. For weeks they suffered doing S.O.R.E and not studying for tests.

For an overall review of this book I would recommend it. It is a very interesting book that makes you want to keep on reading and reading.

- Norah T.

Cupcake Diaries: The Cupcake Cure

I read The Cupcake Diaries: The Cupcake Cure by Coco Simon. Katie Brown just entered middle school. Katie’s best friend Callie ditched her for the PGC (Popular Girls Club). Mean girls Maggie and Sydney make fun of the Cupcake Club and are mean to her in gym. Callie met them at summer camp and doesn't hang out with Katie anymore. Katie met some new friends named Mia, Emma, and Alexis. Mia moved there from Manhattan. Katie, Alexis, Emma, and Mia all take turns bringing in cupcakes for Cupcake Friday. Katie had a cupcake baking session because Mia, Emma, and Alexis don’t have much baking experience. Katie thinks the Cupcake Club made her middle school experience way easier. She thought her locker was an evil robot because she had to try to open it like three times before it opened, and after the Cupcake Club was created she opened her locker on the first try. Plus all of her classes got way easier, even math.

- Sadie W.

The Making of a Navy Seal

The main character in the book is Brandon Webb he is sixteen in the beginning  of the story. Brandon is very courageous and happy in being a Navy Seal. He even said “I don't want to be anything but a Navy Seal”. He also said not to let yourself be down if you fail.

When Brandon is on a trip to Hawaii he and his dad get into a fight about being a Navy Seal. When they get off the boat his dad pushes him into the water. Brandon responds by staying in the water until he leaves the area. Brandon and his dad resolved the conflict by going out to dinner. When they get back on the boat they get into the same fight again. Brandon’s dad throws him off the boat and Brandon swims back to Hawaii

My opinion on this book was that this book is very interesting and very self explanatory. I think it was very fun book  and I would recommend  it to anyone that likes the Navy or Army.

- Ethan H.

Firehouse Fun

The book that I was reading was Ready Freddy Firehouse Fun. In the book Mrs.Wushy tells everyone to go to the carpet because Mrs.Wushy is telling the whole class that they are going to the firehouse.

Freddy was afraid to go on his field trip because he didn’t want to slide down the firepole. I think he is afraid of heights. Also, he doesn’t think he is strong enough. Freddy asked to go to the bathroom, but instead he hid in the fire truck because he was afraid to go down the pole.  

Captain Ken helped Freddy by telling him that when he gets ready to fight a fire, he gets scared too. He told Freddy that he wasn’t a fraidy cat. He told him to be brave.

-Jacob C.

Dorothy Must Die

The book I read was Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. The main character is Amy Gumm from Dusty Acres, Kansas. Amy is in high school. Amy is in a fight with Madison Pendleton and she gets punched in the face. Then, Amy gets suspended because Madison accuses her of starting the fight. When Amy gets home her mom leaves her and goes to the bar. While her mom is out a tornado comes and sucks Amy up! When the tornado stops Amy finds herself in OZ! She is hanging off the side of a cliff, a boy named Pete saves her, then Pete jumps of a cliff.

This book has such an exciting beginning and I can’t wait to see how it ends!!

- Emma M.

Descendants

I just finished reading Descendants. I read the book after I watched the movie. When the book fair was here I had to get the book. I saw it and the secret handbook and I had to put it on hold. The story was about 4 villain’s kids getting a chance to go to the school of Auradon. I will introduce them soon, but this happened first... Ben was the soon-to-be prince. He is the son of Belle and Beast and he had to make his first proclamation.

All the villains were stuck on an island called the Isle of the Lost. Ben’s proclamation was to let the villain’s kids have a chance. The four friends were Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen; Carlos, Son of Cruella Devill; Jay, the son of Jafar; and Mal, daughter of Maleficent. These kids were “rotten to the core”. When Maleficent told the kids about how they had a chance, Mal and her mother came up with a plan. Maleficent wanted the Fairy Godmother’s wand. The next day when the limo arrived to take them to Auradon Mal was nervous.

Mal met Ben and did not like him at first. Mal and her friends went through 3 plans to get the wand and the third one would have worked. Mal and her friends make a love potion in a cookie so Ben will fall in love with her. But at the end Mal actually likes Ben. Ben tells the kids they have a choice. Read to find out whether they chose to be good or Evil.

- Leah M.

I Totally Funniest :-)

This month I read I Totally Funniest, by James Patterson.

Jamie Grimm is a boy who survived a car crash. He lost his parents, sister and his ability to walk. After the crash he moved in with his aunt and uncle in Long Beach, New York, and got an after school job at his uncle’s diner. Comedy has always helped Jamie in the past so he enters the “Planet’s Funniest Kid Comic Contest’’. He faces challenges along the way dealing with his school bully (and cousin) Stevie Cosgrove, his anxiety of running out of good jokes, and Hurricane Sam.

When the day of the contest comes Jamie keeps thinking he will choke on stage and lose the contest. After Jamie is announced into the final four of the contest he heads home and his ego sky rockets and he was really rude to his friends. He heads over to his uncle’s diner when a storm warning flashes on the TV. Jamie and his aunt, uncle, and Stevie go to a shelter. While everyone his in the shelter Jamie decides to lighten the mood by telling a few jokes. A little while after, Jamie’s friends arrive and he apologizes. After the storm was over Jamie went to his uncle’s diner to see if it got destroyed by the storm and it did. School was canceled for a while but when Jamie went back to school everybody told the jokes Jamie told the first night of being in the shelter. It was time for the finale so Jamie went to the contest in Hollywood. Everyone there was at the top of their game. When it was time for Jamie to go on stage he told his life story and how hard his life is and how in some ways he was lucky. The results were in the judge tore open an envelope and said Jamie was the winner. Jamie won his own TV show, ten thousand dollars, and a big trophy.

This was a great book. I thought the story had a good balance of drama and comedy. It was great and I would recommend it to anybody.

- Vinny A.

I Survived the Great Chicago FIre

I read I Survived The Great Chicago Fire by Lauren Tarshis. The main character is Oscar Starling and he is really brave because he went in a burning house to save his family members. He took a trip to Chicago on a train with his family, but he never wanted to go to Chicago. 

Oscar was trying to get his mom on the other side of the city, but he is stuck inside a burning house. He got out of the house but he lost his siblings, Jennie and Bruno. He found his mom and his siblings after the fire calmed down.

I liked the book because of all the action. I would recommend it to my friends. I would rate it 10 out of 10 stars.  

- Josh J.

The Copper Gauntlet

The Copper Gauntlet, by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, is the second book in the Magisterium Series. The first book is called the Iron Trial. The book is about the protagonists named Callum (Call for short), Tamara, and Aaron. Call is the evil one (more will be explained in paragraph two), Tamera is the smart one, and Aaron is the makar. A makar is a chaos wizard (mage) who can summon chaos and devour things.  

The book is about three wizards (Call, Aaron, and Tamara) who go to wizard school. They are in the copper year (Year Two) and recently Call found out he was the “enemy of death”. Basically an evil wizard. His father tried to remove his chaos wolf named Havoc’s heart. So Call got angry and used earth magic to knock him out, and then gathered his things and Havoc and left. They went to Tamara’s house. Tamara was rich, like rich rich, and they were throwing a party. A makar is the “Savior” against the enemy of death. The Alkahest is stolen probably by Call’s dad. The alkahest is a gauntlet that can retract a makar’s chaos magic and will kill the makar, Alistar (Call’s Dad) was going to use it on Call because he might be the enemy of death. It involves a chaos ridden animal’s heart. And Havoc is a chaos ridden wolf, connect the dots and you get havoc is in danger.

The book is really good so far! I read the first one and I was lucky to pre-order the second! I rate it 10/10! I would definitely recommend it!

- Zack G.

Goosebumps: The Haunted Car

The book I read was Goosebumps: The Haunted Car by R.L.Stine. (Robert Lawrence Stine)

It is about a boy, Mitchell, whose family owns a Haunted car. They bought it after his dad crashed their old car. Later that night Mitchell wanted to drive the car really bad. His dad told him not to, but he ended up in the leather front seat of the car. He started to drive but then he met a ghost girl that haunts the car and the ghost said in a dry and raspy whisper, “I’m evil. I’m so evil.”

He tried to get out but the ghost girl locked the door…

Later in the morning, when his dad drove him to school, he found a note in the glove compartment. It said: I’m evil. I’m so evil…

I also read a Goosebumps Monster Survival Guide and it said the car is Slappy’s, an evil ventriloquist dummy from another Goosebumps book. I LOVE the Goosebumps series and would recommend that you read this book!

- Lena S-W.

The Half Blood Prince

My book is Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K Rowling. The main character is Harry Potter, and his friends Ron and Hermione. Harry gets to Hogwarts, A wizarding school, with Ron and Hermione, then he goes to his potions class and uses a borrowed book from Slughorn. The book is scribbled on and it says different instructions than what the black board says. Harry follows the instructions and wins felix felicis! When Harry gets back to the Gryffindor common room he finds out the book belongs to the Half- Blood Prince.

Dumbledore takes Harry into the Pensive to look at Tom Riddle/Voldemort/He who must not be named/You Know Who’s memory. Then, When Harry goes to Aragogs funeral he runs into Horace Slughorn. After that, Slughorn gives Harry the important “Memory”. Next, Harry and Dumbledore go on a quest to find Voldemort/Tom Riddle/ You know who/ He who must not be Named’s Horcruxes. They go to an “inferri” lake and Dumbledore drinks the “potion”.

At the end of the story so many unexpected things happen! I would definitely recommend this book! 

- Emma M.

You're Mine Captain

The book I read is You’re Mine Captain by Geronimo Stilton.

This book is about how Geronimo saves two aliens when their ship breaks down.Geronimo lets them on his spaceship and goes to their home planet, Flurk The Queen falls in love with Geronimo. Geronimo’s cousin Trap does a magic on the Queen’s crown, but the Queen’s crown is not where Trap put it. The Queen has a golf tournament to see which one she would marry.

Whoever loses gets thrown in the flurk (boiling hot cheese). Geronimo’s nephew had the Queen’s crown and he found it in Nova’s room.

Geronimo is lucky because his nephew had the crown and they found it before he was thrown in the flurk.

I think this book is really good so you should read it.

- Sean C. 

Freckle Juice

The book I have been reading is Freckle Juice by Judy Blume. The main character is Andrew Marcus. He wants to have freckles like Nicky Lane.

There is a girl named Sharon who’s in their class. She has a secret recipe for Andrew to get freckles. Andrew decides to try Sharon’s secret recipe.

This book is good and I really would recommend it to anyone that would enjoy pranks and funny jokes. Even though Sharon was very mean, trying to get money from everybody with and without freckles, it was still a good book.

- Julia L. 

I am Pusheen the Cat

The book I read is “I am Pusheen the Cat” by Claire Belton. This book is about a fat, food loving house cat named Pusheen. She loves to lay down, relax, and she secretly loves food! I loved     when Pusheen is super fancy or when Pusheen and Stormy, her sister, are playing Kitty Adventures!!!!

The most important parts in the whole book are the funny quotes by Pusheen:

“Home is where my butt is” 

“My beach essentials Donuts, Cake, Pizza, Bacon”

“I love snuggles”

“Cat Wizards“

In the book, Pusheen and Stormy go on some Kitty Adventures in places such as Cat-Mountain and they find the Cat-Diamond!

I loved this book and you should read it!

   

- Taylor S. 

Treasure Island

I read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. The book is about Jim Hawkins (the main character) who sets sail in this exciting adventure story. Jim goes to treasure island where treasure is buried. He is smart because he knows when the pirates are injured or not.

There was an old seaman who stayed at the Admiral Benbow, Jim Hawkins’ home. He died and he had a key around his neck. Jim and his mom took the key and went to his room and opened a chest and in that chest there was a map that leads to treasure on Treasure Island and Jim goes there. Jim is on the ship heading to Treasure Island when he hears people talking. Jim is hiding in an apple barrel and they say that they might overthrow the ship! FInally, Jim is on the Island that has the treasure and he is in the stockade that is on the island. Then there is an attack on the stockade from pirates!

So I really liked the book because it had a lot of adventure. I would totally recommend the book to others!

- Tanner P. 

Pretty Little Secrets

The book I am reading is Pretty Little Secrets. It is a Pretty Little Liars book, but the christmas  version, by: Sara Shepard. This book is like the show PLL (Pretty Little Liars). It’s about 4 girls who got stalked by A- but they think A- is dead but A- is not. They think Ali is dead but she isn’t so everyone thinks she’s dead even her parents think she’s dead. So every body is so sad that Ali is “dead” and the only person who knows Ali is not dead is A-. So A-’s been stalking them for a while.

Aria got married because she didn’t want her ex BF now that they are dating to get arrested because he did something bad to save animals. So Aria got married to him and then they went to a show with panthers and he stole them to let them free. Aria didn’t think that was a good idea. So they just left them in the cages and went back to their hotel.                                                                                     

Then on to Emily, her mother wanted her to spy on these three girls so they call them the “Merry Elves” they ruin Christmas decorations and put them in a box on the tennis court. Her mom wanted her to pretend to be one of them.

Now on to Hannah, she went to a fat camp and liked this guy that was the person that was teaching them. Then there was this girl that liked him too that was also in the fat camp. They both agreed that they would stop liking him and would leave him alone when the girl went behind Hannah’s back and dated him anyway.

Now on to Spencer, her older sister brought home a boyfriend. Spencer kissed him and her sister walked in as he kissed her.  His name is Wren and he still likes her but Spencer’s parents won’t let them date so they are doing it behind there back. Melissa, her sister, found out so they are not talking. Spencer hates her sister because she always is better than her Spencer got an A and Melissa got a A+.

That is the story By: Sara Shepard  I would highly recommend it! Hope you like!

- Kiana F.

Don't Sit on My Lunch!

The name of my book is Ready Freddy Don’t Sit On My Lunch.  It is by Abby Klein.  This book was about Freddy and Freddy’s sister who was laughing at him. Freddy was getting mad because people were picking on him.They were picking on him because he is small and he wants to tryout for the hockey team.

My book was funny because they were goofing off at school during lunch. Freddy’s lunch got squished when Max sat on it. They were challenging each other to go to hockey tryouts to see who would make it on the team.

I liked the book because it was funny. The funniest part was when Max said to Freddy ”move over whimp” at lunch to tell him to move over. It wasn’t very nice though. I would recommend people read this book to get a good laugh.

- Noah R. 

Models Don't Eat Chocolate Cookies

I read Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies by Erin Dionne.This is a story of a girl named Celeste Harris who used to be comfortable with her weight. She is able to become a chubby teen queen. But then she crafts a plan that she will lose weight, give up her obsession of chocolate cookies, and shrink out of the competition.

Celeste goes to a bride shop for dresses because her cousin is getting married and asked her to be her bridesmaid. Her aunt signs her up for modeling but does not tell Celeste. So when the folder shows up and says “congrats for being our new model” and she is with her mouth open and reading the papers.

So now Celeste is on a diet and sacrifices her obsession of chocolate cookies. When her family comes to congratulate her on getting in she is debating on eating her aunt’s dessert or staying on her diet. She gets mad and decides to get rid of her weight and try and drop out.

- Alanna B. 

Who Was Abraham Lincoln?

I read a book on Abraham Lincoln, it was about his life as a child and President. Abraham was born February 12, 1809 in a crude log cabin In Kentucky. Abraham was born poor, and got very little schooling.

This Biography is based on how he was raised, and how he became president. Abraham had rivalry between his siblings. His name was Stephen Douglas. The Rivalry was over the Kansas - Nebraska Act. Because Abraham wanted the blacks to have equal rights as the whites, where Douglas did not.

My opinion about the book is that it’s really cool for someone who wants to learn about Abraham’s background. There is also a memorial after him, and he appears on Mount Rushmore. I would definitely recommend the book, everyone will find that it’s very interesting.

-William B.

Hatchet

l read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. It’s about a boy named Brian Robeson and he is the main character. Brian is very brave. He stayed in the woods until a helicopter flew over him and landed to pick him up. He made shelter, had a lake in front of him, and got berries to eat.

   

Brian is stuck in the woods because his plane crashed in the woods. He had 20 dollars in his pocket. He used it to start the fire. He ran through the woods to find food and shelter. Brian was lucky because he had a lake in front of him for water. Before he found berries, he drank as much water as he could.

 I would recommend it to others because it has very big details and sounds cool and sad at the same time because Brian was scared and brave. I loved the book so much want to read the other books by Gary Paulsen.

- Kassidy L.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid - The Long Haul

I read Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Long Haul, by Jeff Kinney.  This book is great because it is about how the Heffley family goes a road trip. Greg was not happy because it was his summer break and he has to stay in a very cramped van. Greg is also very funny because he says “the one thing I’ve learned as a child is that you have ZERO control over your own life.”

The Heffley family was driving for a long time and Greg’s mom made the family listen to spanish cd’s.  Luckily Greg’s little brother Manny fell asleep so they had to turn the cd’s off so they wouldn’t wake him up. Then everybody had to be quiet. Nobody said a word, but then Manny spit his binky out and he woke up and started crying. So everybody was trying to find the binky but they couldn’t. Manny was still crying so Greg’s dad saw a prank store and pulled over to it to get him one. The binky dad bought was goofy but it worked. It had giant teeth and looked like a creepy door knocker.

The book Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Long Haul was amazing. It was really funny. This book really grabs you from the moment it first starts. I would recommend this to friends.

- Costa K. 

Everyday Angel

The book I’m reading is Everyday Angel.The author is Victoria Schwab. This book is about a girl named Aria who is an angel that came to earth to help another girl named Gabby who is human.

Gabby’s brother is sick so Gabby moved to another town because in her other town there was no hospital. Now that she’s moved she doesn’t feel happy anymore. She misses her friends and her old home in the country.

In the beginning Gabby and her brother were having a race back to their house from the woods but when Gabby won her brother did not finish. She heard yelling and turned around but her brother was nowhere to be seen. Next thing she knows she hears coughing and then she woke up in the hospital visiting her brother and the she realized it was all a dream.

She lives on a roof and one day she was climbing down the ladder and fell.  While she was falling she had herself turn invisible and then grabbed onto the ladder, saving herself. After everyone left she turned visible again and then a little boy walked up to her and asked how did she do it. She never said anything.

Aria followed Gabby into school and went into the same class. The teacher wanted to take attendance but he only had Aria’s first name and when he asked for her last she didn’t know what to say because when she came to earth she wasn’t given a last name only a first name. She looked at her bracelet then came up with blue because her bracelet was blue. So she said her name was Aria Blue.

 

                                                            The End So Far!

- Chelsea C.