The Search For WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi

The Search For WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi is about a young girl named Eva Nine, who has lived underground with a robot for all 12 years of her life. Eva has been wanting to go the "outside world" for her whole life so she can see if there were any other humans that live on the planet. Then one day when she is at home with Murthur (her mother robot), some crazy hunter/assassin comes and lights the Sanctuary (her underground home) on fire. Then Eva is forced to go into the outside world, which is nothing like she expected it. The world was over grown, the birds and plants both looked strange, and there wasn't a single human in site.

The reason why she is searching for "WondLa" is because, back in the Sanctuary Eva had this "secret room" that she kept stuff in. Most of the stuff was little toys Murthur had given her, but one of them was a little scrap of paper showing a man, a girl, and a robot. They were all smiling and holding hands with each other, at the top of the paper the words were faded so all you could see was WondLa.

I fell in love with this book the second I started reading it. 

I hope you like it that much, too.

Middleworld by J&P Voelkel

Middleworld by J&P Voelkel is a wonderful book. It is about a young boy named Max who lives in Boston (woo hoo!) and is a all-American style kid. Over summer break when his parents are (supposed) to go to Italy with him they completly blow that idea off and go on a trip to (fictional) San Xavier. His parents are crazy archilogists, who go on a lot of trips to "digging" sites. Soon he finds out that his parents got lost, almost as suddenly as that sunk in to Max, his housekeeper, Zia, buys him tickets to San Xavier. Soon after he boards a plane to find his parents in San Xavier. When he gets there he meets a mysterious girl with two companion monkeys. She calls herself Lola and Max' life takes a turn that enhances each emotion differently, for the better.

I think people in 5th grade will like this book because it makes many references to Mayan culture (I read it at the end of 4th grade). For younger children this book might too confusing because there are so many different (not to mention, foreign) names that you have to keep track of. Older people might think that it is a bit young because of the plot line. Then again, if you are interested in Mayan culture you'll love this book!

 

Misty Gordon and the Mystery of the Ghost Pirates by Kim Kennedy

Misty Gordon and the Mystery of the Ghost Pirates by Kim Kennedy, is a very good book. At first when I saw the book cover (and this might happen to you) I got very confused.

The first things you see on the cover of this book are two girls (one in cat-eye glasses), a crystal ball (with a pirate ship in it), little golden statues of the "Big Three" (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades), a group of (ghost) pirates, and a lighthouse (super high-tech, but it doesn't matter when you're starting the book). As you read the book all of the things on the cover begin to make sense. 

Misty Gordon and the Mystery of the Ghost Pirates is about a girl named Misty Gordon whose dad runs the D.E.A.D. ( Deceased’s Estate and Antique Dealer) business. One day Misty is in the businesses van with her dad to go check out a house. Once they get there Misty' dad tells her that the house used to belong to a recently departed clairvoyant. Soon she finds a a pair of "cat-eye" glasses, that her dad edges her to keep. Misty tries them on and she sees a mysterious woman in the doorway. Misty walks away and after that her life takes a surprising turn...

I think people in 4th-6th grade will like this book (I read it in 5th grade). I think they will like it because it has an interesting plot. Though, younger kids wouldn't like it because they wouldn't be able to follow the plot, as it is a bit confusing. Also, older people might think it is too childish, but if you're like anybody in my family you will have a wonderful time reading this book!

Poll winner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, a few weeks ago I posted a poll saying that I wanted people to vote on my poll (J.K Rowling vs. Rick Riordan).  Just so I don't spoil the answer for people who are just scrolling through my blog, you will have to highlight under where it says "And the winner is...............".

Also I'm sorry that I didn't publish this post this earlier, for two weeks I was in places that had no internet access (gasp)!

And the winner is...............

Rick Riordan!

Yay!

( 3-7 I may add.)

J.K. Rowling vs. Rick Riordan

I put a poll on my blog that will answer the question that has been haunting my since I read Percy Jackson: Who is the better author, J.K. Rowling or Rick Riordan?
In a week I will see who is the better author (majority rules) and stop that evil question from haunting me my entire life. So (please) vote on your favorite.
The poll is located under my profile on the left side of my blog.

Love That Dog by Sharon Chreech

I apologize for the spacing problems with this post. 

Love That Dog by Sharon Chreech is SUCH a good book, though some parts are sad. I will let an E-mail I sent to my aunt tell you how good Love That Dog is:

I want ... wait no NEED Hate That Cat. Love That Dog is sooo sad, though!

(Key: Hate That Cat = sequel to Love That Dog)

Love That Dog is about a young boy named Jack,who's in school learning about poetry. In the beginning of the book he"mocks"real poems that they read in class by rewriting all the words to explain how he doesn't get poetry at   all. Sometimes, he'll write a poem using the same style and say that he doesn't get why the poem is about that specific topic. Before long the book turns into him writing poems about his dog, Sky. Over the course of the book Jack gets inspired by a poem written by Walter Dean Myers. Soon he writes Walter Dean Myers a letter asking him if he would come to his school.

One of the poems Jack wrote is:

Blue car, blue car, shining bright 

in the darkness of the night:

who could see you speeding by

like a comet in the sky?

I could see you in the night,

blue car, blue car, shining bright.

I could see you speeding by

like a comet in the sky.

 I like the fact that this whole book is written in poems. My favorite poem that she writes is the mocking of Tiger Tiger by William Blake (that I typed earlier in this blog post). I think I like it because my school's chorus sang Tiger Tiger so when I read that poem I heard my school chorus singing those words. I think a very cool thing about this book is that in the back of it is all of the poems that he references in the book. This book is a good book for people of any age, yet some people may cry more that the others (like my aunt and I). For the younger people the fact that it is written in poems helps them because they can stop at the end of each line and process what they just read. I think it is also good for older people because they will (probably) recognize the poems that that she uses in the book. Plus, it's a book that you can read (and finish) when you don't have the book you are currently reading.

I hope you love this book like I did!

Warning: I recommend you keep a box of tissues with you while you read this book.

Also, Hate That Cat (the sequel) is already out.

Wonder Struck by Brian Selznick

The book Wonder Struck is by Brian Selznick, who wrote the Caldecott Award winner The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a book that is told in pictures and words (about 50-50). The way he writes his books is in a very special way, the slower, dialogue heavy parts of the book he does in words and the more action-y parts of the book he does in pictures. In Wonder Struck he does it differently, one of the stories is in pictures and the other is done in words. It give the book that sense of wonder when one of them is missing words and the other is missing pictures. Wonder Struck is one of those books where there are two different stories going on at the same time, but close to the end of the book the stories become intertwined.

So be on the look out for this cover in book stores during the month of October (when it comes out)!

                                         

I will make another blog post on this book when this book comes out.