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In this issue:
Book Reviews, Music and Poetry
All Quiet
on the Western FrontThis is the story of Paul Baumer and his classmates who sign up to fight for Germany in World War I. They soon see the horrors of war firsthand. This extremely graphic book gets 4 stars out of 5.
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
Andrea Davis hates her family. Everyone hates each other. The only way to
get away is to go to West Point, a military academy. But West Point isn't quite
what she thought it would be. Andi and her fellow new cadets are constantly
insulted and tortured by the Cadets. Being one of the only two girls in her
platoon doesn't help. They have to walk in a certain way, eat only little bites
at a time, and survive their training sessions. Can Andi Survive the hardships
of West Point?
This book is mainly about how Andi adapts to and survives West Point. It is
one of the best books I have ever read. I give it 6 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Emily Fisher
Don't
Hurt Laurie
By: Willo Davis Roberts
This book is about a girl named Laurie. Her father had left Laurie and her
mom when Laurie was three years old. And ever since then Laurie's mom beat her,
abused her! But Laurie never told anyone, because if the person she told didn't
believe her, and told Laurie's mom, her mom would beat her even more. Her mom
pushed her down the stairs one time and it broke her arm, then her mom threw
boiling hot water at her and she got badly burned, and her mom threw a knife
at her and it cut her hand, then shortly after that she kicked her and beat
her with her feet and hands. They moved a lot so people wouldn't wonder why
Laurie always had new injuries and ask questions and also they moved a lot so
Laurie wouldn't get close to anyone or any kids from school and make friends
and spill the beans to them about being abused. Laurie's mom had got married
again but this guy was gone a lot on jobs and was only home a short while, so
since he was gone so much he didn't know about the beatings that took place.
Laurie's mom's new husband had two kids of his own (both younger than Laurie),
their names were Tom and Shelly. Tom knew about the beatings because Laurie
told him and he swore not to tell, but Shelly was a toddler and Laurie wouldn't
tell her because she was afraid that Shelly would tell. Then one day Laurie's
mom threatens to kill he! And Laurie ran to their back yard and hid. But when
the neighbors found Laurie huddled by a bush they brought her home. Laurie's
mom thanked the neighbors and acted as if nothing had happened. Laurie, still
afraid, was in the living room when Laurie's mother came at her with a fireplace
poker! What will Laurie do? Will her mom kill her this time? Well if you want
to know, read this book to find out.
I thought it was an awesome book! It was so different. I had never read a book
like it in my life. It was sad and scary at times, and it was also happy at
parts. I hope you all read and enjoy it. It just shows you what is really going
on in the world. I really enjoyed it and I hope you do too. 5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Danielle Barajas
The Ghost and
Mrs. Hobbs
By: Cynthia Defelice
Imagine that you see and hear something that can't be explained. A ghost comes
to you for help, but you don't know what to do. No one believes your story,
except your best friend. You feel tremendously alone.
All this is true for sixth grader Allie Nichols. A mysterious young handsome
ghost appears before her eyes. He leads her to the lunch lady at her school,
Mrs. Hobbs. Mrs. Hobbs is not someone to be friends with. With her wrinkled
skin and deathly stare, she could turn anyone's blood cold. One question pops
into Allie' s mind, what could she have to do with the handsome ghost?
Determined to help the young ghost free his soul, Allie hits the books. Only
every time she does research, there are stranger and stranger occurrences. From
fires to her little brother disappearing, this book will keep you on your toes.
It's a very fun read, and I recommend it to all mystery fans. If you've ever
read The Ghost of Fossil Glen, then you will definitely love this sequel. 5
out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Lauren Heath
King of Shadows
By: Susan Cooper
Nathan Field's life has just taken an interesting turn. He used to be just an ordinary boy who enjoyed acting in school plays. Now he is one of 30 boys selected to go to London to play Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He is to act in the Globe, which was rebuilt by a millionaire. When Nat arrives in London, he begins experiencing flashes into the past, feeling like he is in medieval London. One evening, Nat becomes very sick. When he wakes up, he is in medieval London. He is Nat Field, a boy from St. Paul's School, being lent to Shakespeare's company to perform in A Midsummer Night's Dream. After realizing he has become a Nat Field from a different time, he adjusts to his surroundings, meets Shakespeare, and sees the original Globe. Even though he's having a great time, he knows he has to get back to his own time. Will Nat ever get home? I really enjoyed this book. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Emily Fisher
A Matter
of Profit
By: Hilari Bell
Ahvren is a Vivitar, the people who conquered and formed the T'chin confederacy.
Ahvren hates war. His father, one of the emperor's advisors, wants him to go
on the space ship that is going to conquer Zodan. But soon, in this futuristic
planet, a rumor starts up saying that there is a plot to kill the emperor. Ahvren
makes a deal with his father, if he can discover the source of the rumor, he
won't have to go to Zodan. To uncover the source of the rumor, he enlists the
help of many others. Can Ahvren uncover the rumor in time?
This book was good, although I don't really like books with futuristic settings.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Emily Fisher
Richard Mayhew is an ordinary guy living in ordinary London. He has a good
job and is engaged to a beautiful woman. Richard has never lead an extreme life
until he helps a bleeding, helpless girl on the sidewalk.
Door is the only surviving member of a once prestigious family. Now, after the
murder of her father and the rest of her family, she runs for her life through
London Below, a world of mystery and danger, of unbreakable trust and deceit.
Two men stalk her relentlessly, and they get closer each time before she can
escape. Door is weak from pain and fear when she makes a desperate run…right
in front of Richard Mayhew.
After the encounter with this girl, his conscience compels him to take her back
to his apartment and help her. But this innocent gesture is the turning point
of his life. Door has plunged him into the world of dark intrigue. Into London
Below…
Neil Gaiman does a wonderful job of weaving a story full of mystery and suspense.
A very dark environment of people and places within London. Truly exceptional
as a fantasy read.
Reviewed by: Jenny Buison
Nightmare
By: Willo Davis Roberts
This book is about a boy named Nick. He's around 18. He has an older brother, a mom, and a step dad. His real father had died a while ago. Nick's brother, Mickey, didn't get along with their step father, so he moved to Texas and stayed with their uncle on a farm. His brother was gone for a long time and Nick missed him. Nick decided to take their motor home and drive down there to visit him. But about a week before Nick was ready to start his trip he witnessed a murder, only he and the police didn't know it was a murder. But Nick had a funny feeling it wasn't an accidental death. However this wasn't going to stop him from seeing his brother. So he still left time for his trip. Well, to start off with the bad stuff that happens on his trip the first night he found the neighbor girl next door had hidden in his motor home to come with him to Texas,thinking maybe Nick would drop her off at her sister's house in Texas. He was angry at her but he couldn't turn around now or he wouldn't have enough time to see his brother. So he took her with him. On his second day is when he found out a Blue T-bird (which is a car) was following him. What do they want? he thought to himself. But then after his third day of traveling he thought he lost them, but then found that a new car, a red Camaro, was now following them. Nick tried to lose him too and when he thought he did it, he looked in his rear-view mirror and saw the red Camaro, but that's not all, the blue T-Bird was there too. What do these people want? Nick thinks that maybe they are the murderers. And he thinks right. But still what do they want with him? Do they want him dead? And again he thinks right. If you want to know what happens to Nick and his neighbor read this book to find out. I thought this book was awesome. It was scary almost all of the way through, it seemed like the scary parts never stopped, so I could never stop reading, until the end which, of course, seemed to come too soon. Well, I hope you all read this book and enjoy it the way I did. 5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Danielle Barajas
The Prince
and the Pauper
By: Mark Twain
This is the story of Tom Canty and Prince Edward VI who are nearly identical. They exchange identities for fun. They soon have exciting adventures. I give this 5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
Secrets
at Hidden Valley
by: Willo Davis Roberts
This book is about a girl named Steffi. Her father had died in a terrible accident
on his job. And after he was gone Steffi and her mom had a hard time paying
the bills. Steffi's mom wanted to be an actress in movies, but so far she was
only in crowds that were in the movie, and most of the time those parts were
cut out. So money was limited. Then Steffie's mom got a good offer for a role
in a movie, but this movie was going to be filmed in many different states!
So she couldn't take Steffi along. So Steffi had to go to her grandfather's
RV park way out in the sticks, and she had never ever met this guy, her mom
has a couple of times but she said he didn't like her. Well. why did her mom
think that he would like Steffi? But her mom sent her on a bus anyway, and her
grandfather was not very happy when she showed up. In fact, he wasn't happy
anytime, he was always grumpy. But everyone else in the RV park was nice, but
one man and his son were big and mean, so she stayed away from them. She made
friends with a boy her age named Casey, they both cleaned out the yucky pool
so it was swimable again, and Steffi repainted two signs so people would know
where the RV park was, because before she painted them you couldn't quite make
out what they said. So even though Steffi tried to help clean up the RV park
her grandfather didn't like her, or just didn't show it. But then a detective
checked in, and everyone in the RV park tensed up as if they thought the detective
was after them. And he was, but nobody knew it someone took Steffi hostage.
If you would like to know what happens to Steffi, read this book to find out.
I thought it was a good book. Most of it was interesting, and then there was
also a scary part. It was not ever boring to me that I can remember. So I hope
you will read it. 5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Danielle Barajas
In this novel, Siddhartha, a young Indian boy, leaves his family for the life of a holy man. Then, bored, he moves on into a rich, evil life. He has a son but leaves him and moves on. In his grief he hears a sound which signals his coming to wisdom. A superb book. You should read this.
By: Joel Knight
Slap Your Sides
By: M. E. Kerr
One day as 14 year old Jubal Shoemaker walks into his father's store he stares
in horror at the words spray-painted crudely on the windows: WE DON'T WANT NO
YELLOWBELLIES! TRAITOR! YOUR SON IS A COWARD! The insults aren't meant for Jubal,
they are meant for his older brother, Bud. The Shoemaker family are strict Quakers,
so when a draft for soldiers is issued in 1942, Bud, following his faith, refuses
to go fight. In the small town of Sweet Creek, word gets around fast, and soon
the whole Shoemaker family is being snubbed. People stop going to Jubal's father's
store, and some of his friends aren't allowed to "associate with those
cowardly Shoemakers" anymore. But when someone tries to harm Daria Daniels,
the last thing that Jubal cherishes seems to be at risk, and he takes drastic
action will change his life forever.
This book is one of the best World War II books that I have ever read. It talks
about an era in America that is little talked about. The ending is surprising
and gives the story a twist. On a scale of 1-10 I would give this book an 8.5.
Reviewed by: Alicia Mattox
Survival
Forest Fire
By: K. Duey and K. A. Bale
This book is about a boy named Daniel and a girl named Carrie. They each live
different lifestyles. Carrie is a rich girl andDaniel is more on the poor side.
But money makes no difference when the forest fire that's been going on for
weeks in other areas finally reaches them. Carrie's father told her to get on
the first train out of town but he has to stay to fight the fire. Carrie knows
that her father will be careful fighting the fire because he knows what he is
doing but Carrie couldn't bring herself to leave Midnight, her beloved horse,
to die in the fire. She stays without her father knowing while the fire just
keeps on coming and by the time Carrie finds out that she should have listened
to her father there are no more trains out of town. Daniel wants to leave on
the first train but his grandma thinks she's perfectly safe in their town and
thinks the fire could never burn it, and boy, is she wrong. But by the time
that she finds out it's too late, the fire is here and there is no train they
can catch. Will Carrie and Daniel get out of the raging fire alive? Can Daniel
take care of his grandma and can Carrie save her horse? Well, read this book
to find out.
I thought it was a good book. It was sort of boring in the beginning, but it
got better. It wasn't all that scary, but it was sort of scary. 3 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Danielle Barajas
To
Grandmother's House We Go
By: Willo Davis Roberts
This book is about a girl named Rosie and her two brothers Kevin and Nathan.
Their dad had died a long time ago. And now their mom was sick, and in the hospital,
the kids were living with a friend of their mom;s whose name was Mrs. Kovacs.
The doctor said their mom would be out in a couple months, and so that is what
they planned on. Mrs. Kovacs would take care of them for a couple months and
then she would give the kids back to their mom and high tail it to Florida to
see her sister. When the time came for the kids' mom to come out yet, the doctor
said she is still not well enough, so now what? Mrs. Kovacs leaving for Florida
in a little while and they have nowhere to go. Mrs. Kovacs' said they would
have to go to three different foster homes! Foster homes were bad enough, so
why three, souldn't they at least keep them together? Well Rosie and her brothers
didn't wait to find out. They ran away, to their grandmother's house, a grandmother
they were not even sure would want them. They had never met her, and this grandmother
had given away her own kids. Would this grandmother take them in? Would she
love them? Well, they had no choice. They were there within a day by hitchhiking
in a trailer of a friend who was going that way. The house that they thought
was their grandma's looked deserted. Then to Rosie's surprise she saw a person
look out from an upstairs window, then the person was gone. All three ran to
the door and their grandma opened it. But she was not the person Rosie saw in
the window and there was no one else in the house. Their grandma left the room
as the three kids ate the food she had gotten out for them. They looked up as
the ceiling creaked as someone walked upstairs! Who was it? Why did their grandma
not want them to know who it was? As they explore and find out who it is, they
wonder: are they getting themselves into more danger? Read the book to find
out.
It was okay, it was hard to start because it was sort of boring. But it turned
out to be okay. I hope you all read it. 3 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Danielle Barajas
What Could
Go Wrong?
By: Willo Davis Roberts
This book was about a girl named Gracie, and her two cousins named Charlie
and Eddie. They all were invited to go visit their Aunt Molly, who lived a long
way away, so they would have to fly, with no adult or parent supervision. But
Charlie has flown before, so the parents finally say yes. At the airport, ready
to leave for their Aunt Molly's house, their plane has been delayed. Their parents
had an important meeting, but they didn't want to leave if the kids weren't
on the plane. But Charlie said he could handle it because he has done this before,
so trusting Charlie, they left. While the kids were waiting for their plane,
Gracie met a nice old lady. They became friends. Gracie also met some people
who were not so nice, like a man who tripped over her feet who was very angry
and cranky with her. Finally their plane had arrived. As they were boarding
the nice old lady she had met before said she had forgot to buy a newspaper
for the trip. So Gracie grabbed the newspaper off the table that the crabby
man had been using but now he was gone. Gracie had no idea that grabbing that
newspaper would make that man come after her and her cousins. Why did he need
that paper so bad? Well, now it doesn't matter because Gracie and her cousins
are busy trying to keep alive and away from this man. If you want to know what
happens, read this book to find out.
I thought it was a great book, it was interesting through the whole thing. And
the scary part in it was cool and it had an awesome ending. I hope everyone
decides to read it. 5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Danielle Barajas
When
Nobody's Home: Fifteen Baby-Sitting Tales of Terror
By: Judith Gorog
There are fifteen stories in this book but I'm only going to tell you about
one.
This story is called "That Knocking On The Wall." It's about a girl
named Tara. She was baby-sitting two little kids for Mrs. Beale. She didn't
like baby-sitting, mainly because she had so much homework to do, but she took
the job anyway. She decided to take her work with her. When she got there the
kids were already napping, so she sat down after Mrs. Beale left and started
her homework. Then she started hearing strange knocking on a wall. She checked
on the kids but they were sleeping, so she started to look around to find out
what the knocking was. You won't believe what she finds.
If you want to know what happens in this story and in all of the other stories
in this book, read it to find out.
I thought it was a pretty good book, but some of the stories were dumb to me.
But I still think that you should read it, you may enjoy it more. 3 out of 5
stars.
Reviewed by: Amanda Barajas
Special Thanks To:
Animated.gif(c)Kitty Roach
A Publication of the Young Adult Advisory
Board at the Farmington Community Libraries
© 2002 Farmington Community Library
