Mixed
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May 2002
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In this issue:
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Book Reviews
The Absolutely
True Story…How I Visited Yellowstone Park With the Terrible Rupes
By: Willo Davis Roberts
This book is about a boy named Lewis and his sister named Alison. These two
kids are twins and live a normal life. Then this big, expensive house was built
right next to theirs. Lewis didn't pay much attention to the house until a moving
van pulled up in the front of it. Then Lewis wanted to know who was going to
live there and when the family came he was delighted to find that there was
a boy his age. And Alison was happy there were two toddlers for her to baby-sit.
And there were the parents to be friends with Lewis and Alison's parents. When
Lewis and his sister went to go meet the kids, they found out that the toddlers
names were Billy Rupe and Harry Rupe, and these new kids were very spoiled.
But they made friends anyway. And then one day the Rupes invited Lewis and Alison
to go to Yellowstone Park with them. Of course they wanted to go, so finally
their parents let them.
So they found out they weren't traveling in a car but in style, in a big RV.
Just as they and the Rupes were all ready to go another RV drove up and asked
them to trade because they had given them the wrong RV. But Mr. Rupe would not.
And so they left. The Rupes didn't care what Billy and Ariaden did, so Alison
practically took care of them, making sure they didn't get into too much trouble
and cleaning up all the messes they made. As they kept driving Lewis noticed
a blue car that seemed to follow them from camp site to camp site all the way
to Yellowstone Park. Finally they got there. Whenever they went to see the sites
at Yellowstone Park the blue car followed, but no one got out of the car. Then
Billy kept getting hundred dollar bills but wouldn't tell them where he was
getting them from. Later on Lewis and Harry spied on the blue car and found
out there are two men in the blue car, but one of the men looked very familiar,
he was the employee who wanted to trade RVs. Why is the blue car following them?
Does it have to deal with all of the money Billy finds? Read this book to find
out.
I didn't like it as much as the other Willo Davis Roberts books but I still
enjoyed it. 3 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Amanda Barajas
The Amazing
Maurice and His Educated Rodents
By: Terry Pratchett
This book is a recent installment in the discworld series. It is about a cat and some rats that have suddenly become smarter. Not by much, though: the cat, Maurice, is smart enough to talk and swindle humans out of their money, while the rats, or "changelings"merely become clever, giving themselves names like "Peaches", "Hamnpork", or "Darkton" simply becuse they like the sound. Anyway, Maurice and Keith, the"stupid-looking kid", travel to the city of Bad Blintz, where they meet up with Malicia, a girl who thinks that life is--or should be--just like a Grimm fairy tale. They also find a ppair of scamming rat-catchers, and a terrifying evil lurking beneathe the streets...
This book is hilarious page-turner you just can't put down from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a touch of humor in their fantasy.
Reviewed by: Nick Hanson
Among the Impostors
By: Margaret Peterson Haddix
For anyone who ever read Among the Hidden, this book is the sequel.
This book is about a boy named Luke. In this book there is a food problem.
There just isn't enough in the world for everyone. So the government made a
population law, which is that you are only allowed to have two kids. But accidents
happen and people all over the world started having more than two kids. So the
government had to have the Population Police, who are police that find third
children, called shadow children, and kill them.
Luke was a shadow child. Luke has hidden for his whole life in the attic room,
afraid to be found and killed, until now. With the help of a friend Luke got
a fake I.D. and is now in a school for boys. Luke had never in his whole life
been around so many people, but at school no one had noticed him. It was like
he was just a normal kid, and that is what Luke wanted them to think about him.
Only one kid payed attention to Luke. His name was Jason, and Jason picked on
Luke. Of course Luke didn't like being picked on but soon they became friends.
Jason had a whole gang of boys that followed him around, and Luke soon found
out that Jason and his gang are all shadow kids, just like Luke! Jason and his
group thought that Luke was a shadow child too, and they wanted to know his
real name, but for some reason Luke couldn't bring himself to tell them his
real name, so Luke pretended to be someone else like he had always been,
SPOILER! GIVES AWAY THE ENDING!!!!!
and it was a good thing, too, because Jason, Luke's so-called friend, really
worked for the Population Police! Jason was finding shadow kids for the Population
Police! Now Luke and his other friends are in danger of being killed. Luke has
to find a way for himself and his friends out of this, but it's too late. The
population police are in the school looking for them and Luke has no plan and
no way out.
I thought this book was great! It was interesting and sort of scary. To me it
was as good as the first one, and the first one was great, too. So I hope all
of you guys read it and enjoy it as much as I did. 6 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Danielle Barajas
This is a brilliant satire. It starts with a normal farm governed by humans.
But then the animals rebel! And the humans are dethroned and banished from the
newly renamed Animal Farm. Soon the pigs are in charge and two in
are some of the many problems that Young Ju faces. Her child's innocence can
only protect her from so many things. This book is truly compelling with its
bald truth. I give it five out of five stars.
Reviewed by: Jenny Buison
After getting back with Hunter, Morgan thought her life would get better,
but it only gets worse. Morgan's memory began slipping away when it came to
school. She forgot about important essays and tests. To top it all off, her
sister if furious with her. When at last she thinks her life can't get any lower,
she starts having "accidents." At a circle, everything goes crazy.
Books fly off shelves and lightbulbs shatter. Everyone blames Morgan, but she
knows it isn't her fault. Hunter and Sky decide to bind her powers for the safety
of others. When her parents are notified of her failing grades, they ground
her. Can Morgan convince Hunter and Sky that it's not her power that's out of
control and recover her slipping grades?
This book is the 9th book of the Sweep series. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Emily Fisher
The Voyage
of the Dawn Treader
By: C. S. Lewis
In this book Eustace Scrubb and Edmund and Lucy (for Susan and Peter were
too old) are sent to Narnia and there, with King Caspian and a motley assortment
of talking animals, embark on a voyage to the world's end in a Her old friends
turned their backs on her. And no new friends had come her way. All of this
because she had ruined an end-of-summer party when she called the police.
Now Melinda lives inside her head. She's shut the rest of the world out, becoming
mute. She hardly talks to her parents and spends all of her time alone. All
this suffering over a secret she has kept to herself for almost a year.
This book is about standing up for yourself and what's right. Melinda closed
her doors to everyone and now she must open them back up. She must confront
her problem head on and most of all, speak.
Within this marvelous novel, you will find all the problems an average teenager
faces, not to mention much more. If you like moving novels, with a stand-up
heroine, you'll love Speak. 5 out of 5 stars. *****
Reviewed by: Lauren Heath
This book is magical. Right from the very beginning, it is described in a
way that a child would see.
Young Ju is very young but sees her family for what it is. Her mother is unhappy,
her grandmother is unhappy, and her father often returns home drunk. But her
life changes when she hears they are moving to a place called Mi Gook: America.
Everyone in Mi Gook is rich and happy, and when they go there they will be happy
too. It is heaven. But when they arrive, it is far different than she expected.
School is a mystery. The Mi Gook children have so many different hair colors.
What other things does this magical place have? Young's new life is hard, harder
for her because she does not understand. Her father wants to speak Korean at
home when at school everyone speaks English.
particular, Napolean and Snowball (meant to resemble Stalin and Trotsky). This
book ends with the memorable line "All animals are equal, but some animals
are more equal than others."
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
Morgan has been having frightening nightmares. When she tells Hunter, he decides
that the council needs to be notified. In her dreams, she sees animals circling
a table with a crying wolf cub on it. The council believes that she is having
visions of Amyranth, an evil Woodbayne Coven. Morgan, Hunter, Bree, Sky, Raven,
and Robbie go on a road trip to attempt to hunt down the New York cell of Amyranth.
Little do they know how much danger is in store for them.
The Calling is the 7th book in the Sweep series by Cate Tiernan. I love this
series. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Emily Fisher
Caught!
By: Willo Davis Roberts
This book is about a girl named Victoria and her little sister Joanie. Vicki's
mom and dad had split up so the two girls stayed with their mom even thought
Vicki would rather go with her dad. And after that horrible situation, their
mean grandmother moved in with them. And this grandmother is horrible! She took
over the house, telling Vicki and Joanie what to do all of the time, she was
even allowed to punish them! Vicki hated it. Then one day something terrible
happened, their mom had to go away on a business trip, and guess who the girls
had to stay with? Their grandmother. The very first day when their mom was gone
on a trip Vicki got grounded for a week! Vicki could not stand it, she decided
to run away to her dad's house. But Joanie found out and wanted to go to their
dad's house, too. Vicki said no. But Joanie said she would tell grandma where
she went if she didn't go. So Vicki had to take her. They packed some clothes
and food and gathered all their money. Then they waited until their grandmother
was asleep, then left for the bus station. They took a bus to where their father
was living now, which were some old apartments. When they got there he wasn't
home. Now what? They decided to get the manager and tell him the problem. He
was nice enough to let them in their dad's room. A lot of strange things started
to happen after that; for one, their dad didn't come home that night or the
night after that, so where was he? And who was that man who came in during the
black of night and then just left? Plus, why are there bloodstains on the carpet
in their dad's room? As they got closer and closer to the truth about what is
happening here, they got more and more into a deadly situation. If you want
to know what happens here, read it to find out.
I thought it was a good book and it was scary. You never guess what will happen
next. I hope you read it and enjoy it. 4 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Amanda Barajas
Changeling
By: Kate Tiernan
Now that Morgan knows who her real birth father is, and that he is evil and
still alive, she is afraid. To try to protect Hunter, she breaks up with him.
But life is hard without her soulmate, and now the council wants her to take
on a potentially dangerous task. Her true father is a wanted man. The council
is almost positive he is responsible for the dark wave, a mysterious evil force
that is demolishing covens. Morgan's half brother, Killian, has no idea that
Morgan is hunting down their father for the council. Does Morgan have the inner
strength to deceive Killien and condemn her own biological father?
This is the eighth book in the Sweep series. I give it five out of five stars.
Reviewed by: Emily Fisher
Prince Caspian
By: C. S. Lewis
Prince Caspian is the heir to the throne of Telemar, Narnia, nephew of the evil King Miraz. But Caspian soon has to flee for his life as he realizes he is to be killed. He soon is joined by Aslan, Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy. They then begin a rebellion with "Old Narnia"(the dwarves, talking animals, fawns, etc.). Caspian is central to all of this because he is heir to the throne of Narnia (this is before the breakup intoArchenland and Calormene and Narnia's merger with Telemar). I give it three stars.
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
The Silver
Chair
By: C. S. Lewis
This is another chronicles of Narnia book. In this book, Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb are transported to Narnia and instructed by Aslan to find King Caspian X's son, prince Rillian, who was kidnapped by the Emerald Witch and held in the underworld. I give this book three out of five stars.
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
Speak
By: Laurie Halse Anderson
Do you know how it feels to be cast out by your friends? Even people you don't
know shun you as you walk down the hallway because you made one mistake?
This is the life of Melinda Sordino. On her first day of high school, Melinda
walked into the school with nothing. friends turned their backs on her. And
no new friends had come her way. All of this because she had ruined an end-of-summer
party when she called the police.
Now Melinda lives inside her head. She's shut the rest of the world out, becoming
mute. She hardly talks to her parents and spends all of her time alone. All
this suffering over a secret she has kept to herself for almost a year.
This book is about standing up for yourself and what's right. Melinda closed
her doors to everyone and now she must open them back up. She must confront
her problem head on and most of all, speak.
Within this marvelous novel, you will find all the problems an average teenager
faces, not to mention much more. If you like moving novels, with a stand-up
heroine, you'll love Speak. 5 out of 5 stars. *****
Reviewed by: Lauren Heath
This book is about a girl named Teddi. Teddi has gone through some very hard
times in her life. For one thing, her mom died of cancer and her dad committed
suicide shortly after that. And Teddi has no family members she could go to.
So Teddi's sweet neighbor took Teddi in. Teddi's neighbor's name is Mamie. Mamie
is an older but very kind lady, and Mamie, too, had just lost one of her sons,
Ricky, in a plane crash. So Mamie knew what Teddi was going through. After living
with Mamie for a little while, Teddi felt like Mamie's home was her home and
like Mamie was family. But of course, Teddi would never forget her real mom
and dad.
One day the doorbell rang, and when they answered it, it was a lady. But this
lady said she was Ricky's wife. Ricky's wife? Ricky never told Mamie (his own
mom) that he was married, and now he was dead. And this lady was pregnant, too!
What kind of kid would not tell his mom that he was married and expecting a
baby? It just seemed weird. Anyway, this lady named Dora expected to stay with
them, she had her luggage and everything. So Dora got Teddi's room and Teddi
had to move to the attic.
As time went by, Dora had her baby and started to do weird things. Like for
one, she would go call someone on a pay phone when she could have just called
on the home phone, and Dora went out late at night (Teddi thinks Dora might
be meeting someone for a reason), and Dora stole some money from Mamie! Now
to Teddi not much of this made sense but the more Teddi thought about this stuff
the more Teddi thought that Dora wasn't Ricky's wife. Then one night Teddi saw
who Dora was meeting with, and it was a man! Teddi wondered if she should follow
the man and find out what they were up to, but Teddi also wondered: could this
man be dangerous? If you would like to know what happens please read this book
to find out.
I thought this book was good. It wasn't really scary, but it was interesting,
and sort of sad, but to me it wasn't all that boring at all. Well, I hope you
guys read it and enjoy it. 4 out of 5 stars.
Reviewed by: Danielle Barajas
The
Fellowship of the Rings: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings
By: J.R.R. Tolkien
Hobbits and elves and wizards! Oh My! Awww! It's cute little cherub-faced
hobbits, caring elves, benevolent wizards and resourceful humans. Ha! What a
bunch of crap. Welcome to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, with weird hobbits
with nasty feet, cunning immortal elves, treacherous wizards, and idiotic humans.
This is the story of Middle Earth, a realm torn apart by wars among all of its
little countries: Mordor, Isengard, Gondor, Rohan, Rivendell, and the Shire.
This guy, Tolkien, even invented an actual language for these elves.
I'm now going to attempt to tell the story. It's more complex than All My Children.
Okay, so there is Sauron, he's a Dark Lord and technically he's dead but his
spirit lives on. Well anyway he created this ring that controls the world and
he lost it (Stupid Idiot). It was found by a stupid hobbit called Bilbo, who
gave it to his heir, Frodo (what's with these names?) who with the wizard Gandalf
the Grey and some stupid hobbits and some messed-up humans and a cool elf and
dwarf, form a fellowship to cast the ring into Mount Doom. But first they must
deal with the great Saruman the White, a treacherous wizard and his orcs of
Isengard.
This book was good in parts but really boring in others. The best character
is Saruman.
Long Live Saruman!
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
My review is on High Wizardry by Diane Duane. This is the third book in the
Young Wizards series.
This story centers less on the usual two main characters, Kit and Nita, and
more on Nita's sister, Dairine. Nita awakens one morning to her sister's screams
of delight that the new computer is here. As Nita gets up out of bed, she notices
her wizard's manual open to the page of the wizard's oath, the oath you must
take to become a wizard. She thinks that maybe her sister came in and read it,
and maybe now her sister will realize that she's too young to do wizardry. Little
does she know that her sister has taken the oath, and there is a new wizard
in the family.
Later that day Kit and Nita are about to head to the planetarium in New York
City (they live in a suburb of it) when Dairine gets booted out the door and
her father claims she was going to "blow up the computer" and that
they should take her with them. They travel to the planetarium by a teleportation
spell and after the show they came to see, they look around for a while. Dairine
says she needs to use the bathroom. Soon it's near closing time and she still
isn't back. Nita passes a sign they had laughed at earlier "To Mars, Venus,
and the Lady's Room," but as she opens the door to the bathroom she gets
quite a shock. Her sister is a wizard, and she has opened a worldgate to Mars!
After she shuts down the worldgate and sorted out a few things at home, they
go to follow Dairine through space, while she is having a few problems of her
own, in another galaxy! Read this book to find out what happens to Kit, Dairine,
and Nita on their trip through space.
This is a good fantasy, and long, although the slow parts at the beginning keep you interested, and aren't half as "slow" as they are in other books. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it and the rest in the series to anyone who likes a good fantasy that takes a couple of days to read. Pick it up and enjoy!
Reviewed by: Angelina Bice
The
Magician's Nephew
By: C. S. Lewis
This is first story of the chronicles of Narnia. A young boy Rigery meets up with a young girl, Polly, and with weird, magician-in-training Uncle Andrew get caught between realms and end up in the ruins of Charn, a deserted empire and meet up with one of the most evil people ever, The White Witch, Jadis, last empress of Charn. They soon make the mistake of bringing her to Earth. Then you will see how she ends up ruling Narnia. I give it for out of five stars.
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
The Member
of the Wedding
By: Carson McCullers
This is the story of Frankie Addams, a 12-year old girl bored with her life. She feels like an outsider who doesn't have a group to belong to. Since her brother is about to get married, Frankie plans to run away with them when they go on their honeymoon. Everyone thinks it is a crazy idea. Everyone, that is, except Frankie. She is sure they will love having her live with them. But first, Frankie needs to be more grown up. She changes her name to F. Jasmine and goes on a date with an older man, because in her new clothes she looks 16. F. Jasmine has big plans, but will they work?
Reviewed by Kathryn Schalek
The Lion, the
Witch, and the Wardrobe
By: C. S. Lewis
This is the book that started it all, one of the greatest young adult books ever. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first book in the chronicles of Narnia. This is the story of four children, Susan, Peter, Edmund, and Lucy, who go to a Professor's house and find a wardrobe that transports them to the land of Narnia. There they battle the evil White Witch and meet the mighty lion Aslan, son of the mighty emperor-over-the-sea. This is a five star book and recommended for readers of all ages.
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
Oliver Barrett IV is studying at Harvard. When he visits Radcliffe library
and asks help finding a book, he meets Jenny, an average, not-too-wealthy girl.
He's drawn to her, and they begin dating. When he takes her to meet his father,
the rich Oliver Barrett III, Jenny acts sweet and innocent. But his father thinks
that Jenny isn't good enough for him. Ollie turns his back on his unreasonable
father and marries Jenny. After a few months of being happily married they find
out that something is terribly wrong. Jenny has a deadly disease. Read this
book to find out what happens.
I loved this book, although it made me cry. I do not recommend this book to
young readers due to strong language.
Reviewed by: Emily Fisher
Maybe Stanley Yelnats just has really bad luck; or maybe the curse of his
no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather has been passed on
to him. Falsely accused of stealing famous baseball player Clyde Livingston's
sneakers, he is sent to Camp Green Lake. At Camp Green Lake, which happens to
be in the middle of the desert, juvenile delinquents dig holes every day and
report anything out of the ordinary immediately. This is to help the boys build
character, or so the warden says…but what is really going on? What is the
warden searching for? And who is the mysterious Zero? What will happen? To find
out, read Holes.
This is one of my favorite books. It is actually two stories woven into one.
It is complex and keeps you guessing at what is going to happen. I have read
it over and over again and still enjoy it. I give it six out of five stars.
Reviewed by: Alicia Mattox
The Horizontal
Man
By: Michael Dahl
Finnegan Zwake is finally getting his share of the Zwake curse. It's said that when Finn's dad lost his lucky buffalo knife down in Agualar (a small country near Mexico), the Maya put a curse on his family. First Aunt Verona died, then died again, and Finn's parents were being pushed out of Agualar by a hurricane and went to Iceland. They've been legally dead for seven years. Now, Finn and his uncle Stoppard (a famous mystery writer) have found a dead body in their storage room. Then some of Finn's parent's treasure started disappearing. Finn starts making a list of suspects for the burglar/murderer. Could it be Mr. Barrymore, the fish cloner? The landlady Mrs. Pryce? Or maybe the nurses, Joan and Allison? Finn doesn't know, but he suspects his neighbor, Pablo, who shares the storage room with him. By this time Uncle Stoppard has punctured his foot and sprained his leg, Mr. Barrymore tells Finn "she's lying," Allison Brazil says she saw the burglar, and Finn is ready to set a trap. Finn puts his plan into action, but something goes wrong; Finn is kidnapped by two complete strangers! Who are these people? And what do they want with Finn?
Reviewed by: Alison Mroz
The Horse and
His Boy
By: C. S. Lewis
In The Horse and His Boy there is a slave boy named Shasta who is son to a
Calormene fisherman. He runs away with a talking horse named Bree. He soon meets
up with a Calomerene princess. All this along with along with Calomerene ready
to invade Archenland and Narnia.
This story is a part of the chronicles of Narnia and is pretty good, it gets
three out of five stars, though I suggest you read the first ones first.
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
I Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings
By: Maya Angelou
This is the first in a series of autobiographies by Maya Angelou. It takes
you through her childhood and teenage years. Being raised solely by her grandmother
in Arkansas in the 1930s was not easy. The book highlights important events
in her early years, a lot of which aren't good.
As she grows older, she begins to understand the world around her, but she never
figures out why there is so much tension between the races. Though the had some
setbacks in her life, she always came through. Read to learn more about Maya
Angelou's troubled, but ultimately successful life.
Reviewed by: Kathryn Schalek
The Last
Battle
By: C. S. Lewis
This is the final book in the chronicles of Narnia. It tells the tale of the
end of Narnia, Archenland, and Calormene. Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole are summoned
to Narnia. While in Narnia there is an Aslan impersonator, and evil apes, and
Calormene invaders and Ginger the cat. Sounds fun, doesn't it? I give this two
out of five stars. Pretty sad attempt to end a great franchise. Good end though.
Hail Ginger!
P.S. Bring back Susan!
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
Special Thanks To:
Animated.gif(c)Kitty Roach
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