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In this issue:
Book Reviews, Music and Poetry
PoemYou know my every thought
You succeed in all my needs
You are the very one best friend in the world
There is no one like you
There cannot be
There isn't
You're the very best
You'll break my heart if you leave me
It will split in half right down to my knees
You're there in my heart
Not to leave
Don't even think about it or I'll beg you please
I love you very much
With all my heart
You and I were not made to part
We were made as one
In this world
Paw in hand we'll walk right through to the other side
Just you and me
You came to me when I was born
And loved me since more and more
And if you leave me
All alone
There will be no one who can get the key to my heart
And see all you did for me
When you look me from head to toe
And all of a sudden you make it snow
I don't get cold
Because you're with me
Heart and soul
Loving me with out having to be told
When I'm scared and all alone
I go to you and feel at home
You and I are magical
I hold you tight in my arms
On the ground
No special place
Our love will work even in cold space
Even though you are my cat
My love for you is just the same
Just like that
Give A Boy Gun
By Todd Strasser
This book is about two boys named Gary and Brendon. They both are around their teens, you know the hard years. Gary is sweet and kind of fat so he is made fun of all the time, in and out of school, and Brendon has a bad attitude and is a tall, thin bony person and is made fun of all the time. They both were never happy and wanted to die. With Brendon's bad attitude he wanted to get kids in school back for making fun of him, and then when he found out Gary was never happy and just wanted to die too, they became friends. Brendon found his neighbor had a collection of guns and then told Gary about them. Between them both they decided to kill themselves and the kids and teachers that made fun of them. But how and when? Brendon already knew he was going to use some of the guns from his neighbor with out his neighbor knowing and Gary found out how to make bombs in the library on the Internet. When they tested the bombs and how to use the guns out in the country and found out they both were a success, they were ready. But when? The school dance, they decided. If you what to know what happens at the dance, then read this book to find out.
I thought this book was pretty good but it sort of dragged in the beginning. It got exciting later on . I hope everyone reads it.
Reviewed by Danielle Barajas
The Veritas
Project: Hangman's Curse
By Frank .E. Peretti
This book is the first of the Veritas Project series. The Veritas team is a
husband, his wife, and their two twins, Elijah and Elisha. They are deployed
to not only find the facts about strange circumstances, but also the truth behind
the facts. Their next assignment will take them to a high school where things
have begun to go wrong. Students are dropping like flies, in hallucination fits
which eventually result in death. The suspects? Ian Snider and his ring of witches.
Add to the mix the school ghost, Abel Fruge, said to have hung himself from
a school staircase, and his spectral hawk. Can the Veritas team find the truth
before they become tne next victims?
Even though I normally don't enjoy mysteries, I loved this book. It grabbed
me on the first page and blasted me through the whole thing in under two hours.
The suspense and delicious plot will keep you on the edge of your seat all the
way through this excellent story. An absolute must-read for mystery or ghost
story fans, especially those of middle school age, but it's great for anyone.
Check this book out!! I give it 5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by: Kelsi Lindblad
Heidi is one of the most enduring classics of our times. It is the story of
a little orphaned girl who goes to live with her grandfather. Later while feeling
at-home, she is led to the city to be a companion to a handicapped girl.
This book is phenomenal. 5 stars for this wonderful book. You definitely want
to read this.
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
The Hero and
the Crown
By Robin Mckinely
The Hero and the Crown is the prequel to The Blue Sword. This story is set
in ancient Damar during King Arlbeth's reign. Aerin, Arlbeth's only daughter,
is not Damar's favorite person. They call her "Witch woman's daughter"
because her mother was from the north.
Aerin decides to make her life more interesting so she starts hunting dragons,
using an ointment that she discovered that keeps her from being burned. One
day, Aerin learns that one of the Great Dragons, Maur the black dragon, has
awakened. She rides out immediately to kill the dragon, but is terribly surprised.
She finds out that Maur is as big as a mountain and very clever. While she tried
to slay Maur, she was burned very badly and exposed to dragon poison. Wizard
Luthe offers to heal her and tells her what she must do to defeat the evil Agsdad
from the north and retrieve the Hero's Crown. The Hero's Crown is the power
behind Damar and has been missing for several years. Will Aerin succeed in her
quest?
Reviewed By: Emily Fisher
The House on
Mango Street
By Sandra Cisners
I was assigned to read this book for English and, as a reluctant as I was to read it, I found it to be very good. It is told from the viewpoint of a girl named Esperanza. She moves around a lot with her family, but they finally settle in their very own house. The book covers a year in Esparanza's life through a series of short stories. The stories tell about events that occur, people she meets, and just how she is feeling. Esperanza learns that even though she will leave Mango Street some day, she must always return to help those who can't.
Reviewed by: Kathryn Schalek
I'm Not Who
You Think I Am
By Peg Kehret
This book is about a girl named Ginger, she has a younger brother named Tipper
and an older sister named Laura, and a mom and dad. Ginger's mom plans partys
for other people like weddings or showers and stuff like that, and Laura has
a catering business with food called B.A. catering, and this rich lady named
Mrs. Vaughn is the main person that keeps both businesses in business. Well,
at school Ginger and her best bud Karie liked to watch basketball games whenever
they were played, and Mrs. Vaughn's daughter (Polly) plays in those games, and
is one of the best players. Well, one day during a basketball game Mr. Wren
(the basketball coach) took out some of the good players and put in some of
the bad players, so the bad players and the good players would have an equal
time and the bad players wouldn't have to stay on the bench all of the time.
Mr. Wren is a good coach and treats everyone fairly, he wants everyone of his
team to have an equal time and playing in the game because if you don't let
them play they will never get better. Well, Mrs. Vaughn doesn't like that, and
since her daughter is one of the best players, she gets taken out a lot and
she gets mad and gets a bunch of people on her side to fire him as coach. Ginger
has a way to stop it, but if she speaks up her mom and sister will lose their
jobs, and on top of all of that pressure she has another problem. There is this
lady following Ginger and wants to talk to her but Ginger keeps saying "No"
to her. Now that the lady is mad, she is hiring a man to set up a meeting with
Ginger, in other words to KIDNAP her! What will Ginger do now.
This book was okay, it sort of dragged on in the beginning but it got better
and I hope that you will read it.
Reviewed by: Amanda Barajas
Meagen's Island
By Willo Davis Roberts
This book is about a red headed girl named Meagen and her red headed brother
named Sandy. Their mom told them their dad had died long ago, and she also told
them that they had no relatives but their Grandpa Davis. They moved all the
time. They never ever stayed in a place for more than a year until now and they're
going to move again. Meagen's mom didn't even let Meagen say good-bye to her
best friend Annie. They moved at night so that no one would know they had moved
until they were gone. They moved to Grandpa Davis' cottage on the lake. When
they moved this time Meagen's mom looked afraid. Then Meagen started to wonder
why they moved so much, but when she asked her mom why they moved so much her
mom said she would tell her later, and didn't. The next day Meagen's mom went
off to look for a job and grandpa went to town to shop for the day, so it was
just Meagen and Sandy. They went out exploring the islands, Meagen found one
that she wanted to call Meagen's island then they met a boy named Ben. He was
bossy, very bossy. He said he would help them build a tree house on Meagen's
island. Meagen didn't really want to but Sandy did so she said she didn't care.
Their grandpa had a boat and canoe, so Ben and Sandy took the boat out to the
island with the wood and stuff in it from Ben's garage. There wasn't much room
for Meagen, so she stayed behind. That's when a man came to their cottage, Meagen
hid in the long grass. When no one came to the door when he knocked he tried
to open it and then when he found he couldn't he tried the windows! Then she
remembers that Ben told her that a man in town was looking for two red heads,
a girl and a boy and drove a white car. Meagen turned to the car and it was
white! Is that why they moved so much, because a man was after Meagen and Sandy?
I thought that this was sort of boring in the beginning but it got good toward
the end. I hope everybody reads it.
Reviewed by: Amanda Barajas
Pollyanna is the story of a "glad little girl." Pollyanna gets into a lot of mischief and gets in trouble with whom she was sent to live with. Pollyanna then makes an effect on everyone in turn. This story gets 5 stars because of its wholesome goodness. This enduring children's classic, written over a hundred years ago, has as much meaning now as when it was written.
Reviewed by: Joel Knight
Rosey in the
Present Tense
By Louise Hawes
In just a few hours, Franklin's life is shattered. His girlfriend Rosey was killed in a car accident. After staying in bed for six months, Franklin is still depressed. He sees a psychiatrist, but it's not helping, until one day Rosey comes back. As he sat alone crying in his room, he heard Rosey say "Don't cry Lin." He turned around and there was Rosey, standing in his room. He reached out to touch her but his hand went right through her. She was only a ghost. Is Rosey just Franklin's imagination, or has she really come back to him?
Reviewed by: Emily Fisher
This book is the third in a series by Tamora Pierce about the first girl to
legally train to become a knight. Keledry of Mindelan is her name, becoming
a knight is her game. At the beginning of this book she has just finished her
first four years of training to a knight where you are called a page. She is
now a squire waiting to be assigned a knight-master.
Just when she thinks that she is destined to be a desk-squire (a squire who
never gets to see the field of battle and is kept writing papers for the knight-master)
the leader of the kings own (special soldiers sent to places to quell trouble
and protect the king) asks her to become his squire. She is elated because:
1. This man has not taken a squire in forty years. 2. She has found a knight
who isn't intimidated to ask her just because she was "The Girl".
But when she goes to tell her best friend Neal about her good fortune, she finds
he has been asked by the famous woman knight (and also Kel's hero) Alanna. Alanna,
like many in the land of Tortall, can use magic, and since may thought she would
magic Kel for luck, (as much as they both hated it) the king himself forbid
her to even talk to Kel alone, let alone knight-master her. Kel understands
that it is not Neal's fault, and tries to ignore it. Also she frequently touches
the door of the chamber of Ordeal (where squires must go to become knights)
and has strange visions. Will she be able to pass the chamber of ordeal? Only
time will tell. She has many adventures in this book with her new knight-master
though! She gets stuck with a certain magical creature (read the book to find
out), an old enemy makes an appearance (read the book to find out), and she
even meets some friends from a different country (read the book to find out)!
I liked this book because it shows that girls are just as good as boys and that
we can kick just as much if not more butt! I recommend this book to any girl
who likes a good medieval fantasy and hey, maybe even some guys will like it.
Reviewed by: Angie Bice
A Stitch in
Time
By Ann Rinaldi
Even though this book is only a third of a series I know I am going to like the rest just by the way Ann writes the book. Okay, fist I admit I was just reading it for extra credit, but then I really started to get into it. Well anyway, the book is based in the seventeen hundreds. The narrator is Hannah Clemsford. She is trying to hold her family together by making a quilt. Soon Abby, her sister, leaves to go get married. Then soon after that, Thankful, her youngest sister, goes to Ohio with her dad. Indians soon take Thankful. Abby's ship is broken down. And all of a sudden Cabot, her brother, wants to leave too. Can she hold her family together?
I think that this book is best for ages 11 and up. I give this four and a half out of five stars.
Reviewed by: Katie Sutherland
To understand this book you should probably have read at least
on of the Circle of Magic Quartet, but you may get on fine without it.
In this book, Briar goes it alone with Rosethorn at his side. In the city where
they have stopped, Briar notices a strange girl bringing magic to stones by
polishing them. When he asks her how, she runs away. Meanwhile, a mysterious
lady is bringing a new gang to power. Who is this girl? What is the lady up
to?
I thought that this was a wonderful book. It had lots of action and mystery,
as well as plenty of magic. I still didn't like this as much as some of the
other books in the Circle of Magic Quartet, however. I thought that the end
was just a little to predictable. Despite this, the characters were great and
the story overall enjoyable. If you love magic and adventure, then check this
book out. It's great. I give it four of five stars.
Reviewed By: Kelsi Lindblad
Special Thanks To:
Animated.gif(c)Kitty Roach
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