Seveneves

Warning: this is a long story. Seveneves (pronounced "seh-veh-neh-ves") is one of those books that are not only very long but also seem like they have no chapters. The book doesn't have a table of contents, which is understandable, because some chapters are almost three HUNDRED pages long. Still, I've written one up, in case you want it.

Because it's so long, it's almost two separate stories, and the pace basically continues to ramp up throughout the entire story. This eventually lead to a severe loss of sleep. Do not attempt finishing this book if you have important things to do.

Anyways, I've decided to do three different trailer-things, one for each part of the book. I've tried to remove most of the spoilers. Here we go.

Part One: The time is, like now-ish. I think it's an alternate universe or something? Actually, it may be in the future, and technology has remained about the same. I dunno. And then the moon suddenly explodes, all rude and inconsiderate-like. Spoilers: this will lead to life on earth being destroyed. When they realize this, the governments of the world start attempting to create a swarming space station of little space ships, surrounding the International Space Station. Will they succeed? Yes. But it's the journey, not the destination, that matters most.

Part Two: Speaking of journeys, the Cloud Ark has become fully operational and several billion people have died. The 1500 remaining humans now have to endure five thousand years in space. Wait, really? Five thousand? That seems a bit excessive. Anyways, everyone has been shuttled into space, and our heroes are now facing all the hardships usually associated with being in outer space. Marcus has replaced Ivy as the ship's leader, Doc Dubois has stepped out of his media shoes and started helping out, and all is well. But, the inside flap of the book said that "only a handful" of people survive, and that can't be more than 20, so something must be about to go down. And if anyone can reduce the human population from 1500 to 20, it's former president Julia Bliss Flaherty.

Part Three: Five thousand years later. humans have split into seven different races: the smart ones, the strong ones, the heroic ones, the nice ones, the paranoid ones, the super-mutant-power-that-is-actually-a-really-cool-idea ones, and Slytherin. A girl from the super-mutant one, Kath Two, is on a standard survey mission down to Earth's surface when she sees something strange. Before she knows it, she gets wrapped up in a strange mission with an unclear goal and untrustworthy partners. This is where the story really heats up, in a future focused entirely on mechanics, robotics, and genetics, where everything from earlier in the story starts to come into play.

Seveneves is the first book I've read in this whole epic odyssey style. I have to say, I can see what all the hype is about. If you've got some free time, this is definitely a cool science fiction book for you to try out.

The Zombie Survival Guide

To me, Max Brooks' The Zombie Survival Guide will always be the definitive book on zombies. I know it's not the first book about zombies, not by a long shot, but it is close to my heart because it's the one my friends and I based all our apocalyptic survival plans off of.

The Zombie Survival Guide is exactly what is said on the cover: a survival guide, in a completely serious and informational tone, for surviving the zombie apocalypse. It details zombie strengths and weaknesses, the best ways to fight them, and other tips and tricks for adapting to the zombie apocalypse.

As for the Brooks Zombies, they are slow, stupid, and uncoordinated. Their only advantage is that they can defy many laws of biology, like the need for oxygen, nutrients, a functioning body, or higher thought. Brooks used his zombies in his other book, World War Z, which I also recommend and will probably talk about later.

If you enjoy losing yourself in another world (perhaps with friends), you should get this book immediately. If you don't, then maybe you can get this book anyways and it can convince you. There is no story arc and no characters, so while reading it you inevitably start imagining yourself in these situations, and even start planning a little. Unless you're a nerd, in which case you plan a lot.

In conclusion: zombies. how to survive them. Thank you for your time.

Malice

Life is going kinda meh for Seth Somethingorother right now. Nothing ever seems to happen in the town of Loughborough (which has far too many "ugh"s in it, in Seth's opinion). That is, until is best friend, Luke, disappears.

All of the adults think that Luke has run away. Spoilers: he most definitely has not. Tall Jake has taken him to the world of Malice, where kids and teenagers struggle to escape, most things are deadly, and everything is serialized in comics that are given to the outside world. Naturally, Seth and his friend Kady have to figure everything out.

As for the book Malice, the story is told in a mixture of text, comic panels, and Chris Wooding trying to simulate teenagers Instant Messaging. Don't expect too much comic, though; almost all of the book is just text.

The parts of the book that are comic, however, are really well done (not that the rest of it is bad). I like the art style, and I like how the comic actually fits in with the narrative. This is a nice adventure story in which more questions are raised than answered. Some might be answered in book two, Havoc, which I haven't read yet.

I don't think I'm gonna be able to say anything smart right now, so: if you like monsters, alternate worlds, and vague questions about human nature, read this book.

The Secret Series (The Name of This Book is Secret)

Here's a quick one. The Secret Series is one of my favorite book series. Probably in the top five. It's funny, smart(ish), charming, and chocolatey. The books come in five delicious flavors: The Name of This Book is Secret; If You're Reading This, It's Too Late; This Book is not Good for You; This Isn't What It Looks Like; and You Have to Stop This.

That's a quite of books (sorry for my grammar, I'm tired and sick). All in all, it's a whole quintilogy. Or a pentology? Whatever. I just finished rereading the series, and I loved it again. It stars Cass and Max-Ernest, two students who attend The School In Which Things Happen. There are also a whole host of cool, quirky side characters, none of which I will write about because I'm sick and tired.

I realise I'm not doing a great job of selling this, but trust me. The Secret Series is a few million times better than what I make it seem like it is. Wow, my sentences aren't even entirely coherent anymore. Look, I love these books. They were probably my favorite series for a while. If you like humor, magic and... the other stuff under "labels," give this series a try.

In conclusion. These books are real good. Read 'em. That's all I have the brain for today.

Masterminds

OH MY GOD IS MASTERMINDS A GOOD BOOK. Seriously, I started reading it on Monday, and finished today (Wednesday, or three days later, for you lazy folks). This book gives a new meaning to the phrase "page-turner", the pages practically turn themselves.  As one-of-the-dudes-from-the-back-of-the-book said: "Reading this book while doing anything else is dangerous."

Anyways. Adulation over. Masterminds follows five kids: Eli, Amber, Malik, Hector, and Tori. These kids live in the really small town of Serenity, where everything is perfect, except, you've read books before, so you already know that everything is not perfect at all.

It turns out, some of the kids in Serenity are... special, somehow. When Eli goes out of town with his best friend, Randy, he is struck by a crippling pain, while Randy remains fine. Fortunately, he is picked up by the town's army of Purple People Eaters in their nondescript, menacing black helicopter. You know, no biggie.

After the incident, Randy announces that he will be moving out of Serenity to live with his grandmother. But Eli thinks that Randy is acting strange. And then... well, then the book happens. All that stuff basically happens in the first chapter. This is a book that never seems to stop and take its breath, and it works.

In other words, if you have a weekend to kill, reading Masterminds is one of the best ways to do it. If you like books about people doing things, you will probably love this book.

In Search of the Multiverse

As some of you may have already guessed, In Search of the Multiverse is about the multiverse (and our search for it). If you've ever wondered how much of the multiverse "science" in sci-fi is real, give it a read.

In Search of the Multiverse outlines the basics of several different kinds of multiverse that actual scientists (or at least the fun ones) think might be possible, without going into the actual workings of equations. Really, he doesn't talk about anything that's not needed to understand whatever multiverse he's explaining.

Some multiverses are pretty silly, in my opinion. Then again, some people think that the idea of a multiverse actually existing at all is silly, so there's really no need to judge.

Without going into details of the specific things he says, that's all I have to say. Actually, there's one more thing: this guy, John Gribbin, has written a heck of a lot of books, and most of them are ones I want to read. Given that, I'm probably not going to read any of them, so that the next seven books on this blog aren't all by John Gribbin. Except maybe Shrödinger's Kittens, because I think I can learn a lot of interesting things from it. But that's all.

So, yeah. If you like the idea of the multiverse, and want to know which bits are not completely ridiculous, give this book a read. Andres is out. Peace!

A note about non-fiction

The Life of the Cosmos is a boring book. It is a book made mainly for scientists, about a brand new theory about why the universe is the way it is.
I found out about the book from a Vsauce video about light. It's a cool video, and also has two other books. I would recommend watching it. Micheal does a pretty good job of the explaining the theory.
This post is not about the book, per se. It's about what the book represents: a boring book about science. I just want to put it out there that I don't like all science books, and I only recommend ones that I think are really worth reading.
So, yeah. The Life of the Cosmos. I couldn't get through it. Don't read it.
I just want you to know that, if you are avoiding non-fiction books because you think they are too adult or not interesting or about boring things, you should just give them a chance. At least give Things To Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension a try.
And, hey, even if you don't like that book, there are still lots of interesting non-fiction narrative books like Don't Look Behind You. I'll probably review some of those eventually. Maybe.

Expedition

Expedition: being an account in words and artwork of the 2358 A. D. voyage to Darwin IV. That's the title, because I'm not sure you can read it in the tiny font on the picture.
Anyways, Expedition probably has the coolest alien world I've ever seen. That includes Snaiad, and you know how know how much I love OH WAIT YOU DON'T BECAUSE RAMJET STILL HASN'T MADE A SNAIAD BOOK.
Ahem.
Expedition probably has the coolest alien world I've ever seen. It's called Darwin IV (that's a four) and is a self-consistent planet with an odd ecology and a big ol' map. It's unique among alien worlds in that it doesn't try super hard to make the aliens look weird, they just kinda end up that way.
The story is about the author, Wayne Barlowe, who lives in the dying Earth of the 2300s. Most life on earth is dead, and humans have only survived because of their partnership with the Yma, a friendly alien race.
After receiving a mysterious picture of what appears to be an alien from the faster-than-light satellite on Darwin IV, the Yma and the humans prepare an expedition to the planet. The Yma choose Wayne Barlowe as one of the candidates for the expedition, because of his skill at drawing extinct Earth wildlife.
Barlowe is the artist of the crew. That's nice, because the reader isn't bogged down by the biology and geology of Darwin IV, and can just sit back and read Barlowe's stories about encountering these odd creatures.
The book is in six parts, each with a biome of sorts: Grasslands and Plains, Forest and Periphery, Amoebic Sea and Littoral Zone, Mountains, Tundra, and Air. Each of these sections as a few stories about Barlowe's adventures. Most of these adventures involve large wildlife and strange adaptations, and all are SUPER COOL.
I'm not really sure what else to say. Look, if you like what you heard so far, then read the book. It is super expensive, but I think it's worth it. This book. Is good.

Lawless

Lawless is a fun book. It's about a girl known only as M (which is kinda confusing at the beginning). M is a perfectly normal girl with completely average skills. Okay, that was actually a blatant lie. I mean, look at the cover.
M is recruited (somewhat against her will) to be a student at Lawless, a school whose motto is "sow all the chaos!" (okay, technically it's "Infinitum Chaos Enim," but I've captured their spirit pretty well). Wait. Is it "sow" or "sew"? Sow. But how is it pronounced? Is it sow-like-in-bow or sow-like-in-pew? Wait... are they pronounced the same? that can't be right. Someone broke Google.
Anywho.
Lawless is a school for master criminals, similar to H.I.V.E. in that - wait. Have I never written a post about H.I.V.E.? I need to get on that.
Okay. No more irrelevant tangents allowed. Lawless is a super duper secret school for bad guys, with advanced technology and quirky teachers. M is just thrown into this school, despite the fact that she never even knew that (spoilers) her father was a world-renowned criminal, and her whole life she was groomed to follow his footsteps. I'm pretty sure that is revealed really early, but I don't want to chance it.
At Lawless, M has to make friends she can trust, lie relatively low, and figure out her teachers and mysterious roommate, Zara. And then this whole "heist" dealie shows up. Yeah... things blow up really quickly (mostly figuratively).
The only complaint I have with Lawless is that it is not very good at science. There are very few books that I will say are not good at science, even almost all fantasy and sci-fi, but that bit at the end.... I won't go into detail, but if you have taken Physics 101, you may cringe a bit.
Not that it wasn't cool. Because that was cool.
In conclusion, if you like spy books, high-stakes befriending, and a good mystery-unraveling, this is a good book for you.

Just Six Numbers

This is a book about science. It's about how the universe is the way it is, and why you and I are alive. In my opinion, that's pretty sweet. It does use some big words, but nothing superfluously esoteric (see what I did there?). If this frightens you, you should probably consider coming back when you're older.
Martin Rees' Just Six Numbers is about six numbers in physics and cosmology that don't need to be what they are. In other words, the universe would go on perfectly well with other values for these numbers. These numbers are, in order of appearance:




N: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000: The force of electromagnetism divided by the force of gravity.
ɛ (epsilon): 0.007: The amount of its energy hydrogen loses when converted into helium divided by the amount of energy in hydrogen.
Ω (omega): 0.3: The amount of matter in the universe divided by the amount of matter needed to stop expansion.
λ (lambda): 0.7: The amount of energy in empty space divided by the amount of energy needed to stop expansion.
Q: 0.00001: The energy needed to destroy a supercluster of galaxies divided by the energy of the matter in that supercluster.
D: 3: The number of large (probably infinite) spatial dimensions.

Tada! If that confused you, don't worry, it confused me too. In the book, Martin Rees goes into a lot more detail about the numbers, how we figured them out, and what it would mean if they were different. Really, this is a nerd book for nerds. Unlike Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension, it's written for people who know at least a little science (for example: exponents, powers of ten, and the fact that matter is just condensed energy), instead of anyone who can count and has an open mind.
Still, if you know nothing about cosmology, this is a great book to start out with. I only knew about these things in the context of ordinary physics, and Just Six Numbers basically introduced me to the concept of cosmology.
Anyways, I have school tomorrow, so I'll wrap it up: Science. Numbers. The multiverse. Physics. Life. Thermonuclear explosion. Space. If any of these phrases interested you, you'll probably like this book.
I am out. Peace!

Here Where the Sunbeams are Green

This is a book that I have been reading for, like, three months. It's not hard to get through by any means, but I've always been reading some other book, usually a nonfiction book about science. I finally finished this weekend, and it was great.
Here Where the Sunbeams are Green (or "The Sunbeam Book," to it's friends) is a Sweet Little Book with almost as much Capitalization as the Bible. Okay, not really. But it's up there in the capitalization department.
The story is told by Mad, the girl with the brown hair and the ponytail. She, her mom, and her sister, Roo, are flown to La Lava Resort and Spa to meet their father, who is a bird guy. But Mad thinks that something odd has happened to her father, because the last thing he sent her was a Very Strange and Incredibly Creepy Letter. Will she and Roo ever see their father again? Yes. They see him in, like, Chapter 3.
But there are very strange things happening at La Lava. No one is exactly as they seem. Mad and Roo have to choose wisely who they trust, or they will end up in a whole heap of trouble. And, of course, there's the active volcano. That's not good either.
In closing, The Sunbeam Book is a nice story about some friends trying to figure things out and put things right again. It's been a while since I've read one of those books, and it's good to be back. I like most of the characters, and the ending is pretty great. Overall, I give The Sunbeam Book a reminded-me-of-my-love-for-adventure-books-but-still-kept-things-interesting out of 10. Anyone who likes adventures with a dash of fantasy should definitely read this book.

Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension

Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension is, in fact, a book about math. If this makes you flee in terror, then you should probably wait until you're older to read it. Of course, that is true of any book, because it is very difficult to read while fleeing in terror.

This is a very good book, and I think it's very well made. It is written in a way so that you start with easy stuff, and work your way up the ladder of chapters. The first chapter is about counting. Seriously.

Throughout the book, the concepts get more complex, and they all build on each other. The "Tower of chapters" (as in, the way they build on each other) is laid out during the introduction. At the end, Matt talks about infinity, and then steps back to look at all of mathematics, and the reason we do math.

One thing that surprised me when reading the book was how much there was to... well... make and do. Throughout the book, there are little activities that you can try. I do recommend that you actually attempt to do them, because they are all really interesting. For example, as I type, I have interlocking möbius strip hearts on my desk.

This is a great book for you if you like math, arts and crafts, or both. If you consider yourself a math nerd, this is basically a must-have. And, if you don't like math, then I still think you should read it. It turns out that math is, in fact, very interesting. Those "mathematicians" are on to something.

Also, he does say "Maths" instead of "Math". Get used to it.

Magyk

Magyk (pronounced muh-JIKE [to rhyme with bike] or muh-GERK [to rhyme with work, as the Y makes an "ER" sound]) is a fantasy book about a long-lost princess, her long-lost brother, and some long-lost magic (sorry, magyk).
One day, on his way home, Silas Heap finds a little baby girl in the snow. Silas takes the girl home to his wife, Sarah only to find that his seventh son, Septimus, has died in a poison drinking accident for mysterious reasons. Silas and Sarah take in the baby, who(m?) they name Jenna. A few years later it turns out that Jenna is a princess, she is being hunted, an ancient evil has been set free, and all that good stuff. Jenna, Silas, the ExtraOrdinary wizard, and a handful of Jenna's brothers are forced out of their home and now have to save the world.
So, basically your average fantasy adventure story.
Seriously, though, Magyk is a great book. It's well-written, and has a really nice story. The best part of the book, however, is its predictability.
I know what you're thinking: "Hold on there a moment, dashing and attractive book-reader whose blog I will now follow, predictable books are boring. Books have to have at least some mystery and plot-twistedness, or else there would be no point in reading them."
To this I say that Magyk is different. It's subtle. and you never know exactly what's going to happen, but the clues are all there. I'd give examples, but those would be spoilers, and we don't like those here. Read the book, and you'll understand. The story is basically a love letter to Chekhov's gun; everything that happens could conceivably be predicted (and none of that "Dumbledore said something meaningless and it turned out to be actual information" stuff. While Dumbledore's ramblings can only be understood in retrospect, all of this can be predicted before it happens.) It's like foreshadowing for ninjas.
All in all, Magyk is a clever book, with memorable characters and a nice ending. Definitely a book you should read.

P.S. Usually I end with "If you like X, Y, and Z, then you should read this book." While that is an easy way to end things, now that I'm in high school what I want to do something different. From now on, I'll end with a simple recommendation. This doesn't mean I won't use the XYZ format anymore, but I'll only use it if I think it's a good ending. Otherwise, I'll mix it up a bit.

P.P.S. Given the similarly-designed covers to the right of this book in library shelves, and the fact that the cover says "Book One," I have determined that Magyk has a number of sequels. I have not read any of them, and I don't really plan on it, unless someone tells me to in the comments. Magyk had an incredibly satisfying ending: the loose ends were tied up, the villain did not run off shaking his fist at the heroes, and there was even a section at the end detailing what happened to the minor characters after they left the main story. If that isn't closure, then I don't know what is.

Saga (and also Epic)

Saga is the second book in a series starting with Epic. The series in set in the future, on New Earth (which is like old earth, but fresher). on New Earth, all arguments are settled in a video game called Epic, which is set in a fantasy world. Eric, a boy from New Earth, goes on a quest to become rich and then accidentally saves the world.
This is where the first book ends. In the second book, Saga, a mysterious robot probe replaces Epic with a new game called Saga. Saga is also set in the future, but more so (the people have hover cars, hover boards, holograms, and the like). Citizens in Saga are given a card of a certain color, and better colors get better things. The best colors are given to the people with power, so the people with the worst colors are struggling to survive.
However, something is different with this game. Something is not right. Something is trying to gain immortality, and will stop at nothing to do it.
So, yeah, basically, it's save-the-world time again.
Saga is a fast-paced, exciting book with an interesting story and cool characters. The story is told by Eric, the kid from New Earth; Ghost, a member of the resistance (in the game); and the Dark Queen, the leader of Saga.
Be sure to read the first book (Epic) first. Also, there is killing, (in both books), so be warned. Epic is really cool because it combines fantasy and science fiction really well. If you enjoy suspenseful stories where the book gives you a chance to figure things out before the character, this book is for you.

three...years...later...

I don't really know what to say. Sorry that I was gone for so long. I just couldn't find the time to keep up this blog (though you should look at my latest blog at I think...) To make up for it, I'll throw an overwhelming, long, boring list of the books I've really liked.
...
...
Screw it, I'll do it tomorrow.
I have, however, just labled a lot more posts, so now the word blob looks more blobbier. You're welcome! (really lousy way of making up for it, I know)
Well, I need to go to sleep now.
Bye!

Gone for a while

I will be out of town for two weeks. I am taking many books with me to read:

• The Golden Hamster Saga (all 5 books, including the 4th one I already reviewed)
  
• The Princess Bride
  
• The Mysterious Benedict Society
  
• The Book of Story Beginnings
  
• Operation Golden Scepter (Get a clue)
  

I'll be back in two weeks to review these books!

The Haunting of Freddy, by Dietlof Reiche

Freddy is a golden hamster who is writing a book called The Lord of the Ferrets. When Freddy uses the book Curious and Remarkable Sentences of Death in Ancient Times as an inspiration for one of the characters in his book, he accidentally gives Grim Harry a chance to come to the modern world and seek revenge. Grim Harry is from the 18th century, 1778 to be precise, and he wants to behead a descendent of The Baron, who beheaded Grim Harry in the past. The Baron's descendants just happen to be one of Freddy's friends, Sebastian, and his dad, Lord Templeton. The ferrets from The Lord of the Ferrets are Grim Harry's pets. The rest of the book is about Freddy, Sebastian, and Sebastian's sister, Annabelle, trying to send Grim Harry back to the world of the undead.

This book was a fast read, and very funny even when it is scary. As I was reading it, I would suddenly crack up, with absolutely no reason why. I should also explain that although this is book 4 in a series, this is a complete story. In fact, I haven't read any of the other books in the series, and I still understood what was going on and I had a lot of fun reading it. If you like acting, poems, parties -- enough with the happy stuff -- terror, undead, and hamsters that write, you will like this book.

Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen

Hoot is about a kid named Roy who has just moved to Florida from Montana. In his new school, he is picked on by Dana Matherson, but Roy is the only kid in the history of Trace Middle School who fights back. One day, when Dana is squishing Roy's face against the bus window, Roy sees a strange kid. The kid was running fast with no shoes, as if he was going to the bus stop, except he had no backpack and no books. Roy decides to investigate and soon finds himself, together with the strange boy and his even stranger sister, fighting to save some cute little burrowing owls from the wrath of bulldozers. Their adventure includes killer dogs, pancakes, the police, alligators, cottonmouths, a kind of highly poisonous snake, and two new good friends.

May Bird Among the Stars, by Jodi Lynn Anderson

This is the second part of May Bird and the Ever After and it continues May's quest to get back home. It's about three things mostly: getting to the North, getting out of the North, and surviving the South. There are old characters like Pumpkin the ghost and Somber Kitty the hairless cat; there are new characters like the lady of the North Farm, Zero the ghost of a surfer dude, and commander Berserko, a devil cat.

This book is just as spooky and funny as the first one and I am looking forward to the third book, May Bird, Warrior Princess.

May Bird and the Ever After, by Jodi Lynn Anderson

May Bird is a girl. She is different from other kids. She prefers walking in the woods than going to parties; she thinks quartz rocks are as valuable as diamonds; her cat does not have hair. One day May takes a walk in the woods. This time she does something different than the other times: she walks into the Endless Briers, which is a large field of briers that guards a secret entryway to the Ever After. The book is about May's adventures trying to get back home. The trip back includes perilous places, evil enemies, faithful friends, malicious menaces, fearsome fiends, a nifty knapsack, and a ghost named Pumpkin.

This book is funny at some times. For example, May attends Agatha's Boarding School for Girls with High Socks. Some parts of it are scary. For example, pretty much everything. Some parts of it are just plain weird. For example, if you touch a drop of water from the sea, you are sent into eternal torture.

If you like spookiness, cliffhangers, and spooky cliffhangers, you'll like this book.

Jigsaw Jones Mysteries, by James Preller

Jigsaw Jones is a detective. He solves mysteries. The Jigsaw Jones series (buy volumes, they are cheaper) is all about Jigsaw Jones' many mysteries. I especially like cracking the codes in the stories. Try cracking this one:

Blue the breeze can yellow kids stormy you chicken duck red snowy crack boy hats hurricane this dog blanket sunny code.

It looks like gibberish, doesn't it? Let me tell you what is the trick of the code: Look at all the words. Do you notice something? Are there a lot of words of the same kind? The message is in the words after those similar words.

I also like these books because they actually use real books. For example, they are reading Stone Fox at reading hour at school; and Jigsaw is reading Bunnicula at night with his dad. Both real books. I've read both of them; I like both of them.

The stories are short enough that you can read them in a car ride.

If you like mysteries, cracking codes, and good ideas for books to read (except for the creep show books, because they are the only books that aren't real) read this series.

The Spiderwick Tie-In Books: A FieldStore Guide

Arthur's Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
This book is the actual field guide that they talk about in the Spiderwick Chronicles series. I think it is weird that the Grace kids went into so much trouble to hide the book and now it is being mass-produced! This book is about all the weird fantastical creatures that Arthur Spiderwick studied. It has labeled illustrations and lots of pull-out pages. In The Spiderwick Chronicles, the Grace kids saw many of these creatures, but they didn't see most of them. That is why this book adds a lot to the original series. This book is worth reading and keeping.

Care and Feeding of Sprites, by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
This is a book about how to care for sprites, which is really funny because... um.. you know... they don't exist. The pretty much only good thing about it is the poster. There is a fold-out poster on the dust cover. It is also really fun to have specifics of different kinds of sprites, not just the 10 words, "There are many different kinds of sprites in the world," which is about all Arthur's Spiderwicks Field Guide says. It is also fun to read how the author doesn't give a hint that sprites don't exist. This book is worth reading, but is only worth keeping if you: 1) want information on specific types of sprites, 2) want the poster, 3) believe in sprites, or 4) all of the above.

The Chronicles of Spiderwick, A grand tour of the enchanted world navigated by Thimbletack, by Holly Black
This book is Thimbletack's scrapbook of things he collected as the years went by at the Spiderwick estate. It is a sort of guide to the Spiderwick books including a map of the house, a family tree, and lots of interesting stuff about the people who have been there. This includes things that are not in the original series, like graded homework essays by the Grace kids, newspaper clippings from around the world, letters, pages ripped out of books, diary entries, and family pictures. It is fun to see how all these extra bits fit in with the original series, and it answers some questions you may have had when reading the series. For example, how did Aunt Lucinda convinced the sprites to come? This book has the answer. The Grant Tour book is worth reading, and worth keeping if you are a big Spiderwick fan (e.g., me!).

Notebook for Fantastical Observations, by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
This book is full of fun stories and activities organized by magical creature, including dragons, brownies, and lots of other creatures. For example, under dragons, there is a page for "Sketches for two locations where dragons may be found, in the real world and in the fairy world." Some of these activities are easy to complete, others may leave you stumped, such as (under Brownies), "I imagine this creature helping me with chores around my house." This book is definitely worth reading, but only worth keeping if you are willing to do the activities, like me. It is a good way to keep the fantasy going until the next series comes out (and, I assure you, it eventually will).

The Spiderwick Chronicles, by Holly Black

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a 5-book series about the Grace children -- Mallory Grace, Jared Grace, and Simon Grace -- and their adventures in a world full of fairies who live right along with us humans, but that only they can see. The books are The Field Guide, The Seeing Stone, Lucinda's Secret, The Ironwood Tree, and The Wrath of Mulgarath. The books are full of bizarre creatures (good, bad, and dead), duels, a certain amount of blood-shed, falling, running, more falling, and more running.

These books are a quick and fun read. I read them in three days the first time. Since then, I have read them two more times, so I think they are worth getting and they are worth keeping. There are lots of other books related to Spiderwick, which you will find in my next blog entry, in which I will tell you which of these books are worth getting or keeping or both.

Eager, by Helen Fox

At the end of the 21st century, robots are everywhere: there are teacher robots, butler robots, driver robots, and cook robots. Among all these robots, Eager (Model EGR3) is unique. He is the only robot who is not pre-programmed, but rather designed to learn from experience, quite like me or you (if you're a kid). This makes him able to think for himself. For example, pretty much all robots were programmed to not lie, EGR3 has to learn why lying is wrong. Having to learn from experience also means learning from mistakes, like when Eager tried to "clean" a human baby by putting her into the washing machine (NOTE: No babies were harmed in this book). Eager quickly becomes a part of the Bell family, but when the fanciest robots around (the BCD4s) begin to behave a little too much like people, Eager and the two older children of the Bell family are involved in a perilous adventure.

This book is sort of hard to understand at the beginning because the author talks about the world nearly a 100 years from now as if we know exactly what she is talking about. For example, the book starts when Gavin Bell has a conversation with his house. At the beginning of the book you might think, "okay, I'm too young to understand anything this says," but keep on reading and trust me, things will unravel.

Now the typical end for most of my reviews: if you like adventure, mysteries, advanced technology, and thinking about the future, this is the right book for you.

The Strictest School in the World, by Howard Whitehouse

The Strictest School in the World is about a girl named Emmaline and a boy named Robert. Emmaline is a pioneer of aviation. In other words, she tries to make flying machines. Robert, a.k.a. Rubberbones, is pretty much indestructible. Did you know some bulletproof vests are actually made of rubber? Well, so is Rubberbones! Emmaline and Rubberbones work together to make flying machines; Rubberbones is the pilot, Emmaline is the engineer.

Unfortunately, Emmaline is sent to a... let's say... very strict school. In St. Grimelda's School for Young Ladies, missing one word in Latin class gets your knuckles rapped with a ruler. For a bigger mistake, you could find yourself cleaning the cage of some... er... birds. Believe me, that is worse than it sounds, but I won't spoil it for you.

The book covers Emmaline's struggle to escape St. Grimelda's School with the help of Rubberbones, a friend named Josie, the mad inventor Professor Bellbuckle, and her own brains.

If you like humor, wacky adventures, and a certain amount of bouncing and kidnapping, you will like this book.

Dino Poop, by Jane Hammerslough

Dino Poop is about prehistoric things that were preserved. The first chapter is about dinosaur poop. The next chapter is about things that are trapped in amber. The third chapter is about things that were trapped in ice, the most famous thing was a perfectly preserved woolly mamoth which even had eyes! The fourth chapter was about creatures trapped in bogs. One of the most famous was so preserved that the two boys who found it thought it was a recent murder and called the police. Then there is a whole chapter of activities to do, like Making Edible Amber.

To make edible amber, you need:

• a freezer safe bowl
  
• some peach or mango juice
  
• gummy frogs or lizards
  
• If you want, cocoa powder for dirt and licorice for sticks.
  

Instructions:

1. Put a gummy lizard in a bowl.
   
2. Pour mango or peach juice in the bowl.
   
3. You can add cocoa powder or licorice for dirt and sticks.
   
4. Put the bowl in the freezer.
   
5. Get ready to eat it!
   
6. Eat it.
   

If you like science, books that you can read in two evenings, and weird and wonderful facts read this book.

Cryptid Hunters, by Roland Smith

Cryptid Hunters is about two kids named Grace and Marty who were twins and their parents disappear in a helicopter crash. After that, they were sent to their "uncle" Wolf. Wolf hunts cryptids and works and owns a company and an island. In case you don't know, cryptids are animals never proved to have existed or who are believed to be extinct. Grace and Marty have lots of adventures including falling out of a jet 18,000 ft. above ground, surviving the Congo, experiencing a real explosion, and collecting fresh eggs from a sauropod. If you like laughing yourself to death, "fantasy", and mystery, read this book.

The Deep Time Diaries, by Gary Raham

Deep time is the time deep in the past. The Deep Time Diaries is about two kids named John and Neesha Olifee and their parents. The Olifees one day found a pair of asteroids, Beta and Alpha. When they went into one of them, Neesha found a "room". One day when she was exploring the room she found what she thought was a bug on the wall. When she looked closely, she found out that the bug was a robot. Then the robot did something weird. He went into a keyboard of some kind and formed itself into one of the keys. Then, Neesha called her family. All four of them tried to pull the bug out but they couldn't do it. Then the accident happened. The room was a space ship. The bug made the ship work, and it zoomed to a wormhole made out of two black wholes in the middle of the asteroids. That was the beginning of the Time Travel Tour.

They measure the times that they have been by jumps. Jump 1 is terators and tar pits. In this jump, they discover a mini buggie in the ship and go out exploring finding lots of species from the ice age. With each jump they go farther back in time and understand more about the ship and the bugs it contains. They go all the way to Jump 8 where they discover a mysterious truth which I will not tell you because you will be looking forward to discovering it at the end of the book, but I will tell you that there is a truth. This book also has a few things for "21st century explorers" to do, like places to visit where you can dig fossils, research projects, and other books to read.

If you like science, prehistoric creatures, getting scared out of your wits (just kidding!), and laughing, read this book.

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Every time I read a book, I want to be in it. That is exactly what happened to Bastian Balthazar Bux. Bastian is a boy that always wanted to be in a book, but when he accidentally goes into a book called The Neverending Story, he finds out he wants the exact opposite. The Neverending Story that Bastian was reading is about when the Childlike Empress, Ruler of Fantastica, is sick and Atreyu, a young Green Skin, is sent on a quest to find a cure. Along the way, Atreyu meets Falkor, a luckdragon. Together, they find out that the only thing that can cure the Childlike Empress is a new name from a human from the outer world. By this time, I think I should explain you this: The book Bastian was reading we already went over, but the book I read is about Bastian reading the book and doing what happened next -- going to Fantastica.

This book is filled with monsters, heroes, extraordinary places and most of all, weird, weird people, or should I say inhabitants of Fantastica. If you like all those four things, plus adventure and excitement and a little bit of sadness, read this book.

Bloomability by Sharon Creech

Bloomability was fantastico!

Libero, libero, liberoooooo! This book was great and the review is going to be great too. This story is about a girl named Dinnie who went to Lugano, Switzerland, Europe, Earth, Milky Way, with Aunt Sandy and Uncle Max. Dinnie was so upset about leaving her family in the States and going to boarding school. When she gets to Lugano she meets Guthrie. Guthrie tells Dinnie a story to make her feel better, but it doesn't work because Dinnie doesn't understand the story yet. The story is about two prisoners looking out the same window. One said, "My oh my, what a lot of sky!" and the other one said, "My oh my, what a lot of dirt!" I thought the message meant we all live in the same planet even though we are different.

Soon after Dinnie met Guthrie, she met Lila at the church. Lila and Guthrie were very different from each other. Guthrie was always cheerful and happy; Lila, if she had a scratch she would say she was going to die. In the school were also Keisuke, Belén, and Mari who were in the same grade as Dinnie, Guthrie and Lila. Keisuke is Japanese, he talks great at English. Almost. Instead of "stupid", he says stew-pod and instead of "possible", he says bloomable. Belén is Spainese. She and Keisuke like each other. Mari is from Rome, Italy.

I figured out, even before my mom did, that Bloomability was about all the possibilities on the planet: all the chances that you get to see new things and go to new places; all the chances of life when someone is ill or injured; all the chances of making friends with people even when they are very different from you; all the chances of loving some place or some thing when you think you are going to hate it. That's what Guthrie's story was about, possibilities. If you like adventure, courage, and caring, read this book.

A note from the reviewer: Sometimes, when you are looking for the good things, it helps to look for the bad things. For example, a forest fire seems horrible, but it turns the grass into ash to fertilize the earth, so sometimes some bad things can actually turn into good things.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamilo

This story is about a mouse named Despereaux (Desperou) who fell in love with a princess. Because he fell in love with a princess, the other mice sent him to the dungeon. At the same time that the mouse was born, a rat was born. A weird rat. He was so weird in fact that he liked light. His name was Chiaroscuro (Roskurou). And at the same time that was happening, a girl named Miggery Sow was coming in a carriage with pots and bowls and spoons. When Miggery Sow goes down to feed Gregory the Jailer, Roscuro goes into her pocket and hears her wish that someday she will be a princess. Then Roscuro climbs out of her pocket and tells her a plan. Now, earlier, Despereaux had climbed into Miggery's pocket, so he heard the rat tell Miggery about his evil plan. Will Despereaux be able to save the princess he loves?

More Perfect Than the Moon, by Patricia MacLachlan

More Perfect than the Moon was more perfect than the moon! It's about a girl named Sarah who has a journal and writes fantasy things from non-fiction things. Sarah has a grandpa, a mom and dad, two brothers, and one sister. In the middle of the story, Sarah's mother gets pregnant. Soon after that, Sarah gets a sheep from her grandma and names her Beatrice. Then her sister and one of her brothers fall in love with other people and Sarah makes up a story about her brother falling in love with a princess coming in a charriot, but actually it was a girl coming in a wagon. When the baby was born, Sarah wasn't so sure about it. Will Sarah finally admit that the baby is more perfect than the moon?

Everything on a Waffle, by Polly Horvath

This book was Fantabulous. It’s about a girl named Primrose, whose parents were lost at sea. Primrose was full of hope and belief that her parents were stranded in an island alive waiting to be rescued. While her parents were out in the storm she had been watched by Miss Perfidy. Then Primrose went to a Council Meeting where her uncle Jack, who sells houses, started to take care of her. Uncle Jack's house was next to the school, so that he could teach P.E.

You might be wondering about the title. The title is about a restaurant called The Girl on The Red Swing, where they served everything on a waffle. If you ordered fish, it came on a waffle. If you ordered soup, it came on a waffle. If you ordered a waffle, it came on a waffle. One day while they were eating at The Girl on The Red Swing, Jack's houses burned up in a fire! The fire was caused by a high voltage cable that was cut by something. What I really liked about this book is the end, which I am not going to tell you about. I also liked Primrose's belief in her parents.

Dinosaurs: The world's most terrifying creatures by Veronica Ross

This book was terrific. It tells you about more than just dinosaurs, it's a trip from the Cambrian Period to the 21st century. It'll also tell you about sea monsters and Pterosaurs and other lizards like Coelurosauravus and Diplocaulus and things from the Ice Age like Borhyaena and Colossochelys.

This book divided the Cretaceous into two parts.

The Littles Go to School by John Peterson

This book was good. It's about when 10-year-old Tom and 8-year-old Lucy get traped in a hamster's cage and go to school. Tom and Lucy aren't ordinary kids, they are Littles. Littles look like ordinary people except that they have tails and the biggest Little, Mr. Little, is only 6 inches tall. Will Tom and Lucy get back home before dark?

I like this book because it has excitement, unexpectedness, and especially fun.

Chasing Redbird, by Sharon Creech

This book was GREAT!!!!! This book is about Zinnia Taylor, a girl at the age of 13, who has three brothers and three sisters. She lives with her mom and dad and her Uncle Nate and Aunt Jessie. The story is about when Zinny(a) finds an old trail and starts to clear it. But when Uncle Nate's wife, Aunt Jessie, dies, he starts acting weird. Along the way clearing the trail, Zinny finds things like fossils, a bear, a bob cat, and lots of different kinds of birds, especially redbirds. She also finds Uncle Nate's secret. There is also a man named Jake Boone, who likes Zinny and gives her presents almost every day. He even steals things to please Zinny. At the end, Zinny was famous for clearing the whole trail.

I like this book because it's about adventure, determination, funniness --for example, chickory plants sprouting from chicken eggs-- and God.

James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl

This book was AWESOME!!! It's about a boy who grows a peach as big as a house. Then he finds a hole in the peach and he goes in the hole. Then he opens a peach seed and inside there's a whole room! And there is a giant silk worm, a giant lighting bug, a giant grasshopper, a giant ladybug and a giant spider. The grasshopper nibbles off the stem of the peach and then they all go rolling and rolling and rolling and rolling and then the peach rolls into the sea. Then sharks come and the peach gets lift up by seagulls! Then they go from one adventure to another to another to another and at the end they are famous and they live in New York.

This book is about weird things, adventure, friendship, adventure, and more adventure.

Pleasing the Ghost, by Sharon Creech

This book was AWESOME! It's about Dennis, a boy, and his dog Bo who meet their Uncle Arvie. Uncle Arvie wants Dennis to give him three pleases (three gifts) and Dennis has to go through a puzzle of words that Uncle Arvie gets mixed up with. For example, what is "Fraggle pin Heartfoot a wig pasta?" That was his first please. His second please was for Dennis to "Hammer a needle." and the third please was for Dennis to "dunder." Oh, by the way, Uncle Arvie is the ghost of Dennis' uncle and he had a stroke so he got his words mixed up. But don't worry, you'll find out what these words mean. If you like ghosts, dying with laughter, and made-up words, read this book.

The Mouse and the Motorcycle, by Beverly Cleary

This story is GREAT! It's about a mouse who lives in a hotel and then a boy comes to the hotel and he goes to the room where the mice are in. One mouse is named Ralph and he is a curious little fellow. One day, Ralph goes out of his mouse hole and explores the room. He climbs up the telephone pole and finds a motorcycle. Then he climbs on the motorcycle and pushes the motorcycle so that he can ride it. Then the phone rang and Ralph fell off the table and into the trash can! The boy came and picked Ralph out of the trash can and lets him use the motorcycle. The rest of the book is about the adventures of Ralph and the boy. This book is adventureous and full of hope and friendship.

Bunnicula Strikes Again, by James Howe

This was a good book. This was a very good book. It's about when Chester thought Bunnicula's mother, er Bunnicula thought his mother, was coming to visit him/Bunnicula. The movie theater where Bunnicula was found was going to be destroyed in three weeks (September 24th) and the Monroes wanted to stop that because it was the most famous movie theater in town. In the meantime, Harold and Howie are running around town looking for Bunnicula's mom, but Chester had other plans. Chester was acting very suspiciously and Harold thought he was trying to hurt Bunnicula. Harold and Chester had a big fight about that. Will Harold and Chester's madness recover? Find out when you read Bunnicula Strikes Again!

You can read my reviews of other books in this series in my blog, for example Return to Howliday Inn and It Came From Beneath the Bed.

The Secrets of Droon, Vol. II, by Tony Abbott

The first book was a fun book. Almost the funnest Secrets of Droon I have ever read. It is about when Eric, Julie, and Neil go to Jaffa City, the capital of Droon and the city falls into a spell of snow. Then groggles (flying lizards) and nins (red ogres) and their master Lord Sparr come to destroy Jaffa City. But Eric, Julie, Neal and Keeah, and the people that live in Jaffa City save the day! The other three books are also a lot of fun.

Since I read this, and until now (November 14) I have read Volume III and books 13, 14, and 15 (they stopped doing the volumes on the third one). I can't get enough! I am saving my money to get more.

Love that dog, by Sharon Creech

Do you like reading poems? If you do, you will love Love that dog. The book is about when Jack tries to make a poem and then starts learning how to make one. I liked this book because its like a boy talking to a teacher. For example, it starts:

SEPTEMBER 13

I don't want to
because boys
don't write poetry.

Girls do.

Jack at first doesn't like poetry, but then he reads some cool poems at school and he even writes his own. At the end of the book are some of the poems Jack read at school. I really liked reading the poems, but I want them to be right next to the notes that explain about them in the story. My favorite poem was called The Apple. My favorite part of the poem is when it says

yum yum wormy worm yuck yuck yum yum yum
yum yum wormy worm yuck yuck yum yum

Return to Howliday Inn, by James Howe

This is another book in the Bunnicula series. In this book Chester, Harold, and Howie go back to Chateau Bow-Wow and find new friends: Hamlet, a dog; Weasel, a weasel; Felony and Miss Demeanor, two cats. This book is kind of freaky. It involves talking bones, ventriloquists, paranormal experiences, and a fake dead dog. I liked when Hamlet gets back home and what I don't like kind of freaked me out -- talking bones!

The Desert Beneath the Sea, by Ann McGovern and Eugene Clark

You may be asking youself, how can a desert be beneath the sea? A desert has almost no water, and the sea has a lot of water. The desert beneath the sea is actually the sea floor. It is called a desert because it is made out of sand. This book is about how fish live, eat, and even breed at and under the sea floor.

Some advice: If you don't like reading boring stuff, skip the introduction. The introduction is three pages long! After that, things get pretty interesting. A fish that can dig? A starfish that looks like a fish? A fish with two eyes on one side of its head? Find out how fish can do these incredible things when you read The Desert Beneath the Sea

It Came From Beneath the Bed, by James Howe

This story is about friends, lots of adjectives ("the brave but scared Howie"), and about writing books and scariness. This story is when Pete turns bad and makes a potion so that he would grow and grow and grow and defeat the universe. The potion slipped out of his hands while he was sleeping, and fell on Pudgykins, his stuffed koala bear. And then Pudgykins grew and grew and grew and tried to defeat the universe.

I liked this book because it had friends and little notes and funny things.

Time Cat, by Lloyd Alexander

This was a good book. I learned a lesson and probably everybody in this book learned a lesson. Some lessons were about cats and some were about humans. This book is about when Jason finds out Gareth, his cat, can actually talk and he can travel back in time and to other places. Come with Time Cat to go to ancient Egypt, Japan, Italy, and other places. I liked this book because in every place Jason and Gareth teach somebody a lesson, like in ancient Egypt the Pharaoh thought that cats should be shouted at and of course that is not true. If you like learning, history, and adventures read this book.

Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe

This was a very funny book in all three stories (except the middle one). In the first book (Bunnicula: a rabbit-tale of mystery), a family goes to the movies and finds a rabbit and they name him Bunnicula. But Chester, the family cat, thinks Bunnicula is a vampire. In the second book (Howliday Inn), the family goes on vacation and leaves Chester and Harold, the writing family dog, at a pet hotel. In this book, Chester thinks two dogs are werewolves. In the third book (The Celery Stalks at Midnight), they think that Bunnicula is multiplying to make more vampires. The last one is both the scariest and the funniest of the three stories. If you like laughs, being scared, and solving mysteries, read this book.

The Secrets of Droon, by Tony Abbott

This volume has the first four books of the series. It's about when Eric and his friends discover a world under Eric's basement. The world is called Droon and it is a magical place with monsters like groggles and nins. In the first book, Eric finds the world under his basement and rescues a little princess named Kia. In the second, Eric and his friends go to Droon to find a palace inside a volcano! In the third, they go to save a mysterious island, and Neal, one of Eric's friends, gets licked by a bug and turns into one! In book four Neal turns back into a bug and they rescue a floating city. Read this book if you like mystery, magic, monsters, and more. I am reading more Secrets of Droon. So far, Eric can send messages from his mind and shoot sparks out of his fingers and July can fly and change shape. I will keep updating as I keep reading this series.

Magic Tree House: Carnival at Candlelight by Mary Pope Osborne

This is a book of when Jack and Annie go on a mission to save Venice from a flood and the only person who can help them is Neptune, the God of the Seas. At first, they don't understand how, and they end up skipping every single thing in the list of things they have to do because they are stomped on all of them! Then they understand and take a trip on a flying lion to the middle of the sea where Neptune lives.

I liked all of the book and I didn't like none of the book. If you like surprises, magic and learning, read this book.