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.