Book Review: The Candymakers by Wendy Mass

Every year the Confectionary Association holds a candy making competition for 12 year olds who submit essays from which 32 are chosen. They also pick four special kids out of the 32 to go to the candy making factory, Life Is Sweet, to get help on making their candy. Philip, Miles, Daisy, and of course, the candymakers son Logan are the chosen four. They all have secrets that they will take the utmost care to hide. Everything seems to be going well at the factory. Miles is finished with his candy, Daisy is finished too, Logan is half finished, and Philip has an idea of the candy he’s going to make. Then everything changes when they discover that Philip’s dad is planning to steal the secret ingredient that the factory uses in their chocolate, and he’s planning to buy Life is Sweet, then destroy it. The only way to save the factory is if Philip wins the bet with his dad. If he wins the contest, then his dad won’t buy the factory. When they learn this, they all start working on Philip’s candy the night before they have to turn it in to the judges. Will they be able to finish the candy in time? What are the secrets that Daisy, Miles, and Philip are hiding? Will Philip win the contest and save the factory?

I like this book because it shows all sides of the story. It has a chapter for what’s happening in Philip’s perspective, Miles perspective, Daisy’s perspective, and Logan’s perspective. You find out things that you didn’t expect, based on the other people’s view of that person. Recommended for ages 8 and up.

Book Review: Who Was Helen Keller by Gare Thompson

Helen Keller was a girl who couldn’t see or hear. She successfully made it through life. It all started when she was a baby. She was just like any other baby. One day she got a high fever which caused her not to hear or see.   With the help of Ann Sullivan, Helen Keller made it through life very well. When she grew up, she helped people who were blind just like her.

If you want to learn more about HELEN KELLER I really recommend this book. This book really inspired me to help others even though you have disabilities. I could really imagine what a tough life she had but she had that courage to keep going. I recommend this book to any ages either read to yourself or have it read to you.

Book Review: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Kira’s life isn’t going so well. She was born with a twisted leg and without a father. When Kira’s mother dies, Kira is brought to the Council of Guardians. The Council Of Guardians will decide if she will be able to stay or will be taken to the field for the beasts. The society that she lived in was not accepting to people with disabilities. She is ready to defend her life. But to her surprise, she is given a room with supplies for her talent which is threading. The Council Of Guardians tell her that she is going to take over her mom’s job to repair the Singer’s robe.

Now Kira has been saved from the beasts. As Kira becomes aware of her neighbors she begins to wonder about the society. Kira finds out that all the people living there with her have no parents and are all gifted or talented in different ways. Could it be that all their lives were already planned? Kira begins to wonder the actual death of her parents and the truth about the society. Will she be able to uncover all the mysteries of what appears to be everything? To find out more read Gathering Blue.

I liked this book a lot because whenever I decided to stop, I couldn’t because the book had trapped me in. In fact, sometimes I thought this book was really magical. I recommend this book for ages 9 and up.

Book Review: Sick by Tom Leveen

Brian and his friends are what you call rebels. They like to skip class and eat lunch at his friend’s house. In order to get out of the school, they need to climb over fences with spikes on them and slink past the security gaurds. These skills come in handy when a disease starts to spread throughout Phoenix metro high school. It’s not just any disease, this disease turns you into something from a movie. Something resembling a zombie.The sick are really dangerous. For example, one of the traits is to violently kill people. When the person gets infected, their limbs start to get bigger and a crystal like substance slowly covers their body.

Brian and his friends are trapped in stagecraft class and Brian doesn’t know where his sister or his Ex-girlfriend is. His friends and he depart on a mission through the school to find them before the sick do. Who will get to them first, Brian and his friends, or the sick?

I like this book, because it’s full of action and horror. There are a lot of things that you don’t expect to happen, but do. This book is really descriptive and captivates you. Recommended for 13 and up.

Book Review: Bad Kitty School Daze by Nick Bruel

BAD KITTY AND PUPPY GOT INTO A FIGHT. THE OWNER SENT THEM TO SCHOOL.  WHEN THEY GOT TO SCHOOL, IT WAS CIRCLE TIME.  WHEN IT WAS CIRCLE TIME, THEY HAD TO SAY THEIR NAME AND WHAT WAS IN THEIR MIND. WHEN IT WAS BAD KITTY’S TURN…BAD KITTY STUCK HER TONGUE OUT AT PUPPY. WELL THAT WAS A DISASTER. THE NEXT SESSION WAS ART, IT WAS A MESS TOO.  HOW IS BAD KITTY GONNA GET THROUGH SCHOOL?  IS SHE GONNA GRADUATE?

I REALLY LIKE THIS BOOK BECAUSE I CAN REALLY FEEL THE PAIN THAT BAD KITTY IS GOING THROUGH.  I KNOW BECAUSE I ALWAYS FIGHT WITH MY BROTHER AND SISTER.  [LIKE BAD KITTY AND PUPPY].

Book Review: The Call of the Wild by Jack London

In the beginning of this book, Buck appears as a sated aristocrat. He lives his life without a care and has everything he could ever want. Oh yeah, Buck’s a dog. He lives at Judge Miller’s place, and thinks he’s the king of the whole estate. Then he gets kidnapped by the gardener Manuel and sold to a person. This person takes dogs to a place where they get sold to become sled dogs. When Buck gets to the place, he gets beaten by a man in a red sweater and learns the law of club. Then when he’s bought by a person going to the Klondike region, everything changes for him. Buck sees his friend Curly get devoured by hungry huskies. Buck gets whipped, clubbed, bitten, and almost starved to death. Then when he’s bought by new owners, they do the same thing, but more extreme. Will Buck come out of this alive?

I liked this book because it’s showing the changes that Buck is going through. First he’s a sated aristocrat, then he transforms into a primordial beast. The hardships that he goes through are very entertaining to read. I always think to myself, what if I went through those same hardships, would I change for the better, or for the worse? Recommended for 11 and up. They have to be that age or they won’t really pick up the concepts in the book.

Book Review: Who Done It? by Jon Scieszka

Think about all the things you loathe in people, then times it by one thousand. That is what Herman Mildew is. He loves cheese, and smells like something has died. He looks worse than a fat pig, and he’s one of the most hated editors alive. He also hates bad authors. Oh yeah, and he was murdered. They are investigating 80 of the most talented, and bestselling children’s fiction authors in the YA that are suspects in his murder. To prove their innocence, they make them write alibis in brief first person entries. The only problem is they’re all liars; and they all have something to hide.

I liked this book, because the authors are really sarcastic and straight forward. It was really funny reading through all the stories.

Reviewer D.J. 12 years old. Book recommended for 11 and up.

Book Review: 12 Finally by Wendy Mass

Rory Swenson just turned 12 and has a list of things that she can finally do. Go to the mall with her friends, get a phone, baby sit, stay home alone, ride in the front seat, get your ears pierced, wear make up, have a pet etc. This is the time when her life officially starts.

Jake Harrison and Madison Waters are coming to her school to film a movie, Rory her best friend Anabelle and tons of other people get chosen to be extras in the movie but things don’t go as well as she thought they would. Rory kept getting allergies and hurting herself by trying makeup, shaving her legs, getting a pet, getting her ears pierced and staying home alone.

Throughout the whole book Rory helps a lot of people and doesn’t notice it. She helped a guy buy animal food, get into a ballet studio, find a book and more. To find out more read 12 Finally.

This book was very interesting and life learning and I really liked it. I recommend this book to people ages 10 and up.

Book Review: The Terminals by Royce Scott Buckingham

Cam is basically your average college student. He is easygoing, plays left wing for his soccer team, and he has good grades. When the doctors pronounce him to have a disease, where there is a huge tumor that grows in his brain and it just keeps on growing until he dies. Everything changes for Cam. A strange man comes to him and asks if he wants to join a group of students that all have the same disease that he has, but use the time that they have to live wisely, by kicking butt and saving people. Cam accepts the offer and joins the team. The other college students are enhanced by this serum called TS-9. It basically makes them faster and stronger than any other human being. At first, Cam is excited about being on the team, but when they go on their first mission he starts to doubt the true meaning of why they’re doing this. He starts to question things, like if the people that they killed are really bad people, or if his so called disease is real.

I liked this book because even though Cam doesn’t have all the enhancements that the other college students have, he still manages to keep up with them and even surpasses them. This shows that even though somebody might be better than you at something, that doesn’t mean that you’re bad at it, it just means that you have to work harder to reach that level of expertise. I recommend this book to kids 12 and up.

Book Review: Blood Ninja by Nick Lake

Taro is a normal peasant boy living in a village on a beach happily, then out of for no reason at all ninja come to kill him. His whole perspective of what’s real and what’s fantasy changes, when his father is killed by a vampire ninja. His mother faked her death so that the ninjas wouldn’t get her, and he got rescued by a good vampire ninja. While fighting off the other ninjas, Taro gets stabbed through the stomach by one of the ninjas, and the in order to save Taro’s life, the good vampire ninja turns Taro into a vampire. As Taro trains to become a ninja, in a ninja school, he is met by looks of resentment from the other students, because he ‘s already a vampire. Whereas they have to complete many years of training to be then turned into a vampire. Can Taro complete ninja school? Will he be able to find his mother? Why, and who sent the ninjas to kill him.

I liked this book, because I like books with a lot of action in it and moments where you stop to think. I also liked this book because I really like fantasy, and I like it when it has things in the book that defy what a normal human being can do. For example, if you have super speed or super strength, and you lift a building, or move 100 miles per hour to block a sword.