Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson is not a normal boy. He is a half-blood: Half god, half human. He is the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea, and Sally Jackson, a mortal human. Percy has to go to Camp Half-blood to train to fight monsters because monsters will come after pretty much any half-blood. He has to lead a quest to find Zeus' lightning bolt within 10 days, or there will be a big war between Zeus and Poseidon. Percy's fatal flaw is helping friends out which gets him in trouble.



I love Percy Jackson and by now I have read 4 books of the 5 book series. I'm waiting for the 5th one to become available at the library. The books are fast paced and exciting. Usually I can't keep my eyes off them. I would give this book 5 stars because, for one thing, they're the only books that I would actually like to re-read.

5 STARS


Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief. Miramax Books, 2005. 375 pages. RL: Gr 5-9

NEXT REVIEW: Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo

Thursday, July 30, 2009

26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola

Hey. I'm sorry about not posting reviews in awhile. So here's my new one:

26 Fairmount Avenue is an autobiography. It is about a boy who lives in an apartment in Connecticut and is waiting for his new house to be built. The story starts in 1938. One of the things I liked about it was when Tomie (the boy) is with his great-grandma and they mistake laxatives for chocolates. I also liked it when Tomie goes to see the movie Snow White in the theater. He hates it so much that he yells at the screen (he didn't think it was like the original story).

This book was riveting because one good thing happened right after another. I give this story 5 stars because it was short and fun.

dePaola, Tomie. 26 Fairmount Avenue. New York: Penguin Puffin Books for Young Readers, 1999. 57 pages.

RL: Gr 3-5

FIVE STARS

NEXT REVIEW: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, a Percy Jackson book

Saturday, January 3, 2009

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Despereaux Tilling is not a normal mouse. He breaks mouse rules like "Never talk to a human." He has big ears and his eyes were wide open when he was born. This story is about a mouse who loves a princess, a poor girl who dreams of being a princess, and a rat who loves light.

I give this story 5 stars because it is a good story. Somehow it seemed just the right length. The characters were good because they had interesting names and interesting personal stories.

The movie version was well done but is very different from the book. It tells its own different story about Despereaux. I enjoyed the movie but it is not the same story.


DiCamillo, Kate. The Tale of Despereaux.Candlewick Press, 2003.
272 pages. RL: Ages 9-12


FIVE STARS