Summary of "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech
Thirteen year old Salamanca takes a road trip from Ohio to Idaho with her two wacky and unique grandparents. As she is in the car with her grandparents, she entertains them with a story about her friend Phoebe Winterbottom. Phoebe Winterbottom receives these mysterious messages from someone she has yet to know who it is. She talks about a lunatic that lives in the neighborhood and obsesses over Mrs. Cadaver because her last name is "dead body." She even happens to having a missing mother, just like Sal does. Sal's story is almost reflected through Phoebe's while she tells it, it's like these two were meant to be friends in this book. Sal's mother went away one April morning and promised to be back at a certain time, in which did not happen. The trip to Idaho gains intensity and a goal when her mother does not return. She hopes to get there in time to make it by her mother's birthday and bring her mother back home, even though her father claims that it is basically a lost cause and she may not accomplish anything from it. We find out many things throughout this book, and most of them being highly surpising. This book will amaze you with the laughs you'll gain and then all the connections throughout the story that Sharon Creech waits to throw to you near the very end. It is a highly enjoyable book that I would most definitely recommend to all ages.
The book was a very awesome book, it kept you thinking and on your toes. I was highly surprised by the amount of twists and turns in the book and how everything ended up being sort of wrapped together. I was really surprised with what we found out about her mother, and I cried at the end, I can't lie about that. My favorite characters were either Sal or her grandparents, they were definitely the best. Sal was a passionate and sweet character and her love of nature really inspired me to look at things a little differently when I am outside doing things. Her grandparents were cooky and hilarious and they seemed to get in trouble so easily and I loved it. Her grandparents reminded me a lot of my past grand parents and so it was nice seeing that. A big thing for me was the closeness between Sal and her grand parents. I don't really have a closeness to anyone else in my family but my actual parents and sibling, I would love to have a relationship like that and it's nice to see that does exist. I think this book is about a 9-11 year targeted book, but I think anyone would really enjoy it. I know I did and it was my favorite that I have read year round. I loved it!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Marsupials
I Solemnly Swear I Am Up To No Good,
"Marsupials" by Nic Bishop.
This book is full of interesting facts all about kangaroos, opossums, sugar gliders, and many more marsupials! This book is all about those mammals who carry their offspring in pouches and that's where they live for a good while. This book features many captivating images of each animal it is speaking about, and most are close-ups of these adorable critters! I think children interested in these little animals would love this book. It also has little facts about the animals beside almost every picture!
Evaluation:
I really enjoyed this book, but I didn't like it quite as much as my kitty book! I think that the target age for this would be middle grade, no doubt in my mind. The reason I believed this is because the book is laid out more for the older children, the ones who can stay focused on a big paragraph with few pop-ups and facts throughout the book. That's exactly what this book has! It's cute, of course. It has some really beautiful and simple pictures of each animal it is focusing on for each set of pages, and all the pictures are close-up and it's amazing how anyone took those pictures. I think middle grade would be able to keep up with the vocabulary in this book a bit easier than elementary children would. I like that in each page, they have a certain sentence in the paragraph bolded and bigger than the rest. It is almost like a more important part of the paragraph or any interesting fact that the reader should really be paying attention to. I think the little facts in each corner of the picture are interesting too and will keep the reader on their toes to find out more.
Mischief Managed.
This book is full of interesting facts all about kangaroos, opossums, sugar gliders, and many more marsupials! This book is all about those mammals who carry their offspring in pouches and that's where they live for a good while. This book features many captivating images of each animal it is speaking about, and most are close-ups of these adorable critters! I think children interested in these little animals would love this book. It also has little facts about the animals beside almost every picture!
Evaluation:
I really enjoyed this book, but I didn't like it quite as much as my kitty book! I think that the target age for this would be middle grade, no doubt in my mind. The reason I believed this is because the book is laid out more for the older children, the ones who can stay focused on a big paragraph with few pop-ups and facts throughout the book. That's exactly what this book has! It's cute, of course. It has some really beautiful and simple pictures of each animal it is focusing on for each set of pages, and all the pictures are close-up and it's amazing how anyone took those pictures. I think middle grade would be able to keep up with the vocabulary in this book a bit easier than elementary children would. I like that in each page, they have a certain sentence in the paragraph bolded and bigger than the rest. It is almost like a more important part of the paragraph or any interesting fact that the reader should really be paying attention to. I think the little facts in each corner of the picture are interesting too and will keep the reader on their toes to find out more.
Mischief Managed.
Everything Big Cats
I Solemnly Swear I Am Up To No Good,
"Everything Big Cats" by Elizabeth Carney
This book is all about cats, duh! From tigers, leopards, lions, and jaguars, even to the smaller cats like pumas and even house cats! It has beautiful photographs throughout the whole book and captivating words and little "did you know?" pop-ups on the sides too! The book talks about a liger and a tigon, which I didn't know that they both existed. It talks about the use of their fur color and how they hunt. There's even some little quizzes you can take and a "find the cat" page where you look for the animal hiding with its camouflaged fur!
Evaluation:
I believe that the target age for this book would be about upper elementary-low middle due to the amount of vocabulary on the pages, even with some of them being explained. I do believe the younger children will love the colorful and captivating photographs that are throughout the book, but when it comes to the read, definitely a bit older. I was absolutely intrigued by this book, probably because I am a cat lover myself! I found some of it very intriguing and I didn't actually know a lot of the facts mentioned in here! There was about one to two paragraphs per page but there were also little bubbles all around the pages and with the pictures of some facts about the animal. I think some of the words are complicated, so middle school age would probably understand it more through some of those words, but I think upper elementary would still enjoy it. The little "pop-up" facts are an adorable addition to the book, and keeps the reader interested instead of just going off in a bunch of paragraphs. I also like how it switches to all different cats too, there is even a photo gallery set of pages with just some facts and then a bunch of cat pictures! It really is beautiful and might I say, so adorable! I think this is a good topic for children, seeing as they do like the cuddly part of cats and I'm sure any child would love to have had a giant tiger at some point in their lives! I definitely think the photographs are what really draw the reader in and they make a huge different in the book itself!
Mischief Managed.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Tsunami
I Solemnly Swear I Am Up to No Good,
This book on a Tsunami that changed America is a very interesting read. It talks about the facts on tsunamis, even leaving a set of pages just explaining what a tsunami is in case students don't know what it is! It shows the fear in the situation from a kids' point of view, and how getting to safety is most important! It's crazy that the same city was hit by another Tsunami not that long after the one it is mostly talking about! I like at the end that the book lists records and facts about the tsunami and I thought that was very interesting and a nice thing to add to the book!
I found this book very interesting, granted, it wasn't all that appealing to me. I think it's because I am not a big fan of non-fiction books usually, at least no children books. I think the age group would be upper elementary because of the content, maybe middle elementary age too though. It has quite a lot of words and I'm not sure how interested young elementary school students would be in it due to the amount of complicated words and how much there are per page. I do think the pictures make it appealing though, because most of them are the very real pictures from the actual incident. I also really like them describing what things were in case children wouldn't get it, even how to pronounce it! I mostly enjoyed the facts and records listed at the end of the book too, I do think children would enjoy this!
Mischief Managed.
Abe's Honest Words
I Solemnly Swear I Am Up to No Good,
Abe's Honest Words: The Life Of Abraham Lincoln by Doreen Rappaport
Oh my goodness, I really loved this children's biography! It is one of the most beautifully illustrated books I've ever seen! It was a biography completely about Lincoln's life and his affect on the change in slavery and how he ran things as president. I know the most appealing part to me was the pictures and the quotes from Lincoln on every set of pages! It was definitely an entertaining read and I definitely recommend it!
I think this book is more of a read for about the upper elementary age group. I think this because it is quite a bit more reading than some children would like and some of the words are a little more dense than what younger elementary children enjoy reading and I think they would get turned off by it. I do think the upper elementary children would really enjoy this book! It's not necessarily an entertaining title that pulls you in, but the illustrations are really amazing! They're so real! My favorite part is definitely the quotes from Lincoln because it really gives you a view into how he was! Definitely a good read!
Mischief Managed.
Oh my goodness, I really loved this children's biography! It is one of the most beautifully illustrated books I've ever seen! It was a biography completely about Lincoln's life and his affect on the change in slavery and how he ran things as president. I know the most appealing part to me was the pictures and the quotes from Lincoln on every set of pages! It was definitely an entertaining read and I definitely recommend it!
I think this book is more of a read for about the upper elementary age group. I think this because it is quite a bit more reading than some children would like and some of the words are a little more dense than what younger elementary children enjoy reading and I think they would get turned off by it. I do think the upper elementary children would really enjoy this book! It's not necessarily an entertaining title that pulls you in, but the illustrations are really amazing! They're so real! My favorite part is definitely the quotes from Lincoln because it really gives you a view into how he was! Definitely a good read!
Mischief Managed.
Just Behave, Pablo Picasso!
I Solemnly Swear I Am Up to No Good,
This book by Jonah Winter is a really adorable biography! It's all about Picasso and his adventure into being known as the first modern artist of his day! It shows how even though people didn't approve of his change, he decided not to listen to them and go with his heart, making him even more of a legend than he would have been! I think the title would be the first appealing thing to the target audience of around 7-8. Once the child starts reading, I think he/she will fall in love with the pictures and the simplicity of the text!
Evaluation:
The most words on a page in this book would probably be about like four or five sentences, so I don't think it is too hard of a read. I think the reading level is definitely middle to upper elementary school and I really think kids will enjoy this biography, especially for those who don't really read biographies. I think the pictures show a great way of demonstrating the text, so even those younger kids who don't want to read much, they can just follow the pages and enjoy it.
The characterization of Picasso is really there, and I didn't even know much about him either! It really embraced his personality and you learned a lot, seeing how unique Picasso was. I love how it showed him not listening to everyone elses' opinions and going with his heart. It was nice because I feel it is good for children to know what they think does not have to be influenced by others! I also enjoyed that Picasso was a little out of the box, and that's what made him into who he became! I think that shows children that it's okay to be a little weird and to embrace it!
Mischief Managed.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
The House of the Scorpion
I Solemnly Swear I am Up To No Good,
A look at "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
Summary:
This novel is a dystopian novel, meaning this novel takes place in the future. Our main character is named Matt, and he is actually a clone and he has some "identity" issues when it comes to being a clone. Matt was born into a country that is ruled by a ruthless drug lord named El Patron, and what makes this country worse is that clones are seen as "less-than human" and definitely face a lot of prejudice to them. It turns out that El Patron created our protagonist as a clone so he could be an organ harvest for him later in life. Matt lives in seclusion with his caretaker and on the Alacran estate. He faces imprisonment, judgement, illness, and a threat of death before he is even fourteen! Will El Patron get a hold of Matt's organs? Will Matt ever be able to escape this country and go somewhere in which he isn't judged harshly? Read and find out!
Evaluation:
I really like the line that's featuring the first line of Genesis, I thought that was an interesting way to start the whole novel. This book doesn't waste any time on getting all "science fiction-y," even in the first chapter it starts off that way. It has a cell that survives, turns into a baby, the baby is growing in a cow's stomach? It just gets even odder from there throughout the whole novel. In the second chapter, we really meet Matt. I feel for him. He's begging his caretaker, Celia, not to leave him. He is always stuck at home alone and these kids see him but leave quickly. I know I started to feel for him and how lonely he was.
I was definitely surprised by Matt's actions when he broke the window with the pot to his neighbor's house, that was definitely not normal. Matt passes out, Steven and Emilia head to the Big House with Matt and maids help him. I thought it was weird how Matt had "Property of the Alacran Estate" written on the bottom of his foot. It reminded me of Toy Story and Andy's toys having his name on the bottom of their shoes. Steven's dad burst into the Big House and starts yelling over Matt, calling him an animal. That is just the start of the prejudice that Matt faces throughout the novel. In case you are wondering, El Patron is in charge of the Big House that I mentioned. I am definitely not a fan of Rosa, she seems to treat Matt more like an animal and less than a human. The only part I really liked about El Patron was when he let Matt have the choice of a bodyguard, and Matt picked Tam Lin. When I mentioned illness, Matt after being out of the house for a while, gains asthma as an illness.
Chapter 8 was probably one of my favorites, I'm always a sucker for a good connection and a horse feature. We find out about how different their horses are to ours, they are taught to literally obey every single thing their owner tells them too! They won't even drink water on their own unless their rider instructs them to do so. This is also the same chapter we find out about eejits. I find eejits interesting because they are like the horses there. The eejits are also programmed to obey any thing they are told to do, just like the horses. We find out something important later in the book that Matt is the only one with a brain, I really liked that idea too!
In all, Matt was a really good character. I think kids could relate, especially those odder children who probably get made fun of for how they act. The target audience would be around 14? I definitely think young adult. Unlike the last book we read, I wasn't really confused in this and I think it is easy to understand. I'm not sure if all adults would enjoy, because I'm not sure if they can keep an open mind about it. I am not a big fan of science fiction, so no, I didn't really like this book all that much, but I guarantee someone who likes the weirdness of science fiction would really enjoy this. I think this book is a good book in all, and the theme of identity is so important! I think young adults would see how important having their own identity and being their own person is! This is definitely a good read!
Mischief Managed.
Summary:
This novel is a dystopian novel, meaning this novel takes place in the future. Our main character is named Matt, and he is actually a clone and he has some "identity" issues when it comes to being a clone. Matt was born into a country that is ruled by a ruthless drug lord named El Patron, and what makes this country worse is that clones are seen as "less-than human" and definitely face a lot of prejudice to them. It turns out that El Patron created our protagonist as a clone so he could be an organ harvest for him later in life. Matt lives in seclusion with his caretaker and on the Alacran estate. He faces imprisonment, judgement, illness, and a threat of death before he is even fourteen! Will El Patron get a hold of Matt's organs? Will Matt ever be able to escape this country and go somewhere in which he isn't judged harshly? Read and find out!
Evaluation:
I really like the line that's featuring the first line of Genesis, I thought that was an interesting way to start the whole novel. This book doesn't waste any time on getting all "science fiction-y," even in the first chapter it starts off that way. It has a cell that survives, turns into a baby, the baby is growing in a cow's stomach? It just gets even odder from there throughout the whole novel. In the second chapter, we really meet Matt. I feel for him. He's begging his caretaker, Celia, not to leave him. He is always stuck at home alone and these kids see him but leave quickly. I know I started to feel for him and how lonely he was.
I was definitely surprised by Matt's actions when he broke the window with the pot to his neighbor's house, that was definitely not normal. Matt passes out, Steven and Emilia head to the Big House with Matt and maids help him. I thought it was weird how Matt had "Property of the Alacran Estate" written on the bottom of his foot. It reminded me of Toy Story and Andy's toys having his name on the bottom of their shoes. Steven's dad burst into the Big House and starts yelling over Matt, calling him an animal. That is just the start of the prejudice that Matt faces throughout the novel. In case you are wondering, El Patron is in charge of the Big House that I mentioned. I am definitely not a fan of Rosa, she seems to treat Matt more like an animal and less than a human. The only part I really liked about El Patron was when he let Matt have the choice of a bodyguard, and Matt picked Tam Lin. When I mentioned illness, Matt after being out of the house for a while, gains asthma as an illness.
Chapter 8 was probably one of my favorites, I'm always a sucker for a good connection and a horse feature. We find out about how different their horses are to ours, they are taught to literally obey every single thing their owner tells them too! They won't even drink water on their own unless their rider instructs them to do so. This is also the same chapter we find out about eejits. I find eejits interesting because they are like the horses there. The eejits are also programmed to obey any thing they are told to do, just like the horses. We find out something important later in the book that Matt is the only one with a brain, I really liked that idea too!
In all, Matt was a really good character. I think kids could relate, especially those odder children who probably get made fun of for how they act. The target audience would be around 14? I definitely think young adult. Unlike the last book we read, I wasn't really confused in this and I think it is easy to understand. I'm not sure if all adults would enjoy, because I'm not sure if they can keep an open mind about it. I am not a big fan of science fiction, so no, I didn't really like this book all that much, but I guarantee someone who likes the weirdness of science fiction would really enjoy this. I think this book is a good book in all, and the theme of identity is so important! I think young adults would see how important having their own identity and being their own person is! This is definitely a good read!
Mischief Managed.
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