Ingo

Ingo
By Helen Dunmore
Reviewed by Anonymous



Today I’m going to be talking about a wonderful book called, Ingo. This is a book full of wonderful adventure under the sea, conflicts between land and sea, and most important of all, the main character, Sapphire Trewhella. Sapphire has the advantage of being half Mer. That means she go into Ingo without breathing any Air. She is able to explore the depths of Ingo and travel with all the wildlife. In this review, I will have a summary, analysis, and a conclusion. Just to be be forewarned, my summary may have some spoilers.

In Cornwall, by the coast where Sapphire lives with her parents and her brother, it’s too easy to hear the ocean calling. When Sapphire’s dad responds to the call of the sea he disappears. Then the sea calls to Sapphire’s brother, and he starts to disappear hours on end. Now the sea calls to Sapphy, and it’s pulling her like a magnet. She plunges into a world of adventure and a lot of current surfing. Sapphire ends up going to the sea almost everyday and enjoys new adventures with her new Mer friend, Faro. She spends most of her time in the sea with Faro. They go current surfing, dolphin riding, and enjoy the wildlife underneath. Meanwhile, at home, Sapphire’s mother invites someone named Roger, a diver. Sapphire immediately dislikes him, because she thinks that he spies on Ingo. Roger is planning a dive near the Bawns, the heart of Ingo. The day of the dive Sapphy and Connor, Sapphire’s brother, go to the Bawns, but underwater. The Bawns is a big rock that’s very sharp and jagged. There are seals that protect the entrance of Limina, the place where the Mer go to die. Roger and his buddy, Gray, are going to dive there, and the seals won’t even let Mer in. So how will Roger and Gray survive? Will Sapphire be able to save them before it too late? Find out by reading the book Ingo by Helen Dunmore.

I really liked this book because it had really good suspense at some of the parts. I liked how the author made some of the characters relatable. One thing I didn’t like about this book is some of the chapters got split up and I had to reread that part. I think that you would enjoy this book if you like adventure, suspense, and action. This book is really good if you like being absorbed in a good book. (All of this is my opinion)

 That is all for my book review. Be sure to read the book Ingo. Because it is really enjoyable and you might like the second, third, and fourth books. Ingo is a magical world beneath the ocean and above the ocean too. There is magic in the grass, in the bees, in the butterflies, in pretty much everything. It’s in the tides, the animals, and the shells in the ocean. Magic is all around us. You just have to look in the right places for it. I hope you enjoyed my book review and enjoy reading the book.

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not So Fabulous Life

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not So Fabulous Life
Rachel Renee Russel
Reviewed by Madeline

“Dork Diaries” is an amazing and inspiring teen girls book. It explores the life of a teenage girl going to a new school with a mean girl, an unexpected crush, and a surprising gift.

 It was a new start - a new chance to show that she was a CCP (a cute, cool and popular) girl. But Nikki Maxwell was...a total dork! Nikki needs to find a way to fit in at the school or, she might change schools.

Nikki finds it hard to fit in at this school - no phone, dorky diary, and a CRUSH! It is hard to fit in with a locker next to Mackenzie Hollister - the most popular girl in school. She has to try to get invited to Mackenzie’s party, get a new phone, and not become the laughing stock of the school.

Rachel Reneé Russell has an excellent way of writing a book/diary based on a teen girl. I think she has created an amazing background and super cool characters.

In the book the main characters that stood out to me (and the one I remembered the name of) are Chloe and Zoe, Nikki’s best friends who are cool pals. Nikki, a teen girl, aka the diary dork, and Chloe and Zoe’s best friend. Mackenzie is the most popular girl in school. She is also the head of the CCP squad. Brandon is NIkki’s secret crush. He is also the school photographer and news reporter. Lastly there’s Jessica, Mackenzie’s little helper. She’s also the second or third most popular CCP girl. She is as snotty and bratty as Mackenzie.

To conclude this report the illustrations top off the book. They are funny and delightfully well drawn! The plot of the story is better than I would've thought. Now I would like to read the next one. This book is meant for girls but anyone could read it and like it. I would also like to say if you like this book (even if you don’t) spread the good news about it!

Phoebe and Her Unicorn

Phoebe and Her Unicorn
By Dana Simpson
Reviewed by Serenity



Phoebe and her Unicorn is a comic book that is still long enough to be a book. The book is about a girl who doesn’t have many friends but then meets a unicorn named Marigold Heavenly Nostrils. I loved this book so much that I read it three times and I recommend it to anyone who likes unicorns. Now let me tell you a little about the book.

 The book starts out at a pond where Phoebe is tossing rocks then she accidentally hits something, as the unicorn rises Phoebe stands in awe. Marigold, the unicorn, tells her she has one wish for rescuing her from her beautiful reflection and of course, Pheobe asks for her to be her best friend. At first, Marigold wants nothing to do with her but since it is her wish she can't disagree. Phoebe's first thought was to brag to her in her bully, Dakota’s, face. So she brings her to show and tell, the first time she tried to present Marigold she didn't show up. Then finally Phoebe shows her whole class Marigold but nothing changed no one was jealous and her bully still bullied her Marigold told her it was the shield of boringness so that no little girl thinks that she is amazing they kinda think she's boring.

Phoebe was determined to find out all about unicorns and Marigold still didn't understand the human world so they hung out every day and learned a lot about each other like how unicorns have school and how humans have the same fruit as unicorns. One day they played detective and let's just say that someone lost their hair. Phoebe and Marigold go on so many fun adventures like when they went to eat with Phoebe’s parents.They also went to Dakota’s birthday, played good guy and bad guy, dressed up as her piano teacher, discovered new land, dress up for Halloween, traded snot for fruit snacks, and so much more.

 If you want to know a little more about Phoebe, she is a girl who doesn't have any friends. She is an only child and lives with both of her parents who she thinks have boring jobs because they aren't a king or queen. She has a bully named Dakota who calls her princess stupid butt and Phoebe really wants to make her jealous. Phoebe has a very big imagination and whenever she can she likes to make boring situations into a fun game. If you want to know more about Marigold you’ll just have the read the book.

Phoebe and her unicorn is an amazing book that I really enjoyed. I rate this book to anyone at all. If you want to learn about unicorns and the fun things that Phoebe and Marigold do you might want to read this book. I loved this book and I hope you do too.

Cool Careers in Video Games

Cool Careers in Video Games
By Joe Funk
Reviewed by Chris

The book tells you how much you can make from that job. Some of the people who make these games are just regular everyday people and some are big teams of programmers.

What is a video game designer? The book discusses video game designers or developers and the job they do in creating games. They work out the whole idea of the game which includes its characters, actions, patterns, and the rules to play. Programmers and artists are also an important part of the team. You can make good money, sometimes $70,000 in this field.

I like the book because it taught me what I need to do in order to create my own game. I also enjoyed the book because it was straight to the point and short. There was nothing that I disliked about Cool Careers in Video Games.


Overall, I learned a great deal about a profession that I’m interested in. I’m an X-Box fan and maybe one day I’ll design a game for them!

Hard Time Manifesto

Have you ever been through a hard time in your life? Yeah, I think mostly
everyone has. Have you ever thought about how to take on that hard time? Well here
are a couple of life tips/my beliefs to help you through your hard times. Hopefully my
beliefs will help you to conquer these hard struggles in life.

Belief 1- You should talk to a trusted friend or adult or even your family about your
struggles. Maybe they will help you along the way.

Belief 2 - Never give up. If that struggle or hard time in your life is dragging you down,
look on the bright side of things. What’s really the worst thing that could happen?

Belief 3 - Try your hardest to succeed. If things don’t go your way, just try harder to
make things right.

Belief 4 - If all fails, just relax. Don’t over think anything too much. Try to take your mind
off of that struggle or bad situation in life.

Belief 5 - If you made a mistake and want to own up to it, that’s a good idea. You could
gain more trust and maybe more respect if you say sorry for the things you did wrong.

Belief 6 - Just try to stay positive in bad situations.

-Olivia

Famous Last Words

Famous Last Words
By Katie Alender
Reviewed by Ellie



There is a killer on the loose and a ghost in her house, and Willa is freaking out. Famous Last Words tells a story of Willa, a girl who gets dragged to Hollywood during a period of murders and is haunted by an angry ghost. It is a story of new friendships, family, and murder. Famous Last Words keeps a consistent pattern of suspense, confusion, mystery, and interest that makes it hard to put down.

 Willa’s mom marries a new man who happens to be a famous movie director, and drags Willa out to Hollywood to start a new life. The house they live in is one that used to be for a 1930’s actress who died in the house, while a chain of murders is happening in the area. It seems as though there can’t be enough death in her life, and it freaks Willa out. The Hollywood Killer reenacts famous movie death scenes with young actresses, and they are all her age. There is also a ghost in her house who tries to send her messages, and she thinks that they might be linked to the murders. She starts seeing things, like a dead body in her pool and writing on the walls. If she doesn’t confront the ghost and figure out the confusion, she might lose herself, her friends, and her family.

Famous Last Words is a suspenseful book that keeps you interested and will make you never want to put it down. If you don’t like upsetting stories that have even the slightest chance of making you uncomfortable, you might not want to read this thriller. It involves death and other intense scenes that could be upsetting, but other than that it is a great read. It also has 300+ pages, but it’s no problem once you start reading it. Once you start Famous Last Words, you won’t stop. It is a creepy, mysterious book that has many interesting plot twists and characters. I picked it up and finished it an hour later. You won’t regret reading Famous Last Words.

 In conclusion, Famous Last Words is a great mystery that maintains a suspenseful, interesting plot. In the midst of murders, a girl deals with a ghost and self-doubt, and figures out her mess of a life. Famous Last Words is a great book that keeps you reading and keeps you interested. I highly recommend reading Famous Last Words.

Ghosts

Ghosts
By Raina Telgemeier
Reviewed by Trinity

The book I decided to review for my September book review is Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier. I choose the book because Raina Telgemeier is of my favorite authors.I love graphic novels and that is her speciality. I have read six of her graphic novels. I cannot explain why I love Raina Telgemeier novels so much, it is something about her writing that appeals to me.

 Why did I decide to read Ghosts? Because Ghost was one of Raina Telegemier’s books I had not read yet. I must admit when I first saw the title, I thought the book was going to be creepy. Much to my surprise, the book was not creepy at all. The book was really good because the plot takes you through ups and downs. I would rate Ghosts a 8 out of 10 stars. The only downside of the book, I felt it took too long to get the point of the book. In one portion of the book, one of the characters dies and it is not how it happened. The fact that I could not figure out how the character died, really bugged me! Besides that in my opinion the book was really good.

Ghosts is about two sisters named Maya and Catrinia. Everyone calls Catrinia, Cat for short. Maya is the youngest and she unfortunately suffers from a health condition called cystic fibroisis. Cat is trying to get use to living with this condition and a result of her illness her family moves. The change in climate may help with Cat’s cystic fibrosis.

Maya and Cat’s family move to Bahia De La Luna, California. As Cat and Maya explore the city of Bahia De La Luna they discover new adventures. These adventures lead them to learn about their heritage. One of their adventures, leads them to seeing their ancestors who have crossed-over to the afterlife. That is why the book is titled Ghosts.

One of the strengths of the book were the illustrations. The pictures were very detailed and the colors popped from the pages. Another strength was the plot of the novel. The plot was really good and at times, it was hard to put the book down at times.One of the weaknesses of the book was it took a long time to get to the climax or point of the novel.

 Overall, I would recommend that people read Ghosts. One of the things the book shows, even when you have not met your ancestors, a part of them will always be with you. I thought the book was comforting and was easy to read. I would recommend that everyone read this graphic novel by RainTelgemeier.

Tips on how to be successful.

1. Keep God first

In order to be successful you have to keep God as your first priority and everything that you believe you can do can happen.

2. Stay true to yourself

If you are not honest with yourself about yourself, you will struggle in life.

Example: “I only weigh 45 pounds” when the truth is that you actually weigh 145 pounds.

3.  Plan your ideas.

If you do things without planning, you may run into difficulties. As you grow older you have to plan out what college you want to attend, what career you will have and where you'll live.

4. Help out others

If you know that someone is struggling with something, help them out.  Don't be selfish. Find a way to help others this will make a better you.

5.Push yourself to the limits.

If you think you can't do something, keep trying. Speak positive to yourself and keep going.

6. Learn from your mistakes

If you make a mistake or do something wrong, learn from it. Don't get upset just try harder next time.

7. Set goals.

When you set goals it's a much easier path to being successful. Just make sure you set goals that will make you a better person.

8. Know yourself

If you know that you don't know how to do something don't try to be something that you're not.

Example: Everyone else is smashing guitars and my best friend keeps telling me to do it too. I don't usually do those types of things. What should I do?

9. Try new things

If you see a new food you’ve never eaten, try it out. It’s ok to try new, safe, adventures.

10. TRY all of these tips and you're guaranteed to be successful young or old.

-Kiree

The Truth Game

The Truth Game
By Anna Staniszewski
Reviewed by Olivia



Are you bored out of your mind and don’t know what to read as a middle school student? Have you tried and tried to find the perfect book that is relatable, funny, and dramatic? Well, look no further! The Truth Game, written by Anna Staniszewski, is a great book designed for tweens and teens. It can be relatable for those young adults going into their first year of high school or middle school, but anyone can enjoy this book.

 Rachel Lee wanted a change in her life. She wanted to transition from her old, dorky, middle school self, to a new and improved version of her high school self, who wouldn’t make any dumb mistakes like she did last year. But will she actually live up to her standards about trying to be her new self? She has a big passion for baking and wants to try to get on her favorite baking show Pastry Wars, and she also wants to start a baking club at the same time. Meanwhile, she feels like she is drifting apart from her boyfriend and her best friend. She thought an app called the Truth Game would help with her confessions, but then she finds herself in the middle of losing two of her closest friends. What will happen next? Read the book to find out.

The Truth Game is for the tweens/teens who love a little drama and humor. I would highly recommend this book, it is very relatable and it teaches good life lessons by watching the character make many mistakes that anyone can learn from. The only problem with this book is that there are a few spelling errors, but besides that the book is great. I even found myself at some points not wanting to put the book down! I give this book a five out of five stars, so why not give this book a shot!

All in all this book is amazing. It teaches many life lessons that you can learn from, the characters are great, the plot is awesome, I would totally recommend this book. It’s a good book for all ages, but especially for young adults, including teens and tweens. So, on those Saturday nights when you're
bored out of your mind and you need a good book to read, choose The Truth Game.

The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give
By Angie Thomas
Reviewed by May

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas, is an astounding book. It is only for readers who are willing to be open minded and willing to her words that are a bit mature.

This best-selling publication is about Starr Carter. Starr’s life was already a little wacky because of the fact that she lives in a black and poor neighborhood, but she also goes to a rich white private school. To add she is dating a white guy that her parents don’t know about.

When Starr is at a party she hears gunshots go off and that’s when her life falls apart. She hops in the car with her childhood best friend, Khalil. They get pulled over by a white cop. In a split second the police officer is yelling and Khalil is dead on the ground with gunshot marks that ripped right through him.

Nothing is the same with Starr ever since then.She tries to hide the fact that she has a racist friend and a sexual driven boyfriend and the fact that her life will never be the same.

In this book you get a story about a young girl who grows as a women and as african american. You get humor and jealousy, and anger and sadness all in this four hundred forty four page book.

Let’s be honest, it is a pretty big book to the simple eye. But when you pick it up and start reading then you won't want to put it down. The characters are magnificent and the character building is even better.

Chris-Starr’s white boyfriend who LOVES Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He comes off as a Stereotypical rich jock, but underneath that he is very compassionate and loving will do anything for Starr.

Seven-Starr’s half brother who has problems dealing with his mom’s new boyfriend who is also a gangbanger. (Told you it was for mature readers) There is nothing he wouldn’t do to protect his sisters.

Hailey-Starr's best friend who is very rich and cocky. She always rubs people the wrong way because of her racist jokes that push it way too far

King- Seven’s mom’s boyfriend who is a very powerful gangbanger. He once tried to recruit Khalil as a drug lord.

Khalil-Starr’s childhood best friend who is murdered in cold blood by a police officer. Starr’s first kiss,crush and friend.

This book will give you all sorts of emotions that will take over and it will totally change the way you look at the world. With this eye-opening novel I say five stars.

My Rules to Live By

RULE 1: Always be enthusiastic!
Everything is something to smile about! No matter what happens to
you, you should do everything with an open mind and PEP!

RULE 2: Never admit you are scared .
Being scared is not always something to be ashamed of, but sometimes to
be scared is to be weak. So always try to act as if you are not scared, (to
be used in only cases of flying monkeys, or sneak attacks).

RULE 3: Walk around as if you rule the world.
Even if you’ve had a bad day, life is too short not to live it to the fullest.

RULE 4: Burst out into song whenever YOU want to.
Songs are a gift that you can share with the world if you have the talent to
do so, and most people do, so share it with the world. Just do not be
annoying.

RULE 5: Be over dramatic about literally everything.
In my opinion life is like a big movie. You are the star in that movie, and
everything you do should be bold, courageous, and full of drama.

RULE 6: Catch up to life around you.
The world is constantly changing. Even if you are not ready, life still goes
on. Be careful, you just might miss a new song or a crazy natural disaster if
you do not pay attention to your surrounding world

-Gloria

The Baby-Sitters Club #1: Kristy’s Great Idea

The Baby-Sitters Club #1: Kristy’s Great Idea
By Ann M. Martin
Reviewed by Savannah

Kristy Thomas lives with her mom, 2 brothers Sam and Charlie. Kristy also has 1 little brother named David Micheal. She gets an idea to start a babysitting club while she was having dinner and over hears her mom contacting multiple people to babysit for her brother, David Micheal. She decides to babysit for her little brother. Kristy thinks of a great idea while babysitting.

Her idea was to have her friends Mary Anne Spier, Claudia Kishi, and the new girl from New York, Stacey Mcgill build a small business for babysitting. They all decided to put up flyers all over town.

Mary, Claudia, and Kristy start to suspect that something is wrong with the new girl Stacey. Whenever Kristy and Claudia pull out candy she starts so suddenly want to go home. What might Stacey be hiding?

Kristy really doesn’t want to spend time with her mom’s boyfriend Watson. Kristy learns to like Watson’s kids when she babysits them. She learns to like Watson just by one simple meaningful conversation with him. Why might Kristy have to learn to like Watson’s kids?

Claudia starts to wear lots of makeup ever since she’s been in a new grade. Kristy tries to figure out why Claudia is being so different.

The only problem Mary Anne has is that her dad is so over protective.

I think the book is great because you can relate to it if you're a kid. Kristy has a personality that I can relate to because we both say things without thinking about what it sounds like. The book also relates to how your siblings could be annoying as ever.

Here is the brief overview of The Baby-Sitters Club, book #1. Find out all the answers to the questions by reading this fantastic book.

Rules of Life

Rule 1: Don’t worry about what others think about you.
Be you. If you are a totally mean person who hates dogs, be that person. No. I'm totally kidding.
Don’t hate dogs. Anyways, be you. I like you. Not you pretending to be that guy/girl over there.
In the long run, it’s better to just be the person you were born to be.

Rule 2: Be a Unicorn.
In other words, even if no one believes is you, believe in yourself. If you always let everyone tell
you what you can and can’t do, and you listen, you will never get anywhere in life. You can’t let
everyone walk all over you. Don’t let others decide what you can and can’t do. Except for your
mom. Listen to your mom.

Rule 3: Staycations.
Take a break. I, personally, tend to put the weight of the world on my shoulders. I put way too
much stress on myself that I don’t need to. Just, breathe. It will all work out in the end.

Rule 4: Planners and personal notebooks.
They are a lifesaver. Put everything that you need to do in a list. When you’ve completed the
task, cross it off the list. It gives a sense of satisfaction, for some people at least. Plus, making a
list to remember things is better than finding out you have a 10-page essay due tomorrow when
you originally had a week to do it.

Rule 5: Get it Done Early.
It never hurts to get stuff done early. You will be less stressed about it and you won't have to
worry about it later.

Rule 6: Don’t call it a dream, call it a plan.
Make your dreams happen. Nothing is going to happen if you just sit at home all day doing
nothing. Dreams don’t happen until you put the effort into them.

Rule 7: Being random is potato.
Be weird. No one likes an overly serious person. Be random and silly. Life is more fun that way.
Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes, you need to act like the little professional that you are, but it’s
good to have a little fun in life.

-Ruby

Feathers

Feathers
By Jacqueline Woodson
Reviewed by Claire

I read the book, “Feathers,” by Jacqueline Woodson. The book was very interesting. The book is about memories and the good in all of us. It takes us through Frannie’s life as a child. Frannie learned to find God in everyone, have hope, and learn that you never know what someone is going through.

 In the book, Frannie is just a regular girl. She has friends, has a loving family, and goes to school. A new boy joins their class. The boy looks like Jesus, so they start calling him “Jesus Boy.” The only thing is this boy used to live on the other side of the highway, meaning he is white. The whole class is interested in this boy. Frannie realizes that this boy makes her want to be more in touch with God. Her brother, Sean, is deaf-mute. Frannie helps him and like most younger siblings talks and hangs out with him. Together they do regular stuff and help their mom. He helps Frannie realize that the world has different perspectives. Frannie’s mom is having a baby and after years of trying to, this baby was here to stay. In the past she has lost a lot of babies and isn’t always at her best point. Her mom gives her whole family hope, and courage.

The book is very well written. It makes the reader picture what the people are doing in the book, in their mind. It draws you in and makes you want to keep reading. It was a short book, so I wish they would have added a couple more chapters. I think they needed to add a better or different ending. They just kind of picked it all up so fast at the end when the whole beginning was slow and smooth. The book was simple, but at the same time you would think while you read it.

 In conclusion, I would give this book a three out five stars. It was very simple. It had great meaning and made you picture the scenes in your mind, but it was just missing something. It didn’t have a stand out ending or a solid conclusion. It didn’t talk about how they were left off, it just kind of picked up the last thoughts and ended. So, it was a good, but simple book to read.

Report from NCTE

from Mrs. Jones

I had an amazing time at this year's National Council of Teachers of English convention!  I traveled to St. Louis to meet thousands of English teachers from all over the country.  Also attending the convention were writers of children's books, experts in education theory, publishers, and (oddly) cheerleaders. Lots and lots of cheerleaders. The NCTE was sharing a convention center with a large cheerleading competition, which was a hilariously awkward mix of people. 

Jacqueline Woodson speaks to a huge crowd of teachers.
She was amazing!

One of my favorite teaching sessions had to do with alternative ways of grading students. What if there were no zeroes? What if student grades came from the skills they've mastered, and not from the assignments they've completed? What if teacher feedback was for guiding and helping students, not for judging them? What if grades came from growth, not just from mastery? What if students negotiated their own grades based on their learning? I left that session with my brain swirling with ideas. I'm still thinking about how to put some of those ideas into action, and I'll want to do some reading and research, but I'm very curious about some of these new ways of thinking about grading.

Me getting an autographed copy of Miles
Morales from Jason Reynolds!
I'm pretty sure that means we are best
friends now.

One of my favorite author sessions was a panel discussion with the authors of Flying Lessons and Other Stories.   This anthology of short stories came from the We Need Diverse Books movement, and the authors had a lot to say about how important it is for young readers to see their own lives reflected in the books they read, at least some of the time.  I left with a very high opinion of Soman Chainani, and determined to try again with the second School for Good and Evil book, which I got angry at and refused to finish a few years ago.

I tried to resist the temptation to spend all of my time hanging around in the publishers' room asking for author autographs, but I did get to meet Nikki Grimes and Jason Reynolds, and also saw Angie Thomas, Victoria Jamieson, Laurie Halse Anderson, and an amazing assortment of other great writers, as well as some new writers whose books I'll add to the classroom library - in some cases, not until after I get to read them first!  Publishers love introducing good new books to teachers, and I made good use of my time to get as many good books for the classroom library as possible!

Thanks to every student who worked hard and was kind to our guest teacher while I was away, allowing me to have this great opportunity to learn.

I brought back so many books that I built a book fort!