Summer Reading Part 3

Book: Dark Sons

Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: August 30
Review: LM

For my penultimate summer reading book, I read Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes. The book centers around two boys, Sam and Ishmael, who are in roughly the same situation even though they live thousands, if not millions, of years apart. Ishmael feels betrayed by his father Abraham. God had promised Abraham that he would have as many descendants as the stars in the sky, but Abraham didn't know what to do once he realized that he and Sarah, his wife, were too old to have children. He had a child with Hagar, Sarah's handmaiden, trying to fulfill God's promise, but this wasn't God's plan. Ishmael is that child. For a while, he loves Ishmael with all his heart, but Sarah becomes pregnant and gives birth to Isaac. Abraham's love becomes split and Sarah starts to hate Ishmael. Ishmael ends up being banished, but God shows Ishmael mercy and he and Isaac both end up being rulers of nations.

Sam also feels betrayed by his father. They had a good thing going, until the divorce. Now he's married again and Sam just can't accept that. Worst of all his new wife's pregnant! Sam knows that he could get back on good terms with his father if he tried, but he is not in the mood to try. Through his friends and God, he gets closer to his father and his stepmom, but he still has trouble forgiving them. Then they have a child and Sam loves him with all his heart. He gets closer to his father through this, but it isn't the end. As he keeps using God to help him get through this difficult time, he discovers Ishmael's story in the bible and he finally finds it in his heart to forgive his father.

I would rate this book 2/5. I believe that it had some deep messages, but it was not my type of book.

Book: The Alchemyst
Author: Michael Scott
Submitted: August 30
Review: IL

One of the books I read for summer reading is The Alchemyst by Michael Scott. This book follows Nicholas Flemming as he protects a book called the Codex. The person he is protecting it from is named John Dee, who works for the Dark Elders. The Dark Elders require that book to come back to earth and take the earth back from humankind. Along the way he finds two kids who are twins. He believes that they are from a prophecy that tells of those two being the only ones able to stop the Dark Elders. Only the twins, with help, can save the world.

“Every story starts with an idea, but it is the characters that move this idea forward.” This quote caught my eye because I thought it was interesting. I think that this happens in most books. An author comes up with an idea and then to get the story moving, uses a character to do that. Characters are constantly doing things like messing up or not noticing things which sometimes creates a domino effect. The domino effect keeps the story moving. That’s what I thought about the quote.

Book: Tangerine
Author: Edward Bloor
Submitted: August 30
Review: JB

Tangerine by Edward Bloor is about a boy named Paul Fisher who has an obsession with zombies and is moving from houston to the Tangerine country, Florida. Surprisingly enough Paul has a decent reason of being scared to leave his old home. There was an incident that happened to him back home but he couldn’t figure out what it was. All he knew what that it had to do with his enormously thick glasses he had to wear. That and his brother, Erik. Paul tries to stay away from the whole zombie thing so he tries soccer. Paul actually has some major goalie skills not that his mom and dad would even notice. His parents are too busy focused on Erik and his football skills and apparently football overrules soccer at least in the Fisher family it does. And now as if Paul wasn’t already in a bad position already being second and all, a sinkhole opens up underneath Paul’s school, half of paul’s middle school collapsed under the earth. So Mr. and Mrs. Fisher decide to send Paul to another school. I enjoyed this book because of the plotline, it wasn’t exactly a page turner but I enjoyed the detail and how the author went into depth about Paul and his obsession with zombies. For example when the author talks about the house. “our house may as well be covered with canvas and bound by ropes, because it's filled with poison." Page. 145 I would recommend this book for middle school because the language in the book and the author's choice of words is easy to understand. Tangerine is a pretty relatable book since it’s has a strong basis around soccer. As well as the whole new school situation. Along with the older brother eats up all the attentions.

Book: Dark Sons
Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: August 30
Review: JB

Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes is about a relationship between Sam and his father. Sam is african american and he doesn’t understand how his father would leave him and marry a white lady. Sam was very close to his father but that was destroyed. Sam felt that even God had betrayed him. Ishmael is his father's first son, and the favorite. But when his father gets a visit from a weird stranger who says that Abraham's wife, sarah would have a child Ishmael gets worried. Soon enough the baby is born his name is Isaac. With that Ishmael drifts farther apart from his father. Could Abraham’s God, who had spoken to Ishmael’s mother,to which he has lots of sacrifices, would now betray him for his new son.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the author’s choice of wording. I could not relate to sam or his father nor any of the characters of the book. However I did understand the conflicts and feelings going on throughout the book. That I found rather interesting. And I can relate to Sam’s emotions and him feeling as though he is drifting away from his father. I have felt as if I were drifting apart from a family member as well.

Book: A Wrinkle in Time
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Submitted: August 30
Review: JB

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle tells the adventures of Meg Murry as well as Calvin O’Keefe. The book starts off zooming in on Meg’s Awkwardness and her inability in school to fit the mold. Which I guess runs in the family because Meg’s younger brother Charles is dealing with the same thing. Majority of people think of him as dumb but in fact he is a genius.

And on top of his whole genius thing he can also read minds. Charles then becomes friends with these ladies named. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs.Who, and Mrs.which they soon take the children on a expedition to find their father who has been missing for two years. The after meeting Calvin the three of them are swept off, to another planet, Uriel, through the process of tesser, the process of wrinkling time and space.

I liked this book because of the plot i found it interesting and unique.

Book: Ender's Game
Author: Orson Scott Card
Submitted: August 26
Review: SY

I recently finished Ender’s game, by Orson Scott Card. It’s about a little boy, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, saving the world, and searching for peace. When Ender was born, he was a third child. A third is illegal because of population restriction, but this was a special case. In this case, the people who were protecting the world from alien invasion, asked for a third child from the Wiggins, and they got Ender (they asked for a third child because the first, Peter, was too violent, and the second, Valentine, was too compassionate). The people who ordered to have Ender born are called the IF, or the International Fleet. They control him through the rest of his life, when he becomes a student in their brutal battle school, a commander in command school, and the savior of the world when he destroys the alien army “threatening” to destroy the world. Ender is wrought with guilt when he finally destroys the aliens, infamously dubbed as the Buggers, and doesn’t feel he deserves to be called a hero.

“So the whole war is because we can't talk to each other.” This quote speaks to the sense of hesitancy that Ender is feeling as he is training to fight the buggers. The buggers use a form of telepathy to communicate, and wouldn’t be able to make peace with the humans even if they wanted to. Ender isn’t completely sure whether or not he is completely behind what the IF is planning to do, which is to invade the bugger homeworld, but he has to do what they want to anyway. I for one, understand how Ender feels. Not on quite such a large scale though.

The theme that I found in this book is control. Throughout all of Ender’s life, he felt like he needed to be in control. He needed to be in control because he was smarter than everyone else, because he would get killed if he wasn’t in control. Ender also is a little paranoid and needs to be in control because he is smaller than most kids his age. The thing that ender doesn’t realize is that he’s never in control. The IF was controlling him for most of his life.

Book: Izzy Willy-Nilly
Author: Cynthia Voigt
Submitted: August 24
Review: AT

This week I read Izzy Willy-Nilly by Cynthia Voigt. This book is about a fifteen-year-old girl named Izzy. Izzy is a popular cheerleader with an easy life and she has three close friends. But one night changes her whole life when a senior named Marco asks her out, she says yes and they go to a party together. Marco drinks too much at the party but still drives so Izzy gets into the car with him. They end up in a horrible tragedy hitting a tree. Because of this tragedy, her friends no longer talk her, but an unexpected friend named Rosamunde helps here out. She learns that she can take care of herself and still make new friends. You will have to read the book to find out about her injury and how Rosamunde helps her.

The quote I chose is “ I was a little nervous about Marco” (page 20). This quote fits into the story because if she had said it out loud then there probably would have been no crash. Izzy thinking this makes it more interesting and suspenseful. Also without Marco being drunk there would have been no crash. This is how the quote fits into the book.

Book: Copper Sun
Author: Sharon Draper
Submitted: August 22
Review: DR

Copper Sun, by Sharon Draper, is a story of cruelty and anger, as well as determination and hope. Amari loves her peaceful little village in the jungle of Africa. But one night a group of people with pale skin wander into it and destroy everything she has ever known or loved. Her parents and younger brother are dead, her village burnt to the ground, and she is in chains. After walking in the brutally hot desert, she is brought to the Carolina Colony on a ship where she experiences horrors beyond imagining. She is then sold Percival Derby as his son, Clay’s, birthday present. At Mr. Derby’s farm, as she continues to be treated terribly, she meets an indentured servant named Polly. Although the two girls are very different, they find that they both desire the same thing: freedom. In my opinion, the one of the most important idea in this book is friendship. Amari and Polly realize that they need each other to get through the endless days of working. Both girls dream of freedom, of spending their days the way the want to. Having a friend gives them hope that they wouldn’t have if they were alone. When their chance of freedom draws close, it is their friendship that encourages them to run towards it, believing that their future could be wonderful.

If it wasn’t for each other, Polly and Amari would have given up their dreams of freedom long before all hope was gone. “Freedom is a delicate idea, like a pretty leaf in the air: It’s hard to catch and may not be what you thought when you get it.” For the longest time, freedom was only an idea inside of Amari’s and Polly’s heads. They dreamed of it and wondered about, and they even longed for it, but there was nothing they could do. Then they met each other and became friends. After learning of each other’s dreams of freedom, the two girls started to believe that perhaps one day they would be free. If they stuck together, there could be a chance to get out of the horrible place where they were forced to work, to a place where their lives were their own.

Copper Sun reminds us of how terrible slavery is. At one point in history African Americans were enslaved in our country. After that was made illegal, there was segregation. African Americans weren’t allowed to use the same water fountains or bathrooms as caucasians. They had to ride in the back of the bus, and couldn’t go into certain restaurants. Even today, when things are better, there is racism. Sometimes African Americans are still treated unfairly. Copper Sun is one of the many books that help us remember what happened in the past. It makes us realize how truly terrible slavery is and that it must never happen again.

Book: Dark Sons
Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: August 22
Review: RS

Dark Sons is a book tells the story of Ishmael in the bible, while also telling the fictional story of Sam. They both have similar stories of being loved and then be left alone by their father. In Ishmael story, it comes as Isaac taking his place as the chosen one that god talked about. In Sam's case it’s when his dad divorces his mom for a new woman. his new wife, and later in the book new brother get all the attention from his father. What changes in them though is that they hear god. Even though they're from different areas and time periods, they both find counseling in god. In the end they both end up loving their new brothers, and reunite with their fathers. “And there he was-Ishmael someone a lot like me. A guy whose father ripped his heart out too. Me and you, Ishmael, were brothers, two dark sons.” This is Sam talking when he finds the story of Ishmael in the bible and he finds a connection between the two of them. It helps him gain trust in god again after blaming him for what happened with his family.

Book: Dark Sons
Author: Nikki Grimes
Submitted: August 20
Review: AM

Dark Sons by Nikki Grimes is the unheard story Ishmael and Sam. Although they are both from two different points in history, they share this fact. Ishmael and Sam feel as if they have been abandoned twice. Once by their fathers and the other by their God.

Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar was the firstborn son of Abraham and hated by Sarah. His entire existence proved that Sarah was unable to fulfill God’s promise of numerous descendants. Ishmael, however was unworried. He was the firstborn of Abraham, a first Son. Surely, that meant something.

"Three tents: His, hers, ours, goatskin fortresses separated by severed promises, cultural circumstances, and yards of useless pride. Even so, we are joined together by one invisible, thread: Blood Red."

That’s also how Sam felt. His father left him and his mother for another woman, and Sam felt as if he could never forgive his father. He felt as if the promise of vows meant nothing to his father. That the idea of family being joined together meant nothing. In the end, both sons realize that everything happens for a reason. And when you especially feel lost, you need to have faith and trust that you will make it through.

Book: Copper Sun
Author: Sharon M. Draper
Submitted: August 20
Review: AM

Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper is a story of the African Slave Trade. The story revolves around a 15 year old girl named Amari who lives in Africa with her tribe, the Ziavi. One day, the Ziavi are visited by their neighboring tribe who bring strange men with them. That is the day that the Ziavi are almost wiped out, and the survivors are taken across the sea and sold to the highest bidder. There, in Charlestown Amari is sold to Clay Derby of Derbyshire farms, along with an indentured slave girl Polly. An odd friendship begins to form between the two girls, as they struggle with the life of a slave.

“Long as you remember, chile, ain’t nothin’ really gone.” This is advice Amari is given when she especially struggles with her new life, and the death of her family. So Amari clings to the memories she has. The memories of her Father’s stories, her Mother’s smile, and her brother’s jokes. She clings to hope and her promise to survive.

Book: The View from Saturday
Author: E. L. Konigsburg
Submitted: August 19
Review: DR

The View from Saturday, by E. L. Konigsburg, is a story about friendship. Noah, Nadia, Ethan, and Julian were first brought together by a tea party invitation. From then on, they have a strong friendship. They found each other because they need each other for reasons they have yet to understand. The four of them become The Souls, and soon find that they fit together perfectly. So when Mrs. Olinski chooses her them as her academic team in the Academic Bowl, they are quite happy to be competing together. Although her team is very smart and quick, Mrs. Olinski can’t seem to figure out how she chose them. All she knows is that something told her that they had to be her team. One of the main ideas in this book was trust. Noah, Nadia, Ethan, and Julian begin to trust each other first as friends, then as teammates. Trusting a teammate is very important because it is the only way to work together. But trusting a friend is, in my opinion, more important. Friends are people who support you, and who you can talk to. They also know you, the true you. Sometimes it takes a lot of trust to show someone who you really are, but that’s what friends are for. The four children feel that each of them is worthy of their trust. That is what makes their friendship strong, as well as their team.

The Souls learn what it means to be there for others. “Margaret and I need your help, Nadia. So do the turtles. Sometimes one species has to help another get settled.” Friends aren’t different species, but each person is unique. Everyone is different. A friend understands and those differences. They accept their friends as who they are. Friends are there when other people are not, ready to stand up for each other. Just as Nadia needed to help the turtles survive, friends give one another a boost and encourage each other no matter how much they mess up.

The View from Saturday has made me think about what a true friend is. Noah, Nadia, Ethan, and Julian show each other how much they care with every single thing they do. It doesn’t matter if they’ll get teased or picked on, all they want to do is help their friends. Lastly, they fully trust one another. Trust is fragile, yet very strong. It is a wonderful thing to have in a friendship, but it can be used against someone. The View from Saturday offers readers a new perspective on friendship and trust. It helps us reflect on our own friendships. The story of these four friends has made me realize that a true friend isn’t only a friend to their friends, he or she is a friend to everyone.

Book: Anna of Byzantium
Author: Tracy Barrett
Submitted: August 13
Review: DR

Anna of Byzantium, by Tracy Barrett, tells a story of revenge. Anna Comnena, the daughter of the emperor of Byzantium, lives during the late 1000’s. She is her father’s first born child, and the heir to the throne. As Anna grows older, her grandmother begins to teach her of the things that are necessary to understand when ruling an empire. But lately, her younger brother, John, has been a threat to her. People from foreign countries believe that it is he who should be her father’s heir, as he is the emperor’s one and only son. Intimidated, Anna tries to harm her brother. She realizes that she has acted too fast, and what she has done could change her future entirely. As I mentioned previously, this is a story about revenge. For her entire life, Anna has been making plans for her future as empress. But the birth of her brother threatens this future. As John grows older the threat grows larger and larger. Soon John has put Anna in a place where she is no longer in control. Her future can change at any moment and there is nothing she can do. Then she realizes that there is something she can do, though there is only a small chance that it will work. Motivated by her anger, Anna acts in ways that are unforgivable.

Anna is extremely annoyed by the fact that she has no say in her own future. “And I had to stand there and listen, knowing that my grandmother had orchestrated this scene, that I was powerless, that I would never have what I wanted, and what was rightfully mine.” Anna believes that the only way she can ever have freedom in life is by seeking revenge. So she begins plotting, forming plans to put a stop to her younger brother’s intolerable behavior. Following through with these plans will be incredibly dangerous, but Anna is too angry to let this stand in her way. She takes action, unaware of the trouble she is about to get herself into.

Anna of Byzantium takes place during a time when men had much more power than women. But Anna is the heir to the throne, even though she has a brother. This has always been the plan, ever since she was born. The fact that she was chosen as the heir, although her father does have a son, is very interesting. It seems unusual for that time. Then, when her future is threatened, she fights for it. She is not at all afraid to stand up for herself and let her opinion be known. Anna is a very strong female protagonist. It is quite amazing that her story was based on the real Anna Comnena. There was a girl long ago who had the bravery and courage to take the risks that Anna did throughout this book.

Book: Grimm Legacy
Author: Polly Shulman
Submitted: August 12
Review: DS

This week I read “The Grimm Legacy” by Polly Shulman. The story starts off with the antagonist named Elizabeth, and she got a new job at a library.She soons realizes that this library is not a normal library and it is very unusual .she one day goes to the basement and realizes that there is a Grimm collection and she find out that there is powerful things from the brothers Grimm fairy tales.There was a table that produced a feast very quickly.The stepmother of Snow White had a mirror that talk in riddles,which helps her in the book.The things in the basement start to disappear.She finds herself in a dangerous journey to catch a thief that has been taking the things from the basement before she is blamed for the crime that someone else is doing.Will she catch this thief before she get accused of something she never done?Or will she catch the thief and never get in trouble?

“What I mean is, all the terrible things that happen in fairy tales seem real. Or not real, but genuine. Life is unfair, and the bad guys keep winning and good people die. But I like how that's not always the end of it… Evil is real but so is good. They always say fairy tales are so simplistic black and white. But I don't think so I think they're complicated .That's what I love about them.” What I usually say in my responses “ This quote dragged me into the story” But this time I can relate to the quote. I grew up watching “Cinderella 3 ” and “Saw” (even though SAW isnt a fairytale) I felt like the same feelings as Elizabeth when she said “the bad guys keep winning” Even though the evil stepmother almost separated Cinderella and the prince by traveling back in time and switching cinderella for the ugly step daughter. She almost won and I just thought it was unfair until the prince realized he was under a spell and married Cinderella instead of the step sister. But not only its unfair in fairytales. It's unfair in the real world. People or dieing and getting hurt and the good most of the time wins in the world.

My rating on this book will be a 2/ 5. I found this books plot a little bit confusing. I wanted to read something new with my reading like reading a new genre. Which didn’t work out. The only series I liked was the “Percy Jackson series” But besides that this wasn’t the best book I have read. And besides the plot I did liked how she wrote the book, she didn’t use vocab I did not know which makes me happy that I don’t have to look up what 1 word means.But plot does mean a lot so that's why I gave it a low rating.

Book: Ender's Game
Author: Orson Scott Card
Submitted: August 6
Review: AT

This week I read Ender's game by Orson Scott Card. This book is about Aliens coming to earth. About 50 years ago they came and they were called Formic, Formics killed millions of people. People did beat them but they're afraid they might come back; they are training kids hoping they can win the new battle. Ender is the main character he is very intelligent, so one of his commanders sees potential in him. This allows him to go to space and train, he moves all the way up the rink. Now Ender is fighting the Formic but he thinks they have soul and a mind, and that they may have wanted to come in peace. But you will have to read the book to see if Endure defeats them and if it was necessary.

The quote I chose is “He was thorough. He didn’t just beat him, he beat him deep” (page 29). This quote fits into the book because if the commander did not see so much potential and strength in him he would of never recruited him. If he was not recruited who knows what would have happened with the war, who would win. Also, Ender would have never talked to Formics and learn so much about them. Without him being recruited no one would have know that these being may have a soul, and could have just come in peace. Overall I thought it was a very interesting book.

Book: Outcast United
Author: Warren St. John
Submitted: August 6
Review: CM

This week i read Outcast united by Warren St. John. This realistic fiction book was published on April 21, 2009. When i was looking through different books, i saw this one. I noticed it was about soccer and i picked it up. The main character's name is, Luna. She is from Jordan, and when she was in her home country she loved to play soccer. But, lots of people told her to stop, because she was a female. Than she immigrated to the united states of america. Luna now currently lives in america, has a house and job, and she even started her own soccer team with other immigrants around the world.

This book takes place in a small town called clarkstown. In one part of the town the was an area called the fugees. It was called the fugees because that's where all the refugees lived. That's also where Luna lives. When she first came to america, she struggled to survive. But as she got older, it was easier. Luna had a good education because she went to an american college. So she got a job . When Luna was in her home country, she saw that her grandma cared about the poor. That passed down to her generation. When she is in Clarkstown, she notices that the kids do nothing and are always bored. So she started a soccer team.
In conclusion, i would give this book a 9 out of 10. I thought i really understood everything about this book because i play soccer. I recommend this book to anyone who plays soccer in middle school. If someone didn’t understand soccer, they would probably have a hard time reading this. When i was reading the book, i had to look up some words because i didn't know what they meant. I think that really helped me comprehend them.

Book: Catherine Called Birdy
Author: Karen Usherman
Submitted: August 5
Review: DS

This summer I read Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Usherman. It takes place in 1290-1291 and a young lady named Catherine is keeping a journal for her brother Edward who is a monk. Catherine starts her journal in september, Writing about how her father wants her to get married to a wealthy man at the early age of 13, which is crazy! Her mother doesn’t really want Catherine outside. So she spends most of her time doing boring chores such as: killing bugs,spinning embroidery, and other boring things like that. During her time of doing chores her father finds men that Catherine does not like. She avoids and does anything she can to avoid them for them to decide to not marry her. After many months of Catherine avoiding these rich men she finds out her father met a wealthy man named Shaggy Beard. She fights with her parents, but it doesn’t help. I wonder if Catherine will give up fighting or will she just marry or will she do something more extreme. If you are wondering the same thing read the book to find out!

My quote from this book was very hard to pick and that quote is “Why aren’t fingers equal lengths?What makes cold?Why do men get old and bald and women only get old?When does night turn into day?How deep is the sea?How can rivers run uphill?What will become of me?” This is the quote that got me glued to the story, I was very confused in the start of the book but this quote got me to understand Catherine a bit more and understand her whole life and how bad it was going for her at the young age of 13. And her curiosity made me wonder what is it like to be forced to meet these old men that you are going to possibly marry at the young age of 13. And I can relate to her, not really but it is very close. My parents are divorced, which I have dealt with, but this year on new year's eve my dad proposed to this lady in ecuador, that I never met before or knew about and I was only 12, for 9 years I I never seen my dad with another lady before so I just thought he would never meet another women. But one day he called me and told me I had to meet a special women that he recently married. At that point I was so confused all I could think of was “When?How?Why?” And I didn’t want to meet her but I was convinced to go meet her by my dad and my brother. And I had to deal with the fact that this lady is my new stepmom and that she was in my life and I had to deal with it,of course I was happy for my dad and for my new stepmom,but it was all just so new for me. Of course this wasn’t as bad as Catherine’s story but I can understand her confusion..

My rating on this book will be a 3 /5. Yes you might be thinking while reading this “didn’t you say on your last paragraph that a meaningful story?” Yes but i'm not used to the writing style this book takes place in 1290 and i'm used to reading writing that I actually can understand. For example Catherine would use silly and confusing vocabulary that took me a while to understand.And I also wished there was more to the story. I know having to be forced to be married is though but I wish there was more to the story, like more characters.

Book: These Girls, Hope is a Muscle
Author: Madeleine Blais
Submitted: August 5
Review: SL

This summer I read the bookIn These Girls, Hope Is A Muscle  by Madeleine Blais. This book about a group of girls who on a basketball team and it tell them and teach them that their team isn’t just a team It is a family. With each chapter it says a words that is important to a team that they had to go through bring together.

So the book is tell you that these group of girls are helping each other to reach that same goal they all want. When I read this book everyone can relate even if you don’t play a sport. For me it was friendship we all have hope in friendship and we all lose friends, every friendships is a team because in friendship you work by each other side and we are they for each other. In this book they had some teachers to help with their problems because they weren’t afraid to ask for help. This book was about so much it was showing when you join you have a special boned and you guys treat each other like family.

This book made me think so much and I would give this 4/5 because the way it makes you see the book in a different way than just how when you join a basketball team you have gained some new friends. I would recommend this to anyone.

Book: The Alchemyst:  The Immortal Secrets of Nicholas Flamel
Author: Michael Scott
Submitted: August 5
Review: LM

For my third summer reading book, I read The Alchemyst: The Immortal Secrets of Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott. The main characters, Sophie and Josh Newman, are just normal kids working summer jobs while their archeologist parents are away on a dig. Sophie works at a coffee-house and Josh works a bookstore across the street. One day, a man named John Dee walks into the bookstore looking for a book known as The Codex (or The Book of Abraham the Mage). When Nick and Perry Fleming, the owners of the bookstore, won't give it to him, he tries to take by force and Josh witnesses both sides using magic. When Dee forcefully takes The Codex from Josh, two pages are ripped out (described as the final summoning). Dee doesn't realize this, and he leaves with Perry as his prisoner.

Josh goes and gets Sophie to tell her all of this and then Josh, Sophie, and Nick all leave. They then learn that Nick and Perry Fleming are actually the legendary Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel that have become immortal by using the Elixir of Life (which is one of the secrets of The Codex), but now that it has been taken and they will be deprived of the elixir, they will die within a month. They also learn that Dee is just as old as they are (about 650 years old) and he has been kept alive by the masters that he serves, the dark elders that he hopes to raise, to put humans back into their "proper place" as slaves.

Nicholas then enlists the help of Scathach (a powerful 2,000-year-old Elder) to help protect them, but after being attacked by various creatures under Dee's control, he realizes he will need more help. He goes to Hekate's (the three-faced one) realm to seek refuge and to have her awaken the twins powers. Right after Sophie has had her power awoken, Dee attacks and brings two dark elders with him, Bastet and the Morrigan. Their goal is to destroy Yggdrasil, the world tree, and destroy Hekate and her realm so that they can get the pages of The Codex. Josh's powers were not awoken, so he is still conscious, but Sophie has passed out from the stress. The four (Nicholas, Scathach, Josh, and Sophie) barely escape alive and Yggdrasil and Hekate are destroyed.

Nicholas takes Sophie to see The Witch of Endor (also known as The Mistress of Air) to teach Sophie the secrets of the elemental magic of air. In the short time that they have, The Witch transfers all of her knowledge of air into Sophie. While this is happening, Josh is sitting across the street feeling useless and jealous, when Dee approaches him. He tries to convince Josh to join him while using necromancy to raise corpses to destroy the other three. Josh almost does, but then he realizes that he would have to leave Sophie and he declines. Dee starts to raise thousands of dead corpses, but then Josh hits him with a car, distracting him long enough for them to escape to Paris.

Book: Money Hungry
Author: Sharon G. Flake
Submitted: August 4
Review: RS

My second summer reading book is Money Hungry. It is about a girl that is obsessed with money. Her name is Raspberry Hill. She is obsessed with money because her and her mom used to live on the streets and she never wants to go back. To make money she sells things at school, chips, candy, pencils and any other thing you need. At one point she goes so far that she makes her friends clean houses with her for money. At school she is always getting made fun of for being poor or selling rotten candy. She even starts washing cars for money just so that she can feel whole. When's she’s without money it makes her feel weak.“Cause if you got money, people can’t take stuff from you-not your house, or your ride, not your family. They can’t do nothing much to you if you got a bankroll backing you up”. This is her way of thinking about money. Her biggest fear is that it will never be enough, the money will never last, that she and her mom are gonna live on the streets again. This book it very captivating because of it’s story and other characters. They all have their problems, they may be rich but have family issues, they have a loving family, but have insecurities, they are hardworking, but poor.

Book: Tangerine
Author: Edward Bloor
Submitted: August 4
Review: IL

This week I read Tangerine by Edward Bloor. Tangerine is about a kid named Paul Fisher who is legally blind. Because his parents have this football dream for his brother, his parents don’t give him the attention he wants. Until he moves to Tangerine, Florida. At Tangerine, interesting things happen like sinkholes, underground fires, and a murder of a friend.

"But first Mom had to make sure that I didn't overlook anything. She was worried that the people who bought our house, people we've never met, would find a McDonald's swizzle stick and think less of us." This quote is from the beginning; when Paul and his mom are just about to leave their old house to move to their new one. I think this quote shows that part of being normal is people thinking that we’re equal or the same. Part of what we hope to achieve is to be “normal” and be accepted into society. That is what Paul hopes to achieve when he moves to his new school at Tangerine, Florida.

Book: A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Submitted: August 4
Review: LM

For my second summer reading book, I read A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle. It is the third book in L'Engle's Time Quintet so this might be a bit confusing if you haven't read the books before it. It starts on Thanksgiving night, with Meg, now married to Calvin and expecting their first child, and the rest of Meg's family (Calvin is now a scientist and is away at a conference). Calvin's mother, Branwen Maddox O'Keefe, has also agreed to join them. While eating, they then receive news of an impending nuclear war caused by the crazed dictator "Mad Dog Branzillo." Mrs. O'Keefe starts to act a little crazy and tells Charles Wallace (who she calls Chuck) that he must stop Branzillo using Saint Patrick's Rune. This is Saint Patrick's Rune:

At (Blank)* in this fateful hour,

I place all Heaven with its power,

And the sun with its brightness,

And the snow with its whiteness,

And the fire with all the strength it hath,

And the lightning with its rapid wrath,

And the wind with its swiftness along its path,

And the sea with its deepness,

And the rocks with their steepness,

And the Earth with its starkness

All these I place

By God's almighty help and grace

Between myself and the powers of darkness

*The blank can be anything you need to pray for

Charles Wallace goes to the Star-Watching rock to think, but when he recites the Rune, a unicorn named Gaudior appears and explains to Charles Wallace what he must do to stop Branzillo. He must travel through time and telepathically merge with people, who lived near the Star-Watching, to try to change history and stop Branzillo from becoming what he is today. On the way, they are threatened by Ecthroi who are forces of evil who just want to see the universe in destruction. Charles Wallace starts by merging with Harcels, a Native American boy at least 1000 years in the past. He then goes a little forward and merges with Madoc, a Welsh oceanic traveler from before Columbus. After that, he merges with Brandon Llawcae, a Welsh boy in puritan times. After that, he merges with Mrs. O'Keefe's brother during their childhood, Chuck Maddox. Finally, he merges with Matthew Maddox, a writer during the American Civil War. Meg stays connected with him throughout the experience by "kything" (a telepathic connection that allows her to see and hear everything that he is doing while also being able to speak to him).
In the end, it is discovered that Branzillo is an ancestor of all of these people and by slightly altering their history, Charles Wallace is able to make Branzillo an activist for peace instead of war.

Book: Al Capone Does My Shirts
Author: Gennifer Choldenko
Submitted: August 2
Review: DR

Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko, is about a boy who is struggling to accept his current situation. Moose Flanagan’s family has just moved to Alcatraz, a prison that is located on an island in which some of the most terrible criminals in the United States of America are imprisoned. It is here the Moose’s father works as an electrician and a guard so that Natalie, Moose’s sister, is able to go to the Esther P. Marinoff School. Natalie is mentally disabled and it is her family’s hope that she will get better. But Moose is not at all happy with his current situation. He wonders why he has to be the kid with the sister who is different. It upsets him that of all places, Alcatraz is where his family ends up, with Al Capone as their neighbor. He just doesn’t understand why all this had to happen to him. In my opinion, one of the main ideas in Al Capone Does My Shirts, is love. More specifically, the anxiety you feel when someone you love needs help, and there is no way to help them. Moose watches his parents suffer because they want to help Natalie, they love her so much, but no matter what they do, she doesn’t seem to be getting better. Then, suddenly, Moose feels the same thing. As he observes his older sister, he realizes that she is more than just a girl with a disability. She has a personality, her disability doesn’t define her. Soon, he has the desire to help her get better, although he has no idea how. So Moose is trapped in his anger and desperation.

Throughout Al Capone Does My Shirts, Moose grows to understand that sometimes you just have to follow the path of life and see where it leads you. “‘Life is amazing, isn’t it? You can’t ever tell what will happen. Nobody knows until they go ahead and play the game.’” You can never know what the future has in store for you. This is a fact that makes Moose frustrated. He wishes that sometimes life would be more predictable. But throughout the book, he realizes that you will never know what lies ahead, just as you don’t know the score of a baseball game until you play it. Moose loves baseball and he is quite good at it. His father keeps reminding him that life is like a baseball game, you just have to play it when it’s time to play. And maybe if you catch the ball as it comes toward you, something miraculous will happen.

Al Capone Does My Shirts tells a story that incorporates many different ideas into it, which makes it very interesting. It is not only about a boy who lives on Alcatraz, but also about the relationship between two siblings. It tells of unlikely friendships that are quite unpredictable and the confusion of growing up, wandering between childhood and adulthood. Through all this the characters feel guilt and despair along with joy and excitement. Al Capone Does My Shirts is one of the many books about life. The story is not one of the ordinary life of a child. Instead, it is about a boy who learns to cope with the unchangeable things that you will encounter throughout life. Book: The Seeing Stone
Author: Kevin Crossley Holland
Submitted: August 1
Review: IL

Another book I read for summer reading is The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley Holland. This book is about the story of Arthur as he grows up..To help guide him, Merlin (a friend of his) gives him a seeing stone that allows him to see a parallel story of similar people that tell him of past events or future events that will happen like in the stone. Mainly in this book, Arthur struggles to become a squire and to maintain friendships. Arthur’s wish is to become a squire, like his brother. But, in the end Arthur learns a secret that may change his future.

“Well,” replied my father, “our instincts never lie to us, but they do sometimes instruct us to do things we should not do. And your tongue, Arthur, often say things it should not say.” In this part, Arthur’s father is talking to him about Arthur going into a field with bulls. Arthur’s instincts told to go there because his friend was in that field trying to get the bulls back into their pens without help. That advice is helpful because it is basically saying sometimes you say things before you think about what you say. That happens to everybody sometime. And the first part is helpful because if you remember it, you might just think about your actions before you do them.

Book: Code Orange
Author: Caroline B. Cooney
Submitted: July 25
Review: RS

As my first summer reading book I chose Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney. The book is about a boy named Mitty. Mitty is the type of kid who hates class, and only does the minimal requirement, just to get by with c’s, and sometimes b’s. But as usual he comes to the end of the weekend without working at all on his homework, until he realises that he has multiple projects due, one of them is talking about a virus, and he doesn’t know what to do until he stumbles over some old medical books at his weekend house. Inside the books he find a letter with some scabs inside, it says VM, and says it’s from Boston, 1902. He then decides to choose VM as his disease what he doesn’t know is that VM stands for variola major, otherwise known as smallpox.

“That way is to die before I get sick. Then the virus dies with me” is the quote I chose because shows what heroism the protagonist Mitty has, that he's willing to end his life for his town, for his city, for his country and world. For somebody who’s so careless with his responsibilities, he really matured in this moment. I would recommend this book to 6th grade and up, and I think it’s a really interesting and suspenseful read.

Book: Tangerine
Author: Edward Bloor
Submitted: July 25
Review: SL

This summer I read the book Tangerine by Edward Bloor. This book is about a young boy name paul and he has problem seeing with his eyes and he moved to tangerine county, Florida. He has an older brother named Eric and he is mean to paul and his dad pays more attention to eric than paul. When he went to Lake Windsor High School to visit to see if he want to go to that school. When got there his mother said he had problem with his eyes and he became in the program. He and his mother thought that this was a good school to. Paul wanted to try out for soccer he would got on if he didn’t have a problem with his eyes he would be on the team. He told his parents he asked his mother if he change schools and she said yes when they got to the school named tangerine middle school. When enrolled there they said nothing about his eyesight, He meet a lot of people there and when he tried out for soccer, he saw it was a boy’s and girl’s team. When he tried out he did get on the team but be was goalie because there was already someone playing goalie. When he got to play they never lost a game and it was great.



When I read this book, it made me see when people think about each other just by appearance not by how really are. This book put this family in a different way they put as a family who pick favorites. When read this book you see that the dad pays attention to the older brother eric and not paul and the mother pays more attention to paul then eric. I really like this book because you learn a lot from this and it was fun reading this book. I would rate this book a 4/5 because I think there's anything called a perfect book. I think that from 5th grade to up cause there was some things I read that I didn’t understand.