Book+Reviews

=Book Reviews=

How many stars do you give it on a scale of 1-10?
= = Review by:msp-c1-kp Rating:9 stars Review: I give this book nine stars because it didn't have a lot of action during the first couple chapters but once it got going it was so hard to stop reading. || Title of Book:Down the Rabbit Hole Review by:wmshaley Rating:9 Review: The book I have read is Down the Rabbit Hole. The author is Peter Abrahams. The main characters in this book are Ingrid and Vincent Dun. Ingrid is a 13-year-old girl. She has to go through so many obstacles to find out the murderer of Katie Kovac. Ingrid is a very daring person, something’s she does can cause her, her life. She is athletic, she runs very fast and she plays soccer. Another main character is Vincent Dunn. He has many secrets from the past that cause some problems now. Vincent is a very mysterious character, first because the way he acts around other characters and how he talks to other characters. For example when he says “I slipped it was an accident.” The way he makes it sound is very mysterious. In this book Kate’s murder had everyone very suspicious because one day she is walking down the street, the next day she’s murdered. No one can figure out her death. This all happens in a small town that is usually very quiet. But once this started, there are a lot of mysterious things going on. I love the mystery behind the story. There is really nothing I don’t like about this book. I just wanted to keep on reading and reading. Any one who likes mystery will probably love this book. Peter Abrahams, the author, has written some other stories, such as the rest of the series to Down the Rabbit Hole. They are Behind the Curtain and Into the Dark, which comes out in 2008. He has written 18 other novels besides The Echo Falls Mysteries. Peter Abrahams grew up in Maine and still lives there today. || Review by:msp-c8-sh Rating:ten stars Review:The book was very emotional, I had to keep on reading to make everything happier. || Title of Book:The Lightning Thief Review by:wmscosette Rating:7 Review:The Lightning Thief is written by Rick Riordan. This book is about an 11 year old boy named Percy Jackson who finds out suddenly that he is half-god. That means that Percy is in danger because monsters want to kill him. Tragically, in the story Zeus’s lightning bolt turns up missing and Percy is the prime suspect. Will he and his two friends find the lightning bolt before the summer solstice is over and stop a tragic world war from happening? The story takes place in modern times in New York City. Percy Jackson is 11 years old and in 6th grade. He has black hair. He is also Poseidon’s son, which makes him half-god and powerful. Percy is brave. He is brave because he has to go on a quest with a satyr named Grover and another half god named Annabeth to the underworld. That is a scary place to go because there are a lot of dead people there. Percy is the main character because he is telling the story. I liked The Lightning Thief because I liked how the author related the Greek Mythology to the story. For instance, in one part, Percy has to fight Medusa, and she is part of Greek mythology. Also, Percy meets Poseidon, Zeus, Hades and Ares- all Greek gods. I didn’t like how the book took a long time to get into the conflict. The book really didn’t get interesting until he went on the quest to the underworld. This book was suspenseful, and I liked that. It made me feel like I didn’t want to put the book down. This book is for people who like unrealistic fiction and fantasy and Greek mythology. Rick Riordan wrote the story, The Lightning Thief. This book is part of a series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The other two sequels are called The Sea of Monsters, and The Titan’s Curse. Rick Riordan started as an English and history teacher in San Francisco Bay area and Texas. In 2002, he was awarded by Saint Mary’s Hall the school’s first Master Teacher award. He also wrote an adult series called Tres Navarre, a mystery. He is a good writer. || Review by:msp-m1-kf Rating:10 stars Review: I gave this book ten stars because even though in the begining of the story nothing happened. In the 4th or 5th chapter everything started happening and I couldn't put the book down. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by:msp-c1-ap Rating: 8 stars Review:I gave this book 8 stars because in the first few chapters there was no fun but by chapter 5 it started getting good. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by:wmsfay Rating:8 stars Review: If you like mystery, adventure, soccer or drama productions with a twist, you might find //Down the Rabbit Hole// by Peter Abrahams interesting. The story takes place in Echo Falls, C.T. Echo Falls is a suburban, fairly wealthy town except in the flats. The flats is a poor part of town. “Shabby old gingerbread houses their paint peeling and windows grimy,” Peter Abrahams describes it as. There’s also a lot of crime that happens in the flats, such as the murder mystery Ingrid Levin-Hill get caught into, Ingrid Levin-Hill is a 12 year old girl who participates in soccer and her town plays. On the way to soccer practice, Ingrid gets lost and winds up in the flats. There Ingrid talks to a nice old lady and goes into the lady’s house so the lady can call a cab for her. She changes into her red Puma cleats. She leaves her red Puma’s at the lady’s house. That night there’s a murder at the flats, and Ingrid’s Pumas could become a clue to the mystery. If you really like //Down the Rabbit Hole//, you might enjoy the sequels //Behind the Curtain// and //Into the Dark// by Peter Abrahams. With everything going on with the town play, Alice in Wonderland, soccer and the murder case, there’s a lot of adventure and never a dull moment in Ingrid Levin-Hill’s life. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by:wmsbrighid Rating:9 stars Review:Down the Rabbit Hole is an interesting title, don’t you think? In Peter Abrahams thrilling story, a 13 year old named Ingrid risks her life to solve a crime. In the story it is autumn in the beautiful town of Echo Falls. Ingrid lives in a large house with her mom, dad and brother. Ingrid meets a young woman one day in the ugliest part of town, the flats. Ingrid is lost and Katie helps her. The next day Katie is murdered. Ingrid makes it her duty to find Katie’s killer(s). There are two major characters. One is Ingrid Levin-Hill. Ingrid is very brave. She risks her life several times for a person she had known for one day. Katie Kovac is the person Ingrid risks her life for. Katie is murdered so Ingrid tries to solve the case. Ingrid doesn’t know why some one would kill her. Katie is observant when she meets Ingrid she says, “Bet your whole life’s hit the fan and you’re taking off. I’m a real good guesser.” The book is for people who love mysteries. This book is also for people who like action or drama. I like how in this book you can figure out yourself who actually killed Katie. Peter Abrahams is the Author of this special book. He lives in Falmouth, Mass, right off of Cape Cod. He lives a comfortable life with his wife and four children. Peter’s mother was a writer. She taught him all he needed to know. Peter has published 18 novels including the Down the Rabbit Hole series. This is his first series and book for teens. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by:wmssadierose Rating:9 Review:I think Emako Blue by Brenda Woods is a very good book. It is about a girl named Monterey and a girl named Emako. They became friends but months later Emako dies. Emako died partly because she lived in a bad neighborhood with her family.
 * Title of Book:Down The Rabbit Hole
 * Title of Book:The River Between Us
 * Title of Book: Down the Rabbit Hole
 * Title of Book:Down the Rabbit Hole
 * Title of Book:Down the Rabbit Hole
 * Title of Book:Down the Rabbit Hole
 * Title of Book:Emako Blue

Emako doesn't really care what people think of her but if they talk about her she cares. Quote: “I am not being sensitive If you don't like me I am cool with that”. She does not have very strict parents she can pretty much do whatever she wants and her life is very exciting with her brother being in jail. Monterey’s life is not very interesting she thinks her parents are too over protective which they are. Quote: “ I am not a little girl anymore dad I can take the bus to school.” Monterey was a little jealous of Emako because the guys were always all over her.

In the book I liked how they had four to five different people telling the story. It made It more interesting because you got to see sides from all the characters on what was going on. The book made me feel sad because Emako was an innocent person, and she shouldn't have died. This book is for people who like modern fiction books or sad books because it deals with real teen problems and it is sad because Emako dies and especially how she dies. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by:wmscourtney Rating:10 Review:Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams is an exciting story of mystery and suspense. In the small town of Echo Falls, where not much happens, something major does. A woman, known to the kids of the town as Cracked up Kate because of her messed-up appearance, gets murdered, and nobody knows who did it. So Ingrid, who happens to be at Kate’s house right before the killing happened, decides to play detective, and figure out who Kate’s murderer is. Ingrid Levin-hill is a thirteen –year old girl, who is the main character in the book. All throughout Down the Rabbit Hole, she shows her ambition, and bravery, as she goes through many tough situations to solve this murder mystery. Ingrid means well, trying to discover Kate’s murderer, but on the way, she gets herself tangled up in a big web of lies and many questions, “So many questions. Maybe the only way to solve the case was to answer all of them.” If you like mystery and suspense, then you’ll love Down the Rabbit Hole. I couldn’t put the book down once I had picked it up. I was so full of anxiety and curiosity that I had to finish it. Peter Abrahams was born in Boston and is currently living in Falmouth, Massachusetts, with his wife and children. So far, there are only two books in the Echo Falls mystery series in which Down the Rabbit Hole is the first. The third book is coming out early 2008, and he plans on writing at least five books in this series. Peter Abrahams writes many other crime thrillers. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by: wmskaren Rating: 9 Review: Down The Rabbit Hole by Peter Abraham's Ingrid Levin-Hill, even though she has lived for so long in Echo Falls, didn’t know her way around, so she arrived at the wrong place instead of soccer practice. “The only person who ever bought into her nickname turned out to be Cracked up Katie.” The big surprise was that the next day, Kate Kovac was found dead. Ingrid was afraid that she’d get questioned since she left her soccer cleats in Kate’s home, so she decided to solve the mystery all on her own.
 * Title of Book:Down the Rabbit Hole
 * Title of Book: Down The Rabbit Hole
 * Title of Book: Down The Rabbit Hole

Ingrid was very worried about possibly becoming a suspect of the crime. It was also very brave for a thirteen year old to take on solving such a mystery as a murder.

This is a really good book. It has mystery, love, humor, and it makes you want to keep reading until the end! It is a really thrilling book, specially if you’re a fan of mystery books.

Peter Abraham's is a writer of mysteries. He has written books such as Oblivion, Crying Wolf, Behind the Curtain. This book is part of the series called The Echo Falls Mysteries. There are only two books so far, but he wishes to write at least five. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by:wmsmallory Rating:9 Review:Down the Rabbit Hole Down the Rabbit Hole is a book by Peter Abrahams, and it is about a girl named Ingrid Leven-Hill. She raps herself up in a big mystery all by mistake. Ingrid was late for soccer one day so she decided to run there, but she ended up getting lost. She ended up by Katie Kovacs AKA “Cracked-up Kates” house, and Kate invited her inside. Katie had called Ingrid a taxi when Ingrid was taking out her cleats. The taxi arrived when Kate heard a noise upstairs. Ingrid hurried to leave, forgetting her cleats. Kate went upstairs to find out what the noise was and she was murdered. Ingrid Leven-Hill is the main character in the story. She tries to get people to call her Griddie but it doesn’t work. She loves to run, and she is good at it, too. She also loves soccer. Ingrid is thirteen and she also has braces. Ingrid can also be very determined. She does not give up on trying to solve the mystery, even IF she is put in a life or death situation. Vincent Dunn is also another main character, and he has a mysterious hidden past. He is going to tryout in the Alice the Wonderland play Ingrid. He is also very sneaky. I would recommend this book to people who like mysteries because Ingrid has a lot of questions she must figure out. Also, people who like comedies would like this because Ingrid has a funny way of looking at things. The genre of this book is mystery/comedy. I really liked this book because it is fun to think this whole story was caused by a pair of red Puma cleats. When Ingrid does get her Pumas back, it says in the book, “As for the red Pumas, She didn’t love them so much anymore.” The author of Down the Rabbit Hole, Peter Abrahams, is also the author of other books in the Echo Falls Series. The other books names are Behind the Curtains, and Into the Dark. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by:wmshillary Rating:3 Review:
 * Title of Book:Down the Rabbit Hole
 * Title of Book:Sea of Trolls

I read the Sea of Trolls as a nutmeg choice. Nancy Farmer, who also has written other award winning books, writes this book. This book is about Jack, who is a bard in training, a crow, and Jack’s little sister Lucy. Jack lives on a farm with Lucy and his parents. In the middle of Jack’s training, he and Lucy get captured by a bunch of people. They are taken onto a ship and forced to be slaves. Lucy is treated as a princess while Jack is stuck doing work. When they reach the capturer’s town, their leader, Olaf, tells Jack he will give Lucy to the Queen! Jack must stop this, but how? Join Jack in this adventure packed story The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer. Jack, Thorgil, Lucy, and Olaf are some characters in The Sea of Trolls. Jack is eleven years old and has had a life on the farm until recently. The Bard (a magician) has chosen Jack to learn how to do magic. Jack tries finding ways to escape the problem instead of facing it. He also can get annoyed very easily. Jack tries to escape the problem when he has to bring something to the Bard. Jack tries to stay at the Bard’s house instead of doing his chore of herding and killing the sheep. Jack can get annoyed easily because when Lucy kept complaining, Jack got really annoyed with her. Also he got annoyed at the Bard when he blew out Jack’s spell that he worked very hard at. Thorgil may seem like a guy at first, but she is really a girl. Thorgil is about as old as Jack. She is rude, disgusting, and proud. Thorgil is rude when she insults Jack and hits him saying she caught him so she can do whatever she wants to him. She is disgusting when she doesn’t bother to clean herself or change clothes. Thorgil also participates in belching contests. She is very proud when she catches Jack, so she doesn’t want to give him up for a poor price. Lucy is very young and she believes she is a princess from stories her dad told her. She is bossy because of this. Olaf is tall and strong. He loves to joke because in Olaf’s hometown he gave Jack old fish guts as a joke. Nancy Farmer has also written The Ear, The Eye, and the Arm. She also wrote a sequel to The Sea of Trolls called The Land of Silver Apples. Nancy has also enlisted in the Peace Corps and won many awards. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by:wmsdiego Rating:7.5 Review:If I were to go over a list of the best books I’ve ever read, In Darkness Death would definitely be one of them. It was written by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler.
 * Title of Book:In Darkness Death

The book takes place in ancient Japan in 1736. The setting is mostly farmland and a couple big cities here and there. The weather changes during the book giving it a special twist. But this place is not peaceful like it may look. The powerful Lord Inaba has been murdered while under the protection of the reining shogun. The shogun calls upon the most famous judge in Edo, Judge Ooka. With him Judge Ooka brings his adopted son and apprentice Seikei. They are told to find the killer. Their only clue is a bloodstained origami butterfly. As Seikei and the Judge set out to find the culprit, they unravel a whole conspiracy betrayal and a half-fox ninja who can’t be caught. Part of what makes In Darkness Death such a good book is the great cast of characters. Seikei is independent, honorable, and very strong willed. A lot of the time he travels by himself, and he never stops even if he’s in pain. The Judge is very thoughtful, calm and fat. But despite his weight and love of food, he is very agile. I liked this book because it has a little bit of everything. It is mostly a murder mystery but it also has its fair share of action, “High above there were shouts now from one more guardhouse. Something flew by Seikei’s head making a noise like a bee. An arrow.” It even has a little bit of the supernatural mixed in. I also liked how it jumped right into the plot and didn’t take 80 pages to do that. So if you like mystery or action, you would like In Darkness Death. The authors of In Darkness Death have written 90 books since their marriage with more coming. Dorothy has a degree in history and Thomas has been involved with writing since age 10 and lived in a print shop. He has also been a magazine editor. So they both had lots of experience when writing the books so you know it will be good. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by:Christian Rating:9 Review:The Lightning Thief was written by Rick Riordan. This book takes place in modern times in the United States. This book is about a boy names Percy who wall ways gets into trouble in his life. Then one day he suddenly comes face to face with a monster that he has to kill. He suddenly has to go to this camp to save this life and be safe. There is where he learns that he is the son of one of the big three gods. That is when he learns that he is the one that must take on eh challenge of retrieving the item that was stolen before the gods have a war over it. He has to face many dangers and hard obstacles to be successful in his journey. Will he come back alive? Will he succeed in his journey? Well these are just some questions you will answer, but to do that you have to read The Lightning Thief.
 * Title of Book: The Lightning Theif

Some important characters are Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. Percy has black hair with blue eyes. He is important because he is the one who is the son of one of big gods and goes through dangerous obstacles to try to retrieve what has been stolen. Percy is special because when they found out that he was the son of one of the big three gods everybody said “ Hail Perceous Jackson the son of Poseidon” that shows how important it is to be the son of one of the big three gods. He is brave because he knew that many dangers lie ahead in his journey but his still goes bravely. Annabeth is important because she is Percy’s friend and went on the journey with Percy. Annabeth is a good friend because when Percy asked her whose side would she fight on if the gods had a war and she said his side because he is her friend. Grover is important because he is one of Percy’s first friends, and he goes along with him on the journey. He is interesting because he is a satyr, who is a creature that is half human, half goat, and that is very interesting because you don’t hear of that a lot.

You might ask me, did you like this book? Well my answer is yes, I did like it. I liked this book because most of the time it had action or mystery like who stole what? Or he was fighting off some kind of creature. The parts that I disliked were the descriptions in the beginning, but that is the only parts I disliked. The genre of this book is modern fiction. There is some mystery in the book. If you are interested in learning more about the Greek gods and Greek mythology, then I recommend you to read this book. That book made me feel like I wanted to just keep on reading and lose track of time because it was so action packed. After I was done with this book, it was worth reading 374 pages because I felt like reading another book like that because it was such a good book.

The author, Rick Riordan, was born on June 5, 1964. He taught English for 15 years and he is from Texas. He is a multi award winning author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series for children. This consist of 4 books. The lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titans Curse, and The Battle of the Labyrinth. The novels draw on Riordan’s experience teaching Greek mythology and how he interacted with students with learning differences. He is also the winner of the Tres Navarre mystery series for adults. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by: Ces-Cole Rating: A total easy 20 1/3 Review: I think that it was an awesome book! I think that it had awesome detail, so it felt like I was fighting Mother Malkin, getting an almost killed child out of Bony Lizzie’s house. I thought that it was an action-packed book //full// of adventure. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by: WmsZachary Rating: 10 Review: The Lightning Thief is a great book it is by Rick Riordan. Weird things are happening to Percy Jackson. He has mythical creatures attacking him, and that is the least of his worries. He’s angered Zeus’s master bolt. Now Percy and his two friends must find the lighting bolt in a mere bolt in a mere ten days to clear Percy’s name. Percy is a normal kid, except being the son of a god. He has black hair with blue eyes. Percy is brave because he has to fight many mythical creatures. Percy interesting because he is a very good swordsman, and is very cool. Percy’s best friend, Grover, is a satyr, which is a creature with a goat’s ear, legs, and horns. Grover is not a brave as Percy but is a great friend. When Percy was getting into trouble for pushing, Grover said, “It was me, I pushed her.” He did this so that Percy wouldn’t get expelled for being bad, again. Grover also shows that he is a good friend by giving Percy advice. Percy’s other friend is Annabeth. She is daughter of Athena. She is Important because she helps get the master lightning bolt back to Olympus. I loved this book because it has so much action in it. Percy fought many monsters. I also liked how much the author added Greek mythology into the book. He made Greek mythology much more interesting. This book made me feel good because I could not put this book down. This book is fantasy sci-fi. People who like sci-fi or fantasy should like this. The author, Rick Riordan, “is a multi-award winning author of the Tres Navarre mystery for adults and the #1 New York times best selling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series for children.” For fifteen years, he taught English and History at public and private schools in Texas and the San Francisco Bay area. His adult fiction has won the top national awards for mysteries, The Edgar, The Anthony, and The Shamus awards. Rick’s short fiction has appeared in Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen’s mystery magazine. His Percy Jackson and the Olympians novels were based on his experiences teaching Greek mythology and his interaction with students with learning difficulties. The Lightning Thief has been purchased for film rights by Twentieth Century Fox. Rick Riordan writes full-time and lives in San Antonio with his wife and his two sons || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by: Rating: Review:If you want to read a great book than you should read the Lightning Thief. This excellent action/ adventure book was written by Rick Riordan. The Lightning Thief is pretty much about a boy named Percy Jackson who needs to complete a complicated quest. I really liked all of the Greek mythology that was involved in the book. Trough out the story, Percy is battling evil monsters to complete his quest to save the world. Will Percy complete the challenges he has to complete his quest? Another interesting thing about the book is Percy and his friends have to go from New York to California to be able to complete his quest.
 * Title of Book: The Revenge of the Witch
 * Title of Book: The Lightning Thief
 * Title of Book:

The main characters in the story would be the brave Percy, the smart Annabeth, and the clumsy Grover. Percy is a young, black-haired kid, who discovers he is brave because of all the risks he takes. He is also a troublesome kid. Annabeth is a very wise because she always got Percy and Grover out of trouble. She is young woman with brown hair and a short temper. Grover is very clumsy mainly because he has goat legs! He always got into trouble, and he isn’t too brave. He is also sort of a nerd. These three characters are focused on while the story is going on, and as the problem is resolved.

To tell you the truth, this is defiantly one of the best books I have ever read. I really enjoyed all of the action and adventure that went on during the story. It made me feel interested every time I started reading the book. It also didn’t take a long time to get into the plot. I read about a chapter and a half and I was already into the plot. So this book would be perfect for kids who enjoy reading action and / or adventure stories. ‘We careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rain storm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins’. That is a quote from the book showing how much action the book has.

As I said earlier, the author of the Lightning Thief is Rick Riordan. He has also written more books so the Lightning Thief is part of a 3 book series. Rick Riordan also writes adult mysteries. He is a multi award winner for his adult books. In 2002, Rick was a teacher in San Francisco and in Texas. He taught English and history. For children, Rick has written three books; the Lightning Thief, the Sea of Monsters, and the Titan’s Curse. He is in the process right now of writing a 4th children’s book. David Walencewicz || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: || Review by: Daniel Hill Rating: 8 Review:Emako Blue
 * Title of Book Emako Blue

Emako Blue is an average girl who is pretty, a good singer, and is nice to people. But Brenda Woods, the author, shows what can happen to anyone even to someone with a perfect life like Emako’s. Emako Blue is a book about Emako after her death. She died at only age fifteen which was very sad. This book has four characters telling the story of how they met Emako and what they thought of her and how they got along. This book takes place in southern Las Angeles partially at the church. The problem is that Emako’s older brother has just been released from jail. When her brother comes home he is the reason she dies, even though he does not do it. In Emako Blue, Emako is Monterey’s best friend. She is also the only one who sees the good side of Jamal and his player act. Emako is important because she is the subject of the whole book. In Emako Blue I liked how there were a lot of points of view. This helped by letting me know what everyone was thinking and feeling. I did not like how they set up all the characters talking. The book just said the name. This made the book a little bit confusing to read. This book is for anyone who likes a good fiction book that could happen in life. Anyone who likes sad stories that end with a sad scene with loads of action this fiction book is for you. I felt this book was really good and really makes you feel sorry for Emako and says you should live life to the fullest. Brenda Woods has written another book as well. It is called the Red Rose Box. This book won the Correta Scott King award and was a finalist for the pen center USA’s 2003 literary award. This book also received the 2003 Judy Lopez Memorial award for children’s literature. Brenda Woods is a long time resident of Las Angeles and is working on a third novel to add to the others. || Title of Book: Review by: Rating: Review: ||