The Running Dream Book Review by 7th Grader Dylan V. June 4, 2019

The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen is a book about a girl named Jessica. Jessica is really good at track and she just got 50 seconds flat on the 400 meter. On her way home from the track meet a truck runs into the side of their bus. In the process, Jessica loses a leg and has to get it amputated. Jessica has recovered and has running dreams about running with her dog in the morning and other running activities. Then her best friend Fiona and track coach show her a video of people with running prosthetic legs. The track team now is trying to get Jessica the running leg but it cost $20,000 dollars. Will they raise the money and have jessaca running or not? Read this book and find out what challenges Jessica and her track team face.

 

I really like this book because of the theme to never give up and to have confidence in yourself and your peers.

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Running Dream Book Review by 7th grader Michael K.

Running Dream, by Wendelin Van Draanen is a book about a girl, Jessica, who lost her leg in a bus accident. Unfortunately she had to get it amputated. The one HUGE thing that she can’t do is run, and she absolutely loves to run. But she can’t anymore. Jessica needs to get a prosthetic leg. She wants to run again, but will she?

I rate this book a 5 out of 5. There is not one part of the book I disliked. I like this book because it was inspiring and it made me feel like nothing is impossible. I hope the author makes a sequel or a prequel to this book so I could be reading something over the summer.

Stuck in Neutral Book Review by 7th Grader Michael

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman is a book about a young boy called Shawn. Shawn was born with cerebral palsy ( C.P.). It is not a disease, it is a condition that he has to have for the rest of his life. Because of his condition, he is not able to move any of his body parts. Everyone thinks of him as dumb and stupid but in reality, he is very smart. Just because he can’t move his body parts does not mean he can’t understand people. Well that’s what Shawn’s dad thinks. Shawn’s dad thinks that he is suffering and that he is going through a lot of pain. He wants to end Shawn’s life. Shawn doesn’t want to die because he thinks he is too young and thinks that he is unique.

I loved this book a lot and I would recommend it to anyone. This book would make you a little sad. This book helps you also understand about cerebral palsy.

Beanball Book Review by 8th Grader Luke

Beanball by Gene Fehler is a book about a high schooler named Luke. Luke was the star player of his high school baseball team. Luke “Wizard” Wallace is up to bat in the last inning against their rivals. Luke sees the pitch coming and BAM he gets hit in the eye. Read to find out what happened after this tragic accident.

Beanball is a very short novel in verse. It is different from other books. It gives different perspectives of different people so you won’t get bored while reading this book. Overall, I liked this book. I felt like I was actually in the book because my name was the main character. I would give this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars. Recommend for 6th-8th graders.

Frozen Charlotte Book Review by 7th Grader Leslie May 10, 2018

Frozen Charlotte is by Alex Bell.

This story is about a group of girls who live in a boarding school and they play with a doll called Frozen Charlotte.  The doll was created when the school mistress gave them scraps of fabric and ribbons from the sewing room. They practice their sewing skills by making little dresses and bonnets. They also made a doll with the scraps. The doll is possessed with a spirit and becomes a killer.  

I really like this book because it’s based on a horror book and I like to watch horror movies when I am at home or at the movie theater.

 

Perks of Being Wallflower Book Review by 7th Grader Ali

Perks Of Being A Wallflower is the best book I have read so far. I loved the book because I can relate to what happened to Charlie and I loved the stories he tells. I read the book over and over and I still can’t stop reading it because it is so good. When I found out what Charlie’s aunt did to him, I was in awe. I read the book many times because it was hard not to. When I found the author made  more books I was excited. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is the best book ever. 

Charlie was depressed with his life because his aunt Helen past away on his birthday while she was going to get his birthday present. Charlie had trouble fitting in at high school he had know friends until he went to a football game and met Sam and Patrick. Charlie had a huge crush on Sam since the day he met her. Sam left to go to college and that made him feel sad. At that point, Charlie wanted to end his life because he felt his aunt’s death was his fault. Charlie’s sister, Candace, told her friend to call the police and send them to her house.

Soldier Boys Book Review by 7th Grader Brodey

Soldier Boys by Dean Hughes is a book about two boys on the opposite sides of WWII. Spence is an American boy that struggles with school. After Pearl Harbor was bombed, his brother went into the Navy and Spence wants to become a paratrooper. He did and he meets Ted in training camp. Ted was much like Spence and they were the same age. They went into Germany to fight the Germans after they both passed basic training. On the other side, Deiter is a german boy who is 15 and is a leader in the Hitler Youth. He catches other Hitler Youth messing around and decides to let them go free. Soon after one of the boys gets shot by a French spitfire and dies. Then Deiter goes and meets Hitler and wants to go fight on the front lines. When he gets sent, he is extremely excited and meets Schaefer who guides Deiter through the war. At the bottom of a hill, the Americans run down and most get killed. The next day the Germans run up the hill and most die from artillery or gun fire. In the mists of the chaos, Deiter gets hit. Later that night Spence puts his life on the line even when he had strict orders not to.

I loved the book but the end is very sad. I liked it for the suspense and the reality of it. I would recommend this to someone who wants a good book on WWII.

Beauty and The Beast & Other Stories Book Review By 8th Grader Maddie May 9, 2018

Beauty & the Beast and Other Stories by Sarah Hines Stephens has three different stories about the same problem. In each of the stories, the princes have spells set upon them that they have to break to be human again.

Beauty as a child was very simply impressed by the littlest things. Her sisters, on the other hand, wanted everything handed to them. The merchant lost his money and the family was forced to move out of their mansion and into a little cabin. The merchant traveled out one night and didn’t make it home and was sure he would freeze before he got home. So he saw a mansion and decided what he saw was a weird creature . He asked the creature if he could stay the night. The creature would let him stay for something in return. The merchant will allow his daughter to marry the creature. Beauty didn’t like the giant but when he turned into a prince, she fell in love with him.

I think this book keeps you engaged and doesn’t stress you out over number of pages. I like the font of the words.

Smile Book Review by 8th Grader Sydney

In Smile by Raina Telgemeier, a girl named Raina is an 11-years old that was coming home from girl scouts with of her friends. Her friends ask her to race home. As she was running, she tripped and fell on her two front teeth. At first, Raina thought she didn’t break anything until she got up and felt her mouth. She realized that her two front teeth were missing. Her friend’s mom called Raina’s parents as soon as she noticed that Raina was hurt. Raina’s parents came running over and took her the orthodontist. The orthodontist filled her teeth in with a cast for her two front teeth. She went back after the month and they did work on her two front teeth again. When it was her first day of high school, Raina’s friends were being mean to her like pulling down her skirt and called her dog breath because of her braces kit. After all that happened she confronted them. On top of that, she could not smile with confidence, she would just smile with her mouth closed. Raina meets new friends after she was done with her old friends. In the end, Raina gets her final surgery and she is able to smile with confidence again.

In my opinion, I love this book and I would recommend this book to anyone that adores realistic fiction just like I do. I  also love books that I can relate to. This was a perfect match because most of what the author was saying it was like my life inside a book. I was able to relate to Smile because I had dental problems just like Raina. I had to go through the process like Raina but instead of knocking out my teeth, I had a palate expander, four brackets on my top four front teeth, and brackets and rubber bands all over my teeth now.   

The False Prince Book Review by 7th Grader Taylor

In The False Prince, Carthya is at risk when the whole Royal family gets killed by pirates, or so they they thought. Beven Connor goes around to orphanages, and picks up Sage, Tobias and Roden.  You either go along with Connor or die. Connor steps up to say in fact the prince isn’t dead and the pirates have failed to kill the prince. In fact, Jaron the Prince of Carthya is not as dead as he seems. Five years back, the pirates failed to kill the 8 year old prince Jaron. After all the years, Jaron has been hiding. When Connor steps up saying he has the princ. Jaron has come out of the shadows and is back to rein.

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen is one of my favorite books ever! I listened to the first book last year and was really obsessed with it and just loved it. This year, I read it again and am now finishing the series. Reading is not one of my favorite things to do because I always get distracted or just cant keep focused on a book but this is truly one book I just wanted to keep reading! I  remember I had this moment twice where the whole plot just changed and I was so surprised and just in awe when I found out who the prince really was. By far, this is my favorite book that I actually finished and liked.