Dealing With Dragons

Dealing with Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede, starts with a princess named Cimorone. Cimorone isn't like other princesses though. She is bored with all the etiquette lessons and proper princess behavior and when her parents are making her marry a prince, she runs away. There she meets the dragon Kuzul and becomes her princess. Living with Kuzul, she uncovers a plot by the wizards to steal the dragons' magic. Cimorone tries to stop the wizards and in the adventure she meets a witch, a jinn, a princess, a death-dealing bird, and a prince made out of stone. Then Cimorone stops the wizards and Kuzul is made King of the dragons.

One theme in Dealing With Dragons is perseverance. Cimorone perseveres in stopping the wizards even when it gets hard and confusing. Kuzul perseveres by working hard to get to be king. The stone prince perseveres by trying to do a great service to a king over and over again. Alianora (the princess that Cimorone meets) perseveres by trying to be brave even in the worst times. Even the wizards try to persevere in stealing the magic from the dragons. Perseverance is a reoccurring theme in dealing with dragons.

The main character in this book is Cimorone. Cimorone is intelligent, a hard worker, stubborn, and a tomboy. The book repeatedly says that Cimorone is not as air-headed as other princesses. She also loves adventure and not being bored with princess lessons and duties. Another character is Kuzul, the dragon. Kuzul likes having Cimorone around because Cimrone organizes, cleans, and makes cherries jubilee for her. Kuzul is a good listener and is full of common sense to. Those are the two main characters in Dealing with Dragons.

I liked the book, Dealing with Dragons, a lot. It had adventure, excitement, and mystery. I am so glad there are more books after this one. I loved everything about it except that if you read it right, the characters sound stuck-up. It is easy to read/follow the story and I would defiantly recommend it to other elementary to middle school kids. I hope you enjoy this book just as much as I did.



Citations-

Wrede, Patricia. Dealing With Dragons. Jane Yolen Books, 1990. Print.




I got my picture at:   amethyst-dragon.jpg

Alabama Moon

Alabama Moon is a good book by Watt Key. It is about a ten year old boy named Moon. It starts out with Moon and his Father in the forest they live in illegally. To survive they live off the land and go into town just to buy and trade things with a small store. Things go as usual until Moon's father breaks his leg. His father fades fast and dies shortly after. After sadness, thought, and preparation, Moon decides to go to Alaska but he is interrupted by the owner of the forest, Mr. Wellington, who betrays him by calling the boys home. He runs away and but runs into constable Sanders. Sanders gets beat up by Moon, then after he barely wins he takes Moon to the boys home. Moon makes two new friends, Hal and Kit. The three boys escape the boys home and go to a national forest. Then Hal leaves to go with his father and Kit becomes very sick. Moon carries Kit all the way to a road, where a random car picks him up and brings him to a hospital. Next, Hal and his father find Moon and take him to their house. He stays there a while until the crazy constable Sanders finds Moon and makes him take himself to where Moon hid his gun. They run into Mr. Wellington again and he takes him in with him. Mr. Wellington turns out to be a really great lawyer who defends Moon on his trial for free. After the trial Mr. Wellington locates Moon's uncle who adopts him at the end of the book.

One theme in Alabama Moon is death, but life as well. First of all, two characters die in this book: Moon's father and his friend Kit. His mother had died before the book as well. Even though death happens in this book quite often, life is reoccurring as well. Moon's whole life was spent in the forest until his father died. After he ventured out it was like another life. He also experienced different types of life. He was put into jail and into a boys home. He experienced life in the woods, in Hal's house next to the water, and in an everyday household with his uncle and family. Death and life are reoccurring themes in Alabama Moon.

The main character in this book is Moon. Moon has lived in the forest for his whole life so of corse he is uncivilized and a little impolite. He knows how to read and write because of his father. His father also taught him how to shoot a riffle, "whip up" on somebody three times his size, live off the land, and how to escape out of almost anywhere. When Moon gets to civilization it seems he likes to brag about the things he knows how to do. Moon's rare condition he's in also gets lots of people to notice him. The press follows him if they know where he is. By the end of the book, Moon is a little more civilized but still makes a great main character.

Alabama Moon is good book. It's well written and it keeps you reading. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I would recommend it to other people, but I have to warn you that it is extremely boyish. If you are a boy you will most likely love this book. It has lots of surviving, guns, beating up, death, and fun. I'm sure you will enjoy Alabama Moon.

MLA Citations
Key, Watt. Alabama Moon. Harrisonburg, Virginia: Square Fish, Inc. 2006. Print.




I got my picture at:  http://www.alfrc.org/landcon.php

Scat

The book Scat is about a feared biology teacher and her students. The main characters are Nick and Marta who are students of the biology teacher, Ms. Starch. On a field trip to the Black Vine Swamp, a forest fire starts (which is common) and Ms. Starch goes missing. Nick and Marta start researching the disappearance of their teacher after their friend, Smoke, is suspected of starting the fire because of his previous records with starting fires. Their researching leads them to find Ms. Starch: with a panther! Soon Nick, Marta, Smoke, Ms. Starch, and a older guy name Twilly go on a mission to return the baby panther to his mother. They succeed in their mission and find the real culprit of the forest fire.

The theme of Scat appreciating nature. This theme reoccurs throughout the book. Ms. Starch loves nature and she is a biology teacher. Smoke started his previous fire to save a bird's nest from being disturbed. Nick, Marta, and the others go on a mission to return the baby panther to it's mother. The police are trying to protect the Black Vine Swamp (a national forest) and the endangered panthers inside it. Appreciating nature is a reoccuring theme in Scat.

There are many characters in Scat. The two main characters are Nick and Marta. Nick is a good natured boy who enjoys playing baseball. He is good friends with Marta, who is spunky but cautious. Ms. Starch is a character who has two sides. In school, she is fearsome and tough. Outside of school, Nick and Marta learn that the other side of Ms. Starch is kind and is devoted to the environment. In the beginning of the book, Smoke was viewed as a big tough kid that you wouldn't want to get in the way of. By the end of Scat, Smoke redeemed himself.

I thought Scat was a good, but  not great. I like Carl Hiaasen's (the author's) voice. I also liked the mystery of book. For instance, when Ms. Starch went missing. I liked the characters as well. The thing I didn't like as much was the plot. It was very predictable and a little rushed near the end. Despite the plot, I really liked the plot. I would recommend it.

MLA Citations-

Hiaasen, Carl. Scat. New York City: Random House, Inc. 2009. Print.



I got my picture at:   http://1stevenm.edu.glogster.com/scat/

Princess Academy

The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale is about a girl named Miri who lives in a territory called Mount Eskel. The prince of the country is turning eighteen the next year so he has to be married. The person who foretells where the future princess will come from, says the bride will come from Mount Eskel. The government sends a tutor to take all the girls in Mount Eskel, ages 12-17, to go to the princess academy a few miles away. Miri is one of these girls so she is whisked away to the academy for a year. Here they learn how to read, how to write, history, poise, and other things a princess must face. Miri makes a lot of new friends and even becomes princess of the academy (not the country, just the school). Then the prince comes and meets the girls. The next day he leaves without even choosing his bride and says he will choose in about another six months. When he returns he picks Miri's friend, Britta. Relieved with joy because she didn't want to be princess, Miri returns to her home in Mount Eskel and Britta happily becomes princess.

The theme of this book is love. The Mount Eskel girls are going to the academy to see which girl the prince will love. At the academy the girls tend to think about love quite a bit. Britta, who was not from Mount Eskel, already knew the price and moved to the territory because she already loved him. It turns out even the prince is in love with Britta. After the prince choose his bride, Miri falls in love with a guy named Peder. Miri also loves her family and after a great deal of miscommunication, she finds out they love her back. That is why the theme of this book is love.

The main character in the Princess Academy is Miri. Miri is small, caring, honest, and at the beginning kind of shy and self conscious. At the end she becomes confident, smart, and a leader. Another character is Britta. Britta is from the "lowlands" (which is what people on Mount Eskel call people who live in the rest of the country) and came to Mount Eskel to marry the prince. She is smart, pretty when she smiles, kind, and a good friend to Miri. Peder is the boy who loves Miri. He has blond hair and likes to carve things in stone. Peder is kind-hearted, brave, and is popular among the younger generation in Mount Eskel. 

The Princess Academy  is a great book and is worth reading. The story has a good plot and keeps you interested in it with quick exciting parts in the story and at the ends of the chapters. It is well written and I like the authors voice. You will also tend to like this book better if you are a girl. One inspiring quote from the Princess Academy that comes up repeatedly is "Truth is when your mind and your gut agree.” I hope you enjoy this book.




MLA Citations- 

Hale, Shannon. The Princess Academy. New York: Bloomsbury, 2005. Print.


I got my picture at:  http://bookhavenextraordinaire.blogspot.com/2012/03/princess-academy.html

City of Ember

 



The City of Ember is a book by Jeanne DuPrau. It starts out on assignment day, which is where twelve year olds are assigned jobs. Lina, the main character, gets pipe works which is the job she wanted the least. Doon, another main character gets messenger. Doon wanted pipe works as his job because he knew Ember (the underground city) was falling. He wanted to help, but unfortunately he couldn't find out how. When Lina finds an old torn up document chewed up by her siter, Doon and Lina team up to find the way out of Ember. When they finally uncode the document, they make a plan for all of Ember to get out. Unfortunately, their plan goes wrong and Lina, Doon, and Lina's little sister are the only ones who escape to find the Earth's surface.

The theme of this book is survival. Ember is falling, and it is a constant race for survival. The lights keep going out which reminds everyone that Ember could fall, and it would be very hard to survive. "The darkness seemed to fill not just the city around her but the inside of her head as well."(DuPrau 79) The food sources in Ember were low as well which caused the citizens to stock up their pantries for their survival. Lina and Doon are trying to find a way out of Ember for a better chance of survival. As you can see, survival is a reoccurring theme in this book.

There are two main characters in the City of Ember. Lina is the first character. She has dark hair, long legs, and wears her red messenger jacket around town proudly. She loves her little sister, Poppy, and she likes to run. She is nice and has a carefree attitude. Doon is the second main character. Doon is stubborn and he gets angry a lot, but he is also alert, resourcful, nice, and smart. Doon loves his father and likes to collect bugs. Those are the two main characters in this book.

I really enjoyed the City of Ember and I would reccomend it to other middle schoolers. The plot keeps you interested and has characters that are realistic. The adventure in this book is what kept me reading. You would like this book if you like action, mystery, adventure, and survival stories. Even if you don't really like those words listed above, you still will probally like this book. It's also pretty easy to read.


Citations-

DuPrau, Jeanne.  The City of Ember. New York: Random House Books, 2003. Print

I got my picture at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_of_Ember

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs.Basil E. Frankweiler

 

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg starts out with a girl named Claudia. Claudia decides to runaway with her brother, Jamie, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They leave quickly and decide that they will only runaway for a few weeks. They have a great time living in the art museum. Then one day Claudia sees a statue of an angel that holds a secret. The angel had a possibility of being made by Michael Angelo and the museum was trying to find proof. Claudia (being fascinated with the statue) tries to figure it out on her own. They look around for a while, but when it becomes clear an answer won't come up, they decide to go see Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler who sold the statue to the museum. When they got there Mrs. Frankweiler tells them that the answer is in her files and they can only know the answer if they can find it. They finally find it and learn that the angel was made by Michael Angelo. They agree to keep it a secret and they go back to there home later to decide they will visit Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler again soon.

The themes of this book are adventure and mystery. Claudia and Jamie leave home for adventure and they find that living in the museum is quite adventurous also. Quickly the mystery of the angel arises. Whether or not the statue was made by Michael Angelo was quite the mystery for Claudia. They try to solve it by researching in the library, looking around the museum (which was also pretty adventurous), and visiting Mrs. Frankweiler at the end of the book. At Mrs. Frankweiler's house, the mystery and adventure of digging around the files for the answer to the angel mystery happens to. That is why the  themes of this book are adventure and mystery.

The two main characters in this book are Claudia and Jamie. Claudia is smart, a little bossy, and likes the comforts of life. She likes hot fudge sundaes once a week, showers, warm beds, and clean clothes. When they stay at the museum for a few days, it becomes clear that this kind of active adventure is not her thing. At the end of the book it is revealed that Claudia's type of adventure is secrets. Secrets have mystery, excitement, and they make people wonder what you know which makes you have a higher status. The book says, "She didn't like discomfort; even picnics were untidy and inconvenient: all those insects and the sun melting the icing on the cupcakes. Therefore, she decided that her leaving home would not be just running from somewhere but would be running to somewhere."In conclusion, Claudia is very precise and neat. Jamie's character is a little opposite from his sister, Claudia. He doesn't mind being dirty or a little cold. He likes adventure. Jamie is also smart and has lots of money which are the two reasons why Claudia picked him for running away. He is the typical annoying little brother who argues with Claudia  for some time of the book. When the two characters learn how each other work, they start to get along better.

I would recommend this book to everyone, but some adults and teens might not like it as much. It is more a children's book but good enough to at least give it a try. I would consider it as a classic. The conflicting characters are interesting and sometimes funny. The plot is intriguing and the whole thing has this indescribable happy feeling. It's kind of like a happy glow. It's cute and fun to read. It's also easy to read. You will really like From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

MLA Citations-

Konigsburg, E.L. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs.Basil E. Frankweiler. New York: Atheneum, 1967. Print.

I got my picture at:  http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qwork=2477149

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