Theme: Summer Tales
OK, we've definitely been slacking on this, and we have come to a final decision: we will only do Book of the Month in June, July, August, and September. Everything is so hectic during the school year. We also kind of missed June this year. Bear with us.
Hope's Pick: The Penderwicks
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. An amazing book, set in the Berkshires. Four sisters and their widowed father change their summer plans and visit the Berkshires instead of Cape Cod. They make new friends, and mischief is in the air. How much can they take? For a full review, check out the Jeanne Birdsall page. Don't worry, it won't hurt you.
Robin's Pick: Secondhand Charm
My book of the month is fantasy, and predictably, it combines magic, romance, and bad guys (or girls in this case). But Secondhand Charm isn't your average fantasy book. The heroine, Evie, is just your average olden-time girl, but she has a deep secret that even she has yet to uncover. Mix in a loyal but fearsome pet with unusual talents and a heart of gold, a powerful, man charming woman that is determined to teach Evie about her hidden secret/talent, and a boy Evie is interested in, you have a humorous and page turning story you just have to read!
Together Pick: One Crazy Summer
For July 2013, we have picked One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. This story is set in the year 1968. Delphine and her sisters Vonetta and Fern visit their mother for the first time since Fern was an infant. Their mother is cold and unfriendly towards them, and won't let them in her kitchen at all. Instead, she sends them to a day camp run by "Black Panthers", protestors against racism. The sisters soon find out that their own mother is a Black Panther who writes poems under the name Nzilla, instead of Cecile, her given name. This is truly one wacky summer for the girls; full of twists, turns, and new friends.
January 2013:
Theme: Teamwork!
Hope's Pick: The Nancy Drew Books
Yes, these books are from the 50's. Yes, they are good. OK, so here's the story:
Nancy Drew, daughter of lawyer Carson Drew, solves mysteries with her friends. All of them have their own storylines, but they all have Nancy and her various friends, in the first four her friend is Helen Corning, in the majority of them, her friends are cousins Bess and George (which is possibly short for Georgia or Georgette), and in the last few her friend is Junie. These friends are truly a great team. My favorites are:
The Clue of the Broken Locket
The Mystery of the 99 Steps
The Mystery of the Glowing Eye
Nancy Drew, daughter of lawyer Carson Drew, solves mysteries with her friends. All of them have their own storylines, but they all have Nancy and her various friends, in the first four her friend is Helen Corning, in the majority of them, her friends are cousins Bess and George (which is possibly short for Georgia or Georgette), and in the last few her friend is Junie. These friends are truly a great team. My favorites are:
The Clue of the Broken Locket
The Mystery of the 99 Steps
The Mystery of the Glowing Eye
Robin's Pick: The Mysterious Benedict Society
Super smart kids work together to defeat their teacher's evil twin. This series is very funny. I highly recommend. There is a page on this series, check it out!
Together Pick: The Secret Series
December 2012:
Theme: Happy, Cozy Books!
Hope's Pick: The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson
OK, so we all know that Harry Potter gets to Hogwarts by taking the train out of King's Cross Station. But not all of us know that King's Cross has a lot more going on.
Have you ever heard of a gump? No, it's not a stupid person, like a chump, or a kind of chewing gum. It's a hole that can transport you to magical places. And there is one at Platform 13 in King's Cross, which only opens for a few days every nine years. Through the gump is a magical Island, where the king and queen are good and kind and pretty ordinary, except they have more authority. The Island is home to many magical creatures, such as ogres, harpies, wizards, giants, feys, and mistmakers- pillow-shaped animals that look sort of like weasels that breathe out mist whenever they hear music. The king and queen's son has been trapped in London since he was a baby, since the last time the gump was open. The king and queen choose a rescue crew to bring the Prince home, Odge, the hag, Cor, the wizard, Gerkintrude the fey, and Hans the giant. However, this intrepid group finds complications along the way. Will they be able to find the Prince in time? Or will the mean, nasty harpies have a go instead? This is a wonderful story to cheer you up, or to read in front of the fire...
Have you ever heard of a gump? No, it's not a stupid person, like a chump, or a kind of chewing gum. It's a hole that can transport you to magical places. And there is one at Platform 13 in King's Cross, which only opens for a few days every nine years. Through the gump is a magical Island, where the king and queen are good and kind and pretty ordinary, except they have more authority. The Island is home to many magical creatures, such as ogres, harpies, wizards, giants, feys, and mistmakers- pillow-shaped animals that look sort of like weasels that breathe out mist whenever they hear music. The king and queen's son has been trapped in London since he was a baby, since the last time the gump was open. The king and queen choose a rescue crew to bring the Prince home, Odge, the hag, Cor, the wizard, Gerkintrude the fey, and Hans the giant. However, this intrepid group finds complications along the way. Will they be able to find the Prince in time? Or will the mean, nasty harpies have a go instead? This is a wonderful story to cheer you up, or to read in front of the fire...
Robin's Book of the Month:
My pick for December is the book Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass. Side thought: We really need to add a Wendy Mass page!!!! This book is about three different kids, with three really different personalities. There's Bree, who just wants to be a model. Bree's different from her family, who are all geniuses. She is the only one who knows and cares about makeup, fashion, and music. Bree soon finds out that her family is moving to a campground with practically no connection to anything she cares about. There's Ally, who doesn't have a clue about all of the things Bree knows about. She loves looking up at the sky and living on the peaceful campground. Ally doesn't even have a television, which shocks Bree. Everything is perfect- until her parents announce the family is leaving the campground, Ally's home. And finally, there's Jack. Jack is only happy in his dreams, when he can fly. He's going to a campground to get out of summer school. Read this book and find out how Bree, Ally, and Jack meet each other and make the most of all of their different situations. Every Soul a Star is full of humor, friendship, and amazing events.
Together Pick:???
We forgot a together pick for December :(
November 2012:
Theme: Be thankful that you aren't in these books!
Hope's Pick: The Pinballs by Betsy Byars
A bit old-fashioned but it does the trick. OK, so there are these three kids, not related at all. There's Thomas J, who, up until the real story starts, was being taken care of by twin old ladies, who each break a hip. Then there's Carlie, who was abused by her stepfather. Finally, there's Harvey, whose father ran over his legs with the car (while intoxicated), and now has two broken legs. They are put into the care of the Masons, who have adopted many foster children before. Carlie compares Harvey, Thomas J, and herself to pinballs, bouncing from family to family. What will happen to these three? Read, my dears, read!
Robin's November Book: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
My book of the month is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. This book is about a boy named Brian who is flying in a plane to visit his father. The plane goes down and Brian is left hurt, with no food, water, or supplies. How will he survive the cruel wilderness? Click here to see a school project I did on Hatchet.
Together Book: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
Do you know all that stuff you want to put on your Christmas list? What if you got all that stuff, and more, then your house burned down, and you and your orphaned siblings are sent off to live with some creepy relative you've never heard of? Then you know how Sunny, Klaus, and Violet Baudelaire felt. But the children have a fortune they've inherited from their parents. And that's where the evil relative, Count Olaf, comes in. Olaf forms a sneaky plan to claim the fortune for himself. He puts together an acting troupe of creepy people, and puts together a play called The Marvelous Marriage, with a real judge that can legally marry the two actors! Quite unfortunately for the Baudelaire children, those two actors are Count Olaf and Violet. In the play, Violet has to sign a marriage document that can actually marry them. What will happen to Baudelaire's fortune? This book is the first in The Series of Unfortunate Events.
October 2012:
Theme: SCARY!!!!!!
Hope's (BOO!)K
Hope's book: The Best Halloween Ever!
Everybody loves Halloween, right? So what would you do if Halloween was canceled? Well, that's what happens in Beth's hometown when the craziest kids ever, the Herdmans, go beserk and the principal, Mr. Crabtree, cancels Halloween! The compromise: Halloween at school. The rule: no Herdmans. But this seems to be more than what they bargained for...
Everybody loves Halloween, right? So what would you do if Halloween was canceled? Well, that's what happens in Beth's hometown when the craziest kids ever, the Herdmans, go beserk and the principal, Mr. Crabtree, cancels Halloween! The compromise: Halloween at school. The rule: no Herdmans. But this seems to be more than what they bargained for...
Robin's Book!
Robin's pick is... The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls. This creepy but amazing book takes place in a perfect town. In this perfect town live perfect people. And if you're not perfect enough, you disappear until you're perfect. And if you're not perfect by the time you can go back to the town, you never come back.
Victoria is an always perfect girl with always perfect hair, clothes, and grades- well, practically always-. One day, Victoria disappears. She is sent of to become perfect. Why? Victoria knows too much and notices when people disappear. What will Victoria do?
Victoria is an always perfect girl with always perfect hair, clothes, and grades- well, practically always-. One day, Victoria disappears. She is sent of to become perfect. Why? Victoria knows too much and notices when people disappear. What will Victoria do?
September 2012:
Theme: Back to School
Yes, just about everybody is going back to school (sigh...), but these books will make you want to embrace the school year!
Hope's Pick
For September, I chose Sideways Stories From Wayside School by Louis Sachar. It is sooo funny! The kids are crazy, the teacher's crazy (but nice!) and the yard teacher is based on the author, Louis Sachar. You will enjoy reading about this crazy stories from a school built sideways.
Robin's Pick
My two books of the month are When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead and How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor! These are great, great, great books you have to read!
_When You Reach Me is a very gripping book about time travel and friendship. Strange combination, I know, but it just makes the book so much better! The main character is an average girl named Miranda who lives in the city and is growing up in the seventies. In the beginning, Miranda has one best friend.. Sal (a boy). One day, Sal gets hurt randomly and everything gets changed up. Miranda finds new friends, meets strange people, gets a job, and discovers mysterious notes. Miranda doesn't know who or what is sending these notes. Miranda also learns things about time travel that will confuse her at first (it confused me the whole time!) I won't tell you any more. You need to read this AMAZING mystery!
Warning: This book is very sad and scary in some parts. Do not read before bed. I did, and I was so upset!
_How to Steal a Dog
This book is about a girl who is living in her car with her mom and little brother. She figures that if she steals a dog, her family will get enough money to live in a real house., so, she steals an adorable dog. Will her plan get her into a house? Or will it backfire and leave everyone upset?
_When You Reach Me is a very gripping book about time travel and friendship. Strange combination, I know, but it just makes the book so much better! The main character is an average girl named Miranda who lives in the city and is growing up in the seventies. In the beginning, Miranda has one best friend.. Sal (a boy). One day, Sal gets hurt randomly and everything gets changed up. Miranda finds new friends, meets strange people, gets a job, and discovers mysterious notes. Miranda doesn't know who or what is sending these notes. Miranda also learns things about time travel that will confuse her at first (it confused me the whole time!) I won't tell you any more. You need to read this AMAZING mystery!
Warning: This book is very sad and scary in some parts. Do not read before bed. I did, and I was so upset!
_How to Steal a Dog
This book is about a girl who is living in her car with her mom and little brother. She figures that if she steals a dog, her family will get enough money to live in a real house., so, she steals an adorable dog. Will her plan get her into a house? Or will it backfire and leave everyone upset?
Together Pick
The best teacher ever. The rowdiest students ever. You get to meet those fourth graders, there are twenty-one, I think! You will meet Calvin, who wants to go back to kindergarten, and Ashlee A., Ashleigh B., and Ashley Z. (who is a boy!). You'll meet Emberly, who has perfect attendance and plans to change that, Rose, who is always forgetting everything, Missy, who loses everything, and Stanford, who is the brain. Among other things :). To quote directly from the book, "My first job was as an assistant dog groomer aboard King Bernard's yacht, the SS Pooch, anchored off the Dalmatian coast. After receiving my degree in nanothermal economics from Dummer University, I led an expedition in search of the dodo bird. Later, I conducted the Timbuktu Philharmonic Orchestra, worked as a translator for Bigfoot, became the first man to ski down Mount Everest, collected mummified cats in Egypt, and discovered the lost city of Atlantis." He smiled. "Among other things.I was head tetherball coach at Matilda Jane's School for Prim and Proper Girls in Las Vegas, as well as the swimming instructor at Loch Ness Middle School. I also taught Swahili as a second language at Dooglehorn Elementary in Switzerland, hula dancing at Balderdash Academy for Boys in London, and organic geochemistry at Harvard." He smiled again. "Among other places."
See what I mean?
See what I mean?
August 2012:
Theme: Finding Yourself
Hope's Book of the Month: The Phantom Tollbooth.
Hope's Book of the Month: The Phantom Tollbooth.
The Phantom Tollbooth is a story about a boy named Milo who doesn't know what to do with himself. When he's in school, he wants to be home, and when he's home, he wants to be at school.He thinks knowledge is pointless, so he doesn't try his best. One day, when Milo comes home, he notices a tollbooth in his room. He drives his toy car (the little motorized ones that little kids are always driving in) through the tollbooth and ends up in a magical world where people play around with words. Milo meets Tock, a watchdog with a clock for a body that goes tick tick tick all day, The Humbug, a bug with attitude, King Azaz, ruler of all letters, Alec Bings, who sees through things, Chroma, who conducts all the colors, The Soundkeeper, who hoards all the sounds in The Valley of Sound, The Mathematician, Ruler of All Numbers, Canbee, who's as smart, stupid, tall, short, graceful, and clumsy (among others!) as can be, and the demons that try to stop them on their quest for the Princesses of Sweet Rhyme and Pure Reason. Read the book, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.
The Phantom Tollbooth is a story about a boy named Milo who doesn't know what to do with himself. When he's in school, he wants to be home, and when he's home, he wants to be at school.He thinks knowledge is pointless, so he doesn't try his best. One day, when Milo comes home, he notices a tollbooth in his room. He drives his toy car (the little motorized ones that little kids are always driving in) through the tollbooth and ends up in a magical world where people play around with words. Milo meets Tock, a watchdog with a clock for a body that goes tick tick tick all day, The Humbug, a bug with attitude, King Azaz, ruler of all letters, Alec Bings, who sees through things, Chroma, who conducts all the colors, The Soundkeeper, who hoards all the sounds in The Valley of Sound, The Mathematician, Ruler of All Numbers, Canbee, who's as smart, stupid, tall, short, graceful, and clumsy (among others!) as can be, and the demons that try to stop them on their quest for the Princesses of Sweet Rhyme and Pure Reason. Read the book, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.
Robin's Book of the Month:
Robin's book of the month is.... Finally by Wendy Mass. The main character in this book is Rory Swanson, a girl who can't wait to finally turn twelve. She has been keeping a red shoebox full of wishes, hopes, and things to do when she's twelve. These include getting a pet, going to a boy-girl party, getting a cell phone, and getting her ears pierced. She feels like her friends have been doing all of these things before her for years, and she can't wait to catch up to them. But do all of these things really matter? It will take new friends, a wise, old woman, more than a few mistakes, and some freaky coincidences to show Rory what she really wants.
We both chose Savvy by Ingrid Law.
In Savvy, Mibs Beaumont is excited because on her thirteenth birthday, she gets a special power, or Savvy. Unfortunately, her dad got in a car accident two days before her birthday. Now Mibs must celebrate her birthday with the town preacher's wife and kids. Mibs, her brothers Fish and Samson, and Will Junior and Bobbi, their new friends, have to go on an adventure on a pink bus to find her dad in the hospital! It's a really great book!
July 2012:
Theme: Bittersweet
Happy Fourth!
Hope's Book of the Month: Maggie's Wish by Marilyn D. Anderson. I discovered this book while I was on vacation in Canada. This was the only book in the house we rented that was age appropriate and not in French. It is about a girl named Maggie who lives on a farm and desperately wants a pony. Her dad tells her that he has a big surprise for her and later that day a truck arrives with... two huge horses bigger than her dad! Maggie is disappointed when she sees them, but learns to love Molly and Polly. The beginning of this book sounds like any other book about a girl that wants a pony. But this is much more than that. This story is bittersweet, and it always reminds me of that particular vacation.
Welcome, July!
This month, I Robin, have picked out Each Little Bird that sings as my book of the month. I love this book so much, and I have a story behind me reading it. It goes like this. This year, I participated in a reading program, you read so many minutes and you get entered in a raffle to pick out a book. One day, I won! I went to pick my book out and as I was looking at my choices, I thought, "Wow. There are NO good books here!" I was disappointed until my eye caught an interesting book cover. A girl and a dog and a shiny National Book Award Finalist sticker lured in my attention and caused me to snatch up the book before anyone else could even touch it. I read the back, intrigued. Soon after that, I went home, sat on the steps, and cracked it open. My attention was captured and I couldn't pull myself away! Why hadn't I heard of this book before? Right now, as I type away on my computer, I want to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to you! So crack it open, and immerse yourself in Comfort Snowberger's bittersweet world of loyal dogs, strange cousins, best friends, and adventure!
Warning: This book may be sad for some readers, especially dog lovers. Sorry for the spoiler alert! :(
Warning: This book may be sad for some readers, especially dog lovers. Sorry for the spoiler alert! :(
Both of us chose Out of my Mind by Sharon M. Draper.
Out of My Mind is about a girl named Melody with CP. CP stands for Cerebral Palsy, you can learn more about it by clicking here. Anyway, Cerebral Palsy makes it very difficult for people to get around. People with CP can't walk or talk. This is from the perspective of Melody. She has to deal with all sorts of stuff, like crazy, idiotic, doctors, inclusion programs, the best dog EVER, and a quiz championship. Want to find out more about Melody's world? Read the book!