The Fellowship of the Ring

The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien. The Fellowship of the ring begins in the Shire, with Bilbo Baggins' eleventy-first(111) birthday. When he disappears from the shire, his nephew, Frodo, is left with his ring. After 13 years, Frodo becomes 50 years old, and finds out that the dark lord is after his mystical ring. He and his friends Sam, Merry, and Pippin journey to Rivendell, being pursued by evil black riders. Then they go off to an inn called the prancing pony, where they meet Strider. They leave and finally return to Rivendell, and Frodo is reunited with Bilbo. The elf Elrond forms the Fellowship of the ring: 9 people. One elf, one dwarf, two men, a wizard, and the four hobbits. From there they go through the perilous mine of Moria, where they lose the wizard. Later, the fellowship is broken as Frodo and Sam leave the group.

The main characters in this book were Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Boromir, Legolas, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. They were all important people in this story, because they were the nine that made up the fellowship of the ring. One of them will die, and one will be lost.

I thought that this book was super awesome. This book is the most unlike the movie for it than any other book I've ever read. A quote from this book is "black riders on black horses," which is referring to the black riders who chased the group . The first book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy had a little less than 400 pages, so it took a while to read. But, even though this was a long book, it was really fun. I am glad that I chose to read this book. I wonder if the next book is as good as this one. I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys reading fantasy adventure books like I do!

“Reading is one form of escape. Running for your life is another.” -Lemony Snicket. Series of Unfortunate Events caught my attention with it's suspense and surprises. Series of Unfortunate Events is about three orphans with a strong family fortune. Unfortunately The oldest child, Violet, doesn't get the fortune until she reaches the age of 18. The children get stuck living with one of their uncles that they have never met before. It doesn't take them long to realize that their uncle, Count Olaf, is not very nice, and is only trying to get a hold of their family fortune. He tried so many things including putting the children in danger, being able to get the fortune with being the first person on the Baudelaire parents will. The children report him many times to their care taker, Mr.Poe. After he realizes that the children are telling the truth he immediately changes their guardian. But that doesn't stop Count Olaf from getting what he wants. Throughout the thirteen books of this series The children change guardians because they have either been killed or hidden by Count Olaf.Their biggest goal is to get to live in a place Count Olaf can not get to them.

Lemony Snicket's taste in the style she wrote this book in was unbelievable. I loved how every child has something special about them. Violet loves to invent things, Klaus loves to read, and sunny, the toddler, loves biting everything in her sight. In the book The two oldest children, Violet and Klaus can understand the things that sunny says. It takes one word for her to speak and one second for them to understand the sentence that she is trying to say. That is one of the only things that annoys me. It's just not realistic. One of the things i love that the author does, is use very long distinguished words that most people can not understand. But she always comes up with a creative way to describe the meaning of the word. That seems like she cares about children being able to understand all the words being used. I think this book is a unique book. I have never seen one like it.

Calico Joe

 

Calico Joe

By Marcus Smith 

This book in my opinion is a great book. Every chapter has a new meaning or theme and I think if you are reading this blog you should check it out right now.  Just to verify, this book is based off true and actual events but Joe Castle is not real baseball player. I also think you will enjoy this book because their are baseball fans out their that want to read a good baseball book. 

 “After a leisurely slide into second, Joe bounced to his feet, looked at Marichal, shrugged, smiled, and spread his arms as if to say, "You throw at me, I'll make you pay.”
― John Grisham, Calico Joe

One of the ways I was connected to this book was by being a baseball player. Sometimes I get hit and I am mad on the inside but on the outside I would just shake it off. In the quote above in the last sentence it says if you throw at me I will make you pay. Sometimes I make the pitcher pay by bunting, or sliding to home without him even noticing. That is a connection that I had with the book.

Joe Castle is a baseball player for the scrappers of Calico Rock . He gets a call from the Chicago Cubs and they want him to play in a game for them that night. His first at bat he hits a home run. Pretty good for his first at bat as a rookie. The next at bat he hits another home run. The next couple games he breaks a record. Passing  up 13 for 13 which means he beat hitting thirteen consecutive hits in a row. He had 15. He is a young player with a lot of talent that is the newest baseball phenom of the seventies.

Paul Tracey, in his mind is the greatest fan of Joe Castle. Paul says that he is one of the biggest idols that he has ever had. His dad Warren Tracey, plays for the new york mets. You would think that his dad would be a great person/dad but it is the total opposite. He only thinks about himself and thinks he is the king of the world. 

One game in the Major League playoffs, the mets and the cubs were facing each other and Joe and warren were facing each other. Warren was pitcher, Joe was the batter. His first at bat he hits a home run, and the crowd goes wild. The next time Joe got up to bat it would be his last.    

  

I think this book is amazing. Most girls dont like baseball but if I think if the read this book they would really enjoy it.

 

Cloaked

 

By: Alex Flinn

 

"I'm not your average hero. I actually wasn't your average anything."

This book is exciting, suspenseful, and slightly romantic. Cloaked is about a teenage boy named Johnny Marco. He spends everyday after school and during the summer working at his family owned shoe repair shop in luxury hotel Coral Reef Grand in South Beach. His father left when he was two years old so he has to support himself and his mother. Johnny always wished his life was more exciting. His wish is granted when a partying princess from Aloria named Princess Victoria comes to his town and stays in the hotel.

 

The princess challenges Johnny to track down her brother who was turned into a frog in return he will be given ten thousand dollars and Victoria's hand in marriage. Johnny accepts the challenge and is given a magic cloak, a magic earpiece, and a lucky ring that his friend Meg gives him. The magic earpiece lets him talk to animals that use to be human and the cloak can transport him anywhere. He faces many magical and unbelievable problems along the way.

 

Johnny is a simple teenage boy who lives in California working at a shoe repair shop. His two friends work at the same hotel with different jobs, Meg works at the coffee shop while his other friend Ryan works at he pool. He always works to help pay the bills and will do almost anything for money, even go on a frog chase. We hear his point of view throughout the whole story, and how he deals with the problems.

 

I recommend this book for ages twelve and up, and anyone who loves a fantasy. It will make you laugh and smile many times, and have you on the edge of your seat. Alex Flinn brings funny and interesting characters to life, and takes you to different places in America and Europe. I loved this book, and I hope whoever chooses to reads this book will love it too.

The House Of The Scorpion

 

       This book is mind blowing. It was the best book I have read this year. I loved the way the author Nancy Farmer wrote the book. It is filled with Action, Adventure, Suspense, and a little bit of romance. I loved every single aspect of this book.

        Mat has known two things all of life stay hidden and stay put. Mat doesn't know why he has to follow these rules and all he wants to do is go out into the world. One day he sees a couple of kids playing and they saw him too. He had broken the first rule. They are trying to reach out to him but he cant hear them. He decides to break the second rule. He breaks the window and falls out and gets hurt. The kids take him back to their estate and take him to a doctor. When the doctor is operating on him he suddenly the doctor scream there are five words on his foot property of.... read the book to find out more.

       This is a good book for both genders and children between the ages 12-18. I love book. that have a boy and girl as the main characters but there is not to much romance. This is one of those books.

      Sometimes i felt that this book went a little too in depth at some points. Like when they were explaining the garden for the first time it took way to long. At some points in the book you just wanted to say. Get on with it already.

     My favorite quote of the book is when Tam Lin said "Mat you are different from all of the other clones" it was a really sweet part of the book coming from one of the rough and tough characters.

The Help

Kathryn Stockett's book, The Help completely absorbed me with its unique perspective of the Civil Rights era.

This book is about a white lady and two black maids in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi. In the book, white ladies barely even talk to those with darker skin, but they do hire black women as their maids. Lately though, some things have been changing. Miss Skeeter (middle in picture above) has bravely decided to interview the black maids about their jobs. Aibileen was the first black maid to be interviewed. Aibileen told Miss Skeeter many things she had never told anyone before. She talked about the little white girl she took care of, Mae Mobley, her working conditions, and other treasured information. Miss Skeeter has to keep all of this a secret or else her social life could be ruined, or worse she and all the maids could lose their jobs.

This is a story Aibileen told Mae Mobley in the book The Help.

"“Once upon a time they was two girls," I say. "one girl had black skin, one girl had white."
Mae Mobley look up at me. She listening.
"Little colored girl say to little white girl, 'How come your skin be so pale?' White girl say, 'I don't know. How come your skin be so black? What you think that mean?'
"But neither one a them little girls knew. So little white girl say, 'Well, let's see. You got hair, I got hair.'"I gives Mae Mobley a little tousle on her head.
"Little colored girl say 'I got a nose, you got a nose.'"I gives her little snout a tweak. She got to reach up and do the same to me.
"Little white girl say, 'I got toes, you got toes.' And I do the little thing with her toes, but she can't get to mine cause I got my white work shoes on.
"'So we's the same. Just a different color', say that little colored girl. The little white girl she agreed and they was friends. The End."
Baby Girl just look at me. Law, that was a sorry story if I ever heard one. Wasn't even no plot to it. But Mae Mobley, she smile and say, "Tell it again.”"

Kathryn's book shows insight, because she does not have one person narrating, but three. It is always in first person, but sometimes the story is coming from a black maid  or a rich white lady. I like that when the character switches, the voice switches too.

This book was very enjoyable, and I would definitely recommend it. If you enjoy historical fiction books, or books about the Civil Rights time period, then this is the book for you.

River Secrets

By: Shannon Hale

"Razo whispered a wish that Enna was not burning again."

 River Secrets is amazing!! I love the mystery/fantasy/action/romance. It has something in here for almost everyone. Razo must find and stop a group of people, fire-speakers, who are trying to restart the war between Tira and Bayern. They are trying to stage murders to make it look like his friend, Enna, is burning again.

Razo is chosen to be one of the ambassador's guards. The ambassador is going to the neighboring country of Tira. Upon their arrival, trouble begins. Many people hate Razo and his group because of the war. Someone is trying to restart the war and take over Bayern once and for all. Will Razo have what it takes to figure out the people behind this and be able to stop them?   

Razo is so funny! He can always be bribed with food to do just about anything. He has the special gift where people trust him. He is able to make friends of those in high and low places. His almost goofy nature when he is trying to be serious is priceless. 

I loved this book. I think that this book is great for anyone over the age of  11.  I love the mystery in it that makes you want to skip to the end because of the suspense. I loved the action. I loved the surprising romance. I loved the humor. I think that Shannon Hale is a very talented author.