The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

My friend at school was reading this book called The Lightning Thief. When he was about halfway through it I started to read it because he said it was so good. And he was right.

It's about a kid named Percy Jackson and it turns out that he's a half-blood, mixed between a mortal and a God. He has to go on a really cool quest because Zeus' lightning bolt got stolen and he's trying to get it back for him.

I couldn't stop reading this book it was so good! The characters were really cool. One of them was a satyr which was cool. I wish I could be more like Percy because he was smart and brave and he didn't quit, even when he was in the underworld.

I would recommend this book to anyone, any age! It was so awesome! It had 375 pages. There are three other books in the series.

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Reviewed by Regan
This book was awesome. A little girl named Sara got sent to school and her mom was dead and her dad died. Everybody thought she didn't have any money so they made her go into the attic. She became like a servant. Even when she was really sad she still pretended that she was a princess. Sometimes my mom tells me to act like a princess. That means to be nice and kind and caring and to not throw fits. I loved this book and now my mom is reading The Secret Garden to me.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

As Arthur escapes Earth with longtime friend Ford Prefect moments before the Earth's Destruction his life is turned upiside down in a series of misadventures. After being ejected into space by angry Vogons (who have the worst poetry in the Galaxy) the duo is accidentally rescued by Zaphod Beeblebrox on the stolen ship "Heart of Gold" and set out to find Mathagra, a planet that disapeared from space charts over 5 milllion years ago.

This is a great read for children of ages 10 through 15. It has has lots of laughs that make it an enjoyable and interesting book. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a funny and high quality book.

Dragon Keeper, Garden of the Purple Dragon, Dragon Moon by Carole Wilkinson

This is a really good series about a slave girl named Ping (meaning duckweed) that lives in China and is neglected by her master. Her master was keeping two dragons in a deep pit and Ping had to look after them. One day one of them suddenly died and Ping's life was changed. She went down to clean out the pit and while she was down there, she found the dragon stone. She could feel feelings coming out of it the dragon asked her to help him take it to the ocean because she believed him that if they drank from it, they would be healed. But the dragon is actually lying about that, so she traveled across China for nothing, but it was actually something. Danzi the dragon flew her over onto an island and while she was in the air, she dropped the stone. They flew down to the island to grab it, but it was cracked. Inside was a baby dragon. There were tons of adventures in these books. Out of the three books, I would say my favorite was the first, and second and third. I finished them all in a couple of days. Actually, I had to wait for the third one to get published and then for my library to get it before I could read it, but I was so excited when my mom brought it home for me! I exploded!

The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

My mom started reading this book to me a couple of years ago but never finished and so I finally decided to read it myself and holy crud it was good. It takes place back in ancient Egypt. The main character is Ranofer. He lives with his half brother Gebu who is big and MEAN. Ranofer was just a little goldsmith dude, but Gebu said that he had to be a stonesmith. But he finds out that Gebu is a tomb robber and follows him into a tomb so that he can find out what tomb it is. It was so exciting that I was just shivering. I couldn't put the book down. I stayed up until 11:34 a couple nights ago just reading it. It is one of my all time favorite books and I think everyone my age should read it.

The Ice Dragon by George R. R. Martin

This was a story about a little girl named Adara. There was a war between the king's army and the people's army and Adara was friends with the Ice Dragon. It came to her in the summer and started to fly away. Then Adara told it to turn back so she could get her dad. She went to her family's farm and saw that it was all burnt down because of the enemies dragons. Then the dragons had a fight. All three of the other dragons were killed by the freezing breath of the Ice Dragon. Then the Ice Dragon was killed by the burning breath of the real dragons. I didn't really like this book, but you might. It was really short.

Reviewed by Porter

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

This isn't really the "Tail" of Despereaux because he lost his tail. Despereaux was a little mouse with oversized ears. He was acting weird by the Princess Pea so he got sent to the dungeons with the rats. He met an old jailer named Gregory. While he was in the dungeon he found out that there was a plot to kill the princess because a dumb fat girl wanted to become the princess. It was up to Despereaux to spoil their evil scheme! Then Despereaux lived happily ever after, just like in the story that he had read. This was a really good book. My favorite character was Despereaux. I have a lot in common with Despereaux. We both have big ears. And Desperaux didn't give up, and neither do I. When I started reading it, I gave up because I usually don't like that kind of book, but I liked listening to it on a CD. I was glad I listened to it.

Reviewed by Porter

The Boggart By: Susan Cooper

Jessup and his sister Emily inherited Castle Keep up in Scotland. They journeyed up there to check it out. Emily took a large rolltop desk and several books about the castle as souvenirs. Their family spent several nights at the castle and then they decided to sell it. They went home and strange things started happening; the lights turned off and on, stereos and all electrical things went wonky. It was a Boggart: an invisible shape-shifter that loves mischief and icecream . They found out that they accidentally shipped him home away from his castle. They eventually found a way to get him home but it was at the risk of destroying thier computers and his entire being

This book was great for readers from 4th-7th grade students. I loved the great storyline and detail (of course I don't dislike any books).

Reviewed by: Hayden

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

There was a mole living close to a river with his friends. He did not care if he met danger. Then he met a water rat. The water rat's name was Ratty. Ratty and Mole went to Badger's house and slept there. Then Badger showed them a way to their home. Then they said, "Can you help us fix Toad?" because he wouldn't follow the laws. Badger came and said, "Now it's time for Toad. Let's go and help him." Then they went to Toad's house, but he was outside and his house was full of weasels. They went into a tunnel that led into a cupboard. Then they all jumped out and got the weasels away. Then two weasels came back and changed to be nice. My favorite animals in this book were weasels. It made me kind of sad because their king made them be bad and they didn't want to.

Reviewed by Landon

The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary

The Mouse (Ralph) climbed on the phone's cord to get on top of the bed. There he saw a red motorcycle. He was so happy he was going to ride it. The mouse hopped onto the motorcycle and tried to start it but he couldn't. Then he put his feet on the ground and rolled it around. Then the phone rang and he got so scared he went off the edge into the garbage can. Then the boy came. The mouse said, "Can you get me out of here?" That is how the mouse and the boy became friends. The boy got sick. The mouse got him what he needed, aspirin, because he and his family lived in a mouse hole and they needed him to bring them food for the winter after he leaves. Then the boy got all better, the mouses mom was so happy that she let her son go to the last floor because she trusted him. Then the boy gives the red motorcycle to the mouse. This book was the coolest book I've ever listened to!
Reviewed by Landon

Icefire by Chris D'Lacey

Lucy was taking after her mom because she built a wishing dragon out of clay. Wishing dragons could grant wishes, but not selfish wishes. Then David made a wish to find the fire tear of Gawain, who was a real dragon. A fire tear is a tear that dragons cry as they're dying. Then Gwillana came and was actually an evil witch who wanted to find the fire tear and become the ruler of the earth. David finds a tooth of a polar bear named Ragnar and holds it up to Gwillana's neck and tells her to never bother anybody again. Lucy's mom, Liz, made a clay egg which hatched into a real dragon, the last dragon on earth. This dragon didn't have a fire tear so it just turned to stone. And we'll have to wait to see what happens in the next book because it hasn't gotten published yet. I liked this book because the clay dragons came to life a lot more than in The Fire Within, and there was a lot more action and they didn't talk about squirrels so much. My favorite character was Gadzooks, David's special dragon. When David thought of him really hard, Gadzooks would appear in his mind and help him with his schoolwork. That was really cool. I think everybody on earth would like this book.

Reviewed by Porter

Rangers Apprentice: The Burning Bridge By: John Flanagan

Sorry I didn't post this book a couple days ago. We had computer problems--now to the awesome book. Will and his friend Horace and one of the other Rangers named Gilan set off to the land of Celtia to give a message to their King from the King of Aruluen. They get to Celtia and discover that Morgarath has kidnapped all the miners to build a giant bridge to cross the gap in the Earth called the Fissure to ambush the Aruluen army. They meet a girl named Evenlyn and she and Will help to foil the plans by destroying the bridge, hence the title. I loved this book because I'm totally into medieval warfare books. The entire book was packed with descriptions. It had a lot of good writing and detail.

Reviewed by Hayden

Rangers Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan, By John Flanagan

Will is a young kid at about the age of fifteen. He and the other orphans are chosen to do a craft such as scribeschool, battleschool, chef, politician, or battlehorse caretaker. Unfortunately Will is not accepted into any of them. The next day he finds out he is to become an Arulean Ranger. He must learn the skills of how to move unseen through any type of terrain, battle ferocious beasts, and learn to cook dinner without poisoning himself. I'll make a post on the next book tomorrow.

Reviewed by Hayden

The Fire Within by Chris D'Lacey

This is a book that has 340 pages and I read it in two days! In other words, I couldn't put it down! The main characters are David, Lucy, Liz, and Conker the squirrel. Liz made clay dragons that came to life when their eyes glowed violet. If you want any more information about this, you'd better read it. I'm not going to write anymore because I'm going to go read Icefire...the next Chris D'Lacey book! Bye!

Reviewed by Porter

My Dog, Cat by Marty Crisp

Reviewed by Porter
A boy named Abbie has three wishes. He wants a boy's name, he wants a big tough dog named Killer, and wants to be taller. He ends up getting his Uncle's small Yorkie named Cat! Cat turns out to be a cool dog. Even though he wanted a big, tough dog, he ends up loving Cat. Cat even helps protect Abbie from the bully. In the end his Uncle granted his wishes, even though he didn't look anything like a Fairy Godmother. First, he started calling Abbie, "Ab." And then he let Ab keep cat because he knew he loved him so much. And since he had Cat it made him feel more important and taller. This was one of the funniest books I've ever read.

Bob and Jack a boy and his Yak

Just finished reading Bob and Jack a boy and his Yak to Regan. She likes it until the Yak dies and oh yeah the boy Bob moves away and totally forgets his Yak, Jack. Cute pictures not so uplifting book. Definitely not the feel good book of the year. Kind of like a movie with sub-titles and coming out of Europe. Just a long, rhyming, sad journey of forgetting the thing you wanted most. It dies, and then you get another Yak and your daughter in the book is bound to follow Bob's path. Long live Jack!!!
Reviewed by Dixon the Dad