Enter your review by adding a comment to this post. Deadline for reviews is Friday, March 2nd. The first 30 Middle School reviewers will be invited to a Blind Date lunch party in the library. Upper School reviewers will be entered into a raffle for dinner and a movie. Enjoy your date!
To celebrate Valentine's Day, the library is playing matchmaker! On Valentine's Day, stop by the library and select your 'date' from the specially wrapped books on display. Check it out, unwrap it, and hope that it is love at first sight!
Enter your review by adding a comment to this post. Deadline for reviews is Friday, March 2nd. The first 30 Middle School reviewers will be invited to a Blind Date lunch party in the library. Upper School reviewers will be entered into a raffle for dinner and a movie. Enjoy your date!
20 Comments
Lily Aspen
2/18/2018 07:39:11 am
My book was called The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency; The Case of the Missing Moonstone by Jordan Stratford, illustrated by Kelly Murphy. It was about two girls-Lady Ada and Mary-who started a detective agency. Lady Ada is a genius who's "secret" hideout is a hot air balloon tided to the roof of her house. Mary is a regular girl who comes to Ada's house every day to learn with her from Ada's tutor Percy, or "Peebs", as Ada calls him. People write to the two girls every day, asking them to solve detective cases for them. They say no to all of them except one from Miss Jessica Verdigris. Her acorn-or inherited necklace- was stolen. Miss Verdigris says that her maid Rose Sparrow confessed she stole it, but Jessica believes that Rosie wouldn't do such a thing, so the Wollstonecraft girls visit the prison to talk to Rosie. Rosie says she saw Jessica's fiance Mr. Datchery steal it, but really, Mr. Abernathy-the "very rich" guy, the fishmonger, and Lady Verdigris's right-hand man, mesmerized Mr. Datchery to steal it. Lady Ada and Mary soon catch Mr. Abernathy and Jessica Verdigris receives her stolen acorn, the moonstone necklace.
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Riya Sikand
2/25/2018 03:57:16 pm
My book was called Half Brothers by Kenneth Oppel. It was about a chimpanzee named Zan who came to live with a family in Canada. Ben is the main character. His father, who is a behavioral psychologist, is studying whether other animals besides humans can learn to communicate through a language. Ben's family along with some students who are studying with Ben's father teach Zan American Sign Language. At first Ben just thinks of Zan as part of his father's experiment and not part of his family. Ben starts to take care of Zan and he enjoys his company now. Ben starts to care for Zan the way he would for his family. Ben realizes that his father never cared about Zan but only saw him as a specimen for his experiment. Zan's father only sees Zan as a way to find the answer to his research. When Zan couldn't successfully learn sign language, they had to give Zan away. Zan was sent to a primate institute in Nevada. When, Ben and his mother realize that the primate institute is going to sell Zan to a lab, they plan to steal him. When they almost get caught, Ben and his family start fundraising to buy Zan back. When that doesn't work, they give Zan to a safe sanctuary.
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Ava Kokes
2/25/2018 05:21:02 pm
My book was called The Magician's Elephant by Kate Dicamillo and illustrated by Yoko Tanaka. The book is about Peter Augustus Duchene, who was told his parents and sister are dead. He goes to a fortune teller and asks if his sister, Adele, is dead. He finds out that she isn't dead and that the elephant will lead him to her. The elephant is in custody for falling from a roof and crushing a women's legs. The Magician is in custody too. Peter sets his goal to find the magician and the elephant to find Adele. Adele is somewhere far and lives with Sister Marie. She has dreams of the elephant and believes someone will come for her. Marie doesn't believe her and thinks no one would come for her. That's the main plot of the book. You'll have to read it to figure out the rest. I thought the book was great. There was even some pictures and it had a decent amount of pages. I liked the characters and the story. Overall, it was an amazing book.
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Karen Lu
2/26/2018 07:42:59 pm
The Martian by Andy Weir is truly a science-fiction novel formatted with log entries as chapters. Each entry is filled with incredibly detailed scientific language while also not losing the smoothly flowing plot. Interestingly, the main goal of the character, Mark Watney, wasn’t to be rescued from the space accident, rather, it was to simply survive. Mark, an astronaut, was hit by a sudden storm on Mars, causing the rest of his crew to mistakenly think that he had died amidst the terrible weather. The next time he opened his eyes, he found himself to be completely and utterly alone on the planet. Faced with the century-old question, “what would you do if you were the last person left on this planet?”, Mark pursues on a gripping exploit of using purely the potential of his own brain to create his own conditions for his survival. In The Martian, the readers follow Mark through his battle for survival, tracing though his every train of thought. Mark makes incredibly proficient use of his education and training to solve all the challenges in the sinister environment of space. He optimistically and sarcastically laughs at the notion of life and death in space while spending time with his potatoes he had impressively gardened himself. The brilliant and humorous one-man show is worthy of appreciation in this sci-fi novel. However, if there were just a little more characterizations for the supporting roles, this novel would feel more wholesome and complete overall.
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Alan Li
2/27/2018 03:35:17 pm
The inventions of wings is coming-of-age novel about the abolition of slavery in the United States. Handful and Sarah are friends growing up together in the same house. Regardless Sarah's protest, her parents give Handful to Sarah as her slave. Mauma, Handful's mother, is the most recognized and respected slave in the family. She is character willing to challenge the convention of slavery. She talked to Sarah and make Sarah promise to help Handful get out of slavery. The fallen of Sarah's family and the enduring friendship between Sarah and Handful is heartbreaking. After Sarah breaks up with Williams, Handful is the one supporting her through. Sarah made the sacrifice to be in prison for freeing Hangful, and this brings their friendship to another level. This novel is compelling in the plot and the story behind. Reminding us of what has happened before slavery was abolished and what it takes to challenge the convention.
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William Peters
2/28/2018 04:28:41 pm
My book was Theodore Boone: The Abduction by John Grisham. This mystery book is about an eighth-grader, Theo Boone, who is brilliant, resourceful, and has a decent amount of knowledge in the law and April, his best friend. Theo's mother, Marcella Boone, has an active experience in handling divorces and family matters. Theo's father, Woods Boone, specializes in real estate. April's home life is an deranged mess. Her artistic and peculiar mother has a drug problem, and her unemployed father is frequently on the road with his failing band. April's older siblings have moved out, so she is left to fend for herself. When not in school or hanging out with his friends, Theo spends his unoccupied time in his parents' law office, where he is an expert with computers and enjoys doing legal research. Theo's experience in law and his investigative skills come in handy after his best friend April disappears from her house one night. After Theo discovers that his best friend April has been "abducted", he is determined to do something as April's best friend and most stable person in her life. With the help of some friends, Theo sets off on a Journey to find and bring April to safety. This book was very well written and was very descriptive. If you are looking for a thriller mystery book than I would highly suggest this Theodore Boone: The Abduction.
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Luke Buda
3/1/2018 11:36:43 am
My book was I Survived the Titanic. I liked the book. I thought it was very interesting. There were parts in it when I thought George would die. I would highly recommend this book.
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Trey Junkin
3/1/2018 04:58:01 pm
My book was speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson. Speak explains the struggles of an insecure teenager going through high school. Melinda the main character, had a strong voice that she is scared to use. She feels unimportant and useless. She has no friends and no one to talk to. Her life was not always that awful. She had a best friend, Rachel, until she called the cops at a party. I enjoyed the book because it shows the struggles of high school and just life in general.
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Parsvi Shah
3/1/2018 06:18:45 pm
My book was called Mockingbird. The story was about a young girl with Asperger's syndrome going through a lot in life. Her brother died in a school shooting and her mother died of cancer. She got through everything by finding closure. Closure was a big part in the book.The main character made friends and was happy in the end. Mocking bird explained the life of families who have had a death in their family because of shootings. The book was sad but it got better in the end. Overall, I enjoyed this book.
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Connie Hall
3/2/2018 05:08:25 am
My book was The Invention of Wings, written by Sue Monk Kidd. Residing in South Carolina, Handful is a slave who works at the Grimké family and serves as Sarah’s maid. Unlike her parents, Sarah, a compassionate young lady, treats Handful as a friend and teaches her reading and writing skills. After Sarah falls into a relationship with Burke and realizes his betrayal, she devotes the rest of her life to the abolition movement and becomes a Quaker minister, fighting against the injustice. In addition, Handful becomes the head seamstress and joins the African Church, while Sarah is away from home. Although she is punished for attending the revolutionary church, Handful constantly plans to rebel. Eventually, Sarah successfully assists Handful and her sister, Sky, to escape from the Grimké family and travel to the North. I found this book to be interesting, and I would highly recommend it.
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Sophia Lennon
3/2/2018 06:54:29 am
My book was Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a book, by Jennifer Donnelly. It was filled with action and adventures of all kinds. Belle gets sucked into one of the many books in the Beast's library, called Nevermore. She tries and tries to find a way out, but the portal from Nevermore to her world is blocked. Then, the "countess" that seemingly helped Belle was really her enemy. This countess, Death and her sister, Love play a never-ending game that involves playing with Belle's life, but in the end, Belle escapes from the book with the help of some friends she made along the way. The detail and heartwarming story-line made it a truly enjoyable book to read. For anyone who loves adventure, danger, and a little bit of humor, you would adore this book. I highly recommend this book to people of all ages.
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Shaya Kazmi
3/2/2018 06:55:53 am
My book was was called The Great Unexpected. In fact it was very unexpected. With the suspension there was also some boring aspects, but never the less I enjoyed the novel as it was mysterious and always made you or the reader to keep reading. When I first started the book I thought I'd never finish because I did not enjoy it much, but as I kept reading the book pulled me more and more into it. First this young boy falls out of a tree and he looked dead, a little girl probably about 11 or 12 finds him, she calls out to her friend. Before they know it he is awake and obviously not dead. The three begin to form a friendship. The Great Unexpected is about their adventures in being friends together. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery book
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Maddie Carpenter
3/2/2018 07:26:52 am
My book was "The Mark of the Thief" by Jennifer A. Nielsen. "The Mark of the Thief" is an action and adventure book that follows an Nic, an escaped slave in Ancient Rome. When he finds the bulla of Julius Caesar in a mysterious cave, he finds himself with a newfound magic. He is then chased throughout Rome by the evil general Radulf and senator Horatio, who are plotting to take over and destroy the Roman Empire. It then becomes his duty to defeat them, and save Rome. I did not particularly like this book. I enjoyed learning about Rome, and it was an interesting concept, but after a while the book slowed down and got boring. It didn't do a good job at keeping me on the edge of my seat. The character development of Aurelia was one of the best parts. Before she meets Nic, she is dangerous and selfish. She was given up by her parents and is determined to find them again. When she meets Nic, she becomes less uptight and starts to care for him. Even if I did not like the book, I would still recommend it to a friend. It had a great ending, and maybe if the friend was interested, they could continue reading the series. I am glad I got to read and review "The Mark of the Thief."
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Arshay Patel
3/2/2018 08:56:38 am
The book War horse was very interesting. I like how it takes place in a war like settings. I like how joey has a lot perseverance. I like how No one ever gave up. In all I really enjoyed the book.
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Kevin Mortenson
3/2/2018 08:58:30 am
The book I read was called "Laugh out Loud" by James Patterson. It follows a boy named Jimmy who is in pursuit of starting a book writing company. All of the adults believe that he shouldn't follow his dream, but he has big plans and the support of every kid in school. While I did not enjoy the entire book, I would recommend it to people who like a good laugh.
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Rosepreet Virdi
3/2/2018 09:03:11 am
My book was Maniac Magee written by Jerry Spinelli. It is about an orphan who is a super fast runner. He runs all around town meeting different people along the way and staying at different homes or places for a couple of months. He runs into trouble on the east end of town but he keeps on running and whenever he finds someone he can stay with, he'll stay there for some months and then run off. This book is very intriguing because you want to know where he will go and what he will do next. I recommend this book to anyone who likes adventurous books. I would definitely read this book again.
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Kelsey Stout
3/4/2018 02:45:38 pm
My book was called The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did considering it was a mystery novel. Flavia de Luce lived in a small English village and spent a lot of time in a laboratory. One day her housekeeper found a dead jack snipe, a type of bird, with a stamp on the beak which explains the picture on the cover of the book. While Flavia was on a walk she discovered a dead man in a cucumber patch. Through research and ruffling through the dead mans suitcase she found the other stamp that matched the one put on the bird. This story is a tale of a young girl trying to find evidence on who could have been the killer of the man while also trying to keep her father's name out of the mess and survive an abduction. All in all I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.
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Katie Peardon
3/4/2018 09:00:51 pm
The book that I selected was "The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford. This novel is narrated by Henry Lee, a Chinese-American, in 1986 looking back on his childhood in the 1940s. Henry's story takes place in Seattle, Washington the home to the Panama Hotel which is the historical sight that inspired the title of this novel. The hotel still contains long lost belongings of the Japanese-Americans who were forced out of their homes into internment camps. Upon the discovery of these items Henry begins to have flash backs to his childhood and sweet memories with a Japanese girl, Keiko, with whom he grew up. Keiko wasn't a significant part of Henry's life just because she was his only Japanese friend, but because she was his first love and later, he realizes, his only true love.This novel was based off of true stories that took place not long ago, showing that the struggles faced by Americans of immigrant families are significant, current, and most importantly worthy of becoming common knowledge.This historical novel extended beyond its genre and can teach young readers about important events in American history while provoking an unexpected and new sympathy for characters.This sympathy can be fostered while the main characters Henry Lee and Keiko Okabe face many challenges, from bullying in school to harsh cultural discrimination. While shining a light on hardships faced by the Japanese from a historical perspective, it provides a personal aspect that is simultaneously heartwarming and heart breaking. Although the topics touched upon in this story are tragic and can be considered intense, this novel is incredibly insightful while overflowing with bittersweet memories of young love and empathy.
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Alya
3/5/2018 07:07:31 am
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel “The Devil Wears Prada” by Lauren Weisberger. Andrea Sachs is the narrator of the novel. She is a small town girl who has just graduated from Brown University, and is able to land a job in New York City for Runway magazine that “a million girls would die for.” Most college graduates expect to have to start at the bottom and work their way up. This is not the case for Andrea Sachs. She is hired as the assistant for the well renowned and successful Amanda Priestly. Sach is a passionate and aspiring writer. She strongly desires to be a writer the New York Times. Although Andrea knows nothing about the fashion world, she decides to put up with her demanding, rude, and high profile boss as she is told that working only one year will be a shortcut into landing her dream job of being a writer. Andrea’s new job requires her to change habits. She has to be on high alert all the time as she he receive call from Miranda at any time, including three am. Andrea is told her attire isn’t appropriate as she makes look the part if she wishes to continue at Runway. She barely gets enough sleep and meals. Shedid not picture herself having to pick up her boss's dry cleaning, fetch lattes, and purchase the newest Harry Potter book before it is available in stores, and interview potential nannies for her children. The reader is able to identify with Andrea as she narrates her work experience in a humorous and sarcastic tone. She is asked last minute to fly with Miranda to Paris for an important fashion show when her the senior assistant, Emily, falls ill. Although Andrea’s boyfriend Alex had thoroughly planned a weekend with Andrea, she rationalizes that she will ditch Alex again because her job is constantly at stake. While in Paris, Andrea is asked to give an impromptu speech for Miranda who is being honored at an event. Andrea decides to go home when she receives a call from her parents that her best friend, Lily has just had a car accident, and is in the hospital with a coma. Andrea is aware that she will lose her job if she leaves, but for the first time since starting at Runway, she decides to put friends and family before her job. Once she returns home, she is able to see her family and her sister’s newborn. Andrea’s numerous mishaps and running thoughts will definitely elicit laughter from readers, and it even contains some morals.
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8/26/2021 10:34:50 am
The future of fashion retailing is working competitively to bring what loyal customers want in stores. Not all fashion companies grow a company in the United States, but rather in different countries, such as Japan, Spain, and Sweden. From the Forbes magazine, writer Greg Petro discusses how three fashion companies, Uniqlo, Zara, and H&M, have expanded globally outside of their home country into the United States. Petro wrote an article back in 2012 about these three well-known fashion companies.
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