Book Review

Jackie & Me

By Dan Gutman






This book is awesome! It's about a boy named Joe Stoshack, who has the power to travel to the past by using a baseball card. This time he is going to 1937 to meet Jackie, the African-American ball player. He found out how bad it was for African-Americans to live and all the exciting stuff. Anyone who like baseball or adventures should read this book! (I like both, so maybe that's why I like it so much...) By the way, I like all Dan Gutman's books, if you like this one, I bet you'll like the rest.

Review by Jimmy, grade 6

Question of the Week

Are you looking for a way to check off one of the boxes on your Cheap Thrills Challenge sheet? One way to do that is to post a response to the question below:

Do you like to go back and re-read books you've really liked? If so, what's a book you've read many times over?

Book Review

Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone by J. K. Rowling

This book is the first of seven Harry Potter books. They are about an eleven year old boy who learns on his birthday that he is a wizard by a giant man smashing his front door! His parents are dead, and he lives with his horrible aunt and uncle, and their son Dudley. In the first book, Harry finds out he is a wizard and goes off to "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." There he makes friends, learns how to play quidditch, and trys to stop the evil wizard that killed his parents, from getting the sorcerers stone! This is a great book for everyone 8 and up! Five Stars.

Review by Hannah, 6th grade.

Question of the Week

Are you looking for a way to check off one of the boxes on your Cheap Thrills Challenge sheet? One way to do that is to post a response to the question below:

What's your favorite movie that was made from a book? Did you like the book or the movie better?

Summer Reading Program and Question of the Week

Summer's here, and this coming Monday (June 8!) is the start of Cheap Thrills, our annual summer reading program for teens! Stop by any of our libraries, we'll sign you up, and you'll be on your way to earning great prizes as you read! All the details are in our summer brochure, now available at every J-MRL library.

When you sign up, you'll be given a reading log to keep track of everything you read, and if you turn over to the back, you'll see activities you can do to be entered into weekly prize drawings. Complete any five of them, and you'll be entered in the drawings.

One way to complete an activity is to write a review of a book, CD, or movie...or you can rate it on a scale of one to five, with five being the best. Write one and turn it in at the library, or you can e-mail it to us -- check the "Welcome" section in the upper right corner of this page for details. Either way, we'll post your review here on the blog!

You can also add a comment to what's been posted here. To help you with that, we'll post a question each week for you. Here's the first one now:

What's the best book you've read in the past year?

Book Review

Teen Idol

By Meg Cabot






Teen Idol, a novel by Meg Cabot, is about a high school junior named Jen Greenley. She is nicknamed "Mayonnaise," by her best friend, Trina, because she always smoothes things out. She gives advice to people having interpersonal problems in her "Ask Annie" column of the school newspaper. So when Luke Striker, a famed movie star, comes to Jen's school to research a role, Jen is chosen to be his student guide and promised that she'd keep his true identity a secret. The kids at her high school find out who he really is, and the small town is thrust into chaos. Then, Luke lectures Jen about creating social change. Besides running away from eager reporters, trying to figure out what's wrong with her best friend, puting up with a grumpy choir teacher, having a crush on her friend, Scott, and trying to find a Latin's teacher priced doll, Jen acts and successfully changes the social environent at her high school.

I have absolutely nothing to say bad about this book. The protagonist is someone I could look up to. She is funny, witty, compassionate, determined, courageous, and smart. It deals with a lot of experiences in high school. It's one of the best books ever written! Read it!

- Reviewed by Shuhui, grade 8

Book Review

Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Life as We Knew It is a science fiction novel by Susan Beth Pfeffer. In the story, the moon is knocked out of orbit by a meteor and causes massive weather change. Life as Miranda, the main character, knew it, has vanished. Her family no longer has electricity, enough gas for transportation, enough food, the chance to go shopping, and the opportunity to go to school. (Who knew she'd want to go to school so much?) Her relatives and friends move away. her family struggles to live through many hardships, and they learn the value of family and life.

I admired what Miranda did for her family. She'd skip a meal without complaining while watching her brother eat. She'd pedal miles on her bike to fetch a doctor from the hospital so her mom would have help for her sprained ankle. I also admired her wisdom. When her friend Megan wanted to starve to death in order to be with God, Miranda said, "This life, this everyday existence, is one gift we're given. To throw it away, to want to be dead, to me that's the sin." And when she discovered a rumor that wasn't true and wondered how much of the news she heard was true, she wrote "Better to delude myself that things are okay than to delude myself things are doomed. At least this way I smile."

But sometimes I felt like the book gets too depressing. Occasionally, I feel the book is giong to get worse and somebody's going to die. I am the sort of person who puts down depressing novels. One entry is just, "No Horton [the family cat]. No word from Jonny [her brother's away at camp]. mom and I didn't talk. Matt [her other brother] isn't talking much either." Miranda had a choice. She could've talked to her mom first. She could've lightened up the day.

I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Reviewed by Shuhui, Grade 8

Book Review

All-American Girl, by Meg Cabot

During the first few weeks of summer I read a book called All-American Girl. This book is about a girl named Sam. Sam thinks that her life is normal and nothing special. But then she saves the president from being assassinated! There were many interesting events leading up to this and several events that follow. I recommend this book to girls ages 13-16. It really kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next.

Reviewed by Megan A., 9th grade

Question of the Week

Are you looking for a way to check off one of the boxes on your Cheap Thrills Challenge sheet? One way to do that is to post a response to the question below:

What's the last book you finished? Did you like it?