Maggie's Messages

War Horse

War Horse is a quick read written by Michael Morpurgo. It is about a horse that is auctioned off to a farmer as a foal. The farmer is a mean man that often gets drunk, but his son is almost the exact opposite. The farmer’s son raises the horse, naming him Joey and teaching him to be a workhorse on the farm. But as all of this goes on, a war is also taking place. Due to the need for money, Joey is sold to the army and sent overseas to be trained to fight in the war. Now he must survive the war if ever wishes to see his best friend again.

I thought this book was pretty good, and it was a very quick read for me – I read it in about two days.

Dragon's Keep

Dragon’s Keep, by Janet Lee Carey, is kind of a mysterious book. Rosalind Pendragon, the daughter of Queen Evaine, and therefore a princess, is a very pretty, caring, and sweet girl. But she holds a secret that only she and her mother know. The fourth finger of her left hand – her ring finger – is not a finger at all, but a dragon claw. She hides it by wearing golden gloves and although many wizards and healers have tried to cure her ‘mark’, nothing can be done about it. Princess Rosalind was meant to fulfill a prophecy to save her home and her kingdom, but how can she? Her answer becomes clearer when she is taken by a dragon – Lord Faul – and held prisoner at Dragon’s Keep, the home of the few dragons still alive in the whole world.

I liked this book, and it was a quick read for me. It kept my attention and I finished it in a few days.

This World We Live In

Did you ever think about what it would be like for the world to end? Or did you ever live through something, like a tornado or hurricane and think  it was the end of the world? Well, that’s kinda what the book This World We Live In, by Susan Beth Pfeffer is like.

Ever since a meteor hit the moon, knocking it closer to the Earth, life has changed greatly for Miranda. Her parents got a divorce, she hasn’t seen her dad in months and she doesn’t even know if he is still alive.  Life at home has gone through a horrible change too. Friends and neighbors are dead, there are no more schools, stores, or libraries, Miranda’s town is abandoned, and the only food source her family has is brought to them once a week from the town hall – and even that is lessening every week. Rainfall is rare and things have gotten so bad that Miranda, her mother, and her two brothers have started going through abandoned houses, hoping they can at least find a small ration of leftover food. Could life get any worse? Maybe. But it can also become at least a little better, as Miranda will soon discover.

I mostly liked this book and I liked how it was a pretty quick read. Trust me, it isn’t as gloomy as it sounds!~

I read Inkheart by the author Cornelia Funke for Reading Counts and I passed my test with flying colors! I completed 576 pages, and I would give this book a rating of 6-7 out of 10.

I finished Inkheart and it turned out better than I thought it would. It still wasn’t my favorite, but I didn’t hate it.

Inkheart

Inkheart is mysterious book, about a girl with a confusing life. Meggie lives with her father, whom she calls Mo, but doesn’t have a mother. She is twelve years old and has already moved a lot in her life, mostly because Mo is a book binder. Or at least she thinks that’s the reason why. One night, Meggie looks out her window and sees a strange man – almost ghost-like. That man is called Dustfinger and has come to see Meggie’s father. That is when Meggie discovers the true story of her life, why she moves around so much, and why her mother has disappeared.

I am not finished with this book, and I can’t say whether or not I like it so far. At first I didn’t really like it at all, but soon it grew on me a little bit. I still wouldn’t say that I love it, but it’s not horrible. If you like mysterious, fantasy books, this would probably be a good book for you.

Kingdom Keepers IV Power Play

This book, the fourth book in the Kingdom Keepers series, starts off with a mystery, but also ends with a mystery. The five Kingdom Keepers, as well as two other girls, are now famous in their town because of the help they have given Disney World. But not even the Kingdom Keepers’ parents know the full story behind their son’s and daughter’s sudden fame.

In the previous book, (SPOILERS) the Kingdom Keepers managed to capture Maleficent and Chernabog – two of Disney’s most evil villains – and put them in jail. But now the other “Overtakers”, as all the Disney villains are called, are trying to set Maleficent and Chernabog free.

I really enjoyed reading this book because it hooked me and was very interesting. I would recommend this book to someone who likes adventure and is also a fan of Disney World.

Sphinx’s Princess is a fiction book by Esther Friesner, with the theme of Fight for what you believe in!

Nefertiti, the main character is a beautiful young girl, living in the town of Akhmin, in Egypt. The story begins with Nefertiti as a young toddler, a dutiful child, whose only main interests are music and dance. However, an encounter with a scribe – one from the Great Royal Wife – opens Nefertiti’s curious mind and she soon persuades the scribe to teach her to read and write. As Nefertiti grows older, she becomes more and more beautiful and receives more than one request for marriage. She learns that the Great Royal Wife – Queen Tiye – is also her aunt. The queen summons Nefertiti’s family to come visit her and brings Nefertiti back with her to Thebes, where she is forced to do things she doesn’t want to. Nefertiti must stand up for what she believes in.

• Think about the person reading your review. Is this a librarian buying books for a collection? A parent who wants a good read-aloud? Is the review for readers looking for information about a particular topic, or for readers searching for a good read?

  This is a very good book that I think a lot of middle school girls would like. I think it is more of a book for teenagers though, not adults. This would be a great book for anyone who is searching for a good book that has to do with ancient Egypt, but also is an interesting and exciting read.

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the book?

  I think this is a book that connects the reader, because it always had my attention and made me feel like I was really there. I didn’t really like the ending as much though, because I thought it was a little rushed. But other than that, this was one of my favorite books!

• What is your overall response to the book? Did you find it interesting, moving, dull?

  I really liked this book! I at first thought that it would merely just be another good book, but as I read on, I discovered that I really liked it and could not put it down! The writing hooked me into the book and I really enjoyed reading it.

I would recommend this book, because it is a story that always has the reader’s attention, it is full of exciting plots and interesting twists and turns, and it has special and unique characters.

Bluestar’s Prophecy is a fiction book, by Erin Hunter.

Ever since Bluestar was a kit, she’s had dreams of being a leader. This book takes one through her life, from her life as a kit, to the life she’s dreamed of. Bluestar experiences many tragedies during her life, but must keep moving forward if she wants to live her dream one day. She experiences many hard decisions that affect her life deeply, and through it all, she knows she has to protect her Clan from another cat, one who if he became leader, he would surely destroy the Clan. Can she make the right decisions?

• What do you like or dislike about the book’s writing style?

I like the book’s writing style, but after a while, it can become boring. There might be a high point, a very interesting point, but it is pretty much all lost because it is mostly just the same things happening over and over.

• If this is the best book you have ever read, say so — and why. If it’s merely another nice book, say so.

I mostly liked this book, but it’s not one of the best books I have ever read. It wasn’t a horrible read, but saying “I could never put it down!” wouldn’t be true for me.

• What is your overall response to the book? Did you find it interesting, moving, dull?

I would describe this book sort of as “in the middle.” It was moving in some parts, but in others, it grew dull and was boring to read. Mainly the same things were happening, and it started to become less and less interesting.

I don’t think I would recommend this book, because it is hard to get in to, it is a boring read, and although it had some interesting parts, the same things kept happening. There wasn’t really a theme to it, besides maybe going back and learning history behind the other books in the Warriors series.

I added another 326 pages to my Personal Reading Challenge! This time, I read Fang A Maximum Ride Novel. This novel is part of a series by James Patterson. It is a fiction novel, and I would say that a theme for this book could be “Family is what matters most!”

In this Maximum Ride book, Max and her flock start out in Africa, helping people who needed it. Before they were going to leave, Angel tells Max something that truly creeps her out. “Fang will be the first to die.” Max can’t let one of her flock members – her best friend! – die! After leaving Africa, Max settles down with the flock in a nice new home in the west. Of course, however, they are interrupted, but this time, it is by someone unexpected. Max discovers that the evil scientists that created her have created another human avian hybrid – and designed him to be her perfect other half, her new best friend. She can’t let this happen, but what will she do?

• If this is the best book you have ever read, say so — and why. If it’s merely another nice book, say so.

  I don’t think this book was the best book I have ever read, but I don’t think it was just a nice book, either. I really liked this book, because it always kept my attention and I could never put it down!

• Is the writing effective, powerful, difficult, beautiful?

  I think James Patterson’s writing is very effective in getting readers interested. I know for a fact that I couldn’t put the book down while I was reading it, and I know that a lot of my friends felt, or are feeling the same way.

• What is your overall response to the book? Did you find it interesting, moving, dull?

  I found this book mostly moving, because it had a lot of emotion in it. I almost felt like I was actually there in some parts of the book. I think James Patterson does a very good job using emotion and feeling in his writings.

I would most absolutely recommend this book, because it keeps readers interested, it’s a good book for people who like books filled with action, and it is a quick, but interesting read!