A new student review of Standing (The Waterblaze Trilogy) (Volume 1) by China Dennington

hannmarr23705 posted a new student review of Standing (The Waterblaze Trilogy) (Volume 1) by China Dennington. See the full review.

Standing might be a good book for someone aged 9-11 who likes dystopian themes. Personally, I didn’t enjoy this book and wouldn’t read the next two books. Something I didn’t enjoy is that the main character’s thoughts are written so bluntly and obviously. Another thing I didn’t enjoy is that the places and characters/animals aren’t described very well and I didn't feel like I could picture the setting as well because of it. I did enjoy how creative the general idea for the story, but the execution wasn’t as desirable. Also, some of the parts confused me and I had to read parts again to fully understand the idea.

    I give this story 2/5 stars. Some themes I noticed were action and adventure.

A new student review of The Walk On by John Feinstein

winner231 posted a new student review of The Walk On by John Feinstein. See the full review.

The Walk On is a very well written and very intriguing book. The games in the book are very well described. It lets you know the characters and get hooked on conflicts between players and coaches. There is great vocabulary describing each play and you can tell Feinstein worked hard to emphasize each moment in the book. You won't want to put this book down. I give it 41/2 stars out of 5.

A new student review of The Kingdom Lights by Steven VS

bygflower posted a new student review of The Kingdom Lights by Steven VS. See the full review.

To explain this book in one word... chaos.  Steven VS creates a fantastic place full of magic not unlike Harry Potter's world, but the book as a whole didn't keep me entertained and made my head spin because of excessively changed viewpoints and an incredibly complicated storyline. The beginning and middle were very confusing, and the end chaotic. It seemed to me that it was trying to be similar to Harry Potter, with a school for magic, and a bully, but the way it was written did not satisfy me. It's a shame, because it has the potential to be a great fantasy novel. The Kingdom Lights has a storyline with incredible promise, but the changing viewpoints and excessive description took away from what could have been a brilliant book.

A new student review of Haw by Sean Jackson

JesusFreak posted a new student review of Haw by Sean Jackson. See the full review.

When I began reading this book, I was immediately pulled into Lucas’s world. Though very gory, the author described the state of the world in this book perfectly. The descriptions he used were enough to give me an idea of what it would be like to live in a devastated world, yet they weren't so long that they bored me.

The characters weren’t your average heroes; they were damaged people living in an imperfect world. Though damaged, they were likable and relatable. The author set up the characters and kept me on the edge of my seat through the use of dual points of view.

I was a bit confused about what the author called "citoyens." A bit more elaboration on who they were may have made it less confusing for me.

All in all, this book is a swift read for those who like dark, apocalyptic worlds.

A new student review of Cock-A-Doodle-Oops! by Lori Degman

Boomer123 posted a new student review of Cock-A-Doodle-Oops! by Lori Degman. See the full review.

I did enjoy the book mostly because it had animals in it.  The pictures were illustrated very well.  

 

The book is short and I read it in about 10 minutes.  I thought it was a chapter book but it’s more of a picture book for 1st or 2nd graders.

If you like funny books about farm animals then you should read this book.   

A new student review of True Son

Katiedid.Break posted a new student review of True Son . See the full review.

      I loved the book; it was an epic conclusion to the Psi Chronicles. The author didn’t rush the ending and let the events unfold naturally. Krumwiede made it seems that Psi was really possible. There is more than one antagonist, who give Taemon a run for his Psi.  The concept was amazing and executed nearly flawlessly. There were many twists and turns that keep the reader engaged. And the ending happened the only way it could have.

 

A new student review of Forever Ruby by Claire Merchant

123evae123 posted a new student review of Forever Ruby by Claire Merchant. See the full review.

While reading this book I had mixed emotions about it. Somtimes the plot was a tad slow, and sometimes it was too fast-paced.  Characters were well developed however, and it was easy to forge connections with them and sympathize with their actions.  Fans of the supernatural genre will love this book and its twists and turns as Ruby tries to figure out who is helping and hindering her on this journey of self discovery . She learns about her flaws and has downfalls like everyone else, and she is not described as "perfect" as so many novel heroines are. This novel was a great, relaxing beach read, and with such great character development, it was easy to overlook the slow or fast plot.

A new student review of Boundaries: How the Mason-Dixon Line Settled a Family Feud and Divided a Nation by Sally M. Walker

blaklab66 posted a new student review of Boundaries: How the Mason-Dixon Line Settled a Family Feud and Divided a Nation by Sally M. Walker. See the full review.

 

I enjoyed this book because as I explained in my summary, the author touched on many events. This book was interesting because it was engaging and very accurate. The story was easily comprehendible and deep. There were not many characters to keep track of and the main idea was very clear. I also liked the format this book was presented in. It helped present the facts clearly.

A new student review of The Cryptic Case of the Coded Fair by Barbara Tinker

moseso posted a new student review of The Cryptic Case of the Coded Fair by Barbara Tinker. See the full review.

This book is extraordinarily exciting and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end! When the main characters, Ella and Shomari, are asked to help uncover the baffling code that the evil Dr. G has sent out to several people who are judges for the science fair, they visit various geniuses and learn the secrets of coding. Beautiful illustrations help one imagine every detail of what happens in the book. It is extremely descriptive. The reader will find it hard to put the book down until the end. This book would be most enjoyed by 11-13 year olds. When one of many coding processes was explained, it was confusing and required re-reading a few times in order to gain understanding.  Don’t let this stop you, however, from reading The Cryptic Case of the Coded Fair.  It will definitely end up on your shelf of favorites!

A new student review of Toks & the Phoenix Project by A.S Lawal

JesusFreak posted a new student review of Toks & the Phoenix Project by A.S Lawal. See the full review.

When I began reading this book, I found myself bored with it. I felt the main character, Toks, was whiny and unlikable.  She made bad decisions throughout the book. However, as I came to the ending I began to like her character. Additionally, I did not care for the author’s writing style. I thought that most of the dialogue in the book made it seem as though the author was telling the story to a child. It was not a writing style that appealed to me.

I felt the book started out slowly in the beginning, though about halfway through it started to pick up. The last two chapters were especially exciting.

The book was promising, and it had great ideas. It just didn't turn out the way I was hoping it would.