All American Girl

No, this is not an American Girl Doll book. So don’t leave. Please.

You know the hoodie I told you about in the post with the dandelion? Well, I ruined it with spaghetti sauce. So much for that.

Sorry for digressing. I may do that a lot. ;).

So back to the book.

All American Girl is about a girl who saved the life of the president by jumping on the almost killer and surprising him. But Sam sort of wished she didn’t do that. Now she has secret service men EVERYWHERE, fake friends, reporters hounding her, a new wardrobe (“why wear any color but black?”) fancy dinners, and the love of the president’s son when she has a crush on someone else! And on top of that, Sam has to take art lessons that deprive her of artistic creativity.

Could life get any worse?

But as Sam gets to know the president’s son and her art teacher, things start to look up.

I thought All American Girl had a super creative plot and I instantly liked Sam just after reading the first page.

I would recommend this book to 6th to 9th grade girls.

Oh, yeah. I would give it five stars too!

The Accidental Genius of Weasel High

Today was the first day of spring.

Well, not really. It just FELT like the first day of spring because

a) I could actually wear my fav super-thin hoodie (technically its my aunt’s) instead of bulky puffer jacket.

b) I saw a real live actual dandelion! (I put a pic of it at the end because I could not figure out how to put it here. :))

Anyway, enough about me. Back to the book. The Accidental Genius of Weasel High isn’t like anything I’ve read before. There really wasn’t a BIG main idea, but here is my breakdown of it:

Main Character:

Larkin Pace. Obsessed with becoming the next great filmmaker. Wants a camcorder.

Minor Characters:

Mom and Dad- Isn’t it obvious who they are?

Kelly- Larkin’s obnoxious older sister who gets her way every single time.

Mrs. Grubnik- Grouchy old lady who Larkin works for to earn camcorder money.

Dalton Cooke- Annoying handsome guy and nemesis of Larkin.

Brooke- Who Larkin thinks is his girlfriend.

Freddie- Larkin’s friend.

Problems:

Larkin desperately wants a camcorder but is having trouble getting the money for it.

Brooke doesn’t think of Larkin as her boyfriend.

Dalton is “stealing” Brooke and is bugging Larkin.

Kelly is being super annoying and overly dramatic.

Larkin is short.

There’s another thing you need to know: The Accidental Genius of Weasel High is a half graphic novel half regular chapter book. Sort of like Big Nate or Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Or a picture book with a lot of words that’s for 6th to 9th graders.

This book was good, but not so good that it would be on my “Top 50 Books I’ve Read In My Lifetime” list. Or my “Top 100 Books I’ve Read In My Lifetime” list. It was sort of boring to me and not very funny. (unless this book is for high schoolers and has some sort of secret high school humor that middle schoolers don’t know about, then no, it wasn’t that funny.)

I would give The Accidental Genius of Weasel High 3 stars, but overall I guess the book was okay.

P.S. Is the abbreviation for favorite “fav?” or “fave?” Cause’ I’ve been saying fav.

A real live actual dandelion!

Ms. Marvel: No Normal

No, I am not a Marvel fan, and yes, I still like this book anyway.

I was so glad when my mom went to the library to pick up some books I ordered online. Finally, something interesting to read! Anyway, when I saw this book today I thought two things.

a) Its a graphic novel! (I should have researched that on Amazon.)

2) It looks shorter than Rapunzel’s Revenge and Calamity Jack.

But I usually don’t back away from a book, so I read it anyway.

And I loved it!

Ms. Marvel: No Normal is about a Muslim teen named Kamala Khan from Jersey City. She has had a HUGE obsession with superheroes and the Avengers. Her parents have strict rules and says she can’t go to a party. Kamala goes anyway and develops superpowers. She’s always wanted to be the blonde, pretty, strong Captain Marvel, and now she’s just like her. But Kamala soon learns that being Ms. Marvel isn’t as great as it looks, and her mission to rescue her best friend’s brother doesn’t go as planned.

I’m glad they made a Muslim superhero! I mean if you think about it, most superheroes are:

a) From outer space

b) American

(At least that’s what I think. Like I said, I’m not a huge superhero fan so I don’t know a lot.)

This is probably good for 6th to 8th graders.

I would give this book 5 stars!

P.S. If I ever read the rest of the series, I’ll review that for you.

Drawings

The letter “I”

A slightly wrinkled girl

The Landry News

My mom didn’t take me to the library today like she was supposed to, so now I *gasp!* have resorted to reading books from my own shelves.

I decided to read The Landry News, one of my favs. (At first I thought is was called The Laundry News, but I found out it wasn’t that. :))

So basically, Cara Landry wrote a newspaper and tacked it up on her teacher’s bulletin board.

Unluckily for the teacher, Mr. Larson, she wrote an editorial (that was sorta mean) about his lack of teaching.

Larson went totally BALLISTIC. In the copy I have, its funny because in the pic of him going crazy, there’s a paper on the board in the background on how to avoid anger!

When Cara and Mr. Larson go home, Cara realizes that she wasn’t very nice to Larson and Mr. Larson realizes that the editorial was right.

The two then make up over a discussion about newspapers.

When Larson actually begins to teach for the first time that school year, Cara and her new friend Joey make another edition of the Landry News, this time with the motto “Truth and Mercy.” Suddenly the paper becomes a class project with Cara as editor in chief.

But Dr. Barnes, principal finds a copy in the halls. He’s always hated Larson and wants to fire him. Will the principal use this innocent paper to get Larson on the chopping block?

You’ll never know… unless you read the book, of course!

I love this book because of

a) Clements uses great descriptive words. I can picture Cara in my mind right now…

b) The plot is creative and inspiring and interesting.

c) I love the suspense the author creates. Will Larson be fired? *ominous music in the background*

d) You get to hear Larson and Cara’s POV, which helps you see their take on the same situation.

This book earns 5 stars and is probably interesting for 3-5 graders. Maybe 6th graders too, but its not their reading level.

What Book Do You Want Me To Read Next?

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Fun Stuff and Book Resources

Fun Stuff:

Okay, some of this may have nothing to do with books, but just bear with me.

http://webneko.net/ Cute cat game. If any of you figure out how to put a Neko on your blog, tell me! 

https://thebigblogcollection.wordpress.com/ You can post your blog URLs on here so other people can see them. Again, if you figure out how to put a WORKING button on your blog, tell me! Please!

http://minimalistbaker.com/ Awesome place to go for recipies if you are:

a) Vegan

b) Allergic to eggs, dairy, or any type of meat. Typical ingredients for lots of desserts or main courses. 😦

http://www.playbuzz.com Awesome Quizzes!

Book Resources:

https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/ A website I got some ideas from.

http://www.amazon.com/ Good place to get sneak previews on some books.

One For The Murphys

When Carly Connors is moved into foster care (because of her mom and her new boyfriend) she winds up with the Murphy family, a “normal” and “perfect” family.

Carly isn’t sure what to think of the Murphys. Mrs. Murphy is trying super hard to please Carly, but her husband isn’t quite as fond of Carly. Michael Eric loves her, Adam likes her, but their brother Daniel? Not so much.

But the longer Carly stays with the Murphys, the more she likes them. Daniel, obnoxious Daniel. actually can be in a room with Carly without making a nasty comment. Michael Eric and Adam’s feelings about Carly stay the same, but Carly and Mr. Murphy can suddenly get along and laugh together… all because of the Red Sox. Carly decides to accept Mrs. Murphy’s friendship and finds out why she wanted a foster kid in the first place.

And as an added bonus, Carly becomes friends… with the girl who hated her 5 seconds after she met Carly.

Will Carly decide to move in with the Murphys, or stay with her mom?

One For The Murphys was a really heartwarming story and I loved it. It was even nominated for some sort of award. (I think.)

I would give this story 5 stars and recommend it to 5th-7th grade.

Sorry

Hi all,

Sorry if I haven’t been posting a lot. I’ve been busy with a writing contest, and I just wanted to let you know.

-Isabelle 🙂

My Life as a Joke

I read one of the books in this series during 4th.

(The whole school had to, so I really had no choice.)

So, I remembered the “My Life” books and I was like “Oh look. They added on more ‘My Life’ books! I guess I’ll try one!”

And I did.

In My Life as a Joke, Derek makes a New Year’s resolution to take things more seriously. Obviously, it isn’t really working or there would be NO PLOT whatsoever.

Shortly after making his resolution, Derek volunteers for a toy drive (hence, the resolution) and of course get stuck with finding dolls for the drive. (In his opinion, the WORSE CATEGORY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Then Derek finds out that someone donated a Baby Karen doll, which is worth hundreds of dollars. He ditches trying to take things more seriously and sells Baby $ on ebay.

But the person who buys the doll demands her money back and Derek spent it all on a monster truck bouncy house.

I thought it was interesting to see how Derek would get himself out of this mess.

My Life as a joke also has a bunch of mini illustrations of words in the story, which is a nice side addition.

Overall, I guess I would give this book four stars, and I would recommend it to 3rd to 5th graders.