4th Grade Reviews--Historical Fiction

Here is the second batch of reviews by wise and insightful fourth graders from Mrs. B.'s 2009-2010 class.

Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen
This book is about a family who wants a better life and decides to move to Oregon. They move to Oregon in a covered wagon and meet some troubles along the way. Their wagon is pulled by cattle, whose names are Ben and Buck. The main character's name is Mary Ellen. She has two sisters named Louvinia and Cynthia. They travel with many nice people who are also moving to Oregon. One of their main problems is staying healthy, because there are a lot of sicknesses going around.
Rating: I give this book four stars out of five stars because I like it a lot, but all they did was travel. Other than that I think it was a great book!

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
This book is about a boy named Johnny Tremain whose mom died while he was growing up. Her name was Lavina Lyte. He lived with a woman named Mrs. Lapham who makes him get up at 5:00 a.m. to get milk for breakfast. He also delivered the Boston Observer [newspaper] to all the houses along the wharf and still had to get to school on time. He was a silversmith and one day he was mending an old spoon when he burned his hand. He had some trouble working, but he got the hang of it. He ran away to the place where the Boston Observer was printed. There he met a boy named Rab and he learned to ride a horse instead of walking to deliver the newspaper. Now, he didn't have to get up early and get the milk for breakfast. He helped as a troop in the Battle of Lexington. In the war someone dies! Read the book to see who died.
Rating: I would give this book a ****star rating because I didn't understand part of it, but the other part of it was very interesting.

The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill
The Pushcart War is about a time in New York a few decades ago. At this time, trucks had just been invented and were at war with the pushcarts. The reason of that is because they wanted all cars and pushcarts off the streets so they could go a lot faster and get more money, but the pushcarts wanted to fight back so they shot pea pins into the truck tires. A pea pin is a pin stuck into a pea. Who will win in the end and will this war ever stop?
Rating: I give this book 4 stars because it was really good, but I would prefer a mystery better.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Little Women is a book about four girls: Meg, the oldest; Jo, the tomboy; Beth, the shy one; and Amy, the youngest. Their father is away being a doctor to soldiers in the Civil War. One day, Jo meets a neighbor named Laurie, and he starts becoming a very good friend. Meg falls in love; Jo writes a book; Beth gets scarlet fever; Amy becomes an artist; and Laurie makes a camp. Everything is wonderful, until their father gets wounded in the war. They all hope he'll be all right, but what if he doesn't get better? Little Women is a book you should read.
Rating: I give this book *****out of five stars, because it was really interesting and funny.

The Misadventures of Maude March by Audrey Couloumbis
In the beginning Sallie and Maude's aunt gets shot and they have to move into the Reverend's house. There was a catch to staying there. They had to do all of the housework. After a few days Maude wants to run away. Sallie agreed. They stole some horses and boys clothes and were off. The next day they were hungry. It turned out that Sallie packed food. Later, they met up with their aunt's killer. He led them on an adventure they will never forget.
Rating: I gave it **** stars because it had so much adventure and suspense.

Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Bella had just arrived in New York from Italy as a small town girl. She came to America to help earn money for her family so she looked for a job right away. She got hired at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.
Yetta was a co-worker from Russia and met Bella at the shirtwaist factory and then a strike comes in hand. She had never heard of a strike so she just followed the crowd. During the strike Yetta and Bella became great friends.
Jane was very wealthy and lived in New York her whole life. When she heard about the strike she stepped in. When she was in the crowd of the strike, she met Bella and Yetta and all three girls became best friends.
After the strike was over the workers went back to making shirtwaists. But then a tragedy happens. There is a fire. People were screaming and being burned to death. But who survived? Read the book and find out.
Rating: I would give this book 5 stars because it kept me at the edge of my seat and it would be a book that I would like to read over and over again. But the one thing I didn't like about this book is that it took a long time to get to the fire and all the action.

Willow Run by Patricia Reilly Giff
Willow Run is about a girl named Meggie who has to move to Willow Run, Michigan, during World War II so her father can make B-24 fighter planes. She had a wonderful grandfather who she didn't want to leave behind but had to. She met new friends and spent her days with her new friends or writing letters. She had an amazing adventure with new friends. Meggie's older brother, Eddie, went to war, but now Meggie and her family received a letter that said Eddie was missing in action. Will Eddie ever come home? Read the book to find out.
Rating: I give this book **** stars because it was not the best book I ever read. I don't want to read it again, but I would recommend it to other people.

A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple by Kathryn Lasky
First, my book was about the Mayflower and the Pilgrims that went on an adventure to the New World (which was the U.S.A.) The Pilgrims sailed on the waves that were torturous and sailed away from England. The rough waves made it hard for the Pilgrims to sail across the ocean and to survive the whole way through the sea. Almost half out of all the pilgrims died on the ocean that had strong and tough waves. Whipple was very lucky to survive on the Mayflower. Next Whipple's mother made her a diary so she could remember what she has been through on the journey to the New World and she called her diary Dear Imp. When the pilgrims got to shore, they almost fell back because the land was so beautiful. Finally all the pilgrims lived as happily as could be.

Code Talkers by Joseph Bruchac
A small Indian boy goes to a school in the U.S.A. and learns how bad some whites can be. He shakes it off and goes to high school. He didn't go to college because he wanted to be a Marine. He was in World War Two and was a code talker in the war. His job was to talk to other code talkers in their language. Their language is very hard to speak, so it was the best code for the war. It's all about the reader in this book. It keeps you wanting to read and read and read some more. It let's you have good momentum when you read, so you can't slow down or speed up it's so good. I couldn't really let out anything. I can only say read it for the facts and have a good time doing it.
Rating: **** I liked it because there was always something going on. It also didn't go away from the story or branch off.

Keystone Kids by John R. Tunis
Spike and Bob Russel play shortstop and second base for the Vols. When a Brooklyn Dodgers scout asks them if they want to play on the Dodgers they accept. The team gets into a slump and falls to 9th place. They hire a new catcher named Jocko Klein. The manager makes Spike the coach of the team. Jocko is a great player but he is Jewish and some of the players can't get past their prejudices. Some of the other players treat Jocko badly. The team starts getting into fights and losing games. Can Spike save the team from falling apart?
Rating: I would rate this book four stars ****. I love baseball and it was very interesting. I would highly suggest this book especially if you like baseball.

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
This book is about a boy named Almanzo Royal and his two sisters, Eliza Jane and Alice. It was Almanzo's first day at school. There were big bullies who came in late from recess and made a lot of noise. One of them got in trouble. Their plan was that when they got into trouble they would get sent to the teacher's desk. Then they would pounce on the teacher. When they pounced on the teacher something happened. Read the book to find out what happened.
Rating: I give this book *** stars because it made me think too much about farms.