Choice Books

At some point during the 2009-2010 school year, all of the fourth graders in Mrs. B.'s class got the chance to pick the book they read from the genre of their choice. To conclude the reviews from Mrs. B.'s class, here are reviews of some of those choice books.

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Moose is with his family on the same island as public enemy #1! He doesn't have any friends on the island because they all live in Santa Monica, where he used to live. He goes to school in San Francisco where he plays baseball on Monday. He helps this girl named Piper with her "Projects". Like the time she took all the other students' clothes and washed them in her own washer and said they were done by Al Capone. That plan backfired and Moose got in a lot of trouble even though he didn't do anything. Alcatraz Island is a place where the worst criminals of all live. Moose has never seen the criminals before but he knows they are out there. Will Moose ever see Al Capone? Read to find out.
Rating: I give this book ***** stars because I love every part of it. I also liked that it is actually true that kids used to live on Alcatraz and I would be way too scared if I lived on an island with a bunch of criminals.

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
Stormbreaker is about a boy, Alex Rider, whose uncle dies. He has been told that he died in a car accident, but when he finds his uncle's car there was a bullet hole in the window. A little later he finds out that his uncle was a secret agent. Now Alex has to finish his uncle's mission. The mission is to go to Sayle Enterprises and find out what the Stormbreaker is.
Alex is only doing the mission to figure out who killed his uncle. Is Sayle the nice guy Alex thinks he is? Will he be able to stop this computer from being launched?
Rating: I rate this book *** stars because I do not like shooting and killing and spy books. I do not think many girls would like this book, but boys who love these things would love it.

Savvy by Ingrid Law
This is a book about a girl named Mibs which is short for Mississippi in the Beaumont's family. Mibs is about to turn 13. Thirteen is the age that all Beaumont children get their savvy, their magical power. A few days before her birthday disaster strikes; Mibs' dad was in an accident on the highway. This upsets Mibs terribly when her father doesn't wake up. When she has a birthday party that Miss Rosemary arranges at the church, she finds a pink bus that has Salina written on it. That was the city that her dad was in at the hospital. She was risking a lot because damage could be done with her savvy. She gets on the bus and runs away with her brother Fish, her brother Samson, Miss Rosemary's son Will, Will's sister Bobbi, and Lester a pink Bible delivery man. They ran away to get to Mibs' father but Lester has stops on the way.
Mibs thinks her savvy is waking people up because that morning she had woken up the pet turtle and woken her sister Gypsy. She assumes that she can wake her father. This leads them to a huge adventure that is risky and dangerous. Will Mibs' savvy turn out how she thought it would? Will she be able to wake her father?
Rating: ***** I give this book 5 stars because there was always something exciting going on. I could never stop reading this book.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart
Reynie, Sticky, Kate and Constance are some of the most talented kids int he world. The whisperer is a powerful weapon that can bring back memories, brainsweep, and many other things. Mr. Curtain is the evil brother of Mr. Benedict and the maker of the Whisperer. Mr. Curtain has a new plot to retake his Whisperer and rule the world. Mr. Curtain bribed a high ranked government official to take the Whisperer. The Ten Men raid the house and captured the children. It is up to the four children to stop Mr. Curtain, S.Q., and his evil ten men. What will happen in this book of good, evil, ten men, sentries, buckets and briefcases? Read to find out.
Rating: I would rate this book *****five stars. It was one of the best books I have every read. It always kept me on the edge of my seat. If you like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson you will love this book. It ends my favorite series of all time.

An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Polly O'Keefe is the daughter of Meg O'Keefe. She moves in with her grandparents, Alex and Kate Murray. She likes living with them very much. One day Polly was walking over to the Star Watching Rock and all of a sudden she was in a different place. The trees have moved, everything has changed, the Star Watching Rock is small and in better condition. Polly was about 3,000 years ahead of her time. She looked around and about an hour later she was back in her own time. She ran back to her grandparent's house and told them everything. Her grandma told her that she went through a time gate. She also told Polly that she should never go back tot he Star Watching Rock. The next day Polly's friend Zachary came over. They take a little walk and end up going through the time gate. They get stuck in the time gate and Zachary gets very ill. They have to wait there until the time gate will reopen. Will they be OK? Will they get back to their own time? Read the book and find out!
Rating: I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars because it kept me at the edge of my seat. It did take me a long time to read, but it's worth all the time.

Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, illustrated by Greg Call
This book is about a boy named Peter who can fly and lives on an island with his other friends and protectors that call themselves the Mollusks. But there is trouble on that island. The trouble is pirates! They are out for Peter's friends but they know they can't attack the boys with the Mollusks around, so they try to sneak there by using a distraction. While that's going on at the island, Peter is flying to London with his fairy Tinker Bell to help his friend Molly. She is about to be attacked by different pirates and a creature that takes people's shadows. They are attacking Molly's family because her family has a very special object called star stuff. The star stuff is so important because it has powers that can do all sorts of things. For instance, it can make people fly. What will happen to the boys, Peter, and Molly? Read to find out.
Rating: I give this book ***** stars out of ***** stars because I think this book is very, very good and got me at the edge of my seat. Though I think you should read the first one first because then you will know what will be going on.

Muggie Maggie by Beverly Cleary
This book is about where Maggie does not want to learn cursive. Maggie is forced to learn cursive. Then the teacher finds out that Maggie is not doing what she is supposed to be doing. So then Maggie's mom gets a note from the teacher. Then Maggie starts writing her name in cursive when everyone was practicing letters. Then Maggie becomes note monitor and she delivers notes to the principal and the principal writes back. Then she still does not want to learn cursive. Did she learn to write cursive? Read the book and find out.
Rating: I give this book ** stars because there was not any excitement.

The True Confesions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Charlotte Doyle is a young lady attending Barrington School in England, until her father sends for her to come to America on a ship called the Seahawk. Once on board, Charlotte hears strange rumors about the captain, Mr. Jaggery. She thinks he's a nice gentleman and when he tells her to look out for two circles, a round robin, she says she will even though she was warned by a man named Zachariah not to trust him. When she sees one and tells Captain Jaggery, she sees he is the murderer everyone told her about. She tries to stop him, but she just made it worse. and now captain and crew are mad at her. She needs to prove to the crew she is sorry, but what can she do?
Rating: I give this book ***** stars out of five, because it was exciting.

Redwall by Brian Jacques
Redwall is a book about castle times but with animals in it. Rats are attacking Redwall and Mossflower forest. They are experienced fighters and will not stop at anything. Mattiaus is a mouse; he has lots of adventures and he is one of the main characters. One of his adventures was he had to fight a serpent to get a famous sword that might save Redwall. Will Redwall stand or will it be burned down by the rats, read the book to find out.
Rating: I would give this book ***** because it was a really good book and I loved it. I would recommend this book to other people and I think they would enjoy it.