Difference between revisions of "Newest Confident Readers Reviews"
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| + | |author=Mark Goldblatt | ||
| + | |title=Twerp | ||
| + | |rating=5 | ||
| + | |genre=Confident Readers | ||
| + | |summary=Julian Twerski did something bad. So bad, that it got him suspended from school. When he returns, his English teacher asks him to write a journal about it, in exchange for getting out of doing a report on Shakespeare. Julian reluctantly accepts - but would rather be writing about sending love letters for a friend, blowing up fireworks, or pretty much anything else except telling Mr Selkirk about what he wants to hear. | ||
| + | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0375971424</amazonuk> | ||
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|author=Jean Ure | |author=Jean Ure | ||
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|summary=Lovecraft Middle School has been found to be full of other things in the past. [[Professor Gargoyle: Tales from Lovecraft Middle School by Charles Gilman|Book one]] in this series had the ultra-modern campus plagued by rats, including a two-headed example that somehow became our hero Robert's pet. We have since found the whole thing is also full of portals into a nightmarish underworld, ghosts of a mansion where a mad scientist was dredging up hell. Now the school is full of something else – insects. Flies and other bugs are all over, people are getting bad haircuts due to head lice left, right and centre, and Robert's best friend Glenn might have suffered a most peculiar wasp sting. Would it have anything to do with the particular nature of the hellish beast that has just won presidency of the student council? | |summary=Lovecraft Middle School has been found to be full of other things in the past. [[Professor Gargoyle: Tales from Lovecraft Middle School by Charles Gilman|Book one]] in this series had the ultra-modern campus plagued by rats, including a two-headed example that somehow became our hero Robert's pet. We have since found the whole thing is also full of portals into a nightmarish underworld, ghosts of a mansion where a mad scientist was dredging up hell. Now the school is full of something else – insects. Flies and other bugs are all over, people are getting bad haircuts due to head lice left, right and centre, and Robert's best friend Glenn might have suffered a most peculiar wasp sting. Would it have anything to do with the particular nature of the hellish beast that has just won presidency of the student council? | ||
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594746141</amazonuk> | |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1594746141</amazonuk> | ||
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Revision as of 07:19, 26 May 2013
Confident readers
Twerp by Mark Goldblatt
Julian Twerski did something bad. So bad, that it got him suspended from school. When he returns, his English teacher asks him to write a journal about it, in exchange for getting out of doing a report on Shakespeare. Julian reluctantly accepts - but would rather be writing about sending love letters for a friend, blowing up fireworks, or pretty much anything else except telling Mr Selkirk about what he wants to hear. Full review...
Just Peachy by Jean Ure
It's always been said that it's difficult being the middle child in a family and Peaches McBride regularly feels as though she doesn't belong. Her elder brother, Coop and sister, Charlie are clever and outgoing - and after Peachy came the twins, Flora and Fergus who are full of each other and full of just being them. Add to this the fact that her father is a radio presenter, renowned for his abrasive personality and you might come to the conclusion that the best description of the McBride family is LOUD - well, except for Peachy. She's quiet, unassuming - and not entirely certain about who she is or what she wants. She does make a stand though - she really doesn't want to go to Summerfield - the school her father went to and where Coop and Charlie are in the limelight, She wants to go to a school where no one knows who she is. Full review...
Monsters and Legends by Davide Cali and Gabrriella Giandelli
My sons love stories of unsolved mysteries, monsters and mythical creatures. Like many boys, my oldest has a very strong leaning towards the non-fiction side of things. This book is for children who want to know how the legends were born, if any of the creatures could be real, and what the science behind the story is. I do feel this book is better suited to older children seeking a more rational explanation to the old stories, but my youngest did enjoy it as well. It might be useful for a child with a slight fear of monsters to get a more realistic view of them, but I would use caution with a child who is truly terrified of monsters as it might just give them more things to be afraid of. Full review...
Chasing the Dark by Sam Hepburn
Sam Hepburn's book begins, intriguingly, by echoing several well-known tales. There is the orphan foisted on an unwilling aunt and uncle, for example, and then the boy who is forced by a frightening, filthy old convict into bringing him food — not to mention a whole slew of stories about young people who find themselves in dangerous situations because they trespass in private property while attempting to retrieve their less-than-obedient pets. But the plot soon gathers a momentum all its own and all the themes hinted at in the opening pages suddenly merge into a new story which is both exciting and scary. Full review...
Monster Odyssey: The Eye Of Neptune by Jon Mayhew
Dakkar, son of an Indian rajah, is sent to study with Count Oginski after being expelled from several different schools. Initially unhappy, he starts to enjoy learning from the mysterious count, and when Oginski is kindnapped by masked men, he sets out tor rescue his mentor. Can he take on the kidnappers, giant sea monsters, and an evil maniac to save the day? Full review...
Finding Fortune by Pippa Goodhart
After Ida's mother's death, Grandmama makes plans to separate her from her father and send her to boarding school. When Fa decides to travel to the Klondike to seek gold, though, Ida can't bear to be away from him and steals away to join him. How will the pair survive, and can they find their fortune together? Full review...
Jelly Cooper: Alien by Lynne Thomas
Jelly Cooper is just turning fourteen. But excitement about her birthday is taking second place to sheer exhaustion. For weeks, Jelly has been having recurring nightmares that leave her shaken and afraid. And it's all taking a toll on her - her friends Humphrey and Agatha are beginning to get worried. Add the night terrors to the figurative nightmare of school, a crush on a boy so cool and gorgeous that Jelly sees no world in which he'd fancy her back, and a cheerleader out to humiliate her at every turn, and you can see that Jelly's life could be better. Full review...
The Chocolate Box Girls: Coco Caramel by Cathy Cassidy
Coco is the youngest of the Tanberry sisters but very much her own person. For her, life is about animals and she loves going to the stables for riding lessons even if she does overestimate her own abilities. She was hoping that she could pick up a job there a couple of evenings a week so that she could have extra lessons, but it went instead to form-mate Lawrie Marshall and they're not each other's biggest fans. Well, they're not until the pony which Coco has set her heart on is sold to someone who doesn't seem to have the animal's best interest at the front of his mind. Coco and Lawrie unite to save Caramel and another pony which is just about to foal - but how will they cope? Full review...
The Boy with Two Heads by Andy Mulligan
Richard is a nice kid. Dutiful, hardworking, rule-abiding, he makes both parents and teachers proud. But one day, everything changes. Richard wakes up with a painful lump on his neck. Rushed to hospital, his parents get some devastating news from the specialists. Richard is growing a second head. Yowzer. When the head - Rikki - emerges, Richard, his parents, his teachers and his friends, all do their best to cope. But Rikki isn't like Richard. He's spiteful. He's angry. He's rude. He says the most unsayable things and he causes a great deal of trouble. Full review...
Astrosaurs 22: The Castle of Frankensaur by Steve Cole
I bought my first Astrosaurs book as a read aloud book for my dinosaur-mad four year old. He loved it, but not quite as much as his eight year old brother and we've been collecting the books ever since. It's a large collection with a total of thirty books in print so far (including Astrosaurs Academy). Many parents have credited this series with massive improvements in their children's reading level, and I'd have to agree with this. It isn't that the book has some magical formula to develop literacy, but simply that these books are so good, the children can not get enough of them. By the time a child works their way through thirty books, their reading level is bound to improve. Full review...
Magic Ink by Steve Cole
Stew isn't having a good week. He has moved house, left his friends and school behind and as if things weren't bad enough, his bedroom has been invaded by a well-dressed pig. But at least he won't be bored in the new house. The house used to belong to Stew's grandfather, a famous comic-book artist. When Stew's father opens up the attic his grandfather had locked up 20 years ago, things are about to get really exciting for Stew as he finds himself drawn into a comic-book style adventure which will test his courage, his intelligence and his artistic abilities. Full review...
Dork Diaries: Holiday Heartbreak by Rachel Renee Russell
This being the sixth full-length novel to feature Nikki Maxwell and her crush on Brandon, there is little point in doing a summary or resume at great length. They're still at school, and they're still finding being in any kind of friendship both socially awkward and hampered by the presence of the evil Mackenzie, Nikki's cute but catty rival. All you really need to know is this volume covers an entire February, in order – and manages to finish with the Valentine's night school dance. Yes, it has weird circumstances, Nikki getting embarrassed and jealous, and more. But I haven't told you about the greatest surprise yet… Full review...
Space Blasters by Philip Caveney
It's an intriguing concept: people can actually step into films as they are being shown at the local cinema. The only trouble is, while you're inside the film everything is completely real, including the danger. And if you don't get out before the final credits roll, well, too bad. You're stuck there forever, doomed to live through the same story over and over and over again. Unless you get killed, that is! Full review...
The Silver Dream by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
We've had it established that there are many multiple dimensions, and it takes a particular power to move from one to the other – the power to Walk. Joey Harker, who it seems could get lost between his garden gate and the front door, is one of the more powerful and talented Walkers, and has been employed by an agency that has to keep the balance in the multiverses, forever fighting between the powers of science and those of magic. But two years on from the original book we find that the agency is still a very uneasy place to be – picking up further Walkers, but opening itself up to strange events, unusual characters and unaccountable problems. Full review...
School for Stars: First Term at L'Etoile by Holly Willoughby and Kelly Willoughby
Molly and Maria Fitzfoster are two twins who've just enrolled at L'Etoile, performing arts school for the stars of tomorrow! Their first term will see them try to achieve stardom but also make lots of new friends. Not everyone at the school, though, is as pleasant as they are - will true friendship and loyalty save the day and foil a cruel plot? Full review...
Mariella Mystery investigates: The Ghostly Guinea Pig by Kate Pankhurst
Mariella Mystery has two friends, Poppy Holmes and Violet Maple. They are The Mystery Girls, a comfortably cosy detective agency dedicated to solving reassuringly homely mysteries. This time an eerily green, glowing guinea pig pops up. Poppy is preoccupied with rehearsals for the upcoming village talent show, but Mariella is not to be diverted from her investigations. Learning fast from The Young Super Sleuth’s Handbook, Mariella comes up with several logical explanations, none of which solves the mystery. Indeed, there are soon ghostly guinea pigs sightings all over the place. It takes observation and enquiring young detectives on the ground to uncover the truth. Full review...
The Sleeping Baobab Tree by Paula Leyden
Sister Leonisa is always telling her students grim and gruesome stories. One day, she tells them all about Ng’ombe Ilede… the place of the sleeping cow; the place of death. As Bul-boo and Madillo arrive home filled with her horror stories, next-door neighbour Fred (himself always full of tales of woe) informs them he is to go to that very spot with his fearsome witch great-granny, Nokokulu. Also, that night they learn that patients from their mothers’ AIDS clinic are mysteriously vanishing; one of the vanished just happens to be Fred's wonderful Aunt Kiki. Is all of this a strange coincidence or fate? With Bul-boo and Madillo stowing away in the boot of the car, Nokokulu drives a doom-laden Fred out into the Zambian wilds for an encounter with mystery and magic the three will never forget. At the sleeping baobab tree, anything could happen. Full review...
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
Joey Harker isn't a regular boy, but then his teacher isn't a regular teacher. He's one of the wacky ones that thinks nothing of dumping his class in threesomes in the middle of town, penniless and only with their guile to get back in one piece. Seeing as Joey is one of the world's more easily-lost people, never knowing which way he should be heading, perhaps it should be no surprise that he finds a different universe before he finds his destination. And then another, and another. It soon becomes clear that other people are aware of this, and have a much greater knowledge of Joey's weird powers – and demand a much greater influence on his destiny… Full review...
Moon Bear by Gill Lewis
Tam's village in rural Laos must make way for a new highway. So Tam and his family move to a new village in the lowlands. They've been promised running water, electricity, and even a school. But the ground in the new village is scattered with bombs left over from America's war in Vietnam. And, while Tam and his father are preparing their field for the new rice crop, one explodes and everything changes again. Tam's father is dead and his mother and sisters won't be able to keep their house unless Tam goes to the city and earns money to send home. Full review...
Dead Boys' Club by Geoffrey Malone
Sam wakes up one morning at dawn. It's strangely quiet. Outside his hut, the village is absolutely silent. No cockerels are crowing. Something is horribly wrong. Stepping outside, Sam's worst fears are realised. A line of children, all armed with AK-47s, are rushing at him, yelling like crazy. It's God's Freedom Army. Full review...
Diary of a Wimpy Vampire by Tim Collins
Nigel is a fairly typical teenager in many ways. He suffers from spots, he is awkward and uncomfortable around girls, he is moody, irritable and constantly feeling bitter and resentful of his parents. Worst of all, he just doesn't know where he fits in. But unlike most 15 year olds, this isn't just passing a stage. Nigel has the body, emotions and typical trials and tribulations of the average teenager, but he has been stuck in this stage of development for 85 years. As he nears his 100th birthday, he begins to wonder if he will ever fit in, ever find a date, and ever develop into a proper vampire. You see not only does he have all the difficulties of most teens, he also has to cope with the fact that despite being a vampire for nearly 85 years, he has developed none of the usual vampire strengths and talents. His little sister has all the speed, grace and power of a grown vampire, but he is still as helpless as an infant in the vampire world. His parents have to hunt for him, bullies torture him at school, and the worst torture of all is that he has finally fallen in love - but has no idea what to do about it. Full review...
The Fate in the Box by Michelle Lovric
Venice is a place of contrasts, where poverty and extravagance jostle each other for space on the misty streets. But its inhabitants, poor or rich, have always been intensely proud of their city and its history. Ships arrive full of wonders from across the world, skilled glassblowers create magnificent artefacts, and magic is occasionally to be found in the oddest of nooks and crannies. Amneris, for example, knows that if she embroiders an exact copy of the fabulous patterns created by 'the dear creature' (as they call Uncle Annibale's kaleidoscope) each week, she and her family will always earn enough to live on. Full review...
Deadly Days in History (Horrible Histories) by Terry Deary and Martin Brown
Horrible Histories' catch phrase is History - with all the nasty bits left in. This is not completely true, Scholastic is not going to print a children's book with details which are too graphic for children, but this is without a doubt the nastiest and most gruesome of all of the Horrible Histories books we have read. While I am happy enough reading most of the Horrible Histories books to my 4 year old as well as my 8 year old, I do think this one is best for the older children, would recommend a minimum age of 7, and this only if the child is already aware of the Holocaust, or the parent is prepared to broach this subject in a sensitive manner and provide further information. Full review...
I'm Dougal Trump . . . Where's My Tarantula? by Dougal Trump
'I'm Dougal Trump . . . Where's My Tarantula' is the second in a series of books about the misadventures of Dougal Trump. Although this is a sequel, it is not necessary to read I'm Dougal Trump and It's Not My Fault first. This book is fine as a stand alone story, but the odds are once your child has finished reading it, they will be asking for the next book, or in this case the first book, in fact - we've already bought it. Full review...
Curse of the Dream Witch by Allan Stratton
Young readers do like books which make them squeal with disgust from time to time — as long as the gory details are well balanced by lots of comedy and a real swash-buckling quest. And that's exactly what this tale of a princess, a peasant boy and a talking mouse provides. Full review...
Teachers Pest: Tales from Lovecraft Middle School by Charles Gilman
Lovecraft Middle School has been found to be full of other things in the past. Book one in this series had the ultra-modern campus plagued by rats, including a two-headed example that somehow became our hero Robert's pet. We have since found the whole thing is also full of portals into a nightmarish underworld, ghosts of a mansion where a mad scientist was dredging up hell. Now the school is full of something else – insects. Flies and other bugs are all over, people are getting bad haircuts due to head lice left, right and centre, and Robert's best friend Glenn might have suffered a most peculiar wasp sting. Would it have anything to do with the particular nature of the hellish beast that has just won presidency of the student council? Full review...
