Thursday, February 10, 2011

Book Review


Girl, Stolen by April Henry

Cheyenne is very sick – she has pneumonia. She is waiting in the car while Danielle, her stepmother, gets her medication from the pharmacy. She convinced Danielle to leave the keys in the car so she can stay warm. She is sleeping in the backseat when someone jumps in the car and takes off. He is stealing the car and she is in it. He doesn’t realize that she is the car until she starts screaming at him. He panics and doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t want her to identify him. She tells him to let her go – she can’t identify him – she is blind. He doesn’t know what to do. He takes her back to his home; he is going to let her go later – at night so no one sees them. That is until his father finds out that she is the daughter of the president of Nike. Cheyenne is being held for ransom. She is very sick and blind. How will she survive?

This was a very fast paced adventure on how you can survive. Highly recommend.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Book Review


The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn

Florence is an orphan in London. She does not have any family willing to take her in so she is sent to live in an orphanage. She is not happy there, but at least she has friends that care about her. One day a letter arrives saying that a long lost uncle will take her. She is sent to live with these strangers in the country – Crutchfield Hall. She is excited because she has two cousins, also orphans; that live there. She will have people to play with. When she gets there she realizes things aren’t as nice as they seem. Her cousin Sophia died in a tragic accident about a year ago and her brother is very ill. He does not come out of his room. Florence starts to feel as if someone is watching her, mocking her. This person follows her around and she is not sure who it is. Then she realizes that it is Sophia – Sophia wants revenge for what happened to her. She is going to use Florence to get that revenge.

Find out if Florence is strong enough to stop her! This is a classic Hahn ghost story. Great, quick read.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Book Review


The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow
Lydia and Julie have been best friends forever. They always have each other and have done well. Things are different now, they will be moving on to Junior High next year and they are determined to be popular. Their mission for the year is to research, observe, and record everything that the most popular kids do in school. They will also experiment and try to copy what these girls do to see if it makes them popular. As you can imagine things do not always work out the way they want. One experiment results in a bald spot! As the year goes on, their friendship is tested. People do not always do the right thing. Will popularity break up this friendship? Find out!

This was a great, fun story. The characters make you laugh and cringe at the same time! It was definitely a good read. If you liked the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, you may like this!

Monday, January 24, 2011

African American History Month

Since 1926 Americans have recognized and celebrated African American History in one form or another, it started as a week of celebration. In 1976 we started to celebrate February as African American History Month. Here is a list of helpful websites to provide more information.

* Biography Black History Month

* Infoplease Black History Month

* History.com

* African American History Month

* Enchanted Learning

* Fact Monster Black History Month

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Book Review


The Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham

Teddy and his mother have moved to a desert town when she gets a job at the nuclear power plant. It is right before school is about to start and Teddy is nervous about being the new student. His mother makes him go out everyday and try to make friends. Every boy that he meets seems to want to get him into trouble. They seem to constantly be leading him to danger - to the TREE. If he follows them, he may never return.

This was an interesting scary story. It is definitely not on the top of my list for scary stories, but it was not terrible. I think you will need to be a very dedicated reader to finish this book.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Library Update

Hello Everyone!
I am back from my leave and I am excited about new books and projects. Keep checking back for new book reviews and project assistance.

Mrs. McNally