The Lightning Thief

                           Review by: Maddie S.

This is an adventure book and I think that there is not one part where you will want to stop reading. It was very tense and the action never ends.

This book is about a twelve year old boy named Percy Jackson. It begins with Percy attending a boarding school with his best friend Grover Underwood. Percy is on probation and is worried about being kicked out of his sixth school in six years. By the end of the school year, Percy is not invited back to the school. While on vacation with his mom, his troubles continue. He and his mom are in a horrible accident, after which he ends up at a summer camp called Camp Half Blood. There he learns that the Greek gods are real and that there are people called half bloods who are half mortal and half god. At the camp, Percy is offered a quest to retrieve one of the god’s weapons that has been stolen. He takes Grover and another camper named Annabeth Chase along with him. On their quest, they travel throughout the United States fighting different mythical monsters. Will they find the stolen object and will they ever discover who the thief is?  

I think that this book is for ages 8-12 and parents. I suggest reading the book when you have a few hours of uninterrupted time. The author of this book is Rick Riordan.

This book was very, very exciting and it is very well written.  There are five books in the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  The Greek and Roman adventures continue in a second series, Heroes of Olympus. You can find them all in the school library. 

THE GIVER

By Griffin H.

Jonas is a normal boy in a normal city, where seemingly nothing goes on. There is no crime, no war, no fear, or any memories of pain. Every year that someone turns twelve, they are assigned a job.

The world goes on, oblivious to whatever happens around them, and the Giver is the one who holds all the memories of love, pain, and even death, and Jonas is singled out to become his student, to pass on the memories of real life outside of the city.

This is an amazingly well- written story with an imagination to match. This book’s descriptive properties make you feel as if you were in the story itself, with Jonas, during his rapidly changing lifestyle in a seemingly unchanging city. The book about his life, his family, and even possibly his escape from the city.

I would recommend The Giver to students in grades 4 and up. It’s a great read and won the Newberry Award for a good reason.

The Horn of Moran

A review by Dan S.

         This is the sequel to the book Slathbog’s Gold, and it is even stranger than the last book to the series, but by far not the last. The Horn of Moran is a great book and should definitely not be misjudged. It is great, but is not recommended until 10+ years old. It should be read after Slathbog’s Gold, but no later if you like it.

          So, it’s Alex’s second adventure, and he is very glad for it. Thus, when he finds out that a friend is leading it, he quickly joins. Upon joining, he meets two new people, Sindar and Val. Along the adventure, he goes through quite a few cities, and not very many were exciting. Eventually, he gets to the tower.

          At the tower, while everyone is asleep, Val enchants the rest of his party, but fails on Alex and Sindar. So Alex has to face Val, and the evil that possessed him. While victorious, he is only given three and a half hours. After he wins, he goes up to the top and collects the horn, and then hastily leaves.

          So this is a very good book, and so if you liked the prequel to The Horn of Moran, then you will like this book too. So, what are you waiting for? Get reading!

The Ear the Eye and the Arm

The Ear the Eye and the Arm

by Nancy Farmer

Book Review by Logan W.

I was searching through the library computer when The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, by Nancy Farmer, caught my eye.  This Newberry Honor Book was an exciting mix of sci-fi and fantasy, full of action.  The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm is for ages 9 and up, and gets better and better as the book goes through. 

Set in futuristic Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, powerful General Matsika has pushed the bad guys out of the city.   But General Matsika’s three children, Tendai, Rita and Kuda, sneak out of the house and get kidnapped by his enemies.  Their parents call in the strangest detectives in Harare, Ear, Eye, and Arm, but the children stay out of their reach.

The story is told from Tendai’s view as the kids go to toxic wastelands and flourishing ancient villages while they try to escape.  The book is always exciting and funny as the kids work together to figure out solutions.  There are many plots that take place in one book, and it’s a story that seems to never end.  

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

Suzanne Collins

By Maxine

This book is really good. It is about a girl who has to fight to survive!

In more detail, it is about another community in the future and this one has twelve districts that are really poor and one dominant Capitol that is really rich. To keep the districts in line the Capitol randomly chooses one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen from each district to compete in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. There are virtually no rules in this Hunger Games except that the last survivor wins and lives a life of worship and glory. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen from district 12 is selected and put with the other contestants in a very large outdoor arena in the woods filled with appropriate weapons and left to live or die. Katniss chooses to live and fight for what’s right!

In the arena, Katniss faces many horrors, such as bees as big as scorpions, brutal fighters, the torture of making a friend and then watching her die. But Katniss has something the others don’t. And she will use it to her advantage.

 Suzanne Collins tells the story of Katniss with refined detail and purpose and overall it made a great book even if the plot is a little disturbing. The Hunger Games is the first book in the Hunger Games Trilogy and the second one is really good too as is the third one so far(I am still reading it).This book is a bit bloody and not exactly what you would call “school appropriate” so I think it is best for fifth grade and up plus some kids might not be allowed to read it, your parents might want to read it first. But if you are allowed to read it, you should definitely go for it. It is available at the Seabury Middle School if you are interested. May your pages forever turn in happiness.