Kids Books - Fiction

A comedy isn’t about being funny...a comedy is about characters who dare to know that they may choose a happy ending after all.” Wednesday Wars, (p.262). The novel Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, is a piece of realistic/historical fiction set in 1967-1968 on Long Island. It follows a 7th grade boy named Holling Hoodhood. Holling starts the 7th grade, and is immediately convinced that his teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates him. The book follows Holling through the ups and downs of the school year. A notable character in the book is Doug Swieteck, another kid in Holling’s class. Doug is shown to be a bit of a trouble maker, but Holling seems to be friends with him to some extent. This is shown when Holling states, “Doug Swieteck once made up a list of 410 ways to get a teacher to hate you… I think things became illegal around Number 167.” (p.1) Also, a notable event in the book is when Holling saves his sister from being hit by a bus. When Holling goes to the hospital Mrs. Baker and his principal seem to show more concern for him than his parents. This is illustrated by the text, “When Mrs. ‘Your father has spoken over the phone with the nurse at the front desk. He has given approval for any necessary procedure, and says that, since everything seems under control, he will be along as soon as may be convenient.’” (p.126) Despite that, the tone is generally light-hearted and humorous. Holling narrates in a way that reflects the ideas and perceptions of a typical 7th grader. For example, “Reading Shakespeare. Of all the strategies Mrs. Baker could have come with, this would be the worst. Teachers bring up Shakespeare only to bore students to death. And I was going to be bored to death for the next 8 months. No human being could stand it.” (p. 40) Lastly, one of the themes of the book seems to pertain to growing up and destiny. Holling's father has pretty much planned out what both his kids are going to do with their lives. He expects certain things of them, and expects them to go along with his plans. Holling's older sister, Heather, repeatedly tries to go against their father, but she rarely gets anywhere. Holling generally tries not to rock the boat, but this fact changes as the book goes on. And at nearly the end of the book, Holling has a conversation with his father that illustrates this. His family is leaving Danny's bar mitzvah, and Holling's dad makes a comment about it. Holling voices his disagreement on this comment, and his dad asks him to explain his point. They then have a short conversation about growing up and becoming a man. Holling disagrees with his father's views, but instead of backing away from the conversation, he stands his ground. Holling's father asks who Holling is, and Holling responds, " 'I don't know yet,' I said finally. 'I'll let you know.' " (p.261). This implies that Holling plans on figuring out his own future despite of what his father says. This theme of the book seems to be: "Even though life can be hard, you don't have to let it defeat you. You can choose your own destiny and it's possible to be alright." In conclusion, Wednesday Wars is a somewhat entertaining book. It should be read by anyone who has nothing better to do. Its contents include the light humor and slightly interesting characters of a typical middle-grade novel.

Mallory is struggling to get into the BSC. They make her do tests that nobody could pass! She makes a new friend, Jessi and wonders if she could just start her own club. I thought this book was okay. it wasn't my favorite, but it was okay. I would highly recommend reading this book instead of skipping to number 15 in the series. It might be a little confusing.

Haruhiro is a great leader. I feel bad for Manato because he died to protect his teammates. Shihoru had a crush on Manato, seeing him die in front of her made her terrified and sad.

I thought Lauren Oliver's "Panic" was a really good book, even if I feel like it could've been even better if more came of the challenges in the game. The storyline was amazing with great potential and I think readers who fell for "The Hunger Games" trilogy would really enjoy. I thought the characters were really well-developed and worth rooting for. Also, and I know this will probably sound stupid and unimportant, but I actually really liked how the two main characters described in the description on the back did not fall in love with each other. I liked how their relationships weren't automatically with each other simply because they were the two the story mainly focused on. Anyways, the suspense was great and I liked how aspects of the story were touched down on and then brought back in later to influence what happens next. It's like you're told about something so you can read on and think, "Of course! I knew that would make a difference!" Overall, a really good read.

Four friends who have made an effort to conceal the hit and run accident of last summer, Julie, Ray, Helen, and Barry are back together again as a group. They've went their separate ways in an effort to forget what happened. They made a pact to never speak of that day again. The horrible event that occurred. The people that were involved. The mistake of 4 teens who were driving too fast at nighttime. The day those teens hit that little boy, and were pressured into not going back to help him. The past has finally caught up to them when Julie gets an anonymous yet bone chilling note that reads, "I Know What You Did Last Summer." Next thing the teens know, they are being perused by a mysterious figure... who seeks revenge.

Ever since Sabrina and Daphne's parent's went missing they have been in and out of foster homes, and now they are being sent to live with a grandma which they never knew they had. It turns out the two sister's are descendants of the Grimm brothers, and that the Grimms have kept magical beings and people in line for centuries, and now the job falls to them. Now they must face giants, fairies, Pixies, and discover who is behind all of the criminal happenings in this small town of Everafters. This book reminded me of the Percy Jackson series the way it put a new twist on fairy tales and the modern world, and it was very interesting and a page turner for sure.

I really like this book about the animals, I'm also an animal lover, and I have pets myself. I can really connect myself to the story and the author's feelings. I love the dog Zasha in the book, she's brave, intelligent, and very friendly. I think the story is very interesting and exciting, especially the part where the men in yellow van show up, when I was reading it, I was very nervous about what will happen. I'm also surprised when Mikhail's mother found that Zasha is having babies. At the beginning, I really hate Katia since she want to find Zasha and many many times, she almost put them into dangerous and troubles. But at the end, I really like Katia since she's actually a nice kid, and she actually loves animals.

This was a very fun book by Jacqueline Wilson. Even though Tracy is very funny though, you can see that she protects herself with her humor, and often lies about her "glamorous" mom coming back for her one day. She says all sorts of things about her mom, like how she travels abroad lots and that's why she never has time for Tracy. You can tell that Tracy is mean to many of the other kids living in her foster home because she's jealous and upset that she can't have what they have, like outings with their parents. I think this book is very good to help kids practice seeing things from someone else's point of view more!

This is a great book I like vampires and its a wonderful book full of horror and vampires. My favorite part is when Mr. tiny walks into the hall of princes and has great news about war.I recommend this book because if you like thrillers that will chill you to the bone this is the book for you.My favorite passage from the book is : then it was time for vampires to approach me with a wide range of problems and questions as a prince I was expected to deal with them all. The book has connections too twilight with vampires hiding from humans and some of the battles being a vampire.

This book is amazing 10/10 would recommend to anyone who likes op characters.