Kids Books - Friendship

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.

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.

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!

I love this book! This is based on a true story about the author herself, Patricia Polacco. Trisha has trouble reading. She could not read until she was in 5th grade. All the kids made fun of her and teased her. When her teachers would call on her to read aloud, they would have to help her with every word. She was bullied. Every day. She started not believing herself. But one teacher named Mr. Falker believes in her. He helps her and encourages her to overcome her reading disability. He teaches her that she CAN overcome her disability. And Patricia Polacco will NEVER forget him. Enjoy reading, and have a great day! ~AlphaWolf13

Sunshine or "Sunny" is undergoing a heart transplant. She's going to die. Atleast, for a few seconds, or a few minutes, maybe even longer. She plans to become the "new sunny" after her heart transplant. After all doesn't that make her a new person? The first time she went to the beach, well, not the first but she hasn't been in a long time. She meets Quinn, who she immediately likes. Then, things in Sunny's life drastically change. Her mother appears again. After what seems like so long. 8 years. She is so mad, confused, excited, nervous, she feels like her heart will burst. Then comes the tangle. He quest to find a boy fails, he mother has another child, she is growing distant from Kate, the "mother" who took care of her, almost all her life. Then comes the mess, but not the mess you normally think about. A beautiful mess. Her.

This is about a mean snake haired girl at MO Academy. She wants to be immortal and be a goddess and buys an expensive necklace which is rumored to make mortals magic goddesses. But she sets her heart on it even if there are sign that make it fake. Will medusa find its fake or true? I won't say. Just read it!!!

I like this book. I've read a lot of Ivy and Bean books. Ivy and Bean want $10 to buy a special cheese. They want this cheese because it has a special wax kind of coating that is fun to play with. So to get $10 they write and sell newspapers for $1 each.

This is a story of a pencil and an eraser.The eraser likes everything nice and clean. But then a pencil comes along and messes up his clean page. The eraser does not like it but when he goes into a pencil forest he does not know what to do. This book is the BEST funny story I have ever read! The pencil is causing all the trouble. It's a SUPER good book. I'll give it a 5 out of 5! I would recommend it if you're bored or mad to get laugh out of you! I love this book and I hope you like it too!

This book was okay, and I liked the plot a lot. It reminded me of the book, Hello Universe, but there was only one perspective. This is about a girl named Kammy who wants to join the “popular” group of girls when she moved to a new town. But after a fake inauguration she’s stuck in a well and can’t get out. The “popular” girls (or The Girls) have left her and they will find help, right? As she stays stuck in the well she starts to imagine other animals with her in the well. And when she finally gets out, she feels different, in a good way. This book is fine, but I wouldn’t recommend it.