Kids Books - Skills

The Power of Poppy Pendle

The Power of Poppy Pendle

By Natasha Lowe

The Power of Poppy Pendle is about a little girl named Poppy. Despite her HUGE love to baking, her parents decide to send her to a witch school, to become a witch like her grandmother and her ancestors. Poppy despises witchcraft though and all she wants to do is bake, bake, bake! Her parents try desperatly to make her stop, and Poppy has to find a way to pursue her dreams! I love this book; it's so creative, fun and exciting!

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall

By Katie Alender

katieluv

I am a insane so it makes me feel better I know I am not the only one! It is inspiring

The Gary Paulsen Collection: Dancing Carl; Dogsong; Hatchet; Woodsong

The Gary Paulsen Collection: Dancing Carl; Dogsong; Hatchet; Woodsong

By Gary Paulsen

it was good for me and got good at the end of the part of the book when he found the survival pack in the plan and when he found the survival pack he was risked

Pick the Plot (Story Thieves)

Pick the Plot (Story Thieves)

By James Riley

Warning: This is NOT your regular book. But that's a good thing, right? Owen Conners is a regular boy, who wakes up one day and finds himself in a confusing time prison, where inmates live one day over and over again endlessly. But each day their memory resets with the time loop-- the prisoners never know how long they've been there, because they don't remember any previous days in the prison. Even worse, the prison is in the Cretaceous Period, where hungry dinosaurs roam. Sounds like torture, right? But there is one way to escape this nightmare-- through the door, with a 3-digit code. If someone guesses the wrong code, the day automatically resets for everyone. The only way to discover the correct digits for the codes is to outsmart the scenarios in three airlocks. But the time prison creators are very clever. If a prisoner solves an airlock and get a digit for the passcode, the prison day resets, so how could the prisoner possibly remember the digits to escape?? But that's where YOU come in, reader! This book is a pick-the-plot book, which means YOU decide between different choices to move the story along. Owen figures out that he is in the pick-the-plot book, and recruits you to help him escape so he can go find his friend Bethany. With the help of his new friend Kara Dox, another inmate, YOU choose what Owen and Kara do to find out the code. YOU have to remember the digits. Will you help Owen and Kara discover the digits and escape the time prison, or will you feed them mercilessly to dinosaurs? It's all up to you. :) I had so much fun reading this book! It was an adventure, and I loved how interactive it was! Yes, I've read regular pick-the-plot books, but this one took it to the next level! I mean, in how many books is it up to you to solve, remember, and choose so the characters can survive and escape? Not many, that's for sure! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys pick-the-plot books and adventures! It is a bit confusing if you haven't read the rest of the series, so maybe before reading this book you should read the other great books in this series! This book was great! 4/5 stars!

The Stolen Chapters (Story Thieves)

The Stolen Chapters (Story Thieves)

By James Riley

If this book was anything, it was CLEVER. And MINDBLOWING. And utterly EPIC. James Riley put himself in his own book, he put the first Story Thieves book in THIS book, the characters find out that they're fictional, they see their OWN BOOK and - It's just completely MINDBLOWING I CANNOT GET OVER HOW MINDBLOWING THIS IS. I love how the flashbacks come and pass and how Owen ironically thinks how annoying flashbacks are and - oh, do you know why he (and Kiel) are having flashbacks? Because Kiel erased their memories with his forget spell. But the memories do come back after awhile, you can only wonder What? Why? How? Who? When? My final say is that James Riley is on top of his game with these beautifully and ironically twisted stories, and I am just in love with his books right now.

Jinxed

Jinxed

By Amy McCulloch

This book was OUTSTANDING! Lacey Chu is a 7th grader and an extremely talented engineer who loves to tinker with creations of her own. Her dream is to be a companioneer, a person who creates bakus invented by the legendary Monica Chan, Lacey's IDOL. Monica created bakus as new electronic technology that looks and acts like an animal, but has all the tech to get you through your day. But to follow this dream, Lacey first has to make it into Profectus, the prestigious school run by MONCHA, Monica's company. And for that, she needs a Level 3 baku! Lacey stumbles upon some practically destroyed material in a ravine while trying to help out her best friend Zora. But only Lacey can turn rubble into a treasure, as she creates Jinx, the cat baku that can communicate telepathically with her! Lacey steps into Profectus with an enemy, Carter, who is a bully with an advanced boar baku that is determined to get her kicked out of the school, but Lacey is sure she can make her mark with baku battles... Add together a great team of new friends, a cute team captain, and a possible double crosser, equaling one AMAZING book! I was completely engaged as I read and I just couldn't stop! Amy McCulloch's writing pulled me in and my curiosity to find out what happened next kept me flipping the pages as quickly as I could! Jinxed is an amazing new novel and a sure-to-be hit! I recommend this book to everyone looking for their next great read! 5/5 stars!

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (The Mysterious Benedict Society)

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict (The Mysterious Benedict Society)

By Trenton Lee Stewart

Nicholas Benedict is a child genius. He can read any book in minutes, can figure out how to fix any machine, and has a phonographic memory. But he also has narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a sleeping conditions that sends Nicholas in a deep sleep at any unexpected moment, but especially when he is experiencing strong emotions. Because of his character traits and his condition, Nicholas is sent to Rothchild's Manor after he is kicked out of a different orphanage. Here he is locked in his own room at night and bullied by the Spiders. He makes enemies and one friend-but will the pressure from the Spider's crack the friendship? Nicholas soon finds out about a mystery to solve-a hidden treasure. Turns out the founders of the orphanage (the Rothchilds) had more treasure-and part of it was missing, the secret buried with the couple. Nicholas is determined to find the treasure to free him from the orphanage life. But someone else is looking for the treasure-Mr. Collum, the orphanage director. Will Nicholas be able to beat Mr. Collum to the finish line? I liked in this book that Nicholas really makes having so much intelligence look like fun. In some other books children with incredible knowledge are portrayed in a negative fashion. I really liked that this was solid background information on Mr. Benedict from the series "The Mysterious Benedict Society". Now we meet Nicholas, his child self and learn where he came from, about his sleeping condition, and how he grew up. Although there are a few gaps, we now can understand Nicholas as an adult. The main character Nicholas, had depth. We felt what he was feeling, we understood him, we cried when he cried. However, the other characters seemed to be a bit predictable. John had a sob story background, and was hesitant to defy the bullies. Violet was kind and determined to help her family. Even though the characters had predictable faults I think Stewart did a great job of tying all the characters and the plot together so that the puzzle pieces fit. I also liked in this book that there were little hidden clues to the big picture. Stewart did a fine job of foreshadowing. I recommend this book to anyone 5th grade and up. I think the characters and overall mystery in this book would not be suitable for anyone below. On the other hand, I think this is the sort of book that any adult can read and still find enjoyable. I think this book is perfect for mystery lovers. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

The Mysterious Benedict Society: Mr. Benedict's Book of Perplexing Puzzles, Elusive Enigmas, and Curious Conundrums

The Mysterious Benedict Society: Mr. Benedict's Book of Perplexing Puzzles, Elusive Enigmas, and Curious Conundrums

By Trenton Lee Stewart

this is a good book. If you have read the Mysterious Benedict Society books, you will most likely enjoy solving these puzzles! (even if you haven't read it)

Brave Irene: A Picture Book

Brave Irene: A Picture Book

By William Steig

Melody

In life you need to not give up because a girl named lrene dini’t up and she has been throw a lot things in the short story Brave lrene wanted to give the dress to the duchess instead of her mom doing it in the story, “Brave Irene” by William staig Irene learns to not give up because if she gave up she would’nt be where she is right now. She probably went to see her mom face again and The Duchess would’nt get the dress that she wanted, Irene would just be freezing in the cold with nothing no blanket and it’s snowing she can’t even make a fire because snow is pretty much water and you need to put on a fire with water one reason when lrene did it give up is when the wind told her to go home thing, another reason is she fell in a hole For example the wind told her to go home lrene was scared but she didn't get up because she wanted to make her mom proud and not waste all of her mom's time stitching up The Duchess dress that's how she never give up and in the text it says, “the wind said go home lrene said I will do no such thing”. Another example is that she is brave to go bring the duchess her dress. this shows that lrene is brave. Another example is lrene I was looking for the dress after she lost it and she couldn't see with all the snow in her eyes and she fell in a hole and twisted her leg I'm sure it hurt but Irene kept on walking on the path. In the text she, “said ouch and there was a little tear that went down her cheek she wipt it off quickly so it won't freeze on her face”another example that she is brave is to go when it’s snowing. this shows that lrene is brave. Another example is she was freezing but she kept on walking and she was so cool a lot and she just kept on going on and he didn't think that you were going to die. And she was thinking about her mom and how she wanted to get back to her mom because she was really sick. In the text it says that she was, “shuffling through the snow.'' Another example that she is Brave is to takc care of her mom. This shows that lrene is brave. As you can see lrene it is very carrying and she is loving and she is very brave because she loves her mom and she does the work for her mom and she gives her mom a quilt and she meets her some lemon tea with honey. And she never gives up because if she did give up then she cannot see her mom’s face again and The Duchess won'tl get her dress that she wants and everything will all be messed up. And I'm sure that thay will all Miss Irene even if they don't know her I think that this book was awesome because I really enjoyed it and it made a lot of sense and it is something that I will be again and again definitelyand I am happy that she accomplished what she wanted to do.

The Other Side

The Other Side

By Jacqueline Woodson

In life people will want you to do things you don't wanna do. In the story ‘’The Other Side’’ by Jacqueline Woodson clover wanted to play with the people on the other side of the fence but her mom and friend Sandra didn’t want her to. Luckily it didn’t stay that way forever. ‘’The Other Side’’ teaches to not always listen to what people say. My first reason for this is that when her mom told her not to play with the people on the other side of the fence, And when her friend told her not to play with the other girl (Annie), And lastly when her mom told her not to play outside on rainy days. My first reason why ‘’The Other Side’’ teaches to not always listen to what people say is when her mom told her not to play with the people on the other side of the fence. What i mean by this is if she had listened to her mom she would have never met Annie. Also if she would have took her mom’s advice the whole book would have never of happened, and there wouldn’t be a story to tell about this. I know this because in the part clover starts explaining where she lives and it says ‘’And mama said, Don’t climb over that fence when you play. She said it wasn’t safe.’’ This shows that if she would have listened to her mom she would have never got to play with Annie. My second reason why ‘’The Other Side’’ teaches to not always listen to what people say is when her friend Sandra told her not to play with Annie. What i mean by this is when they were playing jump rope and Annie walked up to them and asked to play but it says ‘’And my friend Sandra said no without even asking the rest of us.’’ This shows that Sandra probably said no because she didn’t want clover and the other girls to play with Annie. My final reason why ‘’The Other Side’’ teaches to not always listen to what people say is when her mom told her not to play outside on rainy days. If she would have listened to her mom and just stayed inside she might not have got to introduce herself to Annie. In the part that this happened her and her mom were going back and forth about her playing outside on that rainy day and it says ‘’ Mama wouldn’t let me go outside in the rain.’’ This shows that her mom hasn’t really been a help to their friendship. And it is also a good thing that she didn’t listen to her mom.

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