The Great Book Blogger Written for and by Nixon's 4th graders

Summary – The Tale Of Emily Windsnap is about a girl named Emily. She and her mother live in a broken down ship. Emily goes to a middle school and soon experiences the first time swimming. When she jumps into the water, she feels as if her legs are shutting together into one solid block. She screams and starts to submerge into the water. Her swim coach jumps in and saves her from drowning. From then on, she is afraid to get near water. One night, she got her courage and snuck out of her room. She throws herself off the edge of the boat and waits for the magic to start. Suddenly, she feels exactly what she had felt in the pool. When she looked at her feet, she was shocked to see a sleek tail!! After a while of exploration, she finds a friend. A mermaid named Shona. They bond together quickly into a pair of best friends. Soon they find out a stunning secret. Emily’s father is a prisoner at King Neptune’s palace.

Read this story to find out if the 2 girls succeed in saving Emily’s father or never make it back.

Recommendation – I rate this book 5 stars because the author Liz Kessler is very descriptive. She writes in a style so that when you read the book she can write so much out of one small topic. I think this book is suited for 3-5th graders because some words are hard.

Author- Liz Kessler

# Of pages- 224

Summary: In Primeval, Danny and Lester go to South Africa to contain an anomaly. An anomaly is a gateway through time. There they meet Sophie and two very fierce dinosaurs! In Europe rain pours down and Abby and Conner discover this huge anomaly in the rain. Many adventures continue after this!

Recommendation: 5 stars for the action and adventure. It also has a great ending. If you like dinosaurs and time travel, you’ll like this book!

Author: Simon Guerrier
Pages: 231

Summary-The Red Pyramid is a Book about Sadie and Carter Kane. They are trying to get their father back because their father got taken by the God set . The God Osiris is controlling their dad’s mind. Will their dad come back? To figure this out they need to learn about their history, how to do magic and their natural powers. They get help along the way by characters that they think they know about. However, they find they only know a little bit about them.

Recommendation – I rate this book four stars because it explains the Red Pyramid very well and has a balance in facts. The reason I didn’t rate it 5 stars is because the book was very complicated. I rate this book for a fifth or sixth grader because of this.

Author- Rick Riordian
Pages- 514

Summary – Dude Where’s my Spaceship? is about three alien kids named Ploo, Lek, and Klatu that crash into Earth by Klatu who is driving the spaceship. When they land in the Nevada desert, Ploo gets captured by two earthlings that came from Area 51, an army base, and drives away with them. The aliens can change something else for an arp that is equal to one hour. For example, Lek and Klatu turned into humans and Ploo turned into a dog to disguise themselves. The disguises make the humans think that the aliens aren’t there, but they‘re actually there. The aliens are confusing things on earth and using them improperly like eating the pizza box instead of the pizza! The aliens use ESP to communicate with each other and to find out what the humans are thinking. Ploo ends up making friends with a human, named Lilly, who understands Ploo. It has an ending that warms your heart.

Recommendation – I rated this book 5 stars because it’s interesting and funny. It is funny when things are unfamiliar to the aliens like thinking a cactus is biting them. A 3rd, 4th and 5th grader would enjoy this book.

Author: Dan Greenberg
Pages: 82

Summary – The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows is about an 11-year old girl named Olive. Her family moves into a mysterious old mansion where she finds old paintings creepy that don’t come off the walls. When Olive finds a pair of spectacles (glasses) she finds they are a key to a magical world of “Elsewhere.” When Olive goes inside to Elsewhere she meets a 9-year old boy named Morton. He is annoying, but Olive decides to help him escape out of Elsewhere. The former owner of the house, Aldous McMartain, had trapped Morton inside the painting for centuries. So Olive finds out that there are others in the paintings that McMartain had trapped as well. Will Olive defeat McMartaine? Will Morton escape? Find out in The Book of Elsewhere. (Best if you read this book with a flashlight under the bed sheets-shhh?)

Recommendation – I rate this book 5 stars because the description was excellent. I recommend this book for 3rd – 5th graders.

Summary – The story, Terrier in the Tinsel, begins with a man named Percy in the hospital because he had a heart attack. He had a dog, named Twinkle, and they don’t know where he is now. The main character is Mandy. They go try to find the dog and find clues on their way. Do they end up finding the dog? Read this interesting story to find out.

Recommendation – I recommend this book to people who like dog stories. I rate this book 5 stars because I enjoyed the clues and the tale of finding the dog.

Pages- 138

Summary – The Last Dragon is about an orphaned elf who finds himself abandoned and alone. Joining a hunter, named Monser, and a woman named Sajra, Yorsh the elf finds out that he is part of an ominous prophecy that states that the last elf must join the last dragon to save the land from the cold rain and darkness. As the years pass, Yorsh finds himself responsible for the last dragon on earth and an imprisoned orphan. Together, will the last dragon and the last elf stop the rain and bring some happiness to Earth? Read this book to find out! You’re in for a thrilling surprise!

Recommendation – I rate this book 3½ stars because it is a very interesting and a good story that shows that the way to understand the world is through just being simple. It also shows in the end that prophecies or predictions about oneself don’t mean anything if you don’t want them to. However, quite a few people died in the story and a death at the end wasn’t needed to make it a good book. I would recommend this book for grades no younger than fourth due to the complex storyline.

Author: Silvana De Mari

Summary – The Last Olympian is an interactive and engaging book that takes place in New York. It is about a boy named Percy and his friends. They have to defend their parents’ home place, Mount Olympus. The enemies that are attacking are the Titans. The only conflict is that all the gods are preventing a humuongus giant from reaching New York. While the gods are away keeping the giant from coming, the Titans get a free passage into Mount Olympus, except for Percy and his friends. Can Percy and his friends defend Mount Olympus against the 300 demons and Kronos? Will New York City get overtaken by demons? Will the kids all die at the end? To find out, read The Last Olympian!

Recommendation – I rate this book five stars out of five stars because it had great description. Rick Riordan, the author, also has a creative way of writing, which I think you will enjoy. I think this book is good for grades three through five. If you have not read this book already you should read it!

Author- Rick Riordan

Number of pages- 381

Summary: Tale of Despereaux is a story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of a Thread. The mouse, Despereaux, was born in a castle, but he disobeys the rule of the mice. He falls in love with a Princess named Princess Pea and let her touch him. All of these things he did were wrong. As a punishment, Despeaux gets thrown in the dungeon and encounters rats. This book is made of 5 books within it. Book 1 is A Mouse gets Born. Book 2 is Chiaroscuro. Book 3 is Gor – The Tale of Miggery Sow. Book 5 is Coda.

Recommendation: I rate The Tale of Despereaux five stars for having a great story line. I think this book is good for fifth graders since some of the vocabulary was hard.

Author: Kate Dicamillo
Pages: 269

Summary: Fablehaven is the first book in a series about the adventures of Seth and Kendra, two completely ordinary siblings. In this book they are introduced to Fablehaven, a sanctuary for mythical creatures. As the back cover says: Exciting? Yup. Magical? You bet. Safe? Well actually, quite the opposite… When a witch by the name of Muriel purposely frees and unleashes the power of the evil demon Bahumat, chaos reigns.
Will Kendra defeat the dark demon or will Fablehaven be destroyed? Read this amazing book and find out!

Recommendation: I rate this book 5 stars because it has suspense, magic, and funny events. It’s great for someone who likes a book with magic, transformation, fun and wit sprinkled in. I think it is suitable for a 4th grader who likes reading a lot (Like me!).

Author: By Brandon Mull