Getting Air

The Bookworm says........ Maybe. Getting Air by Dan Gutman was a pretty good book. When Jimmy Zimmerman, his sister Julia, and his two friends Harry and David head off in a plane, they weren't expecting anything exciting. The plan was to go to Jimmy and Julia's cousins house in Newport Beach. Their uncle had promised to take tthe to the X Games which were being held in Los Angeles.  This was quite a big deal though, because all of the boys were big skateboarders, and they were hoping to maybe get some free t-shirts, or best case get sponsored! Did this happen? No. Not at all. All of the sudden during the flight, there was a scream. A thud. And a man with a mask. The scream was the stewardess, she had been stabbed. Also the cause  of the thud. Then, Arcadia, the flight attendant started to cry because she was friends with the stewardess. Then, another man stood up. He had a bomb strapped to his belt. When one of the little  old ladies on the plane said " I think the stewardess is dead!" the man said that she should shut up and sit down or she would be dead too! The plane starts to turn, and dip. They think hopefully that it is just turbulence, but in their head, they know there is a fight with two more hijackers in the cockpit. When one of the hijackers starts going at Arcadia with the pencil he used to stab the stewardess, Jimmy nails him over the  head wit his iron skateboard. He crumples to the ground. Then, all the old ladies went after the second guy wit their knitting needles. Boom. Two unconscious, two to go. They went over to the cockpit door which, surprise  surprise was locked, they grabbed the emergency key and when the door opened Arcadia threw a pot of boiled water a one of the hijackers and they attacked. Boom. All them down, but along with the pilots. They need to fly the plane to safety. The plane starts to run out of gas, and they try to land. The plane rips and skids across the forest floor. Wen Jimmy wakes up, he runs to see how bad it is. Te only survivors are Jimmy, Julia, David, Harry, Arcadia, and Mildred. Over the next few days, they find food, shelter (in the plane), make fire, and get clean grandma clothing. They are all getting incredibly bored though. Then, Jimmy had an idea to pull off the top of the plane and make it a half pipe. So they do. But before they get to try it a policeman came to get them. Finally!! They weren't lost anymore!! Found at last!!!! They go back to their parents, and have nice, lovey dovey reunions. Then the go on every talk show, newspaper, and kids are asking for autographs. They even get sponsored!!! Arcadia became spokesperson of the UN for the US. Julia got full scholarship to any college in the US though she wasn't even in high school! Mildred got commercials with all those products- wheelchairs, denchers, and laxatives. In the end, it was a somewhat happy ending. I would recommend  this book to anyone  that is interested in skateboarding, 9-11, planes, or just a good sports story. This wasn't my favorite because I don't particularly enjoy that type of spots book, but I guess if you like that kind of thing you would like this book!

The Bookworm's Tendency

Hey everyone, Bookworm here. I just wanted to say, that as you an probably see, I have a tendency to like or "Say YES" to almost all the books I read. If you disagree leave a comment, tell me! If you put it under anonymous I wont know who wrote it, and if you write it with your user name, I will know, and i wont be hurt or offended if you feel differently. So please, tell ME how YOU feel!

Divergent

The Bookworm says..........YES!!!!! Divergent by Veronica Roth was an AMAZING book!! To start, there are five factions. They are Erudite, Candor, Amity, Dauntless, and Abnegation. Each one has a virtue that they live by. Erudite the geniuses, Candor the honest, Abnegation the selfless, Amity the peaceful, and Dauntless the brave. But it mostly starts with a girl named Beatrice Prior and her brother Caleb. They live in the Abnegation section of future Chicago. Beatrice has just turned 16 and is having faction-transfer simulation tests. When she gets her results, they are extremely dangerous. She is Divergent. At the choosing ceremony, she lets her blood drop onto the Dauntless coals. She renames herself as Tris, and tries her best to become Dauntless. The initiation is very hard. You have to jump onto a train, then jump off it onto a building, then into a hole. All the while, there are two instructors the nice- Four, and the cruel, brutal, sick- Eric. Then there is brutal fighting, and more simulations. And the rankings. Ahhh the dreaded rankings. Will you do well? Will you not? Before she knows it, Tris finds herself above her competition, above Drew, Molly, Peter. Above her friends Christina, Al, Will. Above everyone. Little did she know, this was dangerous, almost as dangerous as being Divergent. There is an attack in the middle of the night, and Tris is saved by Four. After a few times visiting together, and after the initiation is over and the failers are faction-less, Tris and Four become Boyfriend and Girlfriend. Four discovers interesting information about the Erudite planning war against Abnegation. They even use the Dauntless as minions, after injecting them with a serum that will make all respond to the Erudite leader, and will not remember a thing when awoken. This affects everyone. Well, everyone but the Divergent. The few Divergent among them gather against the Erudite who had done this to them, and help take down the computer bank, and turn against them. This book was amazing, a great read that will have you calling out, and sitting on the edge of  your chair, and gripping the table. This book truly deserves its spot in the Barnes and Nobles top 10!

Hunger

The Bookworm says........YES! Hunger by Michael Grant was a G-REAT book! This was the second book in the Gone series by Michael Grant. The first book was previously reviewed on March 10, 2012. Things in the FAYZ are getting out of control. Kids are starving. There are even thoughts of cannibalism. Little Petey's powers are developing along with lots of people, such as Duck and Hunter. There are even new mutations arising from the water and fields such as the blue, swimming bats, or the zekes, the long black worm like creatures in the fields that eat the people that venture past the edge of the field. Albert devises a plan to make money. Sam is falling apart, and Astrid can't even keep him together.Lana even tries to overpower the Darkness. Will she succeed? Even worse another battle between Coates and Perdido Beach arises when the Coates kids try to take the power plant. Hunger is a great continuation of Gone, and is a great thriller.

Out Of The Dust

The bookworm says..........Yes! Out Of The Dust by Karen Hesse was indeed a great book. I wouldn't even think of reading this but I had an MCAS selection that was two poems from the book. Billie Jo wants nothing more in life than to get out of the dust. She lives in the dust bowl with her dad Bay, and her momma. Billie Jo has one special connection to her mama. They both play the piano. Real good. But one day there is an accident. Bay accidentally leaves a pail of kerosene near the stove. Ma mistakes it for coffee. That's where it all goes wrong. Ma gets burnt real bad. Billie Jo goes to throw the burning kerosene outside after her mama runs out, not knowing she is coming back in. The fire burns mama and the baby and they both die. Billie Jo tries to put the fire out and burns her hands. Now she cant even play the piano. Billie Jo struggles and just cant get out of the dust. When she does, she runs back for her father because she is so lonely. This book was great. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes poetry seeing as the whole book is poems.

The Other Side Of The Island

The Bookworm says..........YES! The Other Side Of The Island by Allegra Goodman was an amazing book. Honor's parents break all the rules. They go out late. Honor was born in year H and they gave her a name that had a silent H. They agreed with the Forecaster. They sing, dance, and play music. All these things go against Earth Mothers attempts to keep them "safe". Honors parents even have a second child! Honor and her parents live on island number 375 in the Tranquil Sea, after being reassigned from the north because it wasn't safely "enclosed". The process of enclosure is going on in all of the islands. Enclosure is putting up a bubble around the island and projecting "safe" weather. When Honors parents disappear she does her best to keep her and her brother Quintilian out of the orphanage. Will she succeed? This book was sensational and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind a slight chill.

Witch Child

The Bookworm says..........Maybe. Witch Child by Celia Rees was an O.K book. A young lady named Mary sets off on a journey to the New World when her grandmother, an alleged witch, dies. There she has all sorts of struggles and triumphs. During her stay, she herself is accused of witchcraft. The reasons I didn't like this book are that, it was quite slow in the beginning, and the language was very old world. You would like this book, however, if you are a fan of the Salem Witch Trials.

Among the Hidden

The Bookworm says......YES! Among the Hidden, a Shadow Children novel, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, was a truly stunning book. 11 year-old Luke Garner has no friends, and has never been off his family's small farm. This is because he is among the hidden. This means he is a shadow child. A forbidden third. In Luke's time and government, third children were not allowed. Banished. Illegal. The government even has population police that hunt down and kill third children. The population law was created when there was a shortage of food, because the farmers didn't have a good harvest. The government is micro-managing the countries. They control where you live, what you eat, what you plant, and even how many children you have. Luke is allowed outside sometimes, as long as he runs inside to his hiding place when his mother calls for him. But then a group of wealthy people, called barrens, build lots of house where there used to be a large forest. Now Luke cant even go near the windows. One day when he is sitting in his attic bedroom, he thinks he sees a flash of light. He carefully observes the house for weeks and decides there is another shadow child living there. He sneaks over to the house and meets Jen, an outgoing, barren, shadow child. She is planning a rally, where all the shadow children will march to the presidents house and demand freedom. Will it work? I surely hope so! I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind a little morbidness, sadness, and loves a good thriller!

The Clique

The Bookworm says....................YES! The Clique by Lisi Harrison was a great book! A rich, popular, and all-around spoiled girl, Massie Block, has to have her father's best friends family stay in HER GUEST HOUSE! She cant believe her bad luck when they have a daughter Claire that will be in the same grade as her! It gets worse when she has to cancel her Labor day shopping trip with Dylan, Alicia, and Kristen, the other girls in the Clique, just to meet their family. You will hear the tale of Claire, her struggle to fit in, and how The Clique tries to take her down. I would surely recommend this book to any girl that likes to talk, or be the center of attention.

Gone

The Bookworm says........YES! I just recently finished reading the book Gone by Michael Grant. This book was utterly, truly, positively, amazing! In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Vanished. Disappeared. Poof. Whatever you want to say. Everyone ages fifteen and over in Perdido Beach,CA(a.k.a fallout alley) are gone. Fourteen year-old Sam Temple, is in the middle of the boringest civil war history lecture in the world, when his teacher disappears. Sam, his best friend Quinn, and Astrid the genius, set out for town. There they find fires, car wrecks, and again, NO ADULTS! Also, Astrid's four-year old, autistic brother, Little Petey, is nowhere to be found. They venture up to the nuclear power plant and find Little Petey, safe and sound. As the days pass, the local bully, Orc, starts to take over. The kids are dealing with food shortages, fighting amongst themselves,and some of the kids are developing odd powers, such as, shooting fire or light from your hands, teleporting, super-strength, and incredible speed. Nothing is going right when the kids from the elite boarding school up the hill, Coates, come down. Then, when they try to find the adults, they come to a barrier, that burns on touch. They are trapped in a big bubble! They name this bubble the FAYZ for fallout alley youth zone. When the head bully at Coates, named Caine, starts harassing the kids, Sam and his friends take to the forest. There they find Lana, who was driving with her grandfather when he poofed. They battle talking coyotes, flying snakes, and The Darkness. Just whe you think the mayhem is over, it isn't. It turned out that when you hit sweet old fifteen, you poof. You will hear of the kids struggle to find food, sort out frustration, and survive the big poof. This book was an action packed thriller, and is good for anyone who likes an adventure.

The Dodgeball Chronicles: Knights of the Lunch Table

The Bookworm says........NO! I just read the book The Dodge ball Chronicles: Knights of the Lunch Table by Frank Cammuso. I did not like this book. There are multiple reasons but, it was a graphic novel. I was unaware of this when I checked this book out of my school library. I am not a fan of graphic novels because I feel like its not really a book, its more like a Sunday comic. This book tells the story of Artie King, and his struggles to fit in at his new school. at the school, Camelot Middle, the school bullies target him. The bullying group is also called "The Horde" and they are out to kill Artie. They take his lunch, chase him around his school, and lots of other things. When the locker Artie is assigned is the haunted locker that only the person meant to rule the school can open, he thinks his life is over. But when he opens it, the unthinkable happens. The Horde wants his locker. They challenge him and his friends to a dodge ball challenge. Artie calls his team the Knights and they get together to practice and destroy the Horde. I personally would not reccomend this book, and think it wa s a waste of an hour of my February vacation time. But, everyone has their opinions, so if you like reading short, quick books, or quirky little comics, you would probably like this book.

I,Q The Series

The bookworm says.......YES! I,Q The White House by Roland Smith, is book 2 of a two book series, was amazing! Two normal children, Quest(Q) and Angela's rock star parents Blaze and Roger, get married, go on tour, and argue with their micro-manager, Buddy, A LOT! While all this is happening their children are dealing with, well, the fate of the U.S. They need to stop the Mossad terrorists ghost cell from bombing, destroying, or at the very least, harming, the U.S.. The two kids, along with a little help from the secret service, and the on/off roadie, Boone, attempt to take over the ghost cell, figure out who's behind it, and find out if Angela's mother is dead, alive, or posing as a Mossad agent! All the while minding their manners at the White House! This book is good for anyone who likes a good thriller, mystery, or is interested in the U.S history!

The Callahan Cousins: Keeping It Cool

The bookworm says..........YES! The Callahan Cousins: Keeping it Cool by Elizabeth Doyle Carey was a great book. Cousins forever Kate, Phoebe, Neeve, and Hillary are enjoying their usual summer stay with their grandmother, Gee, on Gull Island. When Gee needs their help getting donations for the annual clinic benefit they quickly agree. But when they find out their enemy, Sloan Bicket, will also be gathering donations, it turns into a competition. Kate, the shy, relaxed, "old lady", and the cook of the cousins decides to completely change her image and become "the cool girl" on the island. But this doesn't come easily. The four cousins struggle through friendship troubles, fights with the "cool girl", ear piercing, midnight swims, faux tanning, hair dyeing, and eyebrow picking all just to become "cool". But what is "cool"? This book teaches young girls every where just to be yourself and she shows the world what "cool" really is.

The Revealers

The Bookworm says.........YES! I recently finished The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm. This book was amazing. It shows that you don't have to be popular to make a difference. Russel, Elliot, and Catalina were all picked on for different reasons. They wrote down their stories and sent them out to their entire grade. After that, people start sending in their stories to be sent out. The trio deals with lots of bullies that do things like drop them off bridges, spill soda down their shirts, and make up stories about them and their families. This book shows just how bad bullying gets. I would recommend this book to anyone that has been bullied, is a bully, or has observed bullying.

The House of Dies Drear

The Bookworm says........NO! I just read The House Of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton as a school reading assignment. I would have never read this book on my own and am not happy I had to read it for school either. The Small family is moving from a town in North Carolina to a small town in Ohio. Their new house is HUGE! And the only other person for a 1/4 mile is the houses caretaker, Mr.Pluto. Now the creepy part, the house belonged to white abolitionist, Dies Drear. This means there are lots of secret passage ways snaking through and under the house. There is also a lot of ghost work going on. Do the four triangles left by a prowler meant to be a sign to leave, or a Greek cross? Is the sticky apple mess a sign to clean up their act, or just a mean prank? What will they do with Dies Drears treasure chamber? Will the Smalls prank against the Darrows work? Find out by reading this book. I didn't like this book because there was a lot of times when women were treated as if they are not equal to men. You will enjoy this book if you enjoy learning about the Underground Railroad.

Dive

The Bookworm says.......... YES! I just read the Dive trilogy by Gordon Korman. These books were great. When Kaz, Adriana, Dante, and Star are brought to the small Caribbean island of Saint-Luc on a dive internship, they are definitely surprised. Kaz just got his dive license, Adriana is just a snobby rich girl, Dante is a colorblind photographer that's scared to dive, and Star limps because of her cerebral palsy. They are the four least likely people to get a dive internship. They have to figure out what Tad Cutter and his crew are hiding from them, dive to incredible depths to find buried Spanish treasure, go down in a submersible to 700 ft deep, and the whole time avoid the divers sickness, The Bends. Can they find the treasure and get it appraised, all the while keeping it from Tad Cutter? If you fantasize about fish, diving, or just being in the water, this is the book for you. Gordon Korman also wrote another great book, Swindle, that I read last year.

The Underneath

The bookworm says.......NO! This book was NOT good. Kathi Appelt did a good job on her book, but it was not my taste. An old hunting dog, Ranger, is held chained to an old man, Garfaces front porch. When a pregnant mama cat is dropped on the side of the highway and finds Ranger, its like love at first sight. When her kittens are born and named Puck and Sabine they are told "Stay in the Underneath" Puck ventures out and is captured, so his mama trys to follow and is captured also. They get drowned in the river but Puck escapes. He makes his home in a tree where the 1000 year old snake, Grandmother Moccasin, is waiting. You will hear of Pucks adventures through the forest and Rangers struggles to find him. Kathi Appelt uses a lot of personification and i thought it was too much. Also I thought it was quite gory to be killing off the main characters. If you are an animal lover, you should not read this book

The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet

The bookworm says.........Maybe. The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet by Erin Dionne was a good book, but not the best. When Hamlet Kennedy finds out that her sister Desdemona or Dezzie for short, was going to be in her 8th grade class she almost died. Her sister is a 7 year old genius who needs more creative studies on her record before she can get into college. Hamlets parents work for renaissance fairs and when her social studies and English teachers announce they will be studying Shakespeare, and that Hamlets parents will be coming in to help, Hamlet takes that as a threat for social death. Hamlet deals with being the third wheel, being framed for something, discovering a gift she DOESN'T want, and being left in the dark while her sister shines. This book was a maybe because there were some parts where the Shakespeare language was used withought being explained so I had no idea what some of the words meant. This book is good for any girl that doesn't mind stopping her reading to look up some words on dictionary.com

13 Gifts

The bookworm says...........YES! 13 Gifts was another book written by Wendy Mass(A Mango Shaped Space), and a great one. This is the third book in the trilogy by Wendy Mass. It starts with 11 Birthdays, then Finally 12, and 13 Gifts. When Tara Brennan does some unthinkable things to try and fit in, she is suspended from school and sent on a summer long vacation to her bratty cousin Emily's house, in the sleepy town of Willow Falls instead of going to Madagascar to study lemurs with her parents. She feels like her life is over. She experiences having to make new friends, a wild goose chase, her first steps as a teenager, and her first crush. Tara sees that Willow Falls is a lot more complicated than what meets the eye and she learns just how valuable friendship can be.