Ella Enchanted is a book for all ages.  Mostly girls would like to read this book, though boys could read it too.  The book is about a young girl named Ella, who had a curse put upon her when she was born.  Whenever she tries to fight the curse, she will get sick.   It sad most of the time, but it can be really funny at parts.

What I liked best was thew description of the book.  The author described it so well, making it feel like I was Ella.  Especially descriptive waswhen they were on the carriage ride, and Hattie was taking advantage of Ella’s curse.  That was the best description in the book in my opinion

I’ve liked the whole book so far.  It is so easy for me to understand, while still keeping the seventh grade level reading abundant.  It is the perfect book for someone who likes fairy tales.  Serious people, that don’t believe in fairy tale or fantasy things wouldn’t really get into this book like I did.  You should definitely read this book if you are looking for a good book to daydream about.

 

The Elevator Family Book  
Carmelina

A great book that I read this year was a book called The Elevator Family. I’ll describe the family a little bit so you can get a clue on what they’re like. Walter and Winona Wilson are two strange parents but come to think of it all parents are weird.  Winona and Wilson decide to go on a vacation and choose their room to be Otis or in other words the elevator. Winslow Wilson and his twin sister Whitney are both ten years old. Walter and Winona travel all over and stay in many strange places but to them it’s just normal. The twins Winslow and Whitney love playing with each other but most of thee time Whitney is drawing on her sketch pad while Winslow is playing pick up sticks.

            I would recommend this book to young readers because it is an easy quick read. You will enjoy this book throughout the whole story. If you like comedies or books you can relate to then this is definitely the book for you. I bet if you liked the book so much you could finish it in one day.

            The parts I liked about this book was how I related my family to the Wilson family. We are alike in many ways. I’ll give you a few examples on how we’re alike.

First we love to travel, I have two strange parents, me and my sister are kind of like the twins, because people always mistaken us for twins. Another thing I liked about this book was how the book flowed smoothly, and how it gave me such good laughs. What I mean by that is I loved the part when they decided the elevator is where they were going to stay, and ordered room service in the elevator. I was really amazed on how we were alike.

            The Elevator Family is so much like my family. We travel and stay in weird places, I remember the last time we traveled to Hershey Pennsylvania, we stayed in a hotel that at 2:00 am someone burnt popcorn and it sent off the fire alarm and everyone in the hotel had to evacuate. My sister Rose and I are very much like twins because we like mainly the same things but have many differences too. People are always asking us if we’re twins, we’ve gotten so tired of answering no and saying we’re a year apart so we just say yes.

            I hope if you read The Elevator Family  you can relate, have good laughs and just enjoy what a great book this really is.

Ender’s Game
Trevor

           I, myself, don’t enjoy the same old plot about a kid getting beat up at school or a kid’s dog dies. I enjoy more complex plots that make you think. That’s why Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is one of my favorite books. It has an interesting plot about aliens invading, attacking Earth and killing thousands of people. In the second invasion by the fantastic leadership by Mazer Rackham, the humans fight off the aliens, or buggers. Now Earth and humankind must prepare for a third invasion.

          I strongly recommend this book to science-fiction and fantasy lovers. It is not only the best science-fiction book I have read but also my favorite book. This book is an adult book though so to really enjoy this book to its fullest, I think you have to be a good reader.

          One of the things I liked most in this book is the detail and description that Orson Scott Card puts in all his books, especially Ender’s Game. I also thought that the plot of this book was ingenious. It is complicated and involves some thinking and attention but those are the books that I love. Also, one of the things I love most about a book is if they have a sequel and Ender’s Game has three great sequels.

          Ender’s Game is one of my all time favorite books so there was nothing I didn’t like except the first chapter was really slow and confusing until the plot got going.

          There wasn’t much I could relate to in this book, but I did learn some things. For one, I learned never give up. The war between the buggers was not going to well for humankind but they never gave up. In addition, I learned that no matter how small you seem, you can still do something in the world, in this case saving the world.

          This a very good book with an excellent plot.

Drew

Ender’s Game is the first book is the Game Series by Orson Scott Card. In it, Ender is brought through a military school for the best and brightest to prepare for the second war with "Bugger" aliens. Ender is then tricked into defeating them, and then leaves the station in space for a new planet and plans to start a colony. This book really serves more as a foundation for Speaker and the following books in the series because it sets up plots and character’s identities.

Speaker for the Dead is by far the deepest and most intriguing book I’ve ever read. Orson Scott Card combines ethical differences with strict government policies to make this book into an amazing novel. This sci-fi story is, truthfully, the greatest book I’ve ever read.

After Andrew "Ender" Wiggin (now in his twenties) is set up as a character in Ender’s Game, he evolves even more in this installment of the Game Series. He makes people love him through his amazingly truthful "Speaking" for the dead. A speaking consists of Ender telling the true story, the deceased’s real desires and real hopes, no matter how secret they were meant to be kept.

I only recommend this book (not to be mean) to the fairly intelligent people with large vocabularies. Card uses many stunning words to get his point across more effectively. Also, if you confuse easily, do not read this book, for it has many plot lines that it fallows.

Even though Card has a large cast of characters, he makes all of the memorable, such as Olhado with his fake eyes, or Jane, the computerized woman who communicates thru ones ear jewel.

Card uses writing in the third person to his advantage. He not only captures the thoughts and feelings one character, he captures them of them all. For instance, when one character does something, you get to hear "through both ears." Not only do you get what the person who committed the actions point of view is, you get the victims. By doing that, he makes the story line all come together.

Speaker is a great read for sci-fi fans, and I give it all my recommendation. Anyone looking for a good book would love it. The story lines all come together, and this book becomes a can’t-put-it-down novel.

Eragon is a brilliant fantasy unparallel by any other of its kind. Written by Christopher Poalini Eragon was once a simple farm boy, living and obeying the empire, until he found something in the spine that would change his life forever. After his uncle is killed, he goes on the hunt for the murderers of his uncle. He is flung into a new world, called Alagsiea the likes of which he’s never seen before. He meets elves and dwarfs, forms alliances, and makes new enemies. Can he stop his new foes chasing by them all over Alagseia, crossing harsh deserts, and climbing steep mountains? Or, will he fail? Find out by reading Eragon!

I like Eragon because it is full of heart pounding action and suspense like when he and Saphira are trapped by a horde of raging Urgals. The way the characters express their emotion is perfect like when Eragon uncle dies he reacts the same way as I would and suffers the same pain. I’ve never read any thing like it!

Even Odder
Steve
4 Stars

            Personally, scary stories don’t scare me but some of these did. Steve Burt really wrote Even Odder with a lot of suspense. He described the setting and the characters so well that the reader could feel like you were in it. I can relate to these scary stories because I also write scary stories myself. I also like these kinds of stories because it keeps me reading. The novel had many interesting stories but this is one I liked the best. The short story, Beneath the Streets was about how a boy and three of his closest friends went looking in a dry sewer drain for a lost homeless guy and found something unforgettably frightening.

            I liked how the author of the novel set the plot of the short story step by step so the reader could feel the characters becoming scared and feeling their thoughts. In the beginning the boy and his three friends Spider, Ramon and Chuck, went into a dry sewer pipe just to hang out. Then they decided, after they heard a homeless guy named Tom Thumb was missing, they were going to search the sewer. Their objective was to be heroes after they had found Tom Thumb, but they were in for something they would never forget. They agreed that they would be thirty minutes in the tunnel and thirty minutes out to get back to their houses for dinner. They made a mistake by going further when they heard squeaking a little farther away. Thinking it was Tom, they walked further. When they took a last turn they saw a horrifying sight. They found a giant nest of gargantuan rats. The rats were like the monsters you saw on TV in the monster movies. In the corner of the nest was Tom Thumb playing with the rats like he was one of them. And he was. The rats and him smelled the air with their noses and then looked at the corner with their beady pink eyes where the boys had been. The boys were already running. The rats were chasing the boys through the sewer. As the boys ran they put themselves in groups of two and fired rocks at the rats with their sling shots as they ran out the sewer. When the rats hit the light, they disappeared. Later they saw Tom again and he looked at them with beady pink eyes.

            The only reason I didn’t like this story was because it never told us the name of the boy who was narrating it and the main character. He told us the name of the other boys Spider, Chuck and Ramon but they didn’t tell us the narrators.

            I think Even Odder  is for pre-teens and above only because it might be scary for younger kids and there are some swears. I would recommend this for boys and girls because it is a good book to read to and with your family. People who like scary stories would like this book. Somebody who gets scared easy or can’t take suspense would not like this book to much. In my opinion it was a ten out of ten. This novel was a great.    

Eye of the Needle                                                              Putnam, 1979
Ken Follet P. 473
Review by Z.F. - 2004-2005

"The many amateur spies are nothing to worry about, but the few professional ones are a force to be reckoned with."

World War II is drawing to a close, and until now there is no decisive winner. But that can all change with the information this man has. Henry Faber, codenamed The Needle. He’s the best Germany has to offer, and lives up to his incredible reputation. Spying in England he uncovers the unthinkable! Now he must whisk back to Germany with every person in the English police and army looking for him. It’s a race between a German spy and a British nation. The fate of the entire war rests with one man.

Action, suspense, drama, adventure; these are only a few words to describe this magnificent book. Eye of the Needle by Ken Follet always left me in suspense. The plot twists and turns like when Henry buried himself in coal, trying to hide from pursuing British police. This book leading up to an incredible climax that left me shocked. Eye of the Needle is packed full of action, but with a creative and thoughtful purpose. I recommend this book to any age level, but particularly to those who love action and adventure.