My Side of the Mountain

My Side of the Mountain is a story about a teenager who is tired of New York. Going down to his grandparents old land, he lives in the wilderness off the land with his trained falcon. My Side of the Mountain tells of how he lives in the wilderness and has many details about how he gets food and supplies. It's kind of unrealistic and I would only suggest it for readers that want to know how to live off the land. I would give this a 4.5 out of 10.

The Alchemyst (The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel)

The Alchemyst is a good book to read if you like magic, especially if you think you would like it set in the modern world. It also has a touch of science-fiction added because it explains how the magic works, in a kind of vague sort of way. If you like the Inheritance Cycle (Eregon, Eldest, Brisingr,) you will also like this. It mentions lots of history, but it weaves it into the story, because, after all, the characters in the book are immortal. I would rate this a 8 out of 10.

Magic School Bus - The Fishy Field Trip

I like the Magic School Bus books because they are educational and fun to read. In "The Fishy Field Trip" book the kids go on a trip into the deep sea looking at coral and fish. The cleaner fish eats germs on other fish bodies - it is basically a fish car wash. I recommend this book to 5 to 9 year-olds because it is a chapter book.

Phantom Tollbooth - from Mom's perspective

I know A has already reviewed the Phantom Tollbooth but I read this too and I just LOVED it! I really think that it was written for adults... well, maybe not, but adults should read it. There is so much symbolism and metaphors that I don't think that kids get it all. They just don't have the life experience yet. One example is the part where Milo, the main character, goes to a town that has disappeared. Everyone in the town has stopped looking at the town around them, Reality, so eventually it just faded away. The could move to Illusion, the town that you can see but isn't really there, but most don't. They just keep walking with their heads down and not looking.

I'm teaching a class about personal finance to a group of young adults and I want them to read it. It really is a book that shows how your attitude about things changes your reality. Milo starts out bored. He has things around him that he just doesn't appreciate or even see and it takes this "trip" through the Phantom Tollbooth to open his eyes. The lessons that are taught in this book are ageless. I highly recommend this for any age! It would be a wonderful read aloud.

Eve of the Emperor Penguin

The Eve of the Emperor Penguin is the newest book in the Magic Tree House Series. In this book Jack and Annie travel to Antarctica. It is a good book and it has a surprising twist at the end. I'd recommend it for kids 6 and up.

The Inheritance Cycle

From the moment I began reading the Inheritance Cycle I loved it. The Inheritance Cycle includes the books Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr so far. When a young man named Eragon discovers a blue stone he brings it home only to learn that it is in fact a dragon egg. He develops a close bond with it, but if anyone learned that he had a dragon his peaceful life would come to an end. And that is exactly what happens. This book had dragons, magic, wonderful characters, secrets, fighting… it in general contained everything I love in a book. I have heard from many people that it is more for younger kids, but, in my opinion, it gets pretty serious and younger kids might not be able to handle it. The only negative thing I noticed was that it was heavily influenced by the Star Wars original trilogy, but then again the author, a man named Christopher Paolini (who I might add was a homeschooler like me), has a much different story. I give this book a 9.5/10 because it borrowed a lot of old plot idea’s, but it is such a wonderfully written and thought out book it will always be one of my favorites. We have the books on CD and most of our family (our dad doesn't like books on tape) likes listening to them.

To Kill a Mockingbird

The book To Kill a Mockingbird is a very inspiring story. When a white lawyer tries to defend a black man in court his whole town starts treating his family badly. His son and daughter go through some hard times because of it, but in the end they both learn a lot about life. I thought that this book was wonderful, but it took some time to get into it. The story is told from the lawyer’s daughter’s point of view, which meant that most of the book seemed to involve some rather unneeded stories. Sometimes the book grew pretty boring, but by the end everything is understood and it is quite inspiring. I think that it deserves an 8/10 because although it was very informative, inspiring, and all in all a good book, it took a while to get into.