The book Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder is a historical fiction book that can teach you about the olden days. This book is based not on Laura Ingalls Wilder but on her husband Almanzo Wilder. The book explains about Almanzo and how a boy’s life is and what they have to do. Almanzo’s biggest dream is to be a farmer just like his father. But to do this he must learn how to grow and plant crops, milk cows, and break in calves. He did very well with these jobs and he didn’t want to stop because to Almanzo breaking in was so fun. He trained his two calves Star and Bright, they loved him so much that is why they ended up tusting him. Then he realized that he was going to turn nine and will have to got to school for his education. At the end of his term when he came home it was Independence Day. He drank lemonade, ran around, and had fun! Then the next day it was the town’s annual county fair. Almanzo entered his pumpkin and won for biggest and tastiest pumpkin. He felt so proud. Then one day on his ride to town with his father he found a pocketbook that wrote Mr. Thompson on the front cover. He ran as fast as he could into every store to try and find Mr. Thompson. He then saw him in the shipbuilding store and quickly handed the pocketbook to him. Mr. Thompson was outraged and accused Almanzo of stealing. Almanzo denied and stood tall knowing he did not steal. The store keeper Mr. Paddock was so impressed that he gave an offer that was too good to be true. It was to come with him and become his apprentice. With this Mr. Paddock said you can become very wealthy. Almanzo was speechless and didn’t know what to do. If you want to know if Almanzo takes the job and becomes wealthy with Laura you will have to read Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Blogged By: Jennifer P.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke takes place in 1806 when Mr. John Segundus joins a group of magicians in England. Mr. Segundus and a man called Mr. Honeyfoot are wondering: What happened to magic in England? Magic used to be most powerful in England but, at one point it all vanished. Mr. Segundus and Mr. Honeyfoot visit the only magician left in England, Mr. Norrell. When they are in Mr. Norrell’s enchanted library, they see it consists of books that have disappeared many centuries ago. Also, Mr. Segundus and Mr. Honeyfoot hear a prophecy that two magicians will restore England’s magic. Mr. Segundus is thinking that they are two magicians and might be able to restore England’s magic by visiting Mr. Norrell! But, when the group of magicians want proof of Mr. Norrell’s magic, Mr. Norrell makes statues in Yorkshire alive! They can speak and sing and do many things humans can. Mr. Norrell also brings back a woman from the dead. Another magician, Jonathan Strange, pops up in England. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell create a spell to give magic to a nameless slave. When the nameless slave realizes his power, he greeds for more magic. He creates dangerous things to….

I really loved this book. It had an extremely high-level vocabulary so, whenever I read, I was in front of my computer with an online dictionary open so I could look up words I didn’t understand. I was really addicted to the book and it was inevitable from me. I recommend it to both boys and girls. It was a short read for me. Even though it was really long it didn’t take me that long to read it because it was really good. It consists of 782 pages, is historical fiction, and is worth 52 whole points!

Blogged by:
Heather C.

It is 1926, and Darby Carmicheal lives on her family’s farm with black tenant workers in the south. Even though the Civil War has been over, some people don’t treat the african-american people fully like themselves. Darby’s best friend is a tenant worker on the family’s farm, Evette. Darby dreams of growing up as a rich, fancy lady, and Evette wanted to be the same, too, until Evette tells Darby that she wants to be a newspaper writer. Darby became inspired by this and wanted to be a newspaper writer, too. When Darby writes a article about toads, she gives it to the newspaper place, and a couple days later, she is “famous” in her town, recieving compliments. After she writes a couple stories later…she decides to write an article about black people, and how they are not different from anybody. When it gets put into the newspaper days later, she’s no longer getting compliments, but………………

I would rate this book 3.5/5 stars, because it kind of starts out slow, but on some parts, it gives a lot of detail in historical settings. My favorite part in this book is Darby’s birthday party.

blogged by, Anna Marie N.

The book I read was Elephant Run. In this book the main characters are Indaw, Jackson Freestone, Nick Freestone, Mya, and Hilltop. They all are living in Burma. One day the Japanese attacks! Everyone in Burma expected this to happen. The Japanese take everyone in Burma to different camps. Nick, Mya, and Hilltop are in the same camp. Jackson, and Indaw are in a different camp from Nick, Mya, and Hilltop. Hilltop knew of this secret place where they could escape and then save Jackson and Indaw. Hilltops plan was for him, Mya, and Nick to hide in the secret place for a long time. When the Japanese go into there rooms they will think that they had escaped. Once the Japanese called off the search for them Hilltop, Nick, and Mya would escape. So the next day Hilltop, Nick, and Mya did as Hilltop said. Once the Japanese called off the search they left! If you want to figure out if they end up saving Jackson and Indaw, or if the Japanese catch them, read Elephant Run.

I liked this book a lot. I loved how it was a child’s perspective of the French Revolutionary War. I learned a lot about France when I read it, about how their government was set up and about what people thought of it. The revolutionaries were always talking about how they wanted a government like America’s and how much better it would be there, if they had the money. It made me feel we were a strong country and we are. It was different ways how different countries got their freedom and how it was like for America. It taught me how much you depend on each other in situations like this and what war can do to one another.

Ryan K

  In Darkness, Death by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler is the sequel to The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn, and The Demon in the Teahouse.

  For new readers, to give you an overview of the main character and the setting…

  This takes place in around the 1800s in Japan.

  The main character, Seikei, was born into the son of a wealthy tea merchant. But, if you know your history, at that time merchants were pretty low in the social classes, even if they were rich, they were looked down upon. Seikei wasn’t quite happy with being the son of a tea merchant because he knew that when he grew older, he had to carry out the family line. What he really wanted to be was a samurai. Samurai were greatly respected and their lives were more adventurous. Seikei had that chance to become a samurai in The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn, when his new father, the honorable Judge Ooka took him in and taught him the way of the samurai.

 That is all about Seikei and the time period for all of you new readers. Now, moving on to In Darkness, Death…

 Seikei and Judge Ookaare off on yet another adventure, but this one, is more important than all the others so far. The Samurai Lord Inaba is discovered murdered in his sleep while under the protection of the shogun. Since Lord Inaba had died, the blame is on the shogun. If he does not find the killer, he loses his honor, and in that world… honor is EVERYTHING! So he “hires” Judge Ooka and Seikei to catch the killer so the shogun may “restore his honor”. The crime is quite difficult to figure out for Judge Ooka and Seikei because the only clue is a bloodstained origami butterfly that is left at the crime scene. They finally figure out who they’re dealing with, a ninja, a ninja that will stop at nothing to keep his identity a secret. Will they ever FIGURE out who the ninja really is? Will the shogun restore his honor? You HAVE TO READ this book to find out. In Darkness, Deathis a book truley about murder… honor… and justice.

My Comments:

I really Really REALLY L-O-V-E-D this book!! The reason why is because while I’m reading the book, I can actually picture in my head what’s going on. For me, it’s really hard because only some books have that effect on me. If I could rate it up to 1-10, I would pick 1million! =) This book would be great for boys and girls… and mostly for people that really want to learn about the history of Japan, samurai, the social classes, etc.

Blogged By,
Cynthia P.

Every August, Mary Alice and her brother Joey go to Chicago to visit their unforgettable Grandma Dowdel. She isn’t your normal grandma, when you’re with her you will have a great adventure: whether it’s cheating in a pie contest, illegally catching catfish, or having a dead man in your house. This book tells you about the adventures Mary Alice and Joey have for a few years. It starts out with grandma lying to a reporter that a man that died recently, Shotgun Cheatham, was a famous man. He wasn’t. Then the word got out and Grandma eventually had a gathering at her house for Shotgun. However, Grandma’s cat was in the coffin for Shotgun, and only grandma knew this. The cat moved the coffin and everybody thought that Shotgun was coming back from the dead! Grandma got out her gun and starting shooting like crazy, jumping around in “horror” for effect. Then she illegaly catches fish in one of the Sherrif’s boats. You would think Grandma was in enough trouble, but then she brings some of her old clothing to a yardsale her church was having. She had Abe Lincoln’s name stitched into it, and, with persuasion, got customers to believe it was Abe’s!

Grandma now is in serious trouble with the Sheriff.

Read more about Grandma Dowdel’s fun tricks in the book a Long Way from Chicago.

Blogged by: Sophia R.

Every August, Mary Alice and her brother Joey go to Chicago to visit their unforgettable Grandma Dowdel. She isn’t your normal grandma, when you’re with her you will have a great adventure: whether it’s cheating in a pie contest, illegally catching catfish, or having a dead man in your house. This book tells you about the adventures Mary Alice and Joey have for a few years. It starts out with grandma lying to a reporter that a man that died recently, Shotgun Cheatham, was a famous man. He wasn’t. Then the word got out and Grandma eventually had a gathering at her house for Shotgun. However, Grandma’s cat was in the coffin for Shotgun, and only grandma knew this. The cat moved the coffin and everybody thought that Shotgun was coming back from the dead! Grandma got out her gun and starting shooting like crazy, jumping around in “horror” for effect. Then she illegaly catches fish in one of the Sherrif’s boats. You would think Grandma was in enough trouble, but then she brings some of her old clothing to a yardsale her church was having. She had Abe Lincoln’s name stitched into it, and, with persuasion, got customers to believe it was Abe’s!

Grandma now is in serious trouble with the Sheriff.

Read more about Grandma Dowdel’s fun tricks in the book a Long Way from Chicago.

Blogged by: Sophia R.

Seven Daughters and Seven Sons is an Arabic tale about a young woman who disguises herself as a man to earn fortune and keep her family alive.

The young woman, Buran, is part of a family including seven daughters, a father, and a mother. The family is excruciatingly poor because of its lack of men. In this time period, only men could run businesses and earn money. Because of that, Buran’s father has to support all nine of them on his own while his wife took care of the house and their children.

On the other hand, Buran’s uncle, her father’s brother, has seven sons. The family is overwhelmingly rich because of the eight men and their businesses around the country.

Buran has always dreamed of being in business. She was the only one out of ALL her sisters who was interested and willing to learn from their father. Buran’s father saw her willingness and taught Buran things only men were to know. Things such as, reading, writing, and playing chess. She embraced everything she was taught and one day she hoped all of it would be at use to her family and their terrible fortune. When Buran knew that her parents were losing money, she begged of the idea to be in business and dressing up as a man. Her parents automatically denied her request even though they knew it would really help the family. Buran’s father keeps losing money and slowly his business gets taken away.

Despite all of of this, her father gets a horrendous fever on an unfaithful day. He definitely can’t support his family now that his business is gone. After a long thought her father finally agrees to let Buran find business. She is glad that her father trusts her but, she is also serious about making the money needed to support the whole family. Her mom and dad has money saved for emergencies such as this one. Buran’s parents risk giving all the saved money to Buran. She buys men’s clothing and things needed for her trip on a cavern with other men.

She travels for days untill she finally reaches the city. When Buran reaches the city, she sustains her disguise as a man. Her name as a man in the new city is Nasir. She also creates a successful business selling and trading. The city’s prince, Mahmud, visits Buran’s shop pretty often. After they mingle and get to know each other, they become best friends. Buran soon discovers her love for Mahmud but, she knows that Mahmud thinks of her as a man knowned as Nasir. But, if she tells Mahmud she is a woman, she is afraid that all her business will be gone. But, most importantly she’s afraid that the friendship between Mahmud and Buran will disappear.

Heather C.

In this book, Daniel and Will Griffith had to take care of their new cabin they just built while their dad had to go to Pennsylvania to fetch the rest of family and the new baby. While they were here, they faced danger. They met an Indian named Solomon and he taught them how to make traps and tools they needed to survive with. They also got attacked by a bear! Who knows what great danger lies in the woods. As time goes by their dad didn’t come back after 6 weeks. How will they survive the winter? Would their dad ever come back? Are they going to live on their own? Read Cabin on Trouble Creek.

Blogged by Justin L.