I SURVIVED The Shark Attack of 1916 by Lauren Tarshis

In the story there was a boy named Chet and he moved into a new house because his mom and dad got a new job in California. Chet made some friends there and so they were really nice to each other they meet everyday in his uncle's work and it was like a tradition to them. But then one day there was a thing in the newspaper that said that there had been a shark attack but no one believed it except for Chet. so one day his friends decided to play a prank on him. He got scared because that day...

Reviewed by Emily ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 610

Fighting Phantoms by M. Zachary Sherman

In the emergency ops Anne Donovan is a army surgeon who saves soldiers lives. Throughout the story she changes her position from a surgeon to a post ops medicine giver. When she was a post op worker she realizes a man she did surgery on and the man loved her. But after that she went on many different missions. But the one i’m going to tell you about is is burger hill behind enemy lines. So after she got off her shift on the top surgeons was about to leave for burger hill and she wanted to go but the other person said no but she didn't give so the other person had to say yes. At burger hill they had to perform major surgery like limb losing and severe injuries. [Spoiler Alert] At burger hill she saw the guy who loved her die.

Reviewed by James ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 790

Slob by Ellen Potter

Twelve-year-old Owen Birnbaum is the fattest kid in school. But he is also a kid who invents cool stuff like a tv that can see the past. But there is a lot of stuff he can't out think like who steals his Oreos or why the bully of the school runs from him. But one thing that hurts him the most is who killed his parents. This book is mainly about Owen and how he is like totally confused about how his sister joined a new club called G.W.A.B (girls who are boys) and suddenly wants to be called Jeremy, or how he is now an orphan that got adopted by the lady that took his emergency call. The genre of this book is it doesn’t matter what people think of you or what they say its what you think of yourself. I recommend this book to everybody because it is a good book and its not long and its a awesome book.

Reviewed by Hadeel ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 740

Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen

Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen is fiction. Holly Janquell has no parents and landed in foster care. She is careless with school, because her teachers don’t keep anything to themselves when it comes to her. The teachers - especially Ms. Leone don’t trust Holly. I recommend this book to everyone. I believe the themes are to not take for granted of what we have and that no matter what happens someone will take you under their wing. I recommend Runaway to everyone because, the whole book is formatted as a journal written to Ms. Leone and I felt like I wrote it, everybody will surely feel like they are in her shoes. 

[SPOILER ALERT]

Holly used to have good foster parents until she started misbehaving. Her current foster parents, the Benders lock her in a laundry room. She decides to runaway for the second time (the first time was with her previous foster parent.) She faces the conflict within herself and everything else in order to survive. (Holly VS. Herself) (Holly VS. Society) (Holly VS. Nature) (Holly VS. Character.) Holly decides she is a sea gypsy- not a homeless person. She also comes close to the cops in a school, which she was living in during the summer. Holly finds many shelters and groups, but there always ends up being conflict between them. Her groups and shelters have included a cave, in which she almost ruined her notebook and drowned in. On her road of survival she finds ¨Hog’s¨ things and takes them. She gets into deep trouble with his group. She barely made it away from them, but she did. She builds herself a home in order to keep safe and stay away from the group, which includes a creepy stalker covered in snake tattoos named Martin. Holly almost had to move because Sammy from a soup kitchen Holly goes to followed her to her house with her friends. Which doesn’t matter much because Martin ends up crushing it later. Sammy got Meg and Vera to take Holly under their wing. (Meg and Vera work at a dog grooming place.) (Holly LOVES dogs.) They ended up keeping Holly forever by talking to social services. Meg showed Holly her journal and visa versa. Finally, Meg talked Holly into sending a copy to Ms. Leone.

Reviewed by Hailey ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 740

The One And Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

In the book Ivan the gorilla was sad because this guy he had animals in the mall and Ivan was one of those animals they had a little place to put them in. And Ivan was sad because he is the only gorilla there and he has two friends a elephant and a little wild dog and the wild dog always snuck in through a little crack that was on Ivan's plastic wall. And then one day the guy from the little zoo they had in the mall said that they were going to get a surprise tomorrow and when he said that Ivan was happy that another animal was coming to the mall so then the next day when they see a wood box in the little zoo and then when they open the door they see a little elephant come out. [Spoiler ALERT] In the end of the book 2 people took most of the animals that they had in the mall to take them into a real zoo and Ivan was happy because he would be with other gorillas. And  then one day when they took Ivan and some other animals to the zoo and when they got there they put Ivan with 3 female gorillas. At the end of the book Ivan was really happy that he was finally in a big zoo and he was happy also for his friend the little elephant and he could see her sometimes through his cage.

Reviewed by Miguel ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 570

I Funny: A Middle School Story by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein

The previous book I just read is called I Funny by James Patterson. The Genre of this book is realistic fiction and comedy. The main character is Jamie. Jamie is a boy in a wheelchair who loves jokes. He’s basically the class clown but less annoying, throughout the book he tells humorous jokes. Jamie has his own view of things, for example, he lives in the place called Long Island near New York City, and he calls the morning joggers zombies because they look lifeless like zombies. He goes to two comedy clubs for this thing called The Worlds Funniest Kid. Jamie won the first competition. I’m going to tell you about the second one because it would give the story away. But this blogger said that the judges picked Jamie in pity because he was a cripple. Obviously this is a lie because Jamie is hilarious, and everyone of his friends thinks so to. And that rumor made Jamie feel really bad because he hates when people treat him different just because he is in a wheelchair. I think people who enjoy a good laugh and like pretty easy reads would enjoy this book.

Reviewed by Cory ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 610

I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 by Lauren Tarshis

In the book I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011 there was a boy named Ben, and Ben and his family went to go to his Dads home town because before his dad died they were gonna take a trip to Japan. When they got there Ben and his brother Harry and his cat Nia were home alone and a terrible earthquake came. The next day a huge storm came and it was a Tsunami. [Spoiler ALERT] Bens family ran into a car and tried to drive away from the Tsunami, but then the next thing you know Bens family is gone and he is all alone. Will Ben ever find his family again? The genre of the story is Non-Fiction. I recommend this book to anyone who likes action, basically people in grades 4-8th. Lots of people would enjoy this story.

Reviewed by Emily ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 650

I SURVIVED The Attacks of September 11, 2001 by Lauren Tarshis

I read the book I Survived The Attacks of September 11, 2001, the genre is historical fiction. The main character is Lucas who loves to play football. In the story Lucas has to quit football because he has had 3 concussions in the past 2 years, so he went to his uncle who is a fire fighter to convince his parents to let him play football, but then a plane hits one of the towers, so his uncle had left him without an answer. To find out if Lucas keeps playing football, read the book to find out.

Reviewed by Wiktor ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 630

Who Was Bruce Lee? by Jim Gigliotti

This is a Non-Fiction book about the famous Bruce Lee. This book was to show Bruce’s life. Bruce was born in San Francisco in Chinatown on November 27, 1940. He was always a troublemaker as a kid, and fought a lot as a kid. Since his parents could not handle it anymore they sent him to the United States to live with his uncle. Did you know Bruce Lee’s Dad was an opera singer? Even as a kid Bruce loved to be in front of the camera. One day he played Kato in the TV series “The Green Hornet”. He also opened his Kung Fu studio. Bruce was in three movies. When Bruce as making his third movie he was going to direct, star and produce it he had a bad headache. When he took his medication to help get rid of his headache he passed out. When they got to the hospital he was pronounced dead at arrival. He was only 32 years old. I recommend this book to people that like the “Who Was” series.

Reviewed by Alfred ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 890

I Survived: The Great Chicago Fire, 1871 by Lauren Tarshis

I Survived: The Great Chicago Fire, 1871 is about the Great Chicago Fire that happened in 1871. Oscar is the main character of this book and his unique quality is being brave during the book Oscar brought out on how he was brave. I learned that fires are dangerous even when you have the best fire department in the world. This book changed the way I see Chicago, when I go to Chicago it is awesome and I never thought that such an important city can be destroyed now I know that huge cities like Chicago can get destroyed. The genre of this book is Historical Fiction. I enjoyed this book because it was about Chicago and how Chicago was in the old days. I recommend this book to people that like Chicago, History, or disasters that happened on the world.

Reviewed by Constantine ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 730

Diary of The Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney

The book I read is Diary of The Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. This book is fiction. I liked this book because it was funny and it had some adventure in it. The theme of the story is that truth isn't what you think it is. In the book Diary of The Wimpy Kid the issue is that Greg suddenly finds himself dealing with the pressures of boy girl parties, increased responsibilities, and even the awkward changes that come with getting older all without his best friend, Rowley, at his side. I recommend this book to boys and girls who like laughter.

Reviewed by Hugo ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 1000

I Survived: The Great Chicago Fire, 1871 by Lauren Tarsis

This story takes place in Downtown Chicago,were young Oscar moves to Chicago, right when the GREAT FIRE happened. his dad has died in a snow blizzard and all he has left of his father is a badge of when he was a police man, fighting crime. until something happens to it, he needs to find his father's badge in one of the biggest fires in U.S history, will he find it or will he fall from the fire read the book to find out.  this type of book is for people that like the history of great fires, or Chicago history, or people that just want to read a book fast, if you are one of those people you should read this book.

Reviewed by Daniel ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 730

One Handed Catch by M. J. Auch

I read the book One Handed Catch by MJ Auch. The book is about a person named Norman who is eleven years old. He lost his hand in an accident in his family’s meat store. Then after he lost his hand, he wanted to play baseball. Read the book to find out if he makes his school’s team. The theme of the book is to never give up. The genre of the book is fiction. I enjoyed the book because I like sports. I would recommend this book to 6th graders and people who like sports.

Reviewed by David ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 710

Dork Diaries: Tale from a Not-So Graceful Ice Princess by Rachel Renee Russell

This quarter I read “Dork Diaries:Tales from a Not-So Graceful Ice Princess” by Rachel Renee Russell and the genre of this book is realistic fiction because the story can sometimes come to life. The book is about a girl name Nikki who is supposed to ice skate for a charity and there are a lot of problems in between and mostly all the problems are caused by her enemy Mackenzie who is very popular at school and messes around with  Nikki to make her life as miserable as it can get. The theme of this book is to never give up because you can accomplish many things. I recommend this book to girls because it is a girly book and I recommend this book to girls ages 9-13 years of age.

Reviewed by Denise ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 750

I Survived: The Attacks of September 11, 2001 by Lauren Tarshis

In the story there is a boy named Lucus that loved to play football and he got a concussion from football so his parents had to take him to the doctors. The doctor said if he continued to play football he can get serious head injuries in the future. Lucus' uncle was the person that taught Lucus to play football so lucus didn't know if he wanted to play football or not so he went to ask his uncle about  it but while he was there the attacks from 9/11 started. Will lucus be able to ask his uncle about football and will he ever play again?

Reviewed by Genesis ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 630

Eleventh Grade Burns by Heather Brewer

The book I will be writing about is Eleventh Grade Burns by Heather Brewer. The genre is fantasy fiction. I enjoyed this book because the main character Vlad has some really cool powers. For example, Vlad has vampiric strength, he can throw someone to a tree and kill them. He also has vampiric speed, he is super duper fast. The last power that Vlad has is that he can fly. He mostly goes to this place called the belfry. He goes there to be alone and read his fathers journal. The main issue in the story is that Vlad, Henry, and his Uncle Otis have to battle this evil vampire D’Ablo, Henry is best friend and his drudge which is a vampire's slave. His Uncle Otis is…. well is uncle, which is also a vampire. The characters are Vlad, Henry, Otis, Nelly, and D’Ablo, there are other characters but I can’t tell you you’ll have to read it and find out. The one character i didn’t tell you about this one other character, Nelly. She is Vlad's aunt that brings him bags of blood from her job, she is a nurse so she gets donated blood from there. I recommend this book to people that like vampire, gore, and fantasy.

Reviewed by Chase ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 770

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz

Prisoner B-3087 is about a normal Polish family living in a small town that's in Poland. Then one day in their town a team of Nazi soldiers and tanks and came to their town and held their town occupied under forced Nazi rules during WWII. The main character's name is Yanek and he doesn't posses any unique qualities. In Prisoner B-3087 I didn't really learn anything new in the story. It also didn't change the way I think of WWII. In my opinion people who like WWII would love Prisoner B-3087. Also in my opinion I think this book would be a ten out of ten. The funny part about the book is when Yanek thought he was about to be gassed but instead of gas cold frigid water came out of the old shower head. The sad part in the book was when the people Yanek knew were all taken away or brutally murdered by the Nazi.

Reviewed by Alec ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 760

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

This book follows a girl named Celaena Sardothian who is a slave in the Salt Mines and is also an assassin. One day when she is working she is sent for by her overseer to meet with the prince of the land. He then tells her that if she competes in a competition with 24 other people she will become the King's champion. Then after 4 years she can win her freedom back. 

This book kept me up all night reading and I mean i literally stayed up till around 1 in the morning every night while reading this book. I definitely recommend this but if you don't like gory books don't read it. This book has a lot of action, adventure, mystery, and romance. You should also pick up its sequel "Crown Of Midnight" which is equally as good.

Reviewed by a 6th Grader

Lexile 790

The Hobbit by J. R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit is about a home-loving hobbit then a pack of 13 dwarfs and a wizard come to his house and are asking for a burglar and asking him for an adventure the wizard knows the hobbit well since he visited Shire many times, but now he is asking for his help for the dwarfs so he go’s with the company he goes into many troubles from trolls to goblins, then Bilbo meets a creature called Gollum, the creature riddle him and if he fails the Gollum kills him if he succeeds the creature shows him the way, but then Gollum wanted to answer a riddle Bilbo (the hobbit) accidentally asks “What do I got in my pocket” [SPOILER Alert] Gollum doesn’t answer correctly but Bilbo found out he had a ring then Gollum thinks that Bilbo has his “precious” (ring) and attacks Bilbo runs and runs he is tired but then Bilbo slips and the ring flies into his finger then he disappears he finds out that the ring made him invisible and then Gollum follows the path to escape and without knowing he leads Bilbo out Bilbo escapes from the goblins guarding and Gollum then he finds his friends far and takes of the ring then he reappears and everybody is shocked to see him the most is Gandalf the wizard so Thorin Oakenshield, Kili, Fili, Balin, Dwalin, Oin Gloin, Dori, Nori, Ori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur (The 13 dwarfs) then they travel through a forest where Beorn a skin changer lives he helps the company he gives them food water and bows then they set out again but to Mirkwood where evil crept with 8 legs as so the company gets caught by a colony of spiders they get weaved to a web but without Gandalf, Bilbo anyways puts on the ring and rescues them but more and more spiders come then the wood-elves appear when the dwarfs are out bilbo still has the ring on as the dwarfs are captured he follows them he goes behind the gates he was in the elven king’s (Thranduil) palace he memorizes where the dwarfs cells are and one day he rescues them with barrels they escape without notice as they go down the stream they enter the long lake so close to Erebor their destination and they go to the lake towns master and say that they need ponies ( usual for dwarf and hobbit)and a boat so he lends them as they enter Erebor they get into the secret door on the side of the mountain (again usual for dwarfs) as they enter they see mountains of gold, silver, and gems they go inside but they have been caught the dragon Smaug was awake and so he attacked them they ran and ran hid so then the dragon was mad he didn’t eat in ages so he decided to go attack lake-town as he left the dwarfs took sword armor so they were ready for the dragon what the dwarfs didn’t know the dragon has been slayed a man named bard shot the dragon with a black arrow from his kin then the dragon fell on lake town and the villagers knew they have lost their town so they moved to Dale with their ally’s support (the wood elves) went to dale right next to the entrance to erebor, ravens came and told them that the people of lake town want gold for their city but the elves had a difference the elven king forgave them for the escape but he demanded white gems but the dwarves said no the a new chapter began a war with Men and elves against dwarves no Dwarfs from the iron hills cam yes but it was a war with Men ,Elves , Dwarfs against Goblins and wargs armies fought once it ended the goblins surrendered and only 10 instead of 13 dwarfs were left Kili, Fili died to save Thorin but Thorin died once they died and then the goblins surrendered and then the hobbit and the dwarfs said goodbye then Bilbo got paid as his award and paid the elven king a necklace for using his food the elven king thanked him and Bilbo returned to shire and became a legend in shire. 

MORE: The Movies are good I watched them First for visuals, Lord of the Rings next series

Reviewed by Eryk ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 1000

I Survived The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Lauren Tarshis

The book that I read is called I Survived The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Lauren Tarshis. It is historical fiction. I liked this book because it has a mystery with a little of adventure. Also it has a great ending to it (Read the book to find out the ending). Last I liked this book is because it shows to never give up and i think that what the author was trying to say is to never give up on what you do because you have made it so far. I learned to never give up on anything. This book changed the way i think about giving up on something. I recommend this book to people who like mystery and adventure.

Reviewed by Jovanni ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 610

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This book is realistic fiction. The theme of the story is “it doesn’t matter what happens, there is always love.” Hazel Grace Lancaster is a girl who got cancer at the age of thirteen. She now wears a cannula . She is like any other teenage girl, except she loves the book An Imperial Affliction. She also believes that cancer and most things are a side effects of dying and that she is like a grenade. I recommend this book to everybody, especially people who love sad books. 

My favorite part was when Augustus Waters and Hazel were on the funky bones. The issue was Hazel and Augustus had cancer. The setting was in Amsterdam at the Literal Heart of Jesus hospital, Hazel’s house, and Augustus’s house. The main characters were Hazel Grace Lancaster, Isaac, and Augustus Waters. Hazel has stage 4 thyroid cancer and Augustus has Osteosarcoma.

Reviewed by Megan, 6th grade

Lexile ~ 850