The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, Bk 1)

Percy was just a normal 6th grade boy with a great mom, who tried her best to support them, and a "dad", who was just the opposite. In a sudden event during a field trip to the museum, Mrs. Dodds, the math teacher, turned into Alecto. 

Alecto is one of the three Furies (chief servants of Hades), and head torturers in the Underworld. When she turns into her true form and accuses Percy of stealing a lightning bolt, Percy realizes something is up. He is taken to a camp called camp half-blood where he finds out that he is a son of Poseidon, therefore being a demi-god, or half-blood, and finds out that Greek mythology is actually real. 

Zeus' most powerful weapon, his lightning bolt, has been stolen from him, and Percy is being accused. Percy must go to Olympus, and persuade the gods that it was not him that stole the lightning bolt. 

On this quest, Percy and his friends encounter some big obstacles, and most dangerous of all, monsters sent from Hades himself that want to hunt down and kill Percy. Will Percy be able to complete the quest, or will there be a chaotic war between the gods until the lightning bolt is found and Percy is killed, creating even more catastrophe than World War II?

The genre of this fast paced exhilarating book is fantasy. I would recommend this to anyone who likes Greek mythology or action. Read The Lightning Thief and the other 4 books that come after it in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

Reviewed by Bella ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 740

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, Book 1)

This extremely awesome book is about twelve year old Percy Jackson whose father left him as a boy with his mother. Percy never really thought of his father much because his mom is with a smelly guy named Gabe. Percy is a troubled kid who has dyslexia and ADHD, and had gotten kicked out of many schools. He has thought his life was completely normal, but as you know in books it really isn't. 

The mystery of Percy's father and his dyslexia and ADHD are all clues to something rare, special and life threatening.

Reviewed by Ryan ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 740

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling

This book is made up of 5 short stories, and include Professor Dumbledore's notes, based off of the Harry Potter series. One of the story's is called The Wizard and the Hopping Pot. 

This story is about a kindly old wizard, who owned a cauldron he called his lucky cooking pot, and he helped everyone in the city, but when he died, he gave his cauldron to his only son. The son was not kind as his father. He wasn't helping the village when bad things happened, so one day, he found a package inside of the pot, with an old slipper, but thought nothing of it, and threw it back into the cauldron. When the wizard refused to help the villagers, the cauldron magically sprouted a brass foot, and made a lot of noise, and would leave the wizard alone. 

The stories contain magical aspects, and has a moral in each one. The genre is fantasy. I really like the book, because it has short stories, then Professor Dumbledore explained it, and you got to hear his thoughts. I would recommend this book to people who like the Harry Potter series.

Reviewed by Jenna ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 1290

The Strangers by Jacqueline West (The Books of Elsewhere, Book 4)

The book I read was The Strangers by Jacqueline West. This is the fourth book in "The Books of Elsewhere" series. This book (and series) revolves around a young girl by the name of Olive. She deals with not so normal events, varying from her house being magic, and having paintings in that very same house come to life. 

In this book, Olive was, again, trying to figure out the whereabouts of the main antagonist (Annabelle) of the series, as Annabelle was on the run and nowhere to be found. Olive's friends (Rutherford and Morton, and her three magic cats, Leopold, Horatio, and Harvey if that counts) were all trying to help her figure out how to find her. 

Annabelle wasn't the only person who went missing though; Olive's parents went missing as well, leaving Olive having to use her magic cats' and her friend's aid in trying to find them again, no matter what cost. 

This book was very interesting and entertaining, and the sense of tension and knowing that anything could happen at any moment in this book left me on the edge of my seat. I think people who generally enjoy fantasy plots and out of the ordinary events within books would enjoy this book, and really, the whole series itself (there are 5 books in this series; 1. The Shadows, 2. Spellbound, 3. The Second Spy, 4. The Strangers, and 5. Still Life).

Reviewed by Leslie ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 810

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (The Chronicles of Kane - Book 1)

The book is about two kids named Sadie and Carter and they live in separate houses and then one day they meet again and then they go to a museum and their dad dies also then they go live with there uncles and they can not believe that they are magicians and that there family has magic.

Reviewed by Alejandra ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 650

The Sword of Summer by Rick Riodan (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Book 1)

Magnus Chase is a 16 year old boy who was made homeless at a young age after his apartment blew up and his mom was killed by wolves. He has been living on the streets of Boston with his other friends Blitz and Hearth who are a bit strange. When he learns that his uncle and cousin Annabeth are looking for him he goes on high alert. When he tries to loot his uncle's house he is confronted by him. His uncle is rambling about the gods of Asgard and Magnus's fate. 

[SPOILER ALERT!] 

He curiously goes with his uncle but when driving with him they are stopped by a fire giant who is terrorizing civilians. Magnus gets his sword he summoned from a river and fights the giant cutting off his nose in the process. He temporarily banishes the giant to another world but something bizarre happens to Magnus and finds out who his friends really are, and what is happening in the nine worlds.

Reviewed by Ryan ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 630

The Siege of Mackindaw by John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice - Book 6)

Hello! Welcome back to another review. Today I am reviewing Ranger's Apprentice Book 6 :: The Siege of Mackindaw by John Flanagan. Please read my reviews for books 1 thru 5 so this can make more sense. 

Read my reviews of book 1; book 2; book 3; book 4; and book 5

We all start with Will and John Buttle. John Buttle escapes from captivity from the Skandians. Will is disappointed and asks his friends to help him with Castle Mackindaw. They agree and so they set out. Meanwhile, Horace starts to arrive at Castle Mackindaw after he is sent to help. He meets John Buttle there who is now working for Sir Keren. Buttle gives Horace a job but Horace luckily declines. Horace finally meets up with Will and they have some coffee and check up on the recent happenings. Then Will introduces Horace to Malcolm (the so-called sorcerer) in Grimsdell Woods. 

Alyss is still imprisoned though and manages to send special messages to Will using a special code system only known by Couriers and Ranger Corps members. Will tells Malcolm about Sir Keren secret stone that hypothesis people to tell nothing but the truth. Alyss is able to get a stone from Malcolm and when she touches it and imagines Will (I don't know why), she can reverse the powers. She finds out the Scotti and Picta (two fiefs that are not good) have joined with Sir Keren and that they will be coming soon. 

So I'll leave it there.... Will Alyss ever be free? Will they stop the Scotti and Picta from ruining Mackindaw? Read the book find out more. Thanks for reading this review and I hope you consider reading the series.

Reviewed by Conrad ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 860

The Sorcerer of The North by John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice - Book 5)

Welcome back! Today I'll be reviewing Ranger's Apprentice Book 5: The Sorcerer of The North. Instead of leaving right off of Book 4, we are starting when Will is finally a full fledged Ranger with his Silver Oakleaf. He is assigned a mission in Seacliff Fief. QUICK CHECK UP: A FIEF IS KINDA LIKE A COUNTRY OR A STATE PLEASE READ THE BOOKS AND/OR MAPS FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THAT.

Read my reviews of book 1; book 2; book 3; and book 4

During Will's amazing travel, he meets a bloody dog on the side of the road. He takes her in and stitches her up. He puts her on the back of Tug (Will's horse). Once Will makes it to the land of Seacliff he is greeted with odd glances and voices. A few weeks after Will first moved into Seacliff he started to notice the lack of training and responsibility in the fief. He meets up with Alyss (Will's life long and friend. She is also a courier), and they discuss the mission Will was assigned. They later find a man named John Buttle (who is the one who injured the dog) and overhears their conversation. Will (with his awesome Ranger senses) finds out of John's presence and knocks him out.

Later after that Will travels to the Ranger's Gathering Grounds (a camp where all the rangers meet). Here he meets up with Halt (his former mentor) and Crowley (the Ranger Corps leader). They tell him to go under disguise as a jongleur (a guy that goes around towns playing music). This way Will can gather information about Norgate Fief. Lord Syron in Castle Macindaw (the castle of Norgate) has fallen very ill and people have blamed a mysterious "sorcerer". He meets up with Orman(Lord Syron's son and temporary ruler) who finds out Will is a ranger. He tells him that the "sorcerer" in Grimsdell Woods is to blame. So Will heads out with Orman's assistant, Xander, to Grimsdell Woods. Alyss is also there (disguised as Lady Gwendolyn) and stays around the castle. Then suddenly John Buttle walks in (remember him?) and finds Alyss. So he captures her and takes her to Keren (a guy who is planning to rule Castle Macindaw. He is also to blame for the poisoning of Lord Syron). Keren hypnotises Alyss to take all the secrets out of her, and after a 2nd attempt, it worked. Now with Will gone in Grimsdell Woods, and Alyss captured.

This leaves us to the rest of Book 5 and the setup for Book 6:The Siege of Macindaw. Thanks for reading this review and be sure to check out the series and my other reviews to understand this series better.

Reviewed by Conrad ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 850

The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice - Book 4)

WARNING: This is a review on the 4th book in the series. I would extremely recommend reading books 1-4 unless you like SPOILERS! 

Read my reviews of book 1; book 2; and book 3

Book 4, The Battle for Skandia, this is the book where things really start to get intense. Keep in mind where we left off. We left off with Horace and Halt going to Skandia to find Will and Evanlyn. It's starts with Evanlyn (or Princess Cassandra) who get's captured by a Temujai. Meanwhile, Will is back at the cabin still in a poor condition. Wakes up and realizes that Cassandra has been gone for hours. So it raised some suspicion to him. He sets out and finds tracks of her disappearance. Then he finds the Temujai and frees Cassandra. 

Meanwhile, Halt and Horace are able to get into a wolfship to sail to Skandia using a forged letter that Halt made. They finally reunite as Horace and Halt save the day from Will and Evanlyn as they got recaptured. Then after they shared there hugs they are then captured by Erak (Remember him?). After Halt convinces Erak to listen to him he the group later finds out that they can't go back home due to the Temujai. Then things start brewing as we have a battle at Skandia and then setup a sequel. 

That's basically it. There is little bits and pieces I've left off but that's fine you can always read the book. Until next time :)

Reviewed by Conrad ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 920

The Icebound Land by John Flanaghan ~ Ranger's Apprentice Series, Book 3

Warning: I would EXTREMELY recommend that you read Books 1 & 2 first.

I have also written book reviews for these - Click HERE for a review of book one. Click HERE for a review of book two.

So here we are Book 3, The Icebound Land. Will and Evanlyn (or Princess Cassandra) got captured by the raiding Skandians. They are sent away on a ship to Skandia where they will be enslaved. But before they head to Skandia they must make a stop to Skorghill (The Icebound Land). There Will and Evanlyn try to make a failed escape attempt. Meanwhile, Halt insults King Duncan to get free from all his work at the Ranger Corps. So he is banned from Araulen for a year followed by his suspension from the Ranger Corps for the same amount of time. After this happens he sets out to find his apprentice Will and finds out that he was taken by Skandians. He sets out to Gallica (shortest route to Skandia) and there he meets Horace (Will's orphan friend). Then they together set out to find Will. But they face some problems of their own.

Back to Will and Evanlyn. They are now in Skandia with their slave jobs. Because of the poor conditions, Will gets addicted to a drug called Warmweed (A drug to keep you warm). After Erak finds out he talks and Evanlyn about how he despises the drug and figures out an escape plan. Then Evanlyn captures Will and takes him into a cabin which is also where the sequel opportunity arises. 

This is basically it for this review so thanks for reading it. Also be sure to read John Flanagan's books and Enjoy your day : ).

Reviewed by Conrad ~ 6th

Lexile 950

The Isle of the Lost by Melissa De La Cruz

When all of the fairy tales had ended in happily ever after, King Beast and Queen Belle had created the United States of Auradon. There, they had lived in harmony and peace. Also, when King Beast and Queen Belle the United States of Auradon, they had brought back to life any villain that had ever existed, and sent them off to the Isle of the Lost, including their kids. There, they lived in a place with no television, Internet, or any access to magic. 

This book is very interesting. If you like Disney princesses, and fairy tales, this is a good book for you. There were some points where I couldn't put the book down!

Reviewed by Jenna ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 770

Floors by Patrick Carman

Floors is a book about a boy named Leo who has to save a hotel called the Whippet Hotel with his friend Remi. He has to find four boxes that a mysterious man left him, and notes left by that same man giving directions on where to get the next box and on the last box, how to save the hotel that Leo has worked at with his dad for so long. 

I thought this book was pretty funny and it was entertaining to read. I recommend this book for people who like talkative robots, far from normal hotels, and/or weird plots. Those of you who like that kind of stuff, this book is definitely for you.

Reviewed by Leslie ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 870

Bone: Eyes of the Storm (book 3) by Jeff Smith

So there is this kid name Bone he likes this girl name Thorn and he was writing like 100 poems to her but he never gave it to her. And then his grandpa and other people when to the village while they were going there they were surrounded by giant creatures. And they got away from them but they fell down from the hill and landed on the water. Bone and Thorn were inside they were talking about there dreams. And grandma went inside and then went running out they followed her and she was mad and she said she heard everything they said. And Bone asked you heard everything and she said yes. 

Reviewed by Wilber ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 390

Fire Star by Chris D'Lacey (The Last Dragon Chronicles, book 3)

This book is about a college student named David who lives with a woman named Liz and her daughter, Lucy. Liz makes clay dragons that can come to life (but are very small). David is on a research trip in the Arctic and is writing a fictional story about bears. But it's not fictional for long because whatever David writes can become reality. Meanwhile, a bright star is almost at it's peak in the sky. When it reaches a certain point, a portal will form and legend says that real dragons (not Liz's clay dragons) will become alive again. But an evil enemy is trying to ruin everything. Will David be able to stop her? 

I enjoyed this book, it was very exciting. I recommend this book to you if you like fantasy stories and adventure stories. Also, this book is the third in a series, so I recommend reading the other two books first.

Reviewed by Megan ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 740

Warriors: Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

Rusty, A young house-cat is sick and tired of being a just a normal cat walking around the house all day. He has nothing to do, no friends, just eat, sleep and repeat. Then one night he has a dream that he was outside hunting, stalking for prey. He awakes from slumber and he suddenly realizes. It was his destiny to be free. Rusty will follow his path into the wild.

Reviewed by Ryan ~ 7th Grade

The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan (Ranger's Apprentice, book 2)

Warning: Please read book 1 before reading this one. I did a review on book 1 [click HERE for review] so be sure to see that. But I do recommend reading book 1 unless you like spoilers. 

Here we are book 2, we learned about the intense boar fight, Will and Horace making up there differences, and an ending that leads you reading book 2. Anyway we find out that the evil ex-baron Lord Morograth is up to something nasty. But we don't know what, so let's revisit our old friends Halt, Will, Horace, and Alyss. But this time we got some newcomers with Halt is Halt's former apprentice Gilan. The Ranger that is a master and bows and swords. We also later meet Evanlyn a babysitter that escaped something. Halt has to leave Gilan in charge with Horace and Will. But then Gilan leaves too to do something else. 

Horace and Will begin exploring as they try to find out what's wrong. This is also the time they meet Evanlyn. But we have a problem apparently Evanlyn was Princess Cassandra's (King Duncan's Daughter) babysitter. More on that if you read the book, anyway we are back with Will, Horace, Evanlyn. They find out a little more about what's been going on. This is the time you should flip to the map located either at the beginning or the end of the book (if you have it). Ok so The Mountains of Rain and Night is where Morograth is located. But what is next to that, It's Celtica and Southern Araluen. This is also where people have been disappearing. So Will, Horace, and Evanlyn go to The Mountains and find out something horrendous. Now you have to read the book there we'll find out what happened to Princess Cassandra (if she's not dead) followed by the horrendous thing Evanlyn, Will, and Horace discover. Then there is another part leading to the ending. So yeah enjoy reading the book.

Reviewed by Conrad ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 870

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Imagine growing up completely ordinary only to go to a club and witness a murder. This is what happened to Clary Fray. She thought she was ordinary only to be told she has something called "the sight" and it's a part of the shadow world. The shadow world is a race of half humans and half angels called Shadowhunters. Clary happens to see three of these Shadowhunters murder someone. Later on in this book she meets exciting creatures called Downworlders and falls in love with a Shadowhunter. There are many intriguing characters in this book. This is the first of six books in the series, The Mortal Instruments. This book is a roller coaster. One minute you're laughing and the next you're on the edge of your seat in an action packed battle. This book has romance, action, comedy, and a little bit of mystery. This book will surely leave you hanging on until the very end and I definitely recommend it.

Reviewed by Morgan ~ 6th

Lexile 710

Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

Exciting and Hilarious! Like starting the Percy Jackson and The Olympians journey all over again, Magnus is very sarcastic and hilarious I loved the jokes and references to the Percy Jackson series. I was non-stop grinning and laughing once in a while gasping, a thrilling and exciting adventure with all new gods and all new rules in the mythology world.

Reviewed by Angeline ~ 8th Grade

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

This girl named Liz freaks out because at first she ends up on a boat going somewhere she doesn't know. She also sees a girl as a roommate sleeping on the top bunk. Liz finally finds out and realizes that she is dead. That's why her family wasn't with her. During the story Liz gets into the routine of not having to worry about the people (Like her friends and family) on Earth. She makes several attempts trying to communicate with people back on Earth but then finally learns her lesson that she's forbidden to. 

In Elsewhere, once you die, you live backwards. As Liz is living backwards, she ends up having to face the person who killed her in an accident. She was riding her bike to the mall, and she didn't look both ways when the light was green. Then a taxi came speeding by and killed her. The story starts becoming one of those books that you have to keep reading and you can't dare put it down. I really recommend this book to readers who like some action.

Reviewed by a 6th Grader

Lexile 720

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff

Rump is not a story but a tale of the life of a young boy who has the destiny to unlock everything in his world with Red, his friend, his only friend that is. A girl named Opal who joins the adventure in a lot of fun and weird ways although she is the daughter of the evil greedy Miller who is the servant of the king she still helps them to rebel against her father after what he does to her and his greedy ways and really big twist in the end that has everyone saying what? 

Read all the twists and turns that they go through learning to find out his name the way he finds out his name is a secret until you read until the very end.

Reviewed by Yemi ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 660