The Two Sisters Of Bamarre By Olivia

Title: The Two Princesses From Bamarre
Author: Gail Carson Levine
Place And Year Of Publication: New York, 2001
Number Of Pages: 241
Where You Found The Book: School Library

Story Review:

Princesses Addie and Meryl live together in their beautiful castle in Bamarre with their father, who is very distant from them, many maids and servants, and their good friend Bella. Princess Addie is very timid and scared of alot things. Meryl on the other hand is brave, daring, and wants to go out and slay ogors and dragons, but Addie made Meryl promise that she would stay and protect her until Addie got married and moved away. There had aways been a dark plague in the land called the Grey Death, the plague made you very weak until the victim fell into a deep sleep for eleven days, then woke for three days with a high fever, then died. But their was a cure, the legend has it that when the weak found courage, and rain fell over Bamarre, then the plague would be gone, or people say that Dragons and fairies knew another cure. The main characters in this book are Addie, Meryl, Bella, and Rhys, the young sorcerer who lived at the castle. The themes in this book are an adventurous,  risk taking, and romance. This book is called The Two Princesses From Bamarre because Addie and Meryl, two princesses, live in Bamarre.

When Princess Addie finds out that her old house maid had caught the plague, she told her to fight the plague and not let the plague get to her. Her house maid went back to her home town where she stayed until the Grey Death took her life. Rhys, their sorcerer showed Addie, Meryl, and Bella some magic tricks, and gave them gifts. In return the girls decided to give him a gift as well, and Meryl recited a part from Drault, a legend of a brave hero who slayed dragons. While she was reciting, she started panting and had to sit down. They all brought her inside to bed because they thought it must be a cold. When Milton, their doctor, checked her out, it was certain, she had the Grey Death. Addie was devastated and weeped for hours. When Addie's father found out, he brought together an army of fifteen men and set off, a little while later Addie found out that her father was returning with nothing, she decided she had to go on her own and find the cure. Bella, Milton, and Rhys gave her gifts to help her and Rhys accompanied her part of the way. While she was searching she ran  into ogors, griffins, and dragons. Time is running out, will she be able to find the cure in time?


Christian Perspective:

This book was written in Medieval Times and so there was a lot of magic, sorcery, and witchcraft, so I don't think this book was written in a christian perspective. The book of Drualt was almost like their bible because they carried it around, reciting things from it that would help them get through rough times, just as we use verses in the bible to help us. Princess Addie acted like a christian should because she loved her sister so much that she was willing to go into the unknown forest and search for the cure, which could mean death. Rhys and Addie are in love and they want to get married, but since Rhys is a Sorcerer, he has rules against it. They decide to get married which goes against the sorcerer rule, but I don't think that is a bad thing and I think since they love each other it is okay.



Your Thoughts:

I really didn't want to have to read this book because it looked boring and I usually hate fantasies, but this book changed my mind about fantasies. It was a pretty good book, even though I didn't particularly like the ending. I really liked Addie's character and how she would do anything for her sister, even if it meant dying. I also liked how two very different people can overcome their differences and live happily ever after. I would recommend this book to people who like fantasies, romance, and the medieval times.

Olivia's Book Review: RULES

Title: Rules
Author: Cynthia Lord
Publisher: Scholastic
Place and year of publication:  New York, 2006
Number of pages: 200
Where you found the book: school library

Story Review:
12 year old Catherine just wants a normal life. Since her brother has autism, her parents don't pay attention to her and her needs. To keep her little brother out of trouble, she makes rules for him like "no toys in the fish tank" or "keep your pants on in public". Catherine's best friend goes to Florida every summer to live with her dad, and when Catherine's new neighbour Kristi moves in, she hopes that they will become friends. The themes in this book are strictness, routines, romance, and being worried. This story takes place in North America, in the summer. This book is called "Rules" because Catherine is always making rules for her brother to keep him in order without him embarrassing him and herself. The main characters in this book are Catherine, her little brother David, Kristi, Ryan, and a new interesting friend named Jason.

Catherine and her mother take David to the clinic every day to help him with his autism. Catherine loves to draw, so while they were waiting for David, she decides to draw a boy in a wheelchair sitting across the room. The boy's mother leans over to the boy then sharply asks Catherine to stop drawing her son. Catherine was surprised and embarrassed so she apologizes and draws something else. The next time they go to the clinic the boy in the wheelchair was there again, but when she sits down, the boy's mother wheels his chair over to her, tells her that his name is Jason, and explains to her that he cannot talk, so he uses a book that has a bunch of words with pictures beside them which he taps to make sentences. Over the weeks they became friends and Catherine makes new, exciting words for Jason.

Ryan is a boy who lives on Catherine's block who she can't stand because he always makes fun of David and takes advantage of him since he cannot help himself. But when her new neighbour Kristi comes, she likes Ryan and Ryan likes her too. Kristi sees the picture that Catherine had drawn of Jason and asks if he is Catherine's boyfriend. Embarrassed she says no and doesn't want to tell her that he is a disabled boy because she doesn't know what Kristi will think of her. One day Catherine and Kristi go to the pond to swim. While they are there Ryan comes to the shore, so they get out of the water to meet him. Ryan asks if Kristi has asked Catherine yet. Confused, Catherine asks what they're talking about. Kristi asks Catherine if she wants to go to the dance with them on Saturday night. Catherine was pretty sure that the only reason she asked her was because she wasn't allowed to go by herself, and one of Catherine's rules is "no dancing in public unless it's pitch black", so she tries making excuses not to go.

At the clinic the next day Jason asks Catherine if she wants to come to his birthday party on Saturday. luckily, it was the same day as the dance so she agrees to come. She tells Kristi that she was going to Jason's party and that she was invited too, even though she knew Kristi couldn't come. At the party Jason asks why Kristi didn't come along, Catherine explains that Kristi is going to a dance in the evening with Ryan. Jason asks if Catherine wants to go to the dance with him but Catherine hesitates and looks away. Jason asks if she was embarrassed of him and she says "no, it's just that I doesn't like dancing". But Jason knows better and says that that is a stupid excuse and wheels his chair out of the room. The party's over. Catherine feels really bad and decides to make it up to Jason and see if he wants to go to the dance after all. When she calls, Jason's mother says he probably won't come, but Catherine begs and then waits at the dance for Jason to come. Will Jason ever show up and make up with her? Or is their friendship ruined forever?

Christian Perspective:
This book was not written in a christian perspective. Catherine had patience with her little brother, but sometimes she got fed up with him, which is understandable. She was always too worried about what Kristi and other people would think of her and that they would think she's weird for having a handicapped friend. Instead of shying away from the truth about Jason when Kristi asked, she could have just told her the truth and not be worried about it so much. And instead of worrying about her little brother always messing up or making Catherine and himself  look stupid, just to accept him the way he is just like Jesus would have done.

Your Thoughts:
I chose this book because it looked interesting and a few of my friends had read it and told me I should read it too. I really liked this book because it talks about things that a normal teenager would have to deal with in  life, like fitting in, and family and friend problems. I didn't really like the ending of the book because to me it felt like it wasn't finished or there was a page missing or something, but otherwise the story was very good. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes realistic fiction books, or something they can relate to. I would also recommend this book to teenagers with younger siblings or a difficult relationship with friends, and it might give you some guidance.

Olivia's Book Review: Stargirl

Title: Stargirl
Author: Jerry Spinell
Publisher: Scholastic
Place and year of publication: New York, 2002
Number of pages: 184
Where did u find the book: School library


Story Review:
This story is about an unusual girl named stargirl. Her real name is Susan but she has changed it to pocket mouse, mudpie, hully gully, and now stargirl based on the way she feels. The main characters in this book are Stargirl, Leo, Kevin, and Archie. This story takes place in Mica, Arizona.

It was the first day of school and everyone was buzzing " Have you seen her?!"Seen who? Stargirl. She wore long dresses that looked like it could have been her Great-Grandmother's wedding gown, her hair was a sandy colour that came to her shoulders, she played her ukulele, carried around her pet rat, she believed in magical places, and she had a large canvas bag with a life-size sunflower on it. She knew everything about everybody, she sang happy birthday to everyone, gave gifts on special occasions, and cheered for both teams. She is different, she is elusive, she is today, and she is tomorrow. Even though Stargirl was different and had her own way of doing things, she became popular because everyone wanted to know what crazy thing she was going to do next. But after awhile everyone started getting annoyed with her and shunning her because she was just to different.

Leo and Kevin were best friends and ever since they first saw her, they wanted to put her on their T.V show called "The HotSeat". But when all the students started to shun her and not like her, Leo wasn't sure about putting her on the "HotSeat". But she did end up going on the show, she waved to him and called "Hi Leo!" he just froze, he didn't even know she knew his name, so he awkwardly waved back. On Valentines Day, she gave him a card that said "I Love You!" She sang Happy Birthday to him and called him cute in front of everyone. Leo didn't understand the feeling he had for her, he followed her to the dessert one day where she sat and played her ukulele. He decided to talk to Archie about it, Archie was like a grandfather to him and he could always to go him for answers. Suddenly, he wanted to know everything about her, he followed her to her house, and when she found him, they told each other how they felt, and they fell in love!

They would wave at each other in the hallway, go places together after school, but Leo never got really close to her because he was scared that she was too different. Since Stargirl was being shunned, Leo got shunned too, so he avoided her. He hated avoiding her, he wanted her, but he wanted his friends too. He couldn't choose. He told her that she had to change, wear makeup, normal clothes, and not sing Happy Birthday to everyone or cheer for both teams. She loved him so much that she changed for him.

One day she told Leo that she had a vision that she was going to win the Arizona state oratorical contest, and then everyone would cheer for her and she would become finally become popular. She did win, but no one was there to congratulate her, accept for some teachers, a girl named Dori Dilson, Leo, and her parents. She was heartbroken and then the next Monday she came back to school as her old self, Stargirl. She was done with trying to be popular. Does Leo finally accept her for who she is? Does she ever become popular? Find out in "Stargirl".

Christian Perspective:
Stargirl believed in magical places and meditation so I do not think that this book was written in a Christian perspective. I think that Stargirl was a good example of a christian (even if she was not) by the way she didn't care about how people thought about her, she always had a good attitude towards everyone, even the people who hated her, and she was very generous. Leo could have dealt with Stargirl by accepting her for who she is and not worrying about being shunned or made fun of. Leo and all the other kids were not acting like Christians because they were not giving her a chance and they were being very quick to judge her for the way she looked, dressed, and acted, without even getting to know her first.

Your thoughts:
I chose this book because it looked very interesting and some friends had read it and recommended it to me. I think the book was very good and a different kind of story, it wasn't the usual fairytale love story that worked out well in the end, it had a very different ending. For me it was the kind of book where you can't put it down because you have to know what is going to happen next. I would recommend this book to people who like a different kind of ending where you can decide what might have happened if...or what is going to happen in the future. I would also recommend this book to people who like a complicated love story.

E.L.A Paragraph

The most important component of surviving alone is hope because if you dont have it, you won't see a point to carry on. You can have enough food and water and knowledge, but all that doesn't matter if you don't hope because you have to believe that there is something worth fighting for and that something better is going to come along. In the Hatchet, when Bryan was working on making a bow and arrow he suddenly heard the roaring of a plane. He ran as fast as he could until he got back to his campsite, then he rushed to make a fire and get the smoke going. When he realized that the roaring was getting softer and softer until he couldn't hear it anymore, he felt like there was no point to carry on because no one was coming for him. So he tried to kill himself, but then he realized that he had to have hope and he had to keep going. In the end he got rescued! And in the movie Castaway, Chuck got stranded on the island for 4 years! But even after he tried to kill himself, and his best friend being a volleyball, he never gave up! He made a raft and went out to sea to find a boat or land, and in the end he got rescued too!

Olivia's Book Review

Title: Soul Surfer
Author: Bethany Hamilton
Publisher: Pocket Books
Place and Year of Publication: 2004, New York
Number of pages: 213
Where you found the book: School library

Story Review:
This is an autobiography by Bethany Hamilton who was 13 years old when she wrote it. No one can explain Bethany’s passion to surf, even when one arm was gone, nothing could get between her and the ocean waves. When she was attacked, she stayed calm and had only one thought, “get to the beach!”. And when she came out of her surgery the first thing she said was “when can I surf again?” It is easy to tell that Bethany and the waves are meant to be together. This book is called Soul Surfer because when Bethany was attacked, she got right back into the water. And the meaning “soul surfer” in surf speak is “ I surfer who merely surfs for the love of the sport”.

In this book, Bethany talks about how her life was before the attack, and how she made adjustments to lifestyle after the attack. She talks about her family and friends, and most importantly, her faith in Jesus Christ. The main characters are Bethany, her mom and dad, her 2 brothers Noah and Timmy, her best friend Alana Blanchard and Alana’s family.


Christian Perspective:
There is a lot of Christianity in this book because Bethany, and her family, the Blanchard family, and most of her friends are all Christians. Bethany has a every strong relationship with God and she’s proud of it. She said that if God wasn’t with her during the attack, she probably wouldn’t have made it because God kept her calm. Bethany’s mom said that before the attack, they prayed all the time that God would use Bethany in huge ways, and they believe that God used and is still using her through attack. She grew up in a Christian home with Christian friends and family, and she said that even though she was taught about prayer, the bible, and went to youth group regularly, no one could make the decision of accepting Christ for her, because she said that putting your faith in God is something that each person has to do on their own and it’s your own personal relationship with him- a bond that is as unique as a finger print.

Your Thoughts:
I chose this book because I had heard a lot about Bethany Hamilton. I watched the movie and I wanted to see if the movie was accurate to the book. I really loved this book because it’s very inspirational, like in the book for example, she talked to a lot of kids who were missing limbs or had been diagnosed with cancer and after she talked to them they felt better and said that they didn’t need all of their limbs or that they were cancer free. I would recommend this book to people who had something go wrong in their life and I think her words would make them feel better too. I also recommend this book to people who like true inspirational stories.

Olivia's Spelling Word Story

"I think the feasibility of putting teriyaki sauce on a quesadilla while driving a Honda Odyssey to a Hacienda is low." Said Sarah "Well, I think we should exhilarate our creativity!" Said Bill. "Whatever, I think it would be more likely to have a super villain riding a vacuum covered in graffiti, while a vigilante, who is all hiped up on caffeine, is chasing him through an obstacle course" said Sarah. "That is so weird it's making me nauseous!" said Bill. Just then, a colonel ran up to them holding a bouquet of flowers with pieces of shrapnel in it. "You have to help me!" He cried . "I am on my way to a symphony but i need a disguise!" Puzzled, Bill and Sarah looked at each other, and then back at the colonel. "Well, I have a terrestrial disguise I used for Halloween last year, but why do you need it?" Asked Sarah. "Well I'm not eligible to attend because people say I am way to possessive and so i was reluctant to go, but i promised my mother I would take her and I wouldn't want to embarrass her by not being there." "Works for us!" They both said happily. "Well will help you, then you can go to the symphony on time." Bill said. "Thank you so much!" said the colonel.

Escape Under The Forever Sky -by Olivia

Title: Escape Under the Forever Sky
Author: Eve Yohalem
Publisher: Scholastic
Place and year of publication: December 2009
Number of pages: 215
Where you found the book: School library

Story Review

13 year old Lucy Hoffman has to move to Africa with her mom because her mom accepted a job as an American Ambassador, while her father stays in Indonesia with the World Bank. Her mom is very protective and won’t let her go anywhere accept for school. Her best friends are Teddy, Tana, and Iskinder who works in the residence.
Her mother always makes her come to boring dinners for her work, but one day Lucy and Tana decide to sneak out to a café called Mmmm My Flavour. While they are there, Dawit her driver, comes to the café and tells them that he is supposed to take them home. They’re busted! Dawit drops Tana off and is going to take Lucy home, but all of the sudden Lucy notices that they’re not going the right way but Dawit doesn’t listen, she gets frantic and yells at him to pull over. He swirves over and a man gets in the car and knocks her out.
The next thing she knows, she’s in a dark room and she bruised and hungry. After a few days of being there, eating nothing but ingera and water to drink, she finds out who kidnapped her. Marcos is the mean leader and Helena and Dawit are just in it for the money. Lucy realizes that she will die if she doesn’t make a run for it, so she gets out through a window and runs as fast as she can until she get to the jungle in the distance. She hides in a tree until her abductors are gone, then she goes off to find a river. She decides to follow the river and hopefully it will lead to a village. On her way she has to hide from her abductors, find food, and watch out for animals. Will she find her way home? Will she die by animals? Or will Marcos, Helena, and Dawit find her?

Christian Perspective
This book wasn’t written in a Christian perspective but Lucy (the main character) had heard about God before and sometimes did a little prayer of thanks or when she was in trouble. Since this book wasn’t written in a Christian perspective, Lucy could have dealt her problems with her mother by trying to understand why her mother was so over protective. She could have not run off to the café or markets and obeyed her mother.

Your Thoughts
I really liked this book because it was an adventure book so it was really interesting and there was never a dull moment. Another reason I liked this book was because it was inspired by a true story of a 12 year old girl in Ethiopia who was kidnapped for a week until she decided to escape. She ran into the jungle where she met three lions they chased off her abductors and surrounded her for several hours until the police arrived. I would recommend this book to people who like adventures and suspense.