Meredith’s Book Review

Title: Vanished

Author: Kristi Hall

Publisher: Zonderkidz

Place and Year of Publication: United States of America, 2011

Number of Pages: 127

Where you found the book: CHS School library

Story Review:

Jeri McKane, a sixth grader at the Landmark Boarding school for girls, didn't think her life could get any worse after her mom informed her that she wouldn't be able to come to parent's weekend.  Jeri had been counting down the days on her calendar until she could she her mom again, only to have all her excitement vanish in an instant.  Jeri felt sorry for herself all the way to dinner, but then noticed that her roommate Rosa didn't show up.  She was supposed to be back hours ago from her art fieldtrip . . . so where could she be?

As Jeri was starting to worry, the Headmaster stood up to make an announcement.  As Jeri found out that the van carrying the students was missing, she could scarcely breathe.  Possibilities flooded into her mind about what could have happened to them.  As the Headmistress continued, Jeri and her friends found out that the van had been seen entering a two - mile stretch, but never came out.  That meant two possibilities for Jeri - either they drove up the mountain, or into the lake.  A search party was formed to start looking and a few students, including Jeri, went along.  They brought warm beverages and food to those looking as the temperatures started to drop. Jeri couldn't imagine how cold Rosa would be!  Jeri was certain that what they needed was an investigator and reporter, so she called up Jake, someone who had visited their school a while back.  But Jake found out just about as much information as everyone else.

Jeri was determined to do something, so she started investigating herself.  Nothing seemed to line up for Jeri, and nothing was making any sense. Jeri started to feel hopeless, but kept persevering and working hard.  Will Jeri uncover any clues? Will they find the bodies in the lake?  Will the mystery ever be solved?  This book is titled Vanished because the school van and all the students inside suddenly vanish and no one knows where they went.  The book has a theme of suspense and intrigue, and really keeps you on your toes!

Christian Perspective:

This book was written from a Christian Perspective because Jeri goes to a Christian Boarding School and often prays throughout the book.  Jeri really dealt well with the problems that faced her and never got angry with God for anything.  This book really taught me that I have to keep trusting in God even if all hope seems lost.  It also taught me that God doesn’t forget about us and that he’s always keeping us safe and watching over us.  The story was really encouraging at times and I thought it had a lot of Christian value in it.  I think that the author really used her writing to get the meaning through to the readers that God will never forsake us.

   

My Thoughts:

I chose this book because it looked interesting and because it wasn’t too long.  I thought that this book was well written and really enjoyed it because it had a clever plot and never made me bored.  I would recommend this book to grade six or seven girls because at times I felt like it was written for a younger audience.  I would especially recommend it to girls who need encouragement in their faith and who like mysteries.  Overall it was a really good book! 

The series of unfortunate events *Austere Academy*

Author: Lemony Snicket

Publisher: Scholastic

Place & year of Publication: New York 2001

Number of pages: 221

Where you found the book: Public Library

The characters of this story are Violet, Klaus, Sunny, Count Olaf, Mr. Poe, Count Olaf’s associates, Vice Principle Nero, Mrs. Bass, Mr. Remora, Carmelita, and Duncan & Isadora Quagmire.

They called this book Austere Academy because the Baudelaire’s went to the Academy, and it is called Series of Unfortunate Events because it is a series of books about the Baudelaire’s and a lot of unfortunate events happen to them.

This books many Themes are courage, loyalty, overcoming challenges, family relationships, and friendship.

Story Review

The Baudelaire’s were going to a school called Austere academy, there motto is “Memento Mori” which means “ remember you will die.” The Baudelaire’s went to the big school with grave shaped buildings. They went to the office of Vice Principle Nero, who was trying to paly violin, and he thought he was a genius. He told the three Baudelaire’s the rules of the school.

#1 If you are in the administrative building without permission you aren’t allowed to use silverware at any of your meals

#2 If you’re late for class you get your hands tied behind your back at mealtime

#3 If you don’t show up to his 6 hour violin recital, you have to buy Vice Principle Nero, you have to buy him a bag of candy and watch him eat it

Violet had to study with Mr. Remora in Room I. Klaus had to study with Mrs. Bass in Room II. Sunny had to be Vice Principle Nero’s secretary, she will have to answer phone calls, and take care of the paperwork, and would mean she would have to work in the administrative building so her silverware would always be taken away. They left to see were they were living. They had to live in a shack entirely mad of tin. They get to sleep on bale of hay. They were crabs on the ground & fungus on the roof, with green walls with pink hearts on them. They left for lunch after they saw their shack. At lunchtime Carmelita made fun of the orphans by chanting “Cake Sniffing Orphans in the Orphan Shack.” Everyone joined in and chanted with her “Cake Sniffing Orphans in the Orphan Shack.” Duncan Quagmire stopped them and talked with them with his sister Isadora Quagmire, they were twins. Isadora wanted to be a poet, and Duncan wanted to be journalist. Carmelita told the Baudelaire’s to meet the coach who was Count Olaf at the field in front of the school. He told them to paint a luminous circle, and to do some laps around the circle. The exercise is called S.O.R.E (Special Orphan Running Exercise.) The Quagmires were spying on them from the auditorium were Nero’s 6 hour violin concert was. The Baudelaire’s had to miss the concert and ended up missing 8 more because of doing S.O.R.E. So they each owed him 9 bags of candy witch would be 28 bags of candy. They went to Nero’s office and he told them they were failing every test and they would have to get 100% on their exam (which they would have the next day) or they would be given to Count Olaf. They had to do S.O.R.E that night so they wouldn’t be able to study and they didn’t know anything. The Quagmires said they would do S.O.R.E for them dressed up to look like them, so know the Baudelaire’s can study all night. They got 100% but Count Olaf found out what they did so Nero could expel them. Mr. Poe came and asked Count Olaf to take of his shoes because if he had a tattoo of an eye that means he is Count Olaf not a coach. He ran away to a car waiting for him with three of his associates and the Quagmires who had a fortune just as good as the Baudelaire’s. The Baudelaire’s were crying as their friends were taken away with nothing but they’re Journals left behind.

Christian perspective

This book could have had more Christ like attitude. Like the part were Olaf tries to steals the fortune, which is not Christ like. Or the part were he makes them do S.O.R.E, which is also not Christ like. They could always think of a better name for the book too. I kind of think Series of Unfortunate Events sounds depressing.

My perspective

This book is not the best book to read if you don’t like violence unfortunate events or any bad things happening to children. If you don’t mind any of those and you like mystery books you should read this book. That’s why I read the book and enjoy it too. I chose this book because this is the 8^th book of these series and I’m not stopping now.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Author: Lemony Snicket
Publisher: HarperCollins
Place and year of publication: New York 1999
Number of pages: 162
Where you found the book: Public Library

Explain Title
This story is called A Series of Unfortunate Events because Series of Unfortunate Events happen to the Baudelaire children. Series of Unfortunate Events means Lots of unlucky things happen.

The Characters
The Characters of this story are Mr. Poe, Mrs. Poe, Count Olaf, Sunny, Violet, Klaus, Justice Strauss, Mr. & Mrs. Baudelaire.

Story Review
The Baudelaire family lived happily in there mansion. The Baudelaire family was very wealthy. The three Baudelaire children which were Violet, Klaus, and Sunny were all good at something. Violet was the inventor of the Baudelaire family, and when she was thinking of an invention, she would tie a ribbon around her hair so she could see, because her hair is too long. Klaus was the reader of the family, he has read more books than most people have in their whole life, and he remembers everything he reads. Sunny is an infant so she can’t do much, but she has four sharp teeth that she bites objects with. Briny beach is a nice place to be, but is crowded on nice days so the Baudelaire children go there on rainy, cloudy, or whatever bad weather condition so they have the beach to themselves. Violet likes skipping rocks and looking out at the horizon thinking of inventions. Klaus liked to look at the sea creatures that he learned about in his books.
Sunny liked to bite whatever she could find. Mr. Poe came to them to tell them the bad news that their parents their belongings and their mansion were all lost in a fire. They stayed at Mr. Poe’s house, then to their new guardian Count Olaf. They were dropped off at Count Olaf’s house. Right when they entered his house they noticed Count Olaf had a tattoo of an eye on his left ankle. When Mr. Poe left, Count Olaf put the Baudelaire Children to work. He made them cook for him and his theatre troupe. Justice Strauss is Count Olaf neighbour, and she has a library so Klaus liked it there, and she was nice. Count Olaf wanted the  Baudelaire children to be in a play he made called The Marvellous Marriage which was at his house, the
Baudelaire’s found it suspicious that he was being so kind. They knew he was going after the Baudelaire fortune, but how was a play going to help him. When he told them what part everyone was getting and how bad he wanted Violet to be the Bride and him to be the Groom, the Baudelaire’s got a clue. Klaus look it
up in a law book, it is legal for Count Olaf to marry violet as long as there are witnesses and a judge (Justice
Strauss agreed to be the judge not aware of what was happening), a signed document by the bride’s hand,
and permission from their legal guardian (Count Olaf). Count Olaf took Sunny and hung her from the roof of his house in a cage, and if the two Baudelaire’s didn’t go with the plan he would drop her. So the play went as planned till Violet was done signing the document Count Olaf let Sunny go and was laughing at the crowd for their stupidity. Then Violet said that it doesn’t count if she uses her left hand because bylaw it doesn’t count if it is not your writing hand and she is right handed so she wasn’t married to Count Olaf. Mr. Poe announced to the audience that Count Olaf will be arrested right away, but then Count Olaf turned off the lights and escaped with his troupe before anyone could get him. Know the Baudelaire’s would be safe...for now.

Christian Prospective
I think if they rewrote this book they should change the name because it seems depressing, and Christian books aren’t depressing, and how in every book the problem involves with someone dead because Count Olaf killed them. They could have made Count Olaf's name less intimidating like Mr. Wilson, and make him nicer, and make him Christian, and the Baudelaire’s unchristian so he could teach them about God, and who he was, and what he did. In the ending of every book the Baudelaire’s learn one or more valuable lesson about God. Maybe in the last book they will all be Christians spreading Gods word across the world.

Your Thoughts
I choose this book because some people told me about it so I decided to read it. I really liked this book and found it very interesting, because when something bad happens it takes a while for the writer to get to the point so I keep reading and reading till he finally tells me the whole point, then another bad thing happens so this keeps you interested till the end. I recommend this book to people that like mystery, fiction, horror, or books with no happy ending then this is the book for you.

The Postcard

The Postcard

By Tony Abbott

This book was published by the Little, Brown and Company company in the year 2008 in New York. I found this book in our school library and it has 357 pages. I chose this book because when I saw the cover and read the back it looked like a very original and interesting book.

This book is titled "The Postcard," because when Jason has to stay in Florida with his dad after his grandma, who he hardly knows, dies, he finds a postcard in one of her old desks. This postcard leads to a mystery about his grandma and a man who is supposedly Jason's grandpa, but nobody knows who or where Jason's grandpa is, and the postcard might lead him to find out. He also finds a magazine that has a story in it that's written by his "grandpa" about him and the girl that he loves, but her father hates him and is determined to keep them apart.

Before Jason has even had time to settle in his grandmas apartment that him and his dad are fixing up to sell, his dad falls off of a ladder ( after drinking a couple of beers) while trying to fix an eaves trough and is rushed to the hospital. Jason then meets the girl who mows his grandmas lawn. Her name is Dia , which means day.

Then, Jason finds a pin hole in the postcard, which is of the Hotel De Soto, in one of the windows. He decides to go check it out and, once inside the hotel, finds that Dia has followed him. So he tells her the whole story and she thinks its interesting and decides to help him. So they go on a big adventure and have people chasing after them and trying to stop them, for some reason unknown to them, but they figure that the story that they are finding is worth something other than the value of finding Jason's grandpa.

Will Jason and Dia get the rest of the story and find out who Jason's grandpa really is? Read the book to find out!

This book was not written from a christian perspective because they do not mention God at all in the book and it could have been written with a lot more Christianity in it. The character Jason, for example says a couple of words that the author blocked out. If Jason would have been written about in a more christian way, the author would just have had him say something he wouldn't have to block out.

I really enjoyed this book because I love mystery and adventure books. I liked that it was somewhat realistic but had a touch of fantasy in it and that it had some mystery in it too. There wasn't really anything that I didn't like about this book.

I would recommend this book to people who like adventure and mystery because this book is full of both of those things.

Hardy Boys #1 The Tower Treasure

Info about the book
Author: Franklin W.Dixon
Publisher:Grosset & Dunlap
Place and year of publication: New York 1959
Number of pages: 180
Where book was found: C.H.S Library
Genre: Fiction/Mystery

Story Review

The main characters are Frank Hardy, Joe Hardy, Mr. Hardy, Smuff, Chet, Jackley, Mr. & Mrs. Applegate, Mr. Robinson, Jerry, Biff, and Phil. Mr. Robinson was blamed for the crime of stealing the tower treasure which he didn’t commit. Mr Hardy was on the case. He believed that Jackley was the thief and that he needs to fly to where he is and ask him a few questions about the treasure. Smuff was out to ruin Mr. Hardy case. But Joe and Frank wouldn’t let that happen. After school Frank and Joe went outside to think of something, so they called there buds to come help them think of a way of making sure Smuff would miss his flight. They wanted to stall Smuff so he misses his 6 O’clock flight, and has to go on the 7 O’clock flight. So the Hardy’s and there buds went to Rocco’s Fruit and Veggie shop to take over for him while he rested. Smuff is neighbours with Rocco’s shop. So they thought of a plan to stall him for at least 30 minutes. They lit a barrel
full of garbage on fire so Smuff would come and try to be a hero and waste at least 20 minutes of his time witch was good enough. So his flight left without him.

The Hardy’s went to the old tower after Jackley confessed and told their father the info of where to go. Mr. & Mrs. Applegate wanted to know why they were here. The Hardy’s explained the whole story to them so they let them investigate the old & new tower because Jackley didn’t tell them which tower. They searched and searched they went up and down, but didn’t find anything. The second time they searched Mr. Hardy was with them and this time they searched very carefully. They didn’t find anything. But the next day Joe and Frank went to the old tower to look for the treasure. This time when they went to look up stairs the door
was stuck, so they pushed and pushed till the door flew open. There was the treasure, but hobo Johnny said it was his room, so he locked them in the room so they panicked. They tried to what 15 minutes so Hobo Johnny would leave. After 15 minutes they tried there hardest to get out the trap door but it was stuck. So they looked around for another exit. Frank found one spot on the roof were it was dry and looked easy to break through. So he picked up a crowbar and got a boost by Joe and he started smashing the spot till it was big enough to go through. He went up while Joe threw the treasure over to him and climbs up with his brother and go to their motorcycles and ride of to Bayport (which is where they live.) They reported this to the police and they set Mr. Robinson free. Mr. Applegate let them keep some of the treasure. So the Joe and Frank bought a crime lab on the second floor of their barn.

Christian Perspective

This book is not Christian or non Christian. It doesn’t have violence but it doesn’t contain any information on Christ. I believe that this book isn’t Christian, but does not show anything strictly against Christianity. I think there is nothing wrong with the way they responded to what happened. Like when they told the police on the thief, one of the Ten Commandments says you shall not steal. The man who stole also lied, you shall not
lie. I’m not exactly sure if this is a way Jesus would do it. All I know is it’s not exactly the opposite.

My Perspective

I enjoyed the book very much. I recommend the Hardy Boys series to boys who enjoy mystery books as much as I do. I hope whoever has read this book agrees with me.

Kourtney's Book Review

Information About the Book

Title: Sender Unknown

Author: Sallie Lowenstein

Publisher: Scholastic

Place & Year of Publication: USA 2006

Number of Pages: 258

Where you found the book: School library

Story Review

Mark is a VERY smart guy who graduated at the age of 14. Since then he has loved his job as a fix-it man. But one day, after his high school reunion, he decides to change his life in big ways.

He gets a good high paying job, a new car, and he buys a big old house. But there’s a mystery about this house. Every day (except Sundays) he receives about 15 catalogs.

All these catalogs are toy catalogs and apparently they’ve been coming to this address for 52 years. Another thing that these catalogs have in common is that none of them have a return address.

One day he decides to order out of some of them. He gets his order but it’s not quite what he expected. But there are no refunds and no returns. He tries to find an answer to the mystery of the catalogs by teaming up with an ex-cop. On the way he finds out something very interesting about himself. But will the mystery stay hidden? After all, the sender is unknown.

Christian Perspective

This book has no mention of God or Christianity. But Mark deals with his problems in a nice calm manner. He’s pretty patient with getting an answer. The thing that he could’ve done though, was to ask God for help and guidance. He also could’ve been more considerate of Elliot’s (his personal secretary) feelings, because Elliot was just trying to help Mark with his job, but it got on Marks nerves. Even though it wasn’t a Christian book there weren’t any swears or bad language in it.

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s very well written and it made me want to keep reading. The author had A LOT of imagination and I think that in order to enjoy this book the reader also needs to have a good imagination. It’s a longer book so if you’re not a very big reader then it might overwhelm you a bit. It has a pretty small font size. I would recommend this book to someone who likes to read, has a good imagination, and someone who enjoys mysteries.