The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (294 pages)
Tibby, Carmen, Lena, and Bridget are in for the summer of their lives. Best friends since before birth, the girls are going to spend their first summer apart. Tibby will stay in town and work at a local store. Carmen is off to South Carolina to visit her father. Lena is on her way to Greece to stay with her grandparents. Bridget is headed to Mexico for soccer camp. Before they split up for the summer, the girls happen upon a pair of magic pants that fits each of them perfectly despite their extremely different body types. The girls agree to send the pants to one another throughout the summer and keep a record of their events while in the pants. As a fan of the movie, I was surprised by how much was different in the novel, but I still enjoyed it immensely. It’s a great read for girls!
Miss Simer’s Rating: ***1/2
Citizens from around the world gathered to watch a major astronomical event: an asteroid was going to crash into the moon! Scientists did not predict the massiveness of the asteroid and were unaware of the repercussions. The asteroid was so large and powerful that it knocked the moon out of its orbit and moved it much closer to the Earth. While seeing the moon take up a large portion of the night sky is beautiful, the effects were catastrophic: tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, winter in August, etc. Pennsylvania teen Miranda chronicles the events in her diary and reveals her fear of death, worry about starvation, frustration with her family, longing for love, and heartbreak over lost friends.
Prince Caspian is a wonderful book. It’s about a boy whose uncle is trying to kill him. The uncle’s name is Miraz. The young boy is Caspian. One night his tutor brings him up a tower in secret. Caspian is looking down on the land of Narnia. Narnia is filled with talking animals, giants, and all sorts of mythical creatures. Not all of them are nice and kind; some of them hate humans and want to get rid of them. This book is the 4th book in the series called the Chronicles of Narnia. I would recommend it to anyone who loves adventure and excitement.
Matilda experiences culture shock as she moves from Lord Randall’s manor and becomes a
When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister Boots are randomly sucked into their laundry room air vent and transported to the Underland, they are first discovered by man-sized cockroaches, then they are taken to meet the human royalty of the Underland. Gregor is told that he is the warrior who must have come to fulfill the Prophecy of the Gray. He is meant to lead the Underlanders to victory over the rats (did I mention the rats are about 4 feet tall?) and must also form bonds with the cockroaches, spiders, and bats to complete his task. Gregor and Boots are enthusiastic about the quest only because of the hope they will find their father who disappeared three years earlier. The journey is loaded with fights, narrow escapes, and deaths. In this, the first book in a series of five, you will have a fantastic adventure!
Soldier X is a dramatic fictional story of a young German soldier who, at the age of 15, is sent to fight in the trenches of World War II. With hardly any training, he is thrown into action, dodging bullets and bombs at steady intervals. After a particularly severe attack, he realizes his only means of escaping with his life is to trade his German uniform with a dead Russian soldier’s uniform. Luckily he speaks fluent Russian and is able to convince the others that he is a wounded Russian soldier. He spends weeks pretending to be a Russian soldier and planning his escape. This book does not hold back. It is bloody and brutal, though not nearly as much as the actual war was. Not recommended for anyone with a weak stomach!
Sal is a thirteen year old girl who misses her mother and wants her to come home? Sal’s father has taken her from her favorite place in the world; her farm in Bybanks,Kentucky. They moved to Ohio. Sal decides to go find her missing mother with her spunky, fun-loving grandparents, who ALWAYS get into trouble! On the trip,Sal reveals all the antics the she and her best friend Phoebe had been up to. And there are many! In my opinion this book is suspenseful, yet heart-warming. I would recommend it to everyone!
If you liked Chasing Vermeer, you will love this book. Calder and Petra return as well as Calder’s old friend Tommy. It is very mysterious in many different ways. It lets your imagination wonder and the patterns in this book make you think. The friends are searching for a secret while trying to save a historic house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Read this book. You won’t regret it.
Recommended by Lillie M.
