Sunday, August 30, 2009

Peter and the Shadow Thieves


By Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

This book is the sequel to Peter and the Starcatchers (the story of how Peter Pan came to be...). Peter must leave the island and travel to London to try and warn Molly and her family of an evil man who is after the "star stuff". The evil Lord Ombra is able to kidnap Molly's mother, but Peter arrives just in time to rescue Molly. Then Peter and Molly must try to find Molly's father in time, or all will be lost!

Mrs. Senechal says:
I highly recommend that you read Peter and the Starcatchers before you read this book. But, I really liked both stories! I always enjoy reading a book where the author tells the story behind another story - I think that takes a lot of creativity! This particular book is very suspenseful, which makes you want to keep reading! It's also neat because different chapters tell the story from the point of view of different characters.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple


By: Karen Cushman

Lucy's mother moves their family from the east coast to California. Moving west had been a dream of Lucy's parents before her father died, and Lucy's mother chose to still pursue that dream. Their family runs a boarding house in Lucky Diggins, California, for the miners of the Gold Rush. Lucy's real name is "California", but she doesn't want to be called that because it's a place - a place that Lucy hates. She wants desperately to return home to Massachusetts.

Mrs. Senechal says:
The most interesting part of this book was the descriptions of the tough, challenging conditions these early California settlers had to face. They had to haul water, hunt their own food, plant and harvest a garden, and do all of the cleaning chores as well. At times, Lucy and her family live in tents! I liked that Lucy loved to read and even lent her books to the local miners. The author gives many historical details about what it was like to live at that time in the mining towns of California. While I liked this book, I think it would be more enjoyable for students in fifth grade or older.