Elsa’s Comments (group member since Nov 17, 2014)

Elsa’s comments from the Open World Learning Community '14-'15 group.

" book 5 stars "

The one and only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, is about a gorilla who lives in a domain. Ivan( the gorilla ) lives next to Stella, an old elephant that is one of Ivan's best friends. Their owner, Mac, is running out of money and Stella is running out of life. What will Ivan do? Can he survive losing Stella? What will happen if Mac cannot take care of the animals anymore? Join Ivan in this wonderful fiction novel to see what will happen.

I would rate this book a 3 star novel. I say this because it was very touching but also depressing. Usually, I like books about animals, but this one was very sad. It was touching because the animals were very kind to each other and it was very descriptive at the happy parts. But it was depressing because I felt that the animals were not treated with respect. I would recommend this book to people who can handle reading about sad things, but this book was at an easier reading level, so if reading is not your specialty, this might be the book for you.

The candy makers, by Wendy Mass is about four kids who have their own interesting history behind them. This realistic fiction book kept me on my toes. Being very different, these kids have one very specific thing in common. They all enter in a candy competition. How it works is that each contestant has to come with a new type of candy that they have made up on their own that have to be tested by candy critics ( judges). Logan, who is a homeschooled, candy expert (because he is the candy makers son) , Miles, a small, shy, friendly kid, Daisy, a sunshiny mystery, and Philip, a dark storm who keeps to himself, and his mysterious notebook. These four kids go through mysterious times at Logan's fathers candy factory while learning about candy. But the question is: who will win the competition?

I really enjoyed this book because I really liked how Wendy split it up so you could read on other people's perspective. It reveals a lot of surprises. But I wish she didn't place suspenseful moments at the very end of a section because then I had to read the next section and wait a very long time until I could read on. I recommend this book to anyone who can read a fifth grade level because it was way easier than I thought but it was still excellent.

What book is called Cyrus? Is it good?

Good job Zoe! I really enjoy the descriptive language you put in all your book reviews!

Maximum Ride by James Patterson is a thrilling sci-fi novel. It is the first book in the eight book series. The action starts when max and her gang : Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel, all set out to rescue Angel, who has been kidnapped by erasers. Erasers are tall, beastly humans( well, I don't even know if they are humans.) the erasers have brought 6 year old Angel to a terrible place called the school. Except this school is not like any other school. This school keeps you in cages and makes you run for hours, and starves you, and doesn't treat you like a human, they treat you like a specimen. But the reason that the erasers kidnapped Angel is because she has something special about her.

This girl can fly. But not just Angel, the whole flock. Will max and the rest get put in cages trying to save Angel? Or worse, killed?

This book kept me on my toes. I couldn't find a place to put it down! I admire that this book has good detail, because I could really understand what was happening all the time. But this book also was a little bit boring in the beginning. I couldn't really see the point of the book, but once I got into it, I started to think "oooohhhhh I wonder what will happen next?" As I read on, I got even more sucked into the book I started to think " SLEEPING IS OVERRATED BUT THIS BOOK IS NOT!!!" I would recommend this book for people who are about 10 to 11 and up because I think this book would be a little bloody and complex for 8 to 9 year olds.

Mimi, by John Newman, is a thrilling, funny, realistic fiction novel. It is filled with common family fun for everyone.Unfortunately, there is no sequel to this book. The story starts when Mimi and her family are at faiths door. Mimi's mom has passed away, their dog sparkler hasn't been walked in months, and dad orders pizza every night and burns it until its black. Will Mimi's life go on like this, or will she start to change things for good?

My opinion on this book has positive and negative output. On the positive side, I admire how funny it was when Mimi kind of messed up on everyday life situations. I don't like how the story had a really slow start, it felt like the story was going nowhere. But it got better throughout the book. I recommend this book to people who like have patience, because you will probably need it when you are going through the beginning. Otherwise, this book can teach you about the meaning of family.

What is " kooks"

Ok that's just rude

Noooooooooo spoilers! Otherwise it was great!!

Good job, but again, tell me why it is good

Very good Maddie!

Love it! Now I know that this book is very good.

Good job, maybe you could add why it is moving.

Very good book review, I look forward to reading this book!

Hey no spoilers!!!

This book starts off with a girl named Melody. Melody has a photographic memory which means she can remember everything. It's like a little camera that's inside her head, she will see something and take a picture. The only problem is that there is no delete button. If only Melody could tell other people what she's thinking but she can't. "Because Melody can't walk, she can't talk, she can't write."

Melody's wheelchair has always been hard for her, until she got a new one. Now she is buzzing down the hallway and can manage to get much more new words for her word board on her wheelchair. She is now even included in inclusion classes where she goes to classes with other kids! But...what will they think of her? Will they tease her? And more importantly will she make friends?

I give this book a 5 star rating because I think the author of this book did a exemplary job. I especially enjoyed how the story was told in Melody's perspective because it told me how somebody with cerebral palsy would feel. At first, I didn't think I would like this book because I thought it would criticize people with disabilities, people like my brother. But once I started reading it I realize that it wasn't going to be criticizing anyone. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to learn about another person's life. And even if you don't want to learn about another person's life I think that anyone would enjoy this book.

Zoe,
This is a very well written book review, it made me want to read the book "rascal", you make it sound very good! I hope it is as good as the book review sounds!

Great job Maddie, I agree about the cliffhanger part

Great job Maddie, I agree about the cliffhanger part