Gilda Joyce Psychic Investigator By Jennifer Allison

Since Gilda Joyce's dad died, she has been driven to a state of mind where she speaks or communicates with the so called "other side". Then the ideal opportunity strikes when she has to visit her awkward cousins in San Francisco. A tortured ghost just starts roaming around their creepy Victorian mansion, and on top of that, her uncle seems to be hiding a handful of secrets ever since his sister committed suicide. So Gilda and her cousin Juliet decide to work to uncover family secrets and their findings are a lot to take in and Gilda Joyce's life might just change.                                                                                                                                                             By Rokibat ****

THE WRECKERS by Ian Lawrence

    There was once a village bred from evil,These men, women and children prayed for ships to crash on their rocky shores, They  clothed themselves with and treasured their gather of the items in the shipwrecks.

Then John Spencer, his Father, and a ship crew ride the ship Isle of Skye after loading barrels in Spain, On their way to London, they see beacons after a devastating storm when they try heading towards it they end up crashing on the rocky tombstones. John Spencer survives the wreck and sees that his crew is murdered.Soon enough John Spencer finds his father is alive, he learn that the beacons they saw were false and what thought to be wine then thought to be gold, was sawdust all along. John discovers the real corpse lights and what lie underneath a cursed tomb, battles a legless man named stumps, sees the the man with no tongue named Eli, and meets many friends such as Simon Right-of-Wreck and Mary a nice trusted young maid who lives with Simon. 

John Spencer struggles with nature, society of the village, and of course himself.
The conflict is that John does not like the false beacons and other evil society of the village, and struggles in secrets he keeps and the secrets many people are not telling to that he need to find out, also he struggles at looking at the ship wreck souvenirs that people kept, he struggles looking at the tombstones. The most important thing he struggles in trusting other people close to him such as Simon and Mary.John made a big choice.
John changed a lot from the scared shy boy who had to be commanded by his father to a brave boy who would dare open the tomb said to have a curse, or to run away in the dead of night to rescue his father, To battle Stumps a evil legless man,to light a white phosphorous match with a smart strategy to defeat an enemy,to find out and defeat mysterious leader who made himself undercover by acting nice. 
John Spencer is brave and daring things like me,John Spencer has rode a horse which I have done many times too.

                                                                                -RATING-
                                                                                   *****
Aidan

CODE TALKER - Joseph Bruchac

This book is about a native boy who went to mission school. Mission school is a school where they teach native children the English language, but they were very strict. If they heard you talk Navajo instead of English they would beat you with a bat or worse. The boys name is Ned , well not exactly they changed his name in mission school. His name in Navajo; it is ''Yaat'eeh. Year after year he finished school and then one day he was listening to the radio and he heard that Japan is in war with the United States.  They needed Navajo men and he wanted to sign up, but he was too young, so he had to wait a year before he could sign up.  This was hard for him because he wanted to help out in the war.

I know somebody  who has struggled by having to wait. Once he was old enough he signed up and then  he was brought to boot camp and was told he would be a code talker.  A code talker speaks in code to a radio that goes to the Navy.  The main character changed through out the book because it was so top secret that he couldn't even tell his own family.  He was shipped out to Hawaii to practice in the dessert and jungle and then he was sent off to his first combat zone... will he survive?

Ben

SEEKERS, THE QUEST BEGINS by Erin Hunter Annie

This book is mostly about three bears Kallik, Toklo, and Lusa growing up. Lusa is a black bear who was born in captivity. Toklo is a grizzly bear who lost his mom and his brother. Last but not least there is Kallik who is a polar bear who also lost her mom.

I think one of the main characters Lusa had a conflict. Lusa's conflict was escaping the zoo. She pretended to be sick so the zookeepers would take her out of the bear exhibit.

The main characters changed because all three bears became more confident in themselves. Also Toklo learned to trust other people. All three bears learned how to hunt for their own food and learned survival skills for example protecting themselves from the firebeasts, better known as cars.

I related to this book because I learned from my mistakes and experienced knew things as I grew up just like all three bears.

RATING: ****
Annie

SPY FORCE MISSION: NIGHT MARE by Deborah Abela

Max and Linden attempts to win a spy agency award hidden in a medieval fortress. Are Max and Linden going to get the award?! So they go and try to win the award. At the end they have found the spy award and so relieved they did.

Max and Linden struggle to get in the medieval fortress without the guards knowing they were there. 

Security fields set off Max's green Gadget goes off and warns Max and Linden.

Linden and Max were apart of a official spy force team, then Linden tells Max about the spy award and Max agreed to do it.

Max is like me because he takes chances just like when he did the spy award challenge and went in the medieval  fortress

Rating :  ****

TOYS GO OUT by Emily Jenkins

Lumphy wanted to know what he was and Tuk Tuk  tells him. But when he goes on a picnic he gets covered in peanut butter and he does not want to go in the washer.

Lumphy was in conflict after he went on the picnic.

Lumphy does not want to go in the washer so he hides in the closet. He has to go in the washer because he has peanut butter all over him.

Lumphy does not like the washing machine but then he does like the washing machine.

Lumphy relates to me because he is curious about a lot of things and I am too.

RATING: ***

JULIAN SECRET AGENT by Ann Cameron

              Julian and his friends Gloria and Huey want to start their own detective agency. They rescue a dog from dying and a kid from drowning. They find a man who looks just like a man who is wanted and the reward is $25,000. Will the man be him? Or is he just a fake?

            Julian wants to find a criminal so that he can get the reward money.

            Julian couldn't find any criminals and he really wanted the reward money.

            Julian changed from being an amateur to telling a police chief that there was a criminal right in town. First he went from rescuing a dog by telling the owner to open up his car windows. Next, there was a child drowning, and they saved him from dying. He gets so good at detecting, he actually gets involved with the police for one of their crimes.

            I relate to Julian because I like to be a detective too. For example, I like doing scavenger hunts.

RATING: ***

CAPTURE THE FLAG BY Kate Messner

A secret society steals the flag that inspired the well known song the star spangled banner. Three

 kids Anna,Jose and, Henry go to find it.All of their parents are part of a art protecting society called the silver jaguar society and all of them are related to famous artists and engineers.Will they find the flag in time?

Anna,Jose and,Henry struggle with who might be the biggest art thief EVER.

The biggest conflict they go through is with snake arm a man with giant muscles and a snake tattoo.When they get chased the are about to get caught when they find a giant bottle of shampoo and squirt him in the face!

Henry definitely changed from being a mad kid who hogged an outlet to a crime fighting kid.

Their struggles did not remind me of any of my ordeals in real life

I rate this book ****

 Logan

STORM MOUNTAIN by Tom Birdseye

Suddenly there was a crooked line between Cat's feet. Avalanche!! The world went dark. She was digging, clawing to get to hold of the snow on the surface but just seemed to sink deeper. Her cousin Ty is trying to help but not his best. like a fool she walked straight into the dragon's trap. Finally Cat climbs out but the two still need to put their mountaineering knowledge together to climb down the mountain.

Cat's struggle is with nature, she is caught in a avalanche and is trying to survive.

Cat was in trouble in the avalanche with her cousin Ty. Ty is trying to help but it is no use. The wind is strong and her phone is dead.

At the beginning of the book Cat was mad that Ty showed up at her door and brought her to storm mountain. At the middle Cat was very scared because she was in an avalanche on a very big mountain. Cat was digging and clawing to get to the surface. By the end Cat was happy she got out of storm mountain.

I could relate to this book because Cat was in trouble in the avalanche and I was lost in Disney World. My mom and dad were looking for me and Ty was looking for Cat.

****
Dylan

MOBY DICK By Herman Melville

The plot of the story was first in a town and hotel.Then the two main characters Queequeg and Ishmael found a job on a boat called the Pequod. The boat was a whaling boat in Nantucket.

Ishmael is struggling with Moby Dick. And himself because he has to get used to whaling everyday.

Ishmael struggled with getting used to whaling everyday. Ishmael had to go through so much everyday. Ishmael had to row a row boat so hard it almost broke his back and he pulled a few muscles. His row boat usually broke because when the whale jumped up and a huge wave flipped the boat over and Ishmael and his sailing crew flung off the boat. His sailor mates and Ishmael got sea water in their mouths and the wind knocked out of them. It took Ishmael a wile to get used to whaling.

Ishmael first was a man with no money out wondering the streets. Then he found a hotel he could stay at for free with a room mate. That's when he and Queequeg went to find a whaling boat. Then they found a whaling boat named the Pequod. He changed by going from a sad poor man to a man who is on a journey to find a HUGE whale called Moby Dick!

My friend relates to Ishmael by wanting to get a dog for years and years and she finally got a dog. Just like Ishmael wanting to get a job on a whaling boat.

Rating ***

Ashlyn




        

JAGUAR by Roland Smith

       Jacob Lansa comes with his dad, whom everyone calls Doc, Flanna Brenna, Jay Silver, and Buzz on a jaguar expedition in the Amazon rain forest. Sounds fun, right? It's not. There are many challenges out in the wilderness and deadly diseases floating around the thick canopy. Jake is losing hope. To top it off, Doc may have caught malaria. Will they arrive home safe?

Jake is in conflict with Fred Stoats. They disagree on the jaguar, what to do with it, and they just plain don't like each other.

He changes his feelings about the jaguar expedition from thinking it's silly and obnoxious to coming home feeling good.

I can relate to Jake because we both like outdoors and adventure.

I rate this book ***.

Mary

DRAGONBREATH LAIR OF THE BAT MONSTER by Ursula Vernon

The main idea was that there was a giant bat and it came charging toward Danny Dragonbreath and his friend Wendell. They picked Danny up and took him away. The bat thought Danny was a baby. Danny couldn't escape until he hid behind a bush

Danny Dragonbreath was the main character and he ran into a giant bat that thought Danny was it's baby

The struggle was that Danny was in the monster bats hands and he couldn't get out. The bat thought he was it's baby.

Danny Dragonbreath didn't know anything about bats. But after he learned alot and ran into a giant bat he knew alot about bats

Danny had a school assignment to learn about bats and write about them and I had to learn about something for a school assignment

Rating ****

Owen

THE ROCK JOCKEYS By Gary Paulsen - 16

   

 3 boys are on a rock climbing trip and decide to break the rules go on a straight up smooth wall of rock... and nobody that's gone up ever came down. Well their up there they find a crashed B-17 bomber plane. The path is hard from the high brushes and the close trees. All the clear paths have booby-traps. If they fall in will they make it out?

The three boys Spud, Rick, and J.D. are all troubled  with each other and nature.

The boys argue on which way to go. The boys explore further and further into the forest arguing and saving each others lives. The bushes are so tall and trees so close together, and all the paths that are clear have one or two booby traps.

The main characters change from arguing to helping each other in the wild forest on a mountain. Of course there's complaining and saving from life-death situations.

I related to this characters because I get annoyed by my sister and we always get in to arguments. I love walking in the woods so some times I have to go through some tough places.

RATING: ****

ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS by Scott O'Dell

Tweleve year old Karana lives in a tribe with her six yer old brother Ramo. When searching for roots a ship full of aleuets , lead by a Russian names captain Orlov arrives. When Orlov gets in a fight with the chief of Karana tribe, her dad, a war happens. Many lives were lost on each side including her dad the chief.

Karana has a problem with another character.
Karana has a problem with Captain Orlov because they killed her father.

Karana changed because first she hated the wolf because it killed her little brother when they were alone on the beach, But now she has a change of heart when she meets the leader of the wolf pack named Yellow Eyes. She was able to tame him.

Karana and I are alike in the way that we first can be very wary of animals and not want to be around them. After a while and getting to know them I ,like Karana get to know the animal and get along with it.


Rating ****

Eyva

FLIGHT OF THE HAWK By Gary Paulsen

Main idea: A boy named Andy lost his parents when a driver hit them. Andy had to live with his grandfather and grandfather's assistant. Andy's grandfather was a inventor to invent the things that help human kind. He showed a jetpack to Andy and that got Andy's attention! But when his grandfather got murderd Andy took the jetpack and to fight villins.


Andy's struggle with another character was, the man who killed his parents.


The struggle with Andy was, when he had to go through the saddness of his family members death.


Andy didn't really change.

nobody i know relates the same struggle with Andy.


Ratings: **



 

I SURVIVED THE TITANIC SINKING IN 1912 by Lauren Tarshis

This story is about a kid named George traveling on the greatest ship ever built the titanic.When the unthinkable happens the titanic starts to sink. Will George be able to make it or will he sleep with the fishes?

George during the book struggled finding his sister during the sinking of the titanic.

One of his conflicts is hes trying to make out

RATING: ****

Kai

LEXI'S TALE by Johanna Hurwitz

This book was about Lexi, and how her friend, Pee Wee, meets a human who is very cranky but nice at the same time. But when Lexi makes a wrong turn, every thing turns the wrong way. Lexi gets in a lot of trouble , by Pee Wee. He yells at Lexi for hurting him in public,She tries to apologize to Pee Wee, he doe forgive her, but is still angry at Lexi for hurting  him.

Lexi, and PeeWee because she was in a lot of conflict with the HUMAN!

Lexi was struggleing with PeeWee, for yelling at her ,and started a fight with PeeWee. After, Lexi , and PeeWee were becoming nice and never yelling agian . They learnd a lesson NEVER to yell agien.

Lexi changed from nice to mean and rude. Here is a exsample - ONE ACORN WILL NOT FILL YOUR BELLY !PeeWee was crying .

No . Lexi  doesn't act like me.

RATING: *****
I would recommend this book to both boys and girls ages 10 -29

Maria S

LEXI'S TALE by Johanna Hurwitz

    The main idea is about a squirrel named Lexington (Lexi for short). He has a friend named PeeWee that finds a human named Stefan Klopot. He was homeless and couldn't speak English. Lexi and PeeWee had decided to help this stranger by riding in a police car and hunting for food.
    Lexi struggled helping Stefan Klopot.
    Lexi struggled helping Stefan Klopot because squirrels came by asking Lexi what he was doing. Caring for Stefan also meant looking for extra food. Lexi also needed time to practice for the great big squirrel circus.
    Lexi changed by instead of being a squirrel that doesn't help humans into a rare squirrel because he helped Stefan.
    This book related to me in kindergarten that my friend could barely speak English so a 2nd grader helped her with class work that could speak her language
    Rating ***
   
Noy

ADVENTURES OF TOM SAYWER By Mark Twain

Go on the many adventures with Tom Sawyer and his gang through a small town along the Mississippi River that has kids with a big personality for being brave. They go from running away to be a pirate to solving a murder. One night, Tom and one of his best friends Huckleberry Finn decide to go to the graveyard at half past nine. When they got there, they saw 3 people. Muff Potter, Dr. Robinson and fearsome Injun Joe-a murderer. They  plan to dig up a grave. Find out what happens next and discover they many more adventures that lie in the pages of The adventures of Tom Sawyer!

Tom Sawyer is in conflict with himself.
The struggle for Tom was he was a mischievous person and that gets him into trouble.

Tom Sawyer changes by realizing adventure doesn't have to be running away to a pirate island but it can be solving a mystery and helping the community.

Tom Sawyer reminds me of Jack and Annie from The Magic Tree House because they have a lot of adventures involving saving someone or something.

I rate this book *****

Riley

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS By Jules Verne

Phileas Fogg makes a bet with his friends at the reform club that he can travel around the world in 80 days. He grabs his servant and heads off but runs into many problems along the way, for example Mr. Fix is trying to arrest Phileas Fogg because he thinks Fogg robbed a bank! Fix follows Fogg around everywhere trying to confirm his arrest.Things don't work out well for fix so can Fogg do it with all his other difficulties and win his money he bet back?

Phileas Fogg was in conflict with another person, Mr.Fix.

Phileas Fogg was in conflict with Fix because while Phileas was trying to get around the world, Fix was
trying to arrest him because he thought he robbed a bank, which he didn't.

Phileas Fogg changed because he was very fancy and had a lot of money but in the middle he ran out of money and was poor and didn't wear fancy clothes, once he got home and had won his bet and all his money he was wealthy again.

Phileas Fogg reminded me of myself because I have tried to accomplish something before, and I have done it before just like when Phileas accomplished his goal of getting around the world in 80 days.

I would give this book a **** rating.

Sophie