Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos

Ask Me No Questions is a really great book that will reel you in and keep you reading. It is a story about a young girl trying to make a life in America. There is just one big problem; her and her family are illegal aliens from Bangladesh. After 9/11 their whole world is turned upside down and now Muslims are considered dangerous. This book will make you take step back and appreciate where you come from and the simple privileges that we have everyday

                     Reviewed by N. S.

Ask Me No Questions, by Marina Budhos, is an enjoyable novel about a Muslim family right after September 11, 2001. They have an expired visa and don’t have the money to pay for a new one. All of a sudden people start noticing them more and more. People judge them for things they didn’t do. This book keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting to know what happens next. You even feel like you’ve become part of the family and put yourself in their shoes and how you would feel if this ever happened to your family. The author did a great job of helping people realize that we are all the same even though we may come from different cultures and have different backgrounds.

          Reviewed by H. S.

The book I just read, Ask Me No Questions, by Marina Budhos was a really great book. I liked it because it gave me some insight on what it’s like to be an illegal immigrant. People assume that just because people are Arabian, they’re terrorists.

            The family in this book are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. They moved to New York to allow their daughters, Aisha and Nadira to have a good education. In Bangladesh, women do not have many rights, but in America they do. This family is very typical, they are just like any other family in America. The girls go to public school, both parents work hard at their jobs, and they live in a small apartment. They are not terrorists, and they have no intention of harming anyone.

            They try to get into Canada, but they are denied. When they turn back into America, the police at the border check their visas, but they are expired. The family is split up, now it is up to Aisha and Nadira to get their family back together.

Defining Dulcie by Paul Acampora

The book Defining Dulcie was amazing. I loved it! The main character is Dulcie, Dulcie is in her

teen years. She works as a janitor at the John Jacob Jerome High School, her dad and grandpa

also work there. Her family was living happily, but then her father died by the smell of the chemicals

that was in the bottle, to clean the bathrooms. So then her mom and Dulcie moved to San Francisco

 in California. Dulcie wasn’t so happy about the move to California, so she decided to do the

 impossible. Throughout her travels back to her hometown, meeting new a friend, and learning about

 responsibility, she was changed by her journey and her stay back at home. You have to read the book

 to find out about her travel and her life that has changed by other people.

Reviewed by H. S.

Defining Dulcie, by Paul Acampora is a very good book with many life lessons in it. The main character, Dulcie, is a 16 year-old girl who recently lost her father. After being forced to move to California, she runs away, back to Connecticut. On many stops across America, she meets some really interesting people, who teach her all of the lessons that are hidden in the book. Along with all the people she meets and the lessons she learns, she has a lot of great experiences.

          This is a good book to read because as Dulcie learns all these lessons, it’s like the author is teaching them to you. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a book they can really get something out of.

          Reviewed by E. R.

Well the first thing I would have to say is that I thought it was a really good book. First of all they gave really good details that expressed how she felt and what she was going through. They also talked about her life and what tradical things had happened to her. Well I was reading the book it made me feel kind of sad and amazed how she can do something like that. I think you should read this book because it’s a very good book and you’ll enjoy reading it. You might even find a connection between the book and yourself.

           Reviewed by

Defing Dulcie is about, Dulcie’s father dies and her mom is moving to California and takes Dulcie with her. Dulcie doesn’t want to go to California so she runs away back to her hometown in Newbury. She meets a girl named Roxanne and finds out Roxanne’s mom beats her up. Dulcie’s mom came to visit her at her grandfather’s house. Her mom goes back to California and takes Roxanne with her.

          I really enjoyed this book because, it’s sad and unexspecting. I would definitely recommend this to a friend. I think girls would like this book more than boys. Any adult or child would enjoy reading this book.

Flush by Carl Aiaasen reviewed by S. M.

Best-selling novelist and passionate environmentalist Carl Hiaasen is at it again, this time displaying his sassy wit in a children's book that is at once rambunctious and heartfelt.  Hiaasen has done an amazing job on "Flush" because you can tell all of the hard work he's done by the contents of this book.  Maybe a summary can explain all of his hard work.  With their father jailed for sinking a casino river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister Abby must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around Florida homes and is endangering sea turtles, children, fish, and many other living bodies of life.  Noah and Abby work really hard to catch the mischievious man who is behind it all.  If you want to know more pick up a copy at your local library.

The Grey King by Susan Cooper

This book is bout a boy named Will who is the last magical old one in the history of the world. Will is very sick and because of this he has to go live with his aunt for a little while. When living with his aunt he meets new life long friends and new relatives. While he is there he is faced with obstacles and challenges that no ordinary boy his age can handle. I like this book a lot and I would recommend this book to any of my friends that like action, suspense, and a little bit of fiction.

Heartbeat by Sharon Creech reviewed by R. A.

This book was an ok book because it had a good story. Also I liked the book because the way it was wrote like a lot of poems but it still tells a story. The book is about a girl who loves to run with no shoes on. Her mom gets pregnant and she gets really nervous about the baby. It’s also a good book because its written like a lot of poems you do not have to read a lot.

                 Reviewed by D. Z.

This book was all about poems it was a little bit confusing because all it dealt with was thump, thump and running I think that it should of made a little bit more sense. I really like how the author wrote that long book in a poem form it looks hard.

I didn’t really like the book that much; it was a little too easy and boring. This book is about this girl named Annie and her best friend Max. In the book Heartbeat and Annie is assigned to draw one hundred apples for school. Annie’s mom is pregnant and Annie thinks the baby is an alien baby. Annie loves to run barefoot because she can hear her heartbeat with her moody friend max.  Max try’s to get Annie to join the track team with him but she try’s to say no but then she does. She has been saving money in this box to buy charcoal pencils and color pencils, and white paper. Which her friend Max saves money to buy some new shoes for track. This book is a poem book and about track. I’ve learned that life is very rough when it gets to the end.

              Reviewed by C. G.

I like basketball, and I like reading love stories. My favorite book was FIRST KISSES trust me. I don’t like the book Heartbeat so much because to me it just seems like a bunch of poems and usually after each poem/chapter the subject changes, well I’m not a big fan. You’d think the book would have a love story, but this book is mainly about apples, running, and a baby, no thriller. Much of the book is interesting, but you need good comprehension skills to understand exactly what is happening.

              Reviewed by

Heartbeat is a good book but it isn’t quite the right book for me. It doesn’t really have much action or amusement in it. Annie and Max are the two main characters of this book who share about their life and new discoveries around them. During this book they are most interested in running. When they do run Annie and Max don’t run with shoes, but with their bare feet. Annie relates to life by the apple that she is assigned to draw everyday for 100 days. There isn’t much to this book but a bit of laughter here and there. I did learn a bit from reading this book. The main thing I learned is that like people, life changes and we should be ready for that in the future. Overall, in a rating from one to ten my rating would be about a four or five.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer reviewed by M.S.

I loved reading Life As We Knew It because it was such an entertaining read. When an asteroid hits the moon, it causes Miranda, her family, and the rest of the world trouble. It causes natural disasters like tsunamis, flooding, strange whether, and more. You should read this book if you love reality, trying to figure out mysteries, and predicting. This book will really make you think about the result of disasters! From this book, I have learned that life really is precious and it has a lot to offer. Reading Life As We Knew It has inspired me to read more and to be introduced to a new author, Susan Pfeffer. Susan made this book so realistic and it is such a page – turner!

My Almost Epic Summer by Adele Griffin reviewed by Y. P.

Irene's dream is to open a beauty salon, but her dream isn't going very well.  Her mom just fired Irene from the shop.  Irene is really mad and gets a job babysitting.  How humiliating!  Irene takes the kids to a beach and finds a perfect girl.  This person is in love with a guy and this guy falls in love with Irene.  She ends up in a big mess.  What will she do?  You will just have to read the book to find out!

Role of Thunder by Mildred Taylor

Dear readers

            The book called Roll of Thunder; Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor is the best book ever. The Logan’s family owns a very nice land but, because they are black, people think that they have the right to take away their land. There are night riders that are scaring all black people because of what they are doing to other families but now if I told you what happens then you wouldn’t read the book. Now Cassie and her brothers Stacy,       Little man and Christopher-John are at the end of summer and starting school again but, now they just don’t have to worry about getting good grades they have to worry about if the night riders are coming for them next. For more information about this book you will have to read it for yourself.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan reviewed by A. A. M.

Have you ever had a big secret that even you didn't know about?  Percy did.  Percy was on a field trip when a teacher attacked him!  Another teacher tossed him a pen and when he caught it, it turned into a sword!  Well what happened?  You will have to read the rest of the story!

Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen by Wendelin Van Draanen reviewed by K. T.

Sammy Keyes is about a young girl named Samantha, but every one calls her Sammy. She was adopted by her grandma because her mom wants to be an actor in Hollywood. Nobody knows that her “grams” isn’t her real mom, but they seem to get away with it. Sammy goes around solving mysteries that seem to catch her eye. This latest one is when she is trying to figure out why there is so many dead cats around her neighbor, but what she doesn’t know is that she is about to find out a horrifying truth, that truthfully she doesn’t want to know.

Shredderman 4 Enemy Spy by Wendelin Van Draanen reviewed by B. H.

READ ME!!!!  Action, Adventure, Hippies!!!!  Read this book!  Nolan's parents and teacher know that he is Shredderman and they want him to quit.  He gets mad and runs off to do something STUPID!!!!  And he gets himself into trouble major.

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket reviewed by S. H.

DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!  If you name is Sunny Place then you would not want to read about how the three Baudelaire children lose everything in just one day, or about how Count Olaf is trying to murder them for thier fortune.  SO DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!!

A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck 

I liked the book a year down yonder cause it kept you going, and you would always want to know what happened next, you would also never want put the book down. A year down yonder is about a young girl named Mary Alice. She decides to move with her grandma from Chicago. While she’s down there she go to school but when she gets there, there are girls there who are very mean to her but she meets one girl who is very nice to her and they be come friends. Then one day a young man named Royce McNabb comes to her school as a new boy and he makes a lot of new friends and he’s really popular. I mean come on he’s the boy that all the girls love, drool over, & what to be there’s. Well this real lonely new girl gets to go on a few dates then they finally declare themselves as boyfriend and girlfriend. Yet in the middle of dating, hanging out with friends and school she still makes time for her grandma. She makes sure that she will always have time for her grandma. Mary and her grandma always did stuff together. Well if you want to know what happens next you’ll have to get the book and read it for yourself you’ll like it trust me.