Boom! by Mark Haddon

Jimbo is a normal kid with normal parents and a normal family. Everything is going just fine, but when Jimbo's sister (Becky) plays a silly prank on Jimbo, he takes it seriously and goes off with his best friend Charlie, spying on teachers! That's when everything goes topsy turvy. When Jimbo and Charlie stick a walkie-talkie under their teacher’s desk, they hear a weird language, which confuses them. They want to investigate further, so they sneak into their teachers’ houses, where they find a weird metal band. Then, one day, while having breakfast at a fast food diner, Jimbo finds a weird man telling him to stop investigating further. If you're a young teenager, would you listen to such a warning? Probably not. It turns violent when 3 men appear on Jimbo's doorstep after the mysterious disappearance of Charlie. Somehow Jimbo and Becky escape and go to the Isle of Skye (this location was on the tin which contained the weird metal band). Here, they see a blue light from a tiny island, and find a kind of portal, through which Jimbo falls into a brand new planet. The weird people live on this planet 'Plonk' and want to abduct humans to restore their race. On the bright side, Jimbo finds Charlie, and now the weird people want them to talk to Earth's authorities about coming to Plonk--otherwise Earth is going Boom! Now it's up to Jimbo and Charlie to stop the Earth from going Boom! This book is good but Mark Haddon should stick to writing books like 'the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time' which I liked much more. Mark Haddon is better off writing those kinds of books; he should not try these alien and sci-fiction books. The book is not THAT interesting.


** This book can be found on the Guardian Children's Books site at http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2011/dec/09/boom-mark-haddon

Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett

One day as Johnny and his friends are walking through the cemetery, Wobbler (Johnny’s friend) challenges Johnny to knock on the tomb of Thomas Bowler. As Johnny knocks, Thomas Bowler opens the door casually and says “Yes?”. Johnny and Mr. Bowler start chatting casually, but Johnny’s friends think that Johnny is mental because Johnny is talking to a closed door of a tomb. Then Johnny realizes that he can see the dead! Most people would think that Johnny was mad but not his friends, his friends decided that no matter what they were going to stick with Johnny. One day as Johnny got a newspaper for his fellow dead friends at the cemetery,(the dead were his friends by now, dead people like William Stickers, Thomas Bowler etc) but after reading the newspaper the dead were furious because the cemetery they were living (dying) in was getting broken down by a company to build a boring office. So now the dead were depending on Johnny and his friends, who create the Blackbury volunteers who speak up against the council, hoping to save the cemetery. Whereas the dead think that the cemetery cannot be saved so they go wandering of into the living world despite warnings from Mr. Grimm the head ghost, he who warns: “If you don’t come back on Judgement Day then you will roam around the world endlessly”. To escape the Judgement Day the ghosts jump from one country to another through phone lines and the night before judgement day lasts longest for the ghosts. Johnny saves the cemetery but all the ghosts have left and when they return the judgement day is over and as an extreme punishment the ghosts fade away. My main comment is that if you are looking for a book with a point then don’t buy this because after saving the cemetery the ghosts just fade away and the cemetery is saved for nothing. This book is not a must, but a book you would read to pass the time the story’s fine--but not a must. But it is as hilarious as nothing I can describe in words , reading this book I was laughing so hard that the house shook. So the book is just a kind of book you would read while going for a picnic reading this to escape supreme boredom.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 'Dog Days' By Jeff Kinney

Looooooove Wimpy Kid? Then allow me to introduce to you, the almighty ‘Dog Days'. This new book starts from the part where Greg explains how he is an indoors person but eventually ends up in the Country Club with his buddy Rowley. One day, they bring this new girl Trista to the club and Rowley’s dad got pretty steamed up about that situation, so bottom line is, this is how Greg lost his Country Club privileges. Then, Greg has to go back to the town pool. I’ll give you a brief explanation of the area - it is where men shower in the open (pretty traumatic according to Greg) and where Greg tried to get his love Heather Hills (sister of Holly Hills, read: last straw!). So, moving on, the annoying comic ‘little cutie’ is going to send up its last edition and the headlines are that Rodrick has this scary movie called ‘the muddy hand’ which is pretty spooky. This movie ends up making Greg the ultimate scaredy cat; he does such bizarre things that you can’t even think of because of that muddy hand movie. No wonder Greg is wimpy - he goes to the parlour and gossips with the aunties sitting there! Can you believe it?! Greg’s fun-killer mom starts a new club called ‘reading is fun’ and it is so dead boring for Greg (I wonder why he didn’t sleep halfway through?)! Greg continues on his bizarre, turning and twisting adventure, from waterslide parks to beach visits to the ultimate ride that makes you a man called the cranium shaker... but I can’t reveal it all otherwise what’s the fun? I can tell you my views though….. it is absolutely hilarious bluboriously fascinating and all the other words from outer space - this book is excellent, each part of the book is unique in its own way with an as always perfect art! A must read (exceptions are if you are in outer space or mad). The latter part of the book, which I can't reveal because I don't want people dying of laughter, is hilarious. You cannot call yourself a Wimpy Kid fan without reading this! Must read! Must read! Must read!

Trickster: Native American Tales | A graphic collection

Like comics? I think yes. Like moral stories? I think no. This book is full of both. This book is all about animal stories, morals and how certain animals turned from how they once were to how they are in the present. This book is about the best 21 Native American stories, put together in graphics and comical form. Also, in the book, all the stories are not created in the same style of drawing, as the author changes of course, and the drawer or painter changes as well. The drawing styles vary from comical style to detailed paintings. The story ‘Coyote and the Pebbles’ is drawn and painted with every single stroke of the brush or line of the pencil looking absolutely beautiful whereas the ‘Rabbit’s Choctaw Tail Tale’ looks like it’s been taken from the world’s most hilarious children’s comic. My favourite one is how the ‘Alligator Got His Scaly Brown Skin’. It’s about an alligator who has beautiful yellow skin and goes around showing it off to everybody. The animals in the forest decide to teach the alligator a lesson. When the alligator is sleeping the animals set his surroundings on fire and the alligators skin burns and goes brown. This book is excellent for kids above five because it has a little enhanced vocabulary and it teaches you very good values and morals. This book is an absolute cracker.   

Thief By Malorie Blackman

THIEF! THIEF! THIEF! The voice echoed through Lydia Henson’s head. I should explain from the start - one day after school Lydia and the leader of the group Cosmics, Anne go to the trophy room where the sports cup is kept. Anne has set up a challenge for Lydia, if Lydia succeeds then she can join the Cosmics, if she fails she can’t. Lydia wants to be in the Cosmics because her best friend Frankie is in the group too, the challenge is to keep the sports cup in your locker for 24 hours. Lydia isn’t dumb, she knows better, she doesn’t steal the trophy. Next morning Lydia is supposed to report to the heads office and lo and behold, the sports cup is found in her locker. Lydia knows the trophy was planted in her locker by Anne (her suspicion turns true, but later) but Lydia can’t prove it and everyone calls her THIEF! Lydia has a brother, Danny who loves his sister very much and denies the fact that his sister is a thief. Lydia is extremely unhappy, then one day Frankie comes up to Lydia and says that she knows Anne put the cup in the locker. Right then the tragedy turns even sadder than before, Frankie slips down a slope and gets almost run over by a car. People blame Lydia for that as well, so in pure hatred for the people of tarwhich (her town's name) Lydia runs of to the moors and gets struck by lightning. As Lydia opens her eyes she sees that she is transported to the future into the town of Hensonville where an evil dictator rules. Some dark secrets and surprising facts will be unleashed, don’t miss this. My opinions: The book is overall very exciting and every chapter has a different surprise to it. The first part of the book has a little tragedy but as you advance the book turns to thrilling mystery and action. Everyday I came back from school and read this book for hours, 'cause you just can’t leave this book - it’s a crime. It’s very surprising twist that the brother plays a major role later on in this book. This book has hit my favourite list for sure.                 

This book was sent to me for review by my Editor at the Guardian, UK. Thank you for the book Michelle! The review can be found on the Guardian site at http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2011/sep/19/thief-malorie-blackman-review  

Magic Thief III: Found by Sarah Prihneas

The magic thief is back and is looking for a locus Magicalicus this time. Last time, Connawear was exiled from the city Wellmet because he blew Heartsease to smithereens with his last pyrotechnic experiment. So captain Kernn (the dawn palace’s head guard) and her lieutenants have an eye out for Connawaer. But gutter boys are never caught, gutter boys are always safe from a place guard, but you can never look out for minions. Like all gutter boys Connawaer was caught by the minions and taken to the dusk house ruins, where the Wellmet magic is preparing itself for something, something which I haven’t disclosed to you yet. A predator magic Arihonvar is coming for Wellmet after destroying the city of Desh in Book 2. Nevery and Connawaer are prepared, but the Magisters don’t agree with Conn and Nevery, they’re too scared of facing the truth to believe that magic is a living being. So Conn and Nevery's last hope to get some help is to do a finding spell to find Conn a new locus stone. The spell works and takes Conn to a place very far from Wellmet (on the way Conn finds Rowan who followed Connawaer from Wellmet), but in the middle of their journey a huge (thought to be extinct) dragon picks Conn up and takes him to the dragon mountain, where Conn finds his locus stone, which is accidentally eaten up by a baby dragon called Pip. Conn discovers that all dragons die and turn to magic and that magic turns into a city and protects the city; for example Wellmet. so Conn takes (kidnaps) Pip and takes Pip along to Wellmet.The predator magic is just about to arrive, but to Conn’s misfortune the Magisters sentence Conn to death for coming back before his time of exile was over. Now to Wellmet's magic’s despair, Arihonvar arrives capturing the whole of the sunrise part of town.Then around a day or two later Connawaer gathers his strength and faces Arihonvar and does a epic thing (I’m not going to disclose it! So don’t nag!) - which I still think is impossible to do. 
Now to the ups and downs, I've figured the secret about those occasional letters after each chapter that have a secret code. You have to encrypt the code with a language  that is given at the back of the book - it's fun encrypting those letters and Connawaer is as smart as ever and is hard to catch. There are super interesting  points like the dragon cave or when Conn is slipping out of the academics or when Arihonvar arrives, at these points my heart was in my throat literally. This book is very much like original material it's not a copy of an old boring classic magic story, there should have been a little less action a bit more of story. The book is overall pretty good. 

The Diary of Amos Lee By Adeline Foo

If you take a look at the front page of the book you will find a ribbon saying if you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid, you’ll love Amos Lee and that’s exactly what happened. Amos Lee was forced to write a diary by his mother (as usual) but with a twist; Amos Lee has to write his diary in the loo, but that’s fine with Amos. This book revolves around Amos, Amos’s mother’s strange assignments, the prefect bully, his family, his friends and food. Amos’s mother gets strange assignments like going prawn fishing, going to the frog farm etc, but  mostly all assignments are about food, so Amos has a good deal of food to eat. At school Amos has two best friends - Alvin and Anthony, but Amos, Alvin and Anthony (the three A’s) are constantly bullied by the prefect of the school (who by the way is called Michael), later in the book Michael has a leg fracture and doesn’t have any money for the operation, so Amos collects a $100 and gives it to Michael. Amos also likes to go to different places with his grandpa and grandma ( ah Kong and Po-Po). Amos Lee is quite the 2^nd best diary I have read. If you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid than you’ll like this book as well. There are differences though: I think this is not so much  a diary, it's just stating the events that happened to you, whereas in Dairy of a Wimpy Kid, there are more details about every fact that happened to the main character during the day. Plus, it's not so funny, it's just that the food bits tempt you a lot. I especially like the food parts in this one 'cause they look tasty and if you can’t understand the food you can look up their meanings in the glossary. I think I am going to review the whole series of Diary of Amos Lee. I'd give the book a 2 star rating if I had to.

Animal Farm By George Orwell

Do you ever stop for a second and think what domestic animals thought of us, human beings, what hatred they had in their mind for us because we kept them and made them work in farms? This book is a fable all about how the animals of Manor Farm stir up a rebellion against humans and capture the farm. It all started with the old pig called Old Major giving everybody an inspirational speech one night on how miserable their lives are at the farm with humans. The major also made a rebellion song called The Beasts of England. After some weeks the Major died, but the rebellion continued quietly with the pigs leading, until one day they put it into action and kicked out the humans. The animals celebrate their victory and change the farm’s name to Animal Farm, and the farm has a happy and successful year ahead with a good harvest with Snowball, the pig, as leader. When Snowball was leader, he wrote the Seven Commandants, he brought such wonderful tactics into action when the owner Mr Jones attacked the farm again, but an evil plot was hatching in the mind of Napoleon, the evil pig. Napoleon trained these nine fierce dogs to send Snowball off the farm for ever. Then the most evil act occurred -- Napoleon held a meeting in which he said whichever animal had to confess something should confess it now. However, Napoleon set the dogs to go off with the heads of whichever animal did confess.

Napoleon also broke the Seven Commandments, but every time he broke a commandant his followers would add an extra word to the Commandments and nobody would notice. Whenever an animal would get old or get ill Napoleon would kill them, for e.g. the devoted and very hard working Boxer (the horse) got ill and Napoleon sent him off to the knacker’s. At the end there was a very shocking surprise (which I am not going to reveal to you).

Review time: the book is pleasant in the first few chapters then goes evil. You get really angry at the last chapters because they’re way too cruel and it’s not happy -- it’s sad stuff. At the end of the day, this book tells you that whoever is in charge ends up behaving like cruel humans. So this is not a great book for small kids, you have to be above 10 to read it, but it is a book with a lot of twist and turns.

Unhooking The Moon By Gregory Hughes

This book is a very sad book. So, if you’re the more emotional kind of person please do me a favour and keep a pack of tissues with you before you start reading. It all started in the small town of Winnipeg, Canada, where two kids Robert and Wazhashnoons (Bob and Rat) lived with their father (sadly their mother died in a car crash). They were like a normal family going to school and office, making friends and dancing to the latest rap music of the latest rapper, Ice. One thing about Rat was not normal -- she could make crazy predictions and she used to have fits which included spasms, saliva dripping from her mouth, etc. One day, she predicts that their dad is going to die (and her predictions are accurate because she once predicted that something bad would happen to her friend Felicia and the next day they came to know that Felicia had been strangled. Once, she predicted their dog was going to run away and the next day the dog was gone, it had left at night).

The day of Bob and Rat’s school play their dad did not attend the play and when they returned home -- lo and behold! Their dad was dead on the kitchen floor.

Bob and Rat didn’t break into tears because they weren’t the emotional type. Now they had to plan a trip to New York where they would find their uncle (Bob only agreed to the trip because he didn’t want to be put in a home). So, they started off by train to Toronto and started cycling their way to the American border. Now, Bob and Rat are on a trip where they make new friends like Tommy the hustler, Ice the rapper etc. On the way, they made a friend called Joey – a drug dealer – who took them to New York and promised Bob and Rat that he would return in a day or two after finishing his work, but Rat is eventually caught by the police and taken to a home.

So, now Bob, Joey, Tommy and Ice go to rescue Rat in New Jersey (where her home is). It turns out that the home is a very dangerous one and Ice and Tommy get badly hurt in a fight. Joey has found out about Bob and Rat’s uncle, who is the head of a company called Exocome. When they try to enter the office building the guards stop them and don’t believe that Bob and Rat are the nephew and niece of their boss, Jerome Debiller. So, Joey, Bob and Rat have to force their way in and Joey gets shot by a guard. Joey tells Bob and Rat to go on and find their uncle. Eventually, they find their uncle but at the same time Rat falls into psychological shock.

Bob is sixteen now and Ice was sentenced to six years in prison, Tommy and Joey are in hospital.

This book is actually very sad though in this review it may not seem so sad. This book is confusing, it’s hilarious and sad at the same time and that’s why this book is a good one and has become one of my favourites. But I think the author should not write such a such a sad book.

Alex Rider: Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz

Are you a fourteen-year-old working for the British Secret Service? You mostly aren’t, but Alex Rider is not one of the ‘mostly aren’t’ kind of teenagers. For most of you who are not familiar with the Alex Rider series let me inform you, Alex Rider is a fourteen year old (now fifteen) who works for MI6 (a kind of police force). Alex has been sent on dangerous and deadly missions, but the book I am going to review is the most deadliest and dangerous of all, being the last in the series.

It all starts with the visit of Zeljan Kurst, the head of Scorpia, to the British museum in London. In case you don’t know what Scorpia is, it is a very dangerous organization which Alex has defeated twice in the past. Kurst was visiting the museum because the fourth richest man in the world (the fourth richest man in the book world, of course) had been invited him to a meeting. Scorpia being a very skilful organization, Yannis Ariston (the fourth richest man in the world) wants Kurst and his team to steal the Elgin marbles for him and return them to the Greeks because the British Government is not returning them (for more information on the Elgin marbles, please Google the topic). Kurst’s greed for money made him say yes, but afterwards Kurst started to doubt himself, so he set a new, skilful and intelligent person to the task of stealing the Elgin marbles.

Razim -- whom Kurst set to the task -- came up with a master plan that involved capturing the young secret agent Alex Rider and his clone Julius Grief (see the book Point Blanc). Actually, a spy cannot be below the age of 16, thus Alex Rider was a closely guarded secret as MI6 took him because he was too small to be suspected as a secret agent. Razim’s plan was to make MI6 send Alex on a mission, capture him and blackmail them by threatening to release his secret. Then MI6 would have to give Scorpia the Elgin marbles. To deal with Alex, Scorpia would then shoot the American Secretary of State and frame Alex for it.

Now, it’s up to Alex to save the American Secretary of State, the MI6 and defeat the hideous plot, but in this mission Alex’s loved ones will be in danger, in real danger.

Reading this book has been a real pleasure, when you read a page you feel like you are at the scene and are a part of the action; the book is so well written. If you don’t like the book you can see the first movie ‘Stormbreaker’, though I recommend you read the books first. I also think this book has one of the coolest covers. It looks deadly on a bookshelf.

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid- Do-It-Yourself (D.I.Y) book by Jeff Kinney

Greg, the wimpy kid is back! But this time in the D.I.Y book. You can make your own wimpy kid comics, games, baddest things you've done and future telling etc, but I make one thing very clear -- this is not a diary, it's only this fun journal you own. This book also contains Greg and Rowley's comics, you also have some place to write your own thoughts, try out your autographs, your room requirements, your family drawing space and many more weird things to write about. Don't you want to draw and write about your house? This is the ultimate diary for wimps. This is the diary that's actually cool, that you can write in! I mean, who wants to write a diary like a girl, right? It's bad enough that you're a wimp! Is your mother nagging you to keep a diary? (Some mothers do!). Get this diary, this the best diary of the wimpy kid book series. It's not a lame diary, it's a cool journal.

Saxby Smart Private Detective - The Curse Of The Ancient Mask And Other Case Files by Simon Cheshire

This book is about a young detective called Saxby, who has only solved minor cases, but in his first book he finds some very tough and challenging cases to solve. In his first case 'The curse of the ancient mask' a girl called Jasmine Winchester comes to Saxby for help because her dad works in an electronic company and is accused of selling secrets to a rival company. It is up to Saxby to save his friend's father's reputation. The second case is the case of the 'Mark of the purple homework' where a mischief maker destroys people's essay's and homework. So, with the help of his mate Muddy, Saxby has to save people's homework and make this mischief come to an end. In the third and final case of the book his friend from a class below comes to him with a case of a missing antique clasp which her sour tempered mum's aunt, Mrs Eileen Pither, has accused her of stealing. Saxby has to find the ancient clasp and prove his friend innocent. Will Saxby be able to solve these cases? This book is like the new cooler version of Sherlock Holmes (without the murder of course). If you want to get some proper detective stories please read the Saxby smart private detective series. This book doesn't tell you about the evidence and the method of how the case was solved, but in the middle of the book Saxby asks you questions about the different things you read throughout the case - so be attentive. With the help of his two friends George and Izzy the book becomes very thrilling as Saxby goes through all the evidence and solves the cases.

National Geographic Kids: Almanac 2011

Are you wondering that how did the dinosaurs die? Or why do the Chinese celebrate their New Year with dragons dancing on the streets? This book will tell you all -- this book has everything in it from the biggest ice-cream parlour in the world to what gadgets we will be using in the future. This book makes Google look pathetic. This book has 352 pages of superb everything stuff. This book will tell you about chemistry tables, movies realeasing next year etc. It also has more than 500 incredible pictures. I have almost used this book for a year and not needed the computer. This book is like the ultimate source of knowledge!

When Daddy Was A Little Boy by Alexander Raskin

Alexander Raskin is a very famous Russian author -- these stories were about him when he was small. In the introduction it says that the author used to narrate these stories to his daughter when she was sick. These stories are very interesting, realistic and funny. This book has a collection of stories from when Alexander Raskin was a little boy to when he was a young pioneer. These stories contain everyday scenes of his childhood -- like when Alexander had been elected as his school newspaper Editor or how he started writing poetry, or how he was late for school, or even chopped a snake into eight pieces, etc, etc, etc. These stories are not fantasy stories or fairy stories -- these stories are about Alexander's day to day life like, when he was very late for school and got scoldings from his teachers. This book was given to my Aunt by my Mother and then this book was passed on to Me. This is a very rare book and you will find it very hard to get this book because my Mother bought this in an exhibition of Russian books in 1994 and I think there will be hardly any copies left of the book. This book is my very favorite book, this book has very interesting stories and very delightful ones too. Once you read this book you can form your own book by writing your or your parents stories.

(This book review is also available on the Guardian Children's Book Website at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2011/may/13/review-daddy-little-boy)

The Dragons Of Ordinary Farm by Tad Williams and Deborah Beale

Ever imagined a farm with dragons, unicorns etc? Tyler and Lucinda Jenkins used to think that there was no such place until their uncle sent them a letter to visit over to his farm, 'Ordinary Farm'. When they arrived at the farm Tyler and Lucinda think that it's going to be a normal farm with cows and sheeps etc, but they are filled with awe as they discover that the farm is full of dragons, unicorns, flying monkeys, cockatrices etc. but their uncle Gideon forbids them from telling the outside world about it. Tyler and Lucinda go exploring individually and find out about Fault Lines that take them to the past. They also find out a huge secret about the Farmhands who work at the farm. But their uncle is running out of money and a boy called Colin tries to help with those matters, but messes things up with some gangsters. So, now Tyler and Lucinda have to do something before the farms secrets are revealed. I like this book a lot, one of my personal favorites actually because it's exciting, thrilling and has a new adventure on every page. If you're the fairy tale type you can spot this book from a mile away.

Horrible Histories: Groovy Greeks by Terry Deary

Find history very boring? Usually our teachers teach history with all the horrible bits left out, this book has history with all the horrible bits left in it. Think the Greeks are boring? Think again, this book has all the disgusting, cool and funny facts about Greeks. Like do you know how they tested the blood, snot and urine samples you give to the medical lab today? Ewww! Puke! They TASTED it! YES! Bet you would never want to be a Greek doctor! They had a ritual of killing an ox for a sacrifice. But then, get this! They would then hold an investigation to find out who killed the ox. It generally ended with them sentencing the knife used for the sacrifice to death! CRAZY hunh? But we also have to thank the Greeks for giving us the first democracy, inventing the first flame thrower and pinhole camera too. They also played hockey and held the first ever Olympics. This book will tell you all about how the Greeks sacrificed, how they fought battles, about their states, their gods and their messengers. If you like a good horrible piece of history please get this on your list. You should read this book if you like a lot of history I also recommend this book to people who don't like history because it can make them develop some interest in history. Look out for the next in the series Rotten Romans.

This Book Is Not Good For You by Pseudonymous Bosch

Ever heard about a Tuning Fork? Oh! no! no! Not the musical Tuning Fork. I'll tell you, with the Tuning fork in his hand a chef can beat any food into any taste as long as the taster has tasted the food before. Cass and Max-Ernest have to find the Tuning Fork before the Midnight Sun's cooking comarade, Senor Hugo, does. But Senor Hugo has kidnapped Cass's mother! He wants the Tuning Fork from Cass and Max-Ernest. So, now Cass and Max-Ernest have to betray the Terces Society. The Midnight Sun are hiding in a chocolate plantation in an orphanage in Cote d'Ivoire, where they are making children work ( child labour ). Then Cass and Max-Ernest come to know that their school principal owns the Tuning Fork. So, now Cass and Max-Ernest have to get the Tuning Fork, go to Ivory Coast, save Cass's mother and the victims of child labour and stop the Midnight Sun's devious plan. This is the most intresting or I may say appetizing book of all the 3 books. In the series of Pseudonymous Bosch the writer's concepts are very good,intresting and most of all clear and mysterious.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Have you ever seen characters riding out of books? But this is what happens in this book -- the whole story revolves around a book called Inkheart. 

Mo (short for Mortimer) and Meggie, father and daughter live peacefully, when Dustfinger (an old colleague of Mo) returns and brings back some dark memories. He tells of an evil rising called Capricorn and Capricorn’s men are hunting for Mo. So, now Mo, Meggie and Dustfinger move to Elinor’s house, Mo’s-aunt-in-law. But danger is still lurking and all of a sudden a frightening thing happens; Mo is kidnapped by Capricorn’s men and their leader Basta. So, now the remaining Dustfinger, Meggie and Elinor have to go south to help Mo. They are successful in reaching Capricorn’s village, but are captured. Then, Meggie and Elinor come to know why Dustfinger has nicknamed Mo 'Silvertongue'. Mo, who has the ability to bring characters to life out of books had read Capricorn, Capricorn's men and Dustfinger out of the book Inkheart. Meggie and Elinor see the ability come true the next day, when Mo reads out and brings to life real gold from Treasure Island and Alladin. They escape safely and Elinor returns home. But afterwards, Mo is out to set things right. He has to and does find the writer of Inkheart, Fenoglio. Mo has some business with Fenoglio. 

He asks Elinor to come back, but in this time Meggie and Fenoglio get captured. 

Such breathtaking things are going to happen, you cannot even imagine. These are some pages I cannot describe. SPECTACULAR!, FABOULOUS!, BREATHTAKING! and whatever describing word is there in the world, if you got to read a book it's got to be this one.

This review has appeared on the Guardian, UK's Children's Book Site at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2011/apr/18/review-inkheart 

If You're Reading This, It's Too Late by Pseudonymous Bosch

Ever heard about a Homunculus? I'll tell you -- it's a 'Man made Man' now you know. Weird huh? There's only one way to locate the Homunculus -- that is to locate the Sound Prism and find out the clues or I may say the Musical notes. You have to read this book only after you finish The Name of The Book Is Secret otherwise you won't get it. 

So this time, it's up to Cass and Max-Ernest to find the Sound Prism and locate the Homunculus (Mr. Cabbage Face). But now they are not alone. They have a new friend Yo-Yoji and as always their friend Owen from the Terces Society. And they have a surprise in store for them Yo-Yoji is from the Terces Society too!

They have to find the Sound Prism and the Homunculus, but remember the Midnight Sun is still lurking around. This is a very catchy book. Once you start reading the book you just can't stop reading until you've finished reading. The climax is very interesting but the part a little after the beginning becomes very boring, so compared to the first book this book is not as good. And, you don't get the level of excitement you get in the first book. The writer's stories are quite interesting, I also liked how in the book, the writer asks you to sign a very funny contract which he tells us to sign in blood (Tomato Ketchup - PLEASE don't try to sign in blood! He's just JOKING).
***
(My review is also available on the Guardian Children's Web Site at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/2011/apr/15/review-reading-late )

Goosebumps - Night of the Living Dummy (from the LIving Dummy Collection) by R.L. STINE

Caution! if under the age of  3 please don't read this book because this will scare you out of your wits but if you have previously experienced the horrors ( and the nightmares) and already lost some of your wits, then this will scare you out of your remaining wits.
In the story 2 twins Kris and Lindy find a old ventriloquist's dummy next door ( and by the way the dummy was found by Lindy). So obviously Kris became way too jealous because Lindy became the best ventriloquist in the city and was earning money in birthday parties, so their father bought Kris a new dummy which she called Mr. Wood and Kris also started practising, but then things started to go wrong, very wrong. The dummy, Mr. Wood, started to appear at places and started destroying things. For example, it started talking, destroyed the refrigerator, Kris's jewellery was shattered to pieces, but the most horrible was when the dummy threw up green goo on the special concert Kris was supposed to perform at. Afterwards, Kris came to know that her sister was doing all this, but their parents were fed up of all this havoc, complaints etc. But then, Kris found a old piece of paper in the dummy's pocket it said Karru marri odonna loma molonu karrano, this was a strange language to Kris, she read these words aloud. Lo and Behold the dummy came to life! It called Kris it's servant, Kris tried throwing it away but it didn't work. Then, she tried killing it with a steam roller and at last, it worked! The steam roller flattened the dummy like a piece of paper. My opinion on this book is that it is too stupidly scary. When your read it, it seems like BOO! the dummy's going to come out and eat you but don't let that stop you - the story is quite impressive.

The chronicles of Narnia- The last battle

This is the last book in the magical series of Narnia. The heroes Jill and Eustace are thrown by a great jerk into Narnia, but some terrible things have happened in Narnia. The cleverest, ugliest and the most wrinkled ape in Narnia, Shift and the most foolish of creatures, Puzzle the donkey have turned Narnia upside down. They found an old lion skin and Shift told Puzzle to pose as Aslan, the Narnian god and people from Calormen have also come to take over Narnia seeing the opportunity. Shift has told the Calormenes that their god Tash is the same as Aslan. Now it's up to king Tirian (the current king of Narnia) Jill,Eustace, Jewel (the kings horse), Poggin the dwarf and Farsight the eagle. Narnia will come to an end that you would have never thought of before. Now down to the reviews   this book is a must if you are Narnia lover, its so interesting that its not funny. I'm telling you you Got to read this book.

The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas

This is a story about a pickpocket called Connwear, magician Nevery, body gaurd Benet, Dutchess's daughter Rowan and the villan Crowe who live in the magical city of Wellmet.
Connwear once tries to pick a magician's pocket and almost loses his life. The magician (who, you may have guessed, was Nevery) is suprised that Connwear didn't lose his life immediately while stealing the stone in Nevery's pocket. The stone is called a Locus Magicalicus. So Nevery takes on Connwear as a apprentice but the other magicians are questioning Connwear's ability. Now, it's up to Connwear to get a Locus Magicalicus but another alarming thing begins to happen - the magical levels in Wellmet are decreasing and Connwear thinks Crowe is behind this. So it's up to Connwear and Rowan to save the day.
(I can't tell you the ending otherwise there's no fun reading the book)
My opinion on the book is that it's extremly well written, story is fine and pictures are extraodinary. Really good if you like twists and turns and excitement (includes magic). By the way there are some good biscuit recepies too at the back.

Diary of a wimpy kid by Jeff Kinney

I just wanted to inform you guys of one thing that by 'diary' I do not mean a diary, it’s just the title, I really mean a journal. This book is about a boy called Greg Heffley stuck in middle school with a bunch of kids like him who haven’t hit their growth spurt yet mixed in with these gorillas who need to shave twice a day. So getting to the point Greg keeps this journal where he writes his everyday experiences, like for instant he says about his first day of school where he says he just comes to the class and sits on some old desk and the next minute you know the teachers saying “I hope you like where you are sitting because these are going to be your permanent places” and you realize you just sat in the middle of a bunch of morons. Just like that Greg says stories about his best friend Rowley and about the nasty cheese that sits in the middle of the basketball court and gives the cheese touch to whoever touches it, he also tells about his dad, his mom, his brothers and irritating neighbour Fregley . My favourite parts are the ones where he gets chased by a gang of teenagers on Halloween night; he even tells about his wrestling unit in school and school play. But the last part is when your heart starts beating when Rowley betrays Greg and steals his ideas and the worst part is when Rowley eats the nasty old______ (it’s gross, I’ll leave it at that). I think this is one of my favourite books, till Christmas - I didn’t even know such a good book existed (Santa put it under my pillow wrapped in a red ribbon). If you are going for a normal, funny book go for this one.