Summer of the Monkeys

Somewhere within the first 80 pages of Summer of the Monkeys I fell in love. I adore the youthful language that Wilson Rawls used to create this tale. Summer of the Moneys is about a boy trying to catch 30 monkeys and reap a handsome reward. Rawls, author of Where the Red Fern Grows, plunges you head first into the action. Just when you realize that Jay Berry would be just the kind of boy who does find a group of primates, he does! Though this book can be a little slow to read the rustic language and intriguing plot keep you going. Overall, Summer of the Monkeys is an audacious story, for slightly more experienced readers, as the language can be fiddly. Could you catch a clan of witty apes? Follow Jay Berry and his faithful hound, Old Rowdy, and you will soon find out.

~Dr. Seuss

The Thief Lord

       A couple of weeks ago, I decided to shelf the menacing stack of books on my bedside table. Strewn between the regular, well-thumbed Harry Potters were a few forgotten paperbacks. Amongst these rejects was a book called The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Funke. I figured I should give it a second chance.

      An easy read, this book is about two brothers, Prosper and Bo, who flee their hated aunt and escape to Venice, where a gang of child thieves takes them in. For a while, the boys are in heaven, in love with the city, and in no visible harm. But when their aunt sends a detective to search for them, the brothers notice things starting to change in their new home.

    They will soon realize secrets about themselves and each other that will change everything forever. 

     Full of plot twists, three dimensional characters, lyrical writing, and funny dialogue, I recommend this book to anyone seeking an easy weekend read.  

White Fang

In this book a wolf cub named White Fang was separated from his mother soon after birth when they attacked a Native Alaskan tribe. He then lived with the natives until they traded him at a market in Fort Yukon. The book is really about how he gets along with dogs and people. I think it's kind of strange how all of the dogs think humans are gods. I recommend this book to people whoo like a lot of adventure, animals, and realistic fiction.

Romeo and Juliet

By Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet is the classic tale of love and loss. Romeo, the prince of the Montague clan, and Juliet, princess of the Capulet clan, fall in love, but their love is forbidden, for their families are mortal enemies.

Luckily, I read a translated copy, in the No-Fear Shakespeare series, because otherwise, it’s close to impossible for the average person to understand the untranslated dialogue, due to Shakepeare's Old English.

Romeo and Juliet is a good book for anyone who enjoys romance, provided you have a copy you can understand. I, however, did not enjoy it. I found the dialogue stiff, but to be fair, it is simply the script for the play.

Julio

The Angel Experiment

Maximum is not a normal 14-year old girl.  She is a human-avian hybrid and has wings under her arms.  A few years before this story takes place, Max and the flock (five other human-avian hybrids named Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel) have escaped a mad scientists' lab called The School with their friend Jeb.  A year later, Jeb disappears. 

The flock have lived on their own for a while and are very surprised when they get attacked by Erasers (human-wolf hybrids) sent from The School.  They take Angel and Max has to send a rescue mission.  But after they rescue Angel, what will they do?  Where will they go?  Find out in James Patterson's great book, The Angel Experiment.

-Mattalex

Stormbreaker

In the book Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz, Alex Rider lives at home with his uncle, Ian, and his housekeeper, Jack.  All is well until Ian dies in a car crash.   But did he?  Alex investigates, and before long he is recruited by the British spies and is sent off to spy at a supercomputer plant.  Is it really as innocent as it seems?  Read this adventurous suspenseful story in Stormbreaker.  In my opinion, it is written very well and if you like to read adventurous and unpredictable stories, this book is for you. 

                                - Mattalex

My Side Of The Mountain

           If you are looking for a really good book that you can’t put down and you have to just keep reading without a thought of anything that goes on in the world around you then do not read My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. I only read this book because I had to, otherwise I would not have gotten past the first chapter.

            My Side of the Mountain is about a boy named Sam who wants to escape the busy city of New York and just go look for his great-grandfather Gribley’s  farm and live there. This book might appeal to you if you are planning to leave your life and go live in a tree (literally). It could work as a guide, but as entertainment? This book does not fall under that category. Unless you really love nature and the wilderness, I would not recommend opening this book.

~Anonymous