Student Book Reviews: by young readers, for all readers
Amuleto: La Guardiana De La Joya (Amulet: The Stonekeeper) by Kazu Kibuishi
Reviewed by Emilse CUNY-CAT Brooklyn @ Cypress Hill Community School IS 49 My book was about una nina y una mujer y un hombre iban para la home de sus primos. El camino era largo el hombre estaba manijando. El hombre no bio y se calleron por la barranco y el homre que do atascado y no pudo salir. Desspues el hombre murio y la mujer y la nina se fuerona una casa en brujada la mujer tubo un nino y ellos bibieron en esa casa la nina encontro un amuleto. El amuleto le desia algo nona le desia que su familia estaba en peligro. Ella tenia que estar con ellos siempre. No e terminado el libro. |
Excerpts from an Iran Hostage's Diary
Author: Robert C. Ode Reviewed by Esmeralda R. CUNY-CAT Brooklyn @ Cypress Hill Community School IS 49 "I was delighted to receive the letter, however, I had to return the letters to my captors.... even though I protested that they were personal items." This quote means to me that even though I'm responsible, I still don't get things that are not mine, or, that is, personal items of another person, or mine that they send to me if I don't know what it is. I don't open it. |
Super Sorda (El Deafo) by Cece Bell
Reviewed by Orianna CUNY-CAT Brooklyn @ Cypress Hill Community School IS 49 The main character in my book is a girl named Cece. The main character tries to be like other people and try to do get people to be her friend. The main character looks like a conejita (bunny) and she is white. Also, she looks little. But in her feelings, she was kind, but she did not like it when people tell her things that make her upset. I think she learned a lot about her different experiences. But also other people just wanted to see her aparato (apparatus) for hearing, and some people even call her sordita (deafo). |
Awkward, by Svetlana Chmakova
Reviewed by Zuleyka CUNY-CAT Brooklyn @ Cypress Hill Community School IS 49 The main idea of chapter 1 is that Penelope is nervous and disappointed because a boy wanted to help her because she fell. Then, everybody bullied them, saying "ooh, the nerder found a new girlfriend." Penelope wants to say sorry, but she is too shy to tell him sorry. |
Smile, by Raina Teglemeier
Reviewed by Nancy L.,
CUNY-CAT Brooklyn @ William F. McKinley I.S. 259 The book Smile is about a girl named Raina who injured her two front teeth after her Girls Scouts meeting. Now she has to face a long and frustrating journey with braces, surgery, headgear, and retainer with fake teeth on it. She also has to face her mean friends Nicole, Karin and Melissa who always play pranks on her. One day, for instance, Nicole and Karin pull her shirt down. In seventh grade, when she is in band, she meets a cute boy named Samuel (Sammy) who has a crush on her. But during the school Valentine’s Day dance, she feels sick so goes home. From the next day on, Sammy does not talk to her. But Raina has better things to do, and she discovers that she has a crush on another boy named Sean. Later on, though, Raina and Sean break up. The summer vacation seems pretty normal to her. Finally the dentist tells her that in two weeks she can get her braces off and that her teeth will look normal. One day in P.E. class she meets a girl named Theresa. They become best friends, so they hang out together. After she finds new friends, she thinks that she should focus on the things she enjoys, like arts and crafts. In the end, she does not get the guy, as they say, but Sean returns to being nice to her. |
Reviewed by M.Z.
CUNY-CAT Queens @ Rachel Carson I.S. 237 The main character of Smile is an 11-year old girl named Raina who is in the 6th grade. When Raina is racing her with her friends, she trips over a rock and falls. Her two front teeth are knocked out, and the blood is coming out of her mouth. In addition, because her two front teeth are missing, she has a hard time in school. The whole story is about how Raina has a hard time when she loses her teeth, and how she has to overcome the problem. This is a nice book to read. It teaches you to not be afraid of anything because there is always a way to solve problems, and that your friends will always be there. |
Zita, The Spacegirl by Ben Hatke
Reviewed by Kevin D. Zita, the Spacegirl is a fantastic graphic novel by Ben Hatke. It's the story of a girl named Zita who basically becomes a superhero on another planet after she and her friend Joseph get pulled through a wormhole while playing in the back yard one day. Zita finds herself alone and lost on a world that is totally alien to her, but instead of being petrified by fear, she sets out to find Joseph, especially after she learns that the planet is about to be destroyed by a comet. I enjoyed the way she collected friends along the way, like Piper, a kind of flim-flam man who knows a lot about technology and has a flute that can hypnotize; Mouse, the giant rat who communicates through a ticker-tape machine and who is very loyal to Zita; and One, the crazy battle robot that ZIta saves. |
Zita is like Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, trying to figure out how to get back home, except she's about ten years old, wears a cape, and is as tough as a nails. There are two more Zita books after this one, so the story continues.
If you like action, science fiction, out-of-this-world characters and illustrations, and a cool main character whose superpowers are smarts, courage, and loyalty, then Zita is for you. |