Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Alex

Attention all fantasy book lovers. If you liked Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban, then you will definitely like Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I say this, because this book has action adventure, and three tasks. In this book if Harry can get under a dragon, swim to the bottom of the lake in front of Hogwarts and save Ron, and ran through a maze before Krum, Fleur, and Cedric, then he wins the trophy, and the prize money. Although going through the tasks, people are questioning him, on how he got his name into the goblet of fire, when he is below the age limit. Who put Harry’s name in the goblet? Will Harry win? Read the fantastic book to find out.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 

            Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling is about a wizard named Harry Potter who attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He survived a terrible curse when he was a baby and took away most of the power from his attacker. One night, Harry dreams about his godfather dying and goes to save him with a bunch of his friends. When they reach their destination, something awful happens.

        I would rate this book a ten because it has many characteristics that make it great. One of its impressive qualities is the action in it. On page 787, there is a fight between Harry and Harry’s friends, and the Death Eaters, who are Voldemort’s supporters. It takes place in the department of mysteries, which is where Harry goes when he dreams about his godfather suffering a horrific death. Harry and his friends try to fend off the Death Eaters in this scene. They are trying to get a crystal globe that Harry is holding. He and his friends have to curse them and run away to avoid their own deaths.

      Another feature is the problems in it that today’s teens can really relate to, like homework and love. On pages 456-457, Harry is kissed by his crush from a while ago.

            Lastly, it contains precise and specific descriptions. The descriptions are succinct but good enough to show what the writer is thinking. J.K. Rowling makes you feel like you are right on the spot with her when she is writing her books. She adds specific details to her descriptions, like the feelings and thoughts of her characters.

           Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is an ideal book for teenagers. First of all, it contains action. Secondly, the reader can really relate to the problems in the book. Lastly, the descriptions are gripping, but not too long, as this would bore the reader. If you read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I promise that you won’t be disappointed.

Hatchet - By Gary Paulson
Jake

I recently read the book Hatchet by Gary Paulson. The Plot of Hatchet is Brian’s parents are divorced and the school year is over so he is flying over the Canadian woods to live with his father for the summer. The plane only holds the pilot and the co-pilot so Brian is forced to sit in the co-pilot seat. Then, suddenly, the pilot has a heart attack and dies right there on the plane leaving Brian to fly the aircraft himself.  He manages to keep it in the air long enough to spot a lake so he tries to crash in it rather than having the plane explode as he reached the earth. Brian manages to survive the crash but now he has to survive the wilderness with only the clothes on his back and the hatchet that is hooked to his belt. He has to find food, shelter, and fire; everything that we already have but take for granted. The entire book is about him surviving the woods and how he does it.

One thing that I liked about this book is it has good details. I like how the author included thoughts and feelings that Brian had during the important events like first meat or first fire. Gary Paulson does a very good job at showing the character growing and maturing through his actions. 

 An example of something that I disliked in Hatchet was that it dragged in some parts. Also, in the middle it started to just list an event each chapter. When one major event ended then that chapter would be over and Gary Paulson would just skip to the next big event in Brian’s life.

I recommend this book for boys who are out in the woods, hiking, or hunting a lot. I enjoyed reading this book but I will not read it again. I give it three stars.

Haunted                                                                                               Harper Collins, 2003
Meg Cabot                                                                                            250 pages
eview by N.C. 
                                                                                     
            “You’re more than just a mediator,” says Paul Slater. Susannah doesn’t believe him. He leans in to her and she freezes. She must stay true to Jessie, no matter how handsome Paul Slater is! She is a mediator, a person who works with the dead. She can see them, talk to them, but has to help them by getting them to find out their purpose on Earth before they go to Heaven or hell.

            Susannah has the marvels of today but is in love her 19^th century friend, Jessie, who is a ghost!  Ever since they kissed he has been quiet around her. Now she isn’t sure if he still likes her, if he ever did! So now lonesome nights go by as they sit in silence in her room. But now she has Paul on her mind, who she hates. Well, you would hate him too if he tried to kill you! She remembers when it happened. They were in a long never –ending hallway, with a door every which way you looked. Jessie was with her too. They both couldn’t find a way out. They were trapped, unless they went in a door, which would lead them to something no-one has ever found out. And when it happened, there in the mist, was Paul, laughing at them. Smiling and laughing at them confused as mice in a maze. Even though she would rather not admit it, Paul Slater and Susannah Simon have something in common. Paul is a mediator too, only he knows something she doesn’t - read it to find out.

            I enjoyed this suspense novel because it was very engaging. This book was filed with problems that could really happen. Meg Cabot did a great job and made it feel as if a girl your age wrote it. I liked how Meg Cabot made it so that one big event happened throughout three chapters. I just kept on reading until I was done with one of the main events. Immediately it hits you about how much you’ve just read already! Susannah is a beautiful sixteen year old and has problems we could all relate to, like dealing with secrets and keeping them from your parents, falling in love, Being bribed into something bad, and how to deal or ignore those people that you just can’t stand! If you liked Cabot's other books like the Princess Diary’s series, you’ll love this book! Since this is partially a well plotted love story, and told from a girls view, I would recommend it to girls twelve through sixteen. Haunted is truly one of those great reads that pulls you in. This book is filled with one’s aching heart difficult problems, tearful moments, and listening to your heart.

My reaction to the book Holes was a great one. It had every thing a great book needed. Action sapience friend ship all that good stuff, but let me get to the main point of the story.

Stanley Yelnats is a boy with the worst luck. One day when he walking home from school a pair of shoos falls down from a over pass so Stanley grabbed them and starts on his way back home and the cops stop him in the middle of the street. It turns out that the shoos that Stanley found belonged to a famous base ball player that was auction them off to a homeless shelter. They make Stanley go to court no one blades him that he just found them so he gets sent to a correctable facility called camp green lake.  In this so called “lake” witch is really dried up they half to dig a huge hole that Is five feet by five feet suppose ably to build charter but the head chef is looking for smoothing else.
In this camp Stanley learns many things like friend ship .One time Stanley gets caught with one of the counselor’s sun flower seeds and he takes all the blame for his friends.  And the action is great to, Stanley takes the water truck one time looking for his great friend zero who has run off but instead of finding zero he finds him self right in one of the holes. 

There was only one part I didn’t like about this book was that Stanley always gets in trouble for the bat tings other people do. Even though he’s a great kid.  

The best part about this book was that in the end Stanley was responsible for the shout down or camp green lake. 

I can relate to this book pretty good I was once In trouble for smoothing I didn’t do. Just like Stanley.

KT

          Being a kid that usually causes lots of conflicts and trouble I can really relate to Holes, by Luis Sacher. I thought that Holes was an exciting story that will teach everybody a lesson, even if you never get into any trouble. Holes was like any other book that I’d read, so I knew what would happen, which made the book really boring in some parts. Holes took me about two days to read because I needed to know what would happen next. I’m always wondering what the next sentence will be.

           The setting for Holes was amazing. I saw the movie after I read the book and I pictured the book like how the movie was. It was at Camp Green Lake, which is a correctional facility for young boys. Camp Green Lakes’ climate is hot, rocky, and dry like a 100 year drought was going on. Camp Green Lake is infested with deadly animals such as snakes, and yellow spotted lizards. It is said that yellow spotted lizards have six spots on them but if you want to try to count, there’s a 100% chance that you’d die instantly. Without this setting for the book Holes would defiantly not be as good.

           I liked that the problems that the boys had to get them selves there were very real, and are major problems today. The boys got there for theft, and for grand theft auto. I liked how Sacher wrote as if he was Stanley Yelnats (the main character.) This book was very real.

          The characters were awesome and full of life. They had the coolest names! Some of their names were Caveman, Zig-Zag, Armpit, Barfbag, and Zero. They were very particular with their names and they hated to be called anything else.

           I liked almost everything in the book. However, I hated how the chapters were so long. If the chapters were a page or two longer then chances are, Holes it would add more life to the book.

           I’d recommend this book to almost anybody but the people that should read this the most are the kids that are doing some wrongs in their lives. This book would guide them to a brighter light. And would help them find their way. I could read this book 1 million times and I’d never get sick of the lessons that I’m learning, I’d get something new out of it every time that I read it. So far I have read Holes seven times and I’m not tired of this book.

           I ended this book with a smile as bright as the sun. This book taught me not to do things, even if they might look or sound fun. Just walk away, because even if you’re innocent you can still end up in a place like Camp Green Lake.

           I started to read this book right after a group of my friends got in trouble with the cops. I was going to start what they had started to rebel against my parents. It’s rumored that if they get in trouble again that they’ll have to go to juvenile hall. Reading this book was like a message from God. Holes means a lot to me.

Jillian

Holes by Louis Sachar is one of the greatest children books I have ever read. It is about a boy name Stanley Yelnats who is accused of stealing a famous soccer players cleats. He is then sent to camp green lake for 18 months. The story then unfolds as Stanley meets zero and their adventures starts. They both runaway with out any water and begin their search for Stanley’s great grandfathers treasure. Their Journey across the hot dessert begins.

            In the book I think Louis Sachar did a great job describing the characters like Stanley, Armpit X-ray and Zero. He tells us how they got their names and why everyone calls them by it. I think he also did a great job describing the Setting as hot, dry, and little water. I love the way he made it sound like their was nothing worse and how hard it was to dig a hole everyday as a punishment.

            In the book armpit and x-ray are really mean to zero and Stanley, they are always starting fights and showing physical emotion. I think it would have really exciting if Stanley stuck up for him self more than once and beet the bad guys which in this case was x-ray and armpit.

            I would recommend this book to people who like adventure and books that are fun to read. Holes was really easy to read so I think that younger people who are in their preteens would enjoy it more.

            In the book holes I learned that being somewhere at the wrong time might lead to good or bad things. In the book it led to meeting Zero and finding the great treasure that ahs been lost for years.

Charlie

I like Holes Lois Sachar because it is interesting and you don’t know what will happen next. I thought it had a great setting, Camp Greenlake. Camp Greenlakeis a camp for kids who do something wrong to build character. At the camp Stanley meets his new best friend ,Zero. They help each other solve the mystery of the lake and themselves.

I liked everything about this book and thought that the author did a nice job writing Holes.  I think she did a great job describing the setting of Camp Greenlake. I liked the way she told you about why there was no lake and it was just dry open land.

When I read this book I felt like the characters where real. The author described them really well. Like when he told you Stanley was on average boy who didn’t have many friends until he meet Zero. Stanley and Zero got along so well that it was like Zero made up for all the friends Stanley didn’t have. The way Lois Sachar described the characters is one reason why I loved this book

I learned that when you are friends with someone you need to help each other and not to leave them behind. Stanley was becoming good friends with Zero so when Zero got sick on the way to Gods Thumb Stanley carried him the rest of the way. Stanley helped Zero a lot through out this book.

I recommended this book to anybody because of it’s character description and the mystery that Stanley and Zero need to figure out. It’s a good mystery and it’s hard to figure out to. I think Lois Sachar did a great job writing Holes. Holes is one of my favorite books. I enjoyed reading it. Once I picked it up I couldn’t put it down. Read Holes you will love it for sure.

HOOT By Carl Hiaasen
Austin

Roy Eberhardt just moved to Florida, one of many moves in his life, and is the new kid.  He encounters a problem with a bully, Dana Matherson.  Dana starts to beat Roy up, and while Dana is pinning Roy’s head to the window of the bus, he notices a boy without shoes run by.  His curiosity in finding the boy without shoes leads him to meet a tough, athletic girl, Beatrice.  She leads Roy to discover small burrowing owls in an empty lot waiting to be bulldozed, which is where the climax of the book takes place.

This is a great book that shows how to deal with bullies, how weird some families can be, what some people will do for animals, and the author’s great sense of humor.  Melted with an exciting, suspenseful, unexpected plot, it is a perfect book for middle school kids.  I wouldn’t think twice about recommending this book to any ten to thirteen year-old.