Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Smart Miss Know it All by Rachel Renee Russell

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
321 pages

Nikki Maxwell continues writing in her diary and chronicling every detail of her life in the sixth installment of the Dork Diaries series. This time around Nikki is in big trouble for attempting pull a prank on her arch nemesis Mackenzie Hollister. On New Year's Day Nikki and her best friends Chloe and Zoey play truth or dare. When Zoey dares Nikki to toilet paper Mackenzie's house, they decide to do it together as revenge for Mackenzie's antics against them. The girls throw toilet paper all over Mackenzie's front lawn, but they are caught red-handed by Mackenzie.

Over the next few days Mackenzie threatens and blackmails Nikki to either get her an invitation for Brandon's birthday party or risk being suspended from school when she publishes the incident in the school newspaper. Nikki panics and decides to join the school newspaper to prevent Mackenzie from printing the story. During the new staff members meeting Nikki is not given a position by the newspaper adviser Mr. Zimmerman. Nikki is in tears and is too scared to ask Mr. Zimmerman why she was not chosen to be the photo layout assistant when she sees the sign up sheet in the garbage with her name crossed off. Nikki realizes Mackenzie tried to sabotage her once again and has to work up a lot of courage to ask Mr. Zimmerman for a position. He tells her that there are no staff positions left, however he decides to make her the advice columnist on a whim.

Nikki's advice column alias is Miss Know-It-All and she begins  to receives tons of letters after a brief unresponsive period. Her column soon becomes very popular and increases the student newspaper readership by forty two percent. Nikki gets a letter that she believes Brandon wrote about her where he asks how he can tell her the truth about his feelings and his family background. Nikki understands how he feels because she hides her bug extermination scholarship from everyone. Mackenzie is suspicious that Nikki is Miss Know-It-All and still angry that Brandon did not invite her to his birthday party so she sets up a meeting with the principal to report the toilet papering incident. Chloe, Zoey, and Nikki are scared senseless when the meeting is about to begin, but a new student named Marcy comes in and has an exclusive breaking news interview for Mackenzie. Mackenzie believes Marcy is talking about the toilet papering situation, but she actually asks her questions about locking Chloe, Zoey and Nikki in a closet and stealing their costumes during the charity Ice Show last year. Mackenzie is flabbergasted and decides not to say anything at all about the toilet paper prank.

Nikki attends Brandon's party and has a great time, but she is extremely embarrassed that her dad is picking her up in his custom work van that has a giant roach on top of it. She lies to her dad about the address so that he can park a few blocks from the party. After nearly getting caught when her dad arrives at the party, Nikki manages to sneak away without being seen. As her dad drives her home she receives a text from Brandon and its revealed that he knows about her dad's bug extermination van. Nikki laughs hysterically and reflects that maybe she can be honest about who she is like Brandon wants to do with her. Nikki's diary shines when she responds to the distressed students at her private school for the advice column and when she calms down and sees that her life isn't as horrible as she thinks it is.

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess by Rachel Renee Russell

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
346 pages

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Grateful Ice Princess is notable for Nikki Maxwell's maturation and her moments of selflessness despite the humiliation she'd potentially have to endure. In the fourth book in the Dork Diaries series Nikki panics over an upcoming charity show called Holiday on Ice. The show donates $3,000 to any charity of the participant's choice. Nikki is in a group with Chloe and Zoey who are excellent skaters, but she can barely move without falling flat on her butt. The charity show is very important to Nikki because she accidently finds out that her the animal shelter that her crush Brandon volunteers at will have to close down if they do not receive financial support. Nikki and her friends sign up to skate for Fuzzy Friends in order to keep it open.

Nikki volunteers to help Brandon at Fuzzy Friends afterschool one day and she is absolutely smitten by Brandon's dedication and care for the animals. When Nikki discovers that Brandon's grandmother is the owner of the animal shelter and that they would have to move because his grandfather wouldn't be able to operate the shelter due to an injury, she decides to skate for her friend and for the shelter. Nikki feels overwhelmed by this decision after several disastrous practice skating sessions nearly convince her to give up. But she perseveres after Brandon's grandmother gives her a thank you gift for skating  in the charity show for Fuzzy Friends. Before the big show Nikki has to deal with her parents and her little sister Brianna's shenanigans over winter break.

When Nikki and her family attend The Nutcracker Prince play wearing matching tacky homemade outfits Brianna nearly ruins the whole performance by getting onstage to see if any of the desserts in the play are real. However the audience sees the whole thing as a comedy and laughs at the disaster Brianna causes. After all her frustration over the holidays Nikki starts to see the humor in her family life too, revealing "I have to admit... Once you get used to them, having a family to hang out with can be kind of nice." She even gives Brianna her expensive chocolate cupcake to make up for her disappointment with the desserts on stage and wisely reflects "But most important, I discovered that giving away something you cherish to someone you love can actually make you happier than keeping it." Nikki's growth over the winter break prepare her for the turmoil that ensues before the charity show.

The Holiday on Ice Show is directed by world famous skater Victoria Steel who threatens to kick terrible skaters out of the show. Nikki is spared from this treatment by clever distractions from Brandon and Brianna during each of her practice attempts to perform with her group. On the day of the big show, Chloe, Zoey and Nikki are ecstatic when they get beautiful fairy costumes for their skating performance. After the girls return from their manicure and pedicure trip they are heartbroken when they see that their outfits are replaced with clown costumes. Somehow their fairy costumes were shipped back to New York with the extras. Nikki suspects her arch nemesis Mackenzie is behind it, but she has no proof. They decide to wear the clown costumes and put on a great performance for Fuzzy Friends. When they go to their dressing room to get their skates they see a note from the wardrobe manager telling them that their fairy costumes are in Locker 17 at Storage Area C. When they go in Locker 17 someone shuts the door behind them and locks them in. They use Chloe's dying cell phone to call their parents, but no one picks up. Nikki tells Chloe to call her number because she suspects Brianna is using it to play games on it without permission. Brianna answers Nikki's phone and they quickly tell her where to find them. Brianna and Brandon rescue them from the locker.

During the show, Chloe, Zoey, and Nikki wear the clown costumes. Nikki falls on her butt and slides across the ice. She thinks she's ruined everything, but it turns out the audience is laughing and cheering because they think it's part of their clown act. After that, Nikki skates perfectly and only falls on purpose to make the crowd laugh. After the show ended the director awarded Fuzzy Friends with an additional $10,000 prize money because Nikki, Chloe, and Zoey were chosen as crowd favorites. Nikki is elated that she was able to contribute to keeping Fuzzy Friends open and helping Brandon out. Brandon gives Nikki flowers and tells her thank you. When he gives her a big hug she wonders what the hug meant--if it was a friendly hug or something more. Then she thinks that she wouldn't want Brandon to know why she was thinking that and happily calls herself a dork.

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

 

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
464 pages

City of Ashes is the second installment of The Mortal Instruments series for young adults. The book is very long and tedious.

The book continues right after the events of the first book. Clary is staying at Luke's house while her mother is still in a coma. Jace has been thrown in prison by the Inquisitor, who works for the Shadowhunter government called The Clave, for suspicions of working with Valentine. Clary, Isabelle and Alec go to the Silent City to free Jace where they discover that the powerful Silent Brothers are dead and the Mortal Sword has been stolen.

Jace tells his friends that Valentine stole the sword. They visit the Seelie Court and make an arrangement with the fairies to help defeat Valentine. The Queen of the Seelie Court humiliates Jace, Clary and Simon by forcing Clary to kiss the one she desires to be freed from a spell, and it turns out to be her brother Jace.

Simon gets killed after a desperate visit to Hotel Dumont to reverse the side effects from the vampire blood he ingested as a rat in the first book. Raphael, Clary, and Jace watch as Simon transforms into a vampire. Meanwhile Valentine has been murdering Downworlders to complete a ritual with the sword that would enable him to control the entire demon population.

Valentine eventually captures Simon to use as a vampire sacrifice in the ritual. Clary and Jace go to the ship where Valentine is hiding out and a great battle between Shadowhunters and Demons breaks out. There are several casualties, but all the main characters survive. Clary learns that she has special strength and ability with her runes and destroys Valentine's entire ship. Simon turns into a daytime vampire after Jace lets him drink his blood to revive him. While Clary is wrestling with her feelings for Jace and recovering from the showdown with her father, she meets a mystery woman who tells her that she knows how to wake her mother from the coma.

The story ends with questions such as what will happen now that Valentine has control of the demon world? When will Clary's mother wake up? and what will happen to Clary's relationships with Simon and Jace?

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
512 pages

City of Bones is the first novel in The Mortal Instruments series. Though the series is not very original and reads like a soap opera, it is an interesting young adult fantasy world. The book is about a 15 year girl named Clary Fray who discovers that her life isn't ordinary after witnessing a murder at a New York nightclub.

After Clary talks about the crime with her best friend Simon at a coffee shop she sees the blond haired boy Jace who committed the act. Jace tells her that he killed a demon and that he is a Shadowhunter, a descendant of the angel Raziel. Clary's mother calls and sends her a frantic message telling her not to come home. When Clary does go home she finds her apartment destroyed and her mother is missing. Clary is then attacked by a demon.

Though Clary survives the attack she is infected with deadly poison. Jace arrives and takes her to the Institute, a secret Shadowhunter lodge disguised as a rundown church. Clary is cured and meets Jace's adoptive brother and sister, Alec and Isabelle Lightwood. She also learns about the Shadowhunter lifestyle, and the Mortal Cup, a powerful angel instrument that an evil Shadowhunter named Valentine wants to use to create more Shadowhunters and kill all the "Downworlders" i.e.  vampires, werewolves, etc.

Clary finds out that her memories have been blocked, by her mother's orders so that she would never know she was a Shadowhunter. She goes to the Silent Brothers with Jace to see if they can retrieve her memories so that she can find her mother, but the Brothers are unable to help because the block is too strong. Clary has find the warlock who put the blocks in her memory to remove it.

Jace, Isabelle, Alec, Clary and Simon attend the "High Warlock of Brooklyn" Magnus Bane's party after they figure out he's responsible for the blocks. He tells Clary why her mother gave her restricted her memory and that the spells will fade naturally, but are too difficult to remove. Simon drinks a liquid that turns him into a rat and he is subsequently kidnapped by vampires. Jace and Clary go on a dangerous rescue mission to the vampire lair, but are able to save Simon.
 
While drawing a picture of a cup at the Institute, Clary learns of her special power to hide objects inside paper and deduces that her mother hid the Mortal Cup in a tarot card at Madame Dorothea. Jace, Isabelle, Alec, and Clary go back to Clary's house to talk to her downstairs neighbor. They are suddenly attacked by Madame Dorothea who has been possessed by a greater demon. They defeat the demon and escape with the Cup.

A betrayal at the Institute leads to Valentine getting the Mortal Cup and a showdown between the werewolves of Clary's father figure Luke's clan and Valentine's henchmen, Forsaken. By the time the battle is over Valentine escapes through a portal while Jace and Clary believe they are brother and sister because Valentine is revealed to be Clary's true biological father. Jace  believes that Valentine is his father based on his memories and what Valentine told him.

At the end of the novel, Clary visits her mother who is in a coma at the hospital and vows to find out how to wake her. Jace and Clary feel awkward around each other, but know they must work together to find Valentine and stop him from using the Mortal Cup.

The book would have benefited from a stricter, linear focus. Several chapters, including the Silent Brother trip and the Simon-vampire kidnapping, were irrelevant to the plot as a whole despite the fact that these storylines continue in the next book, City of Ashes.

Ghosts Don't Eat Potato Chips by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
80 pages

Ghosts Don't Eat Potato Chips is the fifth entry in the Bailey School Kids mystery series. Unlike the first book, Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots, where the main characters erroneously suspected their teacher Mrs. Jeepers was a vampire, the person that Eddie, Howie, Melody, and Lisa suspect is a ghost does appear to be an apparition in this story. The book opens with Eddie's grandmother asking him to take a casserole dish to his sick great-aunt Mathilda. Along the way he meets his friend Howie and they go to her house together.

Great aunt Mathilda is a grumpy old woman who demands Eddie and Howie to water the plants in her garden while she eats. Howie waters the plants while Eddie caters to his great aunt. While Howie is watering the plant he looks up and sees a man wearing a hat in the attic window. Howie then asks Eddie if anyone lives in the house other than his great aunt and Eddie says that only his great uncle Jasper lived there, but he died three years ago. Howie tells Eddie that he saw a man in the attic window and is frightened when he notices that his garlic chips have fell on the ground and spell out "ATTIC." While Howie is spooked, Eddie finds the situation hilarious.

 

After Eddie and Howie leave great aunt Mathilda's house and meet their friends Melody and Lisa on the playground, Howie shares his fears about an intruder at great aunt Mathilda's house. Despite Eddie's insistence that there was no one in the attic, the other three agree they must go back to the house to warn his great aunt. Eddie believes that Howie only saw the shadow of the trees. Melody wisely notes that the day is cloudy so there would be no shadows. The four of them then go to great aunt Mathilda's to talk to her. When they get to her house they don't notice anything awry. Howie does see a picture of great uncle Jasper on Mathilda's dresser and claims that is the man he saw in the attic window. Mathilda complains that her food is cold and the kids go to heat it in the oven. They go back upstairs to ask her about the house when they hear thumping and creaking sounds. Eddie once again tries to dismiss their concerns.

 

The kids play poker with Mathilda while her food is heating up when they smell something burning. They realize it is the food and rush to the kitchen to turn off the oven. All of them are perplexed when the oven is already off and none of them see the shadow of a man wearing a hat in the black smoke. Aunt Mathilda complains that she is starving and that the children need to buy her food since they burned the dish in the oven. Howie, Melody and Lisa go to a favorite fast food restaurant of great uncle Jasper's and buy burgers and garlic chips. Eddie stays behind to clean the kitchen. He is shocked when he goes to the kitchen and sees it is sparkly clean already. When the other three return with the food they tell Eddie that they did not clean it. Eddie has nothing to say about this. None of them can explain how the kitchen was cleaned and they also don't know who took a bite out of a garlic burger they just bought.

 

Great aunt Mathilda has a serious coughing fit after eating her onion burger and the kids realize she is running a fever. They call an ambulance, but Mathilda protests because she has no money to pay for hospital care. The ambulance arrives and takes Mathilda to the hospital as the children stay behind to close the windows and doors of her house to protect it from a coming storm. When they go inside they are suddenly trapped indoors. All the electricity goes out except for a light in the attic. Eddie, Howie, Melody, and Lisa bravely follow a trail of garlic chips and enter the attic to find a chest. They open the chest  and find an old hat. Howie says that it is the hat he saw the man in the window wearing. The lining of the hat falls open and hundreds of dollars falls out of it. Eddie wants to keep the money, but Melody and Lisa are sure that great uncle Jasper led them to the money to care for great aunt Mathilda in the hospital. The money is spent on Mathilda's hospital bills and house repairs. By the end of the story the Bailey School kids all agree that the ghost in the attic was just a figment of their imagination, reasoning that "ghosts don't eat potato chips."

Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots by Debbie Dadey and Marcia T. Jones



Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
80 pages

The first book in the Bailey School Kids series is an excellent children's mystery. The third grade class gets a new teacher Mrs. Jeepers and are immediately suspicious of her behavior. The class bully Eddie is interested in seeing how much he can get away with after causing his former teacher to quit abruptly.

After school a group of Mrs. Jeepers' students discuss the oddness of her character when they notice someone is moving into the abandoned Clancy house. They talk about the house being haunted when Mrs. Jeepers comes behind them and invites two of them, Melody and Eddie, into the house for a tour. Melody and Eddie are scared when they go inside and see the house is full of cobwebs and dust. They also notice a long box being brought into the basement. Melody and Eddie make an excuse and leave Mrs. Jeepers' house.

The following day the class meets under an oak tree at school and share their theories of Mrs. Jeepers' life and history. Many of them believe she is a vampire because she is from Transylvania. Over the next couple of days Howie brings in garlic and wears a cross while Melody and Eddie agree to make a trip to Mrs. Jeepers' house to see what is inside the box. Melody and Eddie break into Mrs. Jeepers' house and sneak into the basement. They try to open the coffin shaped box but figure out there is no latch. When they hear a bump somewhere they run out of the house across the street. The lights come on in the house and Mrs. Jeepers' comes to the front doorway and looks in their direction.

Eddie decides to misbehave often to get Mrs. Jeepers upset and during one attempt Eddie is seemingly hypnotized by Mrs. Jeepers' glowing green brooch. After this happens no one dares to break any class rules again except Eddie. When Eddie spits paper balls at Mrs. Jeepers' desk she takes him outside the room and the class is frightened for him. Eddie returns looking pale and tells his classmates after school he will never get Mrs. Jeepers' mad again. They ask him what she did to him, but he won't tell them. By the end of the school year Mrs. Jeepers' class concludes that she wasn't so bad and that she isn't that strange. Liza ends the talk by saying besides "vampires don't wear polka dots", referring to a pink and green polka dot dress Mrs. Jeepers wore. The mystery is not solved, but it is no longer a concern for the Bailey School kids.

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
240 pages

Roald Dahl's classic children's novel about an extraordinary five-year old named Matilda Wormwood is humorous and witty while tackling serious issues such as child abuse and neglect. The book opens with the narrator's funny remarks of parents thinking their children are bright when they are not. This leads to the eponymous character Matilda and how her parents ignore her completely despite her genius level intellect.

Matilda's neglect by her crooked car salesman father and her vacuous mother enables her to walk to the library alone and borrow books on a regular basis. She reads all the children's book and numerous adult classics from authors such as Charles Dickens, John Steinback, and Rupyard Kipling before enrolling in school. Matilda is so angry with her parent's treatment of her that she plays cruel pranks on her father to get back at him.

 

When Matilda goes to Crumchem school she meets her lovely teacher Miss Honey and amazes her with her brilliance. Miss Honey attempt to tells the school's headmistress Miss Trunchbull that Matilda needs to be skipped to the top grade, Miss Trunchbull objects. Miss Trunchbull is a gigantic tyrant who has physically and verbally abused many of the students at her school, but no one reports her behavior out of fear. Over the course of the novel Miss Trunchbull throws a student over the school fence by her pigtails, holds a student in the air by their ears, forces a student to eat an entire large chocolate cake alone, and even threw a student out the window.

 

Though Miss Trunchball has a fearsome reputation and violent disposition, many students defy her by playing tricks on her, including Matilda's friend and classmate Lavender. Lavender puts a newt in Miss Trunchbull's water jug during her weekly visit to Miss Honey's class. When the newt is discovered Miss Trunchbull blames Matilda. Matilda becomes so enraged by the accusation she unleashes an eye power that causes her to tip over the cup with the newt in it. The newt lands on Miss Trunchbull and she screams. Miss Trunchbull yells that Matilda did it, but Miss Honey defends her by saying she never left her seat. After class is dismissed Matilda shows Miss Honey that she can move things with her eyes. Miss Honey is confounded and invites Matilda home to have tea.

 

When they arrive at Miss Honey's cottage Matilda is shocked to learn that Miss Honey lives in impoverished conditions and questions why. Miss Honey tells the story of her childhood and her escape from a wicked aunt who probably killed Miss Honey's father and stole her inheritance, along with usurping her teacher's salary as punishment for leaving the aunt. Matilda thinks Miss Honey is a hero for making her own life despite having nothing. Then Matilda finds out Miss Honey's aunt is Miss Trunchbull and decides she must take action using her power. She asks Miss Honey what her father's name is, her aunt's name is and what her father called her and goes home.

 

Over the next few days Matilda practices lifting and moving one of her father's cigar to accomplish her plot against Miss Trunchbull. By the following week during Miss Trunchbull's class visit Matilda seizes the opportunity to strike as Miss Trunchbull is dangling a boy upside down by the legs. A student named Nigel yells to everyone that the chalk is moving on it's own. The chalk writes a message for Agatha from Magnus about his Jenny getting her house and her wages back. Miss Trunchbull faints at the end of the message. After she is carried away to the sick room by five teachers. She disappears from town and never returns.

 

Several months later Matilda and Miss Honey are enjoying tea in Miss Honey's restored childhood home. When Matilda goes home she sees her parents frantically packing and telling her to hurry and pack as well. They tell her they are moving to Spain and not coming back. Matilda is mortified and run's back to Miss Honey's house. She brings Miss Honey to her parents and asks them if she can stay with Miss Honey. Matilda' parents give her permission to stay with Miss Honey and they leave for the airport without looking back. Matilda jumped into Miss Honey's arms and they held onto each other until the parents and the brother were out of sight.



Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Rating: 4 out 5 stars
155 pages

Roald Dahl's children's classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a charming, yet slightly oft-putting story about a humble young boy named Charlie Bucket who inherits a famous chocolate factory. Although it is imaginative and entertaining, in some of the scenes the chocolate factory owner, Willy Wonka, appears to be unconcerned about the children's safety. Nevertheless, Dahl's hero makes up for the lack of decency in the other characters.

The book opens with a picture of Charlie's grandparents and a comment that the people in the bed are very old--Dahl's typical blunt humor. The four grandparents share a bed and have not gotten out of it in twenty years due to their feeble health. They are Mr. and Mrs. Bucket's parents. They all share a tiny two bedroom house and are severely malnourished due to their impoverishment.

During one rough winter when Mr. Bucket, who is the sole income provider for the household, loses his job at the toothpaste factory, an announcement in the newspaper brings temporary excitement to the Bucket home. Willy Wonka would open his chocolate factory for the first time in over ten years to winners of the five Golden Tickets distributed in Wonka's candy. Charlie was not very optimistic about his chances of finding a ticket because he had no money to buy a lot of candy like other children. However, his birthday gift every year was a Wonka candy bar, and this year's candy might have the ticket. With his family gathered around he opened the wrapper, but there was no ticket.

Meanwhile, Golden Ticket winners were announced in the papers: Augustus Gloop, described as being enormously fat and greedy, Veruca Salt, a spoiled rich girl, Violet Beauregarde, a girl with a chewing gum addiction, and Mike Teavee, a boy who is obsessed with television. Charlie and his family had given up on the idea of winning a ticket when one day Charlie was walking home and found money on the ground. He was so hungry he immediately bought a candy bar and ate it. He decided to buy one more piece of candy and give the rest of the change to his mother. Charlie opened the second candy bar and there was the last Golden Ticket.

 Mayhem ensued in the store after the discovery was made public. Charlie ran home to protect his ticket and tell his family. Grandpa Joe was so delighted about the news he jumped out of his bed for the first time in twenty years. Mr. Bucket insisted that Grandpa Joe should be the one to escort Charlie to the chocolate factory the next day. When Charlie and Grandpa Joe arrived in line with the other winners at the gates of the factory, Mr. Wonka greeted them with much enthusiasm while rushing them inside to begin the tour. The tour group is astonished by the amazing machines and inventions in the factory. While they are in the Chocolate Room, Augustus Gloop starts drinking from the river made of chocolate despite Mr. Wonka's protests. Augstus falls in the chocolate and is sucked into a giant pipe. Despite the danger Mr. Wonka insists the Oompa Loompas, tiny people who live in the factory and work for Mr. Wonka, will retrieve him from another room in the factory. Mr. and Mrs. Gloop  leave with several Oompa Loompas. Shortly afterwards a crowd of Oompa Loompas across the river sing a song about Augustus being greedy and criticizing him for his vices.

Mr. Wonka shows the remaining tourists his latest inventions including the Everlasting Gobstoppers, and a gum that will allow you to eat three meals a day. Violet takes a piece of this gum and chews it after Mr. Wonka tells her not to. He warned her that the gum was still in the experimental phase. Violet turns into a giant blueberry as Mr. Wonka anticipated would happen from his earlier test trials. The Oompa Loompas roll Violet out of the Inventing Room and her parents leave with her. Charlie and Grandpa Joe listen to the second Oompa Loompa song chastising Violet and her parents. The leftover winners proceed on the tour and are led to look inside the Nut Sorting Room where factory squirrels separate good and bad walnuts. Veruca wants to own one of the squirrels and is defiant when Mr. Wonka tells Mr. Salt they cannot be purchased. She enters the Nut Sorting Room and tries to take one of the squirrels. The squirrels grab Veruca and test to see if she is a good or bad nut. They identify her as a bad nut and throw her down a garbage chute. Mr. and Mrs. Salt go in the room to get her and get thrown down the chute by the squirrels too. The Oompa Loompas sing a song about Veruca's spoiled behavior.

The last two children take an unorthodox glass elevator to the Television Room where Mr. Wonka is working on his grandest project yet, Chocolate Television. The Oompa Loompas are conducting trials that will send real live chocolate into a television screen. Mike Teavee is so excited about the prospect he decides to send himself through the television. Mr. Wonka claims it is a deadly transaction, but Mike runs and does it anyway. Mrs. Teavee is alarmed and frightened when her son takes several minutes to appear on the screen and is now tiny enough to fit in her hand. Mr. Wonka orders the Oompa Loompas to take them to a room where Mike can be stretched back to a normal size. A group of Oompa Loompas sing about the negative affects of television on children.

Grandpa Joe and Charlie are now the only ones left on the tour. Mr. Wonka reveals to Charlie on the glass elevator that he has won the chocolate factory. Mr. Wonka intends to train Charlie to be able to manage the factory after him. Charlie is in disbelief, but he is extremely happy. Mr. Wonka sends the glass elevator out of the factory and it flies over the Bucket's tiny house to pick up the other grandparents and Mr. and Mrs. Bucket. They are all skeptical and wary of the news, but Grandpa Joe and Charlie manage to get them on the elevator where they will go to the chocolate factory to live for the rest of their days.

James and The Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

160 pages

Roald Dahl's children's classic opens with the main character James Henry Trotter, at age 4, living a blissfully happy life until his parents were tragically eaten by an escaped rhinoceros from a nearby zoo. James is sent to live with his horribly cruel and grotesque Aunts Spiker and Sponge who verbally and physical abuse him in addition to depriving him of normal child activities such as playing outside. James's fortune changes when he is seven years old and meets a strange man who offers him a bag of magic glowing crocodile tongues. The man tells James that if he eats them all his life will change forever.

James takes the bag of magic crocodile tongues and hurries through the garden to eat them in secret, but drop the bag and loses its contents in a few seconds. James is distraught and has to return to his miserable life at his aunt's house. The next day while James is getting yelled at by his aunts, they all notice a peach growing on the tree in the garden. The three of them stare in astonishment as they witness the peach swiftly grow to the size of a house. Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge decide to make a profit off of the peach by displaying it to town members and visitors for an expensive fee. When James is sent to clean up after the spectators he happens across a tunnel at the side of the peach and crawls inside, thus beginning an adventure that changes his life.

James reaches the stone of the peach and goes inside. He is frightened to see abnormally large insects that can speak. They are introduced as the Old Green Grasshopper, Lady Bug, Centipede, Glowworm, Earthworm, Miss Spider, and Silkworm. After James helps untie all 21 pairs of Centipede's boots, they go to sleep inside of the peach. The next morning James awakes to find out that Centipede is chewing the stem of the peach loose to free them from the hill and embark on a journey. When the peach is snapped loose Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge are crushed to death in its path. The gigantic peach rolls through the town, possibly passing Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, and past farms and villages until it rolls off a cliff and lands in a body of water. James and the insects are excited to float on sea safely until the peach is swarmed by dozens of hungry sharks attempting to eat them. While the insects are panicking and feeling doomed, James comes up with the brilliant plan to hook the seagulls overhead to the stem of the peach using silk and web strings made by Silkworm and Miss Spider, and using Earthworm as bait to hook the seagulls. After James hooks over 500 seagulls, the peach lifts out of the water and the seagulls carry the peach high in the sky.

After they thank James and celebrate, they realize that the sharks haven't damaged the peach at all, as the narrator explains the peach was too big for the sharks to bite. The Centipede falls off the peach while singing a song in celebration, but James jumps after him and rescues Centipede while tied to the peach with a silk string. Afterwards, The Old Green Grasshopper plays a song using his legs and the insects along with James journey through the day and night feeling optimistic. When the peach passes clouds in the moonlight the travelers are amazed to see creatures called Cloud Men making hailstones and snowballs for the world below. They are hard at work on the weather when Centipede taunts them and causes the Cloud Men to launch an attack with the hailstones. James and the insects lie low until the seagulls pass the Cloud Men. They believe they are safe when they encounter another group of Cloud Men constructing a rainbow. The peach crashes into the rainbow operation and messes up the Cloud Men's work. The Cloud Men are angered and throw trash at the peach and pour rainbow paint on Centipede. Then the Cloud Men pour a deluge of rain on the peach that nearly drowns James and the insects, though they manage to survive.

After the seagulls fly away from the Cloud Men for good, the peach flies over New York City. The peach is visible to New Yorkers and an alarm is sounded for the large "bomb" about to drop on the city. A plane passes by the peach and slices all the strings attached to the seagulls loose, and the giant peach free falls to the ground. The peach stops when it gets stuck on the pole of the Empire State Building. Hundreds of policemen and firefighters rush to the top of the building and discover the alarming sight of the Centipede and the other large bugs, until James appears and tells them that they are harmless. James and his friends instantly become famous and are treated to a parade around the city. James invites the children following the peach at the parade to eat the peach and the peach is eaten clean to the stone. James ends up living in the stone that is situated in Central Park by the novel's end. James and his magical insect friends each end up having successful careers and lives after their exciting journey across the Atlantic, as James himself reveals at the end of the story.

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
276 pages

The Tale of Despereaux: being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread is a quirky, charming, and imaginative story about an odd mouse named Despereaux, a beautiful princess named Pea, a good rat turned bad named Roscuro, and an unfortunate servant girl named Miggery Sow.
The dialogue is engaging and the narrator wittily addresses the reader. The story has a great message about the power of love, hope and forgiveness.

The story is divided into four sections. "Book the First: A Mouse is Born" opens with the title character. Despereaux is born in a castle and he is "the only one of his litter to be born alive." His sister Merlot comments that his ears are too big and his brother Furlough notes that his eyes open, saying "They shouldn't be open." His family doesn't think he is going to survive. But "Despereaux Tilling lived." He is noted for being the smallest mouse the members of the mouse community have ever seen. Despereaux likes to listen to sounds and stand still instead of scurrying around like other mice. He also loves to stare at the bright colors that shined through the stained glass windows of the castle. His siblings tried to make him behave like the rest of the mice. Despereaux wouldn't nibble paper in a book because "it would ruin the story." After a while they stopped trying to teach him and let him roam free through the castle.

One day Despereaux hears music and listened to King Phillip play the guitar and sing to Princess Pea before bedtime. Princess Pea sees Despereaux and asks the King to play music for him. Despereaux moves closer and sits at the foot of the King. When Princess Pea smiles at Despereaux he falls in love with her. Princess Pea picks up Despereaux and compliments his ears. She wants to keep him, but the King objects. Before Despereaux leaves he tells Princess Pea his name and tells her "I honor you!." Furlough witnesses Pea touching Despereaux and runs away to tell his father. His father is mortified and says that Despereaux must have a trial with the Mouse Council.

Despereaux is brought before the Mouse Council and the Most Very Honored Head Mouse questions Despereaux about his actions with the King and the Princess. Despereaux is sentenced to be sent to the dungeon, where no mouse has ever survived. The Mouse Council tells Despereaux to renounce his actions, but he refuses. Two hooded mice escort Despereaux to the dungeon after he visits the threadmaster to be bound. One of the hooded mice is his own brother Furlough. After Despereaux is left in the dungeon an old jailer named Gregory tells him that rats will eat him. Despereaux tells the jailer that he cannot die because he is in love and it is his duty to save the Princess. Gregory says he will save Despereaux if he tells him a story.

"Book the Second: Chiaroscuro" transitions to a rat named Roscuro who is obsessed with light. His friend Botticelli tries to convince him that a rat's life purpose is "suffering, specifically the suffering of others" and he tells him how he should deceive and manipulate prisoners to have fun. Roscuro tries to convince himself that he doesn't like light and he's just a rat. In an attempt to follow Botticelli's advice Roscuro talks to a prisoner who reveals that he sold his daughter for a red tablecloth, a hen, and a handful of cigarettes. Roscuro steals the tablecloth from the prisoner thinking that causing him pain would be fun, but he realizes that he needs to see light. He decides to go upstairs out of the dungeon. He goes to the door of the banquet hall in the castle where King Phillip, Queen Rosemary, Princess Pea, and noblemen are having a party. He sees a lot of light and is ecstatic. He thinks to himself "This is too extraordinary. This is too wonderful. I must tell Botticelli that he was wrong. Suffering is not the answer. Light is the answer."

Roscuro enters the party and gets so excited that he climbs onto a chandelier and watches the party from above to take in all the light. Princess Pea sees him and shouts "A rat is hanging from the chandelier!" Roscuro is disturbed by hearing the word rat and falls from the chandelier into the queen's soup. The queen says "There is a rat in my soup" then has a heart attack and dies. The King's men try to save her but it is too late. Roscuro scurries away to escape, but when he looks back and sees Princess Pea glaring at him his heart breaks. Roscuro changes and decides to get revenge on Pea for the way she looked at him. Meanwhile the King outlaws soup, spoons, bowls and kettles in his despair over the Queen's death.

"Book the Third: Gor! The Tale of Miggery Sow" is about a young girl named Miggery Sow who was sold by her father for a red tablecloth, a hen, and a handful of cigarettes. The man who purchased her, who Miggery calls Uncle, makes her do all the housework and hit her in the ears often for insignificant reasons. Miggery's ears turned into cauliflower shapes and she lost a lot of her hearing from the abuse. On Miggery's 7th birthday she saw the royal family passing by on horses while she was outside on the field. Princess Pea waves at her, but Miggery is too awestruck to wave back. From that day on Miggery dreams of being a princess. After the King outlaws soup-related items, a soldier comes to Miggery's house to collect them and he figures out that Miggery is illegally owned. He takes Miggery to the castle and she becomes a serving girl. Miggery meets Princess Pea and speaks with her while on an errand to deliver her a spool of thread. The head of the serving staff gives Miggery the job of delivering the jailer his noonday meals because Miggery is very clumsy and often lazy with her other tasks.

Roscuro overhears Miggery telling the jailer "Someday I will be a princess" and formulates a revenge plan using Miggery. Roscuro approaches Miggery as she is leaving the dungeon and tells her that together they can make her dream "of becoming a princess a reality." He begins to tell her his plan as the third book ends, and Miggery naively agrees to work with him, not knowing that his true plan is "to bring the princess to darkness."

"Book the Fourth: Recalled to the Light" returns to the main character Despereaux and the jailer Gregory. After Despereaux tells him stories, Gregory places him in a napkin on the tray that Miggery returns to the kitchen upstairs. The cook sees Despereaux and tries to kill him, snapping off his tail in the attempt, but he escapes. He cries because he lost his tail, but recovers once he learns that Princess Pea is in danger. Roscuro has manipulated Miggery into participating in his evil plan of forcing Princess Pea to go down in the dungeon and stay there forever. Miggery and Roscuro take Princes Pea to the dungeon. The King is distraught because his daughter is missing and none of his men can find her. Despereaux tries to tell the King that Princess Pea is in the dungeon but the King refuses to listen to a mouse. Despereaux decides to rescue Princess Pea on his own. Despereaux gets thread from Hovis the threadmaster and tells him he is going on a quest. Hovis is shocked that a mouse survived going down into the dungeon and is going back. But Despereaux is different because he is saving someone he loves.

While Despereaux is going back through the dungeon he is frightened, but he sings to keep his spirits up. After he loses his spool of thread Botticelli finds him and offers to help him find the princess. Botticelli leads Despereaux through the dungeon intending to eat him after Despereaux sees the princess. In the dungeon Princess Pea gives Miggery her crown to put on. Roscuro laughs at Miggery and tells her that she'll never look like a princess and will never be one. Miggery starts crying. Princess Pea is empathetic and asks Miggery what she wants. Miggery wails "I want my ma!" Miggery decides not to chain Pea and Roscuro says they'll both stay down there. Miggery and Pea sit together for a long time until Despereaux arrives and announces "PRINCESS! Princess, I have come to save you."

Roscuro smells soup and he breaks down, crying "It will never work. All I wanted was some light. That is why I brought the princess down here, really, just for some beauty... some light of my own." The Princess promises to give Roscuro soup if he leads them out of the dungeon. Roscuro tearfully agrees and leads Miggery, Pea and Despereaux out of the dungeon. Princess Pea gives Roscuro permission to roam around the upstairs of the castle. Roscuro tells Pea about Miggery's father, the prisoner, and Pea releases Miggery's father who reunites with his daughter. He treats Miggery like a princess for the rest of her life. Despereaux and the princess become good friends and even went on adventures together. In the last scene of the book King Phillip, Princess Pea, Miggery, Roscuro, and Despereaux eat at a table together in the banquet hall around a great kettle of soup. Despereaux's mother, father, and brother witness this and are amazed, while Hovis the threadmaster smiles knowingly saying "Just so."

Let's Go For a Drive! by Mo Willems



Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
64 pages

In this Theodor Seuss Geisel award-winning Elephant and Piggie book Gerald suggests to Piggie that they go for a drive. Gerald and Piggie then come up with a list of things they need to go for a drive, such as a map, sunglasses, and suitcases. They get to the bottom of their list and realize they don't have a car. They also realize that they can't drive either. They decide to play an imaginary pirate game in the end and still have a lot of fun. This charming book will make you smile and laugh like the rest of the books in the Elephant and Piggie series.

 

Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
80 pages

In the thirteenth book of the Magic Tree House series Morgan LeFay sends Jack and Annie back in time to Pompeii, on the same day the volcano erupts, to find a lost scroll for her library collection.

Jack and Annie wear the ancient clothing of the time to blend in with the crowd as they search the town for the scroll. They are warned by a mysterious old woman that the end is near. As the young brother and sister see gladiators and a coliseum, they soon realize the volcano is going to erupt and run for cover.

They enter a fancy vacation home and search the building for the scroll. An earthquake hits right before  the volcano erupts. Jack and Annie scramble away and run through the streets of the town looking for their tree house to return home. When they appear to be in danger, a mysterious and large man rescues them and they get to the magic tree house in time. They witness lava from Mt. Vesuvius covering the town.

Morgan congratulates Jack and Annie on finding the scroll and assures them they will always receive help if necessary when they go on missions back in time. Annie figures out that the large mystery man was Hercules.

The Magic Tree House series is great for the definitions and the historical information included in the story through Jack's search for knowledge in the fact book he carries with him. Jack and Annie's travels are exciting, adventurous and great for the imagination. The Magic Tree House books are highly recommended for early childhood education classrooms.

Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Rating: 5 out 5 stars

63 pages

The delightfully funny first book in Marjorie Weinman Sharmat's beloved Nate the Great series opens with the eponymous' character's straight forward personality introducing himself: "My name is Nate the Great. I am a detective. I work alone. Let me tell you about my last case." He tells readers he has just eaten a good breakfast of "pancakes, juice, pancakes, milk, and pancakes," then he deadpans "I like pancakes." He receives a phone call from his friend Annie who lives down the street. Annie tells him she has lost a picture and asks if he can help her find it. His reply: "I have found lost balloons, books, slippers, chickens. Even a lost goldfish. Now I, Nate the Great, will find a lost picture." Nate says he'll be over in five minutes and tells Annie not to touch anything and "DON'T MOVE." Annie tells him her foot itches, and Nate contradicts himself saying "Scratch it."

Nate leaves a note to his mother, stating that he always leaves a note to his mother when he's on a case. When he arrives at Annie's house he notes that she is eating pancakes, a good breakfast. He asks her about the lost picture. Annie tells him that she painted a picture of her dog Fang and put it on her desk to dry, but it disappeared yesterday. Nate remarks that she should have called him yesterday when the trail was hot. He asks Annie if her house had any trapdoors or secret passages. She says no and he says the case is going to be dull. "I have a door that squeaks," Annie replies. "Have it fixed," Nate commands. Nate asks Annie to show him her room. Nate looks everywhere in Annie's room and is sure of one thing, that "Annie liked yellow." But he doesn't find the missing picture of Fang. Nate asks Annie who has seen her picture, and she says her friend Rosamond, her brother Harry and her dog Fang. When she says her dog Fang doesn't count Nate says "Everybody and everything counts."

They track down Fang in the backyard and Nate suggests that Fang may have buried the picture in the holes he dug. Nate and Annie dig in the backyard for two hours but only find rocks, bones, worms, and ants. Nate declares that he is hungry and Annie offers him pancakes. Nate thinks "I could tell that Annie was a smart girl. I hate to eat on the job. But I must keep up my strength." After he eats pancakes they visit her friend Rosamond's house. When Nate introduces himself to Rosamond as a detective she asks him to help her find her missing cat Super Hex. Nate and Annie go in her house and Nate observes the pictures all around. He sits down in a chair and accidently steps on a cat's tail. Rosamond screams "Super Hex!" She remarks "You found him! You are a detective." Nate smugly replies "Of course." They leave Rosamond's house and Nate concludes that Rosamond did not have the picture because she only likes cats. Nate asks Annie "Now where is your brother Harry?"

Nate meets Annie's little brother Harry who has red paint all over him. Harry says "Me paint you." Nate misinterprets this and says "Good. No one has ever painted a picture of me, Nate the Great." Harry paints Nate red and Annie laughs at him. Nate did not laugh and went back to solving the case. He looked around the room and could not see it. He wondered who could have the picture since everyone who saw it did not appear to have it. Nate looked at the wall in Harry's room again and solved the case. He told Annie to look at the pictures that Harry painted. He pointed out the orange monster at the end with three heads. "So what?" Annie asks. He tells her that Harry paints with red. He concluded that Harry took Annie's yellow picture of Fang while it was still wet and painted it over with red to make orange. He compared the shape of the monster and the shape of the dog that Annie drew of Fang. "The case is solved," Nate announces. Annie says she doesn't know how to thank him. He asks her is she has anymore pancakes. "I hate to eat on the job. But the job was over," Nate rationalizes. Annie tells Nate that she will paint another picture. "Will you come back to see it?" Annie asks Nate. He says he will if Harry doesn't see it first. Annie and Harry smile at each other and Nate smiles. "I, Nate the Great like happy endings," Nate declares as he walks home in the rain with his rubber boots.