The Thief Lord, Cornelia Funke

Summary:
Prosper is 12 years old, and his little brother, Bo, is 5. Their mom died three months ago, And now Prosper has to face being separated from the only thing that he has left, Bo. His aunt and uncle loathe him, but apparently Bo is an "angel." They plan to send Prosper off to an orphanage, and take Bo for themselves. Prosper doesn't plan to let that happen to him. So he and Bo ran away to Venice, the place their mother used to constantly talked about. Where the nymphs come out at night, there are great, winged lions, and giant golden cathedrals. That's where they met Hornet, an orphan girl who ran away to live in Venice too, and  lived in an old, abandoned theater with a gang of  orphan children. They all had a leader, Scipio. Scipio only came at night, with valuables that he steals for the kids to sell for money. He always wears a bird mask, and is an inspirational figure. But Prosper had other worries other than trying to survive with the gang. He and Bo were being tracked by a detective, Victor Getz, and Prosper is sure that the detective was hired by his aunt and uncle to take Bo. And Prosper wasn't going to let that happen.

Review:
I first read this book when I was in 3rd grade, and thought that it was good. But when I re-read it in 5th grade, I realized that I didn't understand how good this book was. I decided not to mention in the summary that there is also magic in this book , but you can discover the magic when you read this book.

Rating: 10/10 stars

The Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Summary:
Percy Jackson never got a grade above C- in his life, he had dyslexia, and ADD. He's managed to get expelled from every school he attended so far, and his best friend had a muscular disease that excused him from skipping P.E. for the rest of his life. To sum it up,  he and his mom lived with the worst guy in the world, Gabe. He was lazy, smelly, and played poker with his "friends" every night. Percy doesn't know why his mom puts up with him.

And then came the day when he accidentally vaporized his pre-algebra math teacher with a ball-point pen that turned into a sword when you removed the cap. The day when he lost his mother.His mom was a mortal, and his dad was an immortal. The same day he found out that he was a half-blood. Half God, half mortal. His mom was a mortal, his dad is an immortal, a God. Percy was sent to Camp Half-Blood, where kids like him were deposited there because they caused trouble wherever they went, they attracted monsters. Camp Half-Blood became Percy's new home, where he and the other demigods trained to survive against monsters that were trying to destroy the Gods and their children.

Review:

I thought that this book was amazing. Most of the time I was either laughing my head off, or holding the book with tensed, sweaty hands. My friends were always trying to get me to read this series, and I'm glad that they did, because I would have missed out on a lot of adventure. READ THIS SERIES. 

Rating:

10/10 stars

The Chronicles of Narnia

   Summary:
Polly had a normal life until the day she met Digory, a boy who just moved into his aunt and insane uncle's  house, which was a couple of houses down from hers. His uncle lived with his aunt because his uncle needed "help" (He was often drunk) Polly and Digory quickly became friends and started to explore the only exciting thing in the whole neighborhood (or so they thought),  the tunnel that connected all of the houses from underground. They decided to enter a house through the tunnel. The house was never used, weeds grew abundant in the yard, and the windows were boarded up. All in all, the house had a creepy, haunted feeling to it. A perfect place to explore. Unluckily for them,  Polly and Digory misjudged where that creepy house's underground door was, and instead entered Digory's uncle's study, where Digory was forbidden to go into. He never knew why he wasn't allowed to go in, but he never wanted to anyway, his uncle was crazy. So when they foolishly opened the door and rushed inside, they experienced a great shock. Digory's uncle was standing there, and he quickly crossed the room and shut the door. The door could only be opened from the inside of the tunnel, so there was now way of reopening it. Trapped inside, Polly and Digory awaited their fate. " 'I am delighted to see you,' Uncle Andrew said. 'Two children are just what I wanted."

 Review:
   A lot of people think that the first book to the Chronicles of Narnia is "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," but they are mistaken. The first book is called "The Magician's Nephew." There are seven books and all and I couldn't stop reading them until the very end, the moment when you're happy that you know the ending and you're sad because the series is over. As I said in my Harry Potter review, the movies aren't as good as the books. You get more details and you also know how Narnia came to be. Sadly, the movie series starts with the third book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and it doesn't show how Narnia was created.  Read this book (and hopefully the rest of the series), and you'll find out why there is talking animals, and how the White Witch took Narnia over.

Rating:
 I give this book 10/10 stars.

Review - The Ruins of Gorlan: Book One, John Flanagan

Summary:
They have always scared him in the past - the Rangers, with their dark cloaksand shadowy ways. The villagers belive the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now 15-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger's apprentice. What he doesn't yet realize is that the Ranger's are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people. And as Will is about to learn, there is a battle brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces on the kingdom. This time, he will not be denied.

Review:
This book is  full of fantasy, trust, mystery, loyalty, friendship, and adventure. When Will accepts his apprenticeship, he immediately is engaged in the war that is getting nearer to the Redmont castle, where all the villagers and craft masters live. He and his master, Halt, set out to meet the battle before it gets too risky; after all Will is trained enough for the trip. Meanwhile, Horace is having trouble in battle school. There are three bullies who are making his life miserable. Bryn, Jerome, and Alda are beating on Horace, calling him baby, and are not helping him at all with the hard battle training. Horace and Will grew up with each other in the castle, along with a few other kids. But now they all have their own masters to learn from.
Morgarath has already killed one king with two of his Kalkara, a cross from a monkey and a bear that paralyzes a person with fear if you look it in the eyes. They are assassins, designed to set out and kill one person at a time. There are also the wargals, beasts with sharp teeth and claws that are mind-controlled by Morgarath. Can Will and the Rangers stop this battle?
THIS IS MY FAVORITE SERIES EVER!! :)

Rating:
11/10 stars!

Review - Raiders Ransom, Emily Diamand

 Summary:
It's the 23rd century, and much of England - what once was England - is underwater. Poor Lilly is out fishing with her trusty first mate, Cat, when greedy raiders pillage the town - and kidnap the Prime Minister's daughter. Her village blamed, Lilly decides to find the girl. Off she sails, in secret. And with a ransom; a mysterious talking jewel. If she saves the Prime Minister's daughter, she might just stop a war. Little does Lilly know that it will take more than grit to outwit the tricky, treacherous pirate tribes!

Review:
This book is good for ages 9 and up.
I love this book because it's very exciting and unique. Emily Diamand certainly worked hard on this book. It sounds a little like the movie Mulan. In the beginning of the book, Lilly cuts her hair so she looks like a boy. She then sets off with Cat and the talking diamond. Also, her granny was killed by the bandits who stole the Prime Minister's daughter. She wants to save the Prime Minister's daughter because all the men were taken to  war against the bandits. Those men included her best friend Andy, he's her age.
This book is stock full of excitement, adventure, friendship, loyalty, and the talking diamond!

Rating:
10/10

P.S.- I just found out that there is a second book too! It's called Flood and Fire, I'll review it ASAP.

Review - The Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling

Summary:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:
Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He's never worn a cloak of invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon. All Harry knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday part in eleven years.
But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to a wonderful place he never dreamed existed. There he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic around every corner, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him... if Harry can survive the encounter.


This book; and all the others, are awesome. I can prove it. It's the New York Times Bestseller, and it got a lot of other rewards.
For these books you can't just go and see the movie. You have to read the books in order to understand everything. The movies are OK, but they take away so many parts. That's why the books are better. These books are recommended for ages eight and up (my decision). I read the first book when I was in third grade. And now I am getting really good vocabulary grades, spelling grades, and reading grades because of Harry Potter. When I was in third grade, my reading grades were low. But they have improved a lot since the day I got the book. Not only is it a good grade booster, abut lots of fun for you to read.

Rating:

I give the Harry Potter Series 10/10 stars

Review - Switched Trylle Trilogy, Amanda Hocking

Summary:
When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced
she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that
Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be part of it.


This book is full of mystery, magic, romance, and excitement.
 
Rating:
10/10 stars