Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

One of this year's Newbery Honor books, Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage is a great mystery.  The story is about a young girl named Mo, short for Moses because she was found as a baby floating on a river after a hurricane.  Luckily, she is taken in by Miss Lana and the Colonel, a man who lost his memory due to a car accident during the hurricane.  She spends her time looking for her "Upstream Mother", but is side-tracked from her search when a stranger turns up at her family's diner.  The stranger is Detective Starr, who is trying to solve a murder that happened in a nearby town.  Unfortunately, the next person that is murdered is Mr. Jesse, a patron of the diner, and now the story really starts rolling.  Read along as Mo and her best friend Dale start gathering clues to help solve the mystery and protect their families from danger.

Reviewed by Mrs. Castro

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage is an amazing book! It is about two kids named Dale and Mo. Just on an average day for the two kids they figure out that someone in their small town in North Carolina has been murdered. As they try to figure out who the murderer is, a mysterious man comes to solve the murder mystery. Read the book to find out who will really solve the crime first. I haven't really read lots of mystery books but my mom and I sometimes watch mystery shows and they kind of remind me of this book, because of the mysterious murders.

What I really like about the book is you don't know what is going to happen next. At one moment you may think that you know who the murderer is, but the next thing that happens may change your guess about who is the murderer. Once you read this book you'll know why I love it so much!    

Reviewed By: Sunset Baller

An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo

An Elephant in the Garden is written by Michael Morpurgo.  You may know him as the author of War Horse, which was recently made into a movie.  This story is set in World War II Germany, in the city of Dresden, right before it is bombed by the Allied forces.  It is a tale of a family fleeing the city accompanied by an elephant, a young elephant, named Marlene, whom the family took home from the zoo to protect her from the bombing they knew was about to happen.  Along the way they come across a Canadian bomber who ejected from his plane when it was hit by the Germans.  Will they be able to help each other survive despite the positions their countries have taken as enemies?  I have always been fond of World War II stories.  I began reading them in school as a child, and have never really stopped.  This is a wonderful story inspired by true events.  Yes, the elephant really happened...  Enjoy!

Reviewed by Mrs. Castro

The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis

If you like gutsy girl characters, The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis might be the book for you.  Set in the time of the Great Depression, you can revisit Deza Malone, who Curtis introduced in his Newbery Medal winning book Bud, Not Buddy.  The book revolves around Deza, a plucky, smart, African American girl.  Her family is beset with problems, but it seems that nothing makes Deza stop fighting back, not bullies, not moving away, not illness, not poverty.  Read along and watch her triumph over the issues of her time.

Reviewed by Mrs. Castro