As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson

     As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson is about 18-year-old Pip, who is a local detective that is currently trying to solve a murder that occurred in her area. When she keeps getting anonymous

Emails that read “who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?” Pip is very terrified. She is going to therapy, but it does not seem to help. Although Pip always gets emails like that from anonymous users since she has a True Crime podcast. Pip starts to find connections to her stalker and a local serial killer caught 6 years ago. She is frightened to find out that police may have the wrong guy behind bars. Police say that they are right and they did arrest the right man. Pip decides she either solves this case alone, or she will be the one who dies next…

     Pip has one sibling, Ravi. I also have one sibling! This book reminds me of a book I read called “Scared”. It is a mystery book just like this. My favorite kinds of books are definitely detective fiction and nonfiction mysteries. I think if you like mystery books, then this is definitely for you. This book is also a scary book. This is the last book in the series, and there are three books in the series. My favorite scene in the book is the ending scene when the stalker tries to kill Pip. This book had lots of cliffhangers and it made me feel very odd, as it had great writing and great descriptions of characters and settings!

Reviewed by: punctual potato

 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling is interesting. It is for grades 4-8. It is about a wizard that goes to a witchcraft and wizardry school called Hogwarts. His name is Harry Potter. His parents have died from The Evil Lord Voldemort, so he lives with his mean uncle, aunt, and cousin. He finds that he has a godfather that is a “Murderer” and his godfather has escaped a torturing prison called Azkaban.  But Harry's friend's pet rat is really the culprit…Harry has to go back in time to save his godfather.

I think this book is entertaining and suspenseful. Every page is exciting and interesting. When I first read it, I thought I was never going to finish it because it was so long! But I read it really fast because it was super interesting. I recommend reading the book and then watching the movie.

I connect to this book because the characters are sort of around my age. They are around 10-13 years old. I also connect to this book because when the characters are at school, sometimes it's hard. Sometimes when I'm at school it is also hard. Another reason I think this book connects to me is because one of the main characters, Harry Potter, has 2 close friends. I have 2 friends in my class and 1 not in my school. I think I really connected with this book!

Review by -mmm402

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is written by J.K. Rowling. When I first read this book it caught me off guard. This book is the third book of the Harry potter series!  This book focuses on Harry potter the young wizard. In this book Harry is in his third year at Hogwarts.  Harry faces many problems but overcomes them with a Zap! Harry will go through many adventures with friends and family!

  The reason why I like The Harry Potter series is because I feel that these books can make you feel many different emotions. Like happy, sad, mad, scared, and very weird. Another reason why I like this book is because I like to read about fairytales. If you do too, then Harry Potter is the book for you.

     

Review by -GreenGummyBear

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool is one of the 2015 Rhode Island Children Book Award Nominees.  Vanderpool has also written Moon Over Manifest, a Newbery Award book.   Navigating Early is a true adventure story that takes place in the mountains of Maine.  In Vanderpool's story, her character, Early Auden is fascinated with the story that the number pi (3.14...) tells him, about a boy named Pi.  When Jack Baker moves to Maine from Kansas, to attend a boarding school for boys after his mother's death, Early and Jack become friends.  Both of the boys have had to face the loss of beloved family members, Jack's mother, and Early's brother.  The story of Pi is set within the story of Early and Jack.  Early and Jack set out on a quest together to search for Pi, who is missing.  The quest is a dangerous one.  The boys will be threatened by frightening gun-toting men, hunted by dogs,  and faced with a huge bear.  Can the boys survive the wilderness and find what they have lost?  Read Navigating Early to decide if you want to vote for it in February of 2015.

At the end of the story the author references Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant: A Memoir by Daniel Tammet.  I was glad that I had already read this book and remember how fascinated I was by the author, who saw numbers in colors and sizes and shapes, just like Early Auden.   If you are interested in understanding someone who thinks differently than you, you can listen to Daniel Tammet giving a talk about how he sees numbers and words.  He shows paintings that express how numbers, including pi, look to him.

Reviewed by Mrs. Castro

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

Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs

Belly Up is more of young adult book, so I wouldn’t expect to find it in your elementary school library. But either way, the author Stuart Gibbs has written an amazingly interesting book.  Belly up is about Teddy Fizroy, a boy who lived in Africa.  Teddy has moved to Texas so his parents can be zookeepers at FunJungle, America’s newest theme park.  But when FunJungle mascot Henry the hippo goes belly up, suspicion rises.  Who did it?  Strange things have start to happen.  You won’t believe who did it. Belly Up is a very interesting book and exciting.  To me this is book is very different than anything I’ve ever read before.  I bet if you asked Teddy what the book's message is, he would say have many adventures.  I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery book.       

Reviewed by smoshyturtle118 

Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn

Deep And Dark And Dangerous is written by Mary Downing Hahn. This book is not for people who don’t like mystery. This book is about an eleven year old girl named Ali. She finds a pictures in her attic which has her mother and aunt.But someone else in the picture and no one knows who. And Ali  wants to  find who is in the picture.She goes to a cabin where her mother used to live with her cousin and aunt and meets a suspicious girl. Is she friendly? Does she know about the photo? Who is she really? Check out the book to find out all of the books secrets.

       This book gave me the chills, but in an exciting way wanting to know what's next. I fell in love with the book in 2015 when I read it for the first time. I read it in my spare time during class and at home when I was bored in my room. I thought this book would be boring but you can’t  judge a book by its cover. If you don’t read the beginning or the end you will not get what is happening. When I read it the second time I accidently skipped a couple pages. I didn't get what was happening and that was my second time. I laughed out loud when I realized what I did. But, I truly love this amazing mystery book.

AwesomeA1

The book Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn, is a horror book and also suspenseful. I enjoyed this book because something was always happening and you want to read on, but unfortunately I only had a certain amount of time to read it each day in class so I took it home and read a lot of it. One of my favorite characters is Sissy because she is mean and funny about everything.  That is a good thing, but also bad because you can get in trouble for being mean. Ali is the main character.  She has a little cousin named Emma, who is scared and has bad dreams about someone scary who her mom and aunt hung out with when they were little. This girl had a tragic accident and died. Read this book to find out what happened to the girl and what they do to prevent being haunted.

Reviewed by monster123

Do you like ghost stories? Well, if so, you would love Deep and Dark and Dangerous. Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn is eerie and suspenseful.  A girl named Ali finds a torn photo of her aunt and mom at Gull Cottage. Who is the other girl? Her aunt Dulcie shows up to ask Ali if she wanted to go to Gull Cottage. Once she’s there things start getting strange. She finds out who the girl was in the torn photo, a dark secret about her aunt and mom, and more. I highly recommend this book for people who like ghost stories. Never mess with a ghost!

Reviewed by Bob 2

Deep And Dark And Dangerous is a thrilling and emotional story. A 13 year old girl named Ali goes to Gull Cottage Lake house with her aunt Dulcie and her 7 year old cousin Emma. After a couple of weeks staying at the lake house, Emma, her little cousin meets a 10 year old girl named Sissy, who Ali strongly dislikes until some secrets are uncovered…

Reviewed by Pinkxox003

Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Dawning Hahn is awesome. Deep and Dark and Dangerous will leave you at the edge of your seat.  Ali is 13 years old named and Ali’s cousin Emma go to Gull Cottage. There is a girl named Sissy and she is a bad influence.  Something goes wrong, but you will have to read to find out what it is.  Deep and Dark and Dangerous reminds me of a time my Aunt went to this lake house and there was something strange about that house.  Enjoy Deep and Dark and Dangerous.

Reviewed by Rocco06 J J