This Totally Bites!

 'This Totally Bites!' is the second book in the Poison Apple series. It is written by Ruth Ames. This Totally Bites is a great book for vampire lovers. 

It is about a girl, Emma-Rose. Her great-aunt, Margo is coming over to visit. One night, Emma- Rose accidentally discovers that her great-aunt is a vampire and doubts start creeping into her. Could SHE be a vampire too? After all, she likes grey weather and prefers to stay out of the sun. She also has trouble sleeping at night and prefers dark clothes over bright ones. She is pale with dark hair and has sharp incisors. She also hates the taste of garlic.

When she shares her doubts with her best friend, Gabby, whose parents are psychologists, she just has a 'reasonable explanation' for everything. Emma-Rose and Gabby have a big fight about it and are cross with each-other for days.

Can Emma-Rose get her friend back AND discover if she is a vampire or not? Read the book if you want to know!

I like this book because it is greatly written and holds quite a lot of suspense. I also like the vampire topic and the way that in this book, vampires are not 'undead', they don't sleep in coffins, and they are shortly, not as creepy as some legends or books say.

I totally recommend this book to readers who are too scared to read the real vampire books, but want a not-so-scary vampire book all the same.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Percy Jackson And The Olympians - The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief is a mystical, adventurous and simply fascinating book by Rick Riordan. This novel is about a 12-year-old kid named Percy Jackson.

Percy Jackson is in the 6^th grade. He always gets kicked out of school. And simply weird things keep happening to him. On a field trip to a museum, he accidentally vaporizes his pre-algebra teacher, Mrs. Dodds. This sets off a chain of events, leading him to discover all the Greek mythological gods and monsters are real, he is the son of a Greek god, and he is the primary suspect to have stolen Zeus's extremely powerful bolt of lightning. Along with his new friends, Percy has only 10 days to catch the true thief and return Zeus’s bolt to stop a huge and disastrous war. And all of that while battling monsters and avoiding traps along the way

I like this book because it is adventurous, mysterious and unique. I love the way Riordan slowly unravels the story while never letting the reader’s attention stray. This book keeps me hooked and makes me never want to stop reading it. I think the plot is simply fascinating. This book is a mystical masterpiece.

I recommend this book to readers age 10+.

 

My Year 2014

Mummies

‘Mummies’ is a nonfiction book written by Ron Knapp. It is all about mummies. You may have heard about Egyptian Mummies, but let me tell you anyway what mummies are. Mummies are (as it explains in this book) dead bodies that have been preserved for a long time. Mummies can be formed naturally or can be made on purpose. This book tells us about some of the most famous of these mummies. It tells us about what may have happened (based on the scientific theories) before they died. It also tells us how and when they were discovered. 

Ron Knapp tells all this in a way that makes it feel like a book all children will enjoy (you just have to get started). It is also filled with illustrations (which after seeing you will hopefully be able to sleep if you are not really frightened!).

I love this book because it feels so much like a book most children will enjoy and also because it has such a not-a-boring-textbook kind of feel to it. It also makes me see how fascinating the world of mummies (and basically history) is.

I recommend to anyone who can see a photo of a dead body without being half scared to death. You also need to have a certain interest in history or mummies to be able to really enjoy the book to its full extent.

Personally I think all children should be able to read and enjoy this wonderful book by Ron Knapp.

Reila's Big Race

THIS IS A STORY I WROTE FOR A SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT WHEN I WAS 10:

Reila was a girl with dark brown straight hair and sparkling blue eyes. Her hair was kind of short and always tucked neatly out of her face with a headband. She was ten.

Reila was really hoping to win the big race next month, though there was not much chance of it. She had not signed up yet. She was going to go to sign up that afternoon. Reila loved races. Reila was a good, fast runner but she had a challenge. It was Mary. Mary was fourteen. Mary was a strong, fast girl who liked showing off. She won in all the school races and all the village races. She was also really selfish, unkind and actually did not like races so much. Reila hated Mary’s unkindness and selfishness and meanness.

Reila walked on. She was thinking about the race and so did not notice Mary running swiftly past. “Let’s see who gets there first!”  Mary shouted over her shoulder.

Reila ran as fast as she could. Mary, as always, beat her. When Reila got there, Mary was already signing up. Reila signed up too and went back home.

After she had lunch, Reila ran to the track to practice racing with her friends. When she got there, her friends, Tracy, Denia, Emily and Rachel were waiting for her

.

“Shall we start?” she panted as she ran up to them.

Tracy grinned. “Looks like you already did.” she said.

Reila laughed. “I guess so. I had to hurry. I was going to be late.”  She faced the playground track and jogged in place.

“I can’t wait! I want to go! Come on!” Reila took Denia’s and pulled her towards the track. “Also, if we don’t practice, Mary might win!”  Reila added. That set them going. They all ran to the track and as always, Reila got there first and they started running at once

.

Suddenly, Reila stopped. “Whoa!”  Tracy cried. She was right behind Reila and almost bumped into her.

“Why did you do that?”  Tracy cried.

“Do you suppose Mary will win?”  Reila asked. She didn't seem to hear Tracy.

Tracy frowned. “I hope not, I don’t like her.”  She said.

“Neither do I.”  Reila, Denia, Emily and Rachel replied.

There was a moment of silence. “Well, let’s hope we win this time.”  Denia said finally.

Reila took off again. She ran around the track and her friends followed. They practiced until sunset in silence. All of them were concentrating as hard as they could.

When Reila got home, she went to her dad and said, “Dad, I want to… to… to talk with you after dinner.”

Then she washed up and sat down to dinner. Everyone was silent. Dinner was a silent meal.

After dinner, Reila’s dad took her to her room and said, “Reila, what’s bothering you? Tell me!”

“Um…I… I… I… I really don’t know what to do! Mary is so fast! How can I ever defeat her? I don’t even like her!”

“It’s okay, maybe you will like her. Make friends.” Her dad replied.

“How could I make friends with Mary?!!!”  Reila cried suddenly. “She is so overconfident and mean and…” She suddenly burst into tears.

“It’s okay, just try your best! Don’t be sad, cheer up!”  Reila’s dad said. "You might win!"

That made Reila feel better, but she still wasn't sure. She wiped her eyes and went to bed, thinking about it.

When she woke up, she had decided. She would race. She would practice. Maybe, she might also win.

Practice. Reila raced with her friends every day and got faster every day. She was getting real strong, but she still couldn't win against Mary, even though she tried hard.

“You still can’t defeat me, slowpoke!”  Mary shouted as she ran past. Some girls laughed. Reila was going home and she knew she would not be able to run with her backpack. 

Still, she decided to try it. No use. Not with her backpack.

It was a week before the race. ‘Time goes so quickly.’ Reila thought. She was upset. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't beat Mary. Suddenly, Mary was behind her and she was yanking Reila’s hair! Reila snatched it away and went home, thinking of how rude that was.

Reila didn't have time to think about that, though. The race was coming! She was enraged at herself and at (almost) everyone because she still couldn't beat Mary. She had to beat Mary!

It was the day of the race. Reila woke up, and put on her racing outfit. The race was going to start at 9:00 am and the racers had to get there at 8:30 am. Reila willed herself to try not to get her hands shaky and sweaty. She ran to the track.

Coach Hairshy was there. She greeted Reila warmly. Reila gave her a nervous smile. Reila sat down and then, after five minutes, everyone got up to warm up. Reila was so shaky, she could barely stand up. She managed to stand and then took a deep breath. She felt calmer. She started to warm up. She jogged, ran and ran.

It was 9:00 am, race time. Reila felt numb as she took her place on the line. She again took a deep breath and felt calmer.

“Ready, set, go!” Coach Hairshy cried.

Reila ran as fast as she could. She raced past the other racers and caught up with Mary. She ran and ran. Mary was still a bit ahead. Reila couldn't keep up! Reila suddenly had a determination, a will to win. This gave her energy and she suddenly was beside Mary. Mary looked surprised. Reila didn't have time. The finish line was just there…

Reila suddenly had that wave of determination again. She shot forward and crossed the finish line, just in time.

No one cheered. No one clapped. They were too shocked. Mary was too shocked. Reila was too shocked. Then, there was applause, people cheered and clapped. Reila was proud. Her parents were proud. Everyone was proud.

Reila realized that if you practice, work hard and believe in yourself, anything can happen.

The Cat Who Went To Heaven

The Cat Who Went to Heaven is a wonderful book. It is written by Elizabeth Coatsworth. It is a short tale about a poor Japanese artist and his cat.

One day, the housekeeper of the artist goes out to the market to buy food. She returns home with a cat. The poor artist is not happy. Soon he realized that the cat is very good and they named her Good Fortune. Good Fortune is a gentle, loving, polite and well mannered cat.

Then one day, a priest from the temple comes to their house and tells the artist that he was chosen to paint a scene from the time when Lord Buddha died. The artist thinks and puts in animals after animals in his scroll of silk. He works on the painting for many days and the cat sits beside him watching him paint. He paints a picture of snail, swan, elephant, horse, monkey, bull, dog, tiger and deer. It is shown that the animals came to receive the blessings of Lord Buddha. He paints and with every picture, the Good Fortune becomes sadder because he was not painting a picture of a cat. The artist couldn't see his poor cat sad any more. So he finally, knowing that the cat only, of all animals, refused the teachings of Lord Buddha, painted a cat. 

Then, when the priest hears that the painting is finished, he comes to see it. But when the priest sees a cat in the painting, he is so angry; he decides to burn it publicly the next day. Overnight, a wonderful miracle happens.   Read the book if you wish to know!

There are some really wonderful illustrations in this book. Every animal the artist draws is illustrated separately and there is kind of small story every time an animal is drawn. 

 There is a really good illustration near the end of the book of the whole painting. 

Elizabeth Coatsworth is really good at poetry too. There is a poem at the end of each chapter and they are absolutely wonderful.

 Here is one poem:

'She’s sure to starve,
She won’t grow fat,
No dinner tempts
Our little cat!

All day I follow,
All day I cry,
“Come, pussy, come, pussy,”
As she goes by.

But she will starve,
She won’t grow fat,
It’s always that painting
She’s looking at.

All day I grieve
To hear her cry,
“Miaou, miaou,”
As I go by!'

So, go and enjoy the book! 

My Hiking Adventure

Click on this link.  My Hiking Adventure!