Recent Changes

(168-172)Ranofer was never permitted to go up the stairs to Gebu's room. But when Gebu was not in sight, Ranofer snuck up into Gebu's room. And when he opened the door, the thing that was actually in sight, was a glowing, golden goblet. Ranofer started getting curious to the point when he started thinking that Gebu stole from a very old king's tomb. As Ranofer left the room, he then noticed that he broke the seal. He started getting very nervous and scared because if Gebu saw it, he would murder Ranofer! Ranofer couldn't make it look like before but he tried as hard as he could. Luckily, when Gebu arrived, he was entoxicated and didn't realize anything. Ranofer knew that he was now gonna be safe.
(180-181) After the incident with the broken seal he thought for sure that when Gebu would come he would beat him or even kill him because Ranofer knows Gebu's secret. But then agin, if Ranofer were to tell Gebu's secret, Gebu will get killed at the wall and Ranofer would be free. But when Gebu came home he was entoxicated AGAIN and he gave Ranofer extra food and wasn't noticing any of his actions or what was going on with the goblet.
Lights on the Nile, By Donna Jo Napoli
Reviewed by Eden R.
Lights on the Nile takes place in the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, around when the Pyramid of Giza was being built. What I think is special about the book is that we can relate to Kepi, her mother, father, or her sister Nanu. What's also special about the book is that at the end, Kepi and her friends all turn into fairies, I haven’t read any books that are for older children that make fairies fit into the story. If I were to give the book a rating, I would give it four stars. It's a very good book, but the ending is also very sad, and I don’t like sad endings. If I did, I would definitely give it five stars.
In the book, Kepi meets lots of the gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Kepi prays to the gods, and they come to her in animal form, like Sobek, who comes to her in the form of a crocodile, or Tehuti, who comes to her in the form of an Ibis. The book was very interesting, and one that made history come to life.
Maia of Thebes, Ann Turner
During the rule of the great Hatshepsut, an eleven-year-old girl named Maia learns to read and write the sacred symbols of hieroglyphics. Maia lives with her aunt and uncle in Thebes, Egypt, since her parents drowned in a boat. She had convinced her scribe brother to teach her to write. Maia uses her knowledge of hieroglyphics to learn that her uncle is stealing sacred grain from the Temple of Karnack. Amen (the main Egyptian god) pulled her in to speak what she knew. Little did Maia realize that her new skills could change her life forever.
Maia of Thebes, by Ann Turner
Reviewed By Rachel O.
from the templeTemple of Karnack.
Mara Daughter of the Nile, Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Reviewed by Allison G.
Reviewed by Yoni W.
Would you have ever thought someone would steal an Egyptian scroll? Back in ancient Egypt, a brother and sister are left alone with their mother and baby brother. While their dad is in the army, the boy and girl, named Kat and Zet, are left to run a store in the Thebes marketplace. But something suspicious happened in the area. Two men appeared to have stolen an ancient Egyptian scroll near their store. Kat and Zet are put to the test to try to catch these two men and report them to the medjay (the police). It's not just catching these two men but it's also the reward that's sweet. If they catch the two robbers, they will be rewarded with 20 deben, which is a lot considering they are a very poor family. Kat and Zet get caught at the temple after realizing that one of the men is in fact the priest. They now figured it would be a lot harder to capture the two men, and they now also have to come up with an excuse to get out of the temple where the priest is located. Will they escape and eventually capture the two men or will they fail and and get punished?.
good deeds. II would give happen next. TheThe reason why
Princess of Egypt, by Vince Cross
Reviewed by Maya H.

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The Thieves of Ostia, by Caroline Lawrence
Reviewed by Shira
It all starte- Hey what was that?... It all started whe- wait or that!?
Whatever.
My name is Flavia Gemina. I am the Roman sea captain's daughter. As I
was trying to speak before, I was trying to say that there are all these crazy
mysteries going on in my life! I solved my first mystery on the Ides of June
in the tenth year of the emperor Vespasian.
At that, my life was so confusing and scary! All of the dogs on my street
were mysteriously dying and I have no idea why! And I was losing
everything! At this point in my story I needed to find out who the killer was,
along with Jonathan my new neighbor, Nubia a young African girl, and a
mute beggar boy, Lupus. By the end of this novel I solved my problem by
asking for latest gossip and reading or listening to everything that would
help me.
Star rating: two and a half
I really loved the theme of this book. It was very mysterious and scary, but
enjoyable all at the same time!
What I didn't like about this book, is that it went from two different scenes in
two different chapters then went back to the other scene which was really
confusing.
The Assassins of Rome, by Caroline Lawrence
Reviewed by Jon C.
Reviewed by Josh B.
In the book, The Assassins of Rome, Jonathan and his Uncle Simeon escape to Rome to find Jonathan’s mother who had been captured. Flavia and Nubia go into Rome in a truck full of oranges to help Jonathan find his mother. Meanwhile, Aristo and Lupus are on their way to Rome and bring the things that Mordechai needs in jail. What Jonathan doesn’t know is that he is traveling in Rome with an assassin, who was assigned to murder his mother along with two other men. This was a very thrilling book. I would rate it 5 stars. I would recommend this book for kids in middle school to read because of the language used, and the complexity of the story. This book really kept my stuck in its ideas and really made me want to know what would happen when I turned the page.
The Beggar of Volubilis, by Caroline Lawrence
Reviewed by Aaron H.
Camels, hot deserts, skeletal bodies, slave traders, beggars, leopards, and pantomime dancers are just a few obstacles that Flavia and her three friends encountered along their adventurous journey from Ostia to Volubilis in 81 AD. The four young friends, all from very diverse backgrounds, set out to find an emerald, Nero’s Eye, and Flavia’s missing Uncle Gaius. What was supposed to be an uneventful mission turned into utter confusion and chaos when their boat sailed off without them, which caused them to run out of money and lose their possessions. Emperor Titus entrusted these four youngsters to return the emerald to Rome so that he could rule the Roman Empire. Will the children find the emerald? Middle school children who are interested in Roman times and following children on dangerous and mysterious adventures would enjoy reading this book. The bond between the children shows the importance of friendship, loyalty and devotion to family throughout the many challenges along the way. However, it would be best to begin with volume 1 in the series, since starting with volume 14 does not allow you to fully grasp the characters’ identities and relationships. It became quite confusing in the beginning when the author started saying all of the many characters' names. Overall, I liked the book and I would give it 3 stars out of 5 because the plot became boring at times and the book dragged on through many chapters. However, I liked the book because of the theme that existed throughout the text. The theme of family devotion was evident from the start of the book when Flavia set out to find her uncle, and how the children never left each other during the many months of traveling to Volubilis.
The Charioteer of Delphi, by Caroline Lawrence
The Charioteer of Delphi is a mystery about horse racing. The four children in the Roman Mysteries series, Flavia, Nubia, Jonathan, and Lupus, receive news that a prize racehorse named Sagitta has gone missing, and there is a reward of one hundred thousand sesterci for finding the horse. Unlike most of the Roman Mysteries, the mystery is solved quickly. Sagitta is discovered tied to a temple after a beggar tells them where to find him. But when the races begin, something strange ensues. That same beggar gives the four children a curse tablet that he found, and at the races, the doom specified by the curse tablet settles over the ones that it named. Who would do such a thing? And why? The children are determined to find out…
The Son of Neptune, By Rick RiordanReviewed by Mati Z.Rescue the god of death in a week from the hands of an immortal, all-powerful, giant enemy of the gods, who cannot be defeated in his homeland where he is holding his captive? Why not? In The Son of Neptune, Hazel, Frank, and Percy are charged with this task. The three teenagers, who are demi-gods, are sent off from their demi-god camp, with nothing more than a small boat, their clothes, and their weapons. They must reach Alaska, the lair of Alcyoneus the giant, enemy of the gods, eldest of his kind, and bred to destroy the gods of Olympus. They fight their way through hostile wheat fields, unfriendly hot dog samples, Gorgons, seers, Canadians, griffins, undead warriors, and very large and unfriendly immortals. However, as in most adventure stories such as this, they receive help from many sources. Some of them are: very old ghosts, Amazons, death, a very cranky grandmother, a few gods, an elephant, a grizzly bear, an eagle and many more.
In this book, Rick Riordan continues the legacy of Percy Jackson while making use of his new design of narration. The book contains as much excitement or more as its predecessor, The Lost Hero, and smoothly incorporates the characters of his previous series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This book indisputably deserves five stars for its dazzling excitement, its uproarious humor, superb character development, and Riordan’s remarkable feat of combining all of the above into a fantastic, cohesive piece of literature. Riordan perfects his masterpiece by humanizing his characters. He makes them heroes but he also emphasizes that they too have great weaknesses, like all people. They too are subject to temptation. Heroes that they are, they still are not so sure of themselves that they cannot for a minute doubt their cause. They are human. The Son of Neptune is altogether a literary marvel of the 21st century.
The Thieves of Ostia, by Caroline Lawrence
Reviewed by Shira
It all starte- Hey what was that?... It all started whe- What was that!?
Whatever.
My name is Flavia Gemina. I am a Roman sea captain's daughter. As I
was trying to speak before, I was trying to say that there are all these crazy
mysteries going on in my life! I solved my first mystery on the Ides of June
in the tenth year of the Emperor Vespasian.
My life was so confusing and scary! All of the dogs on my street
were mysteriously dying and I had no idea why! And I was losing
everything! At this point in my story I needed to find out who the killer was,
along with Jonathan my new neighbor, Nubia a young African girl, and a
mute beggar boy, Lupus. By the end of this novel I solved my problem by
asking for the latest gossip and reading or listening to everything that would
help me.
Star rating: two-and-a-half
I really loved the theme of this book. It was very mysterious and scary, but
enjoyable all at the same time!
What I didn't like about this book is that it jumped to two different scenes in
two different chapters then went back to the other scene, which was really
confusing.
The Thieves Of Ostia, by Caroline Lawrence
Reviewed by Jeremy S.

The Thieves of Ostia makes you think you're in Flavia's world, all the way back in 79 A.D. in the Roman Empire. Flavia is an eleven-year-old girl who is on a quest to figure out who killed her friend's dog. Her friend Jonathan was devastated after his dog died. It was horrifying for him to walk into his house and see a bloody, headless dog lying on the floor. However, it wasn't only Flavia and Jonathan who were trying to solve this mystery. Flavia also had a slave girl who was about her age. Her name was Nubia, and she also helped on their adventure. Lastly, there was a boy who was a beggar, Lupus. All three of the other children found Lupus stuck, surrounded by dogs, and they saved him. As a group of detectives, the children roamed the streets of their city, piecing together clues to help them on their journey.
Overall, I would give The Thieves of Ostia a rating of three-and-a-half stars out of five stars. I enjoyed this book because each chapter was unpredictable. This book had me engaged because there were many plot twists and I had never read a book like it before. It got a little confusing at points because there were many people involved with it and sometimes I couldn't tell who was who. One other thing I didn't like about the book was that at the end of it nothing exciting happened. But overall, I suggest that many kids should read this book because it is informative and intriguing.
The Twelve Tasks Of Flavia Gemina, by Caroline Lawrence
Reviewed by Hunter K.
Do you think the twelve tasks of Hercules are possible for a ten-year-old girl to do? I don’t know, but Flavia Gemina thinks it's possible. It’s the year 79 A.D., in the month of Saturnalia. Saturnalia takes place every year in December. It’s a festival where you can do things freely. The book takes place in Ostia, Rome. One day during Saturnalia, a girl that was visiting Ostia, named Cartilia Poplica, came and happened to really like Pater. Flavia Gemina thought that her love for Pater ( Flavia’s dad), was just a fluke and she just wanted his fortune. But no one knew that the Geminas had just lost all of their fortune. Flavia Gemina is the main character in the book. She is ten years old and is a detective. Flavia and her three friends ( Nubia, Jonathon and Lupus ) were determined to solve the case of Cartilia’s love for Pater. Flavia has a dream, and it tells her to perform the twelve tasks of Hercules to solve the case. Are you interested? If so, you should read the book.
I would rate this book five stars out of five stars because the book is fast paced and action packed. I really enjoy mystery books, so this was the book for me. The Roman Mysteries series (the series of my book), is a great collection if you are looking for books that have to do with Ancient Rome and also mysteries. I liked this book so much that I finished it in three days. Another one of the genres for the book was romance. The part in the book that I disliked was when a fever hit Ostia, because I didn’t like the fact that the fever killed people. But that was the only part I disliked. One of the parts I liked was when Flavia had a dream about the twelve tasks of Hercules, because if she didn't have that dream the book wouldn't really have been that good. That part hooked me into the book.
The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina, by Caroline Lawrence
Reviewed by Dori H.F.

Helen of Sparta cannot be controlled. She lives in the Bronze Age, before the Trojan War. She goes on a hero's journey by ship, to find the Golden Fleece. She tries not be noticed by her brothers, the princes of Sparta, who specifically told her not to go. Helen travels with her friend Milo. On the way, though, she meets a friend named Iolaus that she saw at Mykenae when she was there for the Great Boar Hunt. He pretends that Helen and Milo are his weapon bearers so that they will be allowed on the ship. Helen pretends to be a boy named Glaucus because girls were not allowed to go on this kind of adventure, especially heirs to the throne. The ride to the Golden Fleece is long and tiring. During the trip, Helen gets acquainted with Hercules and his weapon bearer, Hylas, and during this long journey, Hercules starts to pick on Helen. Helen gets close to Hylas and wants to talk to him alone, so they go to a mountain and she tells Hylas that she is actually a girl not a boy. Hercules comes out of nowhere and scares Hylas so much that he falls off the cliff and dies. Hercules goes crazy because of grief and the crew of the Argo (the ship they are sailing in) decides to leave him on the mountain. Later in the book, when the crew is at the islands of Colchis near the Golden Fleece's location, Helen has her first period and her cover as a boy is broken. She decides to pretend to be Atalanta, the famous huntress, so that she won't get sent home. The crew then sails to the island of the Golden Fleece and the princess of the island wants to kill Helen because of her beauty. Luckily, Helen sails safely to Athens with Milo, pretending to be a boy again. She is taken to the castle and the King of Athens, Theseus, sees that she is Helen and makes her his bride-to-be. Helen always hated Theseus and still does; how can she marry him? She is trapped: a captive. Read this amazing, exciting, adventurous book about the heir to the throne of Sparta, Lady Helen of Sparta, to find out what happens.
I rate this book five stars because of the creativity and the excitement. I was also intrigued by the plot. How the princess wanted to kill Helen and what she did was an amazing twist. Throughout the book you are tied to the book, as if you were Helen in the Athenian king’s grasp, but in a good way. The prequel, Nobody's Princess, is as exciting as this book is. I loved it and I hope you do too.
Odysseus in the Serpent Maze by Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris
Reviewed by Pearl V
It was a beautiful morning to set sail and Odysseus couldn’t wait to go home to Ithaca.
Odysseus, a Greek prince, got on the boat with his friend Mentor and waved goodbye to
Odysseus’s grandfather as they set sail to Ithaca. Suddenly they ran into a storm, and
Odysseus and Mentor fell overboard. While swimming to find their boat the two boys
almost died. On their journey to get home they ran into pirates, met a Satyr (half man
half goat), floated towards a Cretan island while experiencing Sirens (half bird half
woman). They found another boat and finally landed on the island. The adventures
continued on the island with Odysseus finding himself in a Labyrinth to save his friend
from the serpents. This heroic story in the heroic age approximately around 1700 B.C. is
a pre-story to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, similar to the way the story Wicked is to the
Wizard of Oz.
I would give this book a 3 out of 5 stars because the story was a bit confusing, but
at the same time it was also adventurous. I would recommend this book to people who
really like fighting and adventure.
Pankration, The Ultimate Game, by Dyan Blacklock
Reviewed by Matthias L.

Meanwhile, Nubia had decided to run away with the other slaves. They were all promised that there was a ship that would take them to Alexandria, but the crew and Kuanto showed themselves to be the same group as the kidnappers. They called themselves the Pirates of Pompeii. Kuanto said that Nubia was with him, so she was untied. When she saw Flavia she pretended not to recognize her. That night, Nubia was drinking wine with the pirates and was able to drug them with a powder Jonathan had given her. In the morning, the pirates were sorting out the people according to who they should sell as slaves or the people whose families would pay for their children. When Kuanto realized that they had captured Pulchra, the daughter of their boss, they were terrified. Then when the pirates started having hallucinations from the drinks, the children managed to take over the ship. Later, though, they saw that a ship was being driven by the slave dealer who was coming straight for them. To find out the rest you’ll have to read the book for yourself.
I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. I thought it was very good and it had a lot of adventure, but I don’t think that children would be able to be doing this.
My Story: Roman Invasion, by Jim Eldridge
Reviewed by Jacob Sp.
Do you like books with a great story and lots of action? Then My Story: Roman Invasion is the book for you. Set in CE 84, the book is narrated by Bran, an 11-year-old British warrior. Captured by the Romans along with his three cousins, mother and sister, he is sent along with the Romans as hostage. Also, they are keeping Bran’s mother and sister hostage, so if he escapes, they get killed. Along the way he meets Pantheus, a Greek inventor, and Talos, his nephew who is unable to speak. They hold secrets that keep the story going. And there is also Simeon, who wants to kill Bran to avenge his brother. Simeon will stop at nothing, not even his own death, to kill Bran.
Overall, the book has a great story and lots of action. It starts out slow but picks up speed. The old language is a bit confusing, but the historical content is presented in a fun way. Bran is a very shallow character because he only thinks of escape, not thinking of his mother and sister. However, Pantheus and Talos challenge him to grow. The book is too short in my opinion. The plot does not have enough time to build up to a climax. But the end wraps everything up and answers crucial questions about the Roman Empire. Because I do not like that kind of history, I give it a 3 out of 5 stars. I hope you find this book interesting!
Roman Invasion, by Jim Eldridge
Reviewed by Jacob F

I liked this book from beginning to end, and I would call this a four star book. Mara, Daughter of the Nile is a romantic and dramatic book for readers ages ten and above. Eloise Jarvis McGraw made every little detail so interesting.
by Yonah H.
Mystery Of The Egyptian Scroll, by Scott Peters
Reviewed by Yoni W.
Would you have ever thought someone would steal an Egyptian scroll? Back in ancient Egypt, a brother and sister are left alone with their mother and baby brother. While their dad is in the army, the boy and girl, named Kat and Zet, are left to run a store in the Thebes marketplace. But something suspicious happened in the area. Two men appeared to have stolen an ancient Egyptian scroll near their store. Kat and Zet are put to the test to try to catch these two men and report them to the medjay (the police). It's not just catching these two men but it's also the reward that's sweet. If they catch the two robbers, they will be rewarded with 20 deben, which is a lot considering they are a very poor family. Kat and Zet get caught at the temple after realizing that one of the men is in fact the priest. They now figured it would be a lot harder to capture the two men, and they now also have to come up with an excuse to get out of the temple where the priest is located. Will they escape and eventually capture the two men or will they fail and and get punished?.
I think this book is special because in everyday life you're not going to find two kids going out to try to find two robbers who stole an ancient Egyptian scroll. I think it's a great story and it encourages young kids to be good people and do good deeds. I would give this book four out of five stars because there was a lot of detail and it's an exciting mystery with a big plot and you never know what's going to happen next. The reason why I didn't give this book five stars was because it's difficult to understand sometimes. There are also a lot of changing scenes in the middle of the book so it's sometimes hard to keep track of what's going on.
Princess of Egypt, by Vince Cross
Reviewed by Maya H.
because people want girls to be weak and not muscular. Asha loves to run
and jump from house to house. Her half sister nervously watches her as she jumps.
Ahmose is
the chief wife of Thutmose I.
When Asha's dog Mek runs away to the city she follows him and overhears

The book takes place in the 1940’s. The timeframe is two years as Karin is ten at the beginning and twelve in the end. The first part of the book takes place in many locations in Europe, including France, and Italy. The second part takes place in America. Marc is two years older than Karin but without Maman he sometimes acts much older than that. Along the journey, Karin meets people that help even though she is a Jew. She makes many friends along the way, of all different ages. Some have gone through what she did and some of them haven’t but they are her friends nonetheless.
I think the book deserves four stars because the story was amazing and it was written with such emotion so that the reader could feel Karin’s pain and always want to read more. The reason I have not given it five stars is because I feel that although it was an amazing book, it could have been longer.
Number the Stars, by Lois Lowery
Review by : Elliott W
This book is about a Christian family trying to help a Jewish family escape from Demark to Sweden. The story takes place in Denmark in the city of Copenhagen. The time period is during the Holocaust when the Nazis were occupying Denmark. They also occupied other countries, however Sweden was not among them. There are a few main characters in this book. Ellen is worried that she is in deep trouble because is Jewish. Annemarie is Ellen’s best friend and is Christian. She is happy that she can be with her friend, but sad that she has to hide her. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the parents of Annemarie and Kirsti. Mr. and Mrs. Rosen are the parents of Ellen. Kirsti is Annemarie's sister who is a little rude. During the war, Sweden was a neutral country. Many Danish Jews hid there during the war, which was key to their escape from the Nazis. Uncle Hendrik helped make it possible to get the Rosens out of Denmark. I would give this book a rating of 4 because some parts I did not find interesting, such as the girly interactions.
Maybe You Will Survive, by Aron Goldfarb
Reviewed by Ava G.
This story takes place in 1943 during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. The Johansens are friends with the Rosens, a Jewish family. When the Nazis announce that they are going to relocate all the Jews of Copenhagen, the Johansens agree to hide the 12 year old Ellen Rosen from the Nazis by pretending that Ellen is Annemarie Johansens dead sister Lise. Annemarie is also 12. The story describes the many twists and turns that the Johansen family goes through as they try to keep Ellen safe. I would rate this book 5 out of 5 because it gave me a great understanding of how challenging it was to be brave in saving the Jews from the Nazi. All families that helped the Jews escape the Nazis had to lead a double life which meant lying and putting their lives in danger.
Benjamin J.
Number the Stars, by Lois Lowery
Review by : Elliott W
This book is about a Christian family trying to help a Jewish family escape from Demark to Sweden. The story takes place in Denmark in the city of Copenhagen. The time period is during the Holocaust when the Nazis were occupying Denmark. They also occupied other countries, however Sweden was not among them. There are a few main characters in this book. Ellen is worried that she is in deep trouble because is Jewish. Annemarie is Ellen’s best friend and is Christian. She is happy that she can be with her friend, but sad that she has to hide her. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the parents of Annemarie and Kirsti. Mr. and Mrs. Rosen are the parents of Ellen. Kirsti is Annemarie's sister who is a little rude. During the war, Sweden was a neutral country. Many Danish Jews hid there during the war, which was key to their escape from the Nazis. Uncle Hendrik helped make it possible to get the Rosens out of Denmark. I would give this book a rating of 4 because some parts I did not find interesting, such as the girly interactions.
Run, Boy, Run, By Uri Orlev
This book takes place during World War Two in Poland. This amazing story is about Srulik, who is a young Jewish boy living in the Warsaw ghetto with his family. One day, Srulik, his mother and his father try to escape. Srulik and his mother get caught and end up getting returned to the ghetto. Srulik’s mother leaves him to try to escape and he is alone and joins a group of boys that have lost their parents. They steal food and other things at night, and in the day they sell anything they cannot eat. One day, while the Germans are rounding up the Jews, Srulik hides in a farmer’s cart and sneaks out of the ghetto. Then he meets up with another group of boys in the forest. A group of people hunting for Jews comes into the forest and Srulik runs and hides in some bushes. He is alone and faces many challenges to survive. He is so sick while living in the forest during the winter that he again goes to a house. The woman keeps him there for a couple of months until he regains his strength. Srulik then leaves that woman and works in various jobs to survive and is mostly treated badly. He learns to act like a Christian and he changes his name to Jurek. Srulik decides that too may people know him on this side of the river and he asks some people to help him get to the other side of the river. They agree but trick him and instead they take him to the Gestapo headquarters but he manages to escape. Srulik continues his adventures in the forest. He is taken to the Gestapo a second time and they think he is Christian so they train him. The Gestapo sends him to work for a woman whose husband is in the army. Srulik runs the machinery and one day his arm gets caught in a machine. The woman rushes him to the hospital and the surgeon refuses to operate on him because he thinks he is Jewish. The next day another surgeon helps him but has to amputate his arm. Srulik learns how to live with one arm and he makes a lot of friends until the whole hospital finds out that he is a Jew. Srulik runs away from the hospital and again has to try and survive living in the forest. He meets someone in the forest who has the ability to turn him in or save him. Will Srulik survive the rest of the war? The book is very sad but thrilling to read. I rate it 5 out of 5.

This story takes place in 1943 during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. The Johansens are friends with the Rosens, a Jewish family. When the Nazis announce that they are going to relocate all the Jews of Copenhagen, the Johansens agree to hide the 12 year old Ellen Rosen from the Nazis by pretending that Ellen is Annemarie Johansens dead sister Lise. Annemarie is also 12. The story describes the many twists and turns that the Johansen family goes through as they try to keep Ellen safe. I would rate this book 5 out of 5 because it gave me a great understanding of how challenging it was to be brave in saving the Jews from the Nazi. All families that helped the Jews escape the Nazis had to lead a double life which meant lying and putting their lives in danger.
Benjamin J.
Number the Stars, by Lois Lowery
Review by : Elliott W
This book is about a Christian family trying to help a Jewish family escape from Demark to Sweden. The story takes place in Denmark in the city of Copenhagen. The time period is during the Holocaust when the Nazis were occupying Denmark. They also occupied other countries, however Sweden was not among them. There are a few main characters in this book. Ellen is worried that she is in deep trouble because is Jewish. Annemarie is Ellen’s best friend and is Christian. She is happy that she can be with her friend, but sad that she has to hide her. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the parents of Annemarie and Kirsti. Mr. and Mrs. Rosen are the parents of Ellen. Kirsti is Annemarie's sister who is a little rude. During the war, Sweden was a neutral country. Many Danish Jews hid there during the war, which was key to their escape from the Nazis. Uncle Hendrik helped make it possible to get the Rosens out of Denmark. I would give this book a rating of 4 because some parts I did not find interesting, such as the girly interactions.
Run, Boy, Run, By Uri Orlev
This book takes place during World War Two in Poland. This amazing story is about Srulik, who is a young Jewish boy living in the Warsaw ghetto with his family. One day, Srulik, his mother and his father try to escape. Srulik and his mother get caught and end up getting returned to the ghetto. Srulik’s mother leaves him to try to escape and he is alone and joins a group of boys that have lost their parents. They steal food and other things at night, and in the day they sell anything they cannot eat. One day, while the Germans are rounding up the Jews, Srulik hides in a farmer’s cart and sneaks out of the ghetto. Then he meets up with another group of boys in the forest. A group of people hunting for Jews comes into the forest and Srulik runs and hides in some bushes. He is alone and faces many challenges to survive. He is so sick while living in the forest during the winter that he again goes to a house. The woman keeps him there for a couple of months until he regains his strength. Srulik then leaves that woman and works in various jobs to survive and is mostly treated badly. He learns to act like a Christian and he changes his name to Jurek. Srulik decides that too may people know him on this side of the river and he asks some people to help him get to the other side of the river. They agree but trick him and instead they take him to the Gestapo headquarters but he manages to escape. Srulik continues his adventures in the forest. He is taken to the Gestapo a second time and they think he is Christian so they train him. The Gestapo sends him to work for a woman whose husband is in the army. Srulik runs the machinery and one day his arm gets caught in a machine. The woman rushes him to the hospital and the surgeon refuses to operate on him because he thinks he is Jewish. The next day another surgeon helps him but has to amputate his arm. Srulik learns how to live with one arm and he makes a lot of friends until the whole hospital finds out that he is a Jew. Srulik runs away from the hospital and again has to try and survive living in the forest. He meets someone in the forest who has the ability to turn him in or save him. Will Srulik survive the rest of the war? The book is very sad but thrilling to read. I rate it 5 out of 5.

This is an old book, written in 1971, so the writing style is a little difficult to read and the book does not contain stories about newer baseball players, but I would give it five stars because it was funny and uncanny.
By Zachary S.
by Nick Schuyler
ReviewedSchuylerReviewed by Benjy
It all began with a simple deep sea fishing trip with Nick Schuyler and three of his friends. Nick was trying to become a pro football star while two of his other friends were already living that dream. His best friend Will was also with him. Nick’s girlfriend wished him luck and he was out the door, about to set out into the vast, deep, and dark ocean. There was a slight chance of bad weather, but they all thought nothing of it. While they were about to head back to shore at the end of the trip, their ship wouldn’t budge. When they figured out the anchor of the boat was stuck in the bottom of the ocean, they were dumbfounded. Being the inexperienced boaters that they were, they decided to drive away and try to pull out the anchor. That is where the story begins. Their boat capsized, and left them stranded in the middle of the unknown. It now became a harrowing journey of survival, and tragedy.
I would rate this book 5 stars because it kept my interest level high and it was so hard to put the book down. The suspense made me very anxious to keep reading on. It also taught me a few lessons on what to do if you are stranded like Nick was.
Every journey has to start somewhere and The Boys of Winter passionately tells of the journey of one of the greatest moments in 20th century sports. This story describes the lives of the 1980 U.S. Olympic gold medal hockey team, up to, during, and after the historic match against the unbeatable Soviet Union. I saw the book as a great tribute to the recently deceased coach, Herb Brooks. The book talks about Brooks’ striving for victory and his epic effort to accomplish the impossible. A team is nothing without their coach and this miracle on ice could never have been accomplished without a leader and fighter like Brooks. The story keys in on each player’s past, present and future from the time they got on skates, all the way up until Herb Brooks’ funeral in 2003. Each individual’s journey to the semifinal match in Lake Placid is riveting and inspiring. The play by play analysis is breathtaking. This book tops the movie in any and every way, as Wayne Coffey composes a thrilling new chapter into the always great Cinderella story. I rate this book a 4.5 of 5 for its extremely well developed point of view and behind the scenes look at the greatest game in U.S. hockey history.
By Noah M.
Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, by James Swanson
reviewed by Elliott W.
Who killed Abraham Lincoln? Well, you are going to find out! This book is very enlightening as to what really occurred that night on April 14, 1865, Good Friday. Lincoln’s theater box at Ford’s Theater was unguarded, because Cook, the president’s chief bodyguard, was off duty, and John F. Parker was late for his shift. The gun John Wilkes Booth used was a .44 caliber Deringer pistol in his right hand and in his left hand was a sharp Rio Grande camping knife. The reason Mr. Booth chose the single shot Deringer was because he knew he only needed one bullet, and the bullet was big. But his alternative was a five shot pistol. That is only a small part of what happened.
Mr. Booth, who was a very smart man, had a plan to kill the president the night before he killed the president. Before Booth was going to assassinate the President he was down the street at a bar acting as if it was his last drink. He was also waiting for the President’s carriage to arrive at the theater. Towards the end of the play, Booth killed the president.
I would rate this book with a three because it was interesting, but some parts were not clear and the book became somewhat boring.
Dewey, by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter (nonfiction)
Dewey Readmore Books is the name of Spencer, Iowa's, beloved library cat. On the coldest night of the year in 1988, a freezing, starving, little gray kitten was stuffed into the book drop of the Spencer Library. When the kitten was found and saved by Vicki Myron the next morning, it was obviously ready to give up whatever eight week old way of life it had before this. The kitten, named Dewey by the librarians, seemed to understand how everyone felt, and also how to comfort them to make them feel better. Dewey even understood the feelings of the few people who hated him, and he accepted the fact that people hated him. The only people that Dewey hated were the vet that hurt him so much he screamed (yes, a cat screamed!), and probably the person that stuffed him into the book drop (if a person did). Join Dewey and Vicki in the fun times and the hardships they faced in this emotional story. I got into the story quickly, then it became somewhat boring in the middle, but in the end I couldn't put the book down! I recommend this book to anyone who likes cats, libraries, or adventures.
you things you never would've learned in your everyday life. That is why I
suggest reading Girls of Summer.
Inside Apple, by Adam Lashinsky
reviewed by Elliott W.
Inside Apple provides information about what takes place inside the Apple computer company. The book first talks about Steve Jobs and how he put Apple where it is now. The iphone was one of Jobsʼ first successes, which made the Apple company more recognized. Years later, in 2012,Steve Jobs died just a few days away from announcing the new iphone 4S with siri, which is a virtual assistant. Before the iphone 4S and iphone 4 the company came out with the ipad, which revolutionized tablets and technology.
Now we get to the secrecy in the book. Letʼs first talk about the rumor part. At Apple there are “lock down rooms”, where the brainstorming of new ideas
takes place. What is said in those rooms stays in those rooms and if you are a regular employee you do not ask what happened. As they say in the book, “END OF STORY”.
I would rate this book 6 out of 10 for a technology book, because it tells secrets about the company, but does not go into depth on the subject.
A March To Madness, by John Feinstein
A March to Madness is a college basketball book about the 1997 season. This book is mostly about the coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference, also known as the ACC. During the NCAA championship game, Feinstein tells us what happened during the ACC season and tells us about the coaches from each school. The schools in the ACC are Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Clemson, Maryland, North Carolina State, and Virginia. At the beginning he explains the coaches’ personalities and what they do during the off-season. He also details the rivalries there are in the conference and how intense league games get. For example, North Carolina and Duke are HUGE rivals. Every game they play is a war. Also, the book explains how the coaches LOVE the league and they stay there for a long time. Dean Smith coached North Carolina for 36 years and Mike Krzyzewski is still coaching Duke in his 30th year. During the season there is great detail about every game of every ACC team. There is also just as much detail about what happens off the court as on. Feinstein talks about the players’ and coaches’ lives off the court. He talks about the struggles and the stress with the coaches’ wives. For the players, it is hard for them to do all their schoolwork and practice every day. The book points out that it is sad that not many college basketball students graduate, with the exception of Duke players. The book also talks about what happens on the court. Duke and the University of North Carolina are the traditional powerhouses, as shown in 1997, but a lot of other teams are not slouches. For instance, all five starters on the Wake Forest team were juniors and seniors, meaning they were a very tough and experienced team. Another team that stands out is Georgia Tech. They were predicted to finish very high in the conference but fell apart due to their lack of team play. They had only one good player and it showed, as that player took a huge amount of shots and was the team’s only player that scored more than 10 points a game. This book explains the ACC in shockingly good detail and I recommend it to people who want to learn about basketball. I rate this book 5 out of 5 because it raced off to a high tempo start and never looked back.
On a scale of 1-5 I would rate this book a four-and-a-half because I learned a lot of good information from this book. The reason I said four-and-a-half instead of five is because I don’t really normally like non-fiction books.
By, Ruthie S.
Terry Deary
Reviewed by Tal P.
To walk into the realm of the bloody Romans you must read this review. The book's history begins in 1000 BC in Rome near the River Tiber, and it ends in AD 265. The book gives a detailed and humorous look at the "Rotten Romans", however I must say I did not enjoy this book. Reasons why I did not enjoy this book were, first of all, there were a lot of detailed, bloody pictures. Next, even though the comic strips were aimed to be funny, they were not. For example, the comic on page 93 was about killing a budgie bird, and killing of dogs. I don't even want to tell you how they did it because it was so traumatic to me. It was just like a gladiator contest with poor animals being the victims. I did like the way the portraits were drawn in the book, but what was drawn was a bit frightening at times.

Ancient Greece
Books that are written in comic-book form, but have the depth of a regular book
‍‍‍‍Historical‍‍‍‍‍Historical fiction about ancient Greece‍‍‍‍Greece‍‍‍‍‍
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Inside the Walls of Troy is a wonderful novel about the Trojan War, with action, romance, and history. This is a book about two daughters of kings, Helen and Cassandra, who lived during this time period. One princess, Cassandra, was a daughter of the king of Troy. The other princess, Helen, was the daughter of the king of Sparta and was thought to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Men came from far and wide to have a small chance of marrying her. Helen did get married to a wealthy man named Menelaus. He later became the king of Sparta after Helen’s father died. Everyone, including Menelaus, knew during the time leading up to the Trojan War that it was predicted that Troy and Sparta would go to war. It was also predicted that a prince of Troy named Paris would cause pain to Troy. To prevent a war, Paris went to Sparta to try to strengthen relations but he did the opposite. He fell in love with Helen and brought her back to Troy. This eventually provoked an attack on Troy from Sparta. This is a book I would recommend to anybody who likes to read. I would give this book 4 stars because it was suspenseful, thrilling, and entertaining, but at times confusing.
By Elliot B.
Nobody’s Prize, by Esther Friesner
Reviewed by Libi W
Have you ever wondered what it was like to go on the most adventurous adventure in the 1200 B.C.E.? Helen the princess of Sparta, a young teenager, is on her way to her very first adventure. Dressed as a boy, because she is jealous of the fact that boys have all the adventures, she sneaks her way onto the boat that will take her to places bad and good. She will meet with the nicest of peasants, and merchants. She meets the craziest of kings and princesses and knights…On the boat are Prince Jason, her two brothers that she is trying to stay away from so they won’t send her back home, her best friend Milo who happens to be her ex-slave, Hercules and his weapon bearer Hylas, and the other people who are helping prince Jason on his journey. They go to so many great places, Sparta, Iolkos, Colchis, islands, and other small unimportant places that they travel to.
People should read this book because it very exciting. But I don't think boys would like it because it would make them feel uncomfortable. The book is also a way you can learn the way people stalk people like a king tries to do to Helen, a crazy girl named Medea that would stalk Helen and even kill her to get love and more. I would rate it 5 stars because it was a very action packed story with a lot of adventure. There are so many conflicts in the story that get resolved and roll into other conflicts.Besides boys being uncomfortable reading this I don’t have any problem with this book.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, theThe Lightning Thief,
Reviewed by Alexa U.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians the Lightning Thief, is about a teenage boy named Percy Jackson. Percy and his mother live in a small apartment in modern-day New York City, but every year, Percy and his best friend Grover go off the boarding school. This year, Percy is learning about the Greek gods, so his class takes a field trip to an ancient Greek museum. During this trip, Percy finds out that he is the son of the Greek god, Poseidon. Percy finds himself in a struggle between the Greek gods, and is no longer safe in New York. Percy is forced to go to Camp Half-Blood, where all half-human and half-gods can live in safety. Here, Percy meets a girl named Annabeth, and they are sent on a mission to help Zeus retrieve his lightning bolt. I really enjoyed this book, and gave it a four out of five stars. I recommend this book to anybody who would like to learn about ancient Greek mythology through the eyes of a present-day teenager.
When the Titans attack, Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, must finally face the prophecy that he has battled with since he was 12. As the Oracle said four years before, “When you are at age 16, the world will fall in endless sleep.” Can Percy, Anabeth (daughter of Athena), and Grover (half man - half goat), defeat the Titans and save the world from the prophecy, or will the world fall to the Titans? Also, who will Percy choose? Rachel, the rich artist from home he just met last year, or Anabeth, the girl he’s liked for years? I found this book very interesting, mainly because of all the different storylines, characters, and problems, each getting resolved in the end. I give this book five stars. Since this was the end of a series of the four Percy Jackson and The Olympians books, it solved all the problems that had been going on since the first book. This book combines fantasy, action, and romance. A great read!
By Emma D
Percy Jackson, The lastThe Last Olympian, by
Reviewed by Dori H.F.
Set in New York, this exciting last volume of a five-book series of Percy Jackson stories takes the reader back to the time of the Greek gods and gives the reader the last part of Percy Jackson’s battle against the evil titan Kronos. Percy is a 16-year-old boy who is a demi-god and trains at a camp called Camp Half-blood, the only safe haven for the children of the Greek gods. Percy uses his wit and skills to find a way to defeat his enemies. But it isn’t just him who plays a part in this war. His friends Grover, a satyr, and Annabeth, one of the finest fighters at camp, help him too. In addition, the Greek gods do their fair share by defeating the worst monster of all, Typhon, father of all monsters. Percy and his friends end up fighting the last battle on Mount Olympus itself, except Mount Olympus is now on top of the Empire State Building in New York City. The exhilarating story makes this last Percy Jackson book unforgettable.
I would give this book five stars because it told a story that had me on the edge of my seat!
Percy Jackson: TheThe Lightning Thief,
Percy Jackson is a normal 12-year-old boy…… or almost. He has been expelled from six schools and has to deal with bullies, dyslexia and monsters. That’s right, monsters. You see Percy is a half-blood. It means he’s half mortal, half god. But he doesn’t know that until he gets to Half Blood Hill. There he fights a minotaur, it seems like his mom dies, and he has to drag his best friend down to camp. At camp he learns that he is the son of Poseidon and the reason all the monsters have been chasing him is because he is being accused of stealing Zeus’s master lightning bolt. He then goes on a quest to the underworld to get the lightning bolt back. Along with him is his best friend Grover and his other friend Annabeth. Together they face everything in store, which is a lot. They meet Medusa, Ares, Hades and monsters of all kind. But Percy needs to get that lightning bolt fast or there might be a war!
I would rate this book a 5 _GoBackout of 5 because it was amazing. It was action packed and th[[image:barrackbooks/i/c.gif width="10" height="21"]]ere was something going on all the time. And it’s a good way to learn about Greek Mythology in a fun way!
I hope you like this book!
By Ben J
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: TheThe Lightning Thief,
Percy Jackson was an ordinary eleven-year-old trying to live normally while being dyslexic and having ADHD. Everything was going smoothly until a school field trip to a museum, when things get bad. Percy’s math teacher tries to kill him, but Percy vaporized her with his pen that turns into a sword that another teacher gave him. Percy and his mom decide to go on vacation to the beach, for fun, but then they have to go to Camp Half-Blood, because Grover, Percy’s protector and best friend, said that it wasn’t safe for Percy where he was. At Camp Half-Blood he might never be able to see his mom again, but he has to go for his safety. On the way from their beach house to the camp, they get attacked by a Minotaur and get chased to the edge of Half Blood Hill. The Minotaur grabbed Percy’s mother by the neck, and then she vanished. At camp, Percy finds out he is a half-blood, which is the child of a god and a mortal. He finds out he is a son of Poseidon. Percy gets a prophecy from the oracle, the spirit of Delphi, to retrieve the lightning bolt of Zeus. Zeus’ lightning bolt was stolen and he thought that Percy stole it to help his father, Poseidon. So Percy, Grover, and his new friend Annabeth set out on a dangerous quest to retrieve the lightning bolt.
I thought The Lightning Thief was an amazing book. I rate it five out of five stars, because it was so amazing. After I read this book I fell in love with Greek Mythology.
By Yonah H.
The Heroes of Olympus, Book 1: The Lost Hero,
The Lost Hero is about friendship and coming together. In a place where the ancient, mythic world of Greece is a reality, a boy named Jason (age 16) is found by apparent strangers on a bus. Somehow his memory had been wiped clean and he doesn’t remember a thing. Two other people’s memories have been modified as well. Piper McLean and Leo Valdez (the same age as Jason) have found Jason on the bus believing he is their best friend, but the feeling is not mutual. After flying miniature storms attack them, their teacher turns into a psychotic goat, and Jason miraculously learns to fly. Things only get weirder from there. The group is taken to a special camp by an extraction squad (ouch), where they find out that the Greek gods are “still alive”, and better yet, they are told this by a talking horse. An oracle foresees a journey Leo, Piper, and Jason must take together. Their mission: to find and save the queen of the gods and then the world. Along their quest they meet malicious monsters, face murderous mortals, encounter dreadful deities, and grapple with grotesque giants. But in the end everybody has their secret. What is fiery Leo hiding? While hanging out with drop dead gorgeous Piper, will the boys drop dead? When Jason’s memories return, will he turn out to be Greece’s sworn enemy?
All of the characters in The Lost Hero have their own unique traits. Jason, the powerful son of Jupiter who suffers from serious amnesia, must take a perilous journey to recover his precious memories. Piper, the stunning daughter of Venus, has a choice between friends or family. Wouldn’t life be easier without making difficult decisions? Leo, the hot tempered son of Vulcan, has been haunted by many things from maniac babysitters to sleeping women covered in mud.
Helen of Sparta was one of the only girls in the Bronze Age to do something incredible: she used a sword. How, may you ask? She was adventurous. She hated sewing and weaving, because that was a woman's job. Helen of Sparta is the younger version of Helen of Troy (the woman who was taken by Paris, Prince of Troy, in an action that could have started the Trojan War). Even though her favorite goddess is Aphrodite (the goddess of love and beauty), she learns from her mother to be a huntress. She also learns to be a swordsman with her brothers, Polydeuces and Castor, and their teacher, the best warrior in Sparta, Glaucus. Before Helen knew about swords, she and her sister Clytemnestra were always fighting. When they got older, they still fought even though they were as close as two peas in a pod. Throughout this book, Helen meets many people, and goes all over Greece. She attends Clytemnestra’s wedding at Mykenae, then she travels to Calydon for the Great Boar Hunt and is introduced to Atalanta the famous huntress. Atalanta teaches Helen how to ride a horse. Also at Calydon she buys and frees a slave named Milo. Finally she journeys to Delphi and meets the Oracle of Delphi (the Pythia), Eunike. Helen has many adventures in this book as well as in the sequel, Nobody’s Prize, by Esther Freisner. In the Great Boar Hunt, as Helen physically fights the boar, in her mind, she feels as if her adventures are battles for her own freedoms. Helen wants to be as free as a man or boy and does not like the fact that she is a girl and has fewer rights. If you are a young adult who craves adventure, this book (and series) is for you.
I rate this book five stars because of how interesting it is. Once you start, you finish without breaks. It hooks you the moment it says the word “Prologue”. It is a good book to read on the weekend or when you have nothing to do. I was on the edge of my seat every time I sat down and read it. And you will be too.
Nobody’s Prize, by Esther Friesner
Reviewed by Libi W
Have you ever wondered what it was like to go on the most adventurous adventure in the 1200 B.C.E.? Helen the princess of Sparta, a young teenager, is on her way to her very first adventure. Dressed as a boy, because she is jealous of the fact that boys have all the adventures, she sneaks her way onto the boat that will take her to places bad and good. She will meet with the nicest of peasants, and merchants. She meets the craziest of kings and princesses and knights…On the boat are Prince Jason, her two brothers that she is trying to stay away from so they won’t send her back home, her best friend Milo who happens to be her ex-slave, Hercules and his weapon bearer Hylas, and the other people who are helping prince Jason on his journey. They go to so many great places, Sparta, Iolkos, Colchis, islands, and other small unimportant places that they travel to.
People should read this book because it very exciting. But I don't think boys would like it because it would make them feel uncomfortable. The book is also a way you can learn the way people stalk people like a king tries to do to Helen, a crazy girl named Medea that would stalk Helen and even kill her to get love and more. I would rate it 5 stars because it was a very action packed story with a lot of adventure. There are so many conflicts in the story that get resolved and roll into other conflicts.Besides boys being uncomfortable reading this I don’t have any problem with this book.
Nobody's Prize, by Esther Friesner
Reviewed by Leah M.
Pankration, The Ultimate Game, by Dyan Blacklock
Reviewed by Matthias L.
a wealthy jewelleryjewelry merchant back this time, aAthens was at war with Sparta. Too many people crowded into Athens for safety. A plague broke out and was devastating
Pankration: The Ultimate Game, by Dyan Blacklock (Ancient Greece)
and a pankrationer.pankratiast. Nic, a
I give the book 4 out of 5 stars. I would have enjoyed more clues about the relationship between some of the characters.
By Ben L.
Pankration: The Ultimate Game, by Dyan Blacklock
430 B.C.E. at a timeduring the Peloponnesian Wars, when people believe in Greek gods.Athens and Sparta were at war. The story settings: Olympia, Italy and Athens.Athens in Greece, and various towns in Italy. It begins the Pankration games.games, which are part of the Olymplics. The Greeks called a truce during their wars so that people could worship their gods at the Olympic games every four years. The boy, found by sailorsfishermen who help
By Adam R.
Percy Jackson series, Book Two: The Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan