May reviews from Albert Park

February dragon by Colin Thiele - reviewed by Alex G.

The story is about 3 Australian children, Turps, Resin,and Columbine Pine, and how their lives are affected before, during and after the bushfire 'February dragon' sweeps through the countryside.

Rated:  4½ books out of 5 books - "I loved the characters, but the story got a bit boring in the middle, but got better. I‘ve also watched the DVD based on the book 'Storm Boy' by the same author."

Warriors : the ultimate guide by Erin Hunter - reviewed by Tiana

This is the ultimate guide to the cats (characters) and clans of the Warriors series by Erin Hunter.

Rated:  5 fluffy cocos out of  5 - "The guide  is a sort of a spoiler.. and for those that don’t know the series it is based on the life of wild cats that speak (so are not real) and the 4 clans.They’ve all got cool names."
    

Lucky lips (a short story from  the 'Unreal!' collection of short stories) by Paul Jennings - reviewed by Zoe

The book is about a 15 year old teenager who has never kissed a girl. He goes to a witch who can read people’s minds. She gives him an invisible lipstick that makes any female want to kiss him. It works really well, with him being kissed by every girl in his class and even one of the girls' mums! He is kissed by the popular girl and yuck, by a pig in the end.

Rated:  5 happy faces out of 5 - "It is really funny. The story has a great ending with a twist". 

Hit and run by R.L. Stine - reviewed by Ambrose

It is about 4 friends (Eddie, Scott, Winks and Cassie) who are pushing for Eddie to drive a car. They take a parent’s car out one night (illegally) to practice, to make sure Eddie gets his licence. They crash and hit a person, and think they have killed him. But have they?

Rated:  4 our of 5 - "I really enjoyed this book, but I also like to read WW11 books like the Morris Gleitzman series 'Once, Then, & After'."

The night fright : Billie B. Brown series by Sally Rippin - reviewed  by Charlie

Billie goes to the movies with friends. She wants to watch Angelina Ballerina, but Rebecca’s older sisters want to watch a horror movie.There are 3D screen ghosts and haunted houses.. then Billie has bad dreams.

Rated:  5 Ghosts out of 5 - "I love the Billie B. Brown series!"

The way of the warrior : bk. 1, Young Samurai series by Chris Bradford - reviewed by Alex W.

The book is about the adventures of Jack Fletcher, who is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan. His father and crew are assassinated by ninja pirates. To survive in a strange country, he trains as a young samurai. He learns how to use the 'bokken' (sword) and he is involved in hiding the 'rutter' (a navigation book) which is valuable to everyone. He gets revenge on behalf of his father by getting the rutter in the next book.

Rated:  5 out of 5 - "If you like this one.. there are others in the series you can read."

St Kilda reviews for May

Geronimo Stilton : the kingdom of fantasy - bk. 4, The dragon prophecy - reviewed by Gus

The characters in it are Geronimo Stilton, Scribblehopper, King Thunderhorn. Geronimo Stilton has got a dragon – the Dragon of the Rainbow.

Geronimo Stilton is trying to put out a fire around a talking forest. He gets singed – "roasted to perfection". All sorts of things happen to Geronimo Stilton – like he gets put in the mud, hit by a dragon, but he never, never dies! Geronimo Stilton has to find the last dragon egg.

Rated:  5 reallys - "The pictures are very good throughout, there is a menu in it where everything has spicy peppers. I like when he gets scared and when he has to wake up at night and when he saves the kingdom!"

Matilda by Roald Dahl - reviewed by Yuanquan

The characters are Michael, Matilda, Bruce Bogtrotter, Mr & Mrs Wormwood, Miss Jennifer Honey and Amanda Thripp. There are 21 chapters.

Mr Wormwood likes to sell second-hand cars with sawdust in the gearbox, and he fiddles the numbers back on the pedometer with the electric drill. It can go for 100 miles before it starts rattling.

Bruce Bogtrotter has to eat a ginormous cake and he is not allowed to leave the stage and no one is allowed to leave the hall until he finishes.

Matilda has magic rays that come out of her eyes and she can move objects.

I really like this sentence said by Mrs Wormwood to Miss Honey – “you choose books, I choose looks”.

Rated:  3 reallys – "I liked Charlie and the chocolate factory better."

Lost voices by Sarah Porter - reviewed by Olivia

It's about this girl who lives with her uncle and hates him. One night she is on a cliff by the edge of the water and she falls in and becomes a mermaid, and she sings and leads boats to rocks and they sink.

It is really good. The characters are described really well.

Rated:  4½ reallys - "because the start was a little bit boring."

Cry blue murder by Kim Kane and Marion Roberts - reviewed by Louise

This girl goes missing. Everyone goes "oh my gosh, what do we do?" They make little hope boats and send them off.

The book is made up of emails sent between 2 girls, one of them is in the school for nuns. One girl is sending the hope boats and one is sending the emails.

It's a really creepy story – there is a murderer kidnapping girls. There is another girl who gets kidnapped. There is this bit where the girl is being interviewed by phone… she says she was waiting on the kerb to go to canoe training, waiting for her friend's mum to pick her up, and she says when she got in the car she suddenly realised it was a man and her friend wasn’t there.

Rated:  5 reallys – "recommended for those aged 12+."

Joshua Dread : bk. 2, The nameless hero by Lee Bacon - reviewed by Jack

The first book is called 'Handbook for gyfted children'.

Joshua’s parents are the most famous super villains in the world. They are known as the 'dreaded duo'. The mum has power over plants, Dr. Dread (the dad) has superpower eyesight, so he can see really far. I think this is a really lame superpower to have!

Joshua’s power is spontaneous combustion. He can make things blow up, but only randomly, he doesn’t have control. To get control he has to concentrate really hard. His friend Sophie, she’s the one who looks like a giant banana, her superpower is being super strong, but when she uses her gift she glows (like the hulk). There is another friend called Milton, and there is a green gloopy thing that impersonates Milton.

Sophie and Joshua go to a superhero summer camp - they have been chosen to form the greatest superhero team of all time. There is this bad guy known as the Multiplier – he can clone himself once, then that clone can clone himself once, and so on, but each clone that is made is more stupid than the last one. They win.

Rated:  4 reallys – "I think it’s pretty good writing but the plot is pretty much the same as the other plot."

The Twits by Roald Dahl - reviewed by Jack

28 chapters – 87 pages. The main plot is Mr & Mrs Twit put sticking glue on a tree and the birds come and stick to the glue. Mr Twit goes up with a big basket and gets them. Mrs Twit cooks them in a bird pie with the legs sticking out of the pastry. They have bird pie every Wednesday.

Mr & Mrs Twit have monkeys that are from Africa. They are kept by the Twits because they are retired monkey trainers. Mr Twit had always dreamed of having the world's first 'upside down monkey circus'.

A roly poly bird comes along who is also from Africa and the monkeys tell the roly poly bird about what Mr Twit does with the glue. The roly poly bird can now warn the birds about the tree and the glue. The monkeys want to get revenge on the Twits. The Twits play awful tricks against each other, e.g. putting a frog in a bed.

Rated:  4¾ reallys