It’s about a boy who became rich. His dad made toilet paper rolls. He becomes best friends with a new girl, Lauren. He invites her over for dinner because his dad’s having a really big party. He finds out that Lauren is an actor his dad hired so he runs away. Raj the shopkeeper finds him and takes him home and when he gets there nothing’s left. The toilet paper made people's bums purple and his dad gets sued and loses everything. They move into a friend’s apartment and his dad marries the friend’s mum and they live happily ever after.
Rated: 4½ our of 5 $$$$
Alice-Miranda takes the lead by Jacqueline Harvey - reviewed by MirandaIt’s about a girl named Alice-Miranda who’s just come back from school holidays. They have a midnight meeting that’s actually held at 9.45pm. They tell Alice-Miranda a ghost story and it’s a real story. What’s happened is it’s about a lady who the other girls call a witch. She has heaps of cats. A new girl arrives and they all go horse riding and the new girl rides a pony that you shouldn’t say “home” to because he bolts. Sloane (the new girl) is really scared so all the other girls gallop after her but Bonaparte (Alice-Miranda’s pony) takes the other way down a fork. Bonaparte won’t stop! Alice-Miranda didn’t know where she was going and got lost and there were lots of cats at the house and in the ghost story there were lots of cats. Alice-Miranda had actually gone to where the story took place. She makes friends with the woman (Hepzibar) who isn’t a witch but hiding from the world because her sister married a certain man. Hepzibar helps the school that could have been pulled down.
Rated: 5 out of 5 stars
It’s about a girl called Alice-Miranda. Her housekeeper is a bit of a scientist and gets invited to Japan to speak about her 'Just Add Water' invention. She refuses to go but her employers tell her she should and that they will come too. Alice Miranda takes her two friends Millie and Jacinta. They go to some shops, meet new people and see two men in black suits. Alice-Miranda’s dad buys her and her friends a locket each and Alice-Miranda gets a princess’s locket. Inside the locket is a picture of a lady Alice-Miranda doesn’t know. They go to see the housekeeper speak and she takes a tablet and it makes her speak Japanese really well. That night, the emperor’s assistant invites Alice-Miranda’s dad to the palace for dinner and when they get to the palace they all sit at the table and the emperor comes to the table, which is unusual. The emperor is very slim because his wife died and his daughter is locked in a room, but the princess has really run away and the men in black suits are looking for the princess. They were actually tracking Alice-Miranda instead of the princess because of the locket. In the palace Millie and Jacinta show the emperor their lockets and Alice-Miranda shows hers and the picture is the emperor’s wife. The emperor asks to see his daughter and Jacinta goes to the toilet and Alice-Miranda and Millie hear the emperor’s sister with the two men and she’s angry with them for not finding the princess Kiko…
Rated: 4 out of 5 lockets
It’s a book about a boy named Chris who’s eight years old and he’s been through a long life of cabbages. Chris’s next door neighbour wants to sell two cows and one of them is pregnant. If nobody wants them, he’s going to kill them. Chris’s dad knows a lot about cows but he says they can’t have them in their backyard. Chris goes outside and his sister follows him. Chris takes the cows to the forest so they won’t die. The cow runs to the very back of the forest and Chris and his sister follow. The cow leads them to an ENORMOUS cabbage as big as a room. They hide behind some bushes and a little green lady with a baby pops out of the cabbage. Then heaps of them pop out, like 100 mothers and babies. The mothers leave their babies on the soft cabbage. The cow eats the cabbage. The little green mothers go up to the cow and the cow sprays a watery liquid on them and Chris tells them to go back to their babies but they all scatter off. Then all the babies start crawling around and screaming. Chris thinks that if the babies cry the mothers will hear them. He waits but then his sister has the idea to feed the babies the cow’s milk. The babies go to sleep and then wake up and start to stink. Chris thinks that the smell might attract the mothers. The mothers smell the babies. The cow takes Chris and his sister back home and his parents are so relieved that they’re still alive. The pregnant cow starts mooing and Chris’s dad pulls the baby calf out and faints.
Rated: 4 out of 5 cabbage babies
It’s based in another universe where all the humans have daemons. The daemons are like the human's soul but in animal form. Lyra lives in a university with the head scholar but then people called Gobblers start snatching children away so the head scholar gives Lyra a golden compass, also known as an alethiometer, which is a truth teller. Lyra is the only person who can read it without referring to a book. The head scholar sends her away with a woman called Mrs Coulter and tells her not to show Mrs Coulter the golden compass. Lyra realises Mrs Coulter is involved with the Gobblers and then she finds the gypsies and they take her to see Lord Fae, the head of the gypsies and they go on a voyage to the north to stop the Gobblers. They meet Iorek Byrnison, a bear of the north and he goes on the voyage as Lyra’s protector. While they’re in the north, Lyra gets taken to the Gobblers and finds out what they’re doing and leads an escape. She takes her best friend Roger and his daemon to her father where they think they are safe…
Rated: 5 out of 5
It’s about a girl called Katniss Everdeen and she lives in the future. There are 12 districts and the Capitol. Katniss lives in District 12, the poorest of them all. Katniss has a little sister called Prim. Her father died when Katniss was twelve and her mother had medical conditions and didn’t register the world. At twelve you have to register for the Hunger Games where you have to survive by killing everyone else. Katniss and her friend Gale put in extra to earn money for their families but Prim’s name is drawn so Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place. Peeta Mellark is the baker’s son & he is the boy tribute from District 12. They go on a train to the Capitol and they get their own stylists to get them ready for the games. They get dressed as fire - Katniss is known throughout as The Girl on Fire. They’ve never had food like in the Capitol. They go to a training centre and then get an interview. Peeta plans to say he’s got a crush on Katniss so they can be star-crossed lovers. Katniss tries to avoid Peeta. Katniss hopes there’ll be a bow and arrow as she is very skilled. She sees a bow and arrow on top of a pile. She turns her head but Peeta shakes his head. Katniss narrowly avoids dying as she grabs a backpack. She hides out in the forest and finds out that Peeta is with a group called the Careers and Peeta gets a bow and they come hunting. There is a nest of Jabberjays with poisonous stings above her & Katniss drops the nest onto her enemies. Katniss then gets the bow and arrow and she teams up with a small girl called Roo. There are mines and the Careers camp in amongst these. Katniss blows up the camp and bursts her eardrum. There’s only 12 left. There is an announcement that if two people from the same district survive, they can both win, so Katniss finds Peeta and they team up…
Rated: 5 out of 5 bows
