St Kilda reviews for March

The very bad book by Andy Griffiths - reviewed by Jack

The very bad book is filled with extremely bad stories. Like "Killer Koalas from outer space" and "The old woman who lived in a poo". My favourite was "Mary had a very bad lamb". It’s funny. There are poems in it too.

Rated:  4/5 reallys - "I recommend it to people who enjoy stupid, unsophisticated books."

Coding games in Scratch by John Woodcock - reviewed by Ruth

I got this book for my birthday, two days after I finished reading a book by the same author. It’s not only an instruction book, it’s funny as well with lots of jokes including a cat and dog.

Rated:  4/5 reallys - "It’s really good but it’s not that good because the pictures aren’t the real ones, probably because of copyright."

The dreaming : volumes 1, 2 & 3 by Queenie Chan - reviewed by Louise and Olivia

We are reviewing the TokyoPop comic trilogy called The Dreaming. It’s about this pair of twins Amber and Jeanie Malkin. They go to live at this boarding school where their aunt is the principal. One doesn’t want to go, she wants to stay with her friends. She’s very nostalgic.

Not long after they arrive they notice that girls are disappearing. The school is an old, spooky Victorian mansion, set in the middle of the Australian bush. So it’s very isolated. Then their friend Millie goes missing. They find her but she has changed. It’s as if she were possessed.

The vice principal is this old lady who has a lot of power because she owns the school. She hates twins, so the girls pretend they are regular sisters set a year-and-a-half apart. There are all these paintings by the vice principal’s twin who also disappeared. They are of Quinkans, mythological Aboriginal beings. While the principal is away at a funeral, the missing girls return…

Rated:  4.9/5 reallys - "It's messed up... we wouldn't recommend it for younger readers."

Jedi Academy trilogy by Jeffrey Brown - reviewed by Fergus

This series is based on the main character named Roan. He dreams of becoming a pilot and attending the Pilot Academy. But he isn’t accepted. Instead he goes to Jedi Academy even though he never applied to go there…

Rated:  4.3/5 reallys - "It’s quite a book. It’s quite attractive, it draws you in."

Matilda by Roald Dahl - reviewed by Jaxon

So I’m reading Matilda. So the main characters are the Wormwoods, Matilda, Ms Trunchball and Miss Honey. Matilda is going to a new school. A girl tells her about the chokey. It’s a cupboard studded with nails and broken shards of glass. If you get into trouble Ms Trunchball will put you in there and if you wobble even a little bit you will get hurt. The girl who tells Matilda about it knows because she has been in there a few times because of covering Trunchball’s chair in maple syrup and an itching powder in her underwear!

Matilda is really smart - at three she could read and at four she could read mathematics and knew all her 2 times tables. But her dad thinks she’s an idiot. Her mum says to Miss Honey "You chose books and I chose looks" which is actually very mean. I'm only up to page 101. It has about 200 pages.

Rated:  5/5 reallys - "I'm reading everything Roald Dahl has written."

The worst witch and the wishing star by Jill Murphy - reviewed by Gabriel

One day Mildred saw a wishing star. Her friends say to make a wish. It comes true! The next day she gets a dog. But she’s not allowed to have it at Miss Cackle's Academy. So she hides the dog everywhere she can think of. She calls him Star. He can do lots of tricks. Then a mean girl tells the teacher. But the teacher is nice and tells her she should enter the talent competition with Star. They could win the school a swimming pool…

Rated:  5/5 reallys - "I like this book because the dog can do back flips. It's hilarious!"

The adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - reviewed by Emese

It’s about this boy called Huck. He doesn't have a mum, just a dad. His dad is always getting drunk. He decides to run away so he fakes his own death and makes a raft. He sails away to an island. He meets a boy and they sail down the Mississippi.

Rated:  4.9/5 reallys - "It’s really hard to read because of the slang. And it’s part of a bigger world. Tom Sawyer is in it halfway through as Huck's friend and I didn't know who he was. I am reading it with my dad. I do the accents."

Albert Park reviews for March

Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park - reviewed by Miranda

Abigail goes back in time after playing a scary game called Beatie Bow. She doesn’t realise that she has gone back in time until the end of the book (I know because I read the back first!), everything seems the same but also slightly different. There are a few people that she meets in this other world like her new friend Judah and makes an enemy with a girl named Beatie.

Rated:  10/5 – "because it’s really interesting and the writer has explained really well who the characters are."

Ivy & Bean : Bound to be bad by Annie Burrows - reviewed by Charlie

Ivy and Bean want to be really good so that animals follow them around. Bean is the naughty one and she usually ends up doing something naughty. They spray water on a boy and then his older 10 year old brother (who is a bully) ties them up and puts his pet rat on Ivy’s head. Ivy actually likes it and the rat falls asleep on her head.

Rated:  4/5 – "good but not excellent."

The secret seven by Enid Blyton - reviewed by Georgia

The book is about seven friends who decide to make a secret society. Jack sees something strange and reports it to the others – they have a meeting to discuss what to do. Four boys are going to dress up as snow men and watch what happens. In these books it’s only the boys that seem to do all the interesting stuff mostly.

Rated:  7777/5

Mao's last dancer by Li Cunxin - reviewed by Tiana

This book is about a ballet dancer who was born during the time of Chairman Mao. Li is born in a small and poor village in China and he has 7 brothers. Officials from Madame Mao’s Beijing Dance Academy come to his village to recruit children into the school. They think Li has potential and he has to do some test to see if he has what it takes to get in. It’s basically about his life and his success. He has to live in a boarding school while he trains. He then goes to America thinking it will be horrible because he has always been told that the West is full of ‘filthy capitalists’. He realises that this is not true and likes it there and feels free. He meets an American dancer and they secretly get married but when he goes to the Chinese consulate to tell them the diplomat keeps him hostage. His marriage to his American wife ends because they married too young and quickly. He meets and marries an Australian dancer and they eventually move to Australia with their 3 children.

Rated:  4½/5 - "I really enjoyed it but it’s not a book I would usually read … I had to read it for school."

The famous five by Enid Blyton - reviewed by Hannah

This is the very first book in the Famous Five series and I haven’t read the whole book yet. The Famous Five are a sister and two brothers Julian, Dick and Anne and their cousin George (Georgina) and Timmy the dog. George is a tomboy and hates doing girly things, she also has to hide her dog from her father because he doesn’t like it. Julian, Dick and Anne go to spend the holidays with their cousin, they think she is a bit strange because she is an only child and doesn’t go to school (she’s home schooled). George has a secret island that she takes her cousins to where there is also a shipwreck and broken down castle. There is a storm which throws the wreck up, they find a treasure chest and inside is a map and note … I am still reading the book finding out what will happen.

Rated:  5/5 -  "I’m really enjoying it."

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - reviewed by Leticia

Peter Pan is a young boy who never grows up. Peter Pan loses his shadow in the nursery of Wendy, John and Michael Darling. Wendy finds his shadow in the cupboard. Peter Pan takes the children to Neverland where they also meet Captain Hook and his nasty crew and have lots of adventures. They eventually fly home after almost forgetting about their mum and dad.

Rated:  5/5 - "this book is a really good, thrilling adventure. I like myths and magic and this has lots of it. It’s a fairytale but with something more and with a bit of a twist in it."