Tuesday, March 14, 2017

March 2017 reviews from St Kilda

Mission Fox: Panda Chase by Justin D’Ath - review by Mackenzie

There are these two boys and they are part of an agency which is called Mission Fox. They go downstairs in their house and find yabbies in their bath! They have to take them away to this place, but they change their minds and go to the old quarry instead. It’s all fenced up but one time when they were following a cat, it led them to a hole in the fence. They tip the yabbies into the old crater which remains of the quarry. Then they leave and start walking and see a car crash. They pull a driver out. One of them helps him while the other goes to get help. The woman sitting next to the driver was a nurse. When she got out the guy passed out. Then they come back with help and they go look for their dog. When they find him, they see evidence of Pingwu, the giant Panda. Back they go to the old quarry, and find bamboo crunched up. And their dog can smell something strange…

Rated:  5/5 reallys - "I like this series because there is always a quest, something missing that needs to be found."

Iris and the tiger by Leanne Hall - review by Sophia

It’s about this 12 year-old girl Iris. Her great uncle James is this really famous artist and he painted a picture of Iris and the tiger. But it wasn’t actually of the girl Iris, but of his wife Iris, who she was named after. The 12 year-old Iris viewed the painting and couldn’t see any tigers in it, but thought it must be called that for a reason. So she sets off on a journey to find out about the tiger mystery. She goes to Spain to visit her great aunt Ursula, whose property “The Forest of Clouds” is a magical place. Iris’s parents want her to bond with Aunt Ursula, and secure the property as their inheritance. There she meets magical creatures, tennis playing sunflowers and a five-legged shadow hound. Also Aunt Ursula is very old but she doesn’t look it. She forgets about her parents' property quest, because she is so focussed on her tiger hunt. She does find it in the end, but it’s not at all what she imagined… 

Rated:  5/5 reallys - "It’s a really interesting book if you like mysteries."

The Highlanders : The Brotherhood of Thieves, bk. 2 by Stuart Daly - review by Yuanquan

It’s about Caspan, Roland, Sara, Lachlan and Kilt. They have to pass two fiendishly difficult tests to pass into the Brotherhood. It’s vital that they pass because the Brotherhood needs them. The Kingdom they reside in is called Andalon and is split into three sections. The most fortified city there is Daromir which Lachlan and Caspan had defended just scarce months ago but has fallen to a Caledonian army in less than a few hours. Now they must go on a quest to Caledon to get this really powerful Drey artefact, which is like a very powerful king weapon. They go to retrieve it from the Egyptian burial mound, assuming that it will be unoccupied. But when they arrive they find out it has been surrounded by a big fort of Caledonian troops which are using the area as a rallying ground before they march and destroy Lochinbar. Lachlan, Roland and Caspan, equipped with terrible fake Caledonian accents, decide to infiltrate the army and put a stop to the war…

Rated:  5/5 reallys - "Has some funny moments, like when Lachlan plays the bagpipes to the despair of the entire army."

The Son of Neptune : The Heroes of Olympus, bk. 2 by Rick Riordan - review by Ollie

At the start, Percy can’t remember anything, but he’s fighting these snake haired ladies called Gorgons. They should have died, I think it was three days ago, when he dropped a whole bunch of bowling balls on their heads. They died then but for some reason they keep on re-forming. He finds an old woman who is actually a goddess in disguise and carries her to the camp. Then he goes to the river Tiber, the river that surrounds the city of Rome. So the gorgons don’t reform, Percy has to throw them into the water, but in doing so he loses his invulnerability. He starts moving into camp Jupiter where they play the war games. Because they have Ambrosia nectar they can heal terrible wounds. They go on a quest to free the god Thanatos, the god of death and save the world from the clutches of earth goddess Gaea.

Rated:  5/5 reallys - "Really good!"

Withering-by-Sea: A Stella Montgomery Intrigue by Judith Rossell - review by Emese

It’s about this girl called Stella, who lives with her three horrid aunts. They are always travelling to different fancy hotels because they are so ugly and old. They think that the change in scenery, fresh air and light will improve their looks. The book is set during their stay in the Hotel Majestic, where Stella sleeps in her aunt’s walk-in closet. It’s set in the past before telephones and they wear big, structured dresses. Her aunts are posh French ladies and make her learn French. The Majestic has healthy, foul tasting water. One night when she can’t sleep she goes downstairs and hears a strange noise coming from the conservatory. She loves going there and pretending she’s in the jungle. She creeps in undercover to investigate. She sees another customer from the hotel being questioned about a package. He directs them somewhere else and then they stab him. When they leave Stella goes to him and he gives her a box and begs her to hide it as he dies…

Rated:  2/5 reallys - "It’s good until the mystery is over (in the first chapter), I would have rated it more highly but there is lots of boring detail about walking to destinations, opening doors etc."

My little book of weather by Claudia Martin - review by Sartak

I learnt that the atmosphere is like a blanket of air. It tells you about how far we can go. Like an aeroplane can go 10 km up and a spacecraft can go 500 km up. If you want to go into real space it’s about 10,000 km from earth. My favourite part of the book was learning about different instruments for measuring sea level.

Rated:  5/5 reallys - "I really like reading about Space, my favourite planet is Jupiter, because it’s the biggest planet in the solar system."

Black powder by Ally Sherrick - review by Spike

It’s about a boy called Tom who lives in England in 1605. Catholics were hunted down at this time and at the start of the story Tom has to go somewhere and he meets his cousin and his great aunt. His great aunt is really strict and is harbouring a Catholic. Tom leaves with a mysterious man called The Falcon. He only lets Tom go because he says he will help him. When they get to their destination, he reveals his plan to kidnap a man called Robert Cecil who is the person who apparently started all the Catholic hating. The Falcon travels with a man named Harry Brown and he’s really mean to Tom and doesn’t like him tagging along. Tom is motivated because his parents are being threatened with execution after his father has been found to be harbouring a priest.

Rated:  5/5 reallys - "There are twists and I liked that it’s set in the past with factual details."

The Magic faraway tree by Enid Blyton - review by Hope 

It’s about these three children who find this mysterious tree and then discover lots of different characters who live in it and changing lands to visit at its top. One of their friends, Moon Face, lives near the top and has a slide you can ride all the way to the bottom named the Slipper Slip. The children have all sorts of adventures featuring the tree. The top of the ladder is like a portal into other worlds. My favourite world is The Land of Dame Snap. I like it because you’re always wondering what’s going to happen and how they’re going to get out of it.

Rated:  5/5 reallys - "It’s a really good, descriptive book."