Blogging about Books

New Blog for DCS Poets

Mrs. S. — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:08:05 +0000

Do you like to write or read poetry? If so, check out the new blog – Painting with Words, a DCS poetry blog! You can find it at: www.dcspoetry.edublogs.org.

The Kane Chronicles

icearksage — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:14:00 +0000

This is another series by Rick Riordan, the author of The Percy Jackson series, and the Heroes of Olympus series. In those, the gods in Greek and Roman Mythology were covered. In this series, it has the gods from Egyptian Mythology.

This series has two main characters, Carter and Sadie Kane. They are both descended from two different pharaoh bloodlines. This is called the blood of the pharaohs. If you have the blood of the pharaohs, you are a very powerful magician. These two children discover that they have the blood of the pharaohs, and that they are the host of gods. Carter is the host of Horus, Sadie the host of Isis. With the power of the gods, they save the world from other gods who intend to destroy our way of life.

This is another wonderful series. There are three books in the series, The Red Pyramid, The Throne of Fire, and The Serpents Shadow. Book one is available at the school library. Book two and three coming soon.

The Secret Life of Bees

magb — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:56:09 +0000

This book is truly fantastic. This book is set in the 1960′s. The story follows a girl named Lily who drags with her the guilt of a terrible accident that occurred when she was a mere toddler. The accident cost Lily her mother. Rosaleen, a black housemaid stepped into place as Lily’s motherly figure. When Rosaleen gets into a bit of trouble with the law, Lily heads for the hills – but not before breaking Rosaleen out of jail. Together they find the women behind the Black Madonna honey company. Sisters August, June and May Boatwright take the two fugitives in and welcome them into the world of honey making. Not everyone approves of Lily living with 4 black women, but that won’t stop her from falling in love with the life she has made with the Boatwright sisters. Her happiness is nearly ripped from her when she learned the truth about her mother and about the circumstances surrounding her death.

I really recommend this book. It is truly amazing. I would go so far as to call it my favorite book of all time. This book could be considered magical. I really loved it. There will be tears in your eyes. Whether they’re tears of sadness or laughter depends on which chapter you are on. Read this book!!

Of Mice and Men

rose8 — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:08:22 +0000

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is one of the best book I have ever read. I say this because both the storyline and the language are so beautiful and unique. The whole story was so different than anything I have ever read.

The story begins with the two main characters, Lenny and George. Lenny is mentally challenged, but a very sweet man. George is fulfilling his obligation as Lenny’s guardian. The two have become good friends traveling and exploring together, and finally securing a farming job.

Lenny is a good man, but tends to touch everything he sees and everything he finds interesting. This unfortunate habit sometimes gets Lenny into trouble. However, with George’s unflagging help and encouragement through Lenny’s blunders, the two build a strong relationship that takes them through an extraordinary adventure.

This book would be a fantastic book to read for anyone who enjoys books with unexpected twists and turns. However, anyone who reads this book should know that this book is indeed a mature read. But other than that, I highly recommend this book to anyone.

The Giver

magb — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:05:21 +0000

This past week I had the chance to read the book “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. I was not a big fan of it. It had won all sorts of awards and everyone said it was great, but I’ve really read better books.

The story is about a 12 year old boy named Jonas living in a futuristic sort of dystopian society. At a ceremony that all 12 year old’s partake in, Jonas is assigned the honored life career of Receiver. He is assigned to take all the memories from the previous Receiver. He takes these memories to “protect” the people of his society. They know nothing of the way life is for us, and won’t find out. The committee in charge of everyone has ruled that no one need know about any of these memories, basically to keep them subordinate. Memories of hate, violence, hardship and struggle- these all are things hidden from the people in Jonas’s community. He receives good memories, like the memories of snow and color; things deemed too inconvenient for people to have. Because God forbid they have any choices. As Jonas learned more about the past, he discovered more about his present.

I like the idea of this book, but I really thought the greatness was over exaggerated. I read “Gathering Blue” by the same author before I read “The Giver” and I couldn’t get over the similarities between the two books. They just seemed like the same book.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

nattyb123 — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:01:28 +0000

Just to start off I would say that this book is aimed at an older audience, so read at your own discretion. That being said, I LOVED this book. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, is the story of a shy unpopular freshman named Charlie, who tells the stories from his life in many letters to an unnamed pen pal. The story talks about the awkwardness of adolescence, abuse, drugs, sexuality and the other questions one asks themselves about at this age. Charlie finds himself in a fun ‘alternative’ group of people and becomes best friends with the flamboyant Patric and the Beautiful Sam (girl). He often finds himself sitting on the sidelines as he tries to ‘participate’ in life. This book was the perfect combination of humor and mildly depressing content, with a shocking ending. If you don’t fall in love with this book… you probably have different tastes and I respect your choice. SIX STARS!!!!!!

The Fault In Our Stars

Maddie G — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 20:43:42 +0000

The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green, is an extraordinarily beautiful read in my opinion. It is about a sixteen year old girl named Hazel who, as a child, was diagnosed with cancer. She has multiple tumors in her lungs that are impossible to remove. She retains a certain humor about it, however, and continues to try to be as normal of a girl as possible. In the book, she is forced by her mother to attend a support group for teens with cancer, where she meets a seventeen year old boy named Augustus. They immediately fall for each other. She finds out that he is an amputee, a fellow book lover, and shares her humor in their fatal condition. The book follows their adventures as they fall in love with each other. John Green did a fantastic job in writing this treasure of a book. I can not describe it as anything but beautiful.

Artemis Fowl

icearksage — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 18:34:57 +0000

Artemis Fowl is a book about a 12 year old criminal mastermind intent on getting his hands on fairy gold. He does everything he can and it looks like he is going to be the first human to get his hands on fairy gold. But that’s when the fairies stop playing by the rules.

Book one, two, and three available in the library.

The Search For Wondla

magb — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 18:28:56 +0000

I recently read a book called “The Search For Wondla” by Tony DiTerlizzi.

In this book you journey into the world of Eva Nine. A girl who has never met another human or been outside and has been raised by a robot in a place called the Sanctuary. When the Sanctuary comes under attack by someone who wants to find and kill Eva, she and her robot Muthr, must flee for their lives. As they travel throughout this new world they must evade the huntsman after Eva, and figure out how to survive outside of the safety of the Sanctuary. They meet friends, and foes but along their journey what keeps Eva going, is a scrap of burned paper. Her Wondla. She found her Wondla while in the Sanctuary. It depicts two people and a robot walking happily, hand in hand along with the word “Wondla”. Eva’s Wondla is her only hope of finding others like her. Will she discover what Wondla is? Will she find other humans? Find out in Tony DiTerlizzi’s book “The Search For Wondla”

I thought this book was great and I would recommend it to kids who really like science fiction. It’s a pretty big book but don’t let the number of pages intimidate you, it’s fast paced and you’ll have it done in no time.

The Heros of Olympus Series

icearksage — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 19:06:34 +0000

This series is the series sequel to the Percy Jackson series. (Make sure you read the Percy Jackson series first!!!) The Lost Hero is the first book. It introduces three new demigods to camp half-blood, and Percy is missing. They go on a quest to save Hera, the queen of the gods. The second book, the Son Of Neptune, brings back Percy. He wakes up in a ruined building, and has no memories of anything except the memory of who he is, and his girlfriend Annabeth.

(Book two The Son of Neptune and book three The Mark of Athena now available)