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I read this book over the summer. Typically, I’m not great about reading over the summer but this book was amazing and I couldn’t put it down. It was fascinating. I just felt like I was in it. If anyone reading this has watched the never ending story that is sort of how I felt. I really didn’t think about the external world around me when I read the book. I loved every second of reading this book because it is intense at some points and inventive at others. This book is also great because there is a TV series so I can see it happen again once finish the book. This book is the first book in a trilogy so there is a lot of explaining in this book. The book is very complicated and it is hard to give a summary of it with no spoilers but I’ll do my best. Young 11 year old Lyra, has lived at Jordan college all her life but her life is flipped upsidedown when a very beautiful woman offers to have Lyra live with her and her best friend is kidnapped. Lyra must find her best friend, Roger. Lyra is given the alethiometer to protect her. It is a truth telling device but Lyra has no clue how to use it. Lyra has no help to use it either, the person who gave it to her said to keep it a complete secret. Lyra also has things called daemons in her world; they are basically a part of someone's soul in an animal. Lyra’s daemon is named Pantalaimon but he goes by Pan. Lyra and Pan can talk to each other ( and typically Pan is the voice of reason.) Pan and Lyra go on an adventure and find out things that they never thought were possible. Lyra is no longer just a little girl; she knows things most adults don’t know! Lyra is strong. I highly recommend this book. It was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I absolutely love the storyline and the character development. Even if you don’t have time to read a big book right now I also recommend the series. I will say though that the books give you more of and understanding of the series. There is a lot of the book that I didn’t even mention because it is so complicated and I don’t want to spoil any thing. If you are wondering how it ends.Who is the beautiful lady? Where is Roger? What are daemons again? I recommend you read the book! Also, feel free to comment below on what you think of these books or you can recommend some books. I also added a search bar now so if you are looking for a certain post you don’t have to scroll all the way down. Thank you!

I want to start off by saying if you haven't read my other post about The Golden Compass then this post won't make much sense. I'd also like to say that this might include some spoilers if you haven't read book one yet. I did a book report on The Subtle Knife, and I truly enjoyed it. I have said before that I don't really like mystery books. This fact still stands, but I do think that this book has some amount of mystery to it that I like. Maybe it is my taste in books changing, but in my opinion, this book is just really well written. It is an adventure for knowledge; it has death, love, war, and magic. In this book Lyra crosses a bridge in between worlds and discovers a whole other dimension called "Citta'gazze" . There Lyra meets a boy about her age fleeing from his world. His world is much like ours (in fact, it might be ours). The boy's name is Will. Will's dad disappeared when Will was a small child. On top of that, Will's mother is neuartic. For instance, at a park she will count every leaf on a bush. Will has protected his mother from the real world for a long time, but now he has to go look for his father. When Will and Lyra meet, they automatically don't like each other, but there is not a single other soul in Citta'gazze; they need each other to stay alive. Soon they meet kids in Citta'gazze, so they learn they aren't the only people. They learn about something called the subtle knife which can cut through anything (including dimensions). With Lyra's alethiometer (truth teller) Lyra and Will attempt to: Find Will's father Find more out about dust Stay alive A witch named Serifina Pekkala also plays an important role in the book. She does everything she can to protect Lyra. Serifina knows everthing that Lyra is trying so hard to learn. Serifina read the "prophecy" as the book says and this is what causes Serifina to make sure Lyra is safe or alive. This book is written in third person limited omniscient, but each chapter tells what different characters are doing rather than just one. In my opinion, this makes the book so much better because by the end of the book you can see that what all of the characters are doing relate to other charcters. I also like the way the book is written because you know more than Lyra and Will. I highly reccomend this book. This book was amazing, and I have started the third and final book of the series already. I love the series so much! The book has so much more going on in it than I explained but I covered the very baseline. If you are curious what happens to Lyra and Will I reccommend you read the book!

I recently learned about a new book report that my teacher assigned the requirement is that the book must be a Newbery Award winner. I was trying to decide between Jacob, Have I Loved and Julie and the Wolves. Eventually, I decided on Julie and the Wolves. I like to decide what books to read based on their backs. Typically, an author will write a short summary there and I'll decide if it sounds interesting. I have just started Julie and the Wolves but I think I have a pretty good understanding (of course though, there will be more action than I even know) and I think I have a few good hypotheses. The book starts in the middle of the cold and barren arctic, where Julie is lost. Julie's name in her community was Miyax. Miyax was starving and she needed help from the wolves. The wolves know how to hunt and stay warm. The problem is that the wolves are refusing to even look at her. They look at literally everything but her. Whilwolf packe Miyax waits to be acknowledged she thinks about how easy this would be for her father: an arctic hunter. He had a story about befriending a wolf but he never told Miyax how he did it. Then she remembers why she is here in the first place. Why? That is for to find out! I'm not positive but I have a few theories that are as follow: Julie befriends the wolves and is treated like family Julie still has to fend for herself in many near death experiences. It might have a similar story line to Hatchet (which I have also read). Julie reunites with her old community but doesn't want to say bye to the wolves Julie learns from the wolves. Again, I don't know if these predictions are correct and I'll update this if any of my predictions turn out to be correct or completely off track. I recommend reading this book and seeing for yourself what occurs throughout the book. Happy fall and in my opinion you should read the book ! Edited on 11/4 6:59 Some of my predictions were correct... others weren't even on the right track. Don't read this edited section if you don't want spoilers. Lets begin. My first prediction was " Julie befriends the wolves and is treated like family" This prediction was completely correct! Julie learns the wolves language and gains trust. Next, " Julie still has to fend for herself in many near death experiences." Yes, Julie is always fighting against starvation! She definitely receives much help from Amaroq, the leader of the wolves. "It might have a similar story line to Hatchet (which I have also read)." Not really, this book was about a girl finding where she belonged. The wolves? With her dad? Alone? The city? Seal camp? In Hatchet he is really alone. Then I said, "Julie reunites with her old community but doesn't want to say bye to the wolves." No, this prediction was completely wrong... Julie has to decide where she wants to live. "Julie learns from the wolves." Of course Julie learned from the wolves (if she hadn't of she would die within the first 100 pages). So let me know if I answered any questions! Tell me by commenting below if I should do something like this blog post again. I have to admit I almost forgot until I logged on to do a Halloween blog! If you have any book recommendations feel free to share them to. Read the book!

Sorry I haven't posted in a month ( and for doing the Halloween post late). I'm trying to get through a 500 page book so I can blog about it. Until then I can't blog about that specific book but I can tell you about a book that every night before Halloween my mom, my sister, and I read together. It's called Space Case! Every Halloween we gather around to look at the pictures in Space Case. Yes, this is a children's picture book. This means if you have younger kids this would be an amazing Halloween book for them. There is also a "Reading Rainbow" on this book if you want to watch it virtually. Space Case is about an alien that comes to Earth on Halloween and trick or treats with a group of boys. Once it is all over he follows a boy named Buddy home. Once he studied the dictionary he could talk. Then what happened? I could tell you but instead I'm going to urge you to use your imagination or read the book! Halloween can bring many surprises, like for Buddy it brought an alien-robot guy. This book can get you thinking about what else is out there in the vastness of outer space. I hope that everyone reading this had a enjoyable, safe, and maybe even surprise filled Halloween. I know that this book suggestion won't help much this year since Halloween is over but keep it in mind for next year. Thank you and

'The Amber Spyglass,' is the third and final book in this series. I posted a little late because I was trying to finish my book. That was a lot of talk about how I read the book but what about what I actually read. Well, the book itself is really good, you won't understand a thing it says though f you start on the third book. I like how the book makes you feel like everything it is saying could be true. You know it is impossible, but they are in different worlds so it very well could be true. As I have probably stated when blogging about the last two books, ( The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife ) the book makes it easy for you to picture in your head and paints vivid descriptions throughout the book. I will say it is a time consuming book to read, but it is incredibly elaborate. The first one was about a golden compass, the next about a subtle knife, and now it's the amber spyglass. What is an amber spyglass though? I will briefly dive in without giving much away. Lord Asriel, Lyra's disconnected father, is starting war against the authority. Lyra and Will are two main characters from the previous two books. They must save, not their world but every world throughout the warp of space! Every decision, sacrifice, and mistake they make impacts how the worlds will live forever! While jumping in between worlds and frantically getting each other out of scarring situations they make some friends that aren't even their species such as angels, harpies, Gallivespians, armored bear, witches and of course daemons. (I am 100% aware that half of the words I just said sound like gibberish but the point is that they made friends.) Are you following? If you have read the first or second books you may have a sense of what dust is, in this book series. Dust has a different meaning than what we know as dust. A lot more about this so called "dust" is in the third and final book. I really encourage you to read this book. If you haven't read the series it makes sense to start on the first one. Sorry I haven't posted much lately but I will post frequently from now on. ( No promises of a perfect record though.) I have one question for you did my summary make sense? If not please comment below how I can improve my writing. You can also READ THE BOOK! Get ready! Above is a real clip from the TV series His Dark Materials. Lyra's mother is standing closest to us.

Let me start with a little backstory of how I learned about Fortune Falls. At my school we have a thing called Accelerated Reader. This is a program to see if you are reading books at your level and reading enough books. Since I got so into the "His Dark Materials" series, I fell just a few points short of my AR (Accelerated Reader) goal. I went to the school library to find a book and by chance my friend was in there too. She said that Fortune Falls was among one of the best books in the library, so I decided to give it a try. In the town of Fortune Falls superstitions are true, and you are either lucky or unlucky. Up until sixth grade, everyone is undetermined; after that you must take the luck test. Sadie has always known she was unlucky. Now that she is in sixth grade she is freaking out about the luck test because she does not want to be sent to Bane's School for Luckless Adolescents (a boarding school). The week before the luck test she encounters a black cat, breaks a mirror, and doesn't find any luck charms (4 leaf clovers, lucky pennies, rabbit feet, etc). Family stuff is also getting in the way. Sadie's dad passed away a year ago. Sadie's younger brother is obviously lucky. Also, Sadie cannot step on a crack or she'll break her mother's back. Not to mention this year her birthday lands on Friday the 13th. Sadie has to make a lot of decisions and sacrifices but will any really matter if she turns out to be unlucky? Does she even have chance of being lucky? Will her family be brought down with her? My final point to make is that this book can represent something. Obviously this is up for interpretation but to me it represented the thoughts pre-teens entering adolescence. Some may feel lucky or unlucky, but all will probably feel self-conscious. Despite everything Sadie goes through at school, she still has a profound love for her family. The message is probably whether you are lucky or not, you being who you are is what really matters. It does not matter what other people think of you or how you do on a silly test. This is something everyone can share. As twisted as Fortune Falls is, it is also relatable. Fortune Falls was an AMAZING book and an easy read at that. If you are looking for something just to read for fun but not have to be committed, this would be the perfect fit for you. I think the author painted the picture of the emotional, fun, and disappointing scenes in the book fabulously. Will Sadie pass the luck test? Find out now, READ THE BOOK!

***The following book and review will have heavy topics about the neo-Nazi movement. I am currently reading this book called Linked. I chose it because I already knew I love the author, Gordon Korman. He wrote Unplugged (a book I have read), along with many others such as: Resart , Ungifted , Unteachables , Master Mind , Swindle , Slacker , etc. I have heard from a close friend that has read quite a few of these that they are all amazing. We are here to talk about Linked though right? Linked is set in the present day. Around the school swastikas started appearing and frightened many people. Dana Levinson the only Jewish girl in the town of Chokecherry feels the most threatened by these signs of hate. Michael Amorosa was the first student to see the swastika and he is president of the art club; this means he has all of the materials to paint a swastika. This is why he is the prime suspect. Lincoln Rowley (a.k.a Link) is the most popular guy at school, not to mention the most athletic. Everyone is turning to him to figure out who is causing the disruption in their small town. All three kids feel strongly that this should not be occurring but none know what to do. The school decides to fight back by attempting to create over 6 million million paper links; each one standing for a Jew murdered in the Holocaust. This project is for the purpose of uniting the school and preventing the swastikas from dividing the school further. 6 million is a mind blowing number but the point of their project is to wrap their minds around how many people died. Gordon Korman got his inspiration from the paper clip project done by eighth graders at Whitwell University in Tennesee 1988. This project was much similar to the project in Linked. The eighth graders started an after school program to learn about the Holocaust and respect other religions. Once they learned that 6 million Jews had died in the Holocaust they wanted to collect something to grasp the greatness of 6 million. They collected 6 million paper clips. The children went above their goal and received 30 million paper clips in the end! If you want to learn more about this click here. Thank you for continuing to support my blog. I am not finished with the book but so far I am enjoying Linked. It is an easier book to just read for fun without being intimidated by the length of the book. Thank you for reading and if you are interested in this book I recommend reading the book! This is what the school in the book was collecting! I think you all know what paper clips are but this is what Whitwell University was collecting.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! With it being that time of year, I have not had time to finish reading Linked yet but I am reading another book alongside Linked . In fact I will be reading it alongside every book I read in 2024. My dad and I even made this our New Year's Resolution! At this point your probably thinking: wow, great, WHAT IS THE POINT? Well, the point is that this book consists of short meditations for every night before you go to bed. The book has the days labeled for you too. Out of the five that have done so far, most of them compare you to something peaceful and then tells you how to be more peaceful. As you are trailing off to bed you focus on your breathing, wash away any bitterness, and breathe in tranquility. The nice thing about the meditations is that they are not too long that you may not want to read right before bed. They are only a paragraph each (less than half a page). The unfortunate part of starting this book now is it is not meant for a leap year so I guess I'll reread one on February 29. So far I have loved the book. Let me know if any of you have any New Year's Resolutions. I also need suggestions for biography books (for a book report)! Thank you for reading, I am loving Moonlight Gratitude, and READ THE BOOK.

Think of a fat, juicy hamburger with everything you love on it right at your fingertips. Now I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, but now think of the cow that used to live. About 900,000 cows get slaughtered per day and a lot of these cows feel scared, uncomfortable, and harmed during the process. Temple Grandin has always had a sincere love for animals. Today she works to make a better life for animals that live in a slaughterhouse. Many animals get abused and live their lives just to be slaughtered. Her systems of helping the animals while also helping the factory farms has been considered among one of the few things that environmentalists and meat industries both agree on. In the book, Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World it states "50% of the beef cattle in the US and Canada, and a growing number overseas are handles in faculties she has designed." Temple has autism, a neurodivergent function. People with autism often are very bright, some take longer to learn how to talk, and many others think in pictures. What I mean is by "thinking in pictures" is that if I told you to memorize the code 32478cowis78953bam. Would you imagine each letter and number and how they sit next to each other in your head or would you remember the numbers and letters verbally? Temple still has autism to this day but she has learned how to deal with it and takes a small dosage of medicine. Temple got kicked out of many schools, her own dad didn't believe in her, she got bullied by other children but she didn't let any of it stop her. Temple Grandin can be a role model for all of us. I must do a book report for class and as you may have guessed mine is on Temple Grandin. To be fully honest I had know clue who she was until I started reading this book. The book is called Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World-by Sy Montgomery . I'm about a third of the way done with it and it has kept my attention really well. As you know I don't read a lot of nonfiction but maybe that should be a goal for me this year. I am really enjoying this book and I think you should Read The Book! Pop Quiz: What was the code I gave you earlier? Sources: Temple Grandin: Hown the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World www.templegrandin.com my.clevelandclinic.org https://ourworldindata.org

I have finally finished Linked and moved on to another book that I will reveal next week. I realized, I often end every post with "THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!" or " Read the book," etc. For now I thought it might be fun to analyze all the books I have read in 2023. Let's get started. The first book I read in 2023 was Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. This book was great because it let me see into someone else's problems and empathize. The next book had been on my list for a while, and this is Hatchet Written by Gary Paulson. This did not disappoint and I highly recommend if you are looking for survival/nature book. This year I read two books by Gordan Korman. One of the two was Unplugged , a book about bonding overall common interest. This book also did not bore me, it had a bit of a slow start but overall the plot is great. The next book, Nancy Drew and the Secret of the Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene, went a bit out of my comfort zone with the mystery part of it. This too stayed interesting, beside the fact that it was somewhat difficult to keep track of the plot. As we enter a world full of wands and robes, we appreciate J.K. Rowling's work with these astounding books. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was very long but I loved each page of it. I will tell you though none of it will make sense if you don't read the first five books. This book totally set the scene for the final book though. Immediately following I began the final and arguably best book of the Harry Potter Series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows . I was sad to see I had finished the whole series but also felt accomplished. After finishing the long series I read a shorter book, Ban this Book by Alan Gratz, just to relax. Once I had taken a quick break I fully submerged myself in the next series, His Dark Materials by Phillup Pullman, which I absolutely loved and it was just the right replacement for Harry Potter. They are not similar but they are both complex and include different worlds or dimensions. The series included The Golden Compass , The Subtle Knife , and The Amber Spyglass . Before I could read The Amber Spyglass I was interrupted by a book report. For this, I read Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George. Similar to Hatchet it is a great book if you are interested in survival in stranded wilderness. We arrived at Halloween! After finally finishing His Dark Materials I read a quick book, the same way I read Ban this Book after finishing Harry Potter. This easy book was Fortune Falls by Jenny Goebel. This was about a city where people were either lucky or unlucky. Time for my last book report of 2023! I had to read a biography on Temple Grandin . I begun the book in 2023 but in reality I finished it in 2024. I also read Linked almost parallel to reading Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World. I loved all of the 14 books I read in 2023 but one particular series stand out and resembles my reading of last year. I absolutely LOVED His Dark Materials. If you don't have the time to read it no pressure because it is also a TV series. The plot is just amazing and creative. Thank you for reading this post and supporting my blog.

Last week, I told you I was reading an amazing book but didn't tell what it was. Well, its The Hunger Games. I have been reading the Hunger Games every spare second I have. The character development of this book is excellent and you are on constant edge to see if these characters you love with all your heart are alive. The Hunger Games is about what could happen in the future. They are divided into districts that all rule under the Capitol. Once a year one boy and one girl are sent from each district to compete in a televised competition called the Hunger Games. In poorer districts such as District 11 and 12, it is cruel to see their friends and family be killed. In the richer districts people train all their life and then volunteer to be in the games. Fifteen-year-old Katniss is barely scraping by to get enough money and food for her family in District 12. She breaks several laws such as not killing innocent animals but she does it out of necessity. Her friend Gale is in the same position and they become friends. As the back of the book says, "Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun." How does it all connect? I am going to write more under the picture but proceed with the knowledge that there will be spoilers. Katniss and another folk from District 12 are chosen to enter in the Hunger Games. They know each other well enough. Katniss feels she has just been sentenced to death. The people that have been training all their life are one hundred times better than her. Is it like hunting? She's good at that. Before Katniss knows it she is standing on a podium staring at the Cornicopia for 60 seconds. (This means she was about to start the Hunger Games) I highly recommend this book. It is hard to summarize without spoils. You'll understand once you READ THE BOOK!

I haven't posted much lately. My books have been getting longer but I have posted on each one. I'll try to post more often, but I truly am doing my best. Anyways lets get to the point! Catching Fire is the second book in the Hunger Games. I believe you could read it without reading the first book it might be slightly more difficult but to be honest she spends a lot of time reviewing what happened in the first book. Catching Fire explores the theme of rebellion in the sense that uprising against the Capitol begin becoming a regular occurrence in the Districts. As a result, the Capitol comes back strong with stricter Peacekeepers and Laws. By definition rebellion is " an outbreak against authority." This is occurring in the book when one rebels they all do rebel. Threats and harsh attacks go out to the one who started the uprisings (I won't tell because that would spoil). A FEW SPOILERS AHEAD I believe that the title itself has a double meaning. You see in the first book, she wore many dresses that turned to fire on purpose and she looked beautiful. She was astounding and she was known as the "girl on fire." On the other hand, the idea of rebelling spread as fast as a fire throughout the districts. All they needed was a spark and then the fire burned. Finally, (DON'T READ IF YOU PLAN ON READING THE BOOKS!!!) District 12 literally caught fire and the Capitol destroyed Katniss' home. The book is so well written and it leaves off on a cliff hanger so that you must read "Mockingjay", the final book in the series. In the book it is the Quarter Quell, also known as the 75 Hunger Games. This year winners must return to the arena! It is horrifying Katniss! This is the Capitol's revenge for her pulling out the berries last Games. I would totally recommend this book to anyone. My close friend actually recommended this series to me. (You know who you are thank you!) I love this series almost as much as His Dark Materials, to give you a reference. If you want to start the series you should definitely start with the first one though! If you haven't already I recommend you READ THE BOOK!