Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark

What would you do if you woke up to find yourself in the middle of the Magic Kingdom? You would probably think that you were in a very lifelike dream, and to make it stranger you aren't in normal human form, you are a hologram.

You look around and see well known Disney characters walking around in the dark of the night. Now a kind, old man comes up to you and tells you that from now on, when you go to sleep at night, you will "cross over" to Disney World. As you sleep, you are to save Disney World from the over powering Overtakers.

By now you are positive that this is all a dream (or a nightmare). But when you wake up you see the same exact moon that you saw in your 'dream'. You would start to freak out wouldn't you? Well, that's exactly what Finn Whitman went through.

Finn had just got his new job as a DHI, or Disney Interactive Host, when the impossible started to happen. He and the other DHIs started battling against the so called imaginary villains that Walt Disney created. Now instead of worrying about normal teenage worries, like what to wear, and friends, they are worried about meeting Maleficent on the street, or getting trapped in a suddenly alive Disney attraction.

Will the Orlando teens be able to save the park? Will they ever go back to living their normal teenage lives? Read Kingdom Keepers:Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson to find out!

I give this book 10 bananas!

Anne of Avonlea

Everybody's favorite talkative character is back, and older! Anne has made the executive decision to stay with Marilla and her failing eyes. She also has made the decision to take in a set of six year old twins, Dora and Davy.Their poor mother had been struggling with sickness all her life, and when she finally passed away, the kids had nowhere else to go but with their Uncle. However until he could take them in, the twins would stay with Anne and Marilla. Dora was an angel, perfect, and quiet. Davy was a different story. He was always up to something mischievous always leading to trouble. But Anne loved the twins and did all she could for them.

Instead of going to college Anne took over the Avonlea school. She made many new friends and as Anne would say, Kindred Spirits. Such as Paul Irving. A young school child Anne holds dear to her heart. He (just like Anne) has a vivid imagination. Some think he is odd just for that reason, but that doesn't keep him from thinking his own thoughts.

Another friend Anne meets is sweet old Miss. Lavendar. Even though she is old she still pretends and imagines as though she was a young school child. She once was engaged, but a silly little fight broke the two apart and left poor Miss.Lavendar a widow. To keep her company she has clumsy Charlotta the fourth, who loves Miss.Lavendar and enjoys pretending with her. Anne enjoys her time at Miss.Lavendars cottage in the woods.

Will Anne eventually go to collage ? How long until the twins have to go to their Uncle and leave Green Gables? Read Anne of Avonlea by L.M Montgomery to find out!

I give this book 10 bananas!

The Candy Shop Wars.

When Nate moved into the neighborhood he instantly found friends. Their names are Summer, Pigeon and Trevor. They love to ride their bikes and just hang out. Nothing out of the usual happens ( except for a few encounterings with the school bullies), until the new Candy shop opens.

The kids decide to have a look inside and see what's there, not expecting to get instantly hooked by the delicious candy. The owner is a nice old lady named Ms. White. She told them that if they work after school for her they would get paid with her appetizing magical candy. As long as they pass out some of her candy as advertisement. The kids agree.

Things start to get weird right after they passed out the candy. Parents and friends who ate the candy the kids passed out aren't acting like them selves. The foursome start to get worried, but don't fret over it too much. After a while, Mrs.White decides to give them their first candy. Moon Rocks. These aren't like any other candy, they make you float like you're on the moon! She also gives them there first task. They are to sneak into the museum for a valuable piece of item that she needs. It's a risky task but she gives them a few more pieces of magical candy to help them.

Are Summer,Trevor,Pigeon and Nate up to the challenge? If so, do they succeed? What is Mrs.White up to? Read the Candy Shop Wars by,Brandon Mull to find out!

I give this book 10 bananas!

Anne of Green Gables book #1

Mathew and Marilla Cuthburt have decided to adopt a boy to help Mathew tend the farm. Everyone in Avonlea thinks they are crazy, and don't know what they are doing. When Mathew goes to the train station in his best clothes he meets an unexpected child. A freckled, skinny, wide eyed girl with a mass of long, red hair is sitting on the bench waiting for someone. Mathew doesn't think twice about the girl, for he has trouble speaking with women except Marilla.

When he finds out from the train master that the girl is waiting for him, he doesn't know what to do except take her home and have Marilla deal with the child. On the way home he finds out that the girl has a lot to say and has a big imagination. Mathew is very interested in the girl and wants to keep her, and though Marilla has her doubts, she decides to keep her for Mathew's sake.

The girl's name is Anne and her imagination and temper gets her in lots of trouble. She makes many friends and enemies along the way. One of her deepest enemies is Gilbert Blythe. One wrong move on his part can set her off. It seems as though the rivalry between the two will never end. Anne's best friend Diana disagrees with Anne's idea of Gilbert for that she has her own secret thoughts about him.

Will Anne change her imaginative ways and become a smart young woman? Will her rivalry towardsGilbert end? Read Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery to find out!

I give this book 10 bananas!

( Lots of dialog and Anne uses big/hard words. It should be read by ages 11 and up unless is a strong reader.)

The Westing Game

• The sixteen residents of Sunset Tower apartments,were invited one day to the reading of the rich, patriotic, disguise master, Sam Westing's, will. They all were claimed to be an heir one way or another to Sam Westing. They were to meet at Sam Westing's mansion for the reading of the will. At the meeting was when they were told that they were all heirs, that Sam Westing was murdered, and that he was murdered by one of them! They each were given a partner, a set of clues and $10,000 which that they were to split evenly between the two partners. The partners were to study the clues and somehow find out the murderer's name, through their clues. As the game went on the parners got more and more angry at Sam Westing and his impossible crazy game. But a 200 million dollar prize was at stake!

Who is the murderer? Who wins the prize? You'll have to read The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin to find out!

I give this book 10 bananas

(P.S If you love mystery books this is the book for you!)

Not Forgotten

Fifth grade has been busy! I am reading all the time, but don't necessarily have any left over time for blogging. Stay with me ... I'm coming back!! Things are slowing down to where I will get caught up with my posts.

~ Banana

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life

It all starts off with Jeremy receiving a mysterious package containing a box from his dead father; it was delivered by his dad's friend. Engraved on the bottom of the box it says to be opened on Jeremy's 13th Birthday and that it contains the meaning of life. The box is locked, but the keys are not included.

Jeremy and his best friend, Lizzy, go through many obstacles to find four keys to open the box. During their adventures they get into a little trouble and are served community service as punishment. They must help a man by the name of Mr. Oswald transfer pawned items from his possession to the rightful owners. The two meet many interesting people and situations along the way.

This is a book with many twists and turns. In order to not give away all the secrets and fun this book holds, I will leave you with encouragement to read Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass.

I give this book 10 Bananas!

A Mango Shaped Space

Mia has always been a little bit different. How may you ask? She sees colors for every letter. Not in her head but every where she goes. If she reads a book, she'll see colors instead of black and white paper. When somebody talks, Mia will have a color for every letter in her head. If she hears something, geometric shapes will appear all around her and absorb her with colors and shapes everywhere.

Mia has always thought since she was a little girl that every one sees colors and shapes like her, until third grade she found out nobody else did. Her parents just found out about Mia and she is now in seventh grade.

Things have gotten worse. She finds out that she has a disease that nobody has heard of, and people start treating her differently at school. They ask her what color their names are and tell her she should be put in a class for special kids. To top it off she has trouble in math and gets horrible grades. All because of this her best friend starts to fade away from her.

Can Mia resolve this color seeing? Will she and her friend come back together? Will Mia start to be treated like a normal human? Find out by reading A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass.

I give this book 8 Bananas!

The Mysterious Benedict Society

This book starts off with an interesting ad in the paper stating that if you are gifted that you should come test for special opportunities. So many kids come and they find out that the test is harder than they had thought. And it is not just one test, it is three tests.

Once the tests were finally over four kids had passed the test. The four kids were introduced to a man named Mr. Benedict. He sent them off to an institute to investigate on a mysterious man named Mr. Curtain. He was taking kids thoughts an programming them all over the world and making people irritated. The kids get all caught up in trying not to be caught as spies, and trying to act like normal kids who come for learning in this gifted program. That was not as easy as they had thought.

They come across many obstacles and close calls. A thrilling book that I dare you to put down. It is full of mystery, suspense, and things that are not normal in the real world.

Do the kids make it out alive from the institute? Can they help out Mr. Benedict? Can Mr. Benedict and the children stop Mr. Curtain? Read The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart to find out.

I give this book 10 Bananas!!

Once Upon a Marigold #1 and #2

Once Upon a Marigold: Christopher is a young prince boy unloved. So on a walk he ran away to then encounter a troll named Ed. He lived with him in his beautiful cave for years. Chris (Ed later finds out) is head over heals for Princess Marigold. He watches her through his telescope all the time. When he grew up Ed let him go out to find a job. He finds his job at the castle to find out the Queen is meaner than he ever expected and that Marigold is in danger and so is the King.
Does Marigold and the king escape the danger? Will Chris and Marigold get together? Read Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris to find out.

Twice Upon a Marigold: Everyone thought that they saw the last of Queen Olympia. They were wrong. She came back even more mad than when she left and King Swithbert is in more danger than he had been. He was accused of something and put in the dungeon to which Marigold and Chris plan something against her and hope with all there heart that it will work and won't get in trouble. Will the plan work? Will Swithbert become safe? Read Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris to find out.

I give this series 10 bananas!!

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: Danger Over Seas

Nancy Drew: Nancy went to Rome with her two best friends (Bess and George )who happen to be cousins. They all came with Bess and George's Great Aunt. They were expecting a normal vacation without any crimes, but they were wrong. One nice day in Rome Bess got pick pocketed! They caught the theft and got back the wallet but a weird story went with it. The theft had no memory of who she was and how she got to Rome! Can Nancy Drew Figure out this crazy mystery?

The Hardy Boys: Frank and Joe are normal teenage boys but they work for a secret spy agency called ATAC. This time the agency has sent them to Rome as archeologists. The reason why was because there was this young student working at the dig and stole ancient things from the site. And sold them online . He got caught, but the Hardy Boys can't get him to tell if anyone was in on it with him. They suspected his girl friend Caitlin. So they boys are to find out who was in on it and if possible find Caitlin. Can they solve this unsolved mystery?

Read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: Danger Over Seas by Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon to find out.

I give this book 9 bananas.
(Mild violence)

Nancy Drew Mystery Triology

Book 1 Secret Identity: Nancy Drew just came back from a recent case in N.Y when a girl was being harassed online on a new virtual game called BetterLife and off line too! On the game kids were writing nasty e-mails to her and doing horrible things to her virtual character. Then when she goes to school people are mean to her. She even stayed home a couple of times. So in order to stop the madness Nancy has to build her own character.

Can Nancy get to the bottom of this and stop it? Who is behind all of this? And why would they want to harass this girl? Read Secret Identity by Carolyne Keene to find out!

Book 2 Identity Theft: Right after the first case was solved Nancy started getting bad e-mails! Someone had hacked into her account and made her character say some really bad things to her friend. People were making characters that looked like people she knew so she would go somewhere but was being tricked. And people were pretending to be her friends. It was horrible!!!!

Who is behind all of this and why would they do this to Nancy? Read Identity Theft by Carolyn Keene to find out!

Book 3 Identity Reveled: Now that Nancy found out who was behind some of the harassing she still did not know who was hacking into her account. Now the person has put her dads case files on line for every one to see. Also the person is blackmailing her friends to do things to her. Even her boyfriend. In the end the person who is behind all of this is no one you would expect!

Read Identity Reveled by Carolyn Keene to find out!

I give this Series 10 Bananas!

The Cupid Chronicles

The main characters beloved library is being closed down for no reason. So she and her friends decide to help raise money to save the library by mostly holding dances. Throughout the book Willa and her friends face challenges. It might be getting harder, but Willa will not give up.

What challenges do they face? Do they save the library?

Read The Cupid Chronicles by Coleen Murtagh Paratore to find out!

I give this book 4 bananas.

The Winning Stroke

It all starts when Jerry was playing baseball. He slid into base when a huge outfielder landed on his leg and broke it. Jerry was in a cast for forever, so he could not play baseball for a long time either! His rehab teacher suggested to do swimming to help his leg heal. Jerry reluctantly said he would.

After doing his 30min exercises he left the pool but then he saw the swim team and thought it would be fun to watch. Later that week he started to watch even more! He started practicing with the team. The coach said he was really good with his crawl stroke. So he started thinking about joining the team.

Will he join? If he does join, how will he do?

Read The Winning Stroke by Matt Christopher to find out.

I give this book 7 bananas.

Every Soul a Star

This book showcases three kids each with their own personality. Ally,Bree, and Jack. They all come to one place to see the most amazing thing they have ever seen. A full eclipse. Here is a little bit about their adventure.

Ally: Ally lives with her Mom, Dad, and brother on a star campsite where people come to camp out and star gaze and look at space. It is a very busy place, but when the eclipse viewers come, it becomes more busy than ever!

Bree: A very pretty girl who has very smart space genius parents and sister. She has always wanted to be a model and never wanted to leave civilization. But that all changes when they move to a place where she thought she would never survive at all.

Jack: He is not the best student in school, so he has to go to summer school. Then his teacher calls him saying that if he wants to get out of summer school, he can go with him to see an eclipse and help him with a project.

How will the eclipse go? Will Bree survive at this place she is moving to? What is the project?

Read Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass to find out!

I give this book 10 bananas!

Hooray!

I'm back!! I am peeled from my banana cover and ready to write my reviews! Summer break is just around the corner, so I promise that I will definitely have spare time over the summer to give you more frequent reviews. Also, I will be reading a lot this summer because I am doing a reading program through my community library that will keep me reading all summer long! I am so excited!!

If you want to keep up to date on my blog posts, I welcome you to be a Follower of my blog!! I would enjoy that!

Thanks for hanging around my banana tree while you waited for me to get back!

Happy Reading!!

Indian in the Cupboard

Can you imagine waking up on your the day after your birthday to find your favorite present is now alive? This is exactly what happened to the main character, Omri, in this book. He put the toy Indian in a cupboard that his brother gave him for his birthday. He locked the cupboard before going to bed, and some how every thing that was in the cupboard came alive. The Indian was very small, but very big with heart and brains.

Omri was very surprised that such a small person who was from a toy, could be as smart as a real Indian. He had fun watching the Indian make log houses out of other toys, and Omri made things for him too. He was having so much fun! But eventually, he and his friend got too carried away and things started to happen that were not so good.

What went wrong? What could the boys have done that turned the excitement into something bad? Will they be able to change their ways?

Read Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks to find out.

I give this book 7 bananas!

Once Upon a Curse

This is book #3 in the series of the Frog Princess (which is book #1 and Dragon's Breath is #2, but I have not read that one). Emma is now on another mission to reverse the curse set upon her family a long time ago. She wants to go to her Aunt, but that is difficult because her Aunt touched a flower and became evil.

She decides to find a way to go back in time when the curse was set. She wants to find out who gave the curse and what they said; and possibly find a way to reverse the curse herself. Her lovely prince decides to go with her along with her best friend, a bat named Lil.

The three go through an amazing adventure together meeting up with her relatives and trying to keep the secret that they are from the future. For if they found out, she and her friends could change a lot, and not for the better!

Can they travel far back enough in time? Will they meet the curse maker? Will they be able to find the cure they need to release her Aunt back to good?

Read Once Upon a Curse by E.D. Baker to find out.

I give this book 9 Bananas.

Frog Princess

Once there was a princess named Emma who was not a very graceful princess. Her family was given a curse that when the next girl in their family turned 16, they could not touch another flower or they would become very mean and ugly.

One day, Emma was walking through the woods and came upon a frog who talked to her and said that he was under a spell and needed a princess to kiss him. After a few minutes of debating and thinking, she kissed him. But the curse was not broken, and instead, SHE turned into a frog. She was furious, but the frog said he did not know what it would work out that way. So, the Frog Princess hoped to her Aunt, who was a well known witch, for some advice and help.

What went wrong? Can they reverse the curse? How and what needs to be done to change the princess and prince back to being humans?

Read Frog Princess by E.D. Baker to find out.

I give this book 8 Bananas.

Four Truths and a Lie

Scarlett is the main character of this book and she is sent off to an all-girls boarding school because of the embarrassment that her dad caused her at her other school. Her mother agreed that she could leave and go to a new school where her mom's friend was the principal.

In English class, the teacher assigns Pen Pals to the class of girls from the boys boarding school! Scarlett, boy crazy and all, was very excited until the boy she was assigned to started playing the game she did not like the most; Four Truths and a Lie. In the game, the boy would give her one statement at a time, and she was to figure out if the statement was a truth, or a lie. In the end, there would be four truths, and one lie.

She was playing along, until it started to get dangerous. She was getting into a lot of trouble and the principal warned her that she might have to leave the school. Scarlett began to get very worried and upset why this boy was playing this game with her. She had to find a way to stop.

Can she stop him? What is his motivation? Does Scarlett end up staying at the girls' boarding school? Read Four Truths and a Lie by Lauren Barnholdt to find out.

I give this book 7 Bananas.