Thursday, January 14, 2016

Jellaby: The Lost Monster by Kean Soo


I received Jellaby: The Lost Monster and some other dinosaur themed books from Capstone Publishing.

Jellaby is about a girl named Portia whose life is pretty dull, until one night, she hears something outside!  She goes outside to check to see what it is and she finds a little dragon.  She names it Jellaby.  Portia keeps him a secret until, after an incident, a young boy named Jason finds out about Jellaby.  They work together to keep Jellaby safe.  Finally, they figure out that Jellaby's real home is through an odd door at the fair.  How can they get Jellaby to the fair without anyone noticing?  And will they get Jellaby home?

I really liked how this book was a graphic novel because I think comics help explain a story better.  I think the characters are cool, especially Jellaby, because I think it would be awesome to find a real dragon of your own.  Also, this story doesn't really end for Jellaby and his friends!  It's a cliffhanger, and I really want to read the next one.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Dino-Mike and the T. Rex Attack by Franco


Dino-Mike and the T. Rex Attack was sent to me by Capstone Publishing.

Mike is a kid whose dad is a paleontologist.  He is on his first trip with his dad for a fossil dig.  On the first day, he goes to explore some of the other dig sites and he sees a girl run into the forest.  He finds out that there is a T-Rex on the loose, that was somehow brought back from the past! Mike and the girl need to work together to catch the T-Rex before it attacks any of the paleontologists.


I really liked how Mike has a special jacket with dinosaur powers.  His jacket can grow claws, make him roar, shoot light beams, and more.  I also like how Mike shows how a kid can do anything, especially if they work together with their friends.  This is a great beginning chapter book for kids, especially for kids who like dinosaurs, and there are more books in the series.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Ungifted by Gordon Korman


Ungifted is about a boy named Donovan who likes to play jokes.  One day, he is outside messing with a giant globe statue on top of a hill.  He accidentally pushes it off and it starts rolling.  It keeps rolling and finally hits the school.  He goes to see the superintendent for his punishment, but the superintendent just writes down his name and tells him he'll tell him the punishment later.  Instead of receiving a punishment, Donovan gets sent to a school for gifted and talented kids. On his first day, his teacher realizes that Donovan isn't very good at any of the subjects.  The rest of the kids all love him and think he'd be awesome in their robot competition.  Donovan has a lot of ideas that none of the other students could come up with.  He uses the new school as a cover so he won't get into even more trouble.  What will happen if Donovan gets caught?

I really liked this book because how Donovan manages to not get in trouble and no one figures out that he doesn't belong in the special school.  It was funny that the kids in the gifted program could design the robots but couldn't think of the simple things like naming the robot.  My favorite part of the robot is how the class robot has a small robot as a part of him.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Jonny Jakes Investigates the Hamburgers of Doom by Malcolm Judge


Jonny Jakes Investigates the Hamburgers of Doom is a preview copy from NetGalley.

Jonny Jakes is the secret founder of the banned secret school newspaper.  He sneaks around, takes photos, then writes articles about what has happened.  But one day, he goes too far and the principal quits his job.  The school board is looking for a new principal and finally they find one.  Jonny and his friends go in to find out who the principal is and post it on the newspaper before the principal is introduced.  But his picture is blurry and he is too late to tell all the kids in school.  Jonny knows there is something unusual about the new principal.  He's handing out special candy and all the kids are eating are hamburgers!  What is going on in the school?  It's up to Jonny to find out.

I really like this book because it was a combination of an adventure and a mystery story.  I like how the hamburgers actually look really bad, but all the kids are eating them anyhow.  It's cool how Jonny Jakes is hanging down off the side of the school, all to find out who the new principal might be.