Dinosaur Boy Saves Mars by Cory Putman Oakes

Dinosaur Boy Saves Mars is a preview copy from NetGalley.

This book is about three kids.  Sylvie is a Martian, Elliot is a human, and Sawyer is a human-dinosaur hybrid!  The kids go on a mission to save Sylvie's dad who has been captured by scientists.  They go to Mars to see if they can save him.  When they finally get to him, they figure out that he is partnering up with the Plutonians who want to "gene" every martian.  How will Sawyer and his friends save Mars?

I really liked this book because it was a cool adventure where the kids get to go all around the galaxy.  I like how the humans know that there are martians and they are friends with them.  I also think it's funny how Sawyer is part dinosaur and has to wear tennis balls on his spikes because they are sharp.  One of my favorite parts is that when a person gets "gened", they still look like themselves but have some parts from another animal.

Museum Mysteries - The Case of the Portrait Vandal by Steve Brezenoff

I received several books for review for my blog from Capstone Publishing, including Museum Mysteries.

This book is about four kids--Raining, Amal, Wilson, and Clementine.  Their parents work at four different museum.  Every day, in the summer, they go to a different museum to look at the exhibits.  They find out that there is a graffiti artist who is writing on all the important things in the museum.  One of the guards catches them looking at the grafitti and thinks they are the ones doing it.  They get away before getting in trouble, but they have to find out who the real grafitti artist is.

I really like this book because it was a mystery and the kids had to find out who really did it without getting themselves into trouble.  I liked how the setting was almost like a real place in America today.  I also liked how the pictures helped explain what was really happening in the story.  I think that this would be a good series for kids who are starting to read chapter books.

Lawnboy by Gary Paulsen

Lawnboy is about a boy who, for his 12th birthday, gets his grandpa's old riding lawnmower from his grandma.  At first, he thinks it is just a piece of junk, but once he gets the hang of it, he loves it.  Soon he finds out that everybody wants their lawns mowed and will pay good money for it. Apparently, the last lawn crew everyone had, the one worker ran away with someone else's wife!  They stopped using that crew because they were worried.  Soon, he meets a guy named Arnold who is a stockbroker.  He makes a deal with Arnold that if he mows Arnold's lawn, Arnold will get him something in return.  Arnold gives him some business tips and his business grows really fast!  What will happen to his business?

I really liked how the boy starts his business in only a few days and he gets a business partner and stock.  I think it's really cool that the boy makes a lot of money mowing lawns, but I want to have a riding lawn mower first.

Choose Your Own Adventure Series

I have five of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books.

In these books, you are a kid and you go on an adventure.  On the first pages, it tells you a little about who you are and what is happening.  Then the book give you your first choice.  That first choice can decide your entire adventure or just a little part of it.  Throughout the book, as you're reading, you'll get a bunch of little questions that will decide what is happening and where your ending will be.  Most of the time, there will be two choices, but sometimes, there are three!  Your story can end really fast and short or it can take a long time.  Each book has many different endings and you can read it a bunch of times to find the ending you hope for.

In Skateboard Champion, you are trying to get the ending where you become a skateboard champion.  In Space Vampire, you go on a mission to try and destroy a space vampire.  In The Mystery of Chimney Rock, you and your friends have to escape from an old house.  In Master of Tae Kwon Do, you are trying to save your friend who you met in China.  In By Balloon to the Sahara, you are flying in a hot air balloon and drift another land.

In each book, you have to decide how you want your story to go.  There is also a series of Choose Your Own Adventure for younger readers.

The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

The Indian in the Cupboard is the first book I read for literature in 5th grade.

This book is about a boy named Omri who receives a plastic Indian for his birthday from his best friend, Patrick.  He also receives a small white cupboard.  His mother has a key that fits perfectly into the keyhole of the cupboard.  Later that night, Omri discovers that his Indian had come to life after being locked in the cupboard.  Omri becomes good friends with the Indian, but then the Indian starts getting stubborn and making problems for him.  Omri is also having trouble keeping the Indian a secret. Will Omri be able to keep the Indian a secret or will the Indian's stubbornness expose him?

I really like this book because it was an adventure in just a single room.  Almost all of the crazy things that happen take place in Omri's room with the cupboard.  I like how the cupboard can only make stuff real that is plastic.  Some of my big questions are:

• How does the cupboard work?
• Why does the cupboard only work with a key?
• Why does it only work on plastic things?

I really want to read the other 4 books in the series to see if my questions are answered.

The Left Behinds: Abe Lincoln and the Selfie that Saved the Union by David Potter

The Left Behinds: Abe Lincoln and the Selfie that Saved the Union was a preview copy from NetGalley.

This book is about three kids named Mel, Bev, and Brandon, the Left Behinds.  They are stuck again, in an unusual situation, and the only way to get out of it is to use their special app, I-Time.  This time, they are sent back to 1863 where they accidentally crash into Mrs. Lincoln and end up going to the White House where they meet President Lincoln.  The Left Behinds receive a text message from their teacher--they must go to Gettysburg to stop their arch-nemesis Kurtis from changing the future by helping the Confederate soldiers win.  How will they get to Gettysburg in time and, if they do, how will they stop Curtis?

I liked this book because the Left Behinds are just three normal kids that get themselves into all sorts of trouble.  The teacher, instead of sending himself to stop Kurtis, has to send the kids because they are better undercover agents.  I also liked how, back in Lincoln's time, everybody thought their phones were special devices that might be bombs or something else scary.  I found out that this book is part of a series and now I would like to read the rest of the books.

The House That George Built by Suzanne Slade

The House that George Built was a preview copy from NetGalley.

This is book is a shorter picture history book.  The story is talking about all the people who came together to build the White House.  It is told in a poem format, that would be really good for preschool or kindergarten kids especially.  It is modeled after the poem "This is the House that Jack Built."

I really liked how it is a cool rhyming story that could work as a song.  I liked how the pictures helped explain the story a bit better with the different steps.  I think it was a fun way to learn historical things and it makes it easier for kids to learn history when it is fun.

Benji Franklin, Kid Zillionaire: Money Troubles by Raymond Bean

I loved the first Benji Franklin Kid Zillionaire book (you can check out my review here).  The author sent me a copy of the newest one so I could read and review it too.  It was an awesome surprise!

In this book, Benji is back and he is struggling more than ever to try and solve people's problems.  First, he goes on an underwater adventure in his golden submarine to try and see why earthquakes are happening on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  Then, Benji ventures off into space, trying to find the space criminals who are stealing from Mr. Crow's company.  Benji may be really smart, but sometimes even he needs help!  Who will end up helping him in the end?

I really liked this book and I thought it was even better than the first one!  Of the two stories, my favorite one is the underwater adventure, because it's really cool that he finds a new location to solve his problem (in the ocean).  I also liked the space criminal story because Benji has to figure out how to track down the space criminal.  All of his normal ideas won't work, so he has to get help from others. I also think it is kind of inspiring, because Benji is a 10 year old kid who makes an app that gets him zillions of dollars.  If he can do it, anyone can do it if they just put their mind to it.

The Terrible Two Get Worse by Jory John & Mac Barnett

The Terrible Two Get Worse is a preview copy from NetGalley.

This book is a sequel to The Terrible Two (check out my review here).  In this book, Miles and Niles keep their joke club going, but one joke goes too far!  They accidentally get their principal fired and the principal's dad has to take over.  His dad is a mean principal who wants to make sure that no jokes happen at his school.  He does everything he can to do it.  How will the Terrible Two get their old principal back his job?

I really liked this book because I already like the first book and it was funny how the boys kept making jokes.  The jokes were really funny and they never actually hurt people when playing them.  I also liked how, instead of doing as many jokes in this book, Miles and Niles were on a mission to figure out how to save their principal and get him back his job.  I really hope they come out with a third book in this series.

Ariel Bradley, Spy for General Washington by Lynda Durrant

Ariel Bradley, Spy for General Washington was a preview copy from NetGalley.

This book is about a boy named Ariel Bradley.  He was asked by General Washington to be a spy and see how many troops and guns the British had and how healthy their horses were.  He pretended to be a country bumpkin and his cover was that he was asking where the mill was when he walked into the British camps.   This way he could help Washington and his army be prepared for their next battle.

I really liked this book because it was short and easy to understand but it still taught you a lot about what happened.  I thought it was cool that Ariel was only 9 when this happened but he was really wanting to help George Washington and his army.  I'd really like to read more books like this one, the shorter but true stories that tell you more about history that people might not even know!

Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab by Bob Pflugfelder & Steve Hockensmith

This is my second sponsored review from Quirk Books! They contacted me and sent me preview copies of two of their new books to read and share my reviews.

Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab is the first book in the Nick & Tesla series.  In this book, there are two kid named Nick and Tesla who go stay at their uncle's house for the summer.  Their uncle turns out to be a scientist with a huge lab in his basement.  He give Nick and Tesla full-time use of his lab and they decide to build a toy rocket.  Before they launch their rocket, Tesla puts on pendant on the rocket that means a lot to her.  They launch their rocket and it works too well!  It lands inside a fence with a building that is being reconstructed.  Tesla tries to get the rocket back but the mean builders won't give it to her.  She tries to climb the fence, but there are guard dogs inside.  How will Nick and Tesla get the rocket and the pendant back?

I really like this book because, besides telling the story, the authors give you ideas of the things Nick and Tesla build in the story and how you can build them at home.  Some things they show you how to build are a robotic squirrel, an electromagnet, and a burglar alarm system.  I also like how Nick and Tesla go on a really crazy adventure to get Tesla's locket back and build lots of things to help them do figure it out.  One of my favorite things they build it the electromagnet--it's made out of a battery, a rusty nail, some wire, and tape.  I can't wait to read the rest of the series, there are four more books so far!

You can also visit the Nick & Tesla website for downloads and videos to go with the books!

Stick Dog Dreams of Ice Cream by Tom Watson

Stick Dog Dreams of Ice Cream is about a doodle dog named Stick Dog and his four friends named Poo-poo, Karen, Mutt, and Stripes.  Stripes is my favorite character, since he actually has black spots on him! In this adventure, it is a hot dry day and the dogs are trying to find something to cool them off.  First, the dogs find a water attacking machine.  Then, while they are hiding in the bushes, a weird truck playing loud, annoying music comes by.  The truck says "Ice" and Poo-poo knows that ice melts into cold water.  But then they find puddles of ice cream!  They love it and try to get into the ice cream truck.  Will they succeed?

This is the fourth book in the Stick Dog series and I really liked it. The dogs are always trying to hunt down some kind of food.  I really liked this one because the dogs are coming up with crazy plans, like jumping off bridges, to get into the ice cream truck.  I think this is, by far, the craziest Stick Dog book so far!  I can't wait for the fifth book to come out.

Apocalypse Meow Meow by James Proimos

Apocalypse Meow Meow was a preview copy from NetGalley.

This book is about 4 dogs and a cat who set out on a search to find a man who can lead them back to their owners.  On their way, they run into a rat who tells them there is a factory of all-you-can-eat "Twonkies"  The rat tells them they can have all the Twonkies they can eat, *IF* they can chase out a cat first.  Will the animals get their Twonkies?

I like this book because it is about a bunch of silly dogs who go on adventures.  I really like the graphic novel format, I just wish it was longer.  One of my favorite parts of the book is that the one guy the dogs are chasing is naked.  I really want to read Apocalypse Bow Wow by the same author now!

I Was an Eighth-Grade Ninja by Andrew Simmons

I Was an Eighth-Grade Ninja is about a girl named Hana who has to move from Japan to the United States after her mother died.  She lives with her grandfather and trains with him in his martial arts studio.  She meets a new girl who is really nice to her, but the girl's friends don't like Hana.  The friends are planning to make Hana regret ever coming to California. How will Hana be able to keep her new friend.

I really liked that Hana is already good at martial arts, so that when she trains with her grandfather, she is kind of like a superhero.  She already knows all the patterns and how to fight with all the weapons.  I also like that Hana seems like she is a regular girl but she is really a ninja.  I also like Tomo, a little raccoon-ish creature, that is Hana's grandfather's best friend.

Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye by Tania del Rio

This is my first sponsored review from Quirk Books!  They contacted me and sent me preview copies of two of their new books to read and share my reviews.

Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye is about a boy named Warren whose father has died.  Warren is stuck living in his family's hotel with his evil Aunt Anaconda and his lazy Uncle Rupert.   Once Warren's father died, the hotel started falling apart and Warren has to fix everything.  He is the bellhop, he is the cleaner, he is the fixer!  The only friends he has are the cook, Chef Bunion, and his tutor, Mr. Friggs.  Aunt Anaconda is always tearing up the hotel, looking for the All-Seeing Eye that is supposedly hidden in the hotel.  Warren and his tutor are worried what will happen if Aunt Anaconda gets the All-Seeing Eye, so Warren starts to look for it too.  Who will find it first????

I really liked this book because it was an adventure story that was also a mystery.  I read it in just two nights because I couldn't put it down.  I liked how Warren's aunt made him have to do everything to fix the hotel while she ripped apart all the rooms. I also liked this book because all of the pictures really help explain the story.  There are illustrations on every page that help add to the whole story. My favorite chapter was "In which Warren is Sent to the Boiler" because of the surprise in the chapter.

I really loved the ending, but you will have to read it to find out why!

Discovery Kids 1000 Extreme & Extraordinary Dinosaur Facts

1000 Extreme & Extraordinary Dinosaur Facts is a new book from Discovery Kids.  My mom and I received a copy of it as part of the Parragon Book Buddies Blogger Program.

This book is a big book with 1000 facts about dinosaurs.  But it's not just a boring list of facts!  Each two page spread has a different category that consists of cool pictures and awesome facts.  There are many pictures that can help you understand what the fact is saying.  For example, a fact about plant eaters is written inside the drawing of a leaf and facts about certain kinds of dinosaurs are written inside their shadow shape.

I think it's cool that the authors use things we know about today to show how long or how big the dinosaurs really were.  The Argentinosaurus was longer than 3 buses lined up.  That's really big!

I really liked this book because, last year in science, I learned a little bit about dinosaurs and I wanted to learn more.  I also like that the illustrations look real, not like cartoons.  I like that you can start and stop wherever you want to when you are reading.  You don't have to read it in order, you can look for the facts or the page that you most want to read.

My favorite fact is that the ankylosaurus was one of the heavily armored dinosaurs that ambled along estuaries and coastlines 67 million years ago.  That means they lived near beaches and they had really cool armored lumps on their back!

Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in my... by Adam Mansbach & Alan Zweibel

Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in my... is a preview copy from NetGalley.

This book is about a kid named Franklin Isaac Saturday (he wants to be called Ike).  For school, he has to write a letter to somebody and he decides to write his to Benjamin Franklin.  When he writes this letter, he gets a letter back from Benjamin Franklin!  The problem with this is that Benjamin Franklin is dead and he still wrote back.  Ike thought something was up and someone was just playing a prank on him.  Every time Ike writes to Benjamin Franklin, he gets another letter back. He and the girl he likes, Claire, try to figure out the mystery of who is writing back to him.  Who is behind the letters?  And isn't Benjamin Franklin supposed to be dead?

I really liked this book because it would be regular chapters of the story, then in between, it would be a letter from Ike to Ben or Ben to Ike.  I also liked that it seemed like the letters would travel back in time to Benjamin Franklin and that, when he send a letter back, it would travel to the future.  I really hope there will be another book in this series!

The Day the Mustache Took Over by Alan Katz

The Day the Mustache Took Over is a preview copy from NetGalley.

This book is about two kids named David and Nathan who have parents who are always going on business trips, so they need a nanny. Nathan and David aren't very good kids, so every time they get a nanny, they always scare her away.  The next nanny they find is actually a Manny!  When they first meet him, he seems like a goody two shoes, but once the parents leave, he ends up being not so good after all.  He likes being crazy and he doesn't think the boys should have to go to school.  But the boys think something weird is going on with him.  David suspects he might be a spy!  What is going to happen???

I liked this book because, at first, the boys seem like they are really bad kids, but once the nanny comes, they turn good.  They are always doing their homework as soon as they come home from school and they are cleaning the house when they make a mess.  It seems like that the kids are the good ones and the nanny is the one that is always breaking stuff and making a mess.  I liked that this book was a funny mystery, as the boys tried to find out who the nanny really was.

The 39-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

The 39-Story Treehouse is one of the books I got for my birthday this year!

This book is about two kids named Andy and Terry, who now live in a 39 story treehouse.  The 39th level is a story-maker--you type in what you want, pull the levers, and it writes a story for you.  They write the story, but when they go outside to go to their friend Jill's house, the story-maker locks them out.  They go to Jill's house and they tell her about their problem.  She lets them stay over for the night and stay in her house, crowded with animals.  They figure out that they need to go get the famous un-inventor who got sent to the moon.  They need to try to convince the un-inventor to un-invent the story-writer machine.  Will he help them?

I really liked this book because I like all the new levels that Andy and Terry have added to their treehouse. Some of the new levels are the boxing elephant named the Trunkinator, a non-erupting active volcano, and a giant roller coaster.  I also like the book because Andy and Terry are always getting themselves into trouble and have to figure out how to solve it.  I'm really excited to read the next book, the 52-Story Treehouse!

Kid Athletes by David Stabler

I received my copy of Kids Athletes by David Horner as a preview copy from Net Galley.

Kid Athletes is a book of stories about famous athletes as kids.  Some of the stories are Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, Babe Ruth, and Bruce Lee, but there are lots more.

My favorite story was Peyton Manning.  He was once a tango superstar and tangoed in front of his entire school.  When Bruce Lee was younger, his dad tried to protect him from an evil spirit that took young boys by sending him to America, where he trained in martial arts and became a movie star.  As a kid, Tiger Woods was always good at golf.  When he was only 1, he could hit a golf ball into the center of a soccer net.  When he was 3, he had already gotten to the golf courses.  When he got older, he became a golf champion.

I really liked the book because I got to learn a lot of stuff about some really famous athletes.  I like how this book is a lot of short stories instead of one long story, so you get to read a lot of different ones.  One of my favorite things I learned was how, when Tiger Woods was practicing golf, his dad would play music and do other things to try and distract him so he would learn how to ignore the distractions on the golf course.

Read my review of Kid Presidents by the same author.

The 26-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

The 26-Story Treehouse is about three kids named Andy, Terry, and Jill who are friends.  Andy and Terry used to live in a 13-story treehouse but they added another 13 stories to make it a 26-story treehouse.  Jill lives in a house on the other side of the woods.  Andy and Terry need to write a story for their publisher really soon.  They decided to write a story about how they met, but stuff kept distracting them and they couldn't finish writing it.  Andy and Terry run into a lot of problems, like their sharks eating Terry's underpants and getting sick and an evil rainstorm that comes during the night.

I liked this book because these funny kids get captured by a mean pirate who makes them do crazy things, like clean the poop deck which actually has poop on it!  I also like that Terry keeps doing goofy things which makes other funny things happen.  My favorite part of the book is when Terry feeds his underpants to the man-eating sharks while he is trying to wash them.  I can't wait to read the third book.

Birthday Books!

This weekend was my birthday.  Along with all of my cool presents, I got some really cool books I've been wanting.  Here they are!

The 26 Story Treehouse and The 39 Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths.

Click here to read my review for The 13 Story Treehouse, the first book in the series.

The Big Box Set of Why, How, and What? by Time for Kids.  

The Legos Ideas Book: Unlock Your Imagination

Lego: Crazy Action Contraptions

I will have reviews on some of these books coming soon.

Stick Dog by Tom Watson

Stick Dog is a story that is made up by a kid who isn't very good at drawing.  He always draws stick figures, so when his teacher asks him to draw a dog, he draws Stick Dog.  In creative writing class, he is told to write a story, so he decides to write a story about Stick Dog.  In this story, Stick Dog and his friends are trying to steal some hamburgers, but some things get in their way--a family, squirrels, and lots more.

I like this book because I like that the dog is always searching for something to eat.  In this book, it is a hamburger, but in the other Stick Dog books, it is different foods.  I also like that the book is about dogs instead of humans and that the dogs talk.  My favorite part of the book is Poo-Poo gets lowered down on a rope to try and get the hamburgers.

Check out the Stick Dog website for lots of cool Stick Dog stuff.

Fangbone! Third-Grade Barbarian by Michael Rex

Fangbone! Third-Grade Barbarian is about a kid named Fangbone who is sent to Earth to protect the Big Toe of Drool.  But, he decides once he is there that he will need an army to protect.  He sets out to find his army, but lots of things stand in his way, like hound-snakes and dirt devils.  On his journey, he finds a really good friend who can be useful and help him protect the Toe of Drool.  What else will happen to Fangbone?  Will he be able to protect the Toe?

I liked this book because, when there is something that can take the Toe, Fangbone reacts and is able to destroy it.  I also like that Fangbone is always telling stories from his world and that everybody else wants to be like him.  One of my favorite parts of the book is when the other people all start to dress like Fangbone because they wanted to be like him.

The Tale of Despereaux: The Graphic Novel

The Tale of Despereaux is about a mouse who is different from all the other mice.  He is not afraid of anything and doesn't like to live the way of a mouse.  In this book, Despereaux gets into a lot of trouble, so much trouble that he gets sent to the dungeon forever.  In the dungeon, Desperereaux barely escapes with his life.  When he finds out that the really nice princess he met is in danger, he sets off to get help.  He decides that only he can save the princess.  Will he succeed in saving the princess?

This book is the graphic novel version of The Tale of Despereaux.  While I really like books, some books are really long, and a graphic novel is a good way to get the idea of the story and see if you want to read the full novel.  I also really like adventure comics and seeing the pictures that go with the story instead of just all words.

Check out my review of The Tale of Despereaux novel here.

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute is the first book in the Lunch Lady series.

This series is about a lunch lady who is actually a secret agent and her co-agent Betty who helps her make gadgets.   There are also three students, known as the Breakfast Bunch, who find out about Lunch Lady's secret life.  

In this book, one of the Breakfast Bunch's teachers gets sick and there is a substitute.  The substitute says that the teacher left them a lot of work to do, but Lunch Lady thinks something is up.  With the help of Betty, Lunch Lady has to find out what is wrong with the new substitute!

When I first read this book, I really liked it, so I had to get the rest of the books in the series.  I really like it because it seems like the Lunch Lady is just a normal lunch lady, but then she starts attacking like a ninja and no one knows she is there.   My favorite thing in the book is that Betty creates all these cool gadgets for Lunch Lady to use, like the Spatu-copter.

Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies by David Lubar

Last week, I was at camp. I took The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies with me for rest time.

This book is another book of short stories all sorts of crazy things.  In one story, two contestants, one from Mexico and one from Texas, battle to see who can bring the hottest pepper.  In another story, one kid never gets mad.  He always seems like he is about to, but then he swallows it.  Will he ever get mad and what happens if he does?  In a third story, a kid wants to join a club but, to join, he has to spend the night in an old department store.  When he is there, the lights flicker and he hears something moving.  What is it???  There's lots more stories like these too.

I really like this book because I like reading the short stories that are really funny.  When you go somewhere, you don't have to finish an entire chapter.  Each story is only a few pages long so you can finish the story quickly.    I also like these books because some of the what you think might happen doesn't happen, really crazy things happen instead.

Check out my review of Wipeout of the Wireless Weenies, another book from the series.

Desmond Pucket and the Mountain Full of Monsters by Mark Tatulli

Desmond Pucket and the Mountain Full of Monsters is a preview copy from NetGalley.

Since Desmond Pucket was finally allowed to go on the field trip, he decides he is going to ask his crush to go on the Mountain Full of Monsters Ride with him.  But his plans are ruined when the school discipline officer has to come with Desmond for the whole day.  Desmond tricks the officer and still goes on the Mountain Full of Monsters ride, but just before the ride leaves, the officer goes with him and they go on multiple times.  Later, Desmond finds out that the ride will be closing and everything inside it will be blown up.  How can Desmond save the monsters inside?

I really like this book because the first book in the series was awesome and having a follow-up to that was cool.  I also like that Desmond likes to play monster jokes on people.  I really hope there is a third book in this series because I would want to read it.

Check out my review of Desmond Pucket Makes Monster Magic here.

The Rat with the Human Face by Tom Angleberger

I got to read The Rat with the Human Face as a preview copy from NetGalley.

The Rat with the Human Face is the second book in The Qwikpick Papers series.  It is written by Tom Angleberger who also writes the Origami Yoda books.  This book is about three kids named Marilla, Dave, and Lyle, who like to find out about mysteries and then write about them.  One day, they hear about a rat with a human face and they want to check it out.  The rat was scene at a research center on the top of a mountain.  They have to figure out how to get to the top of the mountain and, if they do, how will they find the rat with the human face?

I really like this book because the kids get to go on really cool adventures and try to figure out what has happened.  As they go, they find out a lot of different problems and they have to try to solve them.  I have only read the second book, but now I want to go and find the first one to read.

Zombie Kid Diaries by Fred Perry

The Zombie Kid Diaries is a series of books about a kid named Bill Stokes that turns into a zombie.  My dad ordered these for me while he was deployed and I thought they were really funny.

There are three books in the series so far:

Playing Dead - In the first book, Bill turns into a zombie and is having a hard first couple of days at school.  He makes a new friend and a new enemy.

Grossery Games - In the second book, Bill's mortal enemy makes friends with the vice-principal and gets permission to ask quiz questions to the other kids.  If they get them wrong, they'll have to eat weird foods!

Walking Dad - In the third book, Bill's dad gets out of jail and wants to take Bill away from his mom.  What will happen to Bill and his mom?

I really like these books because they are about a regular kid who turns into a zombie.  Once he's a zombie, his whole life seems to get a lot harder.  I really like zombies and these are funny zombie stories, not the creepy ones.

Desmond Pucket Makes Monster Magic by Mark Tatulli

Desmond Pucket Makes Monster Magic is a preview copy from NetGalley.

This book is about a kid named Desmond who really likes scaring people.  This year, his scares could get him kicked out of school and not allowed to go on the class trip to Crabshell Pier.  Desmond tries to stop his jokes, but when he sets off one last joke at his sister's slumber party, he's given three chances to prove that he can go on the field trip.  Will Desmond make it on the field trip or forever kicked out of school?

I liked this book because Desmond isn't only interested in just playing jokes, he likes trying to scare people too.  The book shows you how to make some of Desmond's tricks too.  The book is really funny because Desmond is normally playing jokes and now he has to try to be perfect to get to go on the field trip.  I am already reading the next book in the series and I'm halfway through it.

Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet: Clash of the Class Clowns by Kirk Scroggs

I liked the first Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet so much that I had my mom take me back to the library to get the next three!

Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet: Clash of the Class Clowns is about a boy named Danvers who turns into a muppet when he sees a green flash and smells burnt apples and pistachios.  One day, when he is at school, they get a new student who is making unfriendly jokes about Danvers and his friends.  Danvers decides to challenge the new student to a comedy competition.  Danvers now has to start his journey into the world of jokes with the help of Fozzie Bear, Pepe, Dr. Bob, Statler, and Waldorf!

I really liked this book because Danvers once again is having problems with his new life as a muppet, but he's also really enjoying it.  I also like this book because it was really funny, especially since the book featured a joke-off.

Check out my review of the first Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet book.

The Ghastly McNastys: Raiders of the Lost Shark by Lyn Gardner

I received a preview copy of The Ghastly McNastys: Raiders of the Lost Shark from NetGalley.

This book is about two pirates who get swallowed by a whale and coughed out back onto Little Snoring Island.   Soon they find out that Captain Sid's lost treasure is buried in Little Snoring's castle.  Luckily, there is a pirate movie shooting there.  Tat and Hetty hear about the treasure and also go to look for it.  Who will find it first?

I really liked this book because the two pirates are always trying to get the treasure but they never make a plan for how they should get the treasure.  They just go straight ahead into whatever they think sounds good.  I also like this book because Tat and Hetty always manage to outsmart the pirates.

Read my review for The Ghastly McNastys: The Lost Treasure of Little Snoring, the first book in the series.

The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

I picked this book as one of my prizes from Half-Price Books summer reading program.  I earned a gift card and this was one of my choices.

The 13-Story Treehouse is about two kids named Andy and Terry who write books and live in a 13-story treehouse.  They need to write a new book for their published, Mr. Bignose, but they keep having problems that delay their book-writing.  One of their problems is Terry paints their friend's cat yellow.  It sprouts wings and turns into a cat-nary.  Another problem is that Terry orders sea monkey eggs, but his first batch turns out to be a sea monster and his second batch turns out to be monkeys?  They also have lots of other problems that delay their book, will they ever finish it?

I really liked this book because Andy and Terry have so many silly problems that they can't get around to doing the things they need to do.  I also like this book because, instead of living in a normal house, they live in a really cool 13-story treehouse with lots of interesting rooms.  There are two more books in this series, the 26-Story Treehouse and the 39-Story Treehouse, and I really want to read them.

Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

I picked this book as my prize at Barnes and Noble for their summer reading program.  If you read 8 books, you get to choose one of several titles for free as a prize.

This book is about two kids named Emily and Navin.  They first lose their dad in a car crash so they have to move to a new home.  In their new home, Emily finds a necklace. Later that night, they hear strange sounds coming from the basement.  Their mom goes down there and gets eaten by monster. Emily and Navin try to save her but they get sucked into a new world.  Emily's necklace starts to glow and gives her directions.  Will Emily and Navin be able to save their mom?

I liked this book because I really like comic style stories that are long enough to be a novel.  I like that there are a lot of cool monsters in it and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.