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.

Jedi Academy 3: The Phantom Bully by Jeffrey Brown

The third book in the Jedi Academy series was released on June 30th!  I got it yesterday and I read it all in one night.

This book is about Roan's third year at Jedi Academy where he finally gets good at using the force.   But bad stuff keeps happening at Jedi Academy and everyone is blaming Roan for it.  One of these things is that someone cloned their class pet and released them around the school.  There's also a new kid at school who is good at everything and she seems to fit in better than Roan does.  How does the rest of Roan's third year go?

I really like this book because all of the different things that happen to Roan are funny.  One of my favorite things is that each of the kids get their own personal Jedi master to teach them one-on-one and Roan got a teacher who doesn't think likes him.  I also really like this book because I like Star Wars and some of the characters from the actual Star Wars are a part of it.  It's also a good style of book with a mix of comics and writing.

Summer Reading Programs - Half Price Books

Half Price Books has one of my favorite summer reading programs.  In June and July, if you read 300 minutes, you can earn a $5 gift certificate to Half Price Books.  I read about an hour a day, so we went to get my June certificate!

Since we were already at the store, I wanted to spend my certificate to get some new books to read for July.  Here is what I picked:

• The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths
• Guinea Dog by Patrick Jennings
• ParaNorman by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
• And 2 bookmarks with the Toy Story Aliens and Lotsa on them

Check back soon for reviews on my new books!

EllRay Jakes is Magic by Sally Warner

EllRay Jakes is Magic is the sixth book in the EllRay Jakes series.

This book is about a boy named EllRay who finds out there is going to be a talent show at his school.  He and the other kids in his class think that they aren't going to well in the talent show.   They decide to pick the worst five acts in the class to make sure no one makes the talent show.  One of these acts is EllRay who decides he is going to do a magic act.  He thinks his tricks are too tiny and he might get booed off the stage.  What will happen to EllRay at the talent show?

I really like this series because in every book, EllRay has a new problem to solve.  In this book, I thought EllRay's problem was really funny when he tried to learn magic tricks.  I think this series should continue!

Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet by Kirk Scroggs

This book is about a boy named Danvers who has a really bad life.  His dream is to be like the idol, the Great Gonzo, a muppet.  One night, he wishes that he could be like Gonzo.  Early in the morning, he sees a green flash of light, then falls back to sleep.  When he wakes up later, he has turned into a muppet!  What will happen in Danvers' new life as a muppet?

I thought this book was really funny because the Muppets are funny in general, but when a boy turned into a Muppet, that was really cool.  I also thought it was funny that his little sister tried to make money off him.

I can't wait to read the rest of these, we are going to go to the library next week to get them!