The Borrowers-Lauren

The Borrowers

(which I didn’t like at all)

By Lauren

The Borrowers, by Mary Norton was a book that I thought was going to be good but it turned out pretty bad. I’m know I’m definitely not going to read the other books about the Borrowers. I also thought that there was too much detail and not enough of an actual story. It also had a very boring ending, which I didn’t get at all. Whenever I had to read this book, I thought “darn, I have to read The Borrowers again “. I bet my whole group did to.


One reason why I think the book has too much detail is because most of the book is describing their house. It told about it so much that I can still remember that in Arrietty’s (the main character) room has a bed made out of an old matchbox and she uses postage stamps as decorations for her room. While I was reading this book, I felt like Mary Norton was just like a salesperson trying to sell that house to me. Do you really want to be reading a sales catalog for a book group book because that was what it pretty much is.


Another reason why I didn’t like the book was because there was basically nothing about where the Borrowers were at the end of the book. All it said was “ The Borrowers scurried from the floorboard and out the house. They were never seen again.” In my opinion, it was a terrible ending and it had very little excitement. Most books have a chapter all about the ending. This one only had about a hundred words.That is pretty weak. Now that I think about it, when I was reading this book it felt like the whole book was pretty much just a chapter because the ending didn’t seem like an ending at all.


So as you can see from my examples, I thought The Borrowers was a terrible book. I will never recommend this book to anyone because it had too much detail and a really bad ending. It would just waste your time. I’m going to give this only one tree. That is all this book deserves (not that it deserves anything). If I could, I would give it -1 trees.

Overboard-Dahlia Zail

I just read Overboard by Elizabeth Fama. I thought it was a great story but could be written better. In some parts I felt liked the story was not being told in a great way, but in others I could not stop reading because it was so good!

One reason I think the story is great is because of the characters. There’s weak ,but strong spirited Isman ,tough ,fierce Emily, and the helpful couple of Richard and Catherine. I think that Isman and Emily work together pretty well. On pages 108 and 109 Emily and Isman share a tomato. Isman eats first but he only eats half not Emily’s as well. I think that shows trust and respect. I also love the setting! I mean ,the middle of the middle of the ocean! The whole time! Imagine having to swim for hours on end!

Another reason I loved the book is the not as important events. When I say not as important events, I mean scenes that did not mater as much in the actual story. The scenes are fun, adventurous, sad and exiting! The not as important events was what made the story seem like it has allot of affection (which I like). The not as important scenes gave the story a whole other level. The top layer is basically just a couple of people who get lost in the ocean (the plot). The scenes also showed a relationship forming between Isman and Emily. Like when Emily pulls Isman through a whirlpool, it shows she cares.

I do have some advice for the author. I think the book would of been better if it had been written in the first person of Emily. In parts of the book I wanted to know how she felt in a more descriptive way than the author wrote. Like when Emily stumbles out of her parents small hospital and just runs. I wanted to know what was going through her head ,but the author just kind of skipped that.

I really liked the story of Overboard. It could of been written better,but the plot and the not as important scenes were good.

Flipped-Stephen

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen was a book that I thought was very interesting. It had lots of surprises including the ending. With many characters it was very confusing. It had a twisting plot and it was interesting to see the different character perspectives throughout the book.In the end I liked Flipped.

One reason I thought it was surprising is that Juli (a main character) has an uncle, David who is in a mental facility. That’s when she figures out who’s paying for her uncles care. (her parents) After finding this out she wants to fix up her house so no one thinks they don’t care about health. Again there are many characters. There is Juli, Bryce, Juli’s parents, Bryce’s Parents, Matt, Mike, Lynetta, Chet, Garret, and about Uncle David. It was pretty cool to see how Bryce and Juli saw things. One time Juli said she and Bryce were gazing at each other, Where as Bryce said Juli was staring at him for what he thought seemed forever. That was great to see.

Next time I think Wendelin Van Draanen should not have had Bryce’s dad call Mat and Mike drug dealers. Some thing I would like to know more about is why Juli’s parents did not tell Juli about Uncle David when she was younger. I also think that Wendelin should have had Bryce get so ridiculous at times. One example is when Juli was eating lunch with another guy Bryce came over and tried to kiss her.

I think that Flipped was a good book even though it was confusing. I found all my examples in the from my book that were used. My examples showed how there were lots of characters and how the book was confusing. I thought this book was interesting I give it 3 out of 5 trees.