Alex's Review of Books (3-7 of 2013)

3) Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney

Reviewed by Alex: Book 6 in the series. Well, it's just a normal December day, just a few days away from Christmas. And then, one day snow just starts piling up in their yard. It gets higher and higher. It keeps on going for several days. When the main character (Greg)'s dad is going to a meeting a long way from his house he notices that there's a blizzard coming to their house. He was at a hotel. One picture showed him sitting in a jacuzzi, watching TV. [Alex thinks this sounds like a good life.] They even closed down school. The lights started flickering then all the power went off. They weren't allowed to go outside. They couldn't even get their car started and the snow was higher than their door.

Greg's little brother Manny actually accidentally crushed his mom's glasses. They had to help her go everywhere.

But anyway, in the middle of the night the snow started melting a little bit and their whole basement was flooded with water. In one picture it showed Greg's brother Rodrick sleeping in his bed in the basement and the water was almost to him. Greg said if he didn't wake him up he wouldn't have woken up until the water had floated his bed up the stairway and out of the house. Most of his house was flooded and they get the water out. It turns out that everyone else had power. Greg told it to his mom and they looked at the power box. He did and all of the rooms were checked off except for Manny's. The whole family rushed into Manny's room. He had a heater on, he had doughnuts and sodas everywhere. The rest of the family didn't have any food but Manny was having a tea party with stuffed-up animals. His mom said, "Why did you do that?" He said it was because no one ever taught him how to tie his shoes.

Once they went to a restaurant and they had a kids' zone. It was just like for 3-year-olds and everything. Once Manny got stuck in one of the tubes and one way was the slide and he didn't want to leave and his mom & dad were waiting for him there but the other way someone threw up so he was trapped. He was banging on the glass and yelling "Help!" [Alex thinks this was very funny.] Then they told Greg to go up and get him, then he went up and then he got stuck. He yelled "Help!" like Manny. One of the bosses of the restaurant came up and grabbed them both and got them out. 

Christmas didn't happen like they thought. Greg looked and there was nothing under the Christmas tree but his mom came downstairs and said "Oh, he didn't put the presents there, he put them in the garage in a garbage bag with your names on it." It all worked out.

Alex's verdict: "It's a pretty good book and I would recommend it and all of the Jeff Kinney books."

4) The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Reviewed by Alex and Mom (I get to help with this one because I read it to him aloud): This is the eighth Rick Riordan book we have read. This is the 3rd book in the Heroes of Olympus series (we previously read the five books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which has several of the same characters). I have to thank Caitlin Holmes again for recommending these books. We had seen The Lightning Thief movie, and liked it, but Caitlin said we really had to read the books. She said they were much better than the film. We love them! Now that we've finished this one we are sad because the new one doesn't come out until fall.

Percy Jackson is a demigod - his mother is a mortal and his father is Poseidon. He has had several adventures involving Greek (and with the new series, Roman) gods and mythological creatures. In this book Percy and his friends are traveling across the United States, then across the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans to Rome. I particularly liked that they stopped in Atlanta and Charleston. Alex remembered our trip to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, and a critical scene is set there.

Alex says, "I recommend this book because Rick Riordan is one of my favorite authors. I love the book, and I think you would, too."

5) My Life Among the Aliens by Gail Gauthier

This book is a series of short stories about 9-year-old Will and his younger brother Bob who are visited by different aliens in each story. I think Alex liked that the aliens showed up in such a normal setting and the kids were the only ones who noticed, or knew what they were.

Alex says, "Well, in every chapter there is a different alien and Will's mom thinks it is just his imagination. But, it is not. She finds out that it's real on the last chapter, which is chapter 8. I recommend this book because it is a mix of science fiction and fiction. It's comedy and a little bit of adventure."

6) Jack and the Seven Deadly Giants by Sam Swope

I picked this book up in the school library while I was reshelving a couple of weeks ago. It's a take-off on Jack and the Beanstalk and the seven deadly sins. The sins take the form of giants who have that particular failing. Jack is a clever orphan (who may not be orphaned) who fights the giants and finds a home.

Alex says, "I think that lots of people would like it because it's fake and I think that everybody likes fiction. In every chapter it's a different giant and in the last one it's the queen of the giants."

Shelley says, "We don't want to give away the end, do we?"

Alex replies, "Noooo."

7) Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney

Alex says, "It's all new, well, kind of new. It's been out a few months now. I think all of Jeff Kinney's books are good but in our last report on Cabin Fever, that is the book before this. I like it because all of his books go together. It's really funny. It's about Greg in February. The seasons match up because it's almost Valentine's Day, and this is about Valentine's Day. It's about Greg Heffley, and you can tell by the title, he is wimpy. This is the 7th book in this series. Greg is trying to get a date for the Valentine's dance at school. There are less girls than boys in their school and they said that everyone is going to have a partner, and boys are desparate to get a date. They might get paired up with another boy if they don't. That is weird. Greg tried to get a date but his friend Rowley stole her. Greg thought Rowley had chicken pox but it turned out to be pimples. He thought his girlfriend had chicken pox and he screamed in the middle of their dance and Rowley stole her. Even though no one had chicken pox, Greg got chicken pox. If you read Cabin Fever you would know this, their uncle moved in with them. Even he had good luck, he won the lottery."

Alex read this book alone, so I can't vouch for it. He did tell me about his progress each night while reading it. He told me that Greg had to find a date for the dance, and that he had one but he didn't know her. I said, "Oh, so it's a blind date." Alex looked puzzled, "No, she's not blind!" I tried to explain but I'm not sure the concept made it across.