Book Reviews by Kids - March 2006

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

"Scout Finch and her brother Jem live in a small town in the South. Their father, Atticus is a lawyer. Scout and Jem have a pretty simple life: they play in their tree house, read, run around, and try to lure Boo Radley, the town legend, out of his house. Then, their father takes a case that will change forever how people look at them and how they look at the world.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a simple book that says a lot. It is an easy read, (I got through it in a couple weeks) but it also is very thought-provoking. It has powerful insights into human nature, such as this quote by Jem, "If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other?" It has a perfect blend of humor and seriousness. Harper Lee's classic novel is still just as much of a good read as it was when it was first written. 

Reviewed by Pirate Princess - age 15

Shade's Children

by Garth Nix

In future times, no human lives past the age of fourteen. When they reach that age they are taken to the Meat Factory and turned into evil servants of the Overlords. However, some children can escape. Gold-eye is one of these few children. He seeks refuge with “The Shade”, a computer with the thoughts, personality, and memories of a human, who takes in escaped children and with them tries to defeat the wicked Overlords. Gold-eye must join with the other escaped children to destroy the evil that has come to Earth. Full of excitement, action, betrayal and revenge, this book is full from cover to cover with all the things that avid readers will love. The original characters and thoroughly enjoyable battle between good, evil, and what appears to be good but might really be bad, creates an amazing story that not allow you to put it down.

Reviewed by Dude Man - Age 14

Lost Star: The Story of Amelia Earhart

by Patricia G. Lauber

I would definitely recommend the book Lost Star because it's very very very very very very very easy to read. There were hardly any words I didn't know. This book is also very interesting and you learn a lot about Amelia Earhart such as what Amelia liked to do when she was a child. This book is not very long. The chapters are about 10 pages each and the whole book is only about 100 pages. If want to read a book about Amelia Earhart you should definitely read this book because it's easy to read, it's very interesting and this book is not very long.

Reviewed by Peach - Age 11

The Stinky Cheeseman and other Fairly Stupid Tales

by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith

In this book there are funny tales like the ugly duckling except the duckling’s uglier and crazier. It was funny when it was telling a story of the sky is falling and then the author interfered and said wait I forgot to make the table of contents. This book is really funny you should read this book.

Reviewed by Sports Guy - Age 8