Book Reviews by Kids - May 2007

Tale of Despereaux

by Kate Dicamillo

The Tale of Despereaux is the saga of an incredibly courageous mouse named Despereaux who has three great loves: music, stories and the Princess Pea. It is also the story of a servant girl named Mig and a twisted rat named Roscuro. When their worlds collide, adventure is inevitable, creating an unlikely yet highly entertaining fairytale. The Tale of Despereaux is an enchanting novel that transports the reader into its fantasy world. The suspense makes it impossible to stop reading, and it is told with such sincerity that despite its fantastical setting, it is believable. 

Reviewed by Pirate Princess - age 16

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

by Terry Pratchett

Maurice was an ordinary cat, until suddenly, one day he was changed. And not only him, but also the rats that lived nearby. Now they could talk and think like humans. Maurice and the rats joined forces with a young boy who played the pipes. The rats would go into a town and begin causing trouble and making people think there was a “rat plague”. The town would then play to have the young boy play his pipe, and lead the rats out of town, where the money was split evenly among the rats, Maurice, and the boy. However, when they come upon a new town, and begin to play their trick, they soon discover an evil much larger than rat infestation. This hilarious book by Terry Pratchett is not only exciting to read, but is also amazingly funny, with thrilling passages that will have you on the edge of your seat, and only moments later, falling off it and onto the floor, rolling over and out of breath because of laughter. 

Reviewed by Dude Man - Age 15

The Secret School

by Avi 

Fourteen year old Ida Bidson wants to become a school teacher. She just needs to pass eighth grade and go on to high school. Going on to high schools not going to be easy, especially for a girl living in the Colorado mountains in 1925, Her pa won't let her go, unless times are good on their family farm. Ida knows she can do it if her pa will let her. 

All of the sudden her town's one-room school house closes because of the lack of a teacher (their teacher, Miss Fletcher, has a mother very ill). Because there's only 1 month of school left, the school board won't be looking for a new teacher. What this means is that Ida won't be taking the eighth grade exams. If she doesn't take the eighth grade exams she won't be going to high school, if she doesn't go to high school she can't become a teacher. How will Ida solve this problem? Read this exciting book about the adventure of learning and struggle.

Reviewed by Peach - Age 12

The Legend of Spud Murphy

by Eoin Colfer

In the summer there are these two kids who have nothing to do, so their mom and dad are looking for ideas to do in the summer. They send the kids to the library. There's a lady there that the kids call Spud Murphy because they say she shoots a spud gun at bad kids.

It made me laugh when the kids were testing Spud on what she could do because it was like she was psychic. It's really funny.

Reviewed by Sports Guy - Age 10