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School
Critics
Vol. 4, Issue 3
Reviews you can tru
st.
www.briarcliffmanorlibrary.org/
June, 2009
Books,Movies,Games,Music,Anime and more...
reviews in this issue
Bolt
Uglies
Knowing
The Soloist
Masquerade
Death Note
All American Girl
American Born Chinese
Artemis Fowl: Time Paradox
The Year of Secret Assignments
The Disreputable History of
Frankie Landeau-Banks
Tom Sawyer
the critics
APSJAZLLHO
Biscuit
I-Need-aCreative-Penname
Lynn Minn
Mona Lisa
Peace, Love, Happiness
join the club
Do you want to be a critic?
Contact Amy Kaplan, Children & Teens
Librarian at Briarcliff Manor Public Library.
941-7072 or [email protected]
The opinions expressed in the reviews are not necessarily the opinion of the Library. The appropriateness of the materials
reviewed is not for the Public Library to determine and the students are encouraged to review whatever they’d like—therefore, we
encourage parents to be involved in and be aware of their children’s book, movie, television, gaming, and music choices.
2
Middle School Critics
Death Note
By Tsugumi Ohba
Critic: Mona Lisa
Light Yagami is a bored “A”
student but suddenly he
stumbles on the mysterious
Death Note, a book in which
whoever’s name is written in dies. If you had it
who would you kill? Your enemies, your
teachers….well, Yagami chooses criminals, but
the famous detective, “L” challenges Light
(nicknamed Kira) to war, making Light’s #1
objective to kill “L.”
Too lazy to read? Watch Death Note anime on
hulu.com!
Uglies
By Scott Westerfeld
Critic: I-Need-a-CreativePenname
Imagine a world where everyone is breathtakingly gorgeous,
with perfect bodies, clothes and
faces. For Tally Youngblood, this world is real.
Not yet, but when she turns 16, she will get an
operation that will turn her into another pretty,
just like everyone else. When the last of Tally’s
friends turn pretty, she is alone, and then she
meets Shay. Over the summer months, Shay
and Tally become excellent tricksters and best
friends. A week before the operation, Shay
decides she doesn’t want to be pretty and runs
away to a city called the Smoke, where other
rebels are living. Somehow, the authorities find
out and threaten Tally to either turn Shay in, or
never turn pretty at all. This book was really
interesting and had lots of unexpected plot
twists and turns. It was awesome!
Bolt
Movie, rated PG
Critic: APSJAZLLHO
When I first heard about this
movie, I thought it looked
really cute, yet really cheesy
at the same time. After
watching it, it turned out to
be a really good movie, however the plot’s
been a bit done before. Anybody ever seen
101 Dalmations II: Patch’s London Adventure?
Well, here’s a quick summary: One of the little
dogs (Patch) loves to watch his favorite
show—Thunderbolt and Lightning (sound
familiar?). The show’s about a dog with super
powers. Well, of course, since Patch is only a
dog, he thinks that Thunderbolt really has super powers, not that he’s just on a TV show.
Well, the movie Bolt is pretty much exactly
that. Bolt the dog is on a TV show (alongside
Miley Cyrus’s character!!) and he thinks he
actually has super powers. Bolt ends up in
New York (I won’t get into the details) and he
has to find out the hard way that he doesn’t
have superpowers, while he makes his way
back home in California (don’t ask me how a
dog, a cat, and a hamster can go all the way
from New York to California, but that’s why it’s
a movie). Besides the old plot line, it’s a really
cute movie, and very humorous—definitely not
just for little kids! (I would use me as an
example for older kids who like the movie, but
I’m as easily amused as a 4 year old, so I’m a
bad example.)
3
Middle School Critics
Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox
By Eoin Colfer
Critic: Lynn Minn
The books Artemis Fowl are
often abandoned by the extremely reluctant reader. Either the book was too boring
or no one likes the main character because he was cold
hearted. The sixth book was
recently released and if you
abandoned Artemis Fowl, the
first book, you should try and pick up Artemis
Fowl and the Arctic Incident. However, if you
abandoned the books after the fourth or fifth
book, you probably shouldn’t read the sixth.
Artemis Fowl must travel back in time with the
fairy, Captain Holly Short to retrieve a medicine
for his dying mother. The medicine can only be
retrieved from a rare species of monkey’s brain,
a species that Artemis himself made extinct,
many years back. Artemis Fowl and the Time
Paradox shows a more determined, softer
Artemis, so if you abandoned Artemis Fowl for
the reason that the main character is evil, try
this book—you might surprise yourself. In my
opinion, Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox was
not an excellent book, but a pretty good one.
So you should try Artemis Fowl and the Time
Paradox if you abandoned the series before.
Knowing
Movie, rated PG-13
Critic: I-Need-a-CreativePenname
The movie Knowing is rated
PG-13 for “disturbing images.” when I saw that, I
didn’t think anything of it. It
turns out that the movie
really was disturbing. My friends ditched me in
the middle of the movie because they got
freaked out. The movie was overly depressing
and way dramatic. If you think can handle it,
go for it. If not, don’t. I liked it, but it was
scary.
American Born Chinese
By Gene Luen Yang
Critic: Mona Lisa
In a world filled with
crappy black and white
pictures and cells that fill
the entire page, comes
American Born Chinese, a
graphic novel. It’s a
tri-storyline comedy/drama
that shows the life of a
monkey king, a Chinese immigrant and a
stereotypical Chinese teen. Filled with laughs.
4
Middle School Critics
The Soloist
Movie, rated PG-13
Critic: Peace, Love,
Happiness
If you want to see a movie
about a mentally challenged
homeless man, who can play
cello, go see The Soloist! If
you’re in the mood for something happy, rent Kung Fu Panda. In my
opinion, The Soloist gets 5 stars in the terrible
category. The movie has a good message, but
awful sequence.
The Year of Secret
Assignments
By Jaclyn Moriarty
Critic: APSJAZLLHO
I’m only about half way done
with this book, but I can
already tell that it is a great
one. It’s fun, witty and easy
to read. I don’t mean that
it’s necessarily a low reading level book, but its
format (letters/diary entries/etc.) makes it easier
to concentrate on the main plot, instead of
focusing on big unnecessary words or elaborate
metaphors that nobody understands. Besides
the format of the book, the characters are all
very different, unique and enjoyable to read
about. So far, this is a great book, and I think
you should give it a shot.
All American Girl
By Meg Cabot
Critic: APSJAZLLHO
I read this book because it
was on the summer reading list, and a few people
had recommended it to
me. Now, normally I
wouldn’t have even picked
up the book-it looks way too girly, with pink
sparkles and all—but I’m glad I gave it a
chance. It was really good, and not at all what
I expected. It’s about a girl (Sam) who saves
the president from being shot—more specifically, she tackles a guy with a gun to the
ground. Sure, there’s some gushy romantic
parts, but overall it’s a lot better than I
expected, and I definitely recommend it.
5
Middle School Critics
Masquerade
The Disreputable
History of Frankie
Landeau-Banks
By Melissa De La Cruz
Critic: Lynn Minn
In this dark sequel to Blue
Bloods, Schuyler Van Alen
searches for the secret to
defeat the Silver Blood
vampires. She travels to
Venice to seek the help of
her reclusive grandfather.
She leaves Venice, brokenhearted—her grandfather wishes to have nothing to do with
anyone.
In the meanwhile, NYC socialite Mimi Force is
planning a huge masquerade party. The true
secrets could be unlocked right there, when a
mysterious masked boy lures Schyler. Bliss
Llewyller is having a dark recurring dream about
herself being chased by a monster. She’s scared
and afraid—are the silver bloods chasing her?
The stakes are brought to a new height, when a
handsome new boy enters Dushcene Private
School. He’s different. A different, dangerous
being...Romance, glamour, and vampire lore is
tied together in this stunning twenty first
century novel, where even the most dangerous
immortals are in danger.
By E. Lockhart
Critic: APSJAZLLHO
This book was another
one on the summer reading list. Now usually the
books on the summer
reading list are really boring, or like, way easy, but this is a whole other
story. It was one of the most interesting and
suspenseful books I have ever read. I totally
did not expect the ending, and the entire plot
was so unique. I can’t even describe this
book, that’s why this review is so pathetic.
Just read this book. (By the way, it’s about a
girl.)
Tom Sawyer
By Mark Twain
Critic: I-Need-aCreative-Penname
The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer is “a classic.”
“Everyone of all ages will
enjoy it.” LIES! THEY’RE
ALL LIES! Tom Sawyer is
a young boy who lives in
the 1800s with a sense of adventure. Sound
interesting? It’s not. Each chapter is a grand
total of 3 whole pages, and each is a separate
adventure. The characters are not exciting,
not interesting and hard to understand or
empathize with. All in all, it stunk. I
completely struggled through the entire book.
DON’T READ IT IF YOU CAN HELP IT!
Remember: a classic is something everyone
wants to have read, but nobody actually wants
to read.
Middle School Critics
Lynn Minn
6
Biscuit
Biscuit is very creative. Biscuit is very cool and
her friends are totally jealous. She can balance
a beach ball on her nose; she can say the
alphabet backwards and forwards. Her favorite
color is green and she plays lead kazoo in a
kazoo band.
After trekking all over the
deserts of Africa, Lynn
returned to school here
in Briarcliff, but thinks of
taking off to a school in
an exotic country. Lynn
speaks many languages that enable her to
roam the world with her family. She enjoys
reading books that allow her to open a world
that she loves. Lynn also loves to direct, but
gets really nervous on stage. Lynn loves finding interesting souvenirs from around the
world!
APSJAZLLHO
I-Need-A-Creative-Penname
Full Name: Alison Plowy Staltson Jacoby
Arminio Luna Hobo Oglethorpe
Name: I’ve already mentioned that
Age: I sort of lost count
Bizarre, short, easily gets
high on air
I enjoy reading and writing, daydreaming and
doodling. I feel it is my duty to the people to
help them choose books. You’d be surprised
what that can do to people. I can’t draw for my
life or spell! My one plea for help is to think of
a more creative penname.
Hobbies: Talking, Eating,
Talking, Breathing, Poking
p.s. this is all true.
Loves: Alice Cullen,
being weird
Mona Lisa
Peace, Love, Happiness
Hobbies: Druming, Guitar, Riding a skateboard, Chilaxing with friends
I attend Briarcliff Middle School. I wake up in
the morning and eat food. Then I run after the
bus. At school I talk to my friends about traffic.
Nothing else to say.
Hobbies: hanging out with my boyfriend Leo,
sitting down, frowning
Favorite places: in front of mountains
Likes: modeling
Dislikes: Being stared out by thousands of
tourists