The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The invention of Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznick 

The invention of Hugo Cabret is an amazing book although it has a lot of pictures it is a great book.  It starts off as Hugo (the main character) running through the train station into his little apartment at the top of the train station.  Hugo is an orphan.  But only he knows that.  A couple years back his dad went to work but he never returned that night Hugo heard a knock at the door and it was his uncle (also known as the clock worker at the train station).  He had told Hugo everything that had happened to his dad.  So Hugo now works with his uncle as the clock worker at the train’s station.  Until one night when his uncle never returned.   Now poor Hugo has no family left and has to steal to survive but a machine that his father was working on that got destroyed in a fire Hugo now has to fix to find out what his father was trying too tell him.  Hugo goes threw many troubles trying to fix the machine his dad was once working on and he steels from this   toy booth in the train station and the man who work’s there catches him sand tells him to empty his pockets and he has this notebook that is the only way to fix the machine that his father was once building.  The old man looks at the notebook and takes it away from Hugo and that’s when the adventure begins in this book.  Hugo goes threw many troubles between trying to get his notebook back and working the clocks by himself.  It won’t bee easy for him but he has to fix the machine.  Hugo meets this girl along the way and she tells him she knows where his notebook is.  Hugo eventually fix’s the machine and finds out what his father  was trying to tell him.  It doesn’t make sense the message is not from him. You’ll have too read the book to find out where Hugo’s adventure will take him.

Carly ~ Mr. Nixon grade 5

Book Review by Gr. 5 student Ryan ~ Guardians of Ga'hoole #4 : The Siege

  Guardians of Ga'Hoole #4: The Siege

                

 “Well, sprink on your spronk”!  One of the most famous quotes from the funniest yet most savage Guardians book yet.  Judging by the cover, it seems that the book is presumably violent, but don’t judge the book by its cover.

 The book opens with Kludd, Soren’s evil brother whose face got burnt during book 3. It shows him killing Simon, a pilgrim owl, in the middle of the forest of Ambala. This is a slightly brutal way to begin the book, but I don’t see why not. The plot line is simple, Kludd and his “pure ones” are planning an attack on the tree of Ga’Hoole, while Soren and his new found organization “the Chaw of Chaws” go and spy on the deadly orphanage they were once forced to live in. However due to different reasons, the pure ones are using the orphanage’s ultimate weapon, iron flecks.

 So, the story ends with one of the most gory battles the series has to offer.  Some clever new add ins have came for this book, including  Kludd having an even more evil mate, Soren having “starsight” (being able to predict the future while dreaming),and a new slipgizzle “Mist” whose true identity is more interesting than you think. This book makes you cry at least once because there are some down hearting deaths in this book, especially one that will get you, and Otulissa crying.  Funny parts are common though, especially when Otulissa was angry at Dewlap for not letting her read a book, so she yelled at the top of her lungs “WELL, SPRINK ON YOUR SPRONK” which was enough to make Dewlap faint. I also found it funny that Mist’s snake talked very sssssssslittttthhheryyyy when addressing Soren and friends.

There was some not well placed violence though, because we really didn’t need those barn owls fighting each other randomly when they betrayed the pure ones. We also didn’t need the fact that Otulissa scarred Stryker and Wortmore, because only Nyra deeply deserved it. This is a great fiction book by a great author (Kathryn Lasky) in a great series, but it is slightly repetitive. This book is best to be read in its correct order in the series, so all the secrets you already know will come in handy for this book

                                             Verdict

                     O: Good plotline

                     O:  Humour is great

                     O: Sad parts make the story better

                      X: Unnecessary violence

                      X: Slightly repetitive battle style of the last book

                              8.5/10

                            A great book for animal lovers and adventure seekers alike.

Ryan ~ Grade 5

Gr. 5 Book Review

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane-By Kate Dicamillo

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is a heart-warming story about a rabbit who learns to love.  I cried the first time I read it.  Edward is owned by many people, yet he only starts to love them when he gets lost over and over again.  Edward’s heart is broken time and time again, but he manages to mend it even if it is a little crooked.  The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is “an achingly beautiful story” that is one of my all time favourites.  The genre is romance because Edward learns to love and it’s fairly sad as well.  Kate Dicamillo uses very descriptive words that take you soaring thought the story with Edward painting a beautiful image into your mind.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

By: Catherine Gr. 5