Mason's Blog

Dear Ellen Bee is written by Mary E. Lyons and Muriel M. Branch.  It is about a women named Miss Bet and a girl named Mary Elizabeth Van Lew (Liza).  These people are Negro.  Miss Bet sent Liza to Philadelphia for school.  Liza met a boy named Wilson Bowser and they ended up getting married at age fourteen.  They went back to Virginia to live with Clara Coleman (Miss Clara).  Wilson went to Fort Monroe to work for the military.  Then Miss Bet decided that Liza and her should become spies. They still wrote but called each other Ellen Bee.  They also had a secret code for important things that they didn’t want other people to be able to read.  The town was set on fire by the happenings outside now all they  could do was pray.  Then the Union won the Civil War!

I would rate this book a nine out of ten because it was very interesting with the things happening in the book.  Someone who likes history might like this book.

Mischief Makers is written by Heather Dakota and is a fantasy.  It is about these creatures (elves, krakens, piasas, werewolves, manticores, sirens, basiliks, etc.) that mess things up and parents blame it on the kids.  A big mischief maker is Bigfoot.  They are really only trying to make things look nice but make a mess doing it.  Some of them have pets.  They cause floods too.  One mess was when a mischief maker tried to put books that were laying around and put them in the fridge.

I would rate this book a two out of 10 because it wasn’t that adventurous.  Someone that is a mischief maker might like this book.

Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to NOT to Read is written by Tommy Greenwald.  It is about a boy named Charlie Joe Jackson who hates reading so he makes a deal with a boy named Timmy McGibney to read Charlie Joe’s assigned books from school.  Charlie buys ice cream sandwiches for Timmy.  They’ve been doing it for about two years.  Soon Timmy tells his parents and Charlie gets in HUGE trouble.  About a month later, he sets up another “arrangement” with Jake Katz.  Jake is set up by Charlie to date a girl named Hannah Spivero (Charlie’s secret crush) to write a paper about totally different cliques making a perfect couple.  At the school dance, Jake and Hannah were made king and queen.  While Jake was making his speech, he was very happy and didn’t really know what he was saying.  He told about reading books for Charlie Joe.  Charlie Joe was in even BIGGER trouble than earlier in the year.  He wasn’t allowed to use his phone and the computer for the rest of the summer and had to either write a story or read ten books.  Obviosly, he picked to write a book.  He spent the whole summer writing about everything that happened over the school year.  This is a realistic fiction book.

I would rate this book a 10 out of 10 because I am not a huge fan of reading.  Someone who also doesn’t like like reading may like this book.

The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb is an informational book written by Michael Burgan and was published in 2005.  It was published by Capstone Press.  This book tells about people dieing after going into King Tut’s tomb.  It tells about a man who survived and didn’t die early like everyone else did.  It also explains how people wrap up mummies.

I learned that six out of 36 people died after visiting Tut’s tomb.  I also learned that Howard Carter opened Tut’s tomb (casket).  It told me that most tombs are underground.  Cool right?  Find more information on this book.

I would rate this book a 5 out of 10 because I just didn’t like it that much.  I would recommend this to people who like history.

Baboushka and the Three Kings is written by Ruth Robbins.  It is a traditional literature book.  It is about a woman meeting three kings that have been following a bright star to a place where a Babe is born.  They ask Baboushka to find the child (Babe).  She says no but the next day she tried to find them but couldn’t and asked many people.  They all said that they didn’t know.  She never found them and her search has never ended.

I would rate this a 3 out of 10 because it wasn’t that good to me and it wasn’t that long.  I would recommend this to people who like picture books and the word wise.