Xan

The Red Pyramid By: Rick Riordan “Dad raised his arms. He chanted: “Wo-seer, i-ei.” As stunned as I was, I recognized the first symbol. It was the name of the Egyptian god of the dead. “Wo-seer,” I whispered. I’d never heard it pronounced that way, but I knew what it meant. “Osiris.”

The Red Pyramid is a book written by Rick Riordan, about two kids, Sadie and Carter, who are possessed by the Egyptian gods Horus, and Isis. The book is set in the present, and in the United States, and it talks about Sadie and Carter’s journey to find out how their mother died, and to recover their father from an evil Red Pyramid built by Set, the Egyptian god of chaos.

The Red Pyramid is fiction, and I found it surprisingly believable. The plot is complete, and very interesting because it has a constant supply of new information. The main characters were easy to connect with because of their age. Rick Riordan’s books are aimed at a younger audience, and they encourage kids to read more, while teaching history and mythology.

The main characters, Sadie and Carter tell the story, alternating every few chapters. The whole story flows nicely, and the chapters almost always end without cliffhangers. The book also has many twists, and it keeps the reader interested. I read the whole 516 pages in one sitting.

I liked The Red Pyramid, because I like mythology, and fantasy, and I generally like Rick Riordan’s books. I would rate it a 4 out of 5 stars. It was interesting, it taught me a lot about Egyptian mythology, and it was well written. I also like books that are a bit longer (450+ pages) so that would definitely account for at least half a star.

Review by: Xan Lorimer

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Pyramid-Kane-Chronicles-Book/dp/1423113381/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1285080453&sr=8-1



The Red Kayak:

By: Priscilla Cummings

"I swallowed hard, and with Dad in front of me, one of his hands still resting on the kayak's hull and the rain pouring down, I told him. I told him everything."

The Red Kayak, written by Priscilla Cummings, is a fictional, suspenseful book about revenge, guilt, and justice. It takes place near Rock Hall, Maryland, on the Corsica River, in the late 1990's. The book is about a practical joke to get a man named Mr. DiAngelo wet in the Corsica River by drilling holes in his Red Kayak. However, the joke results in the death of his three-year-old son, the guilt of Brady Parks, who had the idea, and his two friends, Digger and JT, who actually carried out the plan. Brady can’t stand the guilt anymore, so he tells his parents and the police.

I thought the plot was very believable, possibly because I have been to Rock Hall, near where the story would’ve occurred, and also because the story was realistic. Brady has to constantly live with reminders of Ben, the 3 year old he was partially responsible for killing.

Even though it is not a very long book, I thought that it would be a difficult book to read, not because of the length and words, but because I thought it would be depressing. However, it was actually a very interesting book that was hard to put down, with a good ending. The book was interesting, hard to put down, and I could connect with JT, one of the characters, because he built computers. I would’ve liked it more if the book had been slightly longer, and if it hadn’t left any questions unanswered at the end, but other than that, 4 out of 5 stars.

Review by: Xan Lorimer

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Kayak-Priscilla-Cummings/dp/0142405736/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1285080536&sr=1-1



Twelve Angry Men By: Reginald Rose

“Everything... every single thing that came out in that courtroom, but I mean everything... says he's guilty.” __Twelve Angry Men__ is a fictional book about a murder. The whole story takes place in a small courtroom in New York City, where one man, Juror #8, works hard to prove that the boy accused of the murder didn’t do it. By the end of the book, Juror #8 manages to convince the 11 other Jurors to change their votes to “Not guilty,” just by making them unsure of the evidence. In the book, the characters are realistic. All of the jurors have their own personality that the writer introduces at different points in the book. Reginald Rose tries to make it so that you can relate to at least one of her characters, which I found to be really interesting. Aside from the characters, there’s also the structure of the book: the whole book is written like a play. I thought the book would be harder to read because of the style, but after I got into the story, I got used to it. The plot is believable and realistic. I really liked the fact that they focused on the jury room, and not just the court. Overall, I really enjoyed __Twelve Angry Men__. I learned how one man could make 11 other men change their minds, just by making them doubt their choice, and I learned about the judicial system. The book kept on getting more interesting as it went along. Every time a new piece of information was examined, and Juror #8 made everyone doubt that information, I became more interested in the book. I thought that the book would be very easy to read, and I was right. The book was both easy to read, and easy to understand. The book was very short, and it was worded nicely. I would give the book a 4.5 star rating. The book was boring at the beginning. I really didn’t get like the book until I was a few chapters in, so that’s why I took off half of a star. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an easy read, or to anyone who wants to do a play.

Review by: Xan Lorimer

http://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Angry-Men-Penguin-Classics/dp/0143104403/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1



"Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!" Lord Of The Flies is a book by William Golding about a group of boys whose plane crashes over an island. They try to form a working society without adults, but the society quickly crumbles and splits. The majority of the boys join the Savages, who hunt all day and have feasts every night. The remaining boys try to hold together their crumbling society hoping each day that they might be rescued. The plot of the book is… different, but interesting. A group of kids crash on an island and are forced to make their own society. As time goes on, some of the boys manage to find and kill pigs. The boys that kill the pigs turn violent, and split off from the society. Eventually, the violent boys actually kill some other kids, while whoever was left of the society tries to maintain a signal fire, hoping for rescue. The book is very interesting, and I could hardly put it down once I had started. The story took place on an island in the middle of nowhere, around the time that WWII started. On the island there is a mountain, a jungle, beaches, and a part of the island that is unexplored till further into the book. The unexplored part of the island has a cave, and the savage kids make that cave their base. Without the island as a setting, the book would not be nearly as interesting as it is. Without the island, the book wouldn’t even make sense. In the book, there are several characters of note. First, there is Ralph, the chief of the society. Second, there is Piggy, Ralph’s smart advisor. The third really important person is a boy named Jack, leader of the hunters, who breaks off from the society to form his group of savages. Overall, every character changes from the beginning of the book to the end. For example, at the beginning of the book, Jack just wants to hunt with his friends. When he finally kills his first pig, he starts to get a taste for killing, so he eventually becomes a savage. The book has a lot to do with human nature, and symbolism is a big part of the book. For example, when councils are held, there is a conch shell that the speaker holds. When someone else wants to speak, they have to have the conch. In that case, the conch, to me, represents law and order. Symbolism like that is all over the book. Overall, Lord Of The Flies is an interesting book that I would recommend to anyone who is at least 13 years old. It isn’t a long book, but it takes a long time to read. Id rate the book a 4.7 out of 5 stars. The only thing that took away from the book was the writing style (British) that annoyed me because of the wording.

http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Flies-Perigee-William-Golding/dp/0399501487





“So long, and thanks for all the fish!” For my third trimester book, I read __The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy__, by Douglas Adams. It is a science fiction book, and is the first in a series of five books, all by Douglas Adams.

__The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy__ has to do with the adventures of Arthur Dent, the only survivor of earth, after it was blow up to make way for a new intergalactic highway. In the first book, Arthur learns that earth was a giant computer, built by mice, to calculate the answer to life, the universe, and everything. The book tells a very interesting story, and is hard to put down once you’ve started.

__The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy__ takes place in the late 20th century. Most of the story is set on a spaceship called the Heart Of Gold, but there are many parts of the story that take place on various planets. The setting is the main thing that matters in the story, not so much the time.

Many different characters appear in __The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy__, but it is hard to connect with any of them, because they all have experiences that you would expect to hear from someone wearing a tinfoil hat and rolling around on the street corner.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was cool because it was science fiction, and very funny. I would rate it 5/5 stars, and would recommend it, and the rest of the series, to anyone who is 13 or more years old.

http://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Douglas-Adams/dp/0345391802