Book Report: JAKE IN SPACE!

This book is called, ‘JAKE IN SPACE: MOON ATTACK!’, written by Candice Lemon-Scott. It is about a boy named Jake who lives on the Future Earth. But, Jake doesn’t know how to drive his own space car and Jake’s parents, not being satisfied with driving him to school, send Jake to a remedial driving school. Jake doesn’t want to be there but he is forced to go and train on the moon. There, he finds a few good friends named Rory (who is from Mars), Henry (who is from Jupiter) and Milly and Skye (who are from Venus). Jake hates it in the remedial driving school but during his stay there, discovers a dangerous mystery! What could it be? By and by, Jake sees Henry sneaking out in the night and driving out on space without a spacesuit! Wait a second, only robots can do that! Could Henry be a robot? Milly, Skye, Rory and Jake follow Henry on space cars one night and land up on a platform. Henry seems to know that they followed him and reveals a secret. Read the book to find out what this is! Anyways, they realise that Henry has only come to remedial space school stop Gradock, the owner, from doing something bad. Shocked by this discovery, Jake presses a button which delays Henry’s solution. After tracking Jake and his friends, Gradock arrives at their platform and starts his launching! He is going to destroy the Moon and Earth! Jake and his friends hop into a space car and follow Gradock as he drives away. Jake manages to turn upside down and the friends run into Gradock’s spacecar. Skye uses Slooper Goo 2 to make sure that Gradock doesn’t escape and then Henry’s fake parents come and arrest him. Jake and his friends learn that Henry works in a space company like a space police spy. Henry was working on his new mission, gathering help from Jake and friends. Henry’s fake parents are actually officers from the space police station called CIA. After solving this intriguing mystery, Jake goes back to his Earth and is proud to know that he can drive his own space car. He gets an invitation to a Rocket Battle competition. Will he go or not? Read Jake in Space: Moon Attack and Jake in Space: Rocket Battles to find out!

What I liked about the book:

·    I really like Sci- fi books and this is a true sci- fi book. I loved the intense language and all the cool technology gadgets in the book. While reading this book I was seeing it like a film in my head with chasing music in it! I was very excited to read about the levers, buttons, space cars, suits, walkie talkie like gadgets and other things. Now I feel like driving a space car! I wonder if there are actually remedial space car driving schools in real life. That would be awesome!

·    In some parts of the story, I had goosebumps because the scene was intense and mysterious. Mystery and Sci-fi and two of my favorite genres. In my opinion, this story mixed the two genres really well. I knew when the mystery started and the sci-fi died down but I never knew when the interest in the story would end.

·    I like the idea of robots a lot. It adds an extra mystery to the story.

·    Books don’t normally have the start of the next book in the book itself. Of course most books have sneak peeks of the next book in the series but this is different. While ending the story with Jake going back home, it starts a new story with an invitation to a Rocket Battle competition.  

·    My librarian in school recommended this book to me and I think I know why. This book is a great story about friendship and it teaches folks like me some action language that is catchy, quirky and fast- paced. When I read this book, I knew I had to read it fast because the language itself tells you to read fast and the author’s writing is fast paced and quirky. 

·    Finally, fun time! Here are a few questions for people who have read the book or come back to this blog after you have read the book to answer the following:

1.   How did Gradock track Jake and his friends?

2.   How many questions did Jake get right on his Theory test?

3.   What does CIA stand for?

4.   What is Slooper goo?

5.   How do you let go of Slooper goo?

6.   Who is your favorite character in the story? Why?

I WOULD GIVE THIS BOOK A 9 OUT OF 10 RATING!

FIND OUT WHAT I MEAN BY READING, ‘JAKE IN SPACE: MOON ATTACK!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON AMAZON FOR $14.99!

Book Report: ROOM ON THE ROOF!

This book is called, ‘ ROOM ON THE ROOF’ written by Ruskin Bond. It is about an orphaned boy named Rusty who has no real family after his parents’ death. He is very lonely and sad and even though he lives with his guardian (Mr. John Harrison), he doesn’t feel at home. Rusty is going through several emotions; he is confused, obliged, helpless, lonely and sad.  He is confused because he is a young boy between the age of an adult and child and doesn’t know who to follow or what his future holds. He is obliged to follow the orders and rules of his guardian and dares not disobey him. He feels helpless because he knows that if he disobeys Mr. John, he will get caned. Rusty doesn’t have any real friends and he is so very lonely in his guardian’s house. Even though Rusty is half Indian, John doesn’t let Rusty near the bazaar for a reason : John thinks that Indians are very dirty and this story is written just after the British had ruled over India, so he must have felt more superior! One day, Rusty decides to get some fresh air and takes a walk while his guardian was away to Delhi. After walking through the forest, he stops in front of the bazaar and his mind is arguing with his instinct. His mind is saying, ‘Don’t go! You will get into trouble.’ but his instinct is saying, ‘Go! You have your own heart and mind. You don’t have to live under rules all the time.’ Rusty chooses to follow his instinct and steps into the bazaar. He has made a good choice. Up until now, Rusty doesn’t have any hope or confidence but then he meets a kind boy named Somi and makes friends with him. Somi and his friends become Rusty’s hope and confidence and Somi and Ranbir are really kind to Rusty. When Rusty returns home, he finds that his guardian has returned early and gets caned for going to the bazaar. The next day, he goes to play Holi with Ranbir and once again gets caned. Rusty now knows what he has to do. He starts to live his own life and runs away from his guardian’s house. Rusty finds Somi who supports him a lot. Slowly, from a confused boy, Rusty turns into a confident and independent young man! He gets a job teaching English to a boy named Kishen, in return for a tiny room on the roof and food. He finds a loving and fun family, his independence, and even finds his ‘first love’ in Kishen’s mother Meena. The story takes a turn, when he loses all his friends and his first love too. Now Rusty’s last source of confidence and hope has gone away and his lonely days return. Rusty spends his sad days looking out at the window and once again, plans to run away. He decides to go back to England but before doing so, he wants to say a last goodbye to his friends and finds Kishen who convinces him to change his mind about returning to the UK. Instead, the two walk away together to form their own new world and life without worrying about anything else.

What I like about the book:

• I like this book because it was written from a teenager’s perspective. The author was seventeen when he wrote this and the story was inspired by his own experiences when he lived in Dehra. He wrote this story because he too was feeling some of the emotions that Rusty was feeling in the story. And for that reason, he decided that he would never make any revisions so readers could understand how it feels to be seventeen.  (mentioned in the Introduction by Ruskin Bond himself)
• It was a great read because it has a lot of different emotions and I like the way Ruskin Bond has written it : a simple story made into such a touching and sad book.
• There were a few funny descriptions like when Ruskin Bond described a situation as, ‘When a butterfly landed on the missionary’s wife’s palatial bosom….’ I laughed a lot and when my mum read it, she also laughed.  
• After reading the Room on The Roof, I am looking forward to reading a few of Ruskin Bond’s other stories. I wonder why children of my generation don’t read more of his books. Here are some books I am interested in reading from his collection :  ‘Panther’s Moon and Other Stories’, ‘The Hidden Pool’, ‘Rusty goes to London’ etc..
• I think the author has explained an important message in this book. Rusty’s guardian seems to be a little racist, who chooses to live in India but not mix with the people there. I think if people live in a country, they should mix with the people and appreciate their culture.
• The lesson in this story for me is to remain open as Rusty was and to follow my instincts. If Rusty had not becomes friends with the people of the bazaar he would never have had all the wonderful experiences in the story.
• Ruskin Bond reminds me of Roald Dahl because they both use interesting language and really funny phrases to describe their characters and their stories. They both write simple but wonderful stories. Even though, Roald Dahl is more fantastical and Ruskin Bond’s stories feel like memoirs but presented as a story.

I WOULD GIVE THIS BOOK A 9 OUT OF 10 RATING!

FIND OUT WHAT I MEAN BY READING THE ROOM ON THE ROOF!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON AMAZON FOR $ 0.54 !

This book report was posted on The Guardian's site first.

Disclaimer: If you would like to read this book, I recommend that you ask your parents first.

Book Report : QUINNY AND HOPPER

 This book is called ‘QUINNY AND HOPPER’ written by Adriana Brad Schanen. It is about two friends named Quinny and Hopper. Quinny is moving from New York to a place called Whisper Valley and doesn’t like it at all. She is moving with her parents and her two younger sisters named Piper and Cleo who are very annoying. Quinny doesn’t appreciate them much especially because Piper spies on her and Cleo licks her with her spit! Eeww! When Quinny reaches Whisper Valley, she finds a new friend named Hopper who is a quiet boy and is extremely shy at first but opens up later. Quinny’s personality is almost the complete opposite. She is a chatty, active and impulsive character. Even though the two are the total opposites, they still make a great team. Each one’s personality helps the other: Hopper’s cleverness helps Quinny learn new things and Quinny’s friendliness and activeness makes Hopper less shy. Together, the two have a lot of fun doing fun things like chasing and catching chickens etc.. Then, Quinny and Hopper both receive a letter telling them that their school is starting. Quinny is very excited but Hopper isn’t and claims that everything about their friendship will end. The reason he says this is because he doesn’t have any friends in school and thinks that Quinny won’t want to be his friend and would want to move on with her life. Quinny is shocked for a few days with Hopper’s new attitude but then forces herself to think that Hopper never even was her friend in the first place. As Hopper thinks she would, Quinny moves on with her life and chooses a wrong type of friend. They go to school and once again, Hopper is lonely. He sits on the staircase and reads his book. Meanwhile, Quinny and her new friend, Victoria, are playing and Victoria starts to be mean and bossy with Quinny but Quinny is helpless. On the other hand, Hopper has finally overcome his shyness and found a game that he likes. He becomes the new champion in a running game called Tag and even goes and tags Quinny because he feels like he wants to be her friend again and that he can sort a few things out. Quinny swirls around and argues with Hopper a little at first, but then finally starts to play with him. Victoria teases them and Quinny pushes her away. Quinny and Hopper are both very annoyed with Victoria and feel like paying her back for all the bossy things she does. They also feel glad and less confused because they are back together and have nothing to worry about regarding the safety of their friendship. Quinny tells Hopper that he should never think that she won’t be his friend because she will always with be with him. Their friendship starts to heal. Now, from an unsure and confused friendship, Quinny and Hopper have turned into a really strong friendship.

What I like about this book is:

• As soon as I picked ‘Quinny and Hopper’, I knew it would be a winner. From the first page, I could not stop reading it till the book was done.
• This book follows a simple story line: two friends, a problem, the friends are not good friends anymore and then something happens to make them realise the value of their friendship and they become friends again. It is a simple story line which turns into such an interesting book with 2 very different perspectives.
• One thing that I really liked about the book was how the author has organised and written the chapters. Each chapter is either called ‘Quinny’ or ‘Hopper’ and whichever name it is, that becomes the perspective it is written in. It was interesting to see both the views and the feel of the chapters is so different from each other. “Quinny” chapters are fast and as you read it, you will hear yourself go  fast. “Hopper” chapters feel more quiet and careful and you will notice it in the way the author writes.
• When I read ‘Quinny and Hopper’, I could relate to my real life because the story is like two friends of mine. One friend is trying to steal the other friend away from me but fortunately the friend keeps coming back! Being 8-12 is a difficult and confusing time I think and this book captures that well.
• I think the book has a great sense of humour and tragedy too. Humour, such as, there is a conversation in the book with Quinny and her dad and Quinny asks her dad why they even have her sisters and her dad says, “I know. We took them with us and I think we might have to stick with them.” LOL! And tragic too because at one point in the story, you really feel sorry for Hopper.
• Overall, it’s a very good book and is easy to understand. I would recommend it to ages 8-12 because they mostly have problems like these and can relate to it and even take a lesson from it.
• Finally, Fun quiz time! Here are a few questions for those who have read the book. Write your answers in the section below my report. Oh! and no cheating, alright? J  

1.  What are the names of Hopper’s bullying brothers?

2. What is Quinny’s full name?

3. Who is Mrs. Porridge?

4. How many teeth does Quinny have?

5. What does Hopper love and what is his room full of?

I WOULD GIVE THIS BOOK A 10 OUT 10 RATING!

FIND OUT WHAT I MEAN BY READING QUINNY AND HOPPER!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON AMAZON FOR $6.99!