Realistic+Fiction

=2012-13 Realistic Fiction Book Talks= = =

=2010-11 Realistic Fiction Book Talks= = = //__ LOST AND FOUND __// //__ BY ANDERW CLEMETS __// Imagine being a twin. Having an identical twin brother for the past twelve years, and then one day seeing what it would be like if people did not know your were a twin. Being able to have your own identity and not be viewed as being part of a pair. This is what happened to Ray and Jay in the book Lost and Found by Andrew Clements. Ray and Jay are starting a new school in a new town. Ray has the flu and is unable to start school with Jay. The school ends up messing up the boys records and thinks only one boy is starting. The boys decide to take turns going to school. The main characters are Ray and Jay, and the boy’s parents. The setting takes place between their house and the school. This books genre is realistic fiction. I chose this book because I have read other books by Andrew Clements and have enjoyed them. The part that I am going to read to you is when the boys are discussing taking turns going to school. Jay is trying to convince Ray that this would be a good idea. If you want to find out what happens next, I recommend you read this book!

 -Michael T.

__Finally__ by Wendy Mass is one of my favorite books because its very funny and I can relate to the main charactor Rory because I always want to do the same kinds of grown-up things she wants to do. The gonra of this book is relistic fiction. The book is about a girl named Rory who has been waiting for a long time to turn 12. When she's 12 she'll be able to get a cell phone, get her ears peirecd and lots more she couldn't do earlier. Each time she trys one of these grown-up things she runs into some dificulties. While this is all happening a movie is being fillmed at her school in which she and her friends are being extras in. The most exciting part is that everyones favorite actor is staring in the movie. Rory has alot of embarassing moments, but each time she learns something new about herself. I choose this book because I really liked the first book in the series 11 Birthdays. The part of the story I am going to read to you is when Rory is getting her ears pirced and sonething unexpected happens. media type="file" key="Maddie-Finally.m4a" width="300" height="50" By Maddie

__Ivy and Bean and The Ghost Who Had To Go__ I read a book called Ivy and Bean and the goast who had to go by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall. I chose this book because I read a different book in the series it was also good. I also chose this because I think most books I read and like are realistic fiction and this one is. I recommend this book to you. It might be a little on the easy side, But it is still a really great book. it is about these two girls named Ivy and Bean. Bean is more sporty and Ivy is someone who loves reading. One thing they have in common is they both like pretending and adventures. They do a thing called the gymnastics club during recess. It is with Ivy, Bean and these two other girls named Emma and Zuzu. They all think there is a ghost in the girl's bath room and more and more people start to think that and all they do is stare at the girls bath room all during recess. One day the teacher asked why everyone was staring at the girls bath room and Zuzu blurted it out. Ivy and Bean got a little in trouble. I do not want to give away what happened so I am going to read you one of my favorite parts in the book. It is when they are making a potion and Bean needs to cut of part of her sister Nancy's hair. Bean needs to wake up in the middle of the night and go on her tippy toes to her sister Nancy's room, then she has to cut off part of Nancy's hair. But she has to make sure Nancy dose not wake up or dose not notice her hair is gone. media type="file" key="Grace -Ivy and Bean.m4a" width="300" height="50" By Grace Dore

__ Swindle __ By Gordon Korman

// You have been chosen for your special skills to do something that urgently needs to be done. To learn more, come to the “Ballroom” at 3:30. Don’t miss this. It will be worth your while. //

The book __Swindle__ by Gordon Korman is about a kid named Griffin and his friend Ben sleeping in an abandoned house, where Griffin finds an old Babe Ruth baseball card. He decides to sell it to S. Wendell (Swindle) Palomino for $150. Swindle is the owner of S. Wendell Palomino Collectibles Emporium. Griffin later finds out that Swindle had cheated him on the price of the card, and is going to sell the card at an auction for 1 million dollars. Meanwhile, Griffin’s family has to sell their house because of money issues. That made getting the card back mean a lot more to him, so Griffin and Ben put together a team to try to re-posses the card, but they will have to overcome many challenges. I chose this book because I’m very interested in baseball cards and I love big adventures. The book was so good I actually felt like one of the characters trying to recover the card. The genre of this book is realistic fiction, although I would not want a group of kids (or anybody) to try to break into a house and steal a valuble item. The part I’m going to read you is when Griffin and his heist team are about to encounter a surprise. By Max media type="file" key="Mtswindle.mp3" width="240" height="20"

__Fablehhaeven__ By Brandon Mull I read the book Fablehaeven by Brandon Mull and I thought it was fantastic. In this fun filled fantasy Kendra and her brother Seth vist thier grandparents who live in India on a huge reserve. But Kendra and Seth do have thier suspicions that thier grandpa Soreson is hiding something. Something very big and dangeorus, but the kids have the clues to prove themselves right. I read this book because my sister wanted me to read it so much I finally gave in. I also read this book because I love fantasy and action. If you are into this kind of book I think you should defintely read it. This book does have some hard vocabulary and it's a little scary, but I love the genre of fantasy and if you do to I think you should surtenly try it. I will now read a part when Seth and Dale, a man who works for his grandpa, are out doing thier chores. Dale leads them down a forked path to a grassy medow to see somethig important. media type="file" key="Lucy -Fablehaven.m4a" width="300" height="50" By Lucy

__Diamond Willow__ by Helen Frost __Diamond Willow__ by Helen Frost was one of the best books I have ever read. If you like adventurous books with some scary parts this book is for you. I picked this book because I read the blurb and it looked really interesting. Diamond Willow is about a girl named Willow who wants to mush to her grandparents house on her own. But she finds some trouble on the way. Just to warn any readers this book can sometimes get confusing. It can be confusing because the characters are Indian and belive that people who die come back as animals and live a new life. Parts of the story are being told by these animals. I will now read you the part when Willow and Roxy (her lead dog) get hurt. media type="file" key="Lindsay-Diamond Willow.m4a" width="300" height="50" By Lindsay

__It’s Raining Cupcakes__ By Lisa Schroeder The genre of __It’s Raining Cupcakes__ is realistic fiction. If you like sweet treats, you will love this book. It is about a girl named Isabelle whose mom is opening up a cupcake shop in the small town of Willow, Oregon. One day she finds an article in a magazine for a dessert making contest. The best part is it is in New York! Isabelle has always dreamed of traveling so now is her chance! There are also recipes at the back of the book. I have chosen a part of the book to read to you. The part is when she sees the article in the magazine. media type="file" key="Corynne-Raining Cupcakes 2.m4a" width="300" height="50"

By Corynne
__Rules__ By Cynthia Lord This is the book __Rules__ by Cynthia Lord. If you like realistic fiction this is the best book for you. This book is about a girl named Catherine who only wants to live a normal life. It is challenging to do that when she has a brother with autism named David. She tries to teach David rules the best she can. Over the summer Catherine meets two new people. Her new neighbor Krist, and someone at David's OT named Jason. Catherine's behavior by her friends makes her realize that she is forcing to ask herself, "What is normal?" I chose this book because my sister read it last summer and it looked good. So I decided to read it and it is good. I like this book because it is a good friendship book and problems get fixed. Here is a part of the book I thought you would like. media type="file" key="Gabrielle-Rules.m4a" width="300" height="50" By Gabrielle

__The Penderwicks__ By Jeanne Birdsall Have you ever read a book that reminds you of your family? This book is called “The Penderwicks” by Jeanne Birdsall. This book is realistic fiction. The story is about four sisters and their Dad. They go to a cottage for their summer vacation and have many adventures. Their Dad is a plant professor. Rosalind is in 6th grade and is the responsible one. Skye is in 5th grade and the troublemaker. Jane is in 4th grade and has written her own series of books. Batty is in preschool and never leaves home with out her costume of butterfly wings. The reason I like the book is that the kids care for each other and do a lot without their dad knowing. The part I am going to read you is when the 3 older sisters have called a M.O.O.P.S. that stands for Meeting of older Penderwicks Sisters. By Emma

__Holes__ By Louise Sachar
 * I chose the book __Holes__ By Louise Sachar Genre realistic fiction. I like this book because I saw the movie (I liked the movie) and I started reading the book it's about this kid Stanley who goes to camp green lake for being sent to court for something he didn't do it was ether that or jail but there is no water in the lake it's in the middle of Texas. They are to dig one hole each day they start early so they didn't get caught in the sun. The main counsler Mr.Sir says it builds caracter but they know there looking for something? Stanly meets some friends with wiered nicknames and one kid named Zero who everyone things is stupid but is very important. I chose to share this book I thought some kids might engoy it I know I do!**

=__DIARY OF A WIMPY KID - RODERICK RULES __= =BY JEFF KINNEY = =I read a book called the DIARY OF A WIMPY KID - Roderick Rules. It's about a kid named, Greg, who wants to be famous and the most popular kid at school. But he keeps messing up and isn't isn’t popular. His best friend is Rowley. Rowley is not middle school ready and does things that get on Greg’s nerves. But Greg doesn’t want to hurt Rowley’s feelings. Greg has a brother named Roderick who is really mean to himIn this book, when Greg goes back to school, he gets rid of the cheese touch by giving it to the new kid at school. Roderick is mean to Greg by saying he will tell everyone about Greg’s secret. The secret is that Greg made a mistake and walked into the ladies room. Greg was stuck in there for over 2 hours. Greg is afraid that if everyone knows, they will make fun of him. But when the secret comes out, it gets all messed up, and the secret makes Greg popular! Everyone thinks he went into the bathroom on purpose! At the end of the book, Greg helps Roderick finish his science project. Greg is nice to Roderick even when Roderick was really mean to him. Greg said Roderick is really lucky to have Greg as a brother – even if Roderick doesn’t know it. = =media type="file" key="Michael A-Diary of Wimpy Kid.m4a" width="300" height="50"= =Book talk by Michael A. =

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 * 2009-2010 Realistic Fiction Book Talks**

__ The Year Of The Rat By Grace Lin __ Hi! If you like __The Year Of The Dog__, then you will love __The Year Of The Rat by Grace Lin.__ I chose this book because when we read __The Year Of The Dog__ I loved it so I was anxious to read this book. The genre of this book is Realistic Fiction. The whole book is it Graces point of view. This really good book is about big changes Grace might have to make like a chance Melody will move away and a new Chinese boy to take Melody’s place. The new Chinese boy, DunWei, get teased and since he is like Grace she has to decide what side to take. DunWei, help him stop getting teased, or her friends, tease DunWei. What will she choose? Also a chance that Grace could lose her friends that she had before Melody came. __The Year Of The Rat__ brings big changes that could change Grace. Again it tells stories about her family like a flashback. I also discovered that in the back it has the stuff that are true and real picture. The part I am about to read to you is when Grace finds one of the challenges she might have to face. It’s a new year with big changes planned. media type="file" key="evratyearpod.m4a" width="300" height="50" Will Grace live through them? Is she ready for them? Grace has many questions to answer during the book. The answer is… READ THE BOOK!!! Booktalk by Emily

__Lost and Found__ by Andrew Clements media type="file" key="John G Pod.m4a" width="300" height="50" Would you ever want to swtich places with another person? Well, the book I just read was "Lost and Found" by Andrew Clements and that's just what they did. The genre is realistic fiction. It's about two twin brothers who just moved to a new town and a new school. On the first day of school, Ray was sick so only Jay went to school. Jay realized that the school made a mistake and they thought that there was only one new boy coming into school - Jay Grayson. Since the other brother's name was Ray and they were exactly identical twins, they pretended they were the same person and only one of them went to school and the other stayed home. They did this for one whole week before they got caught. It was interesting to me becouse I liked how the two boys switched places. Somtimes it was complicated because when they switched it was confusing which one was which. But that's also why I liked the book. Hope you like the part of the story I picked.

Book talk by John

__Spy Cat__ By:Peg Kehret

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The book __Spy Cat__ by Peg Kehret is realistic fiction. I chose this book because the cover stood out to me. This book is about a boy (Benji), who gets kidnapped while trying to save his brother's cat Pete. Pete gets free thanks to Benji but Benji gets kidnapped and it's up to Pete to save him. I hope you like the part I picked.

Book talk by Darrald

__The Report Card__ By Andrew Clements

Have you ever got a bad grade on your report card? Well if you have then you can relate to Nora. The book I am about to read to you is called The Report Card by Andrew Clements. I chose this book because all my friends said it was a great book. This book is realistic Fiction. Nora is a 10 year old girl in 5th grade. She is a very good student but this year she has not been doing so well in school. She got very bad grades on her report card and her are not that happy with her. I hope you like the part I am going to read to you. media type="file" key="kaitlyn pod.m4a" width="300" height="50"

Book Talk by KN

__The Lemonade War__ By: Jacqueline Davies

The genre of this book is realistic fiction. They reason I picked to read this book is because my mom said it was a great book and I should read it. I tried it and I didn’t understand it so I tried it this year and I did. In the book Evan and Jesse are brother and sister. Jesse’s a girl at age 9 and Evan is a boy at age 10. And this year Jesse is skipping 3rd grade. Now Evan and Jesse are in the same grade. Evan gets really mad and avoids Jesse. It is almost the end of the summer so Jesse and Evan have been doing lemonade stands so Jesse decides to have sum fun and makes a bet with Evan and the bet is whoever makes a hundred dollars by the end of summer by lemonade stands wins. So Jesse makes a friend Megan Moriarty teams up with her.

One thing I learned from this story is never trust some one you don’t really like, like a bully. media type="file" key="Jack G Lemon Podcast By: JCG

__**Maze of Bones**__

Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Harry's book talk. If you like adventure books, then this is the book for you. The title of this book is The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan. The genre of this book is realistic fiction. In this book there are two kids: one named Dan and one named Amy. Dan and Amy's grandma has died and she has sent out this mission to all of their family. It is a big competition to retrieve magical powers. It takes place in many places. Who will win the competition? Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

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book talk by Harry

__**2008-2009 Realistic Fiction Book Talks**__

The Box Car Kids #16

I just read this great book called The Box Car Kids, written by Gertrude Warner. It's an adventure book and it got recommended to me. It's in a series. In the first book Henry, Jessie, Benny and Violet’s mom and dad die. They hear that they have a mean and cruel grandfather. When Violet gets sick the other kids bump into their grandfather, and find out he is a nice and loving guy. Together they go on lots of adventures. In this part that I will share with you shortly they go to what the kids in the town say is a witch's home.

book talk by HR

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__My Side of the Mountain__ Book talk by ES I read a great book that i'd like to share with you. It is called __My Side of the Mountain__ by Jean Craighead George. It is a realistic fiction book that was reccomended to me. It is about a boy named Sam who runs away from his home in New York. Sam runs away to the Catskill mountains to live by himself. He lives on fish, roots, berries, nuts and deer. Sam wants a falcon to keep him company and catch food. Now I will read you the part where Sam steals his falcon. Sam names his falcon Frightful, and they become very good friends. If you like this book, read the sequals, On the Far Side of the Mountain and Frightful's Mountain. media type="file" key="es book talk2.m4a" width="300" height="50"

__A Week in the Woods__ Book Talk By BD If you like adventure and suspense there is a lot of that in this book. I just fished the book __A Week in the Woods__ by Andrew Clements. The genre is fiction. I chose this book because I have read Andrew Clements books before and I really won'ted to read this one. It is all about a boy named Mark and his teacher Mr.Maxwell. Mark's class gose on a field trip A Week in the Woods. When Mark is in the woods eatig lunch with his friend, then his friend Keith lets Mark see his knife, but when Mr.Maxwell comes over Mark gets into troble, so then Mark has to go home. Mr.Maxwell tells Mark to stay in the car but when Mr.Maxwell comes back Mark is gone. now here is the part I am going to read to you. Will Mr.Maxwell find Mark to find out you have to read the book. media type="file" key="bdbooktalk2.m4a" width="300" height="50"

__The Sister Switch__ by Jane B. Mason and Sarah Hines Stephens Book Talk by GG BOOK TALK Do you have twins in your family? I do. My aunt has two boys and so does my uncle. But they are not identical. I can easily recognize one from another. But, what if you did have identical twins. Wouldn’t they confuse you? Well guess what? I’m ready to share with you a really interesting story about identical twins. This is a realistic fiction book called Sister Switch, by Jane B. Mason and Sarah Hines Stephens. Sporty Andie and musical Caitlin are identical twins sisters. On the third day of middle school they’re going to have a test for gym. Caitlin knew she was going to fail, because she hates sports and she thinks you get too sweaty and that is just yuck. Another problem is that she needs to go to band practice every afternoon, but those who fail the test, will have to go to the gym and review the questions that they got wrong that were on the test and practice the gym skills. But that’s not all. The gym and the band start and end at the same exact time! That’s a bit of trouble. Since Andie was really good at sports, she said she could replace Caitlin and can do the test for her, the next day. The reason why I chose this book was because this is a CANDY APPLE BOOK and I read other books in the series and so I thought I would like this book. I am now going to read a part where they’re changing.

I like this book very much because I like the way the chapters were written. Since this book is mostly about Andie and Caitlin, the authors made the story so that Caitlin is telling the story for the first chapter, and Andie is telling the story for the second. I like the style because it’s is written in first person. The fact that both Caitlin and Andie are telling the story, it’s easier to make predictions because I know what both characters are thinking about. I also like this book because it’s by two different authors. That makes me think that one author wrote the part Andie says and the other wrote the part Caitlin says. Also the authors wrote the book so that it’s happening now. Well if you want to find out the answer to the following question, read this book and find out! Well they are identical twins! It can’t be that bad. Could it?

__The Schwa Was Here__ By Neal Shusterman Book Talk By JS The amazing book I will be sharing with you today is “The Schwa Was Here” By Neal Shusterman. The Schwa was here is a realistic fiction book in a real setting in Brooklyn New York. I chose the book because it was sitting in a pile of books and the cover stood out to me so I read the blurb and I wanted to know more about the **schwa Effect.** The author came upon the idea of this book while doing an author visit at a school. During his talk a teacher came up to him and explained to him that a boy near the library dictionary had his hand up the entire time and went unnoticed. It was then he realized that the boy was like a **schwa** in the dictionary. The word “schwa” is a faint vowel sound and is the most common vowel sound in the English language. It is pronounced “uh”. For example the “i” in invisible or the “a” in forgettable. The word is from the Hebrew word sva which they use for a absence of a vowel. “The Schwa Was Here” is a book about two boys named Anthony Bonano or Antsy and his amazing friend Calvin Schwa. Everyone calls Calvin The Schwa because it is really hard to realize he’s there. Antsy thinks it’s because “ he’s slipping under everybody’s radar”. This book was both fun