Volume Eleven, Issue One, January 2016

Middle
School
Critics
The critics
Me, Myself and I
Hannah Epstein
Bath and Body Works KK Panda
Triple
Mama Newt
Legolas
Sunshine
Book Dolphin
Hugs4theworld
Jinx
www.briarcliffmanorlibrary.org, Vol. 11, Issue 1, Jan. 2016
Meet the Critics on Page 9
The rating system
Excellent
Good
Okay
Bad
Horrible
In this issue
Divergent · Melanie Martinez · The Peanuts Movie · Dancing with the Stars · Paper Towns · Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer · Rules · Run 3
Wattpad.com · Shake It Off · The Hunger Pains · The Lazarus Effect · Hocus Pocus · Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban · One
Tree Hill · The Blackthorn Key · Wild Magic (Immortals Quartet #1) · Goosebumps Movie · The Six · The Tale of Emily Windsnap ·
Flipped · Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1) · The Undertakers - Rise of the Corpse · 45 Pounds (More or
less) · The False Prince · Peeled · I Am Number Four · Dreadlocks · Kung Fury · Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children · Supernatural · Life As We Knew It · Legend · How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous · Super Mario Maker · Water · Weeping
Under the Same Moon · Civil War
The opinions expressed in the reviews are not necessarily the opinion of the Library. The appropriateness of the materials
reviewed is not for the Public Library to determine and the students are encouraged to review whatever they’d like—
therefore, we encourage parents to be involved in and be aware of their children’s book, movie, television, gaming, internet
and music choices. All non-original images are property of their various copyright owners.
Divergent
Dancing with the
Stars
By Veronic Roth
Critic: Book Dolphin
Divergent is a dystopian book
about a girl named Tris. It has
a good plot, but the ending
ruins everything. *SPOILER
ALERT* There is a war and
Tris’s whole family died.
Warning: Divergent is SUPER
violent. Read this book only if
you are completely ok with
horrible endings. (I am not.)
Rating:
Melanie Martinez
Singer
Critic: Mama Newt
If you’re into the same
semi-creepy sort of strange
and most importantly
amazing music as I am,
Melanie Martinez is for you (and me). She has
written some of my favorite songs, featuring: Mad
Hatter, Milk and Cookies, Alphabet Boy, Dear Porcupine, Dollhouse, and more. Those are just my
all-time favorite songs by her. Warning: Most of
her songs contain curses (but then again, what
songs these days don’t?) and the creepy song
genre isn’t for everyone. D.O.L.L.H.O.U.S.E. I see
things that nobody else sees… Rating:
TV Show on ABC
Critic: Me Myself & I
Dancing with the stars is a live ballroom dancing
competition on ABC. It’s not as boring as it
sounds; in fact, it’s almost as dramatic as reality TV
shows. Random celebrities get paired with professional dancers, and the couples go through different stages of the competition. One couple gets
eliminated every week, based on the three judges’
scores, and YOUR votes. Watch how different
couples do, because, remember, celebrities don’t
need any prior dance experience and they could
be any age. If you want to watch it, the next season starts in the spring, and it airs every Monday
night on ABC. Rating:
Paper Towns
By John Green
Critic: Hugs4the world
This book is about Q who has
lived his whole life in the
shade. Until the amazing
Margo Ross Speilburg comes
through his window and
takes him on a crazy revenge
adventure. Suddenly, Margo is missing. She left
clues for Q to find. Will Q find Margo??? This
book is amazing and keeps you on the edge of
your seat. I definitely recommend!!! Rating:
The Peanuts Movie
Movie Rated: G
Critic: Book Dolphin
This movie is about Charlie
Brown, and his school
troubles. Charlie met the
Little Red Haired Girl and
immediately fell in love with
her. From school dances to
life-changing book reports
on War and Peace (which Charlie Brown reads
over one weekend), this Charlie Brown movie
actually has a happy ending! This movie captures
the true essence of the original Peanuts comics by
Charles Schultz. Rating:
Theodore Boone:
Kid Lawyer
By John Grisham
Critic: Hannah Epstein
This book is the best. It is the
first of a series. This book is
about a man who people think
killed his wife. Theo knows the
witness. The witness is scared
to come forward and confront the judge. Why?
You may ask….and did this guy commit the crime?
Find out by reading this book! Rating:
Rules
Shake it Off
By Cynthia Lord
Critic: Bath and Body
Works
Song by Taylor Swift
This book is good. It’s very
hard already having a
brother with autism but
dating a person who
cannot communicate is
ruining Catherine’s
relationship with Kristi...but Catherine is not going
to let Rian bully her brother and Kristi be mean to
her boyfriend. Rating:
Critic: Bath and Body
Works
This song is excellent
because all of these
people are saying stuff about her but that does
not stop her. She just shakes it off. See if you
guess what song it is. Rating:
The Hunger Pains
By The Harvard Lampoon
Critic: Triple
It’s no secret that many people love flash games.
Run 3 is one of the most addictive, fun flash
games of all time. You can’t stop running and
have to navigate obstacle courses. This game
keeps you hooked through acheivements and unlockables. Please, if you play flash games, play
this. Rating:
I love parodies and you
should too! If The Hunger
Games was a pane of glass,
The Hunger Pains would be
that same mirror, but completely shattered. (In a good
way.) This story is so hilarious. I’d best not tell you everything about it.
However, to appreciate this parody the most, I
recommend you read the real Hunger Games first.
Rating:
Wattpad.com
The Lazarus Effect
website
Movie Rated PG-13
Critic: Sunshine
Run 3
Flash Game
Critic: Triple
Critic: Jinx
Wattpad is an amazing website and all authors
(12+) should totally get an account. This website
has full copyright protection, so nobody can steal
your book without getting punished. Basically,
you can share your stories with everybody. The
stats show how many people have read it, and
who has followed you. Followers get updates
when your favorite stories have been updated
(because you write one chapter at a time.) The
best part? It’s completely free. Rating:
The Lazarus Effect is a painfully
predictable “scary” movie. It
relies more on suspense and
buildup than jumpscares, and
the ending is unsatisfying. But
if by any chance you feel like
watching it, I’ll tell you the plot. Five unorganized
scientists have been working on a syrum to revive
the dead. They revive a dog, but something is off.
A large company takes over the lab, but they go in
at night for one last proving experiment. One of
the women is electrocuted to death and her husband, also one of the scientists, is set on reviving
her. I’m sure you can guess what happens to the
kind one, the redhead girl behind the camera, the
slacker, and the man who brought his wife back to
life. Rating:
Hocus Pocus
Movie Rated PG
Critic: Hannah Epstein
This movie is a scary, thrilling,
action packed, mystery movie.
When a boy is turned into a cat
because of his sister who is
killed by three witches, a whole
mystery story unravels. When a
boy lights the black candle, three witches appear.
The boy, his sister, and his girlfriend are fighting
the three witches. The boy who turned into a cat
helps them. Will they defeat the witches? Watch
this movie to find out! Rating:
Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban
By J. K. Rowling
Critic: Book Dolphin
This book is the 3rd of the
Harry Potter series. You
shouldn’t need any convincing to read this book because you should already
have been hooked from the first word of the first
book. Harry goes on another adventure, this one
about catching the criminal Sirius Black. Sirius
seems like the worst criminal ever, but he turns
out way different. Read the book. This book is
my favorite Harry Potter. I have read it 7 times.
You must read it. Rating:
One Tree Hill
TV Show (Netflix)
Critic: KK Panda
One Tree Hill was a
TV show from 2003 2012. It is currently available on Netflix. It is
about a group of friends that go through high
school to parenthood together. This show has
LOTS of DRAMA. It is about friendship, loyalty,
and trust. One Tree Hill is an amazing TV show.
Rating:
The Blackthorn Key
By Kevin Sands
Critic: Mama Newt
This book was amazing! It had
action, adventure, and
explosions. LOOOOTS of
explosions. And twists,
relatable characters, and a
taste of comedy. Not to
mention puzzles, mysteries, and—well, you get
the idea—it is awesome! Young Christopher is an
apprentice to an apothecary named Benedict
Blackthorn. But then a huge mystery falls into his
and his best friend Tom’s hands. Well, Christopher’s hands, it’s closer to Toms’ waist. He’s tall.
Anyway, if you want to know who gets
murdered—oops...Well, if you want to know, read.
And if you don’t, read! Rating:
Wild Magic (The
Immortals Quartet #1)
By Tamora Pierce
Critic: Me, Myself and I
I love this book like spicy
sweet Doritos. And that is
saying a lot. (Sometimes I
think of books as food :P) My
fellow critic Jinx (who’s awesome, read her reviews!!) introduced me to this series. I love this
book so much!! Okay, you guys probably want to
know what it’s about now...Tamora Pierce (who is
absolutely fantabulous) mixed fantasy and action
and so much more. I personally feel this book is
really good, and it has a strong female character
(go girl power! but it’s great for everyone). Daine,
the main character, had lost her family and her
horse Cloud is her only friend now. Throughout
the whole book, she slowly discovers a special
power that she has called Wild Magic, and a mage
Numair, becomes her teacher and also one of her
closest friends. Read this book and join Daine on
her dramatic adventures! Rating:
Flipped
By Wendelin Van Draanen
Critic: Sunshine
Goosebumps Movie
Movie Rated PG
Critic: Hannah Epstein
This movie is AWESOME
because of its mystery, and I
love mystery. It is about a
bunch of monsters trying to
kill R.L. Stine. All of his books
are being destroyed. He has
to write a book to capture all of the monsters.
Only R.L. Stine’s daughter is from one of his books
and she is a monster too. Will she be sucked up
along with all the other monsters? Watch the
movie to find out! Rating:
This modern fiction novel,
great for middle school and
high school students has
an...interesting storyline.
Bryce moved in across the
street from Juli in second
grade, and she has been in LOVE with him since.
But between chickens and punk siblings, things
take a turn for the...worst? Although Flipped is not
to my particular literary taste, I would highly recommend it to someone with a better one.
Rating:
Magnus Chase and the
Gods of Asgard 1: The
Sword of Summer
The Six
By Rick Riordan
By Mark Alpert
Critic: Jinx
Critic: Triple
Sooooooo good! Before you
judge the very boring name,
read this review. Adam is going to die. So his dad makes
machines that contain copies
of human brains. Unfortunately, making the copy kills them.
The book follows Adam’s transformation. The
part where he becomes part machine is my favorite part. READ READ! Rating:
The Tale of Emily
Windsnap
By Liz Kessler
Critic: Bath and Body Works
What’s happening to me?
Why am I a mermaid?
Imagine yourself just
swimming perfectly and then
you turn into a mermaid.
How would you feel? Well that might just be how
Emily Windsnap feels. To find out get the book.
Rating:
It’s not normal to start off a
book when the main character
dies, but in this book when the
main character Magnus Chase
dies, he wakes up in Valhalla as an einherjar, a
warrior to fight at Ragnorok (Norse Stuff). Long
story short, Magnus escapes Valhalla with his
dwarf and elf friends to retrieve a special sword
that talks. I can’t explain how good this book is.
All I can tell you is that if you liked the Percy Jackson books, you will love this book. You might
even like it better than the Percy Jackson books.
Just go and read it already!! Rating:
The Undertakers: Rise
of the Corpses
Peeled
By Joan Bauer
Critic: Hugs4theworld
By Ty Drago
Critic: Hannah Epstein
This book is an action packed
mystery book. There are
corpses and seers. The seers
are humans who can see
corpses, which are dead
people. A bunch of kids are trying to fight them.
Two died. The boy who is dead was taken by a
corpse. Now that he is controlled by a corpse,
everybody is trying to save him, but not trying to
hurt the boy. The leader says no to fighting the
corpse. What will happen? Will they fight back?
Read to find out. Rating:
45 Pounds (More or Less)
By K.A. Barson
Critic: Jinx
This book is a book about Hidly
Biddle - whose name pretty much
describes this whole book.
Dumb...ok maybe I’m being a
little harsh. It’s pretty predictable
and kind of easy to know what’s
going to happen next. This story is about her
town, her school newspaper The Core, and the
competing paper The Bee. There’s a haunted
house on the block which is scaring everyone...even though nobody has actual proof of a
ghost…. Overall, this book was not my
favorite...which is pretty hard...have you seen my
critic name!?! Rating:
I am Number Four
Imagine being so overweight
that you are 16 and size 17.
Almost nothing fits, and you
are afraid to exercise for fear
of people laughing. Welcome
to the life of Ann. On top of
that, she can’t stop eating.
When she’s hungry...she eats.
When she’s stuffed...she eats. This book is mostly
about her going on a full of chemicals diet plan,
and how she gets thinner...on her own. Lots of
dilemmas, cute boys, friend problems, and little
sister troubles. Please read!!! Rating:
The False Prince
By Jennifer Nielsen
Critic: Book Dolphin
Do you like fast paced books
about the royal family, especially when the whole royal
family has died and a person is
trying to replace the prince?
Sage is an orphan who is adopted by Conner, a
person who is training boys to replace Prince
Jaron. Unfortunately, the boys who won’t become
prince will be killed. Sage might look like Jaron,
but his personality is so unlike him. Will he survive? Read to find out! Rating:
By Pittacus Lore
Critic: KK Panda
9 Garde. 9 Cepan. They came
to earth to protect the people
from Magadorians. Number 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 1 and 2 and
3 die. Number 4 is next. Read
it. Rating:
Dread Locks
By Neal Shusterman
Critic: Hannah Epstein
When a girl is found sleeping in
Parker’s bedroom, he is getting
suspicious. Tara is part Goldilocks
and part Medusa. When boys
look into her eyes slowly they turn
to stone. Parker notices something happening
when his sister starts to turn to stone after her
brother Parker puts his foot down. He goes to
Tara. Tara then suddenly says that Parker can be
just like her. After a while Parker agrees. Now
there are two Medusas going around town.
Parker is annoyed with this power. What will
happen? Will Parker stand up to Tara or will Tara
control him forever? Read this book. Rating:
Kung Fury
Life as We Knew It
Movie Rated PG-13
Critic: Triple
By Susan Beth Pfeffer
Critic: The Book Lover
Just don’t even bother.
Rating:
This was a sad, somber book.
However, from beginning to
end and from cover to cover it
was very interesting. Miranda
and her family enter a crisis
when an asteroid hits the
moon and everything changes. The climate takes
a turn for the worse and there is no food, supplies,
or anything. To find out what happens, read Life
as We Knew It. Rating:
Miss Peregrine’s
Home for Peculiar
Children
By Ransom Riggs
Critic: Jinx
This book is about people
with magical powers. It’s
very strange. It’s also pretty
boring. Jacob, an ordinary boy, found a time loop
with peculiars, people with powers, and he goes
on an “epic” [did I mention this book was TERRIBLE] journey to save people. The ymbrens are
people who can time travel and they can help the
peculiars by locking them into time loops to
protect them against monsters. That’s all.
Rating:
Supernatural
TV Show on CW
Critic: Sunshine
Sam and Dean Winchester, Monster Hunters since
childhood, venture forth into adulthood, solitude,
and the real world. They pass demons, sea monsters, angels, wendiogs and more. Dean, the carefree brother, is only interested in buying more
fake IDs and impressing ladies. On the contrary,
Sam was pulled from a seemingly normal life and
wants to find his recently missing father. The two
find friends and enemies over time, their ultimate
goals changing constantly. See it now for
suspense, drama, and jumpscares! Rating:
Legend
By Marie Lu
Critic: Me, Myself and I
Legend is one of those dystopian books like The Hunger
Games and Divergent, but it
has differences. (OMG this
sounds like a compare and
contrast paragraph) Anyway,
Legend is an awesome book. I think it’s for
everyone. It’s suspenseful, and action packed and
also a little bit romantic. It’s about a prodigy and
the most wanted criminal in the Republic. I’ll
leave it at that. Legend is absolutely legendary.
Rating:
Civil War
By Mark Millar
Critic: Legolas
This comic is one of the only
comics I was willing to read. IT
WAS WORTH IT. This heartfelt
book shows a touching clash
of beliefs between Captain America and Iron Man.
It represents many common problems that we
have in our everyday lives. What are you waiting
for? READ. Rating:
How They Croaked:
The Awful Ends of the
Awfully Famous
By Georgia Bragg
Critic: Hugs4theworld
If you do not like guts and
gory this book is not for you.
This book is about all the
deaths of 19 famous people
from King Tut to Marie Curie to Pocahantas. This
book is a very fun read and I r8 it 8 out of 8 m8.
Rating:
Water
By Tamora Pierce
Critic: Book Dolphin
Do you like books by Tamora
Pierce? Well, you will probably
like this book. I personally think
Tamora Pierce is an ok writer.
This book is about four children
who have magic powers, and get
brought together at the Winding Circle of Magic
Temple. The book wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the
best. Rating:
Weeping Under the
Same Moon
By Jana Laiz
Critic: Hannah Epstein
This is an excellent book. It is
sad, but action packed. It is
about a refugee named Mei.
She goes through a bunch of
hard times. A girl named Hannah really wants to help Mei. Mei is scared. Will
Mei and Hannah become friends? Read to find
out! Rating:
Super Mario
Maker
Video Game
Critic: Triple
Now you can finally make your own Mario levels
(I’m a Nintendo fanboy)! This game is great because now your imagination is the limit! You can
also play levels online from other users. The fact
that you can’t search for specific levels is a bit face
palm worthy, but I think it’s worth it. Rating:
Meet the Critics
Legolas
Me, Myself and I
I am Sam. Sam I
am. JK my name’s
not Sam. I am
Myself not Yourself
because that just doesn’t
make sense. Anyway, I am just one
of the billions of people on
this earth. Yup.
Bath and Body Works
Loves to go shopping.
Hannah Epstein
I love hockey.
I love the
Islanders!
Let’s Go NYI!
If you think I’m
perfect...I am!
Triple
I’m Triple, the video-game
playing, bad pun-making guy
who spends most of
his time well…
playing video
games and
making bad
puns. I also
like drawing smiley faces
Book Dolphin
I love books, but I
am not a book
worm. I am a book
dolphin.
Jinx
I am Jinxed. I have the worst luck ever. Literally. Except
for finding this club, and my awesome friends. Oh, and I
LOVE peanut butter and cheesecake. And brussel sprouts.
And books. And…..well, you get the point.
Sunshine
KK Panda
Mama Newt
Never. Stop. Running.
Or... Reading!! Books =
life, Maze Runner =
soul, fandoms = spirit.
I love pandas and
penguins. My
favorite kind of
book is fantasy.
Yes, the
name is
ironic.
Hugs4theworld
Love everyone, hug everyone. When
being a human is too hard...time to be a
unicorn.
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