That Time, She Wants Three Things

Vol. 1, Issue 1
April 2006
www.briarcliffmanorlibrary.org/middleschoolcritics.html
The Face on the
Milk Carton
You Are So
Not Invited
to my Bat
Mitzvah
By Fiona Rosenbloom
By Caroline Cooney
Reviewer: Rachel Isaac
Reviewer: Shannon Louie
Stacey Friedman has three weeks
to prepare for her Bat Mitzvah. In
that time, she wants three things:
Janie Johnson had a wonderful
life. She had a family she loves,
the best of friends and was getting
closer to receiving her drivers
license. On one normal day at
lunch a familiar face stares back at
her from a milk carton. A small
girl about three years old was kidnapped thirteen years ago. Why
does the dress seem so familiar?
Could it be herself? Are her parents really her parents? Secrets
are unlocked letting the truth out.
Artemis Fowl
By Eion Colfer
Reviewer: Kynan Welsh
This book is a well thought-out
fantasy with great characters and
events. The main character is Artemis Fowl who is a millionaire,
lives in a Manor, and has the deadliest man alive as his personal butler. He searches for a book that
you wouldn’t find in any library—
The Book. The Book is the underground mythical creatures’ bible.
After Artemis obtains their book,
he translates their symbols into
legible words and find that they
refuel their magic by planting a
special acorn. They stakeout and
take a fairy hostage for ransom.
This is a must-read for fantasy lovers. Also, if you have read this
book and not the rest of the series,
then that is also a “Two Thumbs
Up.”
1) the perfect dress
2) To perform three mitzvahs
(good deeds)
3) For a boy to like her
Instead she gets:
1) an ugly dress
2) Three failed mitzvahs
3) Her best friend’s betrayal
This book tells all about Stacey
Friedman and what a Bat Mitzvah
really is. This is realistic fiction
and takes place in White Plains,
NY. I really liked this book but the
writing wasn’t very strong. I think
that this book is really geared
towards girls, but it doesn’t matter
what religion you are because it’s
interesting to take a look into
another person’s point of view.
Overall, I liked this book a lot.
died of a disease when Homer was
very young. The two Winthrops
and their maid go to Maine to sell
a house that belonged to them
before moving out after his
father’s death. Homer meets a
new kid after seeing a mysteriouslooking old man. The kid tells him
that man is actually not old, is
wearing make-up and a wig, and is
pretending to limp.
That is when the big story begins…
New Books for
Middle Schoolers @
Briarcliff Manor
Public Library…
Come check them out!
Sleeping Freshman Never
Lie by David Lubar
While navigating his first year of high school
and awaiting the birth of his new baby
brother, Scott loses old friends and gains
some unlikely new ones as he hones his skills
as a writer.
Code Orange
by Caroline Cooney
Following
Fake Man
By Barbara Holmes
Reviewer: Kynan Welsh
This realistic fiction mystery is not
the best book I ever read. It may
be because of my dislike for mystery books, and maybe you could
like it, but it sure wasn’t my
favorite. The main character is a
twelve-year-old boy named Homer
Winthrop, who knows nothing
about his father because his
stubborn mother (the only family
he has) never told him anything
about his father except that he
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While conducting research for a school paper
on smallpox, Mitty finds an envelope containing 100-year-old smallpox scabs and
fears that he has infected himself and all of
New York City.
Monkey Town: The Summer
of the Scopes Trial
by Ronald Kidd
The 1925 Scopes trial resulting from 15-yearold Frances’s father’s complaints of a H.S.
teacher teaching evolution, prompts her to
rethink many of her beliefs about religion
and truth, as well as her relationship with
her father.
Small Steps
by Louis Sachar
In this sequel to Holes, it is three years after
being released from Camp Green Lake and
Armpit is trying hard to keep his life on
track; but when his old pal X-Ray shows up
with a tempting plan to make some easy
money scalping concert tickets, Armpit
reluctantly goes along.
Vol. 1, Issue 1
April 2006
www.briarcliffmanorlibrary.org/middleschoolcritics.html
Movie Reviews:
Reviews:
The Terminal
PG-13
Reviewer: Nate Martorano
This movie is about a guy who is
trying to get autographs from people because of his dad’s death. He
takes an airplane to NY from Krocosia. In the middle of the flight
his country’s visas aren’t valid until
the end of the war. He is stuck in
the airport for a long time. Because of this he receives vouchers
and gift cards. He finds out how
to get money from machines and
uses it to buy food. He meets a
girl at the airport that he goes out
with. He finds out the war was
over. The security people told
him he could not go to NY but he
was allowed go home. He gets the
autograph and goes home.
Hoodwinked
PG
Reviewer: Shannon Louie
The movie, Hoodwinked, is a
movie that is pretty much like the
book Little Red Riding Hood but
with a twist. There is a goodythief on the loose who intends to
put all of the goody-making companies out of business so he can
make the ultimate goody-making
company. The characters, Red,
Granny, Wolf and Woodcutter all
end up in the same place at the
same time each of which is following up on the goody-snatcher.
Red and Granny work together to
make the best treats in town.
Woodcutter is an actor who loves
to sell schnitzels to the little children. Wolf and his partner
Chippy are working towards
catching the thief as undercover
newspaper people. Each of the
characters have their own story of
why they are at Granny’s house
and a chance to defend themselves
from being accused as the goodythief. The thief could be anybody
waiting to attack at any time.
Hoodwinked is a movie particularly for younger children. If older
children are looking for humor
and a good laugh then this movie
would be perfect. Hoodwinked
can be at times too silly for young
adults but still is a good movie.
Music Review:
The Starting
Line
Reviewer: Juliette Lynch
Do you like alternative rock? Do
you like Fall Out Boy? How about
Yellowcard? If you answered yes
to these questions you would love
the band The Starting Line. The
Starting Line is a small band that
my sister introduced to me. This
band uses real life to make their
songs. I have only shared The
Starting Line cd with one of my
best friends and she loves it! I
know you would love them too.
So if you would like to know more
about The Starting Line find me
Juliette Lynch and I’ll tell you
more.
Computer Game
Review:
The Sims 2:
Open for Business
Rating: Teen
Reviewer: Nate Martorano
The Sims 2: Open for Business
is actually about something real:
making money. With this
expansion, your sim or person can
actually go into business themselves. In the game they can have
other side street businesses like a
lemonade stand or an ice cream
stand. Sure right now you’re
thinking who would like to stay at
a lemonade stand I would rather
set the house on fire! If that’s fun
for you then it will be a blast, you
can give horrible haircuts like cut
their face in half. Of course if
you’re a failure you can always go
home to the comfort of your robots. The
robots can get extremely close to
you in a...romantic sort of way.
One word of advice, do not invite
them into the hot tub. The
results may be unpleasant for all
involved. Some features to finish
off with found on Amazon.com:
- Train employees, promote the
best and fire the rest,
- Reminder that the customer is
king — develop your Sims’ sales
skills and determine if your
employees should use a hard sell
or drop the price to close the deal
Are you into gaming?
Graphic novels? Movies?
Submit a review of your favorite
(or let us know what’s a waste of time)
Email it to: abgkaplan@gmail.com
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Vol. 1, Issue 1
www.briarcliffmanorlibrary.org/middleschoolcritics.html
April 2006
(answers can be found on page 5)
start
Sims 2 review cont.
- Turn your talents into
cash—arrange flowers, make
toys, and create robots to
catch thieves at home or
clean up the shop
- Develop master-skilled Sims
to make the most prized and
expensive goods
Happy Businesses!
The Sims 2: Open for Business is selling
currently around $32.99- $34.99
It arrived February 28 on Amazon.com
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Vol. 1, Issue 1
www.briarcliffmanorlibrary.org/middleschoolcritics.html
April 2006
Shannon Louie
Rachel Isaac
Rachel Isaac is 12 years old and
lives in Briarcliff Manor. She
lives with her mother, father,
brother, and dog, Archie. Her
favorite author of all time is
Roald Dahl. She plays the
saxophone and loves running
street races.
Shannon Louie recently turned
13 and currently lives in
Briarcliff Manor, NY. She lives
with her mom, dad, and
younger brother. Shannon has
a pet bird, Happy. She plays a
saxophone and plans on going
to a good college.
Nate Mortorano
Nate likes to play video games
and hang out at the youth
center. He is 11 years old. He
likes to watch Comedy Central
on t.v.
Parent/Child Book
Discussion at BMS
Join Us for
Pizza & Snacks
...and chatting
@ 6 pm on
Thursday Evening:
May 18, 2006
DON’T FORGET TO READ THE
BOOK BEFORE YOU COME!
Flipped,
by Wendelin Van Draanen
Juliette Lynch
Kynan Welsh
Juliette Lynch was born on May
8, 1993. It was a bad day to be
born though because it was her
brother’s 1st communion day!
Her mom is a doctor who
delivers babies or an OBGYN.
Her father puts programs into
computers. Juliette is the baby
of the family. She has a brother
Sean who is 21, a sister Gen
who is 20 and her sister Katie
who is 16. Sean goes to the
University at Albany and Gen
goes to Bard in upstate New
York. Juliette is 12 and goes to
Briarcliff Middle School. She is
in 7th grade. Juilette enjoys
alternative rock music and girl
books/movies. She also enjoys
historical fiction. This is a little
about Juliette Lynch.
Age: 12, 6th grader
Favorite Genres: Adventure,
Realistic Fiction, and Fantasy
Discussions are a Collaborative Effort
of BMS & BMPL
Qs? Email kmccabe@briarcliffschools.org
Disliked Genres: Mystery,
and Non-Fiction
Favorite Book Topics: Animals, and Fictional Creatures
Disliked Book Topics: Sports
Some Favorite Books:
Artemis Fowl series
Spy Cat
Chicken Boy
The Kite Fighters
Have any ideas to make
this Newsletter better?
JOIN THE GROUP AND MAKE IT SO!
We meet the First Thursday
Of every month after school
in the BMS Library
Email abgkaplan@gmail.com
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