Book Reviews by Mt Holly Students:
              DCF Books We Love that We Hope You Love Too! 
Scroll down by color for:
Historical Fiction - Contemporary Fiction - Nonfiction
Mystery -Animal Stories - Fantasy- Biography
Historical Fiction
 Contemporary Fiction



Rating****
DCF Nominee
Review by Brett
One Handed Catch
by M. J. Auch

What do you think it would be like to play basesball or anything else with one hand. You should read One Handed Catch by M J Auch. She also wrote Ashes of Roses. This is a fiction story. The story takes place in a small town in the time of 1946 just after World War 2.What happens is Norm loses his hand in a meat grinder, and MJ Auch shows how his life goes on from July 4 - July 4 the next year. I thought the book was a great book because when he figured a way to catch a ball and throw it with one hand is really cool. I wouldn't be able to do it. I would have to rate it 4 stars. I recommend this book to fifth grade and up, they would really enjoy this book.


Rating****
DCF WINNER
2007
 Review by Noah
Hoot
by Carl Hiaasen
      Hoot is a really great humorous fiction book about a boy who is an ordinary teenage boy.  He makes friends with a girl named Beatrice Leep and her younger step brother called Mullet Fingers.  They team up to try to stop Curly and his crew from building a Mother Paula's Pancake Diner.  Along the way they have to face the cops.
     I really like this book because it is interesting and goes with the flow. I think that people in grades 4-elderly people would enjoy this book because I rate this book with *****stars.



Rating***
DCF Nominee
 Review by Dylan
Counting on Grace
by Elizabeth Winthrop

Counting on Grace by Elizibeth Winthrop is a coming of age book. This book takes place in Lowell Mass in 1910 in a mill village. This book is about a young girl named Grace who goes and works in the mill. Her friend Arthur also works there, but doesn't want to.  He wants to go to school.  In the mill, Grace faces many problems, like Grace gets really sick from breathing in too much cotton.  I give this book 3 Stars. Now tell me What you think of it.

Rating****
DCF Nominee

2007 Newbery Winner
 Review by Katelyn
The Higher Power of Lucky
by Susan Patron

I read the interesting bookThe Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. This is a fiction story. The setting is in Hard Pan, Texas in the present. This book is about a girl named Lucky who is searching for her higher power.  Her life changed when her mother died and Bridgette came to live with her from France. I thought this is a great book and full of adventure. I recommend this book to grades 4-6 because little kids might not understand some of the words. I rate this four stars



Rating*** *
DCF Nominee
 Review by Collin
The White Elephant
 by Sid Fleishman

The book I read was The White Elephant by Sid Fleishman. He also wrote The Whipping Boy. This book takes place in old Siam, a.k.a. Thailand).  In this book Run-Run has an elephant that splashed Prince Noi. He "erupted in anger" and pretended to give Run-Run ''a gift'', A WHITE ELEPHANT.  You may think this is nice. But you can't work A White Elephant. You have to keep a white elephant clean and not let it get dirty. I like this book because Run-Run doesn't know that his elephant is a white elephant but then he finds out. I give this book 4stars.
If you read this book you can tell me what you think. If I were the prince I would have punished Run-Run a different way like prison because I would be mad.


Rating***
DCF Nominee
 Review by Joey
Firegirl
by Tony Abbot

Imagine being the only girl in your class being crippled. I sure wouldn't like it. That's how Jessica has to live every day in the story Firegirl, written by Tony Abbot. He has also written the "Secrets Of Droon Series". In the book, Tom has a new girl in his class. Her name is Jessica and she was burned in a fire, obviously. Tom's friend Jeff does not like Jessica. He thinks she is a 'freak of nature'. Courtney, Tom's crush, thinks it's nice that Tom helps Jessica out. I rate this book 3 stars. The reason I rate it only rate it 3 stars is because it was kind of dramatic. Would you help the Firegirl? How did the accident happen? Read the book and find out.

Rating*** *
DCF Nominee
 Review by Connor
Bread and Roses Too
by Katherine Paterson

Bread and Roses Too, by Katherine Paterson, is a book about a girl who has a mom in a mill strike that has started in Lawrence, Massachusetts. It also takes place in Vermont. The girls name is Rosa. Rosa is a young girl. The other main character in the book is Jake. Jake is a young boy who worked in the mill and takes care of himself because his mom is dead and his dad is a drunk. They both live in Massachusetts. They both go to Vermont to live there until the mill strike is over. They go to live with a grumpy old man and they live with a nice old woman. The book is a novel and a historical fiction. I would rate this book at four stars. I didn't  love this book because it was a little boring for me, but I rated this book at four stars because other people would like this book.

Rating**** *
DCF Nominee
 Review by Holly
Rules
 by Cynthia Lord

How would you feel if your brother had autisum? Read Rules by Cynthia Lord. It is a contemporary fiction. It is an exiting book about a girl named Cathrin who has a mentally challenged brother named David who has to go to a clinic. There, she meets a boy named Jason. He was in an accident, and he can't talk or walk. He uses a communication book with words that he points to. They become friends. I really liked this book. It was cool, exciting, funny and had some suspense to it. I rate it 5 stars.I recommend this book from kids ages 10+.
Mystery
 Nonfiction





Rating****
DCF Nominee
 Review by Emily
The Case of the Missing Marquess
by Nancy Springer
The Case of the Missing Marquess is a mystery book
written by Nancy Springer. It takes place in England during the times of Sherlock Holmes. Enola's mother runs away and she wants to find her. Then she asks herself a question, why would her mother run away on her birthday? So she asks her brothers Sherlock Holmes and Microft to come and help her find their mother. When they see how Enola was not living like a proper lady they want her to go to boarding school. When she finds out she runs to London on atrain. When  she gets there she finds out that a boy is missing so she tries to find him.  I recommend this book for grades 4-6 because there are some hard words. I give this book 4 stars, because it is really exciting in some parts, but others are boring.

Rating***
DCF Nominee
Review by Sara
Owen & Mzee
by Isabella Hatkoff
 
Have you ever heard of a hippo and a tortoise being best friends? The book I read was Owen & Mzee written by Isabella Hatkoff. It is a true picture book. It takes place in Africa during 2004. It is about a hippo that got separated from his family during the Tsunami, and people in Africa found him and brought him to a place like a zoo where he met a tortoise named Mzee. Mzee and Owen became friends. Everyone was suprised that a tortoise became friends with a hippo. I thought this book was ok but if you like hippos or tortoises read this book, you would like it. . I would give this book 3 stars. I recomend this book to kids in k-5.


Rating****
DCF Nominee Nomineeee
 Review by Noah
The Clue Of The Linoleum Lederhosen
by M. T. Anderson

Are you ready to read into an adventure? The fabulous book I read was titled The Clue Of The Linoleum Lederhosen. M. T. Anderson wrote this book. In this book it is cool how Anderson took characters like ones from other books (like the Hardy Boys) and put them in this book. This story takes place in present times. The main characters are Lily, Jasper, and Katie. They go to relax at the Moose Tongue Lodge. The lodge seems like a good place untill the Hooper Quints go missing Along with an heiress's diamond necklas. I really enjoyed this book. I rated it with 4 stars. How did you like the part when you found out about the quints?

Rating***
DCF Nominee
 Review by Holly
The Story of Salt
by Mark Kurlansky

How did salt come to be? Read the Story of Salt  by Mark Kurlansky. It is a nonfiction picture book. This is an interesting story on how salt was created.  It tells about how people have used salt throughout history and now. It says how you can make salt water and how they get it. It is a good free reading book. But that's my opinoin. you have to read the book to see your opinion. I reccomend this book to kids in grades 3+. I give this book 3 stars. It is a good book.
Do you think this short picture book should be a DCF?
Animal Story
 Biography





Rating****.7

 Review by Cole
Listen
by Stephanie Tolan
Are u ready to read an awesome DCF book? Or do you just want to read a good book for the heck of it. Well u should read Listen by Stephanie S. Tolan. She is an amazing author. She has written many other books. This is an animal story. This story takes place on a lake during the present day. The main character is Charley who trains a wild dog that lives around the lake. She feeds the dog she names Coyote and goes on walks with him around the lake. She has a friend's dog that helps her get close to the dog because Coyote likes to play with her. The dog helps her deal with other things. Little by little she gets the dog to trust her. This Book Has A Fantastic Ending. I rate this book 4.7 stars.




Review by KC
Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini
by Sid Fleischman

Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini is a very sweet life journey about Harry Houdini. It's written by Sid Fleischman, nonfiction, and it tells about Harry Houdini and his life. It takes place in the past. It tells about Houdini and where he really came from, his real name,  his magic and how he died. It's good for people that dont know a lot on him.

[This book has lots of  photographs]





         Fantasy


Review by Katelyn
Gossamer
by Lois Lowry

I read the sorta scary book Gossamer by Lois Lowry. This is a Fantasy book. The setting is at the "fairies" sleeping quarters and a woman's house during the night and day. This book is about a little "fairy" named Littlest One who is learning how to make good dreams. Then a boy moves in with the old lady and the boy is getting attacked by the Sinisteeds. Sinisteeds are evil "fairies" that give people nightmares. The book was boring at first but then it got interesting when the boy moved in. I recommend this book to kids in fifth and sixth grade because it talks about scary things [like child abuse].
Would you like to be a foster child?



Rating**** *
DCF Nominee
Review by Kateri
The Adventures of Marco Polo
by Russell Freedman
Try never being trusted.  The Adventures of Marco Polois written by Russell Freedman. Freedman also wroteKids At Work.This book is about Marco Polo's life.  Marco Polo went to China and when he got back everybody thought  he was a liar because he often exaggerated things. When he was young, Marco helped his dad and his uncle trading lots of things to the king. Marco never went to see the king but he loved to help his dad and uncle sell things around the village. Marco took over the family business when his dad died. At the end of this book... wait I won't tell you the end you will have to read the book and find out. I give this book 5 stars. I would recommend this book to kids 9 and up because it has some hard to understand things in it. I really loved this book because it told me a lot about Marco Polo.
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