We're Middle School Students Writing about Reading!

Welcome to our blog--we're always in the middle of a good book here!

Our posts may include book reviews, original fiction, interviews with authors and bloggers, fan-fiction, fan art, and more, so join us in our journey to explore great books and learn about book blogging!


Friday, September 28, 2012

Hide in Plain Sight, a review by Zombified Unicorn

Author: Marta Perry
Format: I read this as an e-book on the kindle library
Price: Free on the kindle library

Hide in Plain Sight is one of those books that you probably shouldn't read in the dark at night… It was a great book to get lost into the plot. The two main characters are Andrea Hampton and Calvin Burke. Andrea’s younger sister gets hit by a car, and Andrea is forced to move in with her grandmother (where her sister Rachel was living and working). They were working at turning her grandmother’s mansion into The Three Sisters Inn. But with Rachel’s accident, their chances at finishing by their opening date are now slim. But as word gets out about Rachel, and the Inn, and the opening date, strange things start to happen. Andrea and Calvin have a hard time figuring out who is out there, and it takes a while to get their final answer.
            
If you asked me to pick my favorite part of this book, I honestly wouldn’t have an answer for you. The entire book is full of cliffhangers and suspense. It’s a great book to just pick up and read. 
            
Rating: five chocolate bars
Appropriateness: I think it might swear ONCE. So if you’re freaked out about it, I’m sure it won’t be a problem.
Cover Thoughts: The cover was a great example of the book. There are a lot of Amish families in the book, and the mansion looks very realistic

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Wednesday Wonderings

We at In the Middle (Of a Good Book) are a curious lot.  As in, we have a lot of questions.  And we thought, hey, we are an inquisitive bunch of people, and we also have access to entire classrooms full of middle school students who might have answers.  So each Wednesday, we are going to try to pose some questions about books and reading to our fellow middle school students and choose the most awesome answers to post for you.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

You, too, may have questions about books and the reading habits of middle school students...and we would be more than happy to survey our guinea pigs test subjects classmates with your questions.  Leave any questions you have in the comments, or you can email them to us at inthemiddlereading (at) gmail (dot) com!

NEXT WEEK: Our first post will explore what makes a compelling villain!

Monday, September 24, 2012

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part time Indian: A review by: cece07

Book Title: The Absolutely true Diary Of a Part time Indian
Format: paper back
Author: Sherman Alexie
Length/number of pages: 230
Price: $8.99
Short Summary:  
This book is about a boy named Junior who gets picked on.  He feels confined on the reservation where he lives, and his grandma tells him to take a big step.  He transfers schools to a place where he is the only Indian there.  He meets this attractive girl and falls for her right at that moment.  When he moved schools, all the people on the rez ( reservation..) hated him, even his best friend Rowdy, because they think he is betraying them by moving to a white school. His grandma  was proud, and his parents didn't care. Along the way Junior makes a couple of friends, gets into a couple of fights, and is faced with a big decision. 

Sherman Alexie is the king sitting on his jewel-encrusted throne (meaning he is a FANTASTIC writer...) writing this book. You can tell it came from his heart. It is a terrific book...you will read one page and you can't stop. It's hilarious, heart crushing, enthralling, and sad. Check it out!


Strengths: very poetic, awesome cartooons, has a lot of meaning, and it's hilarious.
Rating (out of five chocolate bars)5 (all the way.)
Appropriateness:  for 12 & up
Cover Thoughts: It fits the book ( once you read it.)