Time In! SLAM! DUNK!

Man! You guys have been ACTIVE!! I'm gone one day and, when I come back, my email box is FULL of book reviews! You all are GREAT!!

Since I've received so many reviews, I'm not going to comment after each set, but hold any comments until the end. In fact, I'll list the reader guy's name, put his reviews after that, thank everybody at once, and give the standings.

But before I do that, let me direct your attention to a comment from Jana, a librarian, a mom of boys, and one of the faithful followers of our blog:

I am running a Favorite Authors March Madness at my library. I invite you and your readers to come over to my website and vote! The polls are on the sidebar. The address is:http://webmail.plcmc.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://russell-library.blogspot.com/

OK, guys, go over there and vote! I've already done it. Jana runs a good blog and recommends some good stuff. Take a look.

Now for the Slam Dunks. First up is magnificent Michael:

The Elijah Project, book 1

On the Run
by Bill Myers
People have started noticing 7-year-old Elijah's supernatural God-given powers... even the people who want them for their own purposes. When the villains make an advance, Elijah and his siblings: 13-year-old Piper and 15-year-old Zach, find that their parents have dissapeared, and now they must run away on their own. With the help of their friends Cory and William, the group must believe in God to help them defeat their enemy the Shadow Man, and the ultimate villain the Supreme Master, who in reality is Satan. Bill Myers makes another home run with this amazing book!

Jellaby, book 1
by Kean Soo
Meet Portia. She has no friends, her parents are divorced, and now she's got a monster for a friend! But that won't stop her and her friend, Jason, from finding Jellaby's home. Fast-paced, funny, and creative, this comic book is perfect for everyone!

Then we have the dynamic Dakota T:

The next book that I read was High Rulian By Brain Jaques. this book was about a young ottermaid who's skills in the sling exceed any others. When a Giant bird and a barnicle goose , both injured by a Tyrant who rules over Green Isle, come to Redwall to find refuge. They both tell them of where they come from and how the otter tribes are getting tormented by a raging cat who will stop at nothing to remain Tytrant of the Isle. It's up to the ottermaid to rescue the tribes enslaved. This book has more than it's fair share of action, adventure, and care for others. This was one of my favorite book in the entire Redwall series. The flaw in this series is that most of the books get off on a slow start.

I read a book entitled Holes by Luis Sachar and it's about a poor boy who is taken to Camp Green Lake where you get to dig a hole five feet wide and five feet deep. If you find anything you are to report it to the warden who turns out to be a girl. But why? This book is creative, yet realistic, and is one of my all time favorites. While telling the story of Stanely, It also tells a story about a teacher and an onion farmer. It was amazing how everything just fit together and made sense. Hope you read this and enjoy it!

Someone Named Eva is a suspensful book about a young blond hair, blue eyes girl during the holocost. Despite the title, her real name is Milaida. As you probably have gussed she is taken from her family and taken to a place where every other girl there has something in common to her, blond hair, blue eyes. There, she is renamed to Eva. While she's there she meets another girl who, in her opinion, has the prittiest blue eyes. After a year or two of being there a Nazi family adopts her. She quilkly becomes freinds with her new sister and learns from her that no one is alowed in the father's office. Everything is getting better but there's an aweful odor that haunts the house. What's behind Father's door? Where is the smell coming from? These are things that she wants answered, as well as where are her parent's. When the allies bomb the area of where their house is, they have to go down in the basement to hide. Will the war ever end, is what Milaida wonders. This book is mysterious and action packed, so I'd recomend this to anyone who can read.

The book I'm reviewing is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. This book is about a boy, named Brain, who's parents recently got devorced and he is on his way to his father's house in Canada. Traveling in a small biplane, only the pilot, his luggage including a hatchet, and himself are on board. Flying over the wilderness, the pilot has a heart attack (and dies) and the radio stops working. Before he knows it, he's all alone over the vast Canadian wilderness. Soon the fuel runs out and the engine stops... This is a great book full of action and adventure. Brain has to use his wits to survive and find food to live. Soon brain see's changes in himself and you get to learn the real reason to why his parents split. I really enjoyed this book and would recomend it to anyone who enjoys a good book.

The book I am reviewing is a series entitled The Series of unfortunate Events. Is is about three newly orphans that go from gaurdian to gaurdian escaping from the ever lurking Count Olaf. The three names of the children are Violet, the eldest who loves to invent things, Kluase, the middle child who loves to read, and Sunny who loves to bite. After they're parents die in a mysterious fire, they were entitled to live with Count Olaf who is only after fortune. He attemps to marry Violet to inherit the Baudelaire fortune (their last name). When Sunny is locked up in a cage, Violet has no choice but to agree, it's all up to Klause to put a stop to this. This book is adventurous, and a great mystery series for people who are about in seventh grade, basically because of mild violence. This no doubt was one of my favorite books because of all the problem solving, and the teamwork.

Then we have jumpin' Justin B (who is indeed brother to Brian B):

Yes I am Brother to Brian B. No I have not read The Brixton Brothers The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity, but I would like to read it.I'm writing a review on the Hardy Boys #12 Trouble in Paradise. It started when Frank and Joe were at home and they got a mysterious letter that said there will be a box arriving in ten seconds. It also said go to St. John Island because the Ambassador's son Esteban was missing. The box contained a wad of cash and credit cards, so they went to St. John Island. Frank fell for a girl named Jenna which was a decoy. Esteban really was not kidnapped; he was the leader of the smugglers.

I am writing a review on The Hardy Boys #4 Missing Chums. Joe was working on his motorcycle in their garage. They left for Shantytown a place around Bayport in their boat the Sleuth. Before they got there they almost got rammed by a boat named the Black Cat. They saw a bank being robbed and followed them to the dock. Then the police arrived and had mistaken them for the bank robbers. The robbers had on hats, pea jackets and masks. Then Chet and Biff went missing. They figured that they were kidnapped and taken to hermit island so they went there with some of their friends, but they were fooled by a false hermit. They went there again and found a cave which contained their friends.I would recommend this book to Hardy boy fans. It's a great book.

After Justin comes bouncin' Brian B:

I'm writing a review on the Hardy Boys graphics #15 Live Free Die Hardy. A.T.A.C. (American Teens Against Crime) decides to throw a surprise party for Fenton Hardy. The Noir sisters decide to crash the party. Can the Hardy boys stop them?This is a good book but I would read #7 The Opposite Numbers for a introduction to the Noir sisters.

I'm reviewing the all new Hardy Boys #12 Trouble In Paradise. The Hardy Boys go to the Caribbean to hunt down the kidnapper of a man named Esteban. A Spanish galleon gets found and the boys go diving at the spot of the wreck to look for clues. It turns out that Esteban didn't get kidnapped he just continually went diving at the wreck and decided that instead of diving he would just use his very rich fathers money. But rebellion from his helpers put him in a jam. I love the all new Hardy Boys because you can be Frank or Joe every other chapter. It's good for all you fans of the Hardy Boys.

I'm reviewing The Dare Boys On The Brandywine by Stephen Angus Cox. This 100 year old book has an inscription giving it to "Harris in 1910 by the S.S." It has 192 pages and 23 chapters. It is about Tom and Dick Dare and their neighbor-friend Ben Foster. The lively youths join General Washington and help fight in the Revolutionary War. Dick becomes the best spy for General Washington. It is a good book and if you like Revolutionary War books this is the series for you.

I'm reviewing Skateboard Renegade by Matt Christopher. It is about a kid named Zach Halper who is in a crew which loves to skateboard. When he gets a letter saying that he has been accepted into Amherst Academy his life will change. It is a good book perfect for skateboarders.

Finally we have awesome AXEL SIMONE:

I READ THE PERCY JACKSON SERIES.IT IS BY RICK RIORDAN.I LOVED IT. IN BOOK 1 ZEUS'S LIGHTNING BOLT IS STOLEN. IN BOOK 2 GROVER IS KIDNAPPED. IN BOOK 3 THEY FIND 2 DEMIGODS.IN BOOK 4 THEY NAVIGATE THE LABYRINTH.IN BOOK 5 THE GODS HAVE A WAR AGAINST THE TITANS. IT IS THE BEST BOOK SERIES EVER.I RECOMMEND IT TO EVERYONE. BYE.

Thanks, everybody! Wow, this is terrific! Yes, I agree about the Percy Jackson series. I'm one of the biggest fans in the library and tell everyone about them. Did you see the movie, AXEL? Did you like it? Hatchet is one of the best survival/adventure stories ever and a true guy favorite. I did a review of The Missing Chums way back when. In fact, Mac Barnett, the Brixton Brothers author is such a Hardy Boys fan that he titled one the chapters in his book The Missing Chum. And I love Revolutionary War stories. One of my favorites is King's Mountain--take a look at my review here. Click on any of the labels under this post to find out more about any of these topics.

Here's the part you're all waiting for, the current standings:

Michael--8 points

Dakota T--8 points

ALEX--9 points

Chandler--2 points

Justin B--3 points

Brian B--7 points

Shannon--3 points

Once again, AXEL has taken the lead but, once again, we have a tie. Michael and Dakota T are in second place with 8 points each, while Brian B breathes down their necks with 7 points! The tension mounts, men! And who knows what the rest of the weekend will bring!

IT'S MARCH MADNESS, BAAAYYYBEEE!!!

Carl