Ms. Dawley's Xtreme Readers May 2007

More reviews by Xtreme Readers!

The Afterlife by Gary Soto

The name of my book is The Afterlife written by Gary Soto. The book was based on how you look at life after you die. The main character Jesus starts the book on how he got stabbed. He was at a bar minding his own business when he decided to go into the bathroom and out of nowhere a man stabbed him. There was not a real reason for his death.

As Jesus found out he was a ghost, he just wandered around his city. He passed by his family wishing that he could say something, but he was a ghost that could not say a word. The guy that stabbed him is a bully. He goes around bothering innocent people that do not start trouble. As the book comes to an end, the scene is being described as if Jesus was in church going back to his body.

I would rate this book a seven out of a ten because it was interesting but I personally think the author could have described it better. I like the fact that it was a different book. It was kind of interesting because I always thought about life after you die. Even though there were some parts that scared me the book was still fun to read. I also thought the book was crazy because it talked about many different things that I always asked questions about. This book was also sad because when you want to talk to your family yo can't because you are a ghost.
Reviewed by V. D.

The Cask of Amontillado Short Story written by Edgar Allen Poe

"The Cask of Amontillado" is a short story written by Edgar Allen Poe and is about revenge. The story is about a person that swears revenge on a great wine taster for insulting him. He tells the wine taster he bought Amontillado and tells him he is looking for something else. The man is tricking the wine taster by trying to make him go into his cellar where his wine is. The wine taster follows the man into his cellar to go to the Amontillado. The man gets the wine taster drunk and he brings him into an empty crypt and he buries the wine taster alive in the crypt by using bricks.

Summary by D. C.

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer

Hmmmm...why did I want to read this book? It is because I thought it would be interesting and such a good mystery. This book is about a boy named Artemis Fowl. who can go to another world full of fairies and see other enchanted creatures.
I just want you to know that I really recommend this book to everybody on earth. Many newspapers and magazines give a high rating to this book: Publisher's Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Kirkus Review, and Dianne Sawyer from Good Morning America recommends this book.
I believe that anyone who reads this book will love it and enjoy it so much. I know I did or I would not be writing this much stuff about the book Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception.
Reviewed by K. W.

Nightmare by Joan Lowery Nixon

Nightmare by Joan Lowery Nixon is a horror novel. The main character of the novel is Emily. Emily has a problem that she can't get rid of and haunts her in her dreams. She sees dead people and they don't go away no matter how much she tries to make the dreams stop. Emily does not know why the dreams won't go away. Even her parents are starting to get concerned.

Her mom and dad see their teenage daughter with a problem and want to help, but as a normal teenager Emily just wants them to leave her alone. They want the best for her so they send her to a program that her father heard about called Camp Excel, a camp for underachievers. Her parents want her to be all she can be just like her two older sisters Angel and Monica who both graduated valedictorian at their school.

Emily does not mind be called an underachiever. She is OK with going to Camp Excel which is a six week experiment summer program for kids who are not performing to their abilities. Now, for the next six weeks, Emily is about to find out what her real potential is, will she make new friends, and most of all, will the dreams stop?

The novel Nightmare by Joan Lowery Nixon is an Edgar Allen Poe Award winner. It is interesting and keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time. It is very suspenseful and will keep you wanting to know more.

I can relate to Emily and her life style. I was once called an underachiever just like Emily until my parents entered me in a program similar to Camp Excel and I changed just like Emily. On a scale of 1-10, I give this book a 10 because it relates to me so much.

Reviewed by Z. H.

Shattered by Paul Langan.

Shattered written by Paul Langan is a story that kids can relate to who are having hard times at home and at school. The main character in the book is Darcy who has troubled times at school. Hakeem, the boy she is dating, has been dating another girl. Her best friends know about Hakeem dating another girl and they are keeping this a secret from Darcy.

The plot structure takes shape when Darcy finds out that here is a secret that her friends know. She finds out from Tarah that Hakeem has been seeing another girl. But there is a secret that Darcy has of her own that Hakeem doesn't know about. Darcy has been seeing another boy, so now they are both keeping secrets from each other. Darcy is also having troubled times at home with her dad. He is an alcoholic and he left his wife with four kids and left with another woman.

If I could rate this book one through ten, I would rate it about an eight, because a lot of people can relate to this story. I can't relate to this story because none of this happened to me in my life like what had happened to Darcy in her life. But if this happened to me like it did her, I would feel disowned and not loved by the people around me and I wouldn't think that anybody would trust anyone else.
Reviewed by S. M.


Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

J. K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. There are two other kids in the story besides Harry, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasel. Harry meets them at Hogwarts. The story is about a boy named Harry Potter (main character) and how he was saved by his mother's power of love that no one could ever hurt him not even Lord Voltmort, Harry's enemy.

Harry Potter goes Hogworts, which is a school of witchcraft and wizardry. The high wizard's name is Alvise Dumbledore. In this first book of the series, Harry is found on the front steps of his mother's sister's house. Now if you were talking about cruel, then you can think of her. When Harry came home to aunt and uncle and was older they started to treat him differently from other people making him wash his clothes and wax the floors. They moved to a small island where nobody could find them but then a huge man, named Hagrid, knocked the door over and took Harry to Hogwarts, the school of witchcraft.

Harry Potter, in the second book, was bullied by other kids that he didn't like very much. In this book Harry Potter finds a secret, in a journal, in the girl's bathroom. He finds out about the snake and the flooding. The snake is the symbol for the House of Slitherin. It is the house of the snake or the dark side. In the third book Harry finds out about something that really shocked him, something that he did not want to hear.

Summary by R. D.