Lumber Camp Library

              Lumber Camp Library was written by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, and was illustrated by James Bernardin. It was published in 2002. This book shows me what the power of reading can do to a child.
               Lumber Camp Library is about a girl named Ruby who lives on a lumber camp. Her father, a log-riding lumberjack, makes Ruby go to school. She soon finds she loves school, and loves reading even more. She sets up a school, she was the teacher and her 10 brothers and sisters are the students.  Ruby even taught her father to write his name. She reads the children stories, and while she was at school, the other kids would act out the stories. Then Pa dies while clearing out a log jam. The family moves to town. All the children go to school. Everyone tries to make the best of their new life.
                 My favorite part in Lumber Camp Library is when the family is living in town. One of the lumberjacks, Jim, shows Ruby a ring - an engagement ring.  Ruby knows this means that Jim wanted to marry Ma, and she also knows she can't let that happen. Then Ma got sick. She told Ruby to go to the lumber camp to say that she couldn't do her job. Ruby went. She could not find Jim, so she went to his bunkhouse to leave him a note. While she's there writing the note, she hears a clink. It's the ring. Ruby takes the ring and throws it down a mountainside. She does it for Pa. But will someone find the ring? If it is found, will Ruby come clean? The answers can be found in this book: Lumber Camp Library.

The Mysterious Benedict Society

         The Mysterious Benedict Society was written by Trenton Lee Stewart. It was illustrated by Carson Ellis, and was published in 2007. You can get the book at the Brookfield Public Library. It is the first book in a series of four.
         The Mysterious Benedict Society is about four children who take tests with really hard and really mysterious questions. These four children, Reynard (Reynie), George (Sticky, because everything he reads sticks in his head), Kate, and Constance, are the only ones that pass the tests. Mr. Benedict - the one who designed the tests - knows there are messages that are going to be broadcast into people's minds and cause eternal discomfort, especially for Constance. So he makes the four kids into a group and  sends them to The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is there are no rules. They act as spies for him, finding out what they can and reporting it to him. The boys become messengers, getting sessions in the Whisperer (what Mr. Curtain, the sender, is using to broadcast the messages). Kate gets daring and finds out what she can. Constance just gets crankier every day.
             My favorite part of  The Mysterious Benedict Society is when Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance are trying to confuse the Whisperer. Constance gets in the Whisperer, and when it told her to think different things like her name and what she was afraid of, she said,"No! I won't! Uh-uh! You can't make me! I... Don't....CARE!" Can Constance resist the Whisperer? Can she confuse it ? Will the entire world be saved? Find the answers in this book, The Mysterious Benedict Society.

Emily's Runaway Imagination

        Emily's Runaway Imagination was written by Beverly Clearly, an author you may already know. It was illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush. It was copywrited in 1961. You can get this book at the Brookfield Public Library. It's a pretty funny book.
        Emily's Runaway Imagination is about a fourth-grade girl named Emily in the 1920s. Mama says Emily's imagination runs away with her, and it does! Come along with Emily as she helps get a library started, Cloroxes a horse, feeds apples to hogs so she won't waste food and they get drunk, makes an upside-down pie, and wins a prize for a costume she didn't know about. The laughs won't stop with her around.
         My favorite part in Emily's Runaway Imagination is where Emily is having a sleepover with her cousin, June. They fall asleep, then wake up during a thunderstorm. There are creepy sounds all over the place, so they think there is a ghost in the house. They start looking for Emily's parents. Then they notice a hole in the screen door. Will they find out who made the hole? Will they find out what the ghost was? The answers can be found in the book, Emily's Runaway Imagination.

Stalked in the Catacombs

               Stalked in the Catacombs is the 3rd book in a series called A Daring Adventure and was written by Peter Reese Doyle. It was published in 1993. It has no illustrations, but the writing makes me feel as though I am right next to the main characters, Mark and Penny Daring and their friend, David Curtis.
               Stalked in the Catacombs is about three teens, Mark and Penny Daring and their friend, David Curtis. They are in France, helping Mr. Daring get sensitive information on a just-discovered tomb in Egypt. While they are helping, though, their archenemy, Hoffman, tries to steal the information so he and his crew can rob the tomb. In the end his plans are foiled.
                One of my favorite parts in Stalked in the Catacombs is when Mark, Penny, and David are taking a tour in the catacombs under Paris. Hoffman plotted to grab Penny and keep her until Mr. Daring told him where the tomb was located in Egypt. While thethree teens were exploring the catacombs, Hoffman grabs Penny and the three got separated-Penny and David, and Mark by himself! Will Penny and David get out? Will they stop Hoffman's men? Will Mark get help?  These will only be answered in the book, Stalked in the Catacombs.