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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

I am Elizabeth. I love reading, and my favorite book is My Sister’s Keeper. I am in the 8th grade and enjoy dance.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is written by J.K. Rowling. It is the second book in the Harry Potter series. It is not my favorite book in the series, but it is still pretty good. In this book, you get to see a lot more into the characters and their backstories.

The plot is about Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, and there is a lot of speculation about Voldemort. Voldemort is the antagonist (or the bad guy) of the Harry Potter Series. Voldemort wants all of the power in the magical world and to get it he has to kill Harry Potter and everyone who is still good. He finds a way for his younger self to petrify students and he kidnaps one of the students into the chamber of secrets. This leads Harry Potter and his friends to find clues and defeat Voldemort with a new teacher named Lockhart.

One of the characters we are introduced to is named Dobby. Dobby is a house-elf, which is basically a servant. At the end of the book, Harry tricks Lockhart, Dobbys owner, into freeing Dobby. This is a great moment for the readers because it is a really happy moment. This book was fun to read because the characters had a lot more depth, and we got introduced to a lot of new places and items in the wizarding world. I did enjoy reading this book, and I think that it is very important to the entire plotline of the Harry Potter series.

Find it in print, ebook, eaudiobook and CD here.

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

My name is Elizabeth. I love reading, and my favorite book is My Sister’s Keeper. I am in the 8th grade and enjoy dance.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is written by J.K. Rowling. It is the third book in the Harry Potter series. The plot of this book is about an escaped prisoner from the high-security wizarding world prison, named Azkaban. Everyone is worried that the escaped prisoner is trying to come to Hogwarts so he can kill Harry Potter. All of the dark wizards want to kill Harry Potter because he is one of the most powerful wizards in the wizarding world. It is Harry Potter’s third year at Hogwarts, and we learn a lot about student life in this book.

My favorite part of the book is when we are introduced to Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade is a smaller village near Hogwarts that the third-year students can visit with a parent’s permission. It is very cool and we get to visit a super fun candy shop called HoneyDukes with all of the students. Overall I really enjoyed this book because the readers already know about the backstory of a lot of the characters, and we got to experience a lot more with the students. The escaped prisoner has his mind set on killing Harry Potter. He is working with Voldemort, and since Voldemort couldn’t kill Harry Potter, he thinks that maybe he should see if someone else can. Harry has to work with his friends again so he can protect himself. I think this book is really good, and I would say it is a vital part of the Harry Potter series.

Find it in print, ebook, eaudiobook, CD and DVD here.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

My name is Elizabeth. I love reading, and my favorite book is My Sister’s Keeper. I am in the 8th grade and enjoy dance.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is written by J.K. Rowling. It is the first book in the famous Harry Potter series. I love this book for a lot of reasons, but the main one is that it introduces the reader to the magical world of Harry Potter. Rowling uses a lot of descriptions for all of the characters and places, and it creates a wonderful foundation for all of the other books. She has really amazing word building.

In this book, the main character Harry Potter learns that he is a wizard and that he must attend a witchcraft and wizardry school, named Hogwarts, to learn about his powers. He has to learn everything about the new magical world, and this helps the reader understand it as well. The plot is about the antagonist of the magical world, named Voldemort, trying to kill Harry Potter. Voldemort wants to kill Harry Potter because Harry is so powerful. Harry has to find ways to defeat Voldemort so he can be safe. This book is one of my favorites of the seven in the series because it is really an introduction to Hogwarts and the wizarding world. My favorite part is all of the animals and pets that we get introduced to through the story. I also love all of the characters and the backstories that we learn about. This is one of my favorite series that I’ve read, and I recommend all kids and adults read the Harry Potter series.

Find it in print, ebook, eaudiobook, CD and DVD here.

The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson

My name is Essence. I am in 7th grade. I love to read, one of my favorite genres is historical fiction. Some of the things I like to do are skiing, swimming, and rock climbing.

The Hand on the Wall is the third book in the mystery series. It is about a girl named Stevie. If you have read the previous books, Truly Devious and The Vanishing Staircase, you know what has happened.

Stevie now has all the information she needs. When some of Stevie’s fellow classmates go missing and wind up dead Stevie attempts to figure out if they were really in an accident or if someone linked with the Ellingham case is behind this. You might think you know who the person is but I can tell you this: I was way off! Stevie will take you on a wild ride of adventure and mystery. When you find out the people that are behind this your socks will fly off. Some of the things Stevie does are incredibly terrifying, but she finds out who is behind this mystery.

I really recommend this book. It will keep you on your toes and keep your brain working. There are three books in the series and each one is better and more thrilling than the previous. The book makes you want to read more. Truly Devious is one of the best series I have ever read. I would definitely recommend it.

Find it in ebook here.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

My name is Essence. I am in 7th grade. I love to read, one of my favorite genres is historical fiction. Some of the things I like to do are skiing, swimming, and rock climbing.

 Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson is a Mystery book. Truly Devious is about a ton of mysteries that spring up in the mountains of Vermont at a school called Ellingham Academy. The school was founded by a very wealthy man named Albert Ellingham. The school opened in 1936. Ellingham was a boarding school and only allowed the best students to enter. It was free to go there. Ellinigham was a very fine school. The best of the best. Albert Ellingham had a lot of money and used some of it to make the school very luxurious.

Ellingham also had a lot of security, so when Iris (Albert Ellingam’s wife) and Alice (Albert Elligham’s daughter) go missing along with Albert’s favorite and smartest student everyone is worried.

Many years later Stevie is accepted to go to Ellingham and is obsessed with trying to solve the case. Stevie knows everything there is to know about the case. She is a girl who likes to know everything. When she notices that something smells fishy with the people in her house she tries to investigate. Truly Devious ends on a bit of a cliffhanger so if you are going to read it I suggest knowing if you have access to the next book The Vanishing Staircase.

Find it in print, ebook, and eaudiobook here.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Hi, I’m McCallen. I like skiing and basketball.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander is an awesome book and I would definitely recommend it. The reason why it is so awesome to read is its great rhyming. I love how it feels like a music song, and the words just beg me to keep reading. I also love how Kwame Alexander, the author of the book, brings sports into reading to make reading more fun and enjoyable. Bringing sports into books is very important because that could get someone into sports and it could also bring someone that loves sports into loving reading.

For a quick summary, this book is about two twins, Josh and Jordan Bell. Josh and Jordan are amazing basketball players who like to play ball and make a lot of bets. Making bets raises the stakes of the game, especially when you have beautiful dreds that might have to be cut off. The twins have learned much about basketball from their father, a former European league superstar. Their love of basketball is connected to their love for their dad. Unfortunately, the boys must deal with a terrible tragedy that could possible ruin their career. Will they be able to overcome extreme loss?

Overall I think this is an awesome book and teaches everyone to love basketball. After reading The Crossover, you will also want to read the sequel, Rebound. The Crossover is also now available as a graphic novel.

Find it in print, ebook and eaudiobook here.