Book Beat Reviews

Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston

Hi my name is Kire. I am in 6th grade and I love to read. Other than reading I like to do gymnastics and play viola.

I read Amari and the Night Brothers for the Idaho battle of the books. It was an amazing fantasy story that had twists and turns along the way.

The book follows a girl named Amari who lives with her single mom and her brother, Quinton, before he disappeared. The book starts out with Amari and her mom trying to figure out what happened to Quinton and a police search says that he is probably never going to come back to their house. Amari does not believe this especially when she gets a mysterious package from Quinton that invites Amari to a magical training camp. Amari believes that this camp might help her find Quinton if he is still out there. Before she can go to this camp, she must pass an interview with a very odd man. Will Amari get into the camp and find her supposedly missing brother? Read the book to find out.

This book was one of the best fantasy stories that I have ever read, and it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time that I was reading it. I normally do not like fantasy stories very much, but this book was so interesting and exciting that even though I normally don’t like fantasy, I loved this book. As you can see, I really enjoyed reading Amari and The Night Brothers.

Find it in print here.

Dust by Dusti Bowling

Hi my name is Kire. I am in 6th grade and I love to read. Other than reading I like to do gymnastics and play viola.

I recently read Dust by Dusti Bowling. Dusti Bowling is one of my favorite authors, so I was assuming that this was going to be a really good book. Although I love the author, I did not think that this was one of her best books.

The book is about a girl named Avalyn who has asthma. Avalyn almost died from an asthma attack when she was a baby living in Oklahoma, so Avalyn’s family moved her to the dry clean air in Clear Canyon City, Arizona where she lives now. As school starts, a new mysterious kid arrives at school and dust storms begin to swirl outside almost every day. Avalyn begins to think that the new kid is what’s causing these storms as he seems to be feeling down almost every day. But why is he feeling bad every day? This is the question that Avalyn wants the answer to all throughout the book.

I think that this book would be a great choice for people who enjoy reading books that are realistic fiction and have a simple plot. This book, however, was not my favorite as I thought that some of the parts were a bit boring, but it did have a nice ending.

Find it in print here.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Hi, I am Advik and I’m in 8th grade. I love to read, watch TV, swim and travel.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, book six in the Harry Potter series, is truly an extraordinary work of fiction creativity.

The opening part of the book is especially appealing as Harry Potter learns that he will be taking private lessons with Albus Dumbledore himself. This adds a whole new layer to the story. Harry also starts to use a Potions textbook, which belonged to ‘the Half-Blood Prince.’ This book has helpful Potion tips and made-up spells. Dumbledore’s offer of a dream job to Snape and then Harry’s realization about Lord Voldemort’s past preparing for his final battle was intriguing. Harry learns that Voldemort has split his soul into seven pieces using Horcruxes, making him as close as possible to immortality. I love the way Rowling made Horcruxes.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Magic is arresting people and pursuing Harry to become, as Harry says, ‘their new poster boy.’ While Harry and Dumbledore try to keep out of it, they focus on a more important matter: How to kill Voldemort?
The book is full of twists, especially toward the end, where Dumbledore thinks he has found a Horcrux and invites Harry to retrieve it. By the end of their adventure, Dumbledore is weak, and Harry helps him back to Hogwarts. Secrets are revealed, and some of Harry’s suspicions are confirmed.

This book has it all: mystery, action, bravery, romance, thrill, and even a tragic loss. This book could be faster at times, but overall, it has a good storyline and plot. I recommend this book for ages eleven and up.

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

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

Hi, my name is Zane. I am in sixth grade. I enjoy playing soccer, video games, and exercising.

The book Touching Spirit Bear was definitely one my favorite books. This book is about 15-year-old Cole Matthews who recently broke into a hardware store and boasted about it at school. Although, one kid from his school named Peter Driscal ratted him out. Since Cole knows he will face charges, he beats up Peter Driscal so badly that he has brain damage. But instead of going the traditional way and facing years in prison, Cole decides to join Circle Justice, a place to heal not punish. He gets sent to an island and has to stay there for a year. With that said, Cole is still angry about what happened, so he decides to go against what he is supposed to do.

Like I said, this was one of my favorite books that I have ever read, although there were a few parts that I did not love. Firstly, one part of this book that made it such a good book was when Cole decides to go against the rules of the island. This was such a good part because you don’t know what the consequence is going to be. One part that was not so good was when he was sitting in the detention center. I did not like this part as much because there was a lot of repetition. In the end, Touching Spirit Bear was a great book, although it was very long so it would not be good for everyone.

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

The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett and Jory John

Hi, my name is Zane. I am in sixth grade. I enjoy playing soccer, video games, and exercising.

The Terrible Two was an amazing book about a prankster named Miles who leaves his friends and school and moves to a new town. On his first day of school the principal’s car is parked on the stairs going up to the school. Miles is determined to find out who did this and prove to the town that he is the best prankster. He invites almost everyone in his school to a fake birthday party, for a person named Cody-Burr Tyler, who doesn’t even exist. His plan is sabotaged when an unidentified person comes to the party pretending to be Cody-Burr Tyler. At this point Miles is very disappointed until he finds a note telling him to go somewhere at a certain time, where a prankster friendship starts.

Overall, The Terrible Two was a great book and had a lot of interesting and exciting parts that made you want to read more. The last section of the book was very good and even explained some earlier parts. This was one of my favorite books that I have ever read, and I would recommend it to a lot of people.

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

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

My name is Camille and I am in 8th grade. I love to snowboard and bake. My favorite genre to read is murder mystery.

I read the book Scythe by Neal Shusterman. This is a sci-fi book that takes place in a world where death is not naturally occurring. Technology has advanced greatly so that humans don’t have to worry about starvation, murder or old age; people could live forever if it weren’t for the Scythes. Scythes are people who have been trained to kill and when it is someone’s time, they will find them and kill them. Citra and Rowan are taken in by Scythe Faraday and they begin their training. Over the course of their time together, Citra and Rowan must train not only physically but mentally. They must prepare themselves for killing. At the end of the training Citra, Rowan and Faraday go to the winter conclave to take their Scythe test but they have no idea what is in store for them.

I really enjoyed reading this book because I liked learning what it would be like in a futuristic world. There were lots of plot twists that kept the story interesting and kept me reading. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Sci-fi and who likes futuristic scenes. This book starts off a good series and sets that tone for others to come.

Find it in print and ebook here.