DAWN by Erin Hunter--an exciting, adventurous read!

Reviewer’s Name: Ian Andrew Naccarella Age: 11

Title: Dawn Author: Erin Hunter

Quality Rank Popularity Rank
5Q (couldn’t be better) 5P (everyone will read this)

For Grades
Below gr. 7 XX 7-9 XX 10-11 XX 12+ XX

Dawn continues the warrior cats’ adventure back to their clans, but, they soon realize it will be harder than they thought to convince their clan mates to leave the forest. The forest has been home to the clans for many generations, and many cats have been captured by the twolegs (humans). Squirrelfur receives a message from Starclan (their dead ancestors) and with help from a few of her clan mates rescue the captured cats. Soon after, Shadowclan gets attacked by the twolegs and Thunderclan shelters them. The four clans soon agree that it is time to leave the forest. Five of the cats receive a message from Starclan telling them the direction in which to travel. The clans follow the direction. They grow thinner and thinner and a few of the cats die from hunger and starvation. Will they make it? To find out read Dawn.
Erin Hunter’s writing is very exciting. One of the reasons that I like her writing is because it is non stop action. With the action, it brings a lot of tension, because you don’t know who will do what next. I also like the way that the good guys always succeed in the end. In her writing she never bores the reader when she is describing something, like most authors do. This is because she describes a scene one bit at a time. For example, when the forest is being destroyed she described how one tree was torn down, then put in a bit of action, and then described how a second tree was torn down. She also makes you very anxious when the characters are risking their lives to save the clans. I was constantly worrying about their safety. All in all I really enjoy her writing. This is a really good book and I can’t wait until the next one comes out. However, you should read all of the Erin Hunter Warrior books if you want to understand the plot of this book.
When I read this series of books I felt like I was part of the story. When something went wrong I felt anxious or sad, depending on what happened. For example, when Stormfur left his clan I was very sad, because I was so into the book that I felt like I was one of his best friends. Another example is when the cats were crossing the mountain, part of the cliff face fell away and a cat died.
I stayed still for about a minute because I was so shocked. I was also affected by description of the mother weeping as she mourned her lost son. I felt even sorrier for her, because she couldn’t even retrieve his body to stand vigil for him. This book also increased my longing to get a pet cat, because I think cats have great personalities. Erin Hunter wrote about cats working together as a team and accomplishing their goal. This shows me that working as a team is much better than working alone. Another thing that moved me was when Firestar, the Thunderclan leader, risked one of his remaining eight lives to save a kit (kitten). I was touched at how when another clan or cat was in danger someone would always try and help. You should really read this book if you are a lover of exciting and adventurous books.

BOOK REVIEW FOR SEPTIMUS HEAP-BOOK 1 MAGYK

Reviewer’s Name: Ian Andrew Naccarella Age: 10

Title: Septimus Heap – Book 1 Magyk Author: Angie Sage

Quality Rank Popularity Rank
5Q (couldn’t be better) 5P (everyone will read this)

For Grades
Below gr. 7 XX 7-9 XX 10-11 XX 12+ XX



In the “magyk” world the number “7” is magical. Septimus Heap is the 7th son of the 7th son, which makes him most “magykcal.” The story starts with the Matron Midwife screaming about the death of Septimus Heap and Silas, Septimus’ father, finding a baby girl, Jenna, who is the princess and whose mother, the Queen, was just murdered by the Assassin. Silas took Jenna in and raised her as one of his own children, but Jenna was also watched over and protected by the powerful Extraordinary Wizard Marcia Overstrand. Her enemy DomDaniel, the ex-ExtraOrdinary Wizard turned Necromancer, installed the Supreme Custodian to search and destroy Jenna so he could come back to the Castle and rule the country. Magyk takes the reader through the escapes by the Heap family from DomDaniel’s assassins. What will happen? Will DomDaniel rule? Will Jenna and friends defeat DomDaniel? To find out more read Magyk.
I like Angie Sage’s writing, because she introduces a lot of interesting characters and gives them a good reason to be in the story. For example, she added a real dragon to be used as a boat to rescue Marcia from DomDaniel. She added it by having the children hiding in a tunnel and accidentally opening the door to a dragon inhabited temple. Boy 412, a young army guard, tells its history that he once had read in a book. She also added a message rat, a guy called Mad Jack, Shield Bugs (vicious bugs that defend whoever freed them from the jar that they were formed in), and Magogs (slimy and poisonous things that serve DomDaniel). All these new characters added more to the story and made it more interesting. Another thing I liked about the book is that it gave you magic spells that you can try for yourself. One of the spells is an Unseen spell, but when I tried it I could not make myself unseen.
I recommend this book; it had a lot of twists and turns and is very exciting. Magyk makes you want to continue reading more to find out what happens next. The ending of the book tied everything together for you. As you read the book you can see the story happening in your head because Angie Sage is very descriptive in her story telling. I can’t wait till the next book comes out. My rating is: ***** out of five.

ACCELERATION, CODE ORANGE-GREAT SUSPENSE!

If you're looking for a thrilling read, try ACCELERATION by Graham McNamee or CODE ORANGE by Carolyn Cooney. Both will leave you sitting at the edge of your seat!