Broadway just finished Hunger Games.  She could not put this book down, causing her to stay up until 3:30 am one night.

Gotta love the summer because this atrociously late bedtime is fine with us (once in awhile) when there’s no school the next morning.

I always wrestle with whether to force my child to stop reading late at night because of school the next day.  No wrestling with that decision during these long summer months.

I sat down with Broadway today to interview her on how she felt about the book.  Broadway is 10 and going into the fifth grade in August.

Q. Describe this book in a few sentences

A. Its very hard to put down because it is very interesting and every single page has a new exciting event.  I like all the detail and the voice of the story.  I got very emotional during this book because of all of the description.  It is set in the future and America is destroyed.  Each year they have the Hunger Games where you fight to the death.  There are 12 districts where a male and a female tribute are chosen from each district having 24 tributes.  They range from ages 12-18.   The last person living wins and is crowned victor.  If you are crowned victor you win a life’s supply of money and a very large house.

Q. Describe the main characters

A.  The main character is Katniss Everdeen who is a very willing, brave,and courageous girl.  She is sixteen years old and she was picked to be in the Hunger Games which is an event where you fight until the death.  She loves her family and her best friend,Gale, and will do anything to protect them.  She also does not take orders.  She is the victor of the Hunger Games.

Q.  What is your most favorite scene in the book?

A.   My most favorite scene in the book is when Katniss almost kills herself for her love, Peeta.  The scene is very detailed and shows her characteristics very well. The writer details Katniss’s emotions wonderfully.

Q.  What part of the book did you like least?

A.   Every part of the book was wonderful, but the part I liked least is when Katniss’s alli, who was a young 12 year old, died.  I got very emotional at that part.  Katniss did, too.

Q.  Who is your favorite character and why?

A.  My favorite character is Peeta because he is very positive and humorous.  He is very loving to Katniss even when Katniss isn’t very loving to him.  His life is pretty hard with his mother who yells at his every move however, his father is very loving to him and everyone.

Q. Why would you recommend this book to your friends?

A.  I would recommend this book to my friends because it is very detailed and is very, very, very hard to put down.  I don’t really need to recommend this book to my friends because basically all my friends have already read this book and they loved it so much they couldn’t believe I waited so long to read it.  They were right.  All of my friends who have read it, loved it.

Broadway thanks you for reading her review.  🙂

For another review by Broadway, check out Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons, by Ann Rinaldi.

Imagineer recently finished the book, “Troublemaker”, by Andrew Clements for her summer reading club. I interviewed her today about how she liked the book.  Imagineer is entering the third grade this Fall.

Q. Describe this book in a few sentences

A. I describe this book as a funny, but sarcastic book.  And I like all of the titles of the chapters.

Q. Describe the main character

A.  The main character is Clayton Hensly and he is like a troublemaker because he does these bad things and tries to make excuses for them.  Like one day, his teacher said to draw a self portrait, so Clay drew a donkey with glasses.  And then his brother comes back from Belden.  So then he decides to change his mischievous ways and then he turns into a goody two shoes.  Clayton has a friend, Hank, who spray paints a donkey like the one Clay did on Principal Kelly’s door.

Q.  What is your most favorite scene in the book?

A. I liked how Clay started having that conversation about the picture with his teacher.  It was funny.

Q. What part of the book did you like least?

A. When Clay found out that Hank drew a donkey on Principal Kelling’s house and made the cops come to Clay’s house.

Q.  What type of book would you say this is?

A.  I’d say it was a real life with a little fantasy.

Q.  Who is your favorite character and why?

A.  My favorite character is Ms. Oriman because she liked watching them and making sure the kids had good behavior.

Q. What did you learn from this book?

A.  I learned that it is always good to tell the truth and to be good and to not be a troublemaker.  (Mom is quietly cheering)  🙂

Q. Why would you recommend this book to your friends?

A.  Because I think its very funny, but also sad.  I’d recommend it to everyone.

For another book review by Imagineer, check out Smells Like Dog.

My girls are keeping track of the books they read this summer on their “Summer Reading Olympics” Log.  I thought it would be fun to interview them after they finish each book this summer.

Hopefully this will be helpful for you as you search through your bookshelves and the library for adventurous and entertaining novels to keep your little ones busy this summer.

We are going to start with “The Girl Who Could Fly, by Victoria Forester.

Imagineer finished reading this book a few weeks ago and really loved it.  I thought I would share with you some of the reasons she thought this was such an awesome book.  Imagineer is going into third grade this Fall and is eight years old.  She loves all types of books, but is particularly fond of adventure and fantasy.

My Interview with Imagineer about “The Girl Who Could Fly”

I asked Imagineer the following questions about this unique book to give you a better idea of the story:

Q. Describe this book in a few sentences

A. The book is about a girl who can fly.  And she tries to play with other kids, but when catching a ball, she jumps up and flies to catch it.  The people are surprised. And her parents send her to this person named “Leticia Hellion”.  She owns this school where all of these other kids have special powers like her.  Then, she likes Dr. Hellion and all of the kids there and Conrad etc….  Then they find out that Dr. Hellion is actually trying to take their powers away from them.  So, they try to escape, and they can’t and are caught.  There’s this guy that has been at the school so long, he forgot what his powers are.  Piper makes him realize his power is a healing power.  Then they find that Dr. Hellion has flying powers as well.  The rest of the book is about trying to get out of the school and get back to their parents.

Q.  What did you like most about this book?

A.  I like most about how its about a girl who tries to save her friends without getting hurt.  At first, Conrad thought only the two of them could escape, but Piper finds a way to get them all out, because she cares about her friends.

Q.  What part of the book did you like least?

A.  I really didn’t like it all when  they found out that Dr. Hellion was evil.  Also, I didn’t like when Conrad’s Dad couldn’t talk to Conrad on the phone because he was too busy.  His Dad wouldn’t listen to him when he was trying to tell him that Dr. Hellion was trying to take away his powers.

Q.  What is your most favorite scene in the book?

A.  My favorite scene is, gosh there’s so many I like, ummm, ummm is this part where Piper is trapped in this machine that Dr. Hellion put her in – this part is sad, but she has a cricket with her named Sebastian and he sings this song that makes all of them feel better.  But then, the evil Leticia comes in and takes Sebastian away.  My favorite was when Sebastian was singing and everyone was happy.  🙂

Q.  What type of book would you say this is?

A.  I’d say its an adventure book with a little fantasy.  Its also a heartwarming adventure where Piper tries to do stuff like fly up high to grab the ball.  Its a very good book.

Q.  Who is your favorite character and why?

A.  My favorite, most splendid character would be two people actually, three actually:  I really like Piper, Conrad, and Violet.  I like Piper because she is really nice and she helps all of her friends get out.  My second favorite character, Conrad, I like him, because, well, he helped make this story an adventure because Conrad made this big meeting and told everyone what to do. Without him, there would have been no escape.  My third favorite character is Violet because she was the only one that was nice to Piper for a long time.  Violet’s power is to shrink.  She wants to find tunnels that nobody ever has found.  She thinks that she can shrink far enough down to go walk through the tunnels and find things nobody every has found before.

Q. Why would you recommend this book to your friends?

A.  I would recommend this to everybody, not just my friends, because I think its a really heartwarming adventure, and that you all would really like it.  Its really cute and nice and sweet.  I think Victoria Forester did a very good job on this book:  creating the characters, thinking about the scenes, making up the bad people like Leticia, telling about powers, and I just think that she is a very good author and I would love to find more of her books.

Imagineer thinks you will enjoy this book too!

Imagineer thanks you for reading her review!  🙂  For another one of her reviews check out Sideways Stories from Wayside School or A Dog’s Life.