Book Review: Big Game by Stuart Gibbs

Big Game by Stuart Gibbs

Image Courtesy of Amazon

Amazon Synopsis: Teddy Fitzroy returns as FunJungle’s resident zoo sleuth when a rhinoceros is at risk in Big Game, a follow-up to Belly Up and Poached—which Kirkus Reviews called a “thrill-ride of a mystery.” When someone takes aim at Rhonda Rhino, FunJungle’s pregnant (and endangered) Asian greater one-horned rhinoceros, the zoo steps up security measures in order to protect this rare animal and her baby. But the extra security isn’t enough—someone is still getting too close for comfort. Teddy and company start to suspect that whoever is after Rhonda is really after her horn, which is worth a lot of money on the black market. For the first time ever, the head of the zoo enlists Teddy for help—for once, he doesn’t have to sneak around in order to investigate—and the results are even more wacky, and even more dangerous, than ever before.

My Review: I think the main problem with Big Game is that it too closely resembles Spy School. Teddy is pretty much the exact Ben, and Summer is Erica. I wasn't too crazy about the rest of the characters either. Marge was just really irritating and a bit immature, to be honest. No adult keeps accusing a child of being under arrest without proof and bawls like a baby. Teddy and Summer always spoke to the adults like equals, and vice verse, which was not always a good thing because it led to disrespect between the two age groups. There was also quite a bit of slang used between the adults and children, which was unrealistic, and seemed as if it was just to make the reader laugh. All the slang seems the same, and the plot style of a mystery also seems like Spy School. This disappointed me, because different series should not sound the same, which was completely the opposite in this case. The plot itself was okay, it just was blocked out because of the character resemblance. However, the ending was awesome. The real criminal is surprising and unexpected, so it definitely influenced my rating of the novel positively. I really enjoyed the setting of a zoo like FunJungle, as all of it seemed just like a real zoo and it was definitely a fun scene of the crime to explore. Overall, I give this novel 3.5 stars. It definitely could use some improvement to make it to four stars, but it was quite nice overall. Hopefully, Panda-monium is better!

Books I Received/Bought This Week

Here's a quick post today. I received an unusual amount of books this week, totaling to about 5 novels. I have my reading cut out for me :). I'm reading three books as of now, Big Game by Stuart Gibbs (it's okay so far, it seems a lot like the Spy School books, and I was hoping for something new in this series), Short by Holly Sloan (I like this one), and one I haven't quite started yet, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I was so, so excited to get the last one (thanks to my friend)! It was on my wishlist of classics last month. I can't wait to get started on reading it.

      

What books do you guys want to catch up on? Any reading plans for the week?

Book Review: The Whole Story of Half A Girl by Veera Hiranandani

Book Review: The Whole Story of Half A Girl by Veera Hiranandani

Goodreads Synopsis: After her father loses his job, Sonia Nadhamuni, half Indian and half Jewish American, finds herself yanked out of private school and thrown into the unfamiliar world of public education. For the first time, Sonia's mixed heritage makes her classmates ask questions—questions Sonia doesn't always know how to answer—as she navigates between a group of popular girls who want her to try out for the cheerleading squad and other students who aren't part of the "in" crowd. 

At the same time that Sonia is trying to make new friends, she's dealing with what it means to have an out-of-work parent—it's hard for her family to adjust to their changed circumstances. And then, one day, Sonia's father goes missing. Now Sonia wonders if she ever really knew him. As she begins to look for answers, she must decide what really matters and who her true friends are—and whether her two halves, no matter how different, can make her a whole.

     My Review: This book is a good MG read with more themes I would expect to see in a book for older readers. It mainly discusses themes of finding your way and staying true to one's self, also discussing where one belongs. This is surprising because the main character herself is in 6th grade. At first, I was kind of suspicious about such ideas in a book for younger MG readers, then I decided that the author incorporated them perfectly, explaining them from a 6th grader's point of view and not diving too deep. I would like to give a disclaimer, though, that this book did not show any preferences between skin color, but did involve Sonia thinking if she was "white" or "black". The main point, however, was just to go along with the theme of finding one's self, so I still approve of it for MG readers.
     Sonia herself is okay- I actually sometimes disliked her throughout the novel because of some of the stuff she said and did (like trying to become popular). She's confused between if she is Indian or Jewish because sometimes she feels as if she isn't one or the other. However, at the end it works out, so I guess the right message to younger readers is conveyed. 
     Other characters include Sonia's new "best friend", Kate, who actually seems like a better character to me. She accepts Sonia into her group without worrying how she looks, and treats her really nicely.  Sonia's mom is very supportive, her dad is not as much, going through depression (which is when I feel sorry for Sonia and her little sister, because they have been hit hard as well). To be honest, I think the part with her father was not really resolved as much, so I probably would have liked the story without her father going through depression.
      I didn't like the ending that much because of those reasons, and I feel as if Sonia took some things for granted after the story ended. However, the story was actually really well done for MG readers. Sonia really does change throughout the course of the story, with so many experiences hitting her at once, so there is no lacking character development and the lessons she learns. Also, she finally does find out who she is and who she wants to be friends with, which is good. I would rate this book as 4 stars. I would definitely recommend it for anyone wanting to read about prejudice issues and about being the new kid on the block, especially for children who haven't read about those themes very much. The cover from Amazon is above. Enjoy!

Guess What Day It Is???

#Today'sTheDay

P.S. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Shakespeare

 The most famous author of all time, Shakespeare, has made an appearance on my blog! Well, alright, not really, because the real Shakespeare is not alive at this point. In fact, many say he never was alive, and "Shakespeare" was never a real person, just a pseudonym someone else used. But to the point, my teacher made watching this video an assignment, and I think it's actually really cool. It turns Shakespeare's most popular phrases into a song, and it's quite catchy, to be honest. I ended up watching it about five times, and I recognized 13 phrases in total. How many phrases do you recognize?
P.S. I believe this is from a TV show, but I am not sure. All rights go to the Youtube publisher of the video, and I do not take credit for the video itself.
The video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AHwdZiB3Hg

Book Review: Spy Ski School by Stuart Gibbs

 I started the first book of the series, Spy School, less than a week ago, and read everything but Spy Camp until now. This was yet another series I was so, so happy to discover! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves classic contemporary narration mixed with a bit of mystery!

Book Review: Spy Ski School by Stuart Gibbs

Cover image from Amazon

Amazon synopsis: Ben Ripley enrolls in ski school, where the slopes, and the stakes, get really steep in this follow-up to the Edgar Award-nominated Spy School, Spy Camp, and Evil Spy School.
     Thirteen-year-old Ben Ripley is not exactly the best student spy school has ever seen--he keeps flunking Advanced Self Preservation. But outside of class, Ben is pretty great at staying alive. His enemies have kidnapped him, shot at him, locked him in a room with a ticking time bomb, and even tried to blow him up with missiles. And he's survived every time.
     After all that unexpected success, the CIA has decided to activate Ben for real.
     The Mission: Become friends with Jessica Shang, the daughter of a suspected Chinese crime boss, and find out all of her father's secrets. Jessica wants to go to ski school in the Rocky Mountains, so a select few spy school students are going skiing too--under cover, of course.
     Ben might not be able to handle a weapon (or a pair of skis), but he can make friends easy peasy. That is, until his best friend from home drops in on the trip and jeopardizes the entire mission...

My Review: This was probably the best Spy School story so far, but I haven't read Spy Camp yet, so I can't quite yet judge. It was funny, the plot was detailed and surprising, and there were friends and enemies discovered. Character-wise, I think Mike showed how much of a long way he'd come from being superior to Ben to becoming an equal friend. Erica became softer in parts of the book, and Zoe, Warren, Chip, and Jawa were also supportive. Jessica, though, was really a brat, and I didn't like her at all. However, I was glad that someone besides SPYDER played the villain, because I think that organization was getting boring (even though one familiar character does make an appearance again, which was a bit old). I'm glad there was no corny humor or anything, it was just sarcasm and some hilarious scenes and dialogues. The plot did not disappoint either. I'd give this book 4 stars, just because I really didn't like the last familiar villain appearance at the end. I can't wait for the 5th installment in the series, Spy School: Secret Service! 

Interested? Go check the book out!

My Favorite Female Protagonists

     Yesterday was International Women's Day in the US, so I wanted to do a post on my favorite female characters from my a few of my favorite books and series, in no particular order. This includes Young Adult and Middle Grade books. The cover images are from Amazon.

1. Mercy Wong from Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee (YA)
Mercy Wong is self-driven and motivated, and does whatever she needs to do for her education.


2. Tris Prior from Divergent by Veronica Roth (YA)
Living in a dystopia diguised as a utopia, Tris Prior makes the ultimate choice that will define her future. 


3. Gigi from Smart Girls Get What They Want by Sarah Strohmeyer (YA)
Gigi is funny, humorous, and sticks by her friends. Plus, she's also really smart. Cover from Goodreads.



 4. Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (MG-YA)
Let's face it: Harry and Ron wouldn't have survived a second in The Deathly Hallows without her. 

5.  Erica Hale from the Spy School Series (MG)
This is one of the recent series I read, and it was really awesome!




 There are obviously many more female protagonists, so who are your's?

The Best Dessert Ever

 I don't really know why, but my family and I don't really order desserts that often at restaurants. I think we just aren't really dessert people. There's usually a limit to how much cake and cupcake variations one can take. However, after seeing this dessert on a nearby table, we decided that we'd have to give it a try. And I'm so glad we did.

Banana Fritters and Mango Ice Cream

I usually don't take pictures of my food. At all. I feel that food is meant to be consumed right away, and not posted about on Instagram or whatever. However, I wanted to share this awesome treat because I think it's really unique. It's basically a fried banana, or banana fritter, with mango ice cream and whipped cream on the side. I'm not really an ice cream person, but the banana is so hot on the inside, that with the cold ice cream, it's really tasty and balanced. I think the best part about this is that it's not really that unhealthy. I mean, sure, anything fried is automatically deemed bad, but it's a banana! How bad can it be? And it even tasted better than cake, by the way (this coming from a huge cupcake fan!). Interested in the recipe? This isn't the exact one the restaurant probably used, but here's a link to one from AllRecipes.com. Enjoy!

The Periodic Table

 I'm so, so, so happy to share the surprise I've been planning for this blog, related to the happiness molecules posts I've been doing. If you missed my last one with diffusion, click here. I'd recommend reading it before this post, just for some context. 

So without further ado, here's the surprise:

It's the periodic table of Feelings Elements! Basically, it's divided up into groups. The blue ones represent fear, the red, anger, yellow, happiness, and green, tension. You may look at the numbers and wonder why they aren't in order. Well, if you like chemistry, you'll know the elements' numbers are how many protons they have. I figured that some elements may have a lot more than others because of their various categories. In addition, I didn't want to seal off the prospect of even more elements joining each group, so I left some space between the their numbers. Also, there are three letters representing each element because I didn't want the abbreviations getting mixed up with the ones from the actual periodic table of elements.

For those of you who are even bigger geniuses :), you may have realized there's no atomic weight for the particles. I considered putting them in, but to be honest, I couldn't quite yet figure out what weight each one would be. I'm also thinking to just make them without any weight at all, because they exist in people's Thought passages. And thoughts don't really "weigh" anything. Which may believe you to think that "well, if they don't weigh anything, then how can they exist?". This is the complicated power of the Thoughts, which I will go into later. For now, just forget about the atomic weight part of each element.

So what do you guys think? I'll explain how much of each element makes a molecule in the near future. Oh, and for those of you wondering where the names came from, the answer is Latin! Google Translate was my best friend during this project ;). I hope you liked this periodic table. Keep reading!