The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

A boy named Hugo tried to steal a blue windup toy mouse from a toy booth but the old man caught him and took Hugo’s notebook and let Hugo go. As the old man was heading home Hugo was following the old man to his house. As the old man closed the door Hugo picked up a stone and tried to hit the old mans window but accidentally hit the wrong window. The curtains opened and there was a girl looking out the window. But Hugo recognized the girl from the toy booth. When he got back to his house in the walls of a train subway in New York , and sat down and uncovered a mechanical man His father used to work on the robot until he died in a fire. Hugo had always thought that if he fixed the robot , the robot  would write a message from his father. The next morning , Hugo went back to the toy booth. The old man told Hugo if he wanted his notebook back Hugo would have to do daily jobs at the3 booth. While Hugo worked , Hugo stole nuts , screws and bolts so he could be able to fix the robot. One day while Hugo was working at the toy booth , Hugo saw the girl from the window the previous night. She told Hugo to meet her at the library after his work. When Hugo got to the library he saw the girl. While  they were talking the door had opened and the girl seemed to know the person and then the girl introduced Etienne. Etienne said hi Isabelle then Hugo knew what the girls name was. It was Isabelle. When Hugo fixed the robot , he noticed on the back of the mechanical mans back there was a heart shaped key hole. Hugo waited until he saw Isabelle again so he can get the necklace from her so he can see what the mechanical is going to write. Once Hugo got the necklace without Isabelle knowing. While Hugo was slowly putting the necklace key into the keyhole. Suddenly Isabelle came running into his room and Hugo accidentally dropped the key and Isabelle jumped on Hugo and Hugo struggled to get out of her grip. Hugo told Isabelle all about the robot and how long he has been working on it and he can't wait to see the message. Isabelle let him out of his grip and tried turning the key but Hugo told her that there is no ink. So Hugo put some ink into the bottle and then she turned the key and the all of the gears were turning and the hand of the man dipped the pen into the ink and then started putting lines on the paper. Hugo thought that something had gone wrong and then he heard her gasp and ran over to see what she saw. It wasn’t a message. It was a drawing of a moon with a telescope as an eye. They thought that it was done but it dipped the pen back into the ink and the wrote Georges Melies. Then Isabelle said that is her godfather. Isabelle led Hugo to her apartment and let Hugo come in. While they were sitting down , the top of the armoire was open so the girl stood up on a chair and there was a chest and she grabbed the chest and when she had the chest the two front legs of the chair broke and the chest flew out of the arms of the girl and the chest shattered into little pieces and laying on the floor was little drawings. They were all drawn from Georges Melies. Both of them were surprised to see all of the drawings. Papa Georges came in and started whispering no no no no no. He took the projector and went into his room and locked it. Hugo , Isabelle , Etienne , and Monsieur Tabard were hearing a lot of ruckus in the room. Then Hugo told Isabelle to pick the lock and open the door and she did. When Isabelle opened the door they expected a huge mess but all there was was a bed pushed to the side and a desk George was sitting at but looking like a larger version of the mechanical man. Then Hugo went back to his home and unwrapped the mechanical man and carried it back to Isabelles apartment. He took the mechanical man back to the house and then dropped it off and left to the Film Academy library. When he got to the film academy the girl behind the desk said no no you are not coming in. You are too dirty and too small. And you have to be accompanied by an adult. Suddenly Etienne appeared and led Hugo to the film and book room. Hugo saw a picture of a type of god holding a fire ball and shooting light out of his finger. Hugo found the book he was looking for and then told Etienne thank you and left. Once he got to his house , he accidently bumped into the station inspector and got caught. When he woke up , Hugo saw the universe. Then Hugo noticed it was the jacket of Papa Georges. But when he sat up he was in the station inspectors room. Papa Georges told the station inspector that Hugo will live with him and Hugo didn’t have to go to the orphanage. Then the station inspector let them go.

I think this book was amazing. Definitely the best book I have ever read in my entire life. It had a lot of detail.  I love the way it had pictures and words to give me a general idea and  better picture what is going on in the story. The pictures helped me remember the book more than the words. The book was so good that when you try to put the book  you will fall down with it but still be reading it.

  Angelo                 6th grade                  11 years old                       Ms. Bruscas class   

Babe Ruth and Me by Dan Gutman

The book I read was titled Babe Ruth and Me by Dan Guttman.  This book starts off at a kid's baseball game . Then a few days after the game his dad comes over and needs money so he asks if he can have his Babe Ruth card back .  They go on a journey back in time. The dad takes all his savings and they go back. The son wants to see Babe Ruth's famous called shot.  When they go back in time they buy 75 baseballs. Babe Ruth signs them and they go to NY to put a bet on the baseball World Series and they think he's a bookie They go to game four in Chicago with Babe Ruth. They had to go see a sick child that was dying. When they got there Babe Ruth told the kid he would hit a home run for him.  They go back to Chicago. Babe Ruth called his shot. He hit a home run into center field. That is the story that I read.  I suggest this book to Isahia  beacuse he likes baseball.

By Gabe, 6th Grade Reader

Love From Your Friend Hannah

The book I read is called Love From Your Friend, Hannah. Hannah is an 11 year old girl and her best friend is Aggie, but her dog Skippy is really close to second place. She also lives on Route 9W in Grand View, New York. One day Aggie had to move because her father got a job in New Hampshire, but Hannah told Aggie that she would be her pen pal. Hannah was getting mad at Aggie because  she would not write back. So one day at school one of her teacher's desk was a pen pal box and she picked one out and it was a boy named Edward Winchley. Hannah wrote to him a long letter and all he wrote to her was two short sentences. Hannah was mad and she told her dad and he said write to President Roosevelt. She wrote to him about Aggie and Edward. President Roosevelt and he said he was sorry that Aggie did not answer her and also said Edward can’t be that bad. So Hannah wrote to him again and it said she got in trouble because she went to a bar and her mom said young ladies do not go to bars. Then Hannah told her mom and dad because she can’t tell a lie. Hannah wrote to Edward and it said I am in  very big trouble. Edward wrote to Hannah and it said I am in the classroom writing double negative because I used them in my writing. So then Hannah wrote to President Roosevelt and it said I guess you were right about Edward. Edward wrote to Hannah and he told her his cow Mattila was having a baby and the baby name was Hannah jr. Then President Roosevelt wrote to Hannah and he meet a girl that came to the White House to make a clock and she wants to have a pen pal so what do you say Hannah. Than Hannah wrote to him and she told him she has a friend and his name is Edward

I really like this book because of how events go. I would recommend this book to Alexis. Why I would recommend this book to her is because she likes to write letters and read them.

By Hailey, 6th Grade Reader

The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus By Aliki

Gaea and Uranus had very many children.  So when they had more children Uranus thought they were ugly,so he killed them. Gaea gave the throne to Cronus,and got married to sister Rhea . He didn’t  want anyone to  steal  the   throne ,so he ate his children except  for one,and she ran with him,so he wouldn’t eat him .  He was raised by a woodland nymphs . Zeus grew up to be the strongest of gods. He got married to Metis. Rhea was  still with her husband. She wanted Zeus to depose him ,but Metis was a   wise woman. She said that Zeus needed for  Cronus to have the Titans on his side.  Instead he threw up his children. They had reunited. They got ready to fight the titans. The fight olds gods and new gods. They had defeated the titans. Gaea was at peace. They divided  the world into three: the heaven god, god of the sea and god of under god                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

I think it was a good  book. It gives you a good story ,and information about some gods and goddesses. I would give this book to research readers  about gods and goddesses.

By Joy'e, 6th Grade Reader

Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

Beezus and Ramona are two sisters that have a weird life with each other. Ramona is younger than Beezus, and Ramona is only four and her sister is nine. Beezus hates reading The Littlest Steam Shovel, because she has to make these steam shovel noises while reading the book to Ramona, (which she feels silly about) but Ramona loves that book. Ramona was riding her tricycle around the house, and then she crashed into a coffee table and knocked it over. Beezus  was tired of Ramona playing around in the house like that, so she told Ramona that she would read The Littlest Steam Shovel  if she stopped riding her tricycle around the house. When Beezus finished the book Ramona jumped back on her tricycle rode around the house again. ‘’ “LIAR!” Beezus yelled at Ramona, Beezus felt annoyed at Ramona, because how she is brat she is. Then she thought it was good idea to take Ramona to the library so she can get new book. While they were walking to the library the ran in to a lady, it was Mrs. Wisser and her friend. The first thing that Ramona asked is, “What to see my scab?” Then she raised her knee to show them. Beezus put Ramona's leg back down, because she was embarrassed, But I'm going to leave it to you finish because of spoilers. OK...maybe I'll talk about it more, so when they got there Ramona chose a book, and you'll never guess what book she chose. Ramona got..... wait for it ..... The Biggest Steam Shovel. Oh Ramona you're so predictable. Then when Beezus was checking out the book Ramona saw the library card. She said that she wanted one too, so she could check out books like her big sister, so she asked for one, but Beezus said that she needs to know how to write her name.  The librarian thought that she could so she handed a card to her to try, but she just wrote down a bunch of “i” and “t”. Then, when they got home, Beezus just read the book to Ramona, because she is awfully nice that way.

 This book is very funny, because the big sister and the little sister act like how a lot of people love and I’m one of them. This type of books can get boring, but not too fast, it's just that there are so many books like this, and these book are the most popular books out there, but they can get boring. You don’t have to listen to me, and if you have a different thought then me it’s okay, we're all different.  I recommend this book to people who really like books like, oh, I don’t know.... Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

By Adrian, 6th Grade Reader

Missing May by Cynthia Rylant

Summer is 10 years old girl and her mom died when she was 4. Ob and May are part of her family. They heard that the mom had died ,so then they came  to get a child. May  told Ob that when she saw Summer she had to take her home. They drove home and Summer looked at an SUV and thought this is going to be my home for life. When Summer looked closer she saw a garden with swirly birds in it. Summer asked May where did you get the swirly birds and May told her Ob made them.

                 One day May went to go to her garden ,but she didn’t come back. Ob went to go see where she was ,but he could not find her. When Ob came back he told her May will come back by tonight. The next morning Summer came to Ob’s room and she only saw Ob. Ob called a girl to see where may was. When she came she asked Ob a lot of questions.  After that she told Ob May had died.

                       Than one of Ob’s old friends came. He told Ob to go to his church it will make you feel a lot better. Ob asked Summer if she wanted to go and she told him only if you feel better. So they both felt a lot better when they came home. When they came home Ob asked  Summer if we can take care for each other.

Review      I thought this book could be real. To me it felt real because a person can die and people are there to help you. I would recommend this book to Lesley because it looks like she likes fiction books.

By Hailey, 6th Grade Reader

Haunted Kids

Haunted Kids is about true stories with kids having some problems with ghosts. It has a story that’s about a boy who knocked over a gravestone in a cemetery. The gravestone had his name on it and he couldn’t stand it. There’s another story with a girl having a slumber party and uses a Ouija board. An Ouija board is known to be able to communicate beyond the grave. Later the girl hears pounding and the board said there was a spirit in the room named zebyn.

                                   

I think Haunted Kids was  a good book. There's even a story with a ghost that saves a child’s life, so this book is not scary for the people who get scared easily. I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend this book to people who like mystery books. That's why I think it was a good book.

By Lia, 6th Grade Reader

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The book MockingJay is the final book of The Hunger Games. Since Katniss Everdeen's district was destroyed she has to go to district 13. She will have to get used to everything. All her friends want to protect her through the war with the capitol. She wants to help them but they are afraid she will get killed. She ends up going with them accepting that she may get killed. Through all of this she has to watch some of her closest friends die. Although they were her closest friends she has to keep pushing herself forward to destroy President Snow. The reason Katniss Everdeen wants to kill President Snow is because he hurt her prep team,hijacked Peeta’s mind,and killed some of her friends. In the end a lot of people died and Katniss returned to district 12. This is what the book MockingJay was about.

            I thought this was an inspiring,sad,and happy book.I thought this because it was inspiring when she never gave up and kept going. Then it was sad when some of my favorite characters died. Last it was happy at the end because she went back to district 12 and hopefully pushed away all the horrible memories.This is what I thought of the book MockingJay.

By Sienna, 6th Grade Reader

Ribsy by Beverly Cleary

In the book Ribsy, a dog goes on a wild adventure with tons of different people.

Ribsy lives with his owner, Henry Huggins, and the rest of their family. Henry loves his dog very much. One day, the Huggins’ got a new station waggon. They had to go to the Farmers Market to buy some groceries. When they left, Ribsy wanted to go along, but Mr. Huggins said no, because it’s a brand new car, and he doesn’t want the seats getting dirty from a messy dogs paw. As the family left for the market, Ribsy wasn’t happy. He started chasing the car down the street. Henry rolled down his window and yelled at Ribsy to go home, but he didn’t obey. He kept running as the Station Waggon rolled down the quiet street. Finally, Mrs. Huggins, a very kind hearted woman, said to Mr. Huggins to stop the car and let Ribsy in. So once he stopped the car, Henry popped open his door, and in came Ribsy. Mr. Huggins made sure to add a catch. “Put him on the floor!”. Ribsy hopped on to the floor, curled around his tail, and went to sleep.

    When he woke up, the family was getting out of the car to go into the grocery store. Henry told his father to roll down the back window just a crack so Ribsy would be able to have some fresh air. Ribsy started to get excited. He was alone, and the window was partly open, and he wanted to go out and run. Ribsy spotted a puny little Chihuahua coming down the parking lot with it’s owner. Now Ribsy was excited. He started barking, and propped his front paws up on the window. The little Chihuahua started barking back. Ribsy was amused. He moved his feet to the bottom of the window, and accidently hit the window button. The window went down, and Ribsy was very excited. He jumped out of the window, and looked around for the Chihuahua, but it was no where to be found. Once he knew it was gone, Ribsy decided to look around for Henry. He walked around the parking lot about 5 times, when he started to get worried. As he dashed through the rows of cars, he got more and more worried. He passed all different kinds of cars, but they all looked the same to Ribsy. Finally he saw one that looked just right. It had all the windows down, so Ribsy hopped in, curled on the floor, and went to sleep happy he was not lost anymore.

     Ribsy awoke to a bunch of hands all over him, and strange looking people hovering over him. Ribsy was confused. He wasn’t in the right car. All these strange people were asking questions and petting him. “Daddy, can we keep him?” said one of the younger girls. “We’ll take him home until we can get an ad in the paper.” Said the father, seeming annoyed. Ribsy was so tired from running, he jumped up on the seats, even though he knew he shouldn’t, and went to sleep again.

The girls started pulling him out of the car, so Ribsy just randomly started sprinting. He didn’t know where he was going, or what he was going to do, but he ran. He could faintly hear screams telling him to come back, but he didn’t stop. He ran and ran until he noticed he was finally alone. He stopped and took a few breathes. Then he found a water puddle, so he started drinking out of it. When he was finally breathing normally, and full of water, he started walking down the street, very puzzled, just wanting to go home.

  As he was walking down the street, there was a boy in front of his apartment playing with a ball. Ribsy stopped, stared, and started towards the boy. The boy looked confused, and wanted to know what Ribsy needed. Then, the boy dropped the ball by accident, and Ribsy ran and picked it up by his mouth. He started to run, and the boy chased him. Finally he got the ball and threw it far away. Ribsy ran yo get it, and brought it back to him. That’s when he started to get the picture. He threw it again, and again, and again. Later, the boy asked Ribsy if he wanted some food. Ribsy barked happily, so the boy took Ribsy inside. In the building the boy lives in, their manager is super mean, so he has to hide Ribsy or else the manager will see him, and possibly kick their family out of the apartment. As they were walking inside, out pops the manager. Quickly the boy picks up Ribsy, opens a window and sets him out on the fire escape. After a few hours of sitting boringly, Ribsy hears a car coming. it was a miracle! It’s Henry Huggins! Ribsy starts barking extremely loudly and joyfully, causing Henry to look up. “Ribsy!” cried Henry. Henry hopped out of the car and asked the Smog employees across the street if he could borrow a ladder. Henry and his father got Ribsy down safely, and they went home all very happy.

     I really enjoyed this story because it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it. This book is jam packed with adventure and excitement. You’ll love it the whole way through. I know I did! There is all different kinds of stories all put into one. Everytime Ribsy is almost about to find his way home, something bad happens. I know you’ll enjoy this book just as much as I did. Make sure you don’t miss anything, or even skip a page, cause if you do, I’ll bet you you missed a lot!

 

By Kiani, 6th Grade Reader

     

Ellen Tebbitts by Beverly Cleary

The book I read was Ellen Tebbits. The main characters are Ellen, Austine, and the teacher Miss.Joyce. This book was about Ellen who didn’t have any friends. That was because Ellen blocked herself from finding friends. Ellen had very good manners. One day Ellen made a friend named Austine, they were best friends so much that they both decided to wear the same dress to school. Ellen's dress was different from Austine, because Ellen's dress had a sash on it but Austine didn’t. When they both got to school someone pulled Ellens sash off her dress, Ellen turned around and BAM, she had slapped Austine in the face. Later on that day Austine wasn’t her friend anymore. A week later Miss.Joyce chose Ellen to do a special job during class which was clapping half of chalk board erasers and she picked a different student to do the other half of the erasers. Mrs.Joyce picked Austine. Then the two girls went outside to go and clap the erasers and then BAM Ellen had ripped Austine dress. Austine wanted to slap her but instead she said “Ellen it wasn't me who had ripped your sash off your dress, it was that one new kid Otis.” Ellen said back to her, “I’m so sorry Austine you were behind me so I thought it was you. Can we just be friends again?” Later on both of them were best friends again.

I thought book was very good. I have read different books by Beverly Cleary, I think she is a very good book writer. I think everyone should read this book because it is just that good. This book is very detailed from beginning  to the end. One thing that i didn't like was Ellen was a very good girl but she just blocked herself from finding friends. All in all I thought this was a very good book.

By Llexis, 6th Grade Reader

Lou Gehrig Biography

The book I read was Lou Gehrig.  This book starts off as Lou Gehrig being a kid he plays baseball with kids who are about 2 years older than him when he came to the sandlot all the kids said, "Get out of here fatty", he just didnt really say anything back.  Then one day he and a kid got in a fight and the kid was 8 and Lou was 6 and Lou won.  Then one day when Lou went down to the washers to wash laundry he got 50 cents and he gave it to his mother. He also had to a lot of other chores and earn money for his mom. One day his mom went to the lake and got pickled eels and sold them at the food market.  The next morning they went out before school to play baseball and Mr. Fish cakes came out and said they  couldn't play so they played a trick on him, they put a scarecrow that looked like a dead person and then he went up there then they came out laughing.  Then a couple years later Lou goes to highschool and tries out for the baseball team. He made it, so they won some games and made it to the championships in Chicago. They won there, then the book talks about how he goes to the New York Yankees and they win the World Series.
This was very good. I enjoyed it so much that I finished it in 2 weeks. The book is about baseball and Lou Gehrig. It is written like a life event or a time line. I recommend this book to Isaiah.           By Gabe, 6th Grade Reader

Ranger's Apprentice - The Sorcerer of the North

Will finally became a ranger! He was assigned a mission to find out some information about a sorcerer. He set off to Macindaw, disguised as a juggler, with his friend Alice. She was disguised as a princess for the quest. Once Will got there, he sang a few songs to gain the people’s trust. After he did that, he asked a few questions like, “What have you heard about this sorcerer?” He went to find the sorcerer and found out that he’s just a medic. While he found this out, his friend Alice’s cover was blown and she was held captive. Keren, the evil cousin of the lord, was trying to take over the kingdom and he thought Will and Alice might ruin his plans. Keren used a magic ball that calms the human mind to make Alice tell everything about their plans. Will made an attempt to save Alice, but he failed because of Keren. After he failed, he barely made it out and he is waiting in the woods for his next opportunity to save Alice.

I highly recommend the book Rangers Apprentice Sorcerer of the North to people who like action. This book was my favorite so far. Therefore I think whoever reads this book will really like it.  I asked a friend if he liked it and he said, “This was an awesome book!”  

By Cody, 6th Grade Reader

The City of Embers

This book is sequel to the book City of Ember. In the beginging Lina Mayfleet, Doon Harrow, and Poppy Mayfleet are waiting for the people of their village to arrive. When the people arrive the start heading towards a nearby village, a village known as Sparks. The village accepted them for

6 months. The people of Sparks told them that they will have to stay in the Pioneer Hotel. Lina

had to do the chores that Dr.Hester told her to do. One day while she was walking she noticed

someone riding a bike. Later that same day she asked Dr.Hester if he had a bike and if she could

ride it. She did not know how to ride a bike however so learning was going to be difficult. Torren,

a little boy, got mad because his brother Caspar didn’t want to take him on an adventure. Torren

then took 2 crates of tomatoes and throws them against the wall. In the morning Doon discovers

a large crowd of people around the area where Torren threw the tomatoes. THe crowd starts to accuse each other of the crime. Then out of nowhere Torren comes running down the street.

Torren makes the accusation that Doon committed the crime. The crowd starts to head towards him. After that incident the people of Ember got mad at the people of Sparks. One day someone

wrote on the wall of the plaza “The cave people must go!”. The people of Sparks kicked the people out of their village. They said that they had to leave the next day. That night the people

of Ember decided to attack the village. The next morning they headed off to attack the village.

When they arrived the chanted “We will not go !!” A fire was started in the fighting which spread

to the trees and the grass. Doon hears a cry coming from the tree. Doon quickly climbs the tree

and rescues the child. The child was Torren. Lina starts helping to put out the fire. In the end

the villagers accept the people of Ember.

                                                       Review

  This book was very entertaining, funny, and suspenseful. I enjoyed it because it had a lot of

problem solving. It was also cool because they put out a fire with teamwork even though

they didn’t like each other. I think this is a must read for students who like books like this.

By Zoltan, 6th Grade Reader

The Report Card

This story was about a girl named Nora that got bad grades, but she is a very smart girl, she didn’t want anyone to know about it. She is going to manage her 5th grade year by  not letting anyone know that she is a genius. She does not want them to know that she is not an ordinary kid. So she wants to keep it that way. She has got a lot of people to get bad grades to that people could figure out that in school its not about just getting good grades, because in her school they have a gifted program. That means that it's a program for the smart kids, she thinks that makes kids feel that they are  dumb so she is getting everyone to get bad grades so that people could notice that grades aren’t everything  they know. So one day she has brought a report card to prove a point to her parents, to show them that its not all about the grades. So then everyone has found out that she is a genius, then all eyes went on Nora. Nora doesn't enjoy been the smart one so her secret is out. Then is that when all the problems come together. Then it gets harder but its not easy.

      Review

       I think that this book was really interesting because this is showing that just because you are smart that doesn't mean that you have to hide it from other people like Nora.She was afraid of what people were going to treat her differently  so she kept it a secret. Over the past months she hasn't made some great choices but they turned out good.I think her life is really interesting.  I think that the 5th and 6th graders will like this book. I hope that people that read this book will enjoy it.

By Lesley, 6th Grade Reader

Tunnels

In Tunnels, Will, an albino 12 year old boy, gets into a lot of trouble. First, his father disappears. One day, Will and his best friend Chester are walking to the store when they notice a big guy in a black coat following them. When they got faster, he got faster. When they got to the store, they shut and latched the door. After a while, the guy went away. When Will got home, the police were investigating his dad’s disappearance. The next day, his mom said that he and his sister Rebecca have to live with their aunt. Will had found a hatch behind a bookshelf in the basement of their house. Will doesn’t want to live with her because she is really a slob, so he decides to go down the hatch with his friend Chester and see where it leads. When he goes down, he finds a large underground city. He doesn’t know that people live there, so he checks out a house. He doesn’t believe his  eyes when he finds a candle burning and 2 bowls of soup, still steaming. When he walks out, a police tackles both him and Chester and brings them to the police station, where he throws them in jail. He notices that the police man is wearing a big black coat like the man that chased them topsoil. A few days after, someone lets Will get out to meet his real dad and his albino brother, Cal. It turns out that Will had been born there, and his mom had gotten out and taken him topsoil where she let someone else adopt him. After that, while Chester stays in jail, Will is taken to his old house to live there.

Every Sunday, Will, Cal, and their father go to church. Will had never been to church before, so it was sort of a new experience for him. After that, they have to go to work with their dad. They work on unclogging waterways. On their way back, their dad goes home without them when they find their uncle Tam. He takes them to a bar where Tam gets into a bar fight. He ends up winning and buys each of them a drink to celebrate. They sit down with Amos, Tam’s friend. Will really wants to go back to his house from top soil. When Tam finds out about this, he helps Will devise a plan to get both will and Chester back home, although Cal cannot come. Will goes into the police station where Chester is being held and throws some rocks, that light up when you throw them, at the police guy that’s keeping watch. Then he takes Chester into a secret door, where he finds Cal. It turns out that he snuck out to come with them. Will tells him to go back, and by the time he is done saying for him to go back, Rebecca, who turns out to be a styx, has taken Chester by one arm and started shutting the door. Will tries grabbing his arm, but it is already too late to save him. Will has to let go and release Chester to the styx.

Will heads to the topsoil. On his way there, he finds a city called the Eternal City. They have to stay there for a few nights since they don’t have water and there was water there. The city was long abandoned and there were no traces of humans. Soon after, they found a stairway that leads them to a small canal. They follow the canal to the end of it, where they find that it is night topsoil. Cal and Will head off for Will’s old house.

When they get there, they find no one there. Cal and Will take showers, get dressed with fresh clothes, and eat a few frozen meals before deciding to go to Will’s aunt’s house. When they get there, they fill her in on what is happening. They stay a few nights and then head back to save Chester. On their way back, when they pass through the Eternal city, they find Tam hiding from some styx. He helps them get away by sacrificing himself to the styx. Amos leads them to a hatch in a well, where they jump through and land on a train, where they find Chester.

I think this book was very confusing. Why would Rebecca be faking being his sister? And why would Tam help them escape and then sacrifice himself to save them from the styx?

Tam hardly even knew Will. My favorite part was when Will was showing Cal topsoil. Another part that I liked was at the end, when they found Chester on the train. This is probably one of my favorite books ever.

By Timothy, 6th Grade Reader