Category: Reviews-Scholastic Canada

(Review) Too Much Stuff

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: Too Much Stuff
AUTHOR: Robert Munsch
ILLUSTRATOR: Michael Martchenko
PUB DATE: September 2010
PUBLISHER: Scholastic

SOURCE: I received Too Much Stuff from Scholastic to read and review.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Temina is excited about taking a trip on an airplane, and super-excited to include ALL of her toys and dolls on the trip as well. Until mom says: “You can bring just ONE doll.” Impossible! How is she going to pick just ONE? She hatches a top secret plan and sneaks more than one toy into the airport and onto the plane. While everyone around her gawks, Temina proudly displays her beloved companions. Word spreads quickly to other children on the plane, who feel lonely without their own dolls. Temina is happy to lend out her treasures. The flight becomes a happy memory for Temina and her family, and even more so months later when her generosity is rewarded in the most surprising way! Like Temina”s dolls bursting out of her backpack, this new story by Robert Munsch is bursting with humour and surprises at every turn, beautifully enhanced by the delightful artwork of Michael Martchenko!

MY THOUGHTS:
We love Robert Munsch books. We have read them all, I believe so we were really excited to hear about this newest book Too Much Stuff. A subject all parents can relate to.

I have to admit I cringe when I think about family vacations because I know if I let Michael dictate and pack his own bag we would probably end bringing every single toy he has (which is probably enough to fill a moving van). So far the farthest we have travelled with him was to Prince Edward Island and Chicago and both times were rough because there was stuff that he just didn’t want to leave behind.

So what I tend to do is tell him that he can only bring a back pack and the only rule is that he has to bring items that will entertain him the whole trip and that once he has packed it that I am going to go through it to check. Thankfully he is pretty good but he does try to sneak additional things in when your not looking.

Just like Temina does. In a parents eye it seems like the kids have 500 of everything but Temina knows exactly how many of each item she has and is quick to tell her mother that. As far as her mother knows Temina only has one doll and one toy with her but what the mother doesn’t know that her back pack is filled with toys and dolls.

At the airport she won’t let anyone help her carry her back pack no matter who it is even the security can’t search her bag because she is afraid they will find out what is in her back pack so instead they xray it just to be sure.

Its only once they get on the plane that her mother and everyone else knows what is in that huge back pack. Thankfully Temina isn’t selfish and willing to share her toys because before you know she is sharing them with the other kids on the plane.

This is a great story for kids to read. I loved that Temina was willing to share and it didn’t bother her that she didn’t get the toys back because she knew she would get some more from her grandmother. Then a few months later she gets a unexpected surprise in the mail. What could it be?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Review) Top 8

Posted on by Cindy


PUBLISHER: Scholastic (Point)
PUB DATE: October 2008
PAGES: 308
SOURCE: Borrowed book from the library.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Madison MacDonald is seriously freaking out

Madison MacDonald

16

Putnam, CT

Status: Single?

About Me:
Everything in my life was working out. I had my three best friends, a brand-new boyfriend, and the lead in the school play. Aside from that history paper I hadn’t started, things felt perfect.

Then I returned from spring break to find my Friendverse profile hacked. Someone clearly out to ruin me had spilled the most damaging secrets – AND posted the worst photos of me ever taken – online.

MY THOUGHTS
This is Katie Finns debut book. I actually ended up borrowing this because I have to say I was curious about the book when I started seeing her second book Whats Your Status? on several blogs this summer.

Top 8 begins with Madison MacDonald’s friendverse page. I am probably going to make myself sound old here by saying I had no idea what friendverse was so yes I googled it and discovered that its sort of like myspace/facebook. If anyone is on friendverse please correct me if this is wrong.

Anways Madison is away on vacation and while she is gone her friendverse account has been hacked without her knowledge and doesn’t discover this until she gets home. She has no idea who did this but is determined to find out.

Madison is not the most popular girl at school and her top 8 is basically all her best friends and she is the kind of girl who is friends with everyone. (You know the kind.)

Just before Madison went on her family vacation she had it all: the cute boyfriend, the lead in the school play and friends. She was happy as any girl would be. Now that she is back and knows her account has been hacked she discovers that whoever did this broke up with the boyfriend, said mean and nasty things about her friends and possibly cost her the lead in the play.

With a list of possible suspects she quickly realizes that people she suspected turn out innocent and the one person she didn’t suspect was the person who set out to ruin her life. Will she find out who it is? What will she think when she uncovers the truth?

Will she be able to get the boyfriend back as well? Curious to know then I suggest you pick up the book.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Review) Terry Fox: A Story of Hope

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: Terry Fox: A Story of Hope
AUTHOR: Maxine Trottier
PUB DATE: July 2010
PUBLISHER: Scholastic
PAGES: 40

SOURCE: I received this book from Scholastic Canada. Thank you Scholastic for sending it to me.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
“Anything’s possible if you try. Dreams are made if people try.”

From the time he was very young, Terry Fox liked to finish what he started. He always wanted to do his best. So at the age of 18, when his right leg was amputated, he worked hard to recover. Right from the beginning, he was determined to find a way to beat cancer –- for all the children he had met who were fighting the disease. And right from the beginning, he had a dream –- to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. This is Terry’s story of hope.

The year 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope! This new edition includes extra photographs and updates on Terry’s legacy.

The author is donating all royalties from this book to the Terry Fox Foundation. Scholastic Canada is matching that donation.

MY THOUGHTS:
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Terry Fox, Marathon of Hope run. To honor this special occasion Scholastic Canada is releasing this special edition that includes 8 pages with updated information about his legacy.

What I discovered before reading this book is that its the very first authorized biography of Terry Fox that is written specifically for young readers. It was created in cooperation with The Terry Fox Foundation and his family.

I was ten years old the day Terry began his Marathon of Hope in St. John’s NFLD on April 12, 1980. I remember watching it on tv and was in awe of him and what he had planned to do. Terry Fox was always a hero to me and still to this day he is.

I have to admit that reading this book was hard to read without crying because this was a person who wanted to make a change and he did. He has raised millions of dollars for cancer research. It was nice to read more about him and to see all the great photos of him growing up.

He went through alot and not once did he ever give up. No matter how bad things got he persevered. He fought until the day he died. He is a Canadian hero that will never be forgotten.

This is a great book and one that will be on our book shelves forever. Its filled with a ton of great pics of all parts of Terry’s life. Which was really nice to see. Its written in a simple form suitable for the younger reader.

My favorite quote is:

‘Anything is possible if you try. Dreams are made if people try.’

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Num8ers Review

Posted on by Cindy


TITLE: Num8ers
AUTHOR: Rachel Ward
PUB DATE: February 2010
PAGES: 336
PUBLISHER: Scholastic

Source: I received this book from Nikole at Scholastic Canada.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Whenever Jem meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. Burdened with such an awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. But while they’re waiting to ride the Eye Ferris wheel, Jem notices that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today’s number. Today’s date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem’s world is about to explode!

MY THOUGHTS
Thank you Nikole for sending me this book.

This is Rachel Ward’s debut novel and the first of a possible three book series. After reading Num8ers I have to say that I will be picking up her future books. Num8ers was originally published in the UK.

What would you do if you had a secret that was so terrifying and it forced you not to get close to anyone because you knew exactly when they were going to die?

This is exactly what Num8ers is about. Jem is a fifteen year old girl and she has the ability to look into someones eyes and know exactly when they will die. She is living with a foster mother because when she was a young girl she discovered one morning that her mother died from a drug overdose.

Jem attends a school that is basically for problem kids. There are days that she skips school because she just doesn’t want to deal with the problem of feeling and being like an outcast. Its on one of these days that she has skipped school that she runs into a fellow student in her class named Spider. Spider is the last person she wants to see. At first she pushes him away and wants nothing to do with him. Over a short period of time he quickly makes her change her mind. Spider is just like her an outcast. I think this is what bonds them.

After an incident at school both Spider and Jem are suspended from school and decide that they will spend the day together. Its when they go to London Eye Ferris Wheel that life for Jem and Spider are about to change and not for the better. Spider and Jem must run to save there lives before its too late.

I had to keep reading this and pretty much finished this in one sitting because I had to find out how Spider would end up dying and I have to say it wasn’t what I had expected.

As you can tell I did enjoy reading this book and after checking out Rachel Ward’s site I just discovered that book 2 in the Num8ers series called The Chaos is already out in the UK. I looked around and I don’t see a US/Canadian release date. Rachel is currently working on book 3 which just might be the last one in the series.

Here is the book trailer for you to check out:

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.