Reviews – Page 121 – BookBunnies

Marshmallow reviews The Lost Hero (Book 1 of the Heroes of Olympus Series) by Rick Riordan

Marshmallow has reviewed several books from Rick Riordan before. in particular she reviewed three books from his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series: check out her reviews of The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, and The Titan’s Curse. But she is now eager to share with you her thoughts about the first book of The Heroes of Olympus series: The Lost Hero.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you liked some of Rick Riordan’s other books or if you just like reading about Greek mythology, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary: Jason opens his eyes and finds himself in the Wilderness School, a school for delinquents and misfits. His best friend is a boy named Leo Valdez, put in the school because he ran away six times after his mother died. We soon learn that Leo has a talent with tools. His girlfriend, Piper McLean, stole a BMW. Piper says she didn’t, but Jason doesn’t know, because he doesn’t remember anything. All he knows is that they are on an educational field trip to the Grand Canyon with a teacher named Coach Hedge.

Everyone seems to think that Jason is part of the class except Coach Hedge. He seems to know that Jason was not in his class before. But Leo and Piper seem to think that they know him. When they arrive at their destination, one of their classmates turns into a ventus, a storm spirit, which tries to kill them. Piper falls and starts to plummet towards the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Jason jumps and finds out that he can fly by using winds to hold him up. They battle the ventus, but more of them come. Then Coach Hedge comes and saves them, but is kidnapped by the venti that manage to escape.

In the middle of all this, a chariot shows up in the sky and a girl named Annabeth is there to collect them. From Annabeth we (readers who are familiar with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series) learn that Percy Jackson is missing. But Jason, Leo, and Piper have no idea who Percy is.

The three friends are taken to a camp called Camp Half-Blood. There they spend some time until they are given a quest. Hera has been captured and they need to rescue her. But remember, Hera is a powerful goddess. And someone that can trick her into stepping into a trap must be very powerful.

Marshmallow is reading *The Lost Hero* (Book 1 of the Heroes of Olympus Series) by Rick Riordan.

Marshmallow’s Review: I think that The Lost Hero is a great book to start a great series. Rick Riordan tells the story in a way that makes you have to read the next chapter. This book is great and its plot sets the stage for the next book in the series.

I think that if you want to read this book, though, you would have to read the series that Rick Riordan wrote before, Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

The characters are also well written themselves. Each character has a mystery about their past. By the end of The Lost Hero you feel like you know what the characters would do in a certain situation.

I think that if you are looking for a book that is not part of a series, then this is probably not the book you are looking for. If you read the first book, you will just have to read the rest of the series.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates The Lost Hero (Book 1 of the Heroes of Olympus Series) by Rick Riordan 100%. — Marshmallow rates *The Lost Hero* (Book 1 of the Heroes of Olympus Series) by Rick Riordan 100%.

Caramel reviews The Boy with Square Eyes by Juliet Snape and Charles Snape

This week Caramel wanted to talk about a cute little book that was first published in 1987 and has been in the book bunnies library for a while now: The Boy With Square Eyes: A Tale of Televisionitis, by Juliet Snape and Charles Snape. Though the book itself is rather old, the issue of too much screen time has perhaps never been more relevant, as a large number of young people are moored to screens for hours on end during these days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marshmallow kindly agreed to taking notes and asking followup questions.

Caramel reviews The Boy with Square Eyes by Juliet Snape and Charles Snape. — Caramel reviews *The Boy with Square Eyes* by Juliet Snape and Charles Snape.

Marshmallow: So Caramel, what do you want to say about this book?

Caramel: It’s a fun book! The drawings are good.

M: What is this book about?

C: It’s about a boy who watched television all day and his eyes turned into squares. It’s a good book; you should read it.

M: Thanks, I have already read it! So, what do you think about the pictures?

C: They’re good, but in a few they’re blocky.

M: I think that that’s because he has square eyes now. Do you think that this book has a moral or a lesson that the authors were trying to teach to the reader?

C: Yeah, probably, it’s: “do not watch TV all the time!”

M: What do you think about the story?

C: It’s good! Really, really good!

M: What’s the main character’s name?

C: Charlie.

M: So, why is Charlie watching so much TV?

C: Who knows?

Caramel is reading The Boy with Square Eyes by Juliet Snape and Charles Snape. He is on the page when Charlie tells his mom, "Everything looks square. The food does, too. Square plate, square hot dogs, square french fries, square peas, and square tomatoes." — Caramel is reading *The Boy with Square Eyes* by Juliet Snape and Charles Snape. He is on the page when Charlie tells his mom, “Everything looks square. The food does, too. Square plate, square hot dogs, square french fries, square peas, and square tomatoes.”

M: So here’s another question. Do you think that Televisionitis is a real thing?

C: No, it’s not.

M: I would think so. Anyways, tell me more about this book.

C: The Boy With Square Eyes is about a boy who watches too much TV.

M: So, do his eyes get fixed?

C: You’ll have to find out by yourself if you read the book.

M: Who is your favorite character?

C: In this book?

M: Yeah.

C: Well there are only three people who talk in the book: Charlie, his mom, and the doctor.

M: Okay then. Never mind. So then which picture is your favorite picture in the book?

C: They were all good. It’s going to be hard to choose.

M: Okay. Then what do you like about this book?

C: Everything.

M: Can you be a little more specific?

C: Yes.

M: So what do you like about this book?

C: The pictures, the story, and, etcetera.

M: Can you please be a little more specific than that?

C: The pictures, the story, and the plot.

M: What do you like about the story and the plot?

C: The plot is interesting, and the story is fun to read if you haven’t read it before.

M: Okay, what genre do you think this is?

C: I don’t know… Fiction!

M: Oh, yeah, that’s a good one. I was also thinking it could be a parable. So, how would you rate this book? With your three words?

C: Fun, colorful, and hilarious.

Caramel thinks The Boy with Square Eyes by Juliet Snape and Charles Snape is "fun, colorful, and hilarious". — Caramel thinks *The Boy with Square Eyes* by Juliet Snape and Charles Snape is “fun, colorful, and hilarious”.

Marshmallow reviews When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

This week Marshmallow reviews When You Reach Me, a 2009 novel by Rebecca Stead, which won the Newberry Medal in 2010.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like mystery or science fiction, or if you enjoyed reading other books written by Rebecca Stead, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): Twelve-year old Miranda, a sixth grader in New York City in the late 1970s, has just started to receive notes that tell her that someone is coming to save her friend’s life and their own. Here is the first note:

“M,
This is hard. Harder than I expected, even with your help. But I have been practicing, and my preparations go well. I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.
I ask two favors.
First, you must write me a letter.
Second, please remember to mention the location of your house key.
The trip is a difficult one. I will not be myself when I reach you.”

After this first note, Miranda starts to receive more notes. These notes say that she must not share them with anybody and that she must believe the notes. Then the person starts to send proof of what they’re saying is true. For example, the note says “Tesser well” and then her mother’s boyfriend gives her a copy of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle signed by Madeleine L’Engle that says “Tesser well”.

In the middle of this, Miranda is also having school trouble. Her mom is preparing to go on a game show with the hopes of winning a large sum of money. Miranda is also having some problems with her best friend Sal.

There is in short a lot going on in Miranda’s life, and though some of it is normal kid stuff, the secret notes make things all quite mysterious. (And if you want to know more, you have to read the book!)

Marshmallow is reading When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. — Marshmallow is reading *When You Reach Me* by Rebecca Stead.

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a great book. It has a very interesting but also a very complex plot, and the reader may have a hard time finding who wrote the notes.

I think that this is also a very good book because the author, Rebecca Stead, is great at creating characters. My favorite character is probably Julie or Miranda. Miranda is really realistic, and she does things that make her unique, like tying and untying knots.

This book might be a little hard to understand for kits (baby bunnies) because of its complex plot, and it is also not a particularly easy book to read. I think therefore that it would probably be best for bunnies aged eight and up.

I think the best part of this book is that the author is an expert at making the reader want to finish the book soon. The mystery is great because the reader wouldn’t be able to guess who the writer of the notes is because they are concealed by the author wonderfully. I think that this is a great book that is an excellent mix of mystery and science fiction and many other genres.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead 100%. — Marshmallow rates *When You Reach Me* by Rebecca Stead 100%.

Caramel reviews Star Trek: Ships of the Line by Doug Drexler, Margaret Clark, and Michael Okuda

Caramel and the rest of the book bunnies household have been watching Star Trek Voyager during these months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Voyager is the third Star Trek series Caramel has watched, after The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. In other words, he is a little Trekkie. One of his favorite things about the whole series is the star ships. As a result it was natural that he would fall in love with the book Star Trek: Ships of the Line, edited by Doug Drexler and Margaret Clark, with text from Michael Okuda. Below he shares his enthusiasm about this book, as Sprinkles takes notes and asks followup questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, what do you want to tell us about this book?

Caramel: It’s a good book if you like space ships and that kind of stuff.

S: Do you also need to like Star Trek?

C: Not exactly. As long as you like star ships, you are in luck. The book is packed with pictures of star ships.

S: All ships are from Star Trek, right?

C: No, not quite. There are some real ships too. There is a picture of the United States space shuttle Enterprise.

S: I see. I think that also fits in the Star Trek universe narrative though, right?

C: I guess.

S: Are the pictures photos or hand-drawn?

C: I think there are both kinds of pictures.

Caramel's favorite page of Star Trek: Ships of the Line, by Doug Drexler, Margaret Clark, and Michael Okuda, is the front cover, because it has all the ships all together all in one place. — Caramel’s favorite page of *Star Trek: Ships of the Line*, by Doug Drexler, Margaret Clark, and Michael Okuda, is the front cover, because it has all the ships all together all in one place.

S: What else can you tell us?

C: So on each two-page spread, there is a whole-page picture of a ship, and some writing.

S: What kind of writing?

C: There is a name for the photo or drawing and who it is by. Then there is a paragraph about the picture.

Caramel is checking out USS Voyager and the Delta Flyer in Star Trek: Ships of the Line, by Doug Drexler, Margaret Clark, and Michael Okuda. — Caramel is checking out USS Voyager and the Delta Flyer in *Star Trek: Ships of the Line*, by Doug Drexler, Margaret Clark, and Michael Okuda.

S: The content seems to be arranged in eight chapters (altogether in over 350 pages). Can you tell me a bit about that?

C: The chapter names are: “In the Beginning”, “The Creation of a Legend”, “Rebirth”, “The Finest in the Fleet”, “Of Gods and Men”, “There Will Always Be An Enterprise”, “Delta Voyager”, “Semper Exploro”.

S: Hmm, so I can guess that “Delta Voyager” is about the ships in Star Trek Voyager.

C: Yes, and “Of Gods and Men” is about Deep Space Nine.

S: And “In the Beginning” seems to be about the more recent Star Trek Enterprise. We have not yet watched that show. But so it seems that the book is telling us the stories of the star ships in the Star Trek universe in their chronological order.

C: Yes. Exactly.

S: Do you know who the people who put together this book are?

C: No, not really.

S: Apparently Drexler and Okuda both worked for the Star Trek shows, and Clark wrote many Star Trek books and novels.

C: Oh, I didn’t know that! But that is good. They must know what they are talking about!

S: Right! So Caramel, let us wrap up this review, but first give me your three words to describe this book:

C: Awesome star ships!

S: That works!

C: And stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!