Marshmallow’s reviews – Page 58

Marshmallow reviews The Unteachables by Gordon Korman

Marshmallow enjoys reading books about school and friendship. She has already reviewed Blubber by Judy Blume, In the Fifth at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton, and Upside-Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins for the book bunnies blog. This week she reviews Gordon Korman’s The Unteachables., published first in 2019.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about school and friendship, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): Kiana Roubini is living with her father and stepmother Louise while her mother is producing a movie. The book starts with Louise driving Kiana to her new school to register her for the year. But then, Kiana’s baby brother starts crying and her stepmom, who she rudely calls “Stepmonster” (in her mind), has to go back to their house, telling Kiana that they will be back soon.

Kiana waits for a long time and Louise does not come back. So Kiana decides that she will register herself. The school registration office is very busy and Kiana ends up with someone else’s class schedule. The room number the person is assigned to is 117.

When Kiana asks another student for directions, he seems friendly at first, but the second that he hears that she is in room 117, he quickly leaves. When she finds her way to “her” class, she finds that her fellow pupils are roasting marshmallows on pencils and eating them. (eek! why would anyone want to eat me! oh, okay, let’s continue.) Then she meets her teacher: Mr. Kermit is sitting at his desk solving crossword puzzles from the newspaper while his students wreak havoc upon the classroom.

The students in room 117 are not there to learn. All that they do is worksheets that their teacher doesn’t even grade. They were all separated from the rest of the children from the district because they are supposed to be unintelligent and unable to learn and so they just sit in the room and mess around. They are supposed to be misfits and delinquents. But soon, Kiana learns that they are actually pretty nice. She also learns more about Mr. Kermit and what made him seem so cold and distant.

You need to read the book to learn more!

Marshmallow is reading The Unteachables by Gordon Korman. — Marshmallow is reading *The Unteachables* by Gordon Korman.

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a very interesting book. It is very sad how all of the kids were removed from the “normal” classes and put in room 117. It is sad because they are actually the same as the rest of the kids. They all want to make friends, they want to learn, and they need adults to trust that they can actually learn.

My favorite thing in the book is the “Toilet Bowl”. That is Mr. Kermit’s coffee cup. It is huge! In one of the chapters narrated by Mr. Kermit, he says:

“I need coffee. I cheer myself up by picturing the Toilet Bowl on the shelf in the faculty lounge, dwarfing all the lesser mugs.”

Each chapter is narrated by a different character, and I think that it is very interesting that the author chose to do that. It is also very interesting that we hear the views of a lot of people, not only the views of the main characters, but also the views of the enemies of Mr. Kermit and class 117.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates The Unteachables by Gordon Korman 100%. — Marshmallow rates *The Unteachables* by Gordon Korman 100%.

Marshmallow reviews George by Alex Gino

This week Marshmallow reviews a book by Alex Gino, George. about a transgender child and her struggle to be accepted as who she is. The novel has won several awards and was both highly praised and significantly criticized for various reasons.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about finding one’s identity, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): George is seen by everyone around her as a boy but she feels like she is a girl. She wants to be called a she and she wants to wear skirts and make-up. She keeps magazines for teenage girls hidden in her room, and imagines that she is there with other girls in the pictures. When she looks in the mirror, she calls herself Melissa.

George’s class is reading Charlotte’s Web. She cries at the end when Charlotte dies. The boys in the class laugh and say that she is not a “real” boy. But she doesn’t want to be a boy. When her class decides to put on play for Charlotte’s Web, George really, really wants to be Charlotte, the brave, kind heroine of the story. But when she auditions for the part, her teacher thinks that she is joking. George is devastated. The teacher says that she can be Wilbur or some other character because she was very good, but she couldn’t be Charlotte because there are too many girls that want to be Charlotte.

One day when George gets home, she sees that her mother has found her magazines. Her mother does not understand it when George tells her she is a girl. George feels that her mother does not see who she is.

When George’s best friend Kelly gets the Charlotte role, she tries to be supportive, but she is actually very jealous. Seeing that her friend is sad, Kelly hatches a plan. There are two showings of Charlotte’s Web. Kelly will perform in one and George will perform in the other. George knows that she can perform Charlotte’s part very well but she is worried about what her mother and other people will think of her.

(In this summary I used the name George for the main character as the author does themselves all the way until page 181, but also please remember that deadnaming is not ok.)

Marshmallow is reading George by Alex Gino. — Marshmallow is reading *George* by Alex Gino.

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a very moving book in which the main character looks like a boy but she feels like a girl. It is very sad when she is not able to be Charlotte in the play because she had her heart set on it. It is very interesting how she calls the magazines her “friends”.

George is a very good book that moves the reader and it is very sad how the main character really wants to be a girl and everyone keeps on telling her that “he” acts like a girl. It is also very sad how her mother tells her that she shouldn’t be dressing up like a girl and that “it’s not cute anymore.”

George is very well-written and it has a lot of interesting and different characters. It is really good for those who themselves don’t feel like the gender that they look like to other people. But all bunnies can appreciate the story because everyone feels different in some ways.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates George by Alex Gino 95%. — Marshmallow rates *George* by Alex Gino 95%.

Marshmallow reviews Lion Down by Stuart Gibbs

Marshmallow has already reviewed several books from Stuart Gibbs’ FunJungle series: you can check out her review of the first book, Belly Up, here, while her review of the second book, Poached, is here, and her review of the fourth book, Panda-monium, is available here. Today she shares with us her thoughts on the fifth book on the adventures of Teddy Fitzroy: Lion Down.

Marshmallow reviews the fifth book, Lion Down, in the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs. — Marshmallow reviews the fifth book, *Lion Down*, in the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs.

Marshmallow’s overview: If you liked any of the other FunJungle books or if you like mysteries about animals, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s summary (with spoilers): Teddy Fitzroy has gotten himself involved in a mystery, yet again. This time a mountain lion named Rocket is accused of “canicide”. The victim was King, the dog of Lincoln Stone, the famous host of a talk show.

Stone hosts a TV show on which he bad-mouths the government and how everything that they say is wrong and that he is right. He starts to accuse Rocket for killing and then says that he will pay anyone that kills Rocket five hundred thousand dollars.

Teddy Fitzroy is approached by FunJungle’s vet’s daughter, who asks him to investigate the death of King. She and many other activists in the ALF (Animal Liberation Front) believe that someone has intentionally framed Rocket. As Teddy investigates it is discovered that King was not the breed that Lincoln Stone says he was on his show. And also on the night of the “murder” Stone left King outside when he knew that there were mountain lions around. It soon comes out that he wasn’t nice to King, either. As he learns from Stone’s neighbors that Stone was having a party with guns, Teddy now has even more suspects. One of the guests at the party might have accidentally shot King and then tried to make it look like Rocket ate him. Teddy is overwhelmed with mysteries while he also struggles with a mysterious vandal poisoning the giraffes every Sunday.

Marshmallow is pointing to the back cover of the fifth book, Lion Down, in the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs, where the reader can get a quick summary of the plot of the book. — Marshmallow is pointing to the back cover of the fifth book, *Lion Down*, in the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs, where the reader can get a quick summary of the plot of the book.

Marshmallow’s review: This book is very suitable for those who want to learn about animals while reading a mystery book. The mystery is hard to figure out, and like the past books in the series, Lion Down has two mysteries that Teddy has to solve. The reader is provided with many suspects for the case about King’s death.

The reader also learns about habitat loss. The author combines mystery, suspense, and humor while informing the reader about habitat loss, a very big problem that hurts many animals.

Marshmallow is reading the fifth book, Lion Down, in the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs. — Marshmallow is reading the fifth book, *Lion Down*, in the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs.

This is a very funny book and it will entertain many different audiences. (Actually the whole series is like that. Caramel recently started reading Belly Up and he is enjoying it a lot!)

You could probably read this book before reading the earlier books in the series, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Reading the first books will help you understand the book better. Just reading Panda-monium could be okay though, if you don’t want to read all the books. Still I think reading all of them in the right order is probably the best idea. (If you want to read a book from a series that does not require reading the earlier books, then Ivy + Bean One Big Happy Family might be the book for you.)

Marshmallow’s rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates the fifth book, Lion Down, in the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs, 100%. — Marshmallow rates the fifth book, *Lion Down*, in the FunJungle series by Stuart Gibbs, 100%.

Marshmallow reviews Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Book 1 of the Percy Jackson Series) by Rick Riordan

Caramel’s class was reading the first of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series before schools closed down. So of course the book bunnies decided to read it themselves at home. Today Marshmallow who already finished the whole series is reviewing the first book here: The Lightning Thief.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like Greek mythology, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): Percy Jackson has been expelled from every single school he has been in. At every school Percy has been stalked by strange people. One time, Percy could have sworn that the man following him only had one eye. Percy hopes that the new school that he is attending will be different.

In his new school, Percy’s only friend is a boy named Grover. One day, his math teacher Mrs. Dodds, who is not his favorite teacher because she hates him, tells him to come talk to her privately. He is in big trouble because she transforms into a monster. (Later he finds out that she is a Fury.) She attacks him and tries to kill him. His Latin teacher tosses him a pen that when uncapped turns into a sword named Riptide. He defeats her and she turns into dust. Afterwards, the day continues as if nothing happened and everyone seems to have forgotten about Mrs. Dodds, as if she never existed.

When Percy and Grover are boarding a bus, they see three creepy and elderly women holding a yarn. One of them takes out a pair of shears and cuts the rope. Grover seems very uneasy as he watches the women. Percy thinks that they look like the Fates, which we learn later that they are. They are cutting someone’s life thread, and that spooks Percy (like it would spook anyone else).

Later, Percy’s mom tries to get him to a mysterious camp that she calls “Camp Half-Blood”. On the way, they are attacked by a minotaur. His mother turns into golden light as she is attacked. Percy and Grover eventually make it to Camp Half-Blood without Percy’s mother.

Later, Grover reveals that he is a satyr. Percy’s whole world turns upside down. The counselors explain that every camper at Camp Half-Blood had been stalked by monsters for their whole lives because they are all demigods. He is astonished to learn that this is the only safe place for half-bloods–that’s what they are called: they are half god and half human. Percy is “undecided”, meaning that his god parent is still unknown. But eventually he is claimed by the god of oceans and seas, Poseidon.

This is not good news because a prophecy says that a child of the Big Three (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) will either destroy Olympus or save it. But then we learn that someone has stolen Zeus’s lightning bolt and Percy is the prime suspect. It is up to him to clear his name before he is destroyed by Zeus, god of the sky.

Marshmallow is reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Book 1 of the Percy Jackson Series) by Rick Riordan. — Marshmallow is reading *Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief* (Book 1 of the Percy Jackson Series) by Rick Riordan.

Marshmallow’s Review: This is a very good book, and a great way to learn about Greek mythology. It is funny and it is well-written. Rick Riordan has written a very interesting book that can be enjoyed by all ages. (I know for a fact that Sprinkles agrees.) It is a great initial book to begin the Percy Jackson books that will teach readers to learn about Greek mythology.

There are some interesting characters (my favorite is Clarisse, a daughter of Ares, though she is quite mean sometimes–she does get much better in the later books), and some are really scary (the Oracle for example). The plot is interesting too and a mystery that the readers need to solve. There are hints that can help you figure things out before the end, but even if you do, you will want to finish the book.

There are movies of the first two books in the series, but apparently the author did not enjoy them.

Marshmallow’s rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Book 1 of the Percy Jackson Series) by Rick Riordan 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief* (Book 1 of the Percy Jackson Series) by Rick Riordan 95%.