The book bunnies have read all the FunJungle books by Stuart Gibbs. (You can find Marshmallow’s reviews of all eight here.) But it was only this past week when Gibbs visited Caramel’s school that Caramel got his paws on an (autographed!) copy of his Spy School, first published in 2012. Below he shares his thoughts about the book with Sprinkles.
Caramel reviews Spy School by Stuart Gibbs.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, that did not take you very long.
Caramel: No, I read it in one day.
S: I think that means you found the book exciting.
C: Yep.
S: So tell us a bit about it. What is it about?
C: Spy School. So there is this kid named Ben Ripley, who gets invited to attend a science school, but it is actually a school to train spies. His parents think it is just a science school, but it is apparently a way for the CIA to recruit new agents.
S: So Ben is going to Spy School to become an agent.
C: Yes.
S: So this is kind of like Harry Potter then. At the age of eleven or twelve, you get recruited to attend a special school for special people.
C: Yes, I guess I can see that. But Spy School is a lot more realistic than Hogwarts, there is no magic for example.
S: I see. But there is a lot of science at least?
C: Not as much as you would expect in a real science school. There is math but not too much more than that.
S: I see. So is the book basically about Ben going to this school and making friends and attending classes? Or is there some real spying that happens?
C: Yes, there is some spying. There is an assassin sent after him.
S: That sounds serious.
C: Deadly serious.
S: So there must be some tense moments in the book, then. Right?
C: Yep, there are many pages that you have to read really fast to move forward because you want to know what happens next, now now now!
S: I see. No wonder you read the book so fast!
Caramel is looking happily at the autographed title page of Spy School by Stuart Gibbs.
S: So is the book funny?
C: Yes. I can even say it is hilarious at times.
S: That is great! So i can see you liked the book. You know this is the first book of a series right?
C: Yep. And I want to read the rest of the books in the series.
S: Well, the Spy School series is made up of eleven books at the moment. So knowing this, that there are ten more books in the series, are you still interested in reading more?
C: Yes. I definitely want to read at least the next one.
S: Okay, we will see what we can do about that. Does the book end in a cliffhanger?
C: Kind of. The mystery of the book is resolved but there are hints of what is coming next. So I definitely want to read that next book.
S: That makes sense to me Caramel. So tell me, if you were to describe the book in three words, what would you say?
C: Let me think. Funny kid spy adventure! For the young and the young at heart.
S: That works for me! Okay, let us wrap this up then. What would you like to tell our readers?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
Caramel loved reading Spy School by Stuart Gibbs and is itching to move to the next book in the series. Stay tuned!
Last week Marshmallow reviewed How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport. This week, as we dive into the new school year, she is continuing with a similar book, How to Be a High School Superstar, first published in 2010. Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.
Marshmallow reviews How to Be a High School Superstar by Cal Newport.
Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, it is back to school time, and you are reading all these books about how to be a good student. You just reviewed How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport last week. And now we are looking at How to Be a High School Superstar, which was written later but is meant for a younger audience.
Marshmallow: Yes, this one is for bunnies who are beginning high school and want to know about how to make the best of it. The other book was mainly intended for college bunnies.
S: I see. So what kinds of advice do you find in this book?
M: The main ides is to be an interesting student so that you can get into college.
S: What does that mean?
M: So Cal Newport thinks that it is not how many As you get in your classes and how many activities you are involved in that matters. He thinks that college admissions folks look at the whole package and want to admit students who look interesting.
S: So what does interesting mean?
M: He suggests that you should leave yourself a lot of free time to explore new directions and find a thing or two that you are really into and you can really advance in, so you can be more than just a good student.
S: So I am assuming he takes it for granted that you will be a good student, or at least a good enough student, and then he tells the reader what else to do to round out one’s college application package. Right?
M: Yes, I think so.
S: So the book is very much directed towards high school students who are looking to get into college.
M: Yep.
Marshmallow is reading How to Be a High School Superstar by Cal Newport.
S: Okay, so tell me how one can become a more interesting person.
M: According to Cal Newport, doing less is more, so focus on one thing and do that really well. Like, he thinks that doing a sport and doing some volunteering and doing theatre and doing band and so on all at once without really paying any special attention to any one of them makes you dilute your efforts, and while trying to be well rounded you end up being mediocre in all things.
S: That reminds me of something I had heard from a college faculty member I know. He said something like, “while people are looking for well roundedness, I want to find all the sharp knives.”
M: I think I can see what he means by that! I think Cal Newport would agree.
S: Besides this big idea, what other recommendations does he make in this book?
M: Well, I think that is really the main point of the book. He uses the phrase “relaxed superstar”. He thinks that is what one should aspire to be.
S: I see. That sounds nice.
M: I think so, too.
S: So how would you rate this book then?
M: I’d rate it 100%. I think it makes a good point about being intentional about how one goes about doing high school. Wow! I managed to make one sentence with three “about”s!
S: Yes, I give you 100% for that! So this is a good place to wrap up this review, I think. What would you like to tell our readers?
M: Stay tuned for more amazing reviews from the book bunnies!
Marshmallow rates How to Be a High School Superstar by Cal Newport 100%.
Marshmallow is a young bunny who is always curious about how she can improve herself. Today she is talking to Sprinkles about a 2006 book by Cal Newport about being a good student: How to Become a Straight-A Student.
Marshmallow reviews How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport.
S: So tell me a bit about what this book is about, something more than the title of the book.
M: Well, I should first start with the full title. The full title is How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less.
S: Hmm, so this is about how to be a straight-A student in college actually.
M: Yes, but the strategies can probably apply to other school contexts. Which is why I am reading this. I am not off to college just yet!
S: Thankfully! I am not ready for that!
M: Me neither.
S: Alright, so tell me about the book then.
M: So Cal Newport is a computer science professor today, but when he wrote this book, he had just finished college. And he had sone really well, and he wanted to write a book about how he did so well. But he does not only talk about his own experiences. He interviewed and surveyed a lot of college students asking them about their study habits and time management choices that they made, and put the book together with all that data.
S: That sounds like a good premise for a solid advice book. So tell me about some of the main ideas.
M: One of the main ideas Newport is talking about is efficiency. So for example, he calls it pseudo-work when students are spending all night in a library but not working efficiently.
S: So I can see that there are inefficient study habits. But what are his alternatives? What does he suggest? How should one study efficiently?
M: He suggests making a schedule, taking smart notes, researching better, with big ideas in mind. And there are a lot more. There are a total of three parts in the book. The first part is titled Study Basics. Then there are a series of chapters under the heading of Quizzes and Exams. Finally there are several chapters under the name of Essays and Papers.
S: So basically he talks about a variety of ways to work more effectively and efficiently for different types of assessment tasks. That makes sense to me.
Marshmallow is reading How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport.
S: So the book is intended for college students. As a bunny who is still far too young for college, did you find the book off-putting or somehow inaccessible in parts?
M: No, not at all. Though it did make me a bit worried about how much work one needs to do in college.
S: Do you like Newport’s author voice?
M: Yes, he is confident but very relatable. I also liked that he emphasizes that you need to ensure that you have a social life, that it is possible to have a social life that complements good grades and academic achievement. So I like that. It is hopeful.
S: That’s good. So do you see yourself applying any of this advice in this coming school year?
M: I will definitely try. I have a nice planner now and I want to start with planning. And I want to figure out how I can study more efficiently.
S: These all sound great to me Marshmallow. So all in all, you seem to have enjoyed this book. How would you rate it?
M: I’d rate it 100%.
S: Nice! Okay, I think it is time for us to wrap up this review, which is the last one before schools start in our part of the world. So what would you like to tell our readers?
M: Stay tuned for more amazing reviews from the book bunnies! And I hope you all will have a lot of fun if school is starting in your part of the world too!
Marshmallow rates How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport 100%.
A while back Marshmallow reviewed Blubber by Judy Blume. Today she reviews another classic by Blume: Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, first published in 1970. Sprinkles is asking questions and taking notes.
Marshmallow reviews Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume.
Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, let us start at the beginning. Who do you think would appreciate this book?
Marshmallow: I think girls who are approaching adolescence and may have some concerns about growing up might find this book relatable. Also if you liked other books by Judy Blume, I think you would definitely like this too.
S: That is a good start. Okay, more specifically, tell us now about the plot.
M: Margaret is this girl who just moved to New Jersey. And she is starting a new school and she makes a new friend named Nancy Wheeler —
M: Yeah, no. Not the Nancy from Stranger Things. Though she is also a girl who is living in a suburb with her family and wants to fit in and so on.
S: Okay, so let us get back to Margaret.
M: Yes, so Margaret’s dad was raised Jewish and her mom was raised Christian, but their families did not approve so they eloped and did not dictate a religion on their daughter. And when she lived in New York, nobody seemed to be perplexed by this, but here in her new school, her friends seem to want her to choose to belong to one or the other community.
S: And she is talking to God all through the book, right? Which God is this one?
M: Well, it is definitely a personal God, and Margaret shares her concerns, fears, hopes, and desires with Him. but through the book, we see her not making a specific choice. Her new teacher, Mr. Benedict, wants each student in her sixth grade class to pick a topic that is personally important to them and spend time that whole year to research it. Margaret chooses religion, hoping that through the year, she will try to figure out whether she should be Christian or Jewish. Remember both her grandparents are religious, but the Christian ones, her maternal grandparents cut off their relationship with them. Margaret does have a close relationship with her father’s mother, Sylvia, who encourages her to explore her Jewish heritage.
S: So the book is partially about Margaret exploring religion. But it is also a lot about growing up, right?
M: Right. Margaret’s new friends are obsessed with their growing bodies, and wearing bras, and boys, and so on, and Margaret does not yet feel like she is that interested in any of these things, but she wants to fit in, and so she ends up sharing their obsessions. Which was kind of weird to me, actually, because this is not quite how the girls in my school have been acting.
S: But maybe some of the girls in your school, too, might be interested in these kinds of things. Not all bunnies are like you and your friends, Marshmallow.
M: Well, I did not mean to sound like I am all so much more mature…
S: You are a pretty mature young bunny. But when I was growing up, there were a lot of girls like Nancy and her friends, and I feel like a lot of girls must have sympathized with the characters of the book for this book to have become such an iconic book.
M: Yes. It might also be that they felt like they should act like Nancy but they were actually feeling like Margaret who is not quite there. And eventually she does start obsessing about similar things.
S: The desire to fit in is often very strong. Especially among teens and tweens, but more generally it seems to be pretty common.
M: Yes.
Marshmallow is reading Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume.
S: So this book was iconic, but it was also banned in many places. Did you know that?
M: Yes, I did. It talks about menstruation and so on, which some people claimed were not appropriate. But also it talks about religion and how it is okay if you do not pick between Christianity or Judaism, and how there might be other ways to finding spirituality in your life. This probably came across as anti-religion to some very religious folks.
S: Well, maybe today we are a bit more open-minded about these things. And the United States is a lot more diverse today in terms of people’s religious affiliations.
M: Yes, Margaret said, for example, that she was not considering Islam or Buddhism because she did not know anyone from those religions.
S: But there are people from a few other religions in your class, right?
M: Yep.
S: So we have come a long way from the 70s in that regard.
M: I hope so!
S: Okay, did you like Margaret as a character?
M: She is okay, she is very genuine, and kind of bland, she does not have a very big and sharp personality, and maybe that is intentional because the reader can fill in the gaps and more easily identify with her.
S: That makes sense to me.
M: There is also a girl in the school who has already grown up in terms of her body, and all the other people think she is sticking out. They make up rumors about her, they gossip about her, and they are pretty mean.
S: That is not good.
M: I think they are jealous. And I don’t think the girl does anything to deserve it.
S: Middle school can be a cruel place.
M: Well, they are in sixth grade but I guess that is middle school in some places.
S: Yep. So we got a hold of this book because there is a new movie about it. Do you think we should see it?
M: Yes. The trailer looks fun. Can we put a link to it here?
S: Sure, let us embed it right now:
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (2023) Official Trailer, from YouTube.
S: Do the characters look the way you visualized them?
M: Not quite, but I think they are close enough.
S: So we should try and watch it then. Okay, how would you rate this book?
M: I’d rate it 95%.
S: Sounds good. And what do you want to tell our readers as we wrap things up?
M: Stay tuned for more amazing book reviews from the book bunnies!
Marshmallow rates Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume 95%.
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