Ruthie Mizrahi has only just arrived in America from Cuba, and she's already fitting in among her classmates. She's also the best at hopscotch in her neighborhood. Even though she misses Cuba, she's embracing life in America, and she's a friend to everyone. But then she brakes her leg in a tragic car accident, and she's confined to her bed. But even though Ruthie is stuck in a body cast in bed, she still looks on the bright side of things. She makes new friends while stuck in bed, and spends her most of her time reading and painting, things she almost never did before the accident. Ruthie is healing, physically and emotionally. This book is really touching, and you'll sympathize with Ruthie the whole way. I really love how Ruthie is such a fighter, and how she's not going to let anyone boss her around. I think the lesson in this story is to embrace your fears, because Ruthie really has to be brave when she learns how to walk with the leg she broke in the accident. Ruthie also shows you that you to forgive, and to hope against all odds. Enjoy this amazing story!

Ruthie Mizrahi has only just arrived in America from Cuba, and she's already fitting in among her classmates. She's also the best at hopscotch in her neighborhood. Even though she misses Cuba, she's embracing life in America, and she's a friend to everyone. But then she brakes her leg in a tragic car accident, and she's confined to her bed. But even though Ruthie is stuck in a body cast in bed, she still looks on the bright side of things. She makes new friends while stuck in bed, and spends her most of her time reading and painting, things she almost never did before the accident. Ruthie is healing, physically and emotionally. This book is really touching, and you'll sympathize with Ruthie the whole way. I really love how Ruthie is such a fighter, and how she's not going to let anyone boss her around. I think the lesson in this story is to embrace your fears, because Ruthie really has to be brave when she learns how to walk with the leg she broke in the accident. Ruthie also shows you that you to forgive, and to hope against all odds. Enjoy this amazing story!

I just finished reading this amazing book, and I loved it! This book is about a girl named Winnie, who's parents are a bit difficult. Winnie's parents are too alike for their own good, and they want everything to be equal. For instance, when Winnie came home from school and her parents told her that they were getting divorced, they had a duct-tape X on the couch for her to sit on, exactly between her parents. Since her parents are getting divorced, they inform Winnie that she's going to have an EXACTLY equal amount of days with each of her parents, by switching off between their new houses each day of the week. But, since there's seven days in a week, Winnie's going to spend that one extra day living in a treehouse, exactly between her parents' houses. At first Winnie thought the idea of living in a treehouse was ridiculous, but then she realized that it might be nice to have some peace and quiet. Then stuff got even crazier. Winnie usually spent Thanksgiving with her family, as the one holiday they celebrated, but since her parents weren't living together anymore, they had to celebrate a new holiday. First Winnie celebrated a new holiday with her Mom, then Winnie's dad got jealous of her mom celebrating the holiday with Winnie, so HE decided to celebrate a DIFFERENT holiday with Winnie. So that's how it happened that every day of the week Winnie celebrated a different holiday, so she had no time for her homework, or anything else. But there was one exception - on Wednesday's she lived in her treehouse, so she could relax, draw, cuddle with her cat, and do her homework, things normal kids did every day. But since there was only one Wednesday each week, Winnie was falling behind with her schoolwork, because every day (except Wednesday) was spent celebrating a holiday. Her teacher said that Winnie might even fail fifth grade! Her teacher gave her an important history report to do, and said if she didn't ace it she would have to redo fifth grade. So Winnie was under a lot of stress, until her final breaking point. Winnie's dad wanted Winnie to spend the summer with him, so to make up for those days with her dad, Winnie's Mom said that Winnie would spend every Wednesday with her, until the time from the summer was made up. This Winnie could not handle, because Wednesday's were her only time for normal things, and she would fail fifth grade if she didn't get a good grade on her history report. By chance Winnie learned that technically her treehouse wasn't a part of the US, so it didn't follow the rules of the US either. So, Winnie went up to her treehouse when her parents told her this, and it wasn't a Wednesday. She decided to stay up there until her parents came up and talked to her together about the whole holiday every day of the week thing, like levelheaded adults. Then Winnie's friends joined her, all because of something they wanted their parents to agree on, like more video game time, or more attention. And since her treehouse was technically its own country, no one could come into the treehouse unless the kids approved. After the kids had been in the treehouse for a couple days, "The Treehouse Ten" became famous. Will the kids come down from the treehouse, or will they stay up there until they get what they want? I really loved the format of this book, it was really cool. The book was told in Winnie's perspective, in the style of a journal, with fake sticky notes every few pages, written by various people in the Treehouse Ten. My favorite character was Winnie, because she seemed really smart and levelheaded in this book. I would recommend this book is to late elementary and middle school readers. Enjoy!

I just finished reading this amazing book, and I loved it! This book is about a girl named Winnie, who's parents are a bit difficult. Winnie's parents are too alike for their own good, and they want everything to be equal. For instance, when Winnie came home from school and her parents told her that they were getting divorced, they had a duct-tape X on the couch for her to sit on, exactly between her parents. Since her parents are getting divorced, they inform Winnie that she's going to have an EXACTLY equal amount of days with each of her parents, by switching off between their new houses each day of the week. But, since there's seven days in a week, Winnie's going to spend that one extra day living in a treehouse, exactly between her parents' houses. At first Winnie thought the idea of living in a treehouse was ridiculous, but then she realized that it might be nice to have some peace and quiet. Then stuff got even crazier. Winnie usually spent Thanksgiving with her family, as the one holiday they celebrated, but since her parents weren't living together anymore, they had to celebrate a new holiday. First Winnie celebrated a new holiday with her Mom, then Winnie's dad got jealous of her mom celebrating the holiday with Winnie, so HE decided to celebrate a DIFFERENT holiday with Winnie. So that's how it happened that every day of the week Winnie celebrated a different holiday, so she had no time for her homework, or anything else. But there was one exception - on Wednesday's she lived in her treehouse, so she could relax, draw, cuddle with her cat, and do her homework, things normal kids did every day. But since there was only one Wednesday each week, Winnie was falling behind with her schoolwork, because every day (except Wednesday) was spent celebrating a holiday. Her teacher said that Winnie might even fail fifth grade! Her teacher gave her an important history report to do, and said if she didn't ace it she would have to redo fifth grade. So Winnie was under a lot of stress, until her final breaking point. Winnie's dad wanted Winnie to spend the summer with him, so to make up for those days with her dad, Winnie's Mom said that Winnie would spend every Wednesday with her, until the time from the summer was made up. This Winnie could not handle, because Wednesday's were her only time for normal things, and she would fail fifth grade if she didn't get a good grade on her history report. By chance Winnie learned that technically her treehouse wasn't a part of the US, so it didn't follow the rules of the US either. So, Winnie went up to her treehouse when her parents told her this, and it wasn't a Wednesday. She decided to stay up there until her parents came up and talked to her together about the whole holiday every day of the week thing, like levelheaded adults. Then Winnie's friends joined her, all because of something they wanted their parents to agree on, like more video game time, or more attention. And since her treehouse was technically its own country, no one could come into the treehouse unless the kids approved. After the kids had been in the treehouse for a couple days, "The Treehouse Ten" became famous. Will the kids come down from the treehouse, or will they stay up there until they get what they want? I really loved the format of this book, it was really cool. The book was told in Winnie's perspective, in the style of a journal, with fake sticky notes every few pages, written by various people in the Treehouse Ten. My favorite character was Winnie, because she seemed really smart and levelheaded in this book. I would recommend this book is to late elementary and middle school readers. Enjoy!

This is one of my new all-time favorite books! In the beginning, you find out that 11 year old Ivy Sparrow's grandmother fell and seriously hurt herself, so she had to go to the hospital. At that time, Ivy's parents are away at far away work, so the kids (Ivy and her older brother Seb) are on their own. After making sure that their grandmother was safe at the hospital, they go back home to find their house wrecked. They have an unpleasant encounter with the "Underguards," strange men who are chasing them through their house, and out their front door. They escape the Underguards with help from Valian Kaye, a thief who may or may not be nice, and they fall headfirst into a whole new world, (or what seems like a whole new world to them). This place is called Ludinor, an underground city meant for uncommoners to trade their uncommon objects. Ivy and Seb have to figure out why the Underguards trashed their house, and much more urgent mysteries are popping up as well, and the kids' parents' lives may be on the line. Will Ivy and Seb find out about whats happening to their family, or will much darker consequences occur? I loved this book, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy/adventure books. My favorite character was a Ivy, because of her selflessness and her bravery. I also really like this book because it has a lot of variables, and every good book should have that. I would've rated it five stars, but I thought the ending wasn't really complete, so I rated it four. I hope you like this book as much as I did!

This book stars out Ivy Sparrow and her older brother in an ambulance, rushing their Granma Sylvie to the hospital. But they have no idea what is in store for them once after they arrive. Right away Granma Sylvie is taken into care. Ivy and Seb's parents are on their way. All appears to be fine(except for the strange man Ivy saw poking around the hospital). But then Ivy and Seb return home-to find it completely trashed. When they are investigating the scene, a strange force of toilet-brush wielding policemen show up. To make things worse they want Ivy and Seb! Ivy and Seb manage to escape with the help of another fugitive Valian. After they arrive at their destination they are amazed. They find themselves in an underground world-Lundinor. In Lundinor, ordinary objects have incredible powers. There are buttons with healing powers, talking bells, candles that make the holder invisible. But the world of Lundinor has secrets buried. Ivy and Seb discover that their family is connected to this uncommon world, and they have no idea of who they can trust. They must race to discover the truth and get to the bottom of hidden history before time runs out. One thing I liked about this book is that it started out with a bang. The story starts right away, with plenty of action. I also like how all the information we receive about this uncommon world is woven into the story, so it doesn't distract from the story. I'm very excited to read the second installment in this series! Jennifer Bell did an amazing job of creating this underground world, it is a completely new concept. I haven't read anything like it, making it even more enjoyable. I recommend this book to middle school and high school readers. I think older elementary kids would also enjoy it. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Narwhal wants to become a superhero, and he needs a sidekick, so his best friend Jelly steps up to the job! EVERYONE knows that superheroes need superpowers, but Super Narwhal isn't sure what his superpower is. After Super Narwhal saves the day multiple times, it becomes clear that Super Narwhal's superpower is the power to bring out the super in others! I really liked this book, it's a super cute short story that is perfect for young readers. I also like how in the middle of the story the author includes a bunch of fun facts about REAL super sea creatures. The illustrations are super creative, and I definitely recommend this book. Enjoy!