Rosalind's List Of The Best Books Ever

This is a list I have made over the years of really, really good books. If you need a book to read, look no further!

Rosalind’s List Of The Best Books Ever

(Alphabetically by title)

• Acceleration by Graham McNamee

• Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie by Kristiana Gregory (Dear America series)

• Agnes Parker: Girl In Progress by Katherine O’Dell

• Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen

• Amanda by Candace F. Ransom

• The Angel Experiment- Maximum Ride, Book One by James Patterson

• Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway

• Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

• Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brinks

• The Candymakers by Wendy Mass

• Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney

• Coraline by Neil Gaiman

 • Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Leslie Blume

• The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

• A Crooked Kind Of Perfect by Linda Urban

• The Danger Box by Blue Balliett

• Divergent by Veronica Roth

• Do the Math: Secrets, Lies, and Algebra by Wendy Lichtman

• Drama by Raina Telgemeier

• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

• Emily The Strange- The Lost Days by Rob Reger and Jessica Gruner

• Emily Windsnap (series) by Liz Kessler

• Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell

• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

• Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

• Fly on the Wall by e. lockheart

• From the Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

• Fudge (series) by Julie Blume

• Gilda Joyce (series) by Jennifer Allison

• Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski

• Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes

• The Giver by Lois Lowry

• The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman

• Half Magic by Edward Eager

• Harry Potter (series) by J. K. Rowling

• Heart of a Samurai by Margi Prues

• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

• Ida B. by Katherine Hannigan

• In a Heartbeat by Loretta Ellsworth

• The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks

• Isabel of the Whales by Hester Velmans

• Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson

• Lily B. on the Brink of Cool by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

• Lily’s Ghosts by Laura Ruby

• The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick

• The Lottie Project by Jacqueline Wilson

• Lunch Money by Andrew Clements

• The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

• The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

• Main Street (series) by Anne M. Martin

• Mandy by Julie Edwards

• A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

• Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

• Matched by Ally Condie

• Meg: Mystery In Williamsburg by Holly Beth Walker

• Molly Moon (series) by Georgia Byng

• The Mother-Daughter Book Club (series) by Heather Vogel Fredrick

• Movie For Dogs by Lois Duncan

• My Life in Pink and Green by Lisa Greenwald

• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

• The Mysterious Case Of the Allbright Academy by Diane Stanley

• The Mysterious Matter Of I. M. Fine by Diane Stanley

• Never Mind by AVI and Rachel Vail

• Not As Crazy As I Look by George Harrar

• Password to Larkspur Lane by Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew series)

• The Penderwicks (series) by Jeanne Birdsall

• Percy Jackson and the Olympians (series) by Rick Riordan

• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

• Plastic Angel by Nerissa Neilds

• Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

• The Puzzling World of Winston Breen (series) by Eric Berlin

• Rash by Pete Hautman

• The Red Blazer Girls by Michael D. Beil

• The Return Of Santa Paws by Nicholas Edwards

• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred P. Taylor

• Saffy’s Angel by Hillary McKay

• Sammy Keyes (series) by Wendelin Van Draanen

• Savvy (series) by Ingrid Law

• Science Fair by Dave Perry and Ridley Pearson

• The Secret Garden by Frances Hogson Burnett • Secret School by AVI

• The Secret Series (series) by Pseudonymous Bosch

• A Series Of Unfortunate Events (series) by Lemony Snicket

• The Shadow Children (series) by Margaret Peterson Haddix

• Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher

• Shiloh by Lynne Reid Banks

• A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

• Sketchy Behavior by Erynn Mangum

• Smile by Raina Telgemeier

• Solving Zoe by Barbara Dee

• Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan

• The Talk-Funny Girl by Roland Merullo

• The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

• There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Louis Sachar

• The True Meaning Of Smekday by Adam Rex

• The Wednesdays by Julie Borbeau

• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

• Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson

• The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John

• A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle

• 11 Birthdays (series) by Wendy Mass

A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass is a really good book! It's about a thirteen year-old girl named Mia who has a condition called synesthesia. Synesthesia is when your senses are sort of mixed together.  For example, when Mia sees a letter, she associates a color to it.  (To read more about synesthesia, click here.)  

Mia kept this to herself for many years after an incident in third grade when everyone teased her for thinking every number has a color.  She didn't even know there was a name for her condition!

This book also has a captivating plot and lots of great characters. There is even some romance.  My favorite part of the book was where the title came from, even though it made me cry. I would recommend A Mango-Shaped Space to everyone, and I rate it five out of five stars. By the way, Wendy Mass is one of my favorite authors, and I love her 11 Birthdays series (11 Birthdays, Finally, and 13 Gifts). I hope you all got lots of great books for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa (I know I did)!

⊿ Rosalind⊿

Eve And Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate

    Eve and Adam by by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate is a really good, suspenseful book.  It starts when a girl named Evening (a.k.a. Eve or E.V.) gets hit by a car. Her commanding, perfectly put-together mother brings her back to her company, Spiker Biopharmaceuticals, which houses a hospital.  Evening meets a mysterious boy named Solo (what a great name, right?). Her wounded leg heals astonishingly fast... Then, her mom gives her a project to create a simulation boy from the DNA up. 
   
I really can't tell more without giving anything away, but let me just tell you that this book has a very intriguing plot line, and there are lots of little things that I never saw coming! I would rate Eve and Adam five out of five stars and recommend it to anyone twelve and up (As with all books, it definitely depends on the person). Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!


                                                        Love,

                                       ❤ ✰ ✡ ❄ Rosalind ❄ ✡ ✰ ❤

Acceleration by Graham McNamee

    Acceleration, by Graham McNamee, is about a teenager named Duncan who lives in Toronto. It is in the middle of a terrible heat wave. Duncan is kind of a schmooze and his summer consists of hanging out with his friends Wayne and Vinny and working underground in the subway's Lost and Found with Jacob, a crabby old man who rarely speaks.
     Duncan's boring summer takes a turn when he finds a small leather notebook that someone turned in to the Lost and Found. Scribbled inside the book are notes, plans, and newspaper clippings. Notes about  how fast it takes mice to drown in different liquids, plans for killing, and articles about animal abuse and arson cut out from the local newspaper.  What should Duncan do about this sick scrapbook?
   Acceleration is an exciting mystery/suspense novel that is hard to put down. I would rate it five out of five stars, and recommend it to anyone twelve years and older. Thanks for reading!


                  >>>>>>>>>>Rosalind<<<<<<<<<<<<

Matilda-Book and Musical

Hey people! So I know, I know, I haven't posted in like a super duper long time. And I know I should have posted about the wonderful book I read at camp right when I got home, but truthfully, there wasn't one. A wonderful book I read at camp, that is. All I read in three whole weeks was this Hunger Games Tribute Guide that could barely be counted as a book and was just meh. So then after only a week I took off again, this time traveling to London. And I came back like 3 weeks ago, and then school started, and then all of a sudden I was busy. I'M SO SO SO SORRY.

Ok, so, anyways, the... thing I'm reviewing is Matilda. I know that you must know it's a book, but did you know it was a musical? I didn't until we got tickets.

Most of you who have and haven't read it are probably thinking it's a book for little girls and we shouldn't be reviewing it on TEEN bookshelf. I personally don't agree. I think that Matilda is a good book for all ages, really. Except maybe if you are 3. Because the Trunchbull is a pretty scary character for 3 year olds, if you know what I'm talking about.

So guess who the main character is? A GIRL NAMED MATILDA. Woah! She is 5 1/2 years old and just happens to be a genius. She is so much smarter than me. And I'm not even dumb! Like, she reads adult novels (for example, Charles Dickens) and she can multiply things like 14 times 19 in a millisecond. What even is that? Comment below if you can mentally solve it. Back to the point. So the genius-ness is not passed down in the family because her parents (who, by the way, have the craziest fashion sense), are not smart at all.

Mr. Wormwood, her father, is very full of himself. He runs a used car business, selling cars that are totally worthless, but making them appear almost good as new for the first few days, until they break. His idea of a good book is a car magazine, and he can barely figure out his profit for one day (using addition and subtraction only) in 10 minutes. With paper.

Mrs. Wormwood is a useless lump. She sits around watching television all day, and her favorite expression is, "You chose books, I chose looks!"

Matilda's older brother, named Michael, is very dim and isn't really a big character.

Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood are terrible parents. But only for Matilda. Kind of like how in Harry Potter, the Dursleys spoil Dudley the Dud and hate Harry. So anyways, they love Michael and think he is extremely bright and wonderful, and they hate Matilda, and think she is useless, and worst of all, stupid. They think a 5 year old reading Charles Dickens is stupid!

So, I'm kind of... I don't know... terrible at summaries, but I'll try anyway, because if you haven't read Matilda yet you'll be just like "so what exactly is the point of this book? It sounds pretty stupid. I guess I won't read it..." and I do not want this happening so... here I try...

Mr. Wormwood is a very, lets just say, terrible father/person, and one day Matilda gets absolutely fed up with him. To calm her down and keep her sane, she decides that whenever she gets sick of her dad mistreating her, she will play a prank on him. Then he will be bearable for a little while, until he is nasty to her again, and deserves another prank.

One day Mr. Wormwood decides to send Matilda to school. But this isn't just any normal school. This school is... CRUNCHEM HALL ELEMENTARY, run by... THE TRUNCHBULL. The Trunchbull is an ex-Olympian, who used to throw the hammer for Great Britain in the Olympics and retired to throwing small children in elementary school. She enjoys punishing children by stretching their ears, holding them in the air by their hair, and, even better, throwing them to the next county. She also has a torturing device called... THE CHOKEY. The Chokey is a small closet with nails and broken glass that she throws kids in for up to a day. If you are in the Chokey you have to stand up absolutely straight or else... you DIE! Just kidding.

So then there's a bunch of other characters I didn't name and yadayada.

Anywhoo. Now I will review the musical, which by the way I saw with my cousin. By the way you people might want to check out her blog, E's World, especially if you enjoy fashion and random stuff.

So I saw the tickets that we had before we went, and it said it was recommended for ages 6 and up. I thought, "Why on earth would Matilda be recommended for ages 6 and up? Maybe it's just wimpy 6 year olds." Then, after I saw it, I thought it should be for, I don't know, 8 or 10 and up. Some of the REALLY loud parts were kind of overwhelming and I think if I were 6 or 7 or even 8 I would be freaked out. But maybe it's just me.

The weird thing is, I saw mostly adults at the show. I feel like there were, like, 4 times as many adults as there were kids, or even more.

The cast was SUPER good. Matilda was just like I imagined her, and so was Mr. Wormwood. The Trunchbull was played by a guy, but I think that really fit her and was a very good choice. It was like how John Travolta plays Tracy's mother in Hairspray, if you know what I'm talking about. But I had this one problem. Mrs. Wormwood wasn't fat enough! In the book she's supposed to be a total couch potato but in the musical she has a dance partner and all that jazz. LOL, get it? Hahaha.

Also, they casted the kids GREAT! They were adorable, and good dancers, and good singers, and did I mention they were adorable?

You people should TOTALLY read this book. And see the musical if possible.

I rate both the book and the musical 5 stars stars stars stars stars...  yeah I'm kind of hyper hyper hyper hyper hyper.

ANNABETH <3

The Wednesdays

    The Wednesdays, by Julie Bourbeau, is about a little village in the middle of nowhere.  It's a pleasant little place that tourists occasionally visit.  Except on Wednesdays, when strange things happen, like cakes burning, shoelaces coming untied, and pants falling down.  Fortunately, no one has gotten seriously hurt from these occurrences.  It's annoying, but the villagers are used to it, so they just use Wednesdays as an excuse to hole up in their homes, shut out the bad luck, and do nothing.  

           

       It's funny because everyone in the village refers to the mysterious force that causes all of the mishaps as the "wednesdays".  No one really knows what these wednesdays are until Max, a village boy, goes out on his birthday (which, since it falls on a Wednesday, is going terribly wrong) and decides to find out for himself.  With the help of a weird neighbor, his dog, his best friend Noah, and an interesting girl from school, Max discovers what the wednesdays are, and  the true story behind all of the Wednesday mishaps.  Then, the wednesdays' evil plan is revealed, and Max and his friends must put a plan to this evil scheme once and for all.

I thought that The Wednesdays was a very satisfying book with an interesting plot.  At the end, I felt like there was nothing more to be desired.  With all the book series out these days, I think that it's refreshing to have a great story that is in the form of just one perfect book.  I rate The Wednesdays five out of five stars.

🔵🙊😄 By R☮salind!  🔳🐌🌹

P.S. The Wednesdays is available as an ebook (I checked it out of my library and read it on my Kindle).

P.P.S. Phineas and Ferb is the best show evahhh!* Watch it, people!

* Also included in my List Of Best TV Shows Evahhh are Glee, Pretty Little Liars, and Cake Boss.