Bud, Not Buddy

Image by: Knowledge Tree 

This is one of those books that is both funny and sad at the same time.

Bud is growing up in hard times. America during the Depression, in the 1930's, is a country struggling with poverty and hunger. Unemployment is high, and the few jobs that are available don't go to black people.

Bud lives in the orphanage since his mother died. It isn't a treat or relief when he is sent to live with a foster family, but anyway, it doesn't last long. The trouble is, Bud doesn't really belong anywhere. Bud doesn't know anything about his father, except for the clue which his mother left him. He has a flyer for a jazz band: Herman E Calloway and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!

I like how they represent some stuff in the book like his brief case and that author did a good job describing some details in the boos which made me understand it and feel the character even more. I recommend this book for anybody who likes an adventure. The other thing I like about this book is how the title does not give away anything about the plot f the book. It is once again, a factor in the book that you remember through out the book. Since I like history, this book was just great for me because it took place during the Depression. 

Behind Rebel Lines by: Seymour Reit

Image by: The Reading Nook 

 A person requires much courage if they are going to become a soldier. It took a woman of great courage and bravery to decide to join the Union army of the Civil War without nobody forcing her. She wanted to do it

Although most people didn’t know at the time, several women (at least 400) joined the army undercover during the Civil War and no one ever suspected it. At the age of 21, that is what Emma Edmonds (a Canadian-born) did. This book fictionalizes her true story.

Emma Edmonds enlisted under the name of Franklin Thompson, but it didn’t stop there. The journey of her first alias led her into becoming a reliable spy for the Union. She created new characters for herself on almost every mission the army sent her on, so that her old characters wouldn’t be recognized by the Rebel army. Bridget O’Shea, Irish peddler. Charles Mayberry, detective. Cuff, freed slave.

Those are just a few of her undercover names & disguises. The lengths Emma went to in order to keep her true identity a secret for years from either army… amazing. All the different identities is one of the great things about the book because if you get bored of one character, before you know it, another character comes in. Sometimes I forget that this actually happened because the story is full of surprises. 

This book is very educational and I recommend it to people 12 and up. I learned many things from this book and it is something I will never forget. 

The Homework Machine By: Dan Gutman

Image by: koolbloo.com

I always love books by Dan Gutman and one of my favorites is The Home Work Machine. I recommend this book to people of all ages because it is a fun book with twist in it so that makes you keep reading.


It tells a story about a fifth-grader Brenton is a computer genius, but the other three members of his work group think he's a nerd. So, when he tells them that he has invented a machine that does homework, they taunt him until he agrees to demonstrate. The machine actually works, and Kelsey, Sam, and Judy convince him to let them use it. 


The story is told entirely through short excerpts from police interviews which I find cool because it is something different and you really get an opinion from every character which make you understand the characters more. These interviews shows the developing relationships through the characters' own observations. There are also touches of humor in the way the four classmates talk about themselves and one another. "A dramatic and thought-provoking story with a strong message about honesty and friendship." 

Lunch Money by: Andrew Clements

Image by: goodreader.com

One of my favorite childhood books is this one by Andrew Clements called Lunch Money. I like this book because it involves money and as I grew up, I always seemed to like counting money and all that. I also liked the idea on how it shows you kids can be famous authors too. It also says that not all teacher are mean and "not fun" because Mr. Z helps them get their comic published.  


Greg Kenton, a twelve-year-old boy is the main character in this book and has always had an interest in money. Greg realizes that school is a good place to make money. Over the summer before going into sixth grade, after a lot of attempts at selling things like candy and toys, he begins making a comic book business called Chunky Comics to sell to kids at school. With the help of their math teacher, Mr. Z, at the School Committee they manage to get the approval for their comic book club, and the book ends listing all their successes, including having their comic books nationally distributed. That is pretty much the main points in the book. 


I recommend this book for all types of kids because I still read little parts of it today and I find the book amusing. The other I found really cool is that in my copy of the book, in the middle, there is a ripped page that was made with the book and you could still read the words so it was not like it was terribly ripped. I found that very clever! 


The other thing that made me read this book was the action. It was not like gun shooting action, it was more like action in the way that you couldn't wait to see what happens next because they characters were always tying to avoid obstacles. Last but not least, the cover of the book was pretty well thought out too. I like how it has Greg in a dollar bill holding up the comic, but I wish there were more character on it like Mr. Z and/or Maura, but maybe they didn't want to spoil the character in the book. You never know. At the end of the day, this book would be considered to me as a good roller coaster ride. 

Loser by: Jerry Spinelli

Image by: Harper Collins Children's

Loser by Jerry Spinelli is a heart touching story about a young boy, Donald Zinkoff, and why people are called "losers." This story is about how Zinkoff was one of those people, and how he also got noticed. 

In this story, you first meet Zinkoff when he is about three or four years old, and are introduced into the world of kids competing and racing. Zinkoff soon enters first grade, and goes to school. He plays soccer and other sports. He loves to just play and has no regard for the rules of the game. His teammates think it's weird that he doesn't mind losing. He keeps a positive attitude and doesn't make many friends, although he tries. 

I think is book is good for people ages 10 and up because 10 seems like a good age to understand the true meaning of this book and you need to be able to read pretty good. I believe this insert is a blending of attentiveness, energy, and just plain humor. 

He is first noticed when his fourth grade teacher, instead of placing him in the back of the classroom, like all the rest of his teachers had, places him in the front of the classroom. Kids start to notice him. A quote from the book is an example of how little they really thought about him beforehand: 

"Zinkoff has always been clumsy, but now they notice. Zinkoff has always been messy and atrocious and too early and giggly and slow and more often than not wrong in his answers. But now they notice. They notice the stars on his shirts and his atrocious hair and his atrocious way he volunteers for everything. They notice it all. Even the dime-sized birthmark on his neck below his right earlobe…"(Page 99).

Even after they begin to notice him, he is still not the greatest at everything, and he never succeeds. Unfortunately, once his peers notice him, they begin to call him "loser." But then, one day, when it's snowing, he hears that a little girl he knows is missing. After that, everything changes.