Harry Potter and the Sorcer's Stone

A lonely orphan named Harry Potter was sent to live with his snobby and dispicable Aunt, Uncle, and cousin and was never told of his parent's secret life. After turning 11, Harry is visited by a half giant named Rubeus Hagrid and is told about his life destined to be a wizard, and how he was the only survivor from Lord Voldemort's attack that killed his parents. Harry soon finds himself on a mysterious train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizadry where he befriends a boy named Ron and earns an enemy named Draco Malfoy. Harry and Ron befriend a very intellectual girl named Hermione and the three discover after several events that the hated Professor Snape is after the fabled Sorcerer's Stone. The three get past the three headed dog, through the trap door and pass through the series of traps set up by the professors in the school. The last obstacle Harry realizes that Snape isn't the thief, the villain is Voldemort who shows himself through Professor Quirrel, and Harry outsmarts them by obtaining the stone through the mirror. Harry defeats Quirrel thus defeating Voldemort in spirit form and turns the Sorcerer's Stone back to the head of the school, Professor Dumblebor, and Harry becomes the hero of Hogwarts.

Plot is a VERY strong element because so many details go into this story and series that carry the reader along. The characters are very believable even though they are doing things that normal humans cannot - magic. The characters still suffer everyday tribulations of teenagers.

Rowling, J. (1998). Harry potter and the sorcerer. Arthur A. Levine Books.

Stage Fright on a Summer Night, Magic Tree House

Brother and sister Jack and Annie follow a shooting star to their magic tree house and they see Morgan le Fey who has a mission for them. She sends them back to Elizabethan England to find magic. Jack and Annie only have a rhyme to try discover magic all the while exploring England. They come upon a play and the writer William Shakespeare needs two replacements to read in his play for the queen. Even though girls are not allowed to be on stage and Jack has terrible stage fright, the two do an amazing job. The queen is pleased with the play and gives a speech and Jack and Annie learn the magic of turning day into night...on stage.

I personally think this is a poorly written story but the characters are believable and have personalities that could teach young people how to be a better person. This story is full of precise vocabulary and teaches the reader new language from Elizabethan time.

Osborne, Mary, & Murdocca, Sal. (2002). Stage fright on a summer night. Random House Books for Young Readers.

The Stinky Cheese Man

This story is very funny. It takes fairy tales and fables like Chicken Licken, Jack and the Bean Stalk, The Ugly Duckling, and fractures them. This story is set up like a chapter book and the Table of Contents even becomes part of the story. The words can be found going in different directions - swirls, upside down, very large, and very small. The fairy tales end up being twisted into each others stories and the narrator Jack enjoys messing with the stories and words on the page.

This is a combination of chapter book and picture book. The pictures are made by collage and are very funny when added with the fractured fairy tales. Some pages have no illustrations or the characters have been cut out of the background and placed somewhere else. This is a very interesting book and there is a lot to look at and discover.

Scieszka, Jon. (1992). The stinky cheese man and other fairly stupid tales. Penguin Group.

Breaking Dawn

Bella and Edward get married and go on their honeymoon on Edward's 'mother's' island as Jacob runs away because of the pain he feels for losing Bella. The two explore their love and consummate their marriage only to discover how fragile Bella's body is and how strong Edward can be during such gentle and tender moments. Bella becomes pregnant and the family is intrigued and shocked at how a vampire baby affects a human body. During childbirth, Bella comes to near death and Edward is forced to change her into a vampire by biting her and injecting a needle of his venom into her heart. Bella then begins to discover her role as a new mother and a vampire and she is trained for battle by learning to control her shielding powers. The Volturi come to take Bella and Edward's baby (an immortal child) and a battle ensues between the Volturi, the Cullens, werewolves, and other ancient vampires. During the battle, Bella shields the family from anything the others do and no one can penetrate her shield. The Volturi leave and the Cullens are left in peace because they were able to prove the Cullens family did not turn the baby into a vampire - she was born that way.

The lovemaking is highly understated as the reader is left to infer what happens between Bella and Edward. The characters are in an amazingly well put together plot and the reader will have a hard time putting this book down!

Meyer, Stephenie. (2008). Breaking dawn. New York, NY: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.