Look In A Book

       Framed by James Ponti is a great book! I love it a lot!! The title means both the definitions of framed.  It is like a framed painting or being accused of something you didn't do! It is a really good mystery. 12-year-old Florian Bates and his best friend Margaret try to solve the case of who stole paintings! I love the book Framed and you should read it as well. Bye, Vaibhavee

Warning: Post Contains Spoilers! Review By: Dilan Mehta This is a great book of Gordon Korman's that I have just read. It is about Eli, Amber, Malik, Hector, and Tori. Eli bikes to the edge of the city with his friend Randy, but suddenly gets very sick fast and has to get picked up by the mysterious Surety, the police force of Serenity. He stays in the hospital for a bit and then finds out that Randy is leaving Serenity. Serenity is where they live. It's supposed to be a perfect place to live. It's an ideal community, with no crimes, no poverty, no murders, etc. They value hard work and honesty. When Randy leaves, he's supposed to be going to help his grandparents on a farm. Later, when Eli finds a secret note that Randy left him, he says he's actually going to boarding school, and that something very screwy is going on in Serenity. And something is. Eli shows the note to his father, who has him take pills that make him forget about the note. Eli doesn't take th...

Author: James Patterson By: Dilan Mehta You've probably heard of James Patterson. He's an American author with TONS of books for kids and adults. Some of my personal favorites are Treasure Hunters, The Middle School series, Pottymouth, and Stoopid, I Funny, and more! He's also written a lot of adult books, including the acclaimed Alex Cross series and the President Is Missing. He's probably more known for his adult books, but if you search up James Patterson kid books, there are tons of good reads! He was born on March 22, 1947, and studied English at manhattan college. He then landed a job at an advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson Co., but later left to focus on writing. His first major book was a thriller and mystery called Along Came A Spider. After that, many more books followed. He won many awards. After learning his son did not like to read, he started making books for kids, tweens, teens, and young adults. His first book which was aimed at young adults was Max...

  The Next Great Paulie Fink By: Ali Benjamin Review By: Dilan Mehta Caitlyn Breen, who has just made the uncomfortable move with her mom to Vermont, leaving behind her friends,  discovers that her new school, The Mitchel School, isn't an actual school. It's an old dead guy's house. And there are only a few teachers. AND they do weird things like feed goats. Caitlyn's classmates each have unique personalities, one's really nice and obsessed with a reality TV show, one loves soccer, and one loves facts, and is always nervous. When Caitlyn shows up to school, things are very different for her. The kids don't act like how normal kids act. Caitlyn thinks there are a set of rules. And these rules are basic, and everyone is born knowing them, of what to do and what not to do. But when she learns about a legendary troublemaker named Paulie Fink, who has suddenly disappeared, and who no one can't stop talking about, Caitlyn has to wonder what's normal. She finds...

  Sorry I haven't posted in a while! Here are some of the books I have been reading to catch you up!  Dilan Mehta 1. Shoe Dog Phil Knight Shoe Dog is a memoir by the creator of Nike, Phil Knight. It's a poetic biography of how Nike, the sneaker empire, was founded. Phil had the idea in business school to import Japanese running shoes to the US. Nike's first original name was Blue Ribbon, and it started in Phil's parent's basement. It was later changed to Nike, inspired from Phil's trip around the world, when he saw the temple of the goddess of victory, Nike, in Greece. The Japanese company Onitsuka was working with Phil until problems started sprouting up, and Nike left Onitsuka. This was a great book and shows how much effort Nike took to become a success. From working with his old track coach, Bill Bowerman, to develop a new, advanced sneaker design, to rebounding from numerous problems, and finding a family, Phil Knights' story is one for the ages! 2.Cave...

Review By: Dilan Mehta Never Split The Difference: Negotiating as if your life depended on it By: Chris Voss                                                    Chris Voss is the former lead hostage negotiator for the FBI. With dozens of high-stakes negotiations around the world, Chriss shares some of his expertise and techniques in this book.    Notes: *What I learned is that the key to getting what you want is to never split the difference, while at the same time, make sure your counterpart feels like they are being treated fairly. This means to not compromise. A lot of people think this is a good idea, but in reality, it is terrible and almost always ends in a disaster. So how do you get exactly what you wanted in the beginning? I found the strategies in this book very helpful. *Tactical Empathy: At first, don't focus on logic and prob...

 By: Dilan Mehta Okay, so I'm cooped up inside the house, no school because of the COVID-19 Coronavirus. And I know a lot of things are shut down, everything is closed, people have to stay home. But you can still be active and do things. I encourage you to go outside every day, get some sunshine. I am always in my backyard, playing with my brother, and that helps a lot. And it is also an opportunity to learn something new. I am trying to pick up new chords on my guitar, for Stairway to Heaven, and I've been improving my sprint time. So since a lot of us are bored, it is time to pick up a new project, something to do. Here are some websites that can help, because doing something new can be very beneficial, so I thought I would add this post.  https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/ This website can help you learn to doodle and draw with Mo Willems, the celebrated children's book author. Press the arrow buttons to see past episodes. https://www.duolingo....

 By: Dilan Mehta Even though you are an adult, that doesn't mean you stop learning and reading. The way to do this is to learn about the stuff you like. I like sports, biking, business, and drawing. So I get books about those things. But not just get. Actually, read. How many people will admit to having a shelf full of books in their study but have never pulled down a single one? But I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about why you should read, I'm going to focus on  how. The reason being is, it's like anything else. You hear the benefits, you get really pumped up and motivated, but you don't know how to do it, and you often forget about it and move on. So how exactly do you do read? Good question. 1. Pick books you like I wrote about this a little above. You just need to find something for yourself. You like _____. You read _____ books. Whatever your hobby or interest is. And it doesn't just have to be nonfiction. There are tons of good ficti...

Tired of the same old thing? Try these excellent writers, along with some of my favorite books that I read of theirs!  By: Dilan Mehta 1. Judy Blume Books: The Fudge series 2. David (Dav) Pilkey  Books: Captain Underpants, Dog Man, Ook and Gluk New Book: Dog Man Grime and Punishment 3. James Patterson Books: Middle School Series, I Funny, Treasure Hunters, Daniel X 4. Tom Angleberger Books: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Fake Mustache, Rocket and Groot books 5. Roald Dahl Books: Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches 6. Gordon Korman Books: Restart, The Unteachables, Schooled, Ungifted, Swindle, Slacker, WhatsHisFace 7. J.K Rowling Books: Harry Potter series 8. Dan Gutman Books: My Weird School, The Genius Files, The Homework Machine 9. Eoin Colfer Books: Artemis Fowl series, Half Moon Investigations 10. Mike Lupica Books: Travel Team, Lone Stars, The Batboy, Fast Break 11. Carl Hiaas...

 By: Dilan Mehta Louis Sachar (pronounced sacker) is an award-winning Newbery honor author and acclaimed young adult mystery-comedy writer, with over 30 books! He is best known for his hilarious trilogy, Wayside School, and his bold and exciting mystery, Holes. Both I have read and were great.  These books have even been turned into movies!   Louis was born in East Meadow, New York on March 20, 1954. His dad worked on the 78th floor of the Empire State building, so Louis says   that was probably what inspired him for Wayside School.  Louis attended Antioch College in Ohio and after that, he helped at Hillside Elementary School, where in addition to taking care of the classrooms, he was the "yard teacher".  Once he graduated college in 1976, Louis decided to write a children's book, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, which took him 9 months, based on his experience at Hillside. The book was a success! He has been writing books ever since.  In ...

Author: Josh Lieb  Review By: Dilan Mehta Josh Lieb has created a great book that kids of all ages will love.  The story is about a pudgy boy named Oliver Watson who is a genius and talks about how he is going to rule the world. The character is selfish and manipulates people to get what he wants. He has no sense of the consequences that his actions have and uses his powers for evil.  The book is in the first-person narrative of Oliver. Oliver runs several companies and is the third richest person in the world. (Later bumped down to fourth). He can't sign any contracts or do anything because he is a middle schooler, so he has Lionel Sheldrake, the bitter and wimpy minion. Sheldrake gets the money and brings it to Oliver, who stores it away until he can actually use it. Oliver is not popular, because he acts pathetic and dumb so people don't see his true identity. He has cameras and escape tunnels hidden throughout the school. And when his Dad challenges him t...

Want an amazing bedtime story? A vividly illustrated page-turner? Here are my favorite picture books for any age! By: Dilan Mehta 1. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day 2. The Tale of Peter Rabbit 3. The Book With No Pictures  4. Where The Wild Things Are 5. I Will Never, Not Ever, Eat A Tomato 6. Oh, The Places You'll Go! 7. No David! 8. The Cat In The Hat 9. The Very Hungry Caterpillar 10. Harold And The Purple Crayon 11. Press Here 12. Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus 13. The Story of Ferdinand 14. Not A Box 15. The Snowy Day 16. Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type 17. The Day The Crayons Quit 18. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom 19. Amelia Bedelia 20. We Are In A Book! 21. Richard Scary's books 22. Nobody Hugs A Cactus 23. If You Give A Mouse A Cookie 24. Harry The Dirty Dog 25. Green Eggs and Ham

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler By:  E. L. Konigsburg Review By: Dilan Mehta This book has been celebrated as one of the top reads for children's literacy and won the John Newbery honor award. First published in 1967 by Atheneum, the book is wonderfully crafted. It is about a 12-year-old girl named Claudia who is intelligent and enthusiastic but is fussy and bossy. She is a leader and dramatic, and likes nice things and comfort, so when she thinks her parents don't treat her well and don't appreciate her, she runs away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She brings along Jamie, one of her brothers, partly because Jamie has a lot of money because he saves wisely and cheats his friend Bruce at cards, which is needed. Jamie is careful with money and a cheapskate. He is also intelligent, level headed and has a strong sense of humor, shown throughout the book.  Once they arrive at the museum, they hatch p...

 Dragon Hoops                                         By: Gene Luen Yang Review By: Dilan Mehta This book hasn't even been published yet! I read a proof copy. Here is a summary.  In this book, Gene Luen Yang, the author, tells how he needed a new idea for a graphic novel. At the school that he teaches, all anyone can talk about is basketball. The Bishop O'Dowd Dragons, the men's basketball team, are inching closer and closer to the California State Championships. Gene wonders if this could be a good story. Gene hated sports when he was a kid, especially basketball. The other kids used to call him Stick because he was so skinny. This is why Gene is a little undecided about making a book that is all about basketball. But once he follows the Dragons around, goes to their games, cheers them on, hears their stories, talks to the coaches, and stays with them all the way, he re...

Author: Norton Juster Review By: Dilan Mehta Even though this book was originally published in 1961, it was still one of my favorite books. I originally had to read it for a school assignment and when I read the first sentence, I knew I was hooked.  The story is about a bored young boy named Milo, who doesn't think anything is worth doing. When he is in school he longs to be out and when he is out of school he longs to be in. One afternoon, though, he receives a mysterious tollbooth. Having nothing better to do, he drives through in his toy car and embarks on a great adventure with his two faithful companions to rescue the Kingdom of  Wisdom by finding the two exiled princesses, Rhyme and Reason. In the process, he makes new friends, visits astonishing places, defeats dreaded monsters and learns valuable life lessons along the way. Humorous, well written and inspiring, this week's read is a winner!