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WINGS OF FIRE: THE DARK SECRET by Tui. T Sutherland

6/19/2018

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Guest Blogger: Jesela, Elkton Middle School 
I enjoy being outdoors and doing sports, such as snowboarding, basketball, or track. I sometimes play video games and I am an artist.
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Wings of Fire: The Dark Secret, by Tui. T Sutherland, is the fourth book of the series, and is about the Nightwing dragonet of the dragonet prophecy, Starflight, and how he is kidnapped by his own dragon tribe and taken to their mysterious and secret volcanic island home. While he is there, he discovers the Nightwings’ secrets. The Nightwings were always keeping secrets about where they live and who their queen really is. So many questions Starflight is wondering: Why did they kidnap me? Why are they kidnapping Rainwings? Who is their queen? What is this dark secret they are hiding?
In Phyrria, there has been a war for years about which of the Sandwing sisters (Blister, Burn, or Blaze) will become queen of the Sandwings. In book three of Wings of Fire, Starflight was supposed to pick Blister as the Sandwing queen, but could persuade the other dragonets of destiny to agree. Because he had failed, he was kidnapped and taken to the Nightwing kingdom and given a second chance. But, spoiler alert, neither of the sisters were chosen, because none of the three sisters were fit to be one. A different dragon becomes queen in book five, The Brightest Night, so continue to read the series! In book three, Wings of Fire: The Hidden Kingdom, (must read book three!) the problem the dragonets were facing was, why Rainwing dragons were being kidnapped. The Dragonets were visiting the Rainforest so Glory could see where her egg was supposed to hatch, but soon they realized the Rainwings were very sluggish and lazy, meaning they just sleep all day, and they don't keep track of their dragonets’ eggs and can be easily stolen. Later in the book Glory challenges the Rainwing queens for the throne. By the end of the book, Glory is queen, and the dragonets were planning to rescue the kidnapped Rainwings, until Starflight was kidnapped, that is. One of the most horrible secrets Starflight came across in the Nightwing kingdom, was the dragonets of destiny replacements. “‘Come on, hurry up! He says you have to meet the others in case you’re the dragonet of destiny instead of me.’ She waved her talons in front of his face. ‘Wake up, dreamy face!’“ (66-67). The replacements were known as the Dragonet alternates. Their eggs were supposed to hatch on the Brightest Night, but these dragonets hatched months later. Others. What Fatespeaker had said didn’t sink in until Starflight was actually standing in the cave a short flight from the fortress, facing four unfamiliar and unfriendly faces. Red, green, brown, and white-gold. They have a Skywing, Starflight thought. And a Sandwing who looks like an actual Sandwing. He hadn’t met many Sandwings in his life, but this one’s scowl and restless hostility made her look like the opposite of Sunny, “The alternate dragonets of destiny,” Morrowseer growled, scanning them with a displeased expression. (71) The dragonets had replacements in case they were to damage the prophecy, or if they displeased the Nightwings with what they were doing. Starflight was taken to the Nightwing kingdom, because the Nightwings were becoming displeased with him, and did not like his opinion of how Blister should not be queen of Sandwings. Fatespeaker is Starflight’s replacement. She is a cute and lovable dragon, and is my favorite character in The Dark Secret. I love how even if the other alternate dragons are mean to her, she is still nice to them. “Replace her?” Viper said alertly. “Can we do that?”
“Do it,” said Flame. “I vote yes.” “Me too,” said Ochre. “He looks quiet. Quiet would be great.” “Can I be the one to shove her off the cliff?” Squid asked. Fatespeaker gave them all an injured look. “Very funny guys.” (73-74) I actually felt bad for Fatespeaker throughout the book, but I know she can take it because Fatespeaker is easy going. Fatespeaker is also a hopeful dragon, and thinks anything is possible. Either Starflight or Fatespeaker would’ve been chosen to be part of the prophecy, and Fatespeaker had no hard feelings if Starflight would be chosen instead of her. All dragon tribes believe that the Nightwings could foretell the future and read minds for thousands of years, but the truth is that they haven’t had such power for all these years. Fatespeaker was told that she didn’t have powers, and neither has any other Nightwing in thousands of years, but Fatespeaker secretly thinks that she has visions of the future. The main idea of The Dark Secret is uncovering the dark secret of the Nightwings.The Nightwings were analyzing the Rainwings because they were planning to invade their home, the rainforest. The Nightwings live on an isolated island that is destined to explode. “Do you feel the earth shaking?” Orchid asked. “I think that’s me,” Mangrove said, holding out his trembling claws. “Like all the happiness inside us is trying to burst out.” Actually, I’m pretty sure that was a real earthquake, Starflight thought. He’d felt the tremor in the earth as well, rumbling up through his talons before it stopped. (248) My favorite scene was the scene when the volcano was erupting. So much action and suspense took place! The Rainwings were planning to attack the Nightwings soon before the Nightwings were going to attack and invade the rainforest. Shortly after they went to rescue the imprisoned Rainwings, the island started to shake. “‘The entire island shook as if a giant dragon has pounded its talons into it, and Starflight felt his stomach twist with terror. The volcano was about to erupt.’ “ (263) Starflight and Glory attempted to discuss a treaty with the Nightwing queen, Battlewinner while the shaking of the island was becoming more aggressive; “Wait,” Starflight said. His brain was suddenly spinning forward- a new idea unfolding across his mind like a scroll rolling open. “Wait - maybe - maybe there’s a way to compromise. Glory stop and think. There’s a lot of space in the rainforest; the Rainwings say so all the time. What if we let the Nightwings move in and build their own village somewhere in the rainforest - but only if they all swear to accept you as their new queen.”
There was a shocked pause. “WHAT?” Battlewinner roared. Glory tilted her head at Starflight, looking skeptical but integrated. “Think about it,” Starflight said. “A new home for the Nightwings, safe a peaceful, and all they have to do is give up their cruelty and violence and obey you. You know you’d be as great as being Nightwing queen as you are at ruling the Rainwings.” (259) I am happy with the idea that Starflight came up with because it was genius. I would have never came up with that. They were able to get the Nightwings to go to the rainforest right before the volcano erupted. Starflight was one of the last dragons to get off the island and got injured trying to escape. That is really how the book ended and left me on a cliffhanger, which is why you should always purchase the next book in line so you don’t have to wait. The first five books of the series mainly focuses on one of the dragonets. Once you open a book, it has a map of Phyrria on the first page, so you could see where each dragon tribe is located. It also has ‘A Nightwings guide to the dragons of Phyrria’. It has descriptions and pictures of all the dragons in the book. I consider it very helpful, since there are seven tribes. The cover art really gets my attention too. Joy Ang is the artist behind and on the cover. She designed the cover and the pictures of the dragons. The cover is the reason why some people choose what they read, and I could see why someone would choose Wings of Fire because of the cover. Each dragon on the each of the covers are filled with amazing details and color. The title alone catches my eye too. The letters are brightened by metallic and glitter colors, and causes the wording to look wonderful. I first started reading the series near the end of 6th grade. I purchased the first book of the series, Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy. Once I started reading it, I fell in love with it. I have now read up to book five. I’ve purchased and read the first five books of the series and continue to do it for the rest of the series. Spending money on Wings of Fire series is worth it. I’m rating this series five stars, and recommending this book to anyone who is obsessed with dragons or fantasy. This series is fully packed action, fantasy, and a pinch of romance. Once you start to read, you will not be able to stop. My last overall thoughts about reading this book was: wow, I wish I could forget I ever read this book, so I could read it again and experience all the emotions the book gave me again and again!



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HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS by J.K. Rowling

6/19/2018

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Guest Blogger: Connor, Elkton Middle School
I am a sports person who likes baseball and football.


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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling is an adventure and Harry Potter learns the truth about what is going on. One of the scenes is when Harry learns about what is going on around him without being in the action. He starts by going from place to place learning about where horcrux are and what he is supposed to do with them and how to destroy them. He also learns that Professor Snape was on their side but he acted like he was on Voldemort's side. Harry’s experiences are crazy and thrilling.

I chose to do book critic because I wanted to rate the high action battles and the low action hiding planning what to do.I think it would be fun to type and rate the book.

Favorite/most important scene: The three most significant parts of the book are when Ron comes back and gets the Gryffindor sword. Ron left the group because he thought they would be finished early than what progress they had made. As soon as he left he came back but because of protective spells he couldn't find them until they went to the lake cand got the Gryffindor.Harry almost drowned but Ron saved Harry.
"I’m going to open it” said Harry,”and you stab it. Straightaway, okay? Because whatever’s in there will put up a fight. The bit of Riddle in the diary tried to kill me.”

“How are you going to open it?” asked Ron. He looked terrified.

“I’m going to ask it to open, using Parseltongue,” Said Harry. “You know you can do it,” said Harry, “you can! You’ve got the sword, I know it’s supposed to be you who uses it. Please, Just get rid of it, Ron.” (374)

​After Harry opened it the horcrux came out which it was a Riddle-Harry and Riddle-Hermione came out and talked about how they were happier without Ron ( which was a lie) and after a bit Ron swang the sword.

Harry Potter went to Luna’s house to ask her dad for advice. All he did was tell them a story while trying to keep them for death eaters to get their..Three objects,or Hallows, which if united,will make the possessor master of Death . . . Master . . . Conqueror . . . Vanquisher . . . The last enemy that will be destroyed is DEATH . . . (429) It was on Harry’s mind for a long time but he got over it with the fact that Luna was captured and he forgot all about her and he learns that he has ⅓ of the and thinks he has ⅔ (he has ⅔ of them).

Harry learned that he was a horcrux and knew he had to get “killed” to destroy it. He turned himself in and Voldemort use the kill spell (Avada Kendra) on him. But Harry didn't die but Voldemort thought that he was dead so he took him to the Fighting spot and said, Everybody give up this fight is over. He got distracted so Harry went under his cloak. .”Your still don’t get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand is not enough! Holding it, using it, doesn’t make it really yours.” (742) where they talked for about 7 to 8 pages then Voldemort said Fine i'll kill Draco when i'm finished with you. Voldemort said Avada Kedavra And Harry said Expelliarmus! The spell rebounded because Voldemort had Harry’s wand so It killed Voldemort and then Everything went back to normal instead of being dark times it was light times.

My overall thought on the book is that this book is really good. The first time I read this book I struggled to get it all because some things did not make sense but when you read it again it makes more sense. I think that the more times you read the book the better you will understand it.

My favorite character is Harry Potter. He is the main character of the book. The reason he is my favorite character is the fact that he never gives up on his mission even though he learned something new that he could have done. I think that if Harry had to do this all again it would be easier for him because he’d know what to do and where to go to do his missions.

​My favorite scene is at Hogwarts where it’s Dumbledore’s Army vs the Death Eaters lead by Voldemort. When Harry was looking for the Diadem he almost died but escaped, and then when spiders were after him he barely escaped again.

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THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH By Max Brallier

6/19/2018

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Guest Blogger: Drew, J. Frank Hillyard Middle School

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Jack Sullivan is a regular 13 year old boy for the most part. He is really into video games and is living his life on the edge. After the first zombie apocalypse he went to his tree house and made a team to defeat the zombies. Jack, Quint, June and Dirk were the team. Little did they know that Dirk would be the actual bad guy.  
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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VEhGjIg6IGgI8I93MkRIS8rWVBkVnoSQ-O7djo8TfFA/edit#slide=id.g3753ae5a4a_0_0

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A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L'Engle

6/19/2018

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Guest Blogger: MaKenna, J. Frank Hillyard Middle School
I'm in middle school and I love basketball, music, and friends.

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A Wrinkle in Time is about a girl named Meg, a boy named Calvin, and Megs little brother Charles Wallace. They soon meet 3 older ladies: Ms.Who, Ms.Whatsit, and Ms. Witch. they take the three of them on this journey all over the universe. They are able to go on because of something called the tesseract which allows them to go from planet to planet in just a few minutes. On this journey they have to save the world from this dark magic that has been fighting our earth and other planets without us even knowing. They will also find their father who has been fighting this dark magic as well but they haven’t seen him in 5 years. 
 
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WwOslCcWjJakqB4Q7Boa7mXEDgrkDcREutI2v2bn0BU/edit#slide=id.g36acd1d25a_0_0​

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PERCY JACKSON AND THE SEA OF MONSTERS by Rick Riordan

6/19/2018

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Guest Blogger: Logan, J. Frank Hillyard Middle School 
​My name is Logan and I like to play basketball and make art. I would like to have a job in psychology.
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Percy, a demigod having to escape from his school with his cyclops goes to his secret camp then discovers that the borders are falling. He heads onto a adventure than to get the golden fleece and to save his his best friend. The first stop is on a boat with a old friend of his. Percy had to ran away on a little boat but then crashed after a night rest and the hermes bottle spewing out wind bursting to Florida. They then tried to get donuts but then got attacked by a hydra. Clarissa came and picked them up took them to the Sea Of Monsters but then crashed and exploded. They survived and went to get the Fleece and his best friend. 
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IXnt_IBhPK3PDt8jm99veIQpPhJu5ULQ6DIsOh90K1c/edit#slide=id.g2f5370874a_0_0

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KINGDOM KEEPERS:  DISNEY IN SHADOW by Ridley Pearson

6/19/2018

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Guest Blogger:  Emily, J. Frank Hillyard Middle School
I love being with my friends, family, and pets. I am very involved in my school and I love to sing, act, and dance.
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This book is about seven people named Finn, Philby, Maybeck, Willa, Charlene, Jess, and Amanda. They are DHIs (a DHI is a projection of a person that Disney is using to to guide people around the parks instead of actual people). When they were put into the system to be DHIs they started having weird “dreams”. They later found out that they aren’t really dreams. They being put into the park at night as their DHIs. They have to try to defeat the Overtakers who are trying to take over the park and then eventually the world. The Overtakers are made up of various Disney villains. The Kingdom Keepers have to work together to get back their friend Wayne who was captured by the Overtakers. They have to follow his clues and make sure that none of them get caught by the Overtakers. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1KSYYBZ3FeT-d6T7UAnM-u_t8-Mn6JDWMWEawBHOSN4s/edit#slide=id.p

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THE SWORD OF SUMMER                         by Rick Riordan

3/26/2018

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Guest Blogger:  Kiley, Montevideo Middle School
I enjoy all kinds of books, and hope to write my own.

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Congratulations, you’re dead, was what the hotel sign should have said. Instead, in gleaming letters wrote Hotel Valhalla. The place was larger than a normal hotel, and certainly much more odd.

The Sword of Summer, written by Rick Riordan is a masterpiece that you won’t want to end. Magnus Chase is your average sixteen year old homeless person. After the death of his mother, Magnus has been living on the streets, living his life as well as he could. Then, one day, he decides to go to his Uncle Randolph’s house, the one place his mother always told him not to go. He meets his uncle, who whisks him off as soon as he sees him.They go to The Longfellow Bridge, Magnus finds out a secret about his family, he claims his birthright, and Magnus Chase dies. Not permanently, though. He goes to Valhalla, the afterlife for the honorable dead, and home of Odin’s warriors. Magnus, along with his friends, a Valkyrie, a dwarf, an elf, and a talking sword, have to keep Fenris wolf tied up and delay Ragnarok, the end of the world. With alf seider, healing powers, and all of Valhalla against them, do you think they’ll succeed?

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WISHING DAY & THE FORGETTING SPELL by Lauren Myracle

3/26/2018

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Guest Blogger:  Isabelle, Montevideo Middle School
I am a sixth grader who loves art, animals, interior design, and soccer.

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Whoosh! The wind glides through the willow tree in the book Wishing Day. Natasha's wishing day has come, and she is ready for her three wishes (an impossible wish, a wish you can make true yourself, and the deepest wish in your heart) but, she isn't sure about the wishes she made. This book takes a journey through the next weeks of her wishes, but is it a journey she wants to take? This book is packed full with humor, romance, and magic that 4th-7th graders will love! There is so much to love about this book, sisterhood, magic, and all of the above!

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Mom. That is the one word that always sticks in your mind when you read the book The Forgetting Spell. Darya's mom has been missing for as long as Darya can remember. No one in her family knows what happened, or do they. Natasha made a wish that could have effected the whole family, and now that wish is coming true, and maybe the reward is different than before. This book is a great, adventurous, and humorous book for high level elementary school and middle school girls. If you loved Wishing Day, then this book will be amazing.

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TESLA'S ATTIC (THE ACCELERATI TRILOGY #1)                                                   by Neil Shusterman & Eric Elfman

3/13/2018

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Guest Blogger:  Hannah, Montevideo Middle School
When I grow up I want to be a archaeologist.

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A toaster started at all. When an evil group wants household items, what do you do? Nick wanted to figure out what everything was in his attic. The Accelerati wanted it though. He tried to find everything and hide it. In the end the Accelerati didn't get it. You would like this book if you like science because it's a lot about Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison. You should really really read Tesla’s Attic.


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BABE & ME

3/13/2018

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Guest Blogger:  Noah, Montevideo Middle School
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 Babe & Me was a fast book and it has a lot of events that go back into the 30’s and The main character in the book has a special power on how he can go back in time and met the person who is on a card and the only thing that can get him back is a card from nowadays.The father and son are going back in time to see if the Big Babe called his shot. This is a great book because it shows a kid and his dad overcoming issues and showing how to deal with those problems and still having a great time. The main character goes back in time with his dad and see if they can strike rich on getting a lot of money and how much of Babe Ruth’s stuff they can get, will they strike rich or come up empty handed, read it yourself and find out.

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    Kimber Tate, 
    Coordinator of English, Reading, and Libraries

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