Front Desk
Kelly Yang
Juvenile Fiction
Arthur A. Levine Books
2018
304
Recent immigrants from China and desperate for work and money, ten-year-old Mia Tang's parents take a job managing a rundown motel in Southern California, even though the owner, Mr. Yao is a nasty skinflint who exploits them; while her mother (who was an engineer in China) does the cleaning, Mia works the front desk and tries to cope with demanding customers and other recent immigrants--not to mention being only one of two Chinese in her fifth grade class, the other being Mr. Yao's son, Jason.
Front Desk was a very enjoyable read. Would recommend to people adults of all ages.
Day 3 was mostly pool skills. We met our instructor and I met the other kids. We set up our gear and hopped in the pool to start doing some skills. We passed the skills successfully and went to lunch. At lunch we got a kids buffet with spagetti and great grilled cheeses (My mom’s are still better though). Afterwards the girls and I went to the bar and got milkshakes because some kid took all the cookies. Then we went in the hot tub until our break was over. We did even more skills and then went into the ocean for a swimming and floating test. Once we were done for the day the instuctor left leaving us alone to play in the pool and ocean.
Day 1: Day 1 and 2 will most likely be the most boring part of the journey. Driving, waking up early, and flying. Lots and lots of flying. The expedition started when my dad got home. We hopped into the car and went to Pudge’s. Then we continued all the way to The Parking Spot where we left our car to go on the shuttle. The floor on the shuttle was shiny which entertained me for a solid 10 seconds. The shuttle ride was pretty boring. Then we reached the hotel. We were staying at a Marriott for the night until the next day at 2:30 am
Flight number 1: Day 2 was mostly flying. We first woke up at 2:30am to get over to the airport. Once we made it to the airport we had to wait till 3:15 because the checked bags area wasn’t open. We checked our luggage and moved on to security. Once we passed through security it felt so weird because none of the stores and restaurants were open. I almost forgot it was like 3:30 and of course none of the stores would be open. We boarded after waiting for about 40 minutes. On the flight I started watching a movie but then fell asleep. I woke up right on time for seatbelts going off.
Day 2, Flight 2: After that we were in North Carolina. We went to Starbucks and I got a muffin. We then waited for the plane to come pick us up so we could go to Grand Cayman. The Charlotte to Grand Cayman flight was the longest flight but I entertained myself with a movie. Once we got to Grand Cayman we had to wait because of a layover.
Day 2, Flight 3: We had to get a shuttle to take us to a restaurant for lunch. We still had quite a bit of time to spend so we walked around the small airport that only had 2 shops that weren’t selling alcohol. We finished walking around the entire airport and still had time so we sat down and I played Mario Kart on my DS. After that it was FINALY time to board the tiny little airplane. I was kind of scared of what was happening in the beginning because I didn’t know what was happening. But there wasn’t a door between the pilot and the passengers so we could see inside the cockpit. It was a pretty short flight from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman. Once we got in the shuttle and registered we were in the resort. The food was delicious and I got to play in the pool which was very fun. I also met met a friend I already knew.
Crazy Cat Lady
Ester Scholten
Humor
Workman Publishing Company
April 2, 2019
112
Welcome to the new “crazy cat lady.” Once a dowdy, eccentric figure with at least a dozen cats shedding hair on every available surface, today she’s a hip-at-any-age woman who knows an unassailable truth: Cats are awesome! And she declares her kitty love with pride, humor, and—like her cats—an irresistible dose of sass. Her tote bag is stocked with lint rollers and catnip. All her photos get the #catlady or #crazycatlady hashtags. And she’s not alone—each tag has over 4 million posts on Instagram! With clever text by Ms. Scholten and utterly charming artwork by Ms. Loonstra (a regular Flow illustrator), Crazy Cat Lady is a celebration of the quirky, relatable, and instantly recognizable habits of devoted feline fans. There are mottos for the perpetually fur-covered: Cat hair, don’t care. Flowcharts on what to name your kitten. “How to draw a cat” tutorials. Fun facts: Did you know that a cat has 230 bones in its body, more than you? And portraits of crazy cat ladies through history, from Florence Nightingale to Katy Perry. At an impulse-friendly price, this sweetly edgy little book has the fresh outlook on cat fanaticism the modern feline lover has been waiting for.
Crazy Cat Lady is a funny book that any cat enthusiast or person that owns a cat will enjoy. It a cute quick read. I really enjoyed considering I am a Crazy Cat Lady. It also comes with (drumroll please)…STICKERS! What cat human wouldn’t want cat stickers. The only thing I disliked was how short it was. It is over 100 pages but the majority is pictures so you don’t have much reading.
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
E.L. Konigsburg
Juvenile Fiction
Simon and Schuster
December 21, 2010
176
2017 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved classic From the Mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn't just want to run from somewhere, she wants to run to somewhere -- to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and, preferably, elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing that her younger brother Jamie has money and thus can help her with a serious cash-flow problem, she invites him along. Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie find themselves caught up in the mystery of an angel statue that the museum purchased at auction for a bargain price of $225. The statue is possibly an early work of the Renaissance master, Michelangelo, and therefore worth millions. Is it? Or isn't it? Claudia is determined to find out. Her quest leads her to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the remarkable old woman who sold the statue, and to some equally remarkable discoveries about herself.
From The Mixed Up Files Of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler
Is a good book but not a great book. It takes a while to realize that the words in parentheses aren’t part of the story. The book doesn’t have to great of flow and it can be hard to read in sections. I found myself reading the same sentence over and over again to try and make sense of it. On a higher note it was funny looking in the past. And seeing how much money they thought was expensive.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Ransom Riggs
Juvenile Fiction
Quirk Books
2011
352
After a family tragedy, Jacob feels compelled to explore an abandoned orphanage on an island off the coast of Wales, discovering disturbing facts about the children who were kept there.
The plot has so many plot twists. Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is impossible to put down. The characters abilities are unique and different than normal superhero talents. The photographs work perfectly with the story. If you like fantasy with a creepy twist pick up Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children
Day 5: This morning I slept in. For breakfast we went back again to Main Street Shop and Coffeehouse (I had to take pictures for…research purposes!) At the caféI got my usual orange juice and instead of a scone I had blueberry lemon bread. Per usual it was yummy. I really like the style so I went around taking photos and trying to not be creepy. We went to NASA after that. I wanted to go to NASA since it sounded really cool. We went to the visitor center. Going to the visitor center is free and you learn about space, rockets, and get freebies. What could be better?
Lunch and after: I got a cheeseburger from J&B Subs. I also got a bai tea. All was pretty good. I was surprised that J&B has been around for 50 years. We headed to the Chincoteague museum but stopped by Beach and Bead. And.. we ended up both making anklets. I felt like mine was a bit plain compared to Mom’s but I still gotta show my house pride (my anklet says “Ravenclaw” from Harry Potter!). We then headed to the Chincoteague museum. There was a scavenger hunt that was pretty fun except when the things we were searching got pointed out to us were super obvious. We then headed back for dinner and s’mores. All was tasty.
When we woke up this morning I wanted to go back to Main Street Shop and Coffeehouse because it is probably my favorite place on the planet currently. So we biked there. I got an orange juice, but I was advanced, I knew that orange juice comes with a plastic lid. So, I asked for my orange juice without a lid. Me and my Mom got some candles.(Hey! They smelled amazing and you can never have to many) We biked back to eat lunch. We had leftovers and broccoli. After that we went to a harbor to go on our Saltwater Pony Tours. The guy steering the boat was really nice and friendly. Before long we saw Chincoteague ponies! They were so pretty! Some were a chestnuty color, some were a light brown color, there was an all white one, and some were a mixture of all of those colors. We voted to go look for dolphins instead of searching for more ponies, since the word was that the ones we saw were the only ones out in the open today. And…We saw dolphins! They were so cute, there was a baby too. The captain had a theory that dolphins could remember voices so he convinced us to say hello to the dolphins. When we drove back he asked me to drive the boat. It was hard to go in a straight line because tide pulled in a certain direction. I wanted to get a NASA shirt so we went to go get a NASA shirt. Mom also got a shirt. When we were hungry we went to Bill’s Prime Seafood and Steaks but there weren’t any tables available until 8:00 pm so we decided to go to AJ’s on the Creek instead. I ordered grapefruit juice to the shock of my Mom and the waiter. The waiter was so shocked that a kid liked grapefruit juice that he forgot to bring my mom her beverage. I don’t understand what is so unusual about my juice preference. After we went to BYOC or Build Your Own Cookie. Keep in mind if you go to go on an empty stomach. You get a lot for your money and there is a lot of food.
In the morning we went to Main Street Shop Coffeehouse for apricot scones. And orange juice with a paper straw. (That straw made my day) The coffee house was also a store for pretty much everything I love: books, jewelry, art, pottery, soap, and perfumes. We left a while later to go to Maui Jack’s waterpark. There were 3 slides and 1 very intense looking slide that I didn’t want to go on. We got a cabana which was super fancy. We stayed there for pretty much the entire day. For lunch we got a waitress to come by pushing a button which was pretty cool. We left to got to Lily’s Little Mexico for dinner. We went to Black Narrows Brewery afterwards since my Mom wanted to go and we could go to The Brant if I didn’t complain. Black Narrows pretty much couldn’t get more Fixer Upper style. We walked across the street to The Brant. I really like The Brant. I got a necklace and a cute 2 piece set. We then went home and that was the end of Chincoteague day 3.
When we woke up we decided to do something different. We went to Sandy Pony Donuts. They were good but I still prefer Yum Yums. Soon after that, we got our bikes and attached them to the bike rack to go on a trail on Assateague. It was fun and since our bottoms hurt we went on a walking only trail after biking around the Wildlife Loop Trail. There was a lot of beautiful plants and a lot of irritating mosquitos. Afterwards, we went to get lunch at Famous Pizza. We got a pizza cheesesteak. Since there was a cat store next door we went after lunch. (Being the cat lover I am, we couldn’t not go) I got a cat activity book for the car ride back and some cat bags for my friends’ birthdays. We headed back to Assateague to go swimming. We went on the calmer side and it was COLD! The water was higher though so I could actually swim without kicking the ground. I also didn’t have my water shoes so I could float. After being in the calmer side for a while. I convinced Mom to teach me to jump waves. We got past the breakers and I got knocked over by a giant wave. Salt water was in my eyes so I couldn’t see. Mom lead me back to the towel, where I got the water off using a towel. I was done with the ocean so I read for a bit. We hopped back in the car to go home. Later we went on the trolley to go get dinner at ChincoTiki. It was delicious. The seagulls were after my fries and would dive at me occasionally which was kinda scary. We then walked over to Island Creamery. There were kittens walking around which made me very happy. After that we went over to The Brant, a gift store. I wanted pretty much everything in there. We walked over to Funland. Sadly, the spider net which I really wanted to do was closed but there was the launch pad which I also wanted to go on. While I was jumping on the launch pad there was a beautiful sunset. Afterwards we hopped on the trolley and went home.
