Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Introduction

              I read the fantasy novel Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling.  I chose to read this book because I had read it before in fourth grade and decided to read it again.  It took me about a month to read this, but I haven't been reading as much outside of class.  It is my belief that anyone over the age of nine would love this book.  I rate this book 9/10 because it's a great book but not the best in the series.

Setting
        Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban mostly takes place in throughout Europe.  The main setting in the book is Hogwarts; a wizarding school in Scotland.  Some parts of it take place  in Privet Drive, a suburban neighborhood near London where Harry's aunt and uncle live.  The most important setting is Hogwarts, because that is where the majority of the book  takes place.


Character Analysis
       If I had to describe Ron Weasly in one word, it would be stupid.  First of all, he has a crush on this 7/10 qt3.14, but he's too scared to go for it.  This character also is perhaps the dumbest character in the book.  Sure, you have Neville Longbottom; the laughingstock of Hogwarts, but at least he has an excuse.  Finally,  Ron is always getting in fights with the girl he likes, which doesn't help his case.
Theme and Symbolism
      I think this book really gets readers to think about judging a book by its cover, or by what you are told about it.  When I read the part where Harry finds out that Sirius Black wasn't trying to hurt him, it made me think that everything isn't always as people tell you it is.  Also, after reading that everyone had thought that Sirius was a criminal, it seemed like I should have known all along that they weren't right.  This idea also came up when all the muggles (non-wizards), thought he was a criminal too.  The overall message seemed to be that, you never know the truth about something until you've experienced it firthand.

Criticism
     Although I thought it was a really great book, I still had some problems with it.  For example, this Harry Potter booked seemed to follow the same sequence of events as the first two: Harry has trouble at the Dursly's, he goes to Hogwarts and everything seems fine and the only problems are the teachers and students, suddenly a huge issue rises that revolves around Harry, Harry solves the problem and is deemed a hero.  I did like how this book had a lot of character building and new characters to go along with it.  I wish the author would have made the events differ from the first two books.  Overall, I think the book is still brilliantly written.
   
























































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The Lost Hero Book Review

Book Review: The Lost Hero

Book Title: The Lost Hero

Author: Rick Riordan

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

Rating: 10/10

1. Reaction and Recommendation
I read this book because I had read it several years ago when it had first came out and I remembered absolutely loving it, so I decided to try it again.  Needless to say, it was still great years later. I remembered this book as the book I would bring everywhere and never be able to put down.  The Lost Hero is an extension series off of The Percy Jackson books, but they're also great one there own.  If you have read the Percy Jackson books, I highly recommend you read the Heroes of Olympus books, and even if you haven't read them, it's still a great book.

2 . Characters 
Main Character:
Jason Grace is a 15 year old son of Zeus, a "demigod" if you will.  This means that he is the offspring of a Greek or Roman god.  Jason can control winds and weather from his father's side.
Supporting Characters

• Piper Mclean: Piper is a daughter of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty. She ids half Cherokee on her father's side, and is blessed with the ability to "charmspeak" which allows her to persuade anyone she talks to to do exactly what she says.  She is also in a romantic relationship with Jason Grace.
• Leo Valdez: Leo is an immature fifteen year old son of Hephaestus, the god of fire.  Leo's mother died in a terrible accident involving a fire when he was seven years old. He is Jason's best and only friend. Did I mention he can also control fire?
• Gleeson Hedge: Hedge is a Greek Satyr(Half man half goat) who poses as a football coach to protect Jason, Leo, and Piper in the beginning of the novel.

3. Premise

Jason Grace wakes up on a bus with no memory of anything.  The bus, as he figures out, is headed to the Grand Canyon on a field trip for "Wilderness School" a school for troubled children who have gotten into trouble.  At the canyon Jason, Piper, and Leo realize their football coach was a Satyr that was trying to protect them from monsters within the camp.  Two demigods show up to take the three to Camp Halfblood, a camp for demigods. At the camp, they all figure out they have hella cool powers.  After many prophocies, they figure out they have to rescue the goddess Hera who has been held captive by Giants. Leo fixes a broken mechanical dragon to carry them to where they need to go. They use their rad powers and cunning whits to try to rescue Hera.

4. Analysis
Most people like Leo Valdez because he is the most relatable and humorous character.  Like most other characters in this book, he has had something horrible happen to him in his past, but he still manages to keep his cool and crack a joke or something to make himself and the crew feel better. 

Monument 14

Book Title:Monument 14

Author:Emmy Laybourn

Genre:science fiction/apocalyptic

Rating:7/10

1.Protaganist

Dean is a scrawny,introverted sixteen year old who lives in Monument Colorado with his brother Alex and his mom and dad.  That seems to be the most relate able character in the novel.  

2.Other Characters
Astrid-A blonde, athletic, attractive, sixteen year old girl that Dean has a burning lust for.
Jake-A strong, muscular, ignorant, seventeen year old boy.  Also Asrid's boyfriend
Chloe-An annoying eight year old girl that doesn't understand half of the events that are going on outside the convenient store.
NIko-A smart, strong, sixteen year old survivalist that takes the leader position of the group.
Josie-A mom-like character that is in a dazed state of shock for the first half of the novel.

3. Premise-The "set up"
A tragic series of events leaves the 14 protagonists trapped in a Greenway department store during an apocalypse.  A large volcano eruption triggers crazy weather throughout the US.  The weather in Colorado makes a large chemical weapons plant explode into the air.  The chemicals affect people differently depending on their blood type.

4. Plot Highlights
#1  When the kids first go outside the store they hear a loud explosion that is the the  chemical plant exploding.
#2   The children hold a funeral/ceremony for all the people that have died in the disaster.
#3 Dean thinks it's a good idea to let the smaller children cook with him every few days and he discovers that one of the kids is a brilliant cook.

5. Spoiler
In the end, Astrid is pregnent with Jake's child but he ran away.  The kids plan to venture out in a school bus to get to an evacuation sight in Denver but Dean chooses to stay behind to help astrid and several other O types.