Xmas Time

Hey guys!!!



Xmas time is nearly here! You got all your presents sorted? Good if you have, never mind if you haven't (I haven't either!). So I was thinking about what we could do that was Xmas themed and I came up with a Xmas story competition. So if you've got any good Xmas stories (real life or fiction) just send it to ecgcbooks@gmail.com. We'll publish the winner and runner here on the blog.

If you're not too busy and you have some free time check out these Xmas quizzes and games. (By the way if you have any free time you should be sending a story in to us. =D)

Here's the Xmas stuff:
http://triviapark.com/quizzes/xmasquiz.html
http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/world/seasonal/christmas.html
http://holidays.kaboose.com/games-xmas.html



Hope you guys get all the prezzies you want!

Later,
Grace

The Twilight Saga

Hi Guys

Sorry action has been a bit slow around here. We're quite busy at the mo'. Ya know we're designing our own website for this? Cool, huh?

Anyway where we are at the moment there's a REALLY big thing about the Twilight series and the new Twilight movie. It's gonna be so awesome. Because my friend was crazy about the books she's now got me hooked on them like Edward is on Bella!

Anyway I thought since it's so big I'd do a review on the books. So here it is:

The Twilight books are by Stephanie Meyer. They are about a young 17 year old girl called Bella who goes to a town called Forks to live with her father, Charlie. In Forks it is cold and rains a lot. Bella hates the cold and hates rain. She loves the heat, she lives in Phoenix with her Mum. She goes to Forks to make it easier for her mum.

When she goes to Forks she meets a mysterious beautiful family called the Cullens. One of the Cullen's draws her eye - the youngest son, Edward. Then with a funny coincidence she sits next to him in the science class. But he seems to hate her. He has such a look if hate in his dark black eyes.

The next day when she goes to school Edward is missing. He does not come to school for the next few weeks. During this time she makes a few friends. Then one day Edward comes back to school. But his eyes are gold! He also talks to her. She is mystified with him. It goes on like this for a while.

Then one frosty, snowy morning Bella is getting her stuff out of her truck and she see's a car skidding along the road towards her. She knows the car is going to crush her. She looks out amongst a sea of faces and see's Edward's face fixed in shock across the road from her.

The car is screaming towards her and then suddenly ...

You're gonna have to read the book yourself to find out what happens next. I'll just reveal that she does live and from that day on she and Edward create a bond together. Then she realizes he and his family are vampires. They fall in love together. Bella is so happy, but then by an unlucky chance of coincidence Bella fears for her life from a bloodthirsty vampire. A vampire who wants her.

The rest of the books are New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Coming from someone who's read them, they are awesome and they could be slightly better than the Harry Potter books. (Coming from a Harry Potter maniac that's saying something!)

You need to read them. Go to the nearest bookstore and buy the book!

Later,
Grace

Manga Month!

Hey, guys! I've decided it's "Manga Month" this month! October 23 'til November 23! Won't that be fun?? For Manga Month, I'll be doing some reviews on some manga. I'm aiming for about 5 reviews... hm, that's a lot. Maybe Cindy can help me sice she's a manga freak as well. Cindy...! *says in sweet voice.* In case you don't know what a manga is (or are, manga can be used as a plural or singular, like sheep or fish! Interesting!), they are Japanese graphic novels (comics). Most manga are translated to English, nowadays. There is something different about manga, though. You read it from right to left not like other books, which you read from left to right. So be careful when reading manga, you might spoil a great ending! Look out for some manga reviews in a couple of days!

-Erika

The Inkheart Trilogy

The Inkheart trilogy is a great set of books.The first one is Inkheart,the second one is Inkspell and the third one is Inkdeath.The books have a bunch of goodies including a girl called Meggie; her bookbinder father, Mo; her Great Aunt, Elinor; a homesick firetamer called Dustfinger; an amazing author called Fenoglio; a boy called Farid, who doesn't belong in any story and lots more.

The other bunch inside the story is not as nice. There are numerous baddies. The main ones are Basta,a superstitious man who loves his master and knife; an evil tyrant of a ruler - the Adderhead - who fears death and will do anything to stop it; The Piper also known as Silvernose was formerly one of Capricorn's fire-raisers, he now sings his dark songs for the Adderhead;Firefox, Capricorn's successor, chief body-guard and herald to the Adderhead; Mortola an old poisoner, known as the Magpie, is Capricorn's housekeeper, but is actually his mother; and finally Capricorn the base evil character from Fenoglio's book Inkheart.

The way that the story came about was that one night Mo was reading the book Inkheart to his wife and then suddenly everything one. The way that the story starts is that ten years later than that dreadful night a mysterious stranger knocks on the door and asks for 'Silvertongue'. This is the start of Inkheart.
The following book is Inkspell. These two books are amazing! I haven't read the last one Inkdeath yet because it isn't published yet but when it is - I'm so there!

I recommend these books to you as an awesome read for young people and old people!

If you want to check out Cornelia Funke's website for stuff about her and her books here's the url: http://www.corneliafunkefans.com/

Later,
Grace

The Sisters Grimm Series by Michael Buckley

Hey guys! Sorry, we haven't written in in a long time. (Darn you Science Fair!) Anyway, here's our next one.

What it is and who it's by: The Sisters Grimm series is by Michael Buckley and it consists of the titles The Fairy-Tale Detectives, The Unusual Suspects, The problem Child, Once upon a Crime, Magic and Misdemeanors and Tales from the Hood.

What it's about and who's in it: The series revolves around two sisters, Sabrina and Daphne Grimm, who are believed to be descendants of the famous Brothers Grimm, Wilhem and Jakob Grimm. Sabrina and Daphne have lived happily in New York with their parents until a mysterious organization called the Scarlet Hand kidnapped their parents. The girls are sent to live in an orphanage and different foster homes, until one day, their believed-to-be-dead grandmother adopts them. They are sent to live with their grandmother in Ferryport Landing. Ferryport Landing seems like a normal town at first, but as they stay there for longer, they find out that Ferryport Landing is actually a town full of in-disguise fairy-tale characters called Everafters. The girls solve mystery after mystery involving Everafters with their grandmother and little by little getting close to finding their parents. The list of characters include the sisters, their Granny Relda, Mr Canis (the Big Bad Wolf), Mayor Charming (Prince Charming) and more characters as the stories go on. This series is told in in a third person view and I recommend it for 11- 13 years of age.

What I think: I love the series. There are exactly six books in the series out now. It's quirky, original, funny and very adventurous. I think all kids of all ages would love this book. It's a nice change from all the bed-time fairy-tale sorties you read. (Get it?? Huh? Do you? Ugh, never mind. -_-) Anyway, I give it a ten out of ten!

Cheers,

Erika

Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman

Boy Overboard is a moving fictional novel written by the witty and popular
Morris Gleitzman. The book was first published and became public in 2002.
This gripping novel about a brother and his sister and their big dreams will
surely keep you on the edge of your seat.

In this moving tale, Jamal and his family live happily in one of the million
villages in Afghanistan. But when the evil government find out Jamal's
mother's secret school, the family are forced to desperately flee for their
lives. They're going down under. Way down under. The story is set in a
war-torn village in Afghanistan and then travels to the Pacific Ocean. On
the way to Australia Jamal and BiBi meat Omar and Rashida. This is a well
paced story and is told in first person by Jamal. Children can easily
understand the language that is used. The moral of this story is always have
hope.

Boy Overboard will be loved by children of all ages. Some words may have to
be looked up in the dictionary. This book is hard to put down and will
always be keeping you in suspense. This book has believable characters and
will teach you the lesson of always having hope and faith. I highly
recommend this book for children aged 9-12 years old.

P.S I wrote this in Year 7 (last year) and it was published in: http://boyoverboardteamb.blogspot.com/
I copied this off there because I wanted other people to know about this wonderful book. Also read the sequel to it: Girl Underground. Please check out the blog above, I'm sure you'll like it.

Cheers,

Erika

The Casson Family Stories By Hilary Mckay

What it is and who it's by: The Casson Family stories consists of five books: Saffy's Angel, Indigo's Star, Permanent Rose, Caddy Ever After and Forever Rose. This series is written by Hilary McKay, author of the award-winning The Exiles.

What it's about and who's in it: The series is based on 4 kids, children of very talented artists, trying to get through everyday life. The stories always have a moral, lots of twists and lots of humor. The more you read of it, the more addicted you get.The crazy and quirky things the Cassons do will make you roll on the floor laughing. The four children are all named after exotic colors, since their parents are artists. There's Caddy (named after Cadmium Gold), there's Saffy (named after Saffron Yellow), there's Indigo, called Indy by his family (named after Indigo) and there's Rose (named after Permanent Rose). Caddy is a scatterbrain, she leaves things lying around and she forgets about them and she worries about lots of things as well. Saffy is a very tough and stubborn girl. She isn't really the three siblings' sister, she's their cousin. Her mother, the three siblings' aunt, had died when she was three and had lived with the Cassons ever since. She gets into lots of fights, especially boys, but is extremely intelligent. Indigo is very shy but outgoing. He will do anything it takes to overcome his fears. Because in a family full of girls, he thinks he's the one the should have no fear. Rose is a very talented artist. She draws everywhere, t-shirts, tables and even walls. Paper is always her last resort. She knows lots of things about art, what kind of things would go together and what kinds of colors would go together. She is persistent and doesn't like to leave things undone. This series is told in third person and always has an enlightening ending that will warm your heart.

What I think: This series is very understandable and can warm anyone's heart. I have had a fantastic time reading it and still wanting some more. I highly recommend it for 13-15 years of age. You will never find a family quite like this, except in this series. All in all a very exciting series and I hope I can find other books like this. I give it a 9.7/10 for creativity, uniqueness and quirkiness.

Cheers,

Erika

His Dark Materials Trilogy

As most of you know, a movie has come out lately, called <> .<> was based on the first of His Dark Materials trilogy. I found the movie disappointing as the book was so much better and exciting. This series of books tells of a girl called Lyra(The whole trilogy) and a boy called Will(The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass).

Northern Lights

Northern Lights tells of Lyra Belacqua, (Later Lyra Silvertongue) with her daemon Pantalaimon. Lyra's parents had died in an airship accident early in her life, so she was placed in the care of scholars in Jordan College, Oxford. The story starts in the retiring room in the college. Lyra heard the master of the college coming, so she hides in a cupboard and Pantalaimon changes into a moth.(Children's daemons can change into any animal they wish, while adult's daemons would have "settled" into a final form) Lyra saw the master put some powder into Lyra's all-powerful uncle, Lord Asriel's wine. Lyra then comes in the knowledge of GOBblers, Mrs Coutler, Bolvanger and many more things throughout a book that gets more and more exciting every page you read.

The Subtle Knife

The Subtle knife starts in our universe, near Oxford. Another main character, Will Parry, takes his mother to his teacher's house to keep her safe. Will then accidentally kills a man in his house. Will quickly goes to Oxford, there he find a patch of grass where a cat disappears through. He goes over and enters another universe called Cittagazze. Here he meets Lyra with Pantalaimon who have come to this universe through a tear in the sky created my Lord Asriel(See Northern Lights) Will, with the help of Lyra, obtains the legendary subtle knife, which point is so sharp that you cannot see it, this knife can cut windows into other universes and lets you get through. In this book, you will learn about spectres, Will Parry's father and many other surprises that wait for you after every bend in the road.

The Amber Spyglass

The Amber Spyglass is the final book in the His Dark Materials Trilogy. This story starts with Will trying to find Lyra after she got kidnapped by Mrs Coutler. This book is the longest and will put nearly all the characters Lyra and Will have encountered in the first two books.

I recommend this book to everyone aged from 10 to any age. It is exciting and you hardly want it to finish.

Happy reading!

Cindy

The Maximum Ride Series By James Patterson

What it is and who it's by: The Maximum Ride series consists of the books, The Angel Experiment, School's Out Forever, Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports and The Final Warning. This series is written by James Patterson, the ever popular adult book writer.

What it's about and who's in it: Seven unforgettable characters are in the series, known as the "flock"; Fang, Iggy, The Gasman, Nudge, Angel, Total the dog and of course the main character, Max. In the series, they escape from the very horrible School, desperately travel around the world, fleeing for their lives, while Max tries to keep the "flock" together while trying to save the world.The flock has very strange qualities as well. They are all able to fly. (Well, except Total, but he is able to talk.) They are stronger than an average grown man and taller than the average teenager. Max is a very out-going, tough and stubborn girl who is known as the leader of the flock. She is the toughest of the flock thus letting her be the leader and letting her stand up to even the scariest people. This series is told in first person by Max and has language that young adults can understand.

What I think: This series is very well written and well paced. I highly recommend these books for 12-16 years of age. It has language and slang that teenagers can easily understand and has quite a lot of humor in it. All in all, a very unique and fantastic book, and I give it a 10/10 for creativity.
Check out their blog: Maximum Ride

Cheers,

Erika