The Land of Stories, book one: The Wishing Spell

The Wishing Spell is a book by Chris Colfer. Alex and Conner Bailey were twins, but they couldn’t have been more different. Alex was a smart, studious girl, while her brother could be lazy, and yet had a sense of humor which sometimes got him into trouble. After their dad’s death when they were eleven, their lives changed drastically. They had to move to a smaller house, and they could rarely see their mom, who was always at work. But they had a small ray of light: their grandmother. On their twelveth birthday, she gave them a book about fairy tales, which magically teleported them to the Land of Stories. More surprisingly, all the famous fairy tale heroes were alive. Cinderella was even pregnant, and Goldilocks was an outcast. But they couldn’t stay in that land, they had to find a way back to their world. A kind frog man told them of a Wishing Spell, which could fulfill any wish. They just had to get the materials for the spell. Though there was a catch. The Wishing Spell could be done only twice, and it was used once before, so there was only one wish left. Worse, Snow White’s Evil stepmother had escaped from the dungeons, and was looking for the spell too! So now it was a race, and the Bailey twins had to finish the spell before the Evil Queen, or they would be stuck in the land of stories. This book was really enjoyable. I was impresed at Alex’s knowledge, and Conners humour and wry remarks made me laugh.

Conceal, Don’t Feel

Conceal, don’t feel is a book by Jen Calonita. Almost everyone has heard of the movie Frozen, which young fans enjoyed watching on the big screen. Not to mention Frozen 2, released around 2019. This book is an alternate version of the beloved movie. Imagine if Anna and Elsa didn’t know each other. How will their story turn out? What would change, and what would stay the same? Elsa, the future queen of Arendelle, holds a lot of responsibility and expectations over her head. Yet, she always felt that a crucial part of her was missing. And when her parents died unexpectedly, lost in sea, Elsa’s powers started appearing. Not only that, but she started getting flashbacks, memories which she couldn’t remember happening, and all of them, included a red-headed girl. Olaf was formed, still remembering Anna, and Elsa desperately started searching for answers. Anna, on the other hand, lived in a town called Harmon, with her adopted parents in a bakery. She couldn’t remember a chunk of her life, and yet, she always felt that Arendelle was calling her, reaching out towards her. After a disastrous coronation, when the folk of Arendelle found about Elsa’s, power, Elsa ran to the mountains, acting her famous ‘Let it go’ scene, just no singing this time. And Anna, after hearing what happened in Arendelle, started getting her memory back, piece by piece. Companied with a talkng snow man, a reindeer called Sven, and Kristof, she set out to find the truth. This book was amazing. The author changed the events, but still managed to keep it true to his original form. Even though a lot of things changed, some parts didn’t. For example, Anna was still chasing after Elsa, winter still surrounded Arendelle, the Duke of Weselton (weasel town) was still overbearing, and Hans was still a snake (metaphorically speaking of course). And the famous ‘Anna punching Hans’ scene still made me smile.

The Bed And Breakfast Star by Jacqueline Wilson

The bed and breakfast star is about a girl called Elsa. This book is about herself, her life, her family (including her stepfather, Mack the Smack), and the Royal hotel. Her family lost money, and had to go to that dreadful place. But, amidst it all, Elsa kept her sense of humor by her side, and released a never-ending torrent of jokes. She also made a few friends, a brainy girl named Naiome, and a rude boy who she calls ‘funny-face’. Elsa was never appreciated for her remarkably loud voice, but when a fire burst out, it was her voice which saved the day. This book was a really funny, plus, also had a variety of jokes.

The Diamond Girls by Jacqueline Wilson

The Diamond Girls is a book about a family of four girls, and a mother who is getting another child. But the girls aren’t sisters. They are half sisters. All of them are by different fathers. The story is told by the youngest, Dixie Diamond. They used to live in an apartment, but moved to a house, to make room for the next Diamond. But the house was nothing like they thought it was. It was old, and damaged. But Dixie still tried to help her mother set the house. The oldest, Martine, wasnt happy, and ran away. The sisters didn’t get along really well. The second oldest, Jude, always got in a lot of fights., While the third daughter, Rochelle, was very girly. When the child was born, the mother said it was a boy. But Dixie discovered otherwise. This book was a combination of funny, emotional, and a bit sad.

Warriors: Into the Wild

Into the wild is a novel by Erin Hunter. It is the first book in the Warriors series, which is divided into many subseries, with around 6 books each. This story is about a house cat Rusty, who finds some wild cats, who invite him into their clan. They offer him freedom and a better home. He joined them, because he wanted to be free, and so he wouldn’t go to ‘the cutter’ (vet). He later learns there are 4 warrior clans, Riverclan, windclan, shadowclan, and thunderclan. All the clans are against each other. The clan Rusty was invited to was the thunderclan. Over there, he got a new name: Firepaw, and started training as an apprentice, to become a warrior. This is a story of survival, a code of honour, and loyalty. When windclan was driven from their territory by shadow clan, things started getting even more tense. This book is so emotional and filled with fantasy. And this is only the first book! There are still so many left, and I am excited to read all of them.

Little Foxes by Michael Morpurgo

Billy was found in a box outside a police station as a baby. No one knew who his real family was. He was passed from place to place, but finally got an adoptive mother, who nagged him all the time. He was bullied at school for being so silent. But he had a special place, which gave him peace: the canal outside his house. The nature gave him a calm feeling, and he watched the kingfishers and owls. He saved a cygnat, who was being chased by a dog, and took care of 4 fox cubs after their mother was killed. But they were soon found out, and three out of four were killed. Billy and the last cub ran away to find a safer place for both of them. This book was so emotional, it drove me to tears. Yet somehow, I still love it.

Cookie by Jacqueline Wilson

Beauty Cookson’s name is rather ironic. She is a plain and timid girl. She is not ugly, but is in a posh school filled with posh girls who look down on her. Not only that, by she lives in fear of her father, who has a fearful temper, and is always scolding her for breaking his house rules. But Beauty’s mother is a different story. She is kind to her daughter, but is also timid, and also receives the father’s anger. One day, after a disastrous birthday party, they ran away with their belongings, to a seaside. Over there, things started going better for Beauty and her mother, and their luck changed. I actually read it a long time ago, when I was nine actually, but it only occured to me now to make a review, as it was really nice book.

Awful Auntie by David Walliams

When 12 year old Lady Stella Saxby woke up in her room, covered in bandages, she couldn’t remember anything about the accident. Her aunt Alberta told her that her parents died in a car accident, and that only Stella survived. But Auntie Alberta was on a mission to rid Stella from her inheritence: The Saxby Mansion. With the parents out of the way, it was the perfect opportunity to seize the mansion. But in Stella’s father’s will, he specifically mentioned that the house will go to Stella, and not her Aunt. He even said if she didn’t survive, it will be donated to charity. The aunt really wanted the house, but she had to keep Stella alive, because she didn’t know where were the house’s deeds. She tried to get Stella to tell her, even locked her in a celler. But Stella met a young ghost called Soot. Together, they made sure the mansion would never go to Aunt Alberta and her fierce great bavarian owl, Wagner. This book was really emotional, and the ending was beautiful (for Stella). There was also a hidden secret about soot, which even he didn’t know. This book was really funny as well.

Goosebumps the movie

Goosebumps was Directed by Rob letterman, and was based on R. L. Stine’s ‘Goosebumps’. Zach cooper, acted by Dylan Minnette, moved to Madison from New York City with his mother after his father’s death. While settling, he meets his neighbor, Hannah Stine (Odeya Rush) and her overly protective father, R. L. Stine (Jack Black). He warns Zach to stay away from Hannah, but he didn’t listen, and still hung out with her. He was warned again, and he thought something bad will happen to Hannah, so he and his new friend Champ broke into the house, after tricking Stine to go to the police station. It was then that they accidentally opened a locked book and released a monster. The abominable Snowman. With Hannah’s help, they managed to trap him back in the book. When Stine found out, he revealed that he was R. L. Stine, and that the books were prisons for the monsters he accidentally created by writing books. But Slappy was also accidentally released, and he wanted revenge on Stine. He released all the Monsters from the books to make an army, and burned the books so they couldn’t be captured. So Stine, Hannah, Zach and Champ had to try to get them, and finally did, in the end, after making another book.

I am a huge Goosebumps fan, and I really enjoyed this movie. It was fun trying to find out who each monster was, and from which book. This movie was the perfect blend of Adventure and Horror.

Dragon Daughter

Dragon Daughter is a book by Liz Flanagan. It is about a servent girl, Milla who witnessed a murder of a man, and ended up with four dragon eggs. She tried to keep her eggs safe, but they were soon found out by another servent, who told the master of the house. When the eggs hatched, the dragons bonded with her and her friends. She and her friends and dragons had to go and live in the home of the Duke, his wife, and son, who was also bonded with one of the four dragons and was the betrothed of Milla’s friend. At first they tried to keep their dragons, but soon it was found out, and people from all over the world came to see the dragons, because before that every one thought dragons were only myths. Milla also has another dilemma, trying to find out who her family were. This book was amazing, the cover was so beautiful, I was really caught by it.

(I had to download the cover pic online because I read this book in a library and don’t have a pic of the book.)