Guest Reviewer: Ima Nobody Becomes a Somebody by Brenda Poage

I'd like to announce a very special guest blogger today...my 7yr old daughter, Alyssa. She thinks is awesome that I write things on the computer that "other people" can see and read. So I had her write a short "This is what I like" type of review about the most recent book we read together.

Ima Nobody Becomes A Somebody by Brenda Poage

I like the part when Ima did not quit when Billy hit her in the head with a volleyball. I like tha part when Ima went to the circus to see the wonder dog. I learned that you never quit something that you start. I learned that you do not be a bully to someone else that doesn't look good. I learned that you fight back when someone is being a bully to you.

Now for my own personal two cents. The book was fast paced and humorous, which is great for a first grader. The names throughout the book are great, such as the gym coach Mr Go-gettum. The book is full of small lessons such as never giving up, doing everything to your best, and the big one, how to deal with a bully.  Ima learns that the best thing you can be is yourself, and that no matter what other people say even a Nobody can still be a somebody.


The book opened up many areas for Alyssa and I to discuss things that could happen to her and what the various good and bad ways to react are.  Alyssa loved Ima and cheered at the ending.  It's a great book for parent and child to read together.

Book Review: Ring of Fire by P.D. Baccalario

Every hundred years four children are selected to take on the task of....something. Even after finishing the book I'm not entirely sure what that task is fully. The four children, Elletra, Harvey, Mistral, and Sheng find themselves thrown together by the oddest of circumstances. It becomes obvious that these circumstances have been set up to place these four key players in the correct position to begin.


And so it does begin...in Rome. The descriptions of the city were quite nice and my version included a few pages of colored photos af some of the points of interest which was nice since I know not much about Rome.

The story itself revolves around the action the four children take once they meet and find themselves in posession of several strange articles. We follow their escapades as they try to solve the mystery of what these items mean and the power they must hold, for a killer has been set on their trail that will stop at nothing to have them. The children are likeable but there is very little depth or growth to them. Their journey is filled with accidental findings to help them continue when there were no apparent clues to help them.

The book ends with an obvious cliff hanger which I feel inclined to add to my TBR list if only to figure out what the task set for the children really is.

3/5