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Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard and Taming the Mind by Thubten Chodron

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Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard and Taming the Mind by Thubten Chodron

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Book Review #1
If you’ve read this book already, then you know. You know that it is an amazingly written book, that can literally touch your heart, and with every page you read you yearn for more. Now, listen to this. This may sound dramatic, but I mean this. “Girl Mans Up” by M-E Girard has been the best novel I’ve read throughout my middle school years. It's about 400 pages, and that may sound time consuming, but every page was worth the time. The characters and scenes are very realistic, and the way language is used makes me understand in a way that I know others may not. The book really reaches out to teenage audiences. In my last book review, I thought the book was great. But, little did I know that even reading just half the book was only the beginning of it all.

My most favorite aspect about this novel is that every chapter never wastes your time. Every piece of information is important to know and read, and gets to the point. So if you finish reading my book review and plan to read it, don’t expect too many cliffhangers or slow introductions. As I’ve explained before, the book revolves around the main character’s life, Penelope Oliveira. Everybody judges her and she’s had a strong history regarding bullying towards her gender and choice of style. Everyone encourages her, even her own parents, to “quit trying to be a boy” and to be how they believe she should behave and present herself. Pen obviously, being the strong and righteous person she is, doesn’t fall for that nonsense. From what I’ve absorbed from this novel now that I’ve finished it, is that Pen’s sole purpose as the main character was to find herself and to make tough life decisions. There were many parts of this book where I could relate to her struggle, and I’ve even once cried to the explanation of her pain. One of these struggles was the demanding of control that her parents overwhelmed her with. Wear this, act like a girl, be a princess, stop being a “punk druggy”. Her intentions within the book is never to provoke anyone, but just to find her way through the path to her real identity that she’s truly comfortable with. Ever since she was a little one, she never had a strong passion for anything girly. The girliest thing she’s ever participated in was this green dress she wore, only because it references to ninja turtles, her favorite action cartoon. But, it doesn’t matter. Each day she is still pressured into being what everyone wants her to be. An example of this is when her Mom forced her to stop acting like a boy after Pen got in trouble at school. “Then she says there are new rules for me to obey: No more job. No more boy clothes. No more girls over at the house. No more boys over at the house. No more short hair.”

However, Pen realizes what matters most to her, and makes life changing decisions for her own sake. That’s what makes me love the book as well, it’s inspiring. If everything you’ve read so far in my book review sounds like a book you’d definitely be interested in reading, then it’s advised that you read “Girl Mans Up” by M-E Girard.
Book Review #2
Taming the mind by Thubten Chodron is a philosophic book, that focuses on Buddhism teachings. My father took me out to the bay, and we visited a Buddhist temple, and there they had a gift shop. Within the gift shop there were healing crystals, bracelets, Tibetan singing bowls, incense, and more. But, most importantly there were books. I investigated the large bookshelf, and decided to buy and take home a book called "Taming the Mind." I mainly chose it because at the moment I was going through rough times, and needed to educate myself on managing my mental stability. This book, as stated in it's brief description on it's cover, provides philosophic points towards achieving happiness through Buddhism teachings. It doesn't follow a story line, it's more like an informative read. If you enjoy reading books to expand your mindset on different views, such as how to view bad and good people, hard situations, and more, then perhaps this book would be to your liking. Here are a few quotes from the book to give you an idea: "How we look at a situation determines our experience of it. We may look at our Mother and think, "she always tells me what to do. She's so demanding." Then every time we see her, we feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, we may think, "My mother gave me this body. She took care of me when I was a helpless infant and couldn't even feed myself. She taught me how to speak and behave." Then our mother appears very kind to us." Now that you have a preview of one of the lessons taught in the book, you can maybe judge on whether or not you'd consider reading this book.

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1. Book Review

The William C. Morris debut award winning book, written by M-E Girard, has to be one of the most comical, real, and fiercest books I’ve ever read. I remember the day I walked into the library to find my destined book. The librarian, Ms.Prettol, set out quotes from various books to help us decide on an interesting book and this one unique quote caught my eye quickly. It read: “There are four of us dudes sitting here right now, and I kick all of their butts when it comes to video games-and I’m not even a dude in the first place.” Not only did it make me laugh, but I was energetically interested in knowing what happens next.

So I fled to the quiet room, where all the wondrous books were and found the book and instantly started reading it. Ever since, this book only kept getting better and better. That being said, I am now informing you that you are reading my book review on this original and vibrant book.

I personally recommend this book for ages that are older middle schoolers, high schoolers, or even adults. I don’t recommend it for these ages just because it’s a higher level of reading, but there is an uncountable amount of mature words and references. Which is, not to mention, unsuitable for children ages 12 and under. Although, I was capable of reading it without judgement or negative reaction. Another perk of the language used is that it reveals what actual teenagers are like, and how they deal with problems and friendships.

The genre is unique too, similar to how the characters are. I would sort this book into the fiction, drama, and humor genre. “Girl Mans Up” is about a teenage girl named Penelope, a 10th grader at Castlehill High who is struggling with identity issues. Penelope dresses in her big brother’s clothes, hangs out with strictly boys, and hates being girly in any way possible. She’s even attracted to girls and not boys. However, no one is really accepting about this behavior. Her mom and dad puts her down, her friends call her names and tease her, and kids at school are often rude to her.

So far, I’m halfway into this book and Pen is dealing with many different issues, but I noticed she still remains strong and learns to walk away. But, you can tell she keeps things as baggage on her shoulders. One situation that might come courageous to you is when Pen confronted a schoolmate who was throwing up and asked if she was okay. The girl was stubborn to tell the truth, but Pen found out eventually and asked again if she was pregnant a few days after. Overall, I honestly love this book and I believe anyone else could warm up to it as well if they gave it a few pages of reading. That’s all it took for me, then I fell in love.

Thank you for reading this book review. I even have a second one about “The Lightning Thief” from the Percy Jackson series written by Rick Riordan!

2. Book Review

“The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan is about a young boy named Percy Jackson, who isn’t particularly “normal.” Secretly, almost everyone around him knows exactly why, but they have to protect him from whatever evil that is out there that wants his power. Percy Jackson is in middle school and is often teased and disfavoured. Mostly his whole life has been this way because he’s dyslexic, has ADHD, and is just “different” from everyone. A heavily special, godly kind of different, in this case. He lives with his mom and her repugnant boyfriend.

Percy doesn’t have the best life, but his mom loves him and he’s determined to keep going if that’s what it takes to get out from where he is at the moment. Throughout this book, one of my very favorite things is how almost every single chapter ends with a cliffhangers that leaves me eager to know what happens in the next chapter. That’s one of the reasons why I finished this book fairly quickly, but there are over 250 pages to read.

So I’d recommend readers who enjoy fantasy, fiction, adventure, and action novels that take at least a month to finish. If you’re a quicker reader, you could finish it in less time. The book contains slight gore and a large number of advanced words suited for middle schoolers. This book is literally coated in action, from fighting mythical creatures, fighting children of gods, and to traveling to the underworld. This is actually my third time reading it. I read it once in elementary, middle school, and again once currently. Honestly, it was that good to the point that I didn’t mind reading it multiple times. I plan on reading the next couple of books that are apart of the series, and I encourage anyone else to as well. Whatever Rick Riordan was thinking when writing his books, it must’ve been genius. I say this because I am hooked onto Percy’s adventures.

In conclusion, this is my book review on “The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan. My hopes are that you can find out how to enjoy this book just like how I did, and then continue the striking series. Thank you for reading my book review.

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#8 Song Of the Lioness; Alanna The First Adventure By Tamora Pierce

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#8 Song Of the Lioness; Alanna The First Adventure By Tamora Pierce

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Hiya, today I will be discussing a book about a girl named
Alanna who has the dream of being a knight in the times where women were not allowed to be warriors (like, medieval times???). I highly recommend this book if you enjoy reading fantasy's, with magic, spells, action and adventure! But, you see, Alanna has a twin brother, with the same features of purple eyes, red hair who's name is Thom. He does not wish to be a knight, he wants to be a sorcerer! As you can see this fits perfectly for Alanna's dreams. She cuts her hair, and disguises as a boy and names herself, "Alan of Trebond". I'm really enjoying this book and I'm still continuing to read it so you'll be hearing more about this fierce girl! Thanks for reading.

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My Hero Academia is about a world full of normal everyday humans, except they obtain special and unique quirks! Young Midoriya is born into the world, apart of the 10% of the world born without an amazing quirk. As Midoriya grows up, he just hopes that his quirk will come through in another couple years or months, but once he takes a visit to the doctors, he receives the truth. He was completely quirkless, with the dream of being the greatest hero in the world. When youth grows up, they may become a hero, as long as they have a quirk that can be beneficial and helpful to the world to fight off villians. All Might, one of the greatest global heroes, and Midoriya’s idol, helps him along his adventurous journey, and it isn't easy and it's full of bumps! This is a fantastic manga, and I definitely recommend it for these 3 reasons:

1. This manga has the ability to get you to catch feels! With each page you read, you root for characters more, and feel more resentment towards others, or even, you can cry during different scenes and dialogue.

2. Manga is awesome, and the artwork for this book is totally inspiring. I love the way the artist chose how to create his characters, starting off with rough sketches, to final products.

3. If you enjoy reading adventures, slight romance, action, and comedy genres, you'll definitely like this manga. The action scenes are so carefully and clearly drawn, and easy to make out. Along with that, the personalities of the characters are very funny, and passionate.

That's all for now, come read more of my book reviews next time. Thanks for your time.

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#6 Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty

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#6 Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty

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Serafina and the Twisted Staff has been making me so anxious. Right now, Serafina thinks it's her big break from all those mysterious magical monstrosities, but, she feels something coming. On the positive side, Serafina is familiar with the dark forest that she once was told to never trespass, for there are things there that can not ever be unseen lurking in there, and she usually gallops around and admires the stars each night when Biltmore is asleep. This book is awesome, I would not want to read any other book besides this. In fact, my plan is to read each and every one of the Serafina books in the series by Robert Beatty. I highly recommend this book if you love mystery, fantasy, suspense, action, and adventure.  One scene to prove what I mean, is when Serafina is admiring the stars at the ledge of a cliff, and suddenly she hears wild, dangerous horses galloping in the distance. She stares and follows the horses with her eyes, and discovers a mysterious carriage traveling with them with no one visibly in it. Why? And why this late at night?

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#5 Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty

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#5 Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty

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Hello! I am now currently reading the rest of the books that follow the last one I finished, mainly because I liked it so much. This book I'm reading takes place 3 weeks after the mystery of the Man in the Black Cloak and now, very peculiar attacks are taking place in the very estate that Serafina lives in and her best friend even gets involved in it! Serafina is heart broken and flees into the forest. Eventually she meets this new evil and becomes determined to defeat it and create a safe and peaceful place for her beloved home in Biltmore. I haven't read much of it yet, but I highly recommend Beatty's series of books about Serafina because, 1.There are series of EPIC scenes of action and emotion, 2. All the genres: mystery, fantasy, action, drama, and adventure mixed together, makes this very awesome series of books.

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#4 Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty Part 4 (ending)

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#4 Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty Part 4 (ending)

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What's up guys! It's me, back at it again with the same book. So far, I am enjoying this book alot and I'm about to be done with it. If I remember right, I'm on chapter 30. I haven't lost my interest in this book because it's been getting more emotional and sentimental. These main things get me going! For example, Serafina has made a friend and also figured out her true identity. This caused her to think of herself as unnatural rather than normal like other people. Right now, she needs to save her friend and the rest of Biltimore! All in all, that's basically the summary of what's happening in this book currently! I'm also going to read the following books of this author. Thanks for reading! :P

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#3 Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty Part 3

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#3 Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty Part 3

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By now, you probably want to hear something new. But unfortunately, this book has at least 30 chapters and it will take me maybe another two weeks to finish it. It's a good thing though because I'm really enjoying this book. Since I'm not allowed to spoil anything about the book, for now I'm able to say that Serafina has figured out a lot, and on the way on her mission, she made a friend. In this book I've noticed that Serafina is very self-conscious about her vanity and how people see her.  Because of this, she overthinks a lot about whether or not her friend could even be considered a friend, or if her friend even likes her. I can relate to having similar thoughts, which makes me enjoy the book more. So, all in all, I'm halfway through the book and want to continue reading all the way through.

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#2 Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty Part 2

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#2 Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty Part 2

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Hey! As you should know, I am STILL reading Serafina and the Black Cloak. I have an even better opinion on this awesome book, which may not be interesting to you. Because well..you know, my opinion is not the most amazing thing in the whole world. Back to the book review! From 1-10, my interest level is at 9.5 because, currently Serafina is figuring out a lot of secrets, but is on a mission to figure out even more! Not only that but, the genre of this book definitely matches my liking's.That is all I should say, no spoilers after all!

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#1 Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty Part 1

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#1 Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty Part 1

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Currently, I’m reading this book called, Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty. This book is about a girl that always obeyed her father, and secretly lived in someone’s basement. Her father always told her to never even think about going into the forest that lies outside, but this mystery that she tries to figure out leads her to a man in a black cloak in the forest. In this forest she discovers magic, that has to do with her identity and past. This book so far has been interesting to read, but I haven’t read it enough to say it’s a good or bad book. But, I will say that if you are into fantasy, a little bit of mystery, and adventure, you should enjoy this book!