Lois Lowry is one of the best writers for children around, but I find Sam to be one of the most annoying characters around. He is simply too precocious to be at all believable, as was his sister Anastasia before him! In fact, all the neighbors are really too clever, interesting, well educated and understanding to ring too true to me. Maybe there really is a neighborhood like Sam's someplace, but I doubt it. That said, I always read each new Lowry book and do find myself enjoying them, and I'm sure most readers would too.

I really loved this book. My favorite part was when he found out that the towel he had was his dads gym towel waiting to be washed. I would recommend this book to everyone!

See You Around Sam is about a boy named Sam who almost runs away from home to Alaska. The story takes place in a small country town in the Fall of the 1950's. In the end, Sam goes home to see his family and friends because misses them.

Hi! I am a third grade reader in the U.S.A. I give Aldo Peanut Butter three stars because it just didn't interest me very much. The book Aldo Peanut Butter was kind of funny and kind of boring. That's why I give it three stars.

The book is about a boy named Aldo who got five puppies for his birthday. One is from his sister Elaine, and one is from his other sister Karen. His parents gave Aldo a puppy and so did his friend DeDe. And of course, he got one for himself. Had had to give three away. The two he kept were named Peanut and Butter.

The story mostly takes place in Aldo's house when his parents are away to see his grandparents. That's when the trouble begins!

I wasn't much of a reader when I was younger but I read all the Aldo books when I was in elementary school and I thought they were wonderful. My Little brother will be starting school soon and I already began my list of must read books I plan on purchasing for him. I enjoyed them so much I wouldn't dream of letting him miss out on the experience of an entertaining story. I recentley re-read Aldo Peanut Butter and decided it was my favorite. If you are searching for books to start your child's interest in reading, the Aldo books are "easy reading" that will be sure to hold their attention!

I'm a kid from the U.S.A. I've read Aldo Peanut Butter. I think this book deserves five stars becaues it is spectacular! I would recommend this book to everybody. This book is great becaues it is very funny and different! I liked the part when Aldo spilled the syrup on one of the dogs.

I rated this book a three because it was too short. I would recommend it for people who like hilarious stories. It's a fine book but I didn't like the ending. This book is about a boy who flunks third grade and repeats it. His previous classmates make fun of him especially a bully named Tommy Wilhelm. His teacher tutors him with reading. Find out what happens next.

I think it was really good because it was humorous. His family helpd him a lot josh had a lot of friends in his class. In the beginning he got argry at himself. He was held back in third grade and had the army teacher,Mrs.Goodwin. He wanted to go to fouth grade he had a hard time in spelling and math. If you want to know the rest read the book.

I think The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates was really humorous. Joshua was having a really great summer until his mom told him he had to repeat third grade.Then he finds out that his third grade teacher is Mrs.Goodwin. Joshua is such a worrier because he worries about his report card but that's not all - Tommy Wilhelm, the the class room bully, gets to go into fourth grade and Joshua is so mad that he says that he is going to East Africa.Read to find what happensto Joshua.

The 100th Thing About Caroline is a great book. You will really like it if you have ever mixed up something real with an idea from your imagination. You will also like it if you think some people look like dinosaurs. The number one reason I liked this book is because of the funny ending.

Caroline Tate is an overly imaginative 11 year old that finds herself investigating a possible murder. The only thing is is that she and her brother are the potential victims. The story takes place in a small apartment building in New York City which is where Caroline found a letter. The letter was written to the " Mystery Man", Frederick Fiske who just happens to be dating Caroline's mother. The letter said that Joanna Tate ( Caroline's mother) is terrific, but the kids MUST be eliminated. The rest of the story is suspenseful as Caroline, J.P. and Caroline's friend Stacy investigate Frederick Fiske is really a cold - blooded killer. I enjoyed reading this book reading this & I recommend it because it keeps you guessing until the very end.

The One Hundredth Thing About Caroline is about a girl named Caroline Tate. Caroline is eleven years old. She is determined about being a paleontologist when she grows up. She lives in an apartment with, her mom and her annoying older brother James Priestly Tate (J.P.). Caroline's mom & dad are divorced so her dad lives somewhere else. J.P., Caroline and her friend Stacy Bauritcher who wants to be a detective, find a letter in the trash for Fredrick Fiske. It says to eliminate the kids, so he can marry the mother. Stacy finds out that Caroline and J.P. are the kids that will be eliminated. If you like mysteries PLUS adventure stories you should probably read this book!

Erickson demonstrates her profound knowledge of the Tudor era in England through the amazing variety of details she fits into her easy and engaging narrative of the life of one of England's most loved but notorious kings. The reader learns about the perosn, the monarch, his family and his country, and how all were intertwined. The development of Henry, second son not meant to inherit the throne, into Great Harry, fearless and fearsome king who practically destroyed his kingdom to get his own way are beautifully chronicled and bristles with personal touches. It's high drama and well worth it.

I think that this book was okay. I mean it was good but i think it was a bit short. The author could of wrote a lot more. When I finished the book I was surprised that it was the end. Although it was really humorous. I would recommened this book for younger children because it's an easy book to understand and it's really short.

Anyone who can claim to write a book on the teacher's unions and ignore the many decades of their fighting for students' and teachers' benefit is clearly only on a political hatchet mission and the truth be damned. So if your mind is already made up and you don't want reality to intrude on your pre-conceived ideas, buy this book- you'll love it.

I'd give the book less than one star if I could. As a former teacher union member, all I can say is thank God for my union. No one else seemed to care about school safety, or that the buildings were falling apart or that we had seven more kids in a class than other districts in the state or that we didn't have computer access at work for lesson planning and record keeping. None of this grassroots unionism is in his book, a major sin of omission. Instead he concentrates on salaries of officials, union lobbying activities,and dues. If the union sometimes took a stand on things I didn't agree with, well its a democratic organization, that's to be expected. If they didn't always do as well as I would have liked, they were the only ones with any clout on the right side of most issues. If there are union staff that made more than I did as a teacher, so what? As long as they were good at representing members'interests, which includes helping our kids, I'm not going to quibble. I want the best staff my dues money can buy. As for the bonanza from privatization that the unions are preventing, the Pentagon's bad experience with contracting out isn't mentioned once. It won't end up being a bonanza for kids, but for corporations. There's nothing there about superintendants leaving office to take cushy jobs with corporations, or other backroom deals on the corporate side. Why single out the unions? Judging by the other titles he's authored Lieberman makes his living by claiming that he has the scoop on unions and lazy teachers. I'll bet the worse he makes it sound, the more speaking engagments he gets. This is a sensationalist diatribe, but it does offer an interesting perspective on the way you can stack the deck so as to demonize anything.

This book is a must read for anyone concerned about the state of education in AMerica. Mr Lieberman speaks from years of experience as a teacher and an insider in the teachers unions. I highly recommend it!

The author really missed when he wrote this one. No excitement, no mystery, and the action seems added on to take up space on the pages. What could have been a good book jumps around and there are too many coincidences even for the Hardy Boys.

Like all volumes after The Mystery of Spiral Bridge, in plain English they were "bad". However this volume is worth reading and did manage to hold my interest. The brothers travel down under and like so many books during this era incorporated way too much educational material about the place they were visiting. Hello - This is a Mystery series - not an atlas! Horrible artwork. No surprise there. Overall the book ranks between horrible and average. It did contain a little suspense in a few places. That is more than I can say about some of the other higher volumes. RATED C-

FRank, Joe and Chet travel to Australia to search for a missing scientist, kidnapped by a gang that is trying to prevent the launch of the Firebird Rocket. This book was not one of the better books of the series. The mystery is average, but lacks any original thought. The first 100 pages of the book are somewhat boring and rarely entice the reader to continue. After that, the book gets better and is fairly interesting until the end. If you can make it through the first half of the book, the second half is worth reading.