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School’s out at Lakewood Elementary School and that means it's time for an after school adventure!...
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated The Rochester Runes in Books
Jan 9, 2020
The Rochester Ruins is the second book in the series Freiyon Fables by Justin Hunt, too which the first book only received a 2 from me. The timeline this book and the first appear to overlap to some extent at the beginning. Old friends and foes, as well as new, make an appearance in this book as well.
Unlike the first book that detailed a lightning-tailed squirrel's journey through Freiyon this story follows the three human Rochester siblings. The three siblings., Robert, Charles, and Sarah move with their mother into their grandparents old manor. None of the children are exactly thrilled about the move and are surprised to find the manor to have traps in it. After finding a mysterious stone that unlocks a door at the end of a secret passage the children find themselves in Freiyon.
It is in this world of talking animals and sentient trees that they search for the rune stones that will lift their familys curse. The rune stones, once gathered together also have the ability to grant wishes. The Rochester siblings. use these wishes to aid them in protecting Freiyon from The Grabbers, who are also in search of the rune stones. This is an adventure that will bring their entire family together, but it may also tear some of them apart.
What I liked best was Freiyon still feeling a lot like Narnia. Then there is also the fact that this book is tied very nicely in with the first one. Some of the human characters even made me question if they are in any way related to the unnamed boy at the end of the first book, but that is just speculation on my part. What I did not like is just like the first book the writing felt oversimplified. At times it did seem like maybe this was on purpose with the goal of preventing the book from being too long. If that is the case than the book suffers from it. The ending also felt very confusing and as if it was unnecessary for things to turn out the way the did, but I dont want to give any major spoilers.
Once again I would suggest that middle school-aged children and some elementary students can visit the would of Freiyon. The violence that made me question how some parents of younger children might perceive this series even appeared to be a little less graphic this time around. I rate this book a 2 out of 4 just like the first. Once again the book seems to jump from one major sequence of events to another with only minimal transitioning. Still, the world itself is intriguing if only it was given a better description. The ending of this one also made it lose major points.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com/
Unlike the first book that detailed a lightning-tailed squirrel's journey through Freiyon this story follows the three human Rochester siblings. The three siblings., Robert, Charles, and Sarah move with their mother into their grandparents old manor. None of the children are exactly thrilled about the move and are surprised to find the manor to have traps in it. After finding a mysterious stone that unlocks a door at the end of a secret passage the children find themselves in Freiyon.
It is in this world of talking animals and sentient trees that they search for the rune stones that will lift their familys curse. The rune stones, once gathered together also have the ability to grant wishes. The Rochester siblings. use these wishes to aid them in protecting Freiyon from The Grabbers, who are also in search of the rune stones. This is an adventure that will bring their entire family together, but it may also tear some of them apart.
What I liked best was Freiyon still feeling a lot like Narnia. Then there is also the fact that this book is tied very nicely in with the first one. Some of the human characters even made me question if they are in any way related to the unnamed boy at the end of the first book, but that is just speculation on my part. What I did not like is just like the first book the writing felt oversimplified. At times it did seem like maybe this was on purpose with the goal of preventing the book from being too long. If that is the case than the book suffers from it. The ending also felt very confusing and as if it was unnecessary for things to turn out the way the did, but I dont want to give any major spoilers.
Once again I would suggest that middle school-aged children and some elementary students can visit the would of Freiyon. The violence that made me question how some parents of younger children might perceive this series even appeared to be a little less graphic this time around. I rate this book a 2 out of 4 just like the first. Once again the book seems to jump from one major sequence of events to another with only minimal transitioning. Still, the world itself is intriguing if only it was given a better description. The ending of this one also made it lose major points.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com/
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Friday the 13th in Video Games
Feb 26, 2020
Why?????
Friday The 13th: The Video Game- is based off of the movie franchise. Most to all people know that this game is awful and hard as hell and well that is true. This game is both. So lets talk more about the game..
The plot:
"The game manual contains the following synopsis...
It's a pretty typical summer at Crystal Lake. There's a group of happy children staying in the Camp. You and your six Camp Counselor friends are watching over the kids while enjoying the lake and the wilderness. The days are bright and sunny.
The nights are cool and clear. And Jason is on a rampage. It's up to you to stop him, but it's not going to be easy. You must first fight your way through forests filled with man-eating wolves, caves covered with blood sucking bats and hordes of mindless zombies everywhere you turn. You must also help any friend who is in danger, or else you can just kiss them goodbye. And hiding in a cabin or staying adrift in a canoe won't keep you safe – Jason will find you anywhere. The only way to survive this summer is to challenge Jason face to face, and destroy him.".
Gameplay:
Players control one of six camp counselors (each with varying levels of speed, rowing and jumping ability) in a side-scrolling perspective. The counselors start with an arcing rock attack. The goal is to find and defeat Jason Voorhees three times. Along the paths, players will find cabins, a lake, caves and wooded areas with all but the cabins having enemies such as zombies, crows, and wolves attacking the player.
timed alarm appears at certain intervals, requiring players to find Jason before he kills one or more children or another counselor. Using the map, players must navigate their way to Jason's location or switch to the counselor being attacked and defeat him. If they do not make it there in time, Jason will kill the counselors or some of the children.
Upon nearing Jason's location, Jason may appear on the path or in the lake and attack the player. When inside a cabin Jason will attack the player in a way reminiscent of the video game Punch-Out!!
The objective of the game is to survive for three days and three nights while attempting to find and kill Jason. Players may battle Jason's mother who is in a hidden locked room in the cave. She is represented as a Medusa-like floating head that swoops down to attack the player. Navigating in the woods or cave can be confusing as they are set up to purposely disorient the player. They hide several locked rooms/cabins. If all counselors or children die, the game is over.
Time and time again, i play this game and overall i would rather watch the movies than play this game. The movies are 10x better than this game. Go watch the movies instead, you will have a better time.
The plot:
"The game manual contains the following synopsis...
It's a pretty typical summer at Crystal Lake. There's a group of happy children staying in the Camp. You and your six Camp Counselor friends are watching over the kids while enjoying the lake and the wilderness. The days are bright and sunny.
The nights are cool and clear. And Jason is on a rampage. It's up to you to stop him, but it's not going to be easy. You must first fight your way through forests filled with man-eating wolves, caves covered with blood sucking bats and hordes of mindless zombies everywhere you turn. You must also help any friend who is in danger, or else you can just kiss them goodbye. And hiding in a cabin or staying adrift in a canoe won't keep you safe – Jason will find you anywhere. The only way to survive this summer is to challenge Jason face to face, and destroy him.".
Gameplay:
Players control one of six camp counselors (each with varying levels of speed, rowing and jumping ability) in a side-scrolling perspective. The counselors start with an arcing rock attack. The goal is to find and defeat Jason Voorhees three times. Along the paths, players will find cabins, a lake, caves and wooded areas with all but the cabins having enemies such as zombies, crows, and wolves attacking the player.
timed alarm appears at certain intervals, requiring players to find Jason before he kills one or more children or another counselor. Using the map, players must navigate their way to Jason's location or switch to the counselor being attacked and defeat him. If they do not make it there in time, Jason will kill the counselors or some of the children.
Upon nearing Jason's location, Jason may appear on the path or in the lake and attack the player. When inside a cabin Jason will attack the player in a way reminiscent of the video game Punch-Out!!
The objective of the game is to survive for three days and three nights while attempting to find and kill Jason. Players may battle Jason's mother who is in a hidden locked room in the cave. She is represented as a Medusa-like floating head that swoops down to attack the player. Navigating in the woods or cave can be confusing as they are set up to purposely disorient the player. They hide several locked rooms/cabins. If all counselors or children die, the game is over.
Time and time again, i play this game and overall i would rather watch the movies than play this game. The movies are 10x better than this game. Go watch the movies instead, you will have a better time.
Fun English Stories
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Dexteria VPP - Fine Motor Skill Development
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Dexteria VPP is the multi-user version of our market leading app Dexteria, and offers the best price...
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Tell Me How it Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions in Books
Jan 3, 2018
A human portrait of child migrants
With the world being shaped by migration, this essay comes at a timely fashion. Exploring the nuances of this reality, Valeria Luiselli, a skilful and gifted Mexican writer knows the migratory experience first-hand having travelled across the globe. This compassionate, short book finds her in a head-on confrontation with daily reality.
Based on her experiences working as an interpreter for dozens of Central American child migrants, she speaks to those who risked their lives crossing Mexico to escape their fraught existence back home. To stay in the US, each must be vetted by the Citizenship and Immigration Services, a vast, impersonal bureaucracy. It's her job to help these kids, but in order to do so, they must answer 40 questions that will determine their fate.
The truth about the crossing may be much more brutal in reality, with 80% of women and girls who cross from Mexico to the US being raped, hence some of the children appear evasive when answering questions. But this book is fueled, in no small part, by Luiselli's bottles up shame and rage. She's aghast at the gap between American ideals and the way they actually treat undocumented children, yet her writing is measured and fair-minded.
Luiselli takes us inside the grand dream of migration, offering the valuable reminder that exceedingly few immigrants abandon their past and brave death to come to America for dark or nasty reasons. Fantastic read.
Based on her experiences working as an interpreter for dozens of Central American child migrants, she speaks to those who risked their lives crossing Mexico to escape their fraught existence back home. To stay in the US, each must be vetted by the Citizenship and Immigration Services, a vast, impersonal bureaucracy. It's her job to help these kids, but in order to do so, they must answer 40 questions that will determine their fate.
The truth about the crossing may be much more brutal in reality, with 80% of women and girls who cross from Mexico to the US being raped, hence some of the children appear evasive when answering questions. But this book is fueled, in no small part, by Luiselli's bottles up shame and rage. She's aghast at the gap between American ideals and the way they actually treat undocumented children, yet her writing is measured and fair-minded.
Luiselli takes us inside the grand dream of migration, offering the valuable reminder that exceedingly few immigrants abandon their past and brave death to come to America for dark or nasty reasons. Fantastic read.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Catching Fire in Books
May 10, 2018
Just when you think that this craziness couldn't get any crazier, it does just that. First of all, it's hard to imagine that there would be a competition where children have to fight to the death. I hope that our really never comes to something like that.
Katniss and Peeta are the first TWO to ever win the Hunger Games. Now, it's time for them to tour the districts as victors. Everyone is eager to see the "girl on fire" and her love that she saved. The couple brings hope to the people of Panem. Shortly after their visit to a few district, uprisings begin. This is something that the capital is not all too happy to hear about. So they take some drastic measures to reel their people in and try to regain control. No one would believe what is going to happen next.
The thing about this and the first novel that really gets you, is that these are only children. Katniss and Peeta are both only 17 years old, and yet they have so much responsibility on their shoulders already. I know I for one, would not have survived a Hunger Games, let alone been able to save my district mate as well.
This is one book, that you will be eager to finish it and then when you finish it, you are going to want to rush out and get Mockingjay, to find out how all of this ends!!
Katniss and Peeta are the first TWO to ever win the Hunger Games. Now, it's time for them to tour the districts as victors. Everyone is eager to see the "girl on fire" and her love that she saved. The couple brings hope to the people of Panem. Shortly after their visit to a few district, uprisings begin. This is something that the capital is not all too happy to hear about. So they take some drastic measures to reel their people in and try to regain control. No one would believe what is going to happen next.
The thing about this and the first novel that really gets you, is that these are only children. Katniss and Peeta are both only 17 years old, and yet they have so much responsibility on their shoulders already. I know I for one, would not have survived a Hunger Games, let alone been able to save my district mate as well.
This is one book, that you will be eager to finish it and then when you finish it, you are going to want to rush out and get Mockingjay, to find out how all of this ends!!
Kelly (279 KP) rated The Umbrella Academy in TV
Feb 24, 2019
The cast (2 more)
The soundtrack
Dark humour
Wow!! I was hooked
I confess, I knew little about The Umbrella Academy before picking up the series on Netflix, but I am so glad I did. The series combined dark humour with an intriguing plot line and sprinkled a great sound track into the mix to create a truly unique show.
The series centres around a family, purchased as children by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, and their mission to discover the cause of their fathers death as well as preventing the imminent apocalypse. Each of the children (adults in most cases by the time the series is set) have unique super powers, with the exception of Vanya, who has be partially excluded from family affairs as a result.
The casting of the show couldn’t have been any better, with a mix of characters you can take seriously and others who add a touch of humour to the show. Notably Robert Sheehan, who plays Klaus - I have been a fan of his work since Misfits, and Cameron Britton, who plays Hazel (An assassin who falls for Agnes, a waitress who is significantly older than himself). The series was well acted and a wide range of emotions were shown by the actors.
The only real downfall to the series was that it was so short (and ended on a cliff hanger, so please, please renew the show Netflix). I was left wanting more after episode 10.
I highly recommend watching this.
The series centres around a family, purchased as children by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, and their mission to discover the cause of their fathers death as well as preventing the imminent apocalypse. Each of the children (adults in most cases by the time the series is set) have unique super powers, with the exception of Vanya, who has be partially excluded from family affairs as a result.
The casting of the show couldn’t have been any better, with a mix of characters you can take seriously and others who add a touch of humour to the show. Notably Robert Sheehan, who plays Klaus - I have been a fan of his work since Misfits, and Cameron Britton, who plays Hazel (An assassin who falls for Agnes, a waitress who is significantly older than himself). The series was well acted and a wide range of emotions were shown by the actors.
The only real downfall to the series was that it was so short (and ended on a cliff hanger, so please, please renew the show Netflix). I was left wanting more after episode 10.
I highly recommend watching this.
Lindsay (1779 KP) rated Killer in the Band in Books
Apr 9, 2019
A Killer in the Band is like another Halloween set up for the setting. Lauren Carr once again does it again with her book. You get pulled into this book from the beginning. There seem to be more murderers than the eye can see.
We learn about the Band that Suellen is the leader to. She gets a phone call from a friend in the band named “Cat.” Who could be the Killer of Dylan Matthews and Wendy Mathews? We fall for more mysteries and cold cases. Could all the cold cases be connected?
We also have JJ Thornton and his dad and siblings involved with Cameron Gates. Who would want to kill JJ and his family? His family helps him out along with getting a horse trainer to help with the horses. We also meet Izzy once again and her personally.
We meet Noah and a few others. Who killed Clyde’s wife? There are quite a few twists and turns as you turn the pages. I would suggest that if you have children you are okay with them reading about deaths for this as a lot of it. It is the decent clean book for children that are 13 and up.
If you enjoy one of Lauren Carr’s book. You will enjoy this one as well. I know for this another one that I enjoyed and wished to know more. You will be surprised at how it ends.
We learn about the Band that Suellen is the leader to. She gets a phone call from a friend in the band named “Cat.” Who could be the Killer of Dylan Matthews and Wendy Mathews? We fall for more mysteries and cold cases. Could all the cold cases be connected?
We also have JJ Thornton and his dad and siblings involved with Cameron Gates. Who would want to kill JJ and his family? His family helps him out along with getting a horse trainer to help with the horses. We also meet Izzy once again and her personally.
We meet Noah and a few others. Who killed Clyde’s wife? There are quite a few twists and turns as you turn the pages. I would suggest that if you have children you are okay with them reading about deaths for this as a lot of it. It is the decent clean book for children that are 13 and up.
If you enjoy one of Lauren Carr’s book. You will enjoy this one as well. I know for this another one that I enjoyed and wished to know more. You will be surprised at how it ends.
Kaz (232 KP) rated Shazam! (2019) in Movies
Jun 15, 2019 (Updated Jun 15, 2019)
A Fun Superhero Movie
Contains spoilers, click to show
When I started watching 'Shazam' , I assumed that this was a parody of a super hero film. Afterwards I realised that this is a DC comic book character in it's own right.
I liked the acting in this film. Both children and adults in this film are believable and are very good. You could believe that the adult versions of the younger actors were actually them, because they emulated their body language and speech really well (they even looked like the children, as adults!). I really liked the interaction between adult Billy and his friend Freddy, they have some really funny scenes together. It was also nice to see a character with a disability as a main character, who wasn't portrayed as weak or someone you should feel sorry for.
There were some really funny moments in this film and there were some really heartfelt ones too.
My only criticisms of this film would be that it took a long time for this to really get going. Also, the story really isn't that original. It's basically the plot of 'Big' (I liked the scene with the giant piano, as a nod to this film) , combined with a super hero movie.
Despite these issues, I thought that this was a really funny, fun movie and I would quite happily watch a sequel of this.
I liked the acting in this film. Both children and adults in this film are believable and are very good. You could believe that the adult versions of the younger actors were actually them, because they emulated their body language and speech really well (they even looked like the children, as adults!). I really liked the interaction between adult Billy and his friend Freddy, they have some really funny scenes together. It was also nice to see a character with a disability as a main character, who wasn't portrayed as weak or someone you should feel sorry for.
There were some really funny moments in this film and there were some really heartfelt ones too.
My only criticisms of this film would be that it took a long time for this to really get going. Also, the story really isn't that original. It's basically the plot of 'Big' (I liked the scene with the giant piano, as a nod to this film) , combined with a super hero movie.
Despite these issues, I thought that this was a really funny, fun movie and I would quite happily watch a sequel of this.