Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a good book for people who like magic, mystery and adventure. It's about a boy named Harry who finds out he's destined to become a wizard and goes to a school called Hogwarts. As he adjusts to his new magical life, he faces a mystery. He and his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, discover a plot to obtain the sorcerer’s stone, a mythical stone that provides immortality. Harry and his friends work together to prevent the stone from getting into the wrong hands.
Ice Age is a decent movie with good characters. The movie starts off, introducing us to a group of animals including Manny, Sid and Diego who encounter a human baby and go on a journey to return the baby to its family, but Diego has a secret mission to return the baby to his leader for revenge. The overall plot and story are decent, but there is nothing much special about it. The area where the movie shines the best is the characters.
The Outsiders is set in 1965 Oklahoma, centering on two different gangs. This book was loosely based on how life could be during this time and the author wrote this for her friends that were considered the version of greasers in her town. A greaser is a teenager that is considered a delinquent, does not have much money, and is known for their trademark long greasy hair. The gang opposing the greasers is the soc gang. A soc is a rich, socialite privileged person with nice cars, clothes and hair.
Rent is a rock musical about New York City struggles in the 90s with the rise of AIDS. It is a musical written by Jonathan Larson and has many awards. It started off Broadway, made its way to Broadway, and now there is the movie adaptation. Unfortunately, Jonathan Larson passed away before he was able to see its success. This musical is all about love, acceptance, bohemia, drugs, pride, friends and loyalty.
Dating in Dragons follows the shy new girl Quinn Norton as she starts at her new High School. Quinn is nervous about making new friends because her past friends weren’t kind to her, but she stumbles upon a group of kids on her first day and they happen to share a love of Dungeons and Dragons. However, Quinn soon finds out this friend group is also a very well-known group of D&D streamers, and they have strict rules for joining their campaign.
Five Survive is a thriller novel about six friends who are going on a road trip for spring break. On the way, their RV breaks down in the middle of a forest at night. They quickly realize that it was not an accident. There is a sniper outside of the RV who wants one of the people in the RV to reveal one of their secrets. Throughout the book, many secrets are uncovered, trust is broken, and tensions rise.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan is a great book about a boy named Percy Jackson, who discovers he is a demigod, the son of Poseidon. Set in modern-day America, the story takes Percy on a quest to prevent a war among the gods. With his friends Annabeth and Grover, Percy embarks on a journey that combines mythology with modern-day.
Nothing can stop eleven-year-old Katie from living her best life; nothing at all! At least, that’s the case until she goes off to overnight camp with her best friend and she starts getting thoughts that tell her she has to tuck in her sheet just right or else she’ll fall off her bed in the middle of the night. They tell her that if she says the word ‘tongue’ constantly then she won’t have to get tongue surgery. They tell her so many things, that fast forward a few months, these thoughts are all she can think about.
The Button War by Avi is a historical fiction novel set in Poland during World War I, focusing on a group of boys who engage in a competition involving the collection of the buttons of soldiers. The story follows the protagonist, a boy named Patryk, as he experiences the war among countries as well as among his friends. The Button War has themes of loyalty, ambition, the destructive nature of war and the loss of innocence.
Studio Ghibli’s Kiki’s Delivery Service directed by Hayao Miyazaki is a fantastical tale of a young witch named Kiki starting a new adventure alongside her faithful cat, Jiji. Kiki sets off, beginning a customary tradition for witches to leave their homes for one year to pursue and train magical skills. When Kiki lands in a bustling city on the water, she forms a delivery service as her special talent.
