One Of Us Is Lying

  

 *may contain some grown-up content*

                                

One Of Us Is Lying

By: Karen M. McManus 

I'm going to start telling you guys what reading level these books are as I have found this very helpful when looking for books. I will be using the website Accelerated reader bookfinder. As this is a UK website it may not be as helpful to some of you, but it still may help.

Interest Level:

Upper Years, Ages 14 Plus

Rating:

I found out about this website through school. Last (school) year we used accelerated reader to quiz on the books we read.

So, onto the book review;

I found this book through my friend who has a similar interest in books to me. I found this book really interesting because it shows that the people who you would least expect to become friends - become friends. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries. 

                             !SPOILER ALERT!

'One of us is Lying' is a really good book about teenagers who all come from different backgrounds, but they all meet in a rather horrible way; a boy's death. This boy is called Simon Kelleher. Simon has a gossip app. The day after he died was the day he was going to post 4 student's deepest, darkest secrets online. Simon was in detention when he died, with the four people - the people he was about to post the secrets of.

Main characters: Simon Kelleher, Bronwyn Rojas (the geek), Nate Macauley (the criminal),
Addy Prentiss (the popular girl) and Cooper Clay (the athlete).

My favourite character: My favourite character is Nate, because even though he is a criminal he stops as he has the impact from someone he has fallen in love with. Once you get to know him he is a really nice person.

My least favourite character: My least favourite character was Jake Riordan because he is an idiot pretty much! 

What made me like the book: I liked this book because it is a murder mystery and I find murder mysteries and crime very interesting because I want to become a detective inspector.

What I didn't like about this book: There wasn't anything that I didn't like.

                                    Bonne lecture!

Who Let the Gods Out

                                  

Who Let the Gods Out is a brilliant book by Maz Evans.

The blurb says:

When Elliot wished upon a star he didn't expect a constellation to trash into his dungheap.

Virgo thinks she's perfect. Elliot doesn't. Together they release Thanatos, evil Daemon of Death. 
Epic fail!

They need the king of the Gods and his noble steed -  they get chubby Zeus and his high horse Pegasus.

Are the Gods ready for the world? And is the world really ready for the Gods?

I really believe that this is the best book in the world and that Maz is the greatest children's author, due to the fact that the book includes a bit of everything. It has comedy, it is educational, it is funny and it has an exciting adventure.

Have any of you guys ever read Percy Jackson? Because my friend said 'Who Let the Gods Out is like Percy Jackson.'

I absolutely love this book to bits and luckily I had it signed and I have met Maz twice. 

I believe that everyone - I really do mean everyone, will enjoy this book so much.

Right - onto the review.  So, the first thing I am going to say is, 'let's see I am going to mix the order up for a change because I feel like it'. If you don't know me, I am quite a random person.

Why/Why not I liked the story:

I liked the story because it is very exciting and it is very gripping and very enjoyable.

Who are the main characters?:

The main characters are Virgo, Elliot, The Gods, Josie and Patricia Porshley Plum (cough cough 'horses bum').

What is it all about?:

This book is about Elliot Hooper and a constellation, or as Elliot likes to call her, a star ball thingy, 'Virgo' who quite accidently let out the Daemon of Death. Oh no! So they call on the Gods to help them, but it might be King of the Gods Zeus's fault. 'But how?', you may ask, however unfortunately I can't tell you anything more!  

I really recommend that you buy the book if you haven't already and just when you have 1 hour or an hour and a half just sit and read or you can stretch it out.

Maybe if you do the summer reading challenge you can use it as one of your books.

I'd love to hear what you think of it.

(this is Maz Evans holding her next book, which hasn't been released yet)

London part 2

Yay, on my way to the Roald Dahl experience (The Wondercrump )
I am so excited I wonder what it will be like. What is your favorite Roald Dahl book? Please tell me your answer in the comments. Mine is either The BFG or Danny Champion of the World.

It looks amazing even though it's not started yet.
Oooh I'm so excited.

This is the end of the Wondercrump experience. This is the wall of trumps!
I won't say what happened inside as they like to keep it secret and off social media so it doesn't spoil it for other people. These are the only bits we were allowed to show.
But what I can say is... it was splendiferous!!

This is the story title creator.
If you had to make a silly story title what would it be?
Please give me your answers in the comments.

This is a beautiful looking cafe it looks very old and cosy.
What do you think of the cafe?

This is a hot chocolate shop and they sell all things chocolate. The hot chocolate comes in lots of flavours too, like cinnamon or chilli.

 It takes them ages to make it, they carve lots of shreds to go on the top - dark, milk and white choc,  and then pile them on high..
This is them shredding the chocolate

This is what it looks like when it's finished:

Mmm it was delicious but I couldn't finish it all!
What do you think of it?

This is me with some lemonade on a bench chatting with my Dad, as you do. It's a place called Neals Yard which has lots of health food places and benches for a quiet break away from the hustle and bustle.

In Covent Garden they have a lovely indian restaurant called Masala Zone.
The ceiling is full of hanging puppets from India and the food is very nice and unusual.

Please feel free to answer my questions in the comments.
Happy holidays everyone!

London part 1

I recently went on a trip to London (with my parents obviously.) 

"Are we there yet..."

At the Waldorf Astoria fancy doorway.

Everywhere was fancy, especially the ceilings.

Lovely chandelier, it was very grand.

Sneaky heelie-ing in the corridor.

Cool sweeties. I bought some, it was too tempting!

A lovely looking cupcake shop. The cakes looked delicious. It made me want to make some when I got home. Whats your favourite cupcake?

Beautiful flowers in Covent Garden which is always full of life and entertainment.

Walking around with my dad. It was very fun in London.

What is your favourite holiday? Please tell me in the comments.

To be continued...

spelt oaties

 These are really fun, quick to make and they taste great.

ingredients:
110g (4oz butter)
110g (4oz) soft brown sugar
175g (6oz) white spelt flour
175g (6oz) oats
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons milk

Before you start, ask an adult to turn the oven on to warm up to 150c/130f/gas2

1. First you need to cream the butter and sugar together. I would recommend using a wooden spoon.
2. Then add the oats and mix together.

3. Now sieve the bicarbonate of soda with the flour.
4.Then add the milk to it.

5. Now squidge it together into one big lump.
6. Some people use a rolling pin and cut neat shapes, but we make little balls then squoosh them flat. 

They might look bit like this:

Cook them for 20 minutes..

Then you can eat them when they've cooled down.
I prefer them with fruit but my paraents like cheese and chutney.

If you have any recipes you'd like me to try, please let me know in the comments!

BON APPETIT!

liz earle halloween

In October I did a shoot for liz earle skincare for halloween and it has been posted on youtube here and the video is at the top of this page. It was definitely an unusual day for me.

 I went on the train to London with my dad, the studio was near a river in East London.

When I first got there I felt very nervous and scared but when I saw what they were going to do I felt excited and happy.

The studio was really plain, just plain white. There were cameras everywhere, it was really cool. There was a make-up artist that did the face paint and a lady that did the cleanse and polish to take the make-up off. It was a really good day. There were other children having it done, but with other halloween characters and they are on youtube too. All the people at the studio were really nice.

Have you done  any weird and wonderful adventures or just a fun day out?

Please tell me in the comments :-)

tie dye apron

What you need:

dye

salt

fabric

string or elastic bands

First you get the fabric and pleat it:

Then put an elastic band or string on it tightly.

 Keep putting elastic bands or string on tightly  until it looks like this.

You mix your dye and salt with water in a bucket  until it looks like this.

You put your fabric in for about a few hours (wear rubber gloves).

When you take it out and you've taken off the string or elastic bands off and it has been in the washing machine and it is dry it would have a pattern on it. Where it had elastic bands or string it is the colour of the fabric underneath.

I hope your dog doesn't lay on it!

Then you cut around an old apron.

So it looks like this:

This is what it looks like when it's finished. My mum made mine for me.

I hope you like it. Have you done any tie dye before?

Billionaire Boy book review.

I've just finished Billionaire Boy by David Walliams and I thought I might review it.
This is a picture of David Walliams:

What's the story about?
The story is about a boy called Joe Spud. He has got a secret, that he is a billionaire boy. He keeps that secret because he doesn't want to be bullied and people only like him because of his money and he is trying to get a true friend.

This is Joe Spud:

Who are the main characters?

They are Joe Spud, Lauren, Bob and Joe Spud's Dad.

Why/why not I liked the book?

I like it because it is very entertaining and interesting for school children.

I don't want to tell you my favourite, funniest bit in case it spoils it for you. But there might be a clue in the word purple! 

You can find this book in your local book stores. 

Press HERE to link to the World of Walliams.  It is literally fun & games, info for schools, about David Walliams, news, books and what you can win. David Walliams is my favourite author.

If you read it what do you think of it? Please leave me comments to tell me what you think.

Cain's Arcade

Caine's Arcade is about a boy who created an arcade out of cardboard and all he wanted was a customer. Then one day there was and he was amazed, the man said "It is amazing to see one boy make a whole arcade out of cardboard. When I went there he said,  "$1 you get 4 turns for $2 you get a fun pass." "

Hope you like it! 

lollibop 2014

Lollibop is a children's festival with lots of celebrities and children's entertainment. It is lots of fun to be there. Loads of Haribo's! I love going every year. I hope this makes you want to go there.

This is me before lollibop with Alex from Cbeebies: 

This is me at lollibop:

me with Sam and Mark: