Colly's World

This is a list of some of my favorite books that I recommend you read. I will be updating the list once in a while. I’ve read a ton of great books that I really loved and want to encourage other people to read them. I provided the link to Amazon, so if you see a book that looks interesting you can click on the link and buy the book! If you have a book that you love and want to share with the world, then email me the book name, a summary, and why you like the book, and I will try to put it on my site! Thanks, Colly

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World… One Child at a Time (The Young Reader’s Edition)

This wonderful book by Greg Mortenson is a true story about him trying to climb K2, the second tallest mountain, but then he gets lost and ends up in a village called Korphe in Pakistan. In the village, Greg sees kids scratching multiplication lessons on the ground with sticks and without a teacher. After that, Greg is determined to build them a school. He lived cheaply by sleeping in his car and raised money, and he bought supplies and then had to build a bridge across the river to get the supplies to the village, and he had to ask workers to help him. He was determined because the villagers treated him like a family member. Eventually, he came up with a program called Pennies for Peace and the Central Asia Institute to help the world by making schools in Central Asia.

I like this book because it is an autobiography, but Greg talks in the third person so it makes it sound like a biography. He also goes through a lot of challenges good and bad, like being kidnapped, and marrying someone after knowing her for six days, and more. I learned a lot about Muslims and how some, like the ones who kidnapped him, take their religion to the extreme and want to hurt whoever doesn’t obey their religion; but others who practice Islam are sweet, caring people who just want the best for the world. That’s who Greg makes schools for.

I never knew about Three Cups of Tea before I met Greg’s daughter, Amira. She had a pizza party in September in Denver, Colorado, celebrating Three Cups of Tea that I got to go to! My friend Zoe was in Denver because her dad was involved with promoting the book, and she invited me to go. You might think you don’t want to read this book because it sounds boring and involved with a strange part of the world — I thought that, too — but now I love the book, and if you give it a try, I think you will, too.

When You Reach Me

This book by Rebecca Stead has been one of my favorites for a long time. Sixth-grade Miranda, living in New York City, is going through a lot challenges: her best friend Sal doesn’t want to be with her anymore, her mom is busy getting ready to be on the $20,000 Pyramid TV show, and she is getting these mysterious notes that tell the future and that she isn’t supposed to tell anyone about. In this book Miranda and her new friend, Marcus, talk about a mistake in the book A Wrinkle in Time. They also talk about time travel in a way nobody has really thought about. The best part of the book is the end because you never would have guessed it. I love this book, and I know you will too!

Flashcards of My Life

This is a fun book by Charise Harper that you can read easily and quickly. For Emily’s birthday her aunt gives her flashcards that she can fill out and look back on when she is older, or something like that. In the book you can read her middle school story, comics, and flashcards. Emily has weird parents and a lot of friends; she’s desperate for a boyfriend, avoiding getting a job but then getting one, and stumbling her way through middle school, all of it hilarious to read about. If you are looking for something funny and short, you would definitely love this.

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

This book is by Gennifer Choldenko, who also wrote a great book called Al Capone Does My Shirts.

Something that makes this book different in a cool way is that there are two people telling the story, Kristen and Walker. They each are struggling with problems at their school. For Kristen, her best friend doesn’t want to be seen with her, she is struggling with weight issues, and she isn’t fitting in. For Walker, he’s at a new school, he is the only African American at school, his mom doesn’t have enough money, and like Kristen he isn’t fitting in. So, since both Kristen and Walker aren’t fitting in, they become friends. But one night, Kristen overhears her parents fighting about her and Walker, and a secret is revealed that could ruin their friendship forever. This book is a great read that I really got into and loved.

Pandora Gets Jealous

This is a great book by Carolyn Hennesy. My mom made me read this because we’re going to be learning about Greek mythology and we’re visiting Athens next spring. I thought I’d hate it and it was going to be some boring professor-written Greek mythology thing. But, it turned out to be really fun. Pandora (or Pandy for short) goes to Athens Middle School, and at her school the teachers take one whole day to let each student give a short presentation about the Greek gods. Pandy wants something that will take people’s breath away, but she doesn’t want to bring her dad Prometheus’s liver in a jar (again). (Prometheus got his liver pecked out every day by a giant eagle as punishment by Zeus for giving the people fire, but it grew back every night because he’s immortal.) She finds the box that must never be opened, which Zeus gave her dad. The box has evils that can destroy the world. She takes the box to school. But after the presentation, the box is accidentally opened! Pandora must go catch all the evils before it’s too late or Pandora will be the person who destroyed the world! Read about Pandy as she tries to capture jealousy, which is one of the evils. Hennesy also has two other Pandora books about her catching other evils (vanity and laziness). I love this book because it mixes Greek mythology and present day.

Getting Air, reviewed by Kyle

I am Colly’s brother, and I just read a book that I loved and want to share with you. The book is Getting Air by Dan Gutman. I recommend this book for kids who are in 3rd – 5th grade.

In the book there are three best friends and a sister who are on their way to the X-games, but then the plane that they’re on gets hijacked! Then they fight the hijackers, and they end up crashing the plane in a forest and killing the hijackers. They have to now survive in a forest with a flight attendant, and a grandmother and a whole lot of dead people.

I really liked this book because it has two things I like: skateboarding and survival. For example, when one friend, named David, goes off on his own, he gets bit by a snake and uses a skateboard to kill it; then they end up cooking and eating the snake! I have some connections to this book that got me really into it: 1. I really like to skateboard, 2. I love Cub Scouts and camping/survival skill stuff. The moral of this book to me is don’t give up and just keep trying. I really enjoyed reading this book and I think you would like it too.