Reviews/Polls
Books
Reviewing: The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill
By Kai Gajilan Fowler - Grade 5
The Girl Who Drank The Moon by Kelly Barnhill is about a young man, an old witch, a tiny dragon, a poetic swamp monster, and a magical child. The people in the town of Protectorate, are forced by the elders, to give up the youngest baby once a year - for fear of the evil witch, who is actually kind. The witch does not know why the people give up children in the woods, but she wants to protect them. So she takes them with her to the other side of the woods, and to brave the journey, she gives them a special and empowering drink. She lives with a shoe sized dragon, and an aging swamp monster. Then, the witch makes an accident. Years go by, and an elder in training quits, and goes on to be a rather successful and happy man, until one year his child is chosen to be sacrificed. On a quest to end the witch, a child is reunited, and a change goes on through the town, and the witches friends. This spellbinding (literally) book with poetry, metaphor, and magic, is a book I would highly recommend to readers at all levels.
movies
A full review for Avatar 2
by Lael Adovor - Grade 7
I’m sure you’ve heard of the recent sequel to the original Avatar movie. A film so dense with CGI that it racked up more than 237 million USD for budget. The ‘Way of the Water’ is just as spectacular but may be a bit lacking compared to the original. Recent change in CGI technology provides much more stunning graphics compared to the original movie, but lacks what the original has in story-telling. One of the very interesting things about the movie, however, is that is completely watchable without having to watch the first movie.
One issue in particular that was emphasized by fans, was the lack in sufficient character development. For example, Neteyam, the main character’s son, was not focused on at any part of the movie thus resulting in little being known about his character or struggles. Although this may deter some individuals from watching the movie, I still recommend it.
As a rating I would give it a sufficient 7/10.
The Ups and Downs of The Polar Express
by Evan Kirby - Grade 5
Well, The Polar Express is a Movie. It's a Holiday Movie. And Last Year, It was my favorite movie, and remains my favorite Holiday Movie(Closely Competing with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer). But as good as it is, there are many downs too. This is: The Ups and Downs of The Polar Express. First of all, The Ups. One thing that's good is that it has an upbeat, in a way…Rhythm to the movie and sound that makes it feel a certain way. It also has many songs in it, making it in a way a musical. I love musicals, so it makes me love this movie. But, with all of these ups, there come some downs too. For example, why is the animation so weird? If you've never watched the movie, here is what it looks like:
As you can tell, it doesn't look that good, and for me, at the beginning, it always creeps me out. Luckily, you do get used to it, and it can end up being a great movie. Another downside, though, is the goofs in it. There are many…not easter eggs, but… well… you get it, mistakes. Most of them you probably will not notice, like in one scene there is 5 cars, but in the next scene, there are 32. But one thing that you might notice is that towards the end, when santa's sleigh is taking off, there is no Rudolph. You may think: "Oh, maybe they just didn't want to add it, but, there is a statue that is shown in one scene of…The Reindeer,(Including Rudolph!). There isn't too many goofs, and overall it's a great movie to watch, I totally recommend it for your next christmas movie. That's all and Thanks for Reading!
Games
Is Plant vs Zombies 2 is a good game?
by Leon Nguyen - Grade 5
Is Plant vs Zombies 2 a good game? Do you want to continue the adventure? I will tell you all the reason why you should be downloading Plant vs Zombies 2. Plant vs Zombies 2 is a fun game to play when your board, or you just finish Plant vs Zombies 1, or your at somewhere and your offline. You can play Plants vs Zombies 2 anywhere! Plant vs Zombies is a strategy game, during the game you will unlock new plants (like Lightning Reed from the wild west world), more powerful zombies, and new worlds to explore. Let's focus on the other thing, in Plants vs Zombies 2 there a live 1v1 where you are battling for the event plant. The whole goal to win is by dealing the most amount of damage in 2 or 3 minutes. In Plant vs Zombies 2 there a Zen Garden, a Zen Garden is a Garden where you can grow little flowers for money, or boost up your plants for 1 game. There also a Penny's Pursuit in Plants vs Zombies 2, Penny's Pursuit is a world that you have to do the goal. In Penny's Pursuit, there a Zps thing. The harder the level the more Zps you will get. When you get %100 Zps you unlock a weekly random plant. Every week there a new plant to unlock when you get %100 Zps. Plants vs Zombies 2 is a free game (Plants vs Zombies 2 is own by EA that why you see so many bundle, like 1,800 gems cost like $100) but you do not have to buy them, you can buy them if you want.
Fall Guys: Season 4
May 10, 2023 - FINALLY, the newest update for Fall Guys arrived. There was immense anticipation for this update as it not only included new maps to race on, but also a creator mode! This mode is likened to Mario Maker, where players can build their own maps using supplies in the inventory.
The premise of Fall Guys is ultimately, to run as fast as you can to reach the end (typically) and qualify for the next round. Each round, more and more players are Eliminated, until you reach a Finals round, where there can only be one winner to recieve the crown. Crowns are collected (really all about bragging rights), and as you earn dailies and weekly rewards, you can go shopping in the store. This is a cross-platform game that is free to players - PC can download from Steam, console can use their store. There is also the option to play Keyboard and Mouse or Controller- my preference.
The store in Fall Guys has everything from cute banners and emotes, to pop-culture themed skins. The wonderful thing about this game, is there are opportunities to earn in-game monies so you don't technically have to purchase anything with real cash (a nice perk compared to so many free-to play games).
The new season couldn't come soon enough, the last update was September of 2022 and the maps have become stale. However, players never stop being creative and developed SNIPES- a way to play various maps and still include other audience members in their lobby.
Season 4 looks promising with many new maps in The Blunderdome. The maps have a retro/glitch type essence to them and a fun puzzling aspect. The update also showed more vibrant pastel colors- but most interestingly, the slime is missing! What will our beans fall into now? The maps are challenging, extravagant, and a breath of fresh air coming off the Underwater Season. Players cannot wait to begin making and sharing maps - including this gamer!
Tears of the Kingdom
May 12, 2023 - We have been granted the long awaited Breath of the Wild sequel - Tears of the Kingdom. The game has been anticipated for release for a few years, but creator delays and edits caused it to be pushed back over, and over again. After over a decade, we have the visuals, the adventure, the quests, and the building....?
The storyline takes place roughly 4-5 years after Breath of the Wild where Link successfully defeated Ganon and saved Hyrule - once again. The world we see IS fairly the same as it's predecessor - with some varying land and air changes. Ganondorf is back, some type of meteorite materials have crashed into Hyrule, there are sky platforms and islands - plus we can now build carts, cars, boats, planes, whatever and make them actually function!
Similar to BoTW- ToTK include shrine-esque buildings that have varying puzzles or fights within, story quests, harvesting and cooking, and battles all over the Hyrule map. You still need gear that allows to you trek through the Rito mountains, heat-resistant items to visit the Gorons and Gerudos, sleek swimming trunks for the Zoras, and so many others for purposes such as sneaking and climbing.
This long awaited game delivers! It is beautiful to look at, fun to play, and has an endless array of ways you can solve puzzles. Although the game came out on the 12th - this gamer probably won't 100% for a very long time - guess we know what my summer if going to look like!
Tears of the Kingdom game: https://www.zelda.com/tears-of-the-kingdom/
Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough: https://www.amazon.com/Legend-ZeldaTM-Complete-Official-Collectors/dp/1913330001
Gameplay demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6qna-ZCbxA
