Okay, summer’s over! Hello, fall break! While I’m on fall break, I will finally write (technically type) the next blog. Or should I say, the first ever book review!
So I just got back from my cruise vacation, and that’s when I knew I had to do this review! I miss you guys …
The book I’m reviewing is Nightmare Academy by Dean Lorey! You remember Dean Lorey, right? No? Well, check out my interview with him.
I finished this book in summer and thought it was just magnificent! If you paid attention in my Dean Lorey interview, you would know that Charlie Benjamin has horrible nightmares all the time from preschool to now. When he has nightmares, it acts like a portal and monsters from the other world come out of it. But Charlie is special. He can make a class 5 monster (which I covered in the interview) come out of the portal! One day these three people try to take Charlie and train him to fight monsters and stuff. In Nightmare Academy (which is what the school is called), people are split into two classes: the Nethermancers and the Banishers. Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda. Look, I’m not going to tell you the whole story. Go and read it!
This is one of my favorites! I give it a B+ (8.5 out of 10). Why is it not an A? Because B+ seemed right for this book. It was exciting, and it kept you wanting more! Now I’m glad that there are going to be sequels! I wonder what is going to happen next.
For Boys: Monsters, a little gory, fighting scenes
For Girls: Friendship, happy ending (that is all that I could think of … sorry, girls!)
So you see, this book is mostly for boys, but there’s no rule saying that girls can’t read it too!
Until next time, I’m Michael, and remember: life always gets sweeter with chocolate!
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Nightmarishly Good Peanut Brittle
Another Alton Brown recipe! Watch the full episode on YouTube (scroll down to the videos section, and in the search bar type “The Trick for Treats”; there will be a part 1 and a part 2), where he makes more treats.
Ingredients
1/2 cups lightly salted, roasted peanuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
Vegetable oil (a teaspoon or so) for coating the saucepan
Softened butter (room temperature) for spatula
If you want, do 4 cups sugar and 2 cups water
Directions
In a small bowl combine peanuts, cinnamon, and cayenne (Sweet + Heat = Good Eats! Most of the time). Set aside.
Brush the inside of a medium sized heavy saucepan with vegetable oil. Add the sugar and water to the saucepan, cook over high heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until it comes to a boil. Stop stirring, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Uncover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the sugar is a light amber color. Turn heat off, and then stir in peanuts. This will greatly reduce the temperature of the sugar so work quickly. Once evenly mixed, pour mixture onto a sheet pan lined with a silicone baking mat or buttered parchment paper (whichever works for you). Using a buttered spatula, spread thin. You will have to work quickly when pouring out and spreading the mixture in the pan. If necessary, in order to achieve single layer of peanuts, top with a second sheet pan (whose underside has been buttered) and press down evenly. Cool completely, and then break into pieces. Makes 4 cups.
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Michael is a seventh grade student who loves to read and cook. That’s right, cook! He joined Kids Need to Read because he thought that it would be a great opportunity to help everyone open up to literacy. “When you read, you read. When you watch TV, you watch TV. When you create a story, you open your mind.” — Michael
