Billy and the Queen stephen rabley

A magazine called Palace is on the table. Gran opens it. "Look!" she says. "There's a competition here and the first prize is ￡500." Billy looks at the magazine. "Send us a photo of you and the Queen together," he reads.

Billy and Rox are staying with their grandmother in Brighton. They dream of having expensive new bikes, but where will they find the money? Gran has a plan. The only things they need are a cam
era, a bit of luck and the Queen of England!

I thought Rox's idea was very clever and funny. And I was surprised that newspaper tells queen's weekly schedule in this story.

Hannah and the hurricane

"It's cheaper!" she says. "Yes," says a man standing behind her. "And it's going to be the only glass-bottomed boat on the island in a month or two. It's going to be 'Goodbye, Mr. Duval!'" And he laughs. 

Hannah works for old Mr. Duval on his boat. They take tourists to visit the coral reef. But someone is tying to destroy their business. The hurricane begins and Hannah risks her life to get to the truth.

I felt her way of thinking is very wonderful. But I wondered why she want to work for Mr.Duval. I thought they were family or something like that.

Markel and the white star

"What that on the floor?" one waiter asks. "I don't know," says another. "Is it...? No, it can't be a diam..." But before he can finish, Marcel runs across the room. He puts the white star around his neck. Then he runs to the door.

Markal is a French mouse who is a very fine secret detective. Thieves steal the famous white star diamond ring which belong to the opera singer, Zaza Dupont. But Marcel is determined to return it to her.

This is the first time for me to see such a gentleman mouse. I thought He could help her because he was "mouse". I want to see him someday.

The Fireboy

"One day we're going to be very rich," he tells Hepu. "Are we?" the fireboy looks into his father's tired eyes. "Yes." Bak smiles. "I don't know how and I don't know when, but we are." 

Hepu lives in Ancient Egypt. He works for his father, a goldsmith. One day Hepu has a wonderful idea. He decides to make a beautiful gold necklace for Queen Cleopatra.

I thought they get a lot of money, their lives, and jobs because those of them were really hard worker and believed each other. I thought that I want to be like Hepu in the future.

The Last photo

He stands in front of the flowers. "Look at me" says Pam and takes a photo. A man with a big rucksack on his back walls between Pam and Martin. "Oh, no" says Pam. "Now I've got a picture of that man, not of you, Martin"

Pam and Martin are visiting Cambridge for the day. Pam decides she wants to finish the film in her camera and takes a photo she takes turns out to be very helphull for the police...

If I were in the Pam and Martin position, Probably I didn't notice that he was the same man on newspaper. So I thought they has a good memory.

The white oryx

"Look there!" Mandy says. "I can see tracks." "You're right," Abdullah says. "There are the tracks of a track, and some oryx. And look! There's some blood in the sand here - and there." 

Mandy Brown is in the desert with Abdullah, an oryx ranger. But there are poachers in the desert too - and a mother oryx is dead. Can Mandy and Abdullah catch the poachers? And can they find the dead oryx's baby?

In this book, there were a few difficulty words foe me. But I could understand what happened in this whole story. I want to try to read this story again.

Dino's Day in London

"There's a letter for you at Ritz. There's ￡50, too. That's a lot of money." "￡50 for one day in London!" says Tommy. "That's a lots of money." "I know" says Sam. "Be very nice to the boy, Tommy, and don't be late"

A wealthy actress wants her son, Dino, to have a cultural tour of London by taxi. There is a taxi tour, but it's not quite as expected.

While reading this story, I couldn't feel good impression for Dino. But After knew this story's ending, I could understood why Dino behave to Tommy so bad.

The troy stone

It is a flat, yellow stone. Mark picks it up. Then he starts to clean it with his hands. "But I know this stone," he thinks. "It comes from ... from ..." Suddenly there is a white light in his eyes. Mark close them. The light is strong. Now there is a loud wind in his ears. He cannot hear or see anything. "What's happening?" he thinks.

On holiday in Turkey, Mark Jackson visits Troy and finds a yellow stone which seems to have special powers. Suddenly he is in a world of long ago - a world where the Greeks are building a wooden horse...

After read this story, I thought that I want see that old woman and ask her who she is. And also I want to pick up the stone and same experience with him.

Flying home

Felix closes his eyes. Now he cannot see the city and the snow. He can see other things; he can see the life he loves. "I want to be with my family again" he thinks. 

"One day," he says. "One day."

Felix the parakeet is miserable in his cage in a New York apartment. He manages to escape and starts flying south. His hope is to go back to the Brazillian rainforest. Will he find his home again?

I felt so sorry for Felix when I read the Last two pages. I also realized that build building and make city are just for human.

The song

Lucia looks up. The window is open and she can hear music. She goes to the window. The music is coming from the building next door. A man is singing and playing the guitar. Lucia smiles. The music is very beautiful.

Daniel plays very well and he's a good singer too. Lucia lives next door and she often hears his beautiful music. One day, Lucia goes to Daniel's flat and knocks on the door...

When I saw this front cover illustration at the first time, I didn't had any thought. But after read this story, I surprised that how is this illustration have many meanings. I want to read this story again.

Simon and the spy

Simon falls. The old woman falls, too.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Simon says. He helps the old woman.
Simon sees the old woman's shoes. He look at her shoes, and he looks at her face.
"They're not woman's shoes," He thinks.

The police are looking everywhere for a spy. Simon Simple is so busy trying to start a holiday romance with Samantha, he dose not see what is in front of his nose...

My favorite character in this story is the white dog. Because he could judgment who is the good person or not. Personally, I thought this dog is smarter than Simon.

Who want to be a star?

"Tina, why are you eating chocolates?" her mother asks.
"I like them. They're nice!" Tina says.
"You're getting fat, and a fat girl doesn't get lots of money in Hollywood" Mrs. Daniel says. "You want to the money― I don't!" Tina says.

Tina Daniel is a famous TV star. Her mother has grand plans for her, but Tina is unhappy. She want to get away from it all, and she `disappears‘ to the countryside to learn another way of life.

After read this story, I thought her mother should have seen her inside more carefully because she has only one mother.

starman

The empty center of Australia. The sun is hot and there are not many people. And when Bill meets a man, alone, standing on an empty road a long way from any where, he is surprised and worried. And Bill is right to be worried. Because there is something strange about the man he meets. Very strange...

This story was too difficult for me to understand. Even read this story's ending, I could not understand well that who he was.  I'll try read this book again and want to know his identify.

TAXI OF TERROR

"Ow! What's happening?"
"He has a gun! I don't understand. Am I dreaming?"
"OK, I must keep calm. Everything's OK. He can't see me here."

One day, a leaving party was held for a main character who called Jack and in that party, he received  a mobile phone from his colleague as a present. After that, he took a taxi to back his home. Unfortunately, he met a robber in that taxi and attacked to him. Then, Jack remembered that he had a mobile phone and tried to call a police. But...

This story was very interested for me. I thought it was his destiny to met that robber and use his present. Someday, I want to read this book again.

Tinkers Island

”Then Sam makes a flag with his shirt and put it on the roof. He and Jenny look up at the flag.”
"This is 'Tinkers Island' now" Sam says.
"It's our new home and we're going to be happy here."

London, November 1798. A girl who called Tinker lived her father, Sam. One day, he was falsely accused of robber and takan to the ship by the police. After that, Tinker decided to work as a cook on that ship to help his father. However...

During this story, I was in suspense all the time. I think Tinker had a great courage, but also she often did reckless things. So, I thought that I couldn't be like her if I were in the same situation.