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You've Got to Read This One!

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[book]

Dinotopia: Firestorm — Gene DeWeese
Published by Random House, 1997

I'm sure you've wondered what the world would be like today if dinosaurs existed. Well, I decided to read a book about an island where dinosaurs exist. The book is part of the Dinotopia series, and it's called Firestorm.

Olivia has always wanted to become an apprentice for Esther, a female part of the round table. The round table is filled with Dinotopians who try to figure out what's causing problems in Dinotopia. But there's something going wrong on the island: A blight is causing all Tribulor plants to die. The residents need the Tribulor plants because they make Dinotopians live up to 200 years! It's up to Olivia, her partner Albert, and their dinosaurs Thunderfoot and Hightop to save Dinotopia.

The plot in this story was very interesting because, if I were Olivia, I would be trying so hard to find out what was causing the blight. She always wanted to become Esther's apprentice but her partner Albert was trying to help her with her theories about the blight, but what he was really doing was giving her a better chance at the job than him.

I liked the main character, Olivia, because she always stayed focused on the task that needed to be done. I liked the part where Olivia and her companions are trapped in the middle of a raging fire. This part was interesting because the book didn't really have a lot of action in it and this part couldn't be more exciting.

The main idea of this book was "never give up." Olivia and Albert were so close to finding out what was causing the blight and every time they had a theory they were so close to the actual answer that it was really starting to bug them. So when you read this book, I hope you learned what I learned: Never give up.

Rachel, Grade 6

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