BOOK REVIEW: Hike Up Devil's Mountain by Penny Estelle

BLURB FROM BACK OF BOOK:

Ten-year old Andy Thompson disobeys his mother and sneaks into the basement of an old abandoned house that’s due for demolition. He stumbles upon a mysterious box under an old cabinet. And his troubles begin when he looks inside.

The Crew brothers, twelve-year old Jason, and ten-year old Danny, also find their way to the basement. New to town, Jason has established himself as the school bully. A struggle ensues between Andy and Jason and the bully ends up as a toad.

Somehow, the boys must reverse the magical spell. That means hiking up Devil's Mountain. The question is will they survive the hike?

REVIEW BY: Angel, age 9 years, 11 months

SPOILER ALERT:

Ten-year-old Andy Thompson's mother tells him not to go to the house next door because it is old and dangerous, but he sneaks out and goes in the house next door where he finds a red magic stick. Two boys named, Jason and Danny, go to the house as well. While the boys are there, Jason and Andy get into a fight over the magic stick. While they are fighting, Andy told Jason that he was acting like a toad and then Jason turned into a toad!! Danny and Andy try to find a way to turn Jason back into a boy, but nothing works. Danny comes up with an idea to hike up to Devil's Mountain. Andy does not want to do this, but Danny tells him that he has to go. While hiking up Devil's Mountain, strange things start to happen.

My favorite part of this book is when the boys were hiking up Devil's Mountain and they start to get hungry. Danny had gummy bugs and since Jason was a toad, his tongue went flying so he could eat the gummy bugs. This is my favorite part because it was so funny! I think that anyone that likes funny and scary books should read this book. I think that it is best for 3rd-6th graders. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.