Why not write a review of a book you have read and let others know what you thought! Simply pass the review on to Mrs Gibson in the library and she will do the rest.
We will be running a monthly competition for "Book review of the month". There will be a prize for the person who writes the best review. The review can be about any book that you have read from the library - just let us know what you thought about it.
Here are our very first reviews - what do you think?
The Black Book of Secrets
By Eoin Colfer
What happened?
A boy named Ludlow Fitch lives in the city and his parents are evil, so he jumps onto the back of a carriage and he ends up in a village named Pagus Parvus. He meets a man named Joe Zabbidou and he lets Ludlow stay at his home at the back of his shop. He lets Ludlow be his assistant because he works as a secret pawn broker and villagers come to his shop after midnight and they sell their confessions to him and Ludlow writes them down in an old black leather book. Land lord Jeremiah steals the book so he can make the villagers pay for what they have done, but the butchers son gives him a pie with poisoned rat meat in it and he dies! Then Joe Zabbidou and Ludlow Fitch leave the village and travel all over.
I think the book was very interesting and it wasn’t boring because there was something happening all the time!
By Melissa Mason
Anne of Green Gables
By L M Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables is a good story, it is about a girl called Anne who is an orphan girl but there is also a boy as well and two families who get mixed up with the wrong orphan person. Anne starts to settle in and her foster family send her to a school nearby, which Anne does not like. She and a boy there do not get on and they call each other all the time, he on the other hand does not just call her he pulls her hair as well. She was glad when the day was over, but on the outside she was feeling sad because her day had been bad, when she got home she dyed her hair to make sure that the boy could not call her because of her hair anymore and she just sat down sobbing on her bed.
Meanwhile her foster family were looking for her because no-one heard her or had seen her come in. At school she had made a new friend who was now her best friend, her best friends mum started liking her but stopped because Anne invited her new friend over and she thought that the drink in the fridge was dandelion and burdock, but it was actually left over beer that her mum had left, so she ended up giving her friend the beer which made her sick and drunk. Because of that someone dared Anne to walk across the roof and Anne fell and sprained her ankle and when she was on the way to school the next day she fell near a road and was nearly ran over, when she got home the person she was closest to in the foster family had died. Anne’s friend’s sister then died of a chest infection and Anne was devastated.
I liked this book because it really takes you in and it ends on a cliff hanger. I’d rate it at 100%. My little sister also likes this book and she thought it was very emotional.
By Jade Willetts, 7W
Holes
By Louis Sachar
You really get three stories for the price of one with this book, but the main theme is how young Stanley Yelnats IV comes to redeem the curse which was visited upon his great great grandfather and all the Yelnats family through the generations, by Madame Zeroni.
Here is the first thread of this story. Four generations ago in Latvia the young Elya Yelnats fell in love with the beautiful but stupid Myra Merka. He sought help of ancient Madame Zeroni to win Myra’s hand in marriage. In return for Madame Zeroni’s help, Elya promised to carry her up to the top of the mountain to drink from a special spring one more time before she died. She threatened to curse the Yelnats generation if he did not return to do what he had promised Madame Zeroni. Unfortunately for Elya the courtship went wrong and he didn’t receive Myra’s hand in marriage so he boarded a ship and headed to America to fulfil his dreams and start a new life. Things never went right after that for a long time. Settled in America, Elya had one son who became very successful and made a fortune, but he lost it all when he got robbed by the famous outlaw ‘Kissin Kate Barlow’.
We meet Stanley Yelnats IV soon after a few years past, walking down the street Stanley got hit on the head with a pair of shoes, which later belonged to a very important person. Stanley was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. This was something to do with the curse and Stanley’s grandfather always would say when anything was going wrong ‘it’s all to do with your no good dirty rotten pig stealing great great grandfather’. Stanley had a court case and the judge said to Stanley ‘you have two choices, go to jail or go to Camp Green Lakes’, guess where Stanley chose. Stanley got at the camp and was told ‘you are to dig one hole each day, including weekend, each hole must be five feet deep and five feet across in every direction, your shovel is your measuring stick’. Stanley must have looked surprised because they went on to explain that they started early to avoid the hottest part of the day. ‘No one is going to baby-sit you’ he added, ‘you want to go, go but you’ll have one hell of a journey there is no water for 100 miles, the longer it takes you to dig your hole the longer your in the sun’. If you dig up anything interesting you must report it to the warden and you get the next day off. When you finish you get the rest of the day. Stanley nodded to show his understanding; Mr Sir said ‘It ain’t a girl’s scout camp’. It certainly wasn’t a girl’s camp or Green Lake, the lake dried up years ago along with the village.
Stanley gets on with it and makes a friendship with a small lad called Zero. Zero was the digger. They were digging for ‘Kissing Kate’s treasure’ she buried 100 years ago. Kate Barlow became an outlaw for a reason; because she wanted justice for herself after the man she kissed (Sam) was killed for kissing her. The old law was black people were not allowed to have a relationship, marry or kiss white people, so that gave her serious anger problems. Eventually the money (treasure-chest) was found by Zero and Stanley but technically belonged to Stanley because it was his great great grandfathers that was robbed off him from ‘Kissin Kate’ and they all lived happily ever after. I found this book brilliant and full of adventures, partly mysterious and high suspense chapters.
By Danny Albrecht
Goosebumps – Stay out of the basement
Author R L Stine
My book review is about the book called ‘stay out of the basement’ by R L Stine. This is the blurb to the book then I will tell you what I think about the book:
Dr Brewer is doing a little plant-testing in his basement. Nothing to worry about, harmless, he says. But Margaret and Casey Brewer are worried about their father. Especially when they meet some of the plants he is growing down there. Then they notice that their father is developing plant like tendencies. In fact, he is becoming distinctly weedy and seedy. Is it just part of Dr Brewer’s ‘harmless’ experiment? Or does dad have more than just a green thumb?
If you like scary and mystery books then I would recommend this book. I have read it twice. I think this Goosebumps book is great, in fact one of the best ones I have read. In the story Margret and Casey’s mum went to see her sister who went to hospital that morning and that’s where all the mischief started!
You will have to read it for yourself if you think it sounds good.
By Kayleigh Shaw, 7W
Book Review on Titanic 2020
Author – Colin Bateman
What happens?
Jimmy Armstrong’s great granddad drowned when the first titanic sank. The new titanic that they had just rebuilt is supposed to be unsinkable; this is good because he goes away on the ship. Hauled before the captain, Jimmy is in trouble but the ship is far away from land. He is made to work on the newspapers with a spoilt rich girl named Claire whose father loves shipping. Then in the latest news Jimmy finds out that an incurable disease is rapidly spreading causing a riot across the globe, then contact with the outside world ends!
It was a good book and there was a lot of funny parts in it. I liked it because I like the original titanic and the story line was interesting!
Written by Sarah Hyland, 8G
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
Author - Louise Rennison
This book was hilarious reality of how young girls think. It explains many plans girls use like the elastic band theory, which is when you break up with someone and you want them back and so you let them drift as far away from you. Anyway, you find someone to go out with and you show your ex how much you have moved on and ta-da they get jealous and come pinging back (as such as Georgia in the book says).
It’s an amazing book about boys, bullies and parents. It’s a recommended reader. She’s as the Sunday Telegraph say Bridget Jones – but funnier.
Written by Zoe Hardman, 8O
The Demon Assassin
Author – Alan Gibbons
A boy/man called Paul has a massive choice ahead of him because underneath London a demon called King Lud has summoned henchmen called Rector Men to do evil biddings for him across London and worse.
Which side shall Paul join, will he help Lud destroy England or help Britain end World War II.
The Demon Assassin is a mysterious, gruesome and outstanding book. It is entertaining for people of most ages and has a few surprises in store!
Written by Matthew Connolly, 8O
Vicky Angel
Author – Jacqueline Wilson
This book is about a young girl called Vicky. She was extremely popular and pretty. She was walking home with her best friend Jane. They were talking about an after school club. Vicky stepped into the road and was hit by a car, the speed of the car unfortunately killed Vicky. Jade was heartbroken as the two girls were inseparable. Jade blamed herself for Vicky’s death and at Vicky’s funeral decided to read one of Vicky’s essays called ‘Reasons To Be Happy’.
Jade got counselling of Miss Wainwright who she liked very much. But after Vicky died Jade got meaner and meaner by the day as a result of Vicky coming back from the dead as an angel. Vicky spent all her time after death with Jade until finally it was time for Vicky to get her own set of crystal white angel wings and fly off to heaven.
I like this book because it has a good story line and shows what a good friendship is. Jacqueline Wilson shows a lot of sympathy and empathy throughout all the characters.
Written by Amber Gregory 8T
Private Peaceful
Author - Michael Morpurgo
Thomas Peaceful is a fourteen year old boy, who was sent to fight in the First World War with his brother Charlie.
Thomas re-tells his childhood of living in the countryside, going to school and meeting his best friend Molly.
Charlie and Molly was older than Thomas and they had a baby, which Thomas didn’t know about until they were in the war and Charlie was about to be shot for cowardice. Before Charlie dies he asks Thomas to look after Molly and his baby when the war is over. Charlie gives Thomas a watch to remember him.
Written by Courtney Tudor
The Truth About Josie Green
Author - Belinda Hollyer
This book is about a girl named Josie. She lives with her mum and her older sister Fran. Josie’s dad split up with her mum when Josie was only in nursery and now she hardly sees him because he’s always off around Europe inspecting pipes. But she’s always got Aggie, her mum’s best friend they are more like sisters than best friends and she is always round to her house.
One day during history class Ms Macintosh, her teacher, announced that they will be doing things about families. Josie thought that it would be a really rubbish thing to do at first, but something Ms Macintosh said grabbed her interest, she said it would be like being a family detective. Was that a good idea?
Josie comes across secrets she wasn’t supposed to find. She becomes angry with all her family, but she digs deeper and deeper trying to uncover more. When she does, she wishes she hadn’t.
Written by Katherine Wild
Best Friends
Author - Jacqueline Wilson
This story is about two children called Gemma and Alice who have been best friends from birth. The two children have totally different hobbies and one is loud and the other is quiet, but that doesn’t matter. However, one of the girls finds out the other is keeping a secret and she doesn’t know whether they can stay friends.
This is a great book by Jacqueline Wilson that shows the importance of friendship. I would recommend this book to anybody because it shows reality.
Written by Amy Brook
Darkside
Author – Tom Becker
‘Darkside’ is that kind of book, when you never know what’s going to happen next. Jonathan’s dad is ill, he is in hospital. One night Jonathan has to be home by himself and he knows someone is in the house. He knocks on for his next door neighbour to stay the night. The very next day his neighbour and him go to visit his dad and his dad suggests that he goes to a place called ‘Darkside’ where he can meet a man called Carnegie to look after him. Jonathan said he would go tomorrow after he had seen his dad.
So the next night his neighbour and him were stuck in traffic when a tall man started heading in there direction. The man broke the car door and started chasing Jonathan on to the other side of London. Jonathan was prepared and knew where ‘Darkside’ was.
As soon as he entered it, with a few close shaves he found Carnegie. He wasn’t in the best of moods. The next day he found out that he was being chased by Humble and Skeet. The police are on the case and a man called Carter Roberts claims to be an investigator, but seems very suspicious, Jonathan knows he is wanted by Vendetta but also soon finds out that he is wanted by Marianne. He and the other boy Ricky soon escape, just in time to save his dad. He found out that Vendetta was Carter Roberts!
By Raadhiyah Qadir, 8G
‘Darkside’ is a thriller about a young boy called Jonathan. He Lives with his dad Alain in London. He and his dad don’t talk to each other a lot. His dad keeps having ‘darkness’s’ so he calls them. This time it was bad and he goes to hospital. He goes to the old Victorian ward which looks as if it would fall down with the slightest breeze. He told Jonathan to go to the ‘Darkside’ to meet Carnegie.
That night someone comes into Jonathan’s house. Marianne tries to kidnap Jonathan with the help of a seven foot man and a small man, one called Humble and the other Skeet. Humble chases Jonathan around London, after pulling the car door right off his dad’s friend’s car. Jonathan escaped and squashed himself up a smallish pipe. He then was in ‘Darkside’.
In ‘Darkside’ he nearly got trampled on and nearly got himself killed in the first few minutes of being there. He then met Carnegie. There is more to Carnegie than meets the eye.
Overall, I think ‘Darkside’ is a very good book to read. Tom Becker obviously got the point of this story across very well. There are a lot of action scenes in the book and it gets scary at some bits too! I would recommend this book to people as I really enjoyed this book.
By Jessica Cowley, 8G
I liked this book because it had a fantastic dilemma and it’s the best book I’ve ever read.
I would recommend this book to children over 8 years old because it is a bit scary at the start and about half way through (even I was scared).
I would definitely give it 10/10.
Written by Emma Oxton, 8O
Across the Nightingale Floor
Author – Lian Hearn
Across the nightingale floor is about a boy who is the only survivor when a massacre happens at his remote and peaceful village. Takeo is then rescued by a mysterious man named Lord Otori Shigeru. Lord Shigeru takes Takeo back to his home and later adopts him. Takeo’s determination for revenge turns him mute. He is on a journey of ‘self discovery’ as he learns talents he never knew he had.
This book was recommended to me by my cousin. I loved reading this book, I found it very intriguing and fascinating. It also gives you an idea about the ancient Japanese culture and also the history. Overall I would give this book 9 out 10. This book has to be one of my favourite reads! I would recommend this book to people 12 years old and over. I think this book would be suitable for both boys and girls.
Written by Anna La 9W
Coleen Style Queen – Dress To Impress
Author – Coleen McLoughlin
Coleen Style Queen is a book about a teenage girl and her two best friends. There are numerous Coleen books the one I read was ‘Dress To Impress’.
‘Dress to Impress’ is about Coleen and her two best friends who meet a boy with two different personalities and they try to organise the best party for Coleen’s Nan.
If that wasn’t enough at the back of the book it tells you how to make a best friends mirror.
I would recommend this book to any girls aged between 9-16 years old. It is a great fun book written in first person.
By Sarah Wardle, 8T