Welcome
Here some of our young book reviewers give their thoughts on the books they have read.
The Mystifying Medicine Show
By J.C. Bemis
The book lives up to its title as it is certainly a mysterious story. I would recommend this book for about 10 to 12 year olds because the plot of the book is quite hard to follow and there are a lot of characters. The hero Ray has a magical lodestone that his father left to him before he died. There is a very cunning and devious Queen of the pirates with her extravagant ship the Snapdrogon. Read the book to find out more...
By Simply Book Reviewer
Sebastian Williman (aged 8)
Gone
By Michael Grant
Did you think a world without adults would be good? Well after reading Gone you might want to consider thinking again. Gone is the story of a Californian town called Periado Beach where, after a catastrophic mishap at the local power plant, everyone over 15 suddenly disappeared leaving the kids to fend for themselves. The FAYZ, which is the area inside a boundary wall 20 miles in diameter and that centres on the power plant, is home to kids, who before the FAYZ had started getting strange powers, the bullies who are in control and usual kids. After a few weeks of uneasy peace the bullies who occupy the private school called Coates finally work out that their power is too strong and they start holding prisoner the "freaks" as they call the kids with power. The main character who is called Sam Temple, his girlfriend Astrid and his best friend Quinn go to rescue the kids from Coates and bring them back. There is then a big fight, lots of people die but overall good wins over, as usual. I'm sure there is more to come from the book's American author, Michael Grant. Gone is a great read and I would recommend it to anyone from 12 up.By Simply Book Reviewer
Charlie Snaith (aged 12)
Colony by J A Henderson
This book by J.A Henderson is suited to any adventure lover's reading needs. There is a wide range of characters. These characters range from the mass murdered D.B Salty to nervous teenagers like Gene Stapleton. It's a story about a Government cover-up, possible world disaster and a fight for the truth.
There is a downside however. The chapters. For instance, you're reading a chapter in the Mojave Desert in 1995. Then the book would go to Kirkfallen Island 2009, and then you're on your way back to the Mojave Desert 1995 after forgetting what happened in the last Mojave Desert chapter. IT'S COMPLETELY INSANE! (I can put up with it and remember.)
The best bit of the book is near the end where the chapters stop moving about and stay on Kirkfallen Island. This Army owned place of peace is about to say hello to the war of Kirkfallen! At the end of the book you discover why the teenagers carry pheromones that can be deadly to humans.
BySimply Books Reviewer
Thomas William Youngjohns
Auslander by Paul Dowswell
Meet Piotr Bruck, an innocent polish boy whose parents were killed by Gestapo soldiers, being forced into the Hitler-jugend, or "Hitler youth". Marked as a fine Ayran specimen, he is shipped to Berlin, and professor Kaltenback is proud to welcome the newly-named "Peter" into his household. However, Peter is forming his own ideas. Nazi communism somehow doesn't seem right, and Peter wants it to stop. Unfortunately, Berlin in 1942 is not the best place or time to oppose the Nazis, as Peter will soon find out...
What a powerful book! Many things come to light when you have a good look at the Nazis, and Paul Dowswell has done just that. He certainly makes clear what it could have been like for the Germans in the war, and I felt that I learnt a lot from the strangely half fictional informative story. It is so well-written, so gripping that I simply could not put it down. It definately has my recommendation!
By Simply Books Reviewer
Peter Micklem-Cooper (Aged 11)