Trash

By Andy Mulligan

His book is about Raphael, Gardo and Rat, three dumpsite boys in Behala. They spend their days sifting through rubbish, and one day come across a small leather bag stuffed full of money. The bag changes their life forever. Inside is money and clues. Clues that lead them on a trail that puts them in grave danger, but helps them find out about a dead man’s mission to right a terrible wrong.

This was the second time I have read this book, so I didn’t enjoy it as much the second time as I knew what was going to happen. It was still good, just not as good. I thought the plot was very clever, everything linking up well. I liked the way the boys were very fast thinking, and I also liked the fact that throughout the book not everything went as the characters planned, it was more realistic.

Mulligan captured the feelings of the boys really well, explaining their backgrounds clearly. I liked how the book was told from different people’s perspectives, and not just Raphael, Gardo and Rat. This added a different feel to it, and showed exactly what happened. The boy’s feelings were clearly showed in their certain chapters.

I really liked this book. It was a good read, and very exciting and unpredictable.

By Emily B, Year 8

The Midnight Zoo

By Sonya Hartnett

This book is about two brothers, Andej and Tomas, and there baby sister, Wilma discovering a zoo, where the animals talk at night. Andre, Tomas flee from danger in the war without their parents. They have to live off things left from bombed villages, as they only took a few bits from where they were staying before their parents were taken and they escaped. They take shelter in a zoo in a bombed out town, and start talking to the animals, both telling their tales and their wish for freedom.

At first I really didn’t like this book- I thought it was really unrealistic, and I thought that it was maybe a bit childish. But, as I continued reading I found it wasn’t as such about the actual talking animals it was about the animals stories and that their wishes were incredibly similar to Andrej and Tomas’.

I loved how the boys feelings were described, especially the one who was more the ‘leader’ of the two. He acted very responsibly, always thinking of his brother and sister, and it made me sad that a boy that age had to think like that, acting like an adult.

I loved the animal’s stories of how the zoo had got there and their desperation for food and company. The descriptions really helped me picture the scene, it was cleverly written. I think once the boys got to the zoo it was a lot more interesting because you found out a lot more about the boys and the boys family, and you found out why they were in the situation they were in.

I think this book was really good; you just have to persevere at the beginning!

By Emily B, Year 8

Between Shades of Gray

By Ruta Sepetys

This book is about Lina, a normal Lithuanian girl who loves art. One night in 1941 Soviet guards haul Lina and her family from their home. Her mother, brother and herself are separated from her Father and taken away. They are forced to work and live in cruel conditions, but Lina doesn’t give up hope. She continues drawing clues to pass on, in the hope that her Father will see them and find her.

I really enjoyed this book from the start. I think it really showed the feelings a normal teenage girl would feel about this happening to her and her family, and it was a great example of the suffering going on during this time. It was interesting to read, as I have never read a book about Stalin in world war 2.

 I loved the characters, especially how Sepetys described them, pointing out different things as the story progressed. My favourite character was Lina’s brother, Jonas, as I thought his character was brave, doing things to help his family that put himself at risk; I definitely wouldn’t have had the courage to do that! I also liked the fact that Lina always believed, she never gave up hope that her Father was still alive and that her life would go back to like it was before.

Overall I thought this book was very good, some interesting turns that I never expected! I would definitely recommend this to anyone- girls and boys! Everyone would enjoy it!

By Emily B, Year 8

Small Change for Stuart

By Lissa Evans

Small Change for Stuart is about an unusually small boy called Stuart, whose great uncle was a famous magician who mysteriously disappeared many years ago.  When his family move to the town where his uncle was born and lived, Stuart discovers a note left for his dad many years ago. He follows an intricate trail of clues to discover the truth of his great uncle’s disappearance, with a determined businesswoman and a hopeless magician out to stop him.

It was a strange book, and a lot of the things that happened seemed to be mostly of coincidence, but I really enjoyed it. It was written very well, and I don’t get bored once!

My favourite character was Leonara, because she helped Stuart even though she was blind and didn’t really know who he was. She rescued him, protected him from Jeannie, and freed Clifford. She was a really kind, generous person. It was a shame you didn’t find more about what happened to her at the end, but you do know she is happy.

I really like this type of book, and this is a perfect example why.9/10!

Molly Taylor (Year 8)

Midnight Zoo

 In this book two boys and a baby have to survive on the own when there parents are captured. They have traveled for a long time until they reach a desolated village. Suddenly bombs begin to drop and hey take refuge in an abandoned zoo. When the bombers have gone they realize they are not alone. They are surrounded by animals in cages. The animals tell them there story about how there owner left with some of the lions and never came back. Towards the end of the book a girl comes into the zoo as if she was the boys mother but instead she is the animals.    


I thought this book was good. It was told brilliantly and I enjoyed the animals story's.I would give his book 9/10.


 by Laura Bayne 

The Midnight Zoo

By Sonya Hartnett

            The Midnight Zoo is about two brothers, Andrej and Tomas, and their struggle through life along. They must find food and shelter for them and their very young sister, Wilma. They are only children themselves and already they must take on responsibilities that many adults can not cope with. Then, one night when they are looking for sources of food, money and shelter, they stumble across a dark secret.

            I did not like this book. I felt that it took ages to get into the story and that it was quite a childish theme. I also felt that it kept leaping from one extreme to another, changing subject all too quickly. I feel that far too many subjects were covered in this book as well. And that there was too many big stories both realistic and not. There were a lot of characters to try and keep track of as well.

            So, I think that the idea for the book was very good, but it needs to be simplified, there was far too much going on at one time. I could not put this book down because if I did I would lose track of everything that was happening and have to read from the beginning again.

By Jodie yr8

Small change for Stuart

This book is full of adventurer and mystery. Stuart is moved by his parents in the middle of the school holidays to his fathers home town. He knows nobody. When he finds his out his family used to own a toy factory he sets out on a quest to find his uncles lost work shop. This means he must break in to town museum to use some old toys. When he finds the workshop. It does not go to plan

This book was OK. But laked the last bit of umph. I would give this book 7/10.

Laura Bayne

My Name is Mina

by David Almond

            My Name is Mina is a book, almost like a notebook, from the point of view of Mina, a very fast thinking, intelligent, young girl. Her father died when she was young, and a few years later, she left her school, to be home schooled by her equally imaginative mother. Mina offers a very different view to the world around us.

            I didn’t like this book, I felt that it was little too random and did not add anything to the story ‘skellig’. I think that it is a good idea to have a book from the point of view of Mina. But, I feel that the way6 he wrote it was a little too random and there was not really much purpose or even a basic storyline or adventure in the book.

            So, I felt that idea for the book was good, but that the way in which it was written could have been better and it could have done with a story like Mina going on an adventure, not just remembering some.

By Jodie yr8 

Small Change for Stuart

This book is about a boy called Stuart whose small for his age but is looking for a big adventure! His mum is a scientist and his dad stays at home. During the summer holidays they move away to his dad's birth town, all seems boring until he finds out about Teeny-tiny Tony Horten and his workshop of magic and wonder... This book was so amazing I couldn't put it down! It gripped me into it Stuart's world and made me want to know more.

Eleanor Widdowson yr7

My sister lives on the Mantelpiece

Ten year old Jamie has net cried since it happened. He knows he should have cried Jasmine cried, Mum cried, Dad stills cries. This book is about Jamie who sister dies in the terrorist attacks in London next thing he knows his Mums left and they move to the countryside. He makes a friend called Sonya a Muslim who his Dad hates. When his cat is run over by a car his dad finally has the courage to scatter Rose's ashes which he has been trying to do for 5 years. When he goes to a competition in Manchester his Mum turns up but suddenly disappears as though she was never there. Having broken friends with Sonya he makes her a card and leaves it in the snow. At the end of the book his dad becomes sober and lives start to go back to normal. 


I would give this book 9/10


Reviewed by Laura Bayne

Everybody Jam

Danny lives in the Australian out back on a ranch. Last year his brother (Jonny) died in an accident but nobody ever mentions him. It is time for the annual muster but with Jonny dead and his sister (sissy) pregnant. He is on his own. When he is given a pet, buzz, they become instant friends. With all the new calves the pommies (servant from England) has to help out. She and Danny become great helpers and look after all the calves together. To finish sissy has her baby and every one is happy. 


I enjoyed this book and read it in less than twenty-four hours. I would give it 9/10.
Reviewed by Laura Bayne

Between Shades of Grey

It was difficult to pick up this book. I was in the middle of a great book and I wasn't really sure I wanted to read the Carnegie short-list. However once I had started reading it was even more difficult to put it down.

I was hooked from the start, right from Lina, a 15 year old Lithuanian girl, being cruelly taken by the Soviet Union to be transported in cramped, unhygienic and dark conditions in the first section of the book right until the last few pages in the workhouses in Siberia.

I was also impressed by the writing style because I didn't notice it. At no point in the book could I imagine the author writing the text in front of me. Lina was telling me the story and it was totally believable.

However my favourite aspect of this book was the characters, my favourite being Jonas watching him grow in his character as well as develop maturity and a sense of calm from being someone who was very scared and naive at the beginning of the book. I also loved how Lina took her own view on the characters she crossed paths, for example only referring to one woman as 'the grumpy woman'.
I also loved the character of Lina and Jonas's Mother. She was a very calming influence and not only did Lina and Jonas rely on her to keep the family together and alive, but I relied on her to keep the family together and alive. I had become so attached to the characters that I was genuinely fearful for them.

The plot and description was also faultless. It was described so well that I could picture the settings in my mind and, along with the plot, it kept me captivated and some bits I found genuinely shocking. I had to keep reminding myself that this had once happened and that made it all the more scary.

The only aspect of the book that I didn't like was the ending. Without spoiling it for those who haven't read it, I felt that the ending came very abruptly and that it didn't tie up as many loose ends as I would have liked. I also felt that the characters changed their views too quickly to make it an appropriate ending.

These events were based on real accounts from people who experienced the horrors in this book. It was set whilst World War One was going on so people often forget about what else what was happening in the world. Overall I thought that this book was an eye-opener, something unique and amazingly written. I would not hesitate in recommending it to everyone.

9/10 Review by Nathan Dumpleton