Year 8 Book Reviews

Year 8 have been discovering many journeys through Literature, here are some of their review on the novels they have read:

U-Boat Hunter
Written by Byran Perrett
Reviewed by Ciaran Murphy

Peter Rogers joined the navy at the age of 15 after his dad’s cargo ship “Antigua Moon” was sunk by a German U-boat during the second world war. Peter was known to his friends as nipper.

For a short time whilst aboard HMS Arum nipper and his crew feared losing the war because the Germans had started a “U-boat program” and the sheer number of U-boats being constructed was far more than those being sunk.

I liked this book because it gives you an insight into what it was like to be aboard a small naval vessel during the war, and it is full of interesting facts.

My favourite characters were Pingy who was part of the asdic team and responsible for picking up you boats on the asdic, and cabby who was London taxi driver and he sold his cab to join the navy.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the war and wants to learn about the experiences in the navy during the second world war.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
By J.K. ROWLING
By Millie Neighbour 13

No one ever believes Harry Potter, but when he comes out with the story that Voldermort is back, everyone isolates him, problems start happening even more frequently.

Soon Harry realises that the ministry is up to something, and the new defence against the dark arts teacher won’t let them use magic, this annoys harry making him always on the verge of Shouting.
I couldn’t put down this book, it always took you on an adventure, there was also many more genres including romance and comedy.

My favourite characters are Ginny Weasly because you finally see her jinx people because of bullying and you also see her playing quiddich, really well. I also really love Fred and George because when everyone is sad is sad they bring laughter thy also do lots of thing with a “BANG”.
Sometimes when I was reading this I found myself out of my seat or moving my body like I was playing quidditch or running with the characters.

When I started reading, I couldn’t stop, my mum had to use “expelliarmous” to get it out my hands but when I left the book it felt as if I was no longer at Hogwarts and I left for summer, it also made me think about how badly I wanted to be in the wizard world.

I recommend this book to people who like adventure and friendship. It has magic, unusual strange creature and fantastic creatures, I think that anyone who is ready to read a long book can enjoy this, I truly do recommend this – it’s amazing.

13 Secrets
Written by Michelle Harrison
Reviewed by Emily Jones (age 12)

In my opinion this book is the best book ever and that Michelle Harrison should sell and write books forever for children young and old. Her books are magnificent in fact they are so realistic that it almost felt like I was actually there. It made me have a glimpse into the book itself.

I bet I now have you thinking what book I am talking about. Well it is called Thirteen Secrets. It is full of thrilling drama, tense action and heart stopping entertainment all in one. However, it also has gripping mystery and gory fantasy, all jammed into one book.

Michelle Harrison who is well writes it. She is winner of Waterstones children’s book prize. She illustrates and writes lots of books that are sold in and around more than fourteen countries. She is a former book-seller at Ottakars/Waterstones in Stafford. Her first novel was thirteen treasures; she has written several books in the same style. Two examples are the “thirteen wishes” and “thirteen curses.”
I would definitely recommend this book because once I started reading it I felt like I never wanted to put it down. The Thirteen Secrets definitely inspired me to read more and to write books. Michelle Harrison inspires me to write books for a living.

Chains
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Review by Annabelle

Isabel and her sister Ruth were born into slavery, their parents were slaves. Isabel’s father had three slashes across his face from his days as a slave and he was taken away from Isabel’s family to work in slavery again. Their mother died shortly afterwards and they were sent to live with Miss Mary Finch who treated them kindly even though they had to help her.

When Miss Mary Finch died the children were sold to a couple in America who treated them horribly. Ruth was sold and Isabel was put in prison for a few days and branded with an ‘I’ for insolents.

When the war happened Curzon who had showed Isabel around when she had first arrived in America was put in prison with the other soldiers. Isabel lied about been sent to clean the cells and broke free taking Curzon with her.

This is a gripping tale about what happened to slaves from Africa and Rhode Island before the early Victorian era when finally this cruel act was stopped.

I think this book helps give an insight into how horrid life was for these people and how lucky we are to live in an almost free world.

Girl Online on Tour
Written by Zoe Sugg
Reviewed by Tilly S. (age 12)

“Penny’s bags are packed. When Noah invites Penny on his European music tour, she can’t wait to spend time with her “rock-god-tastic boyfriend”. But, between Noah’s jam-packed schedules, less-than- welcoming bandmates and threatening messages from jealous fans, Penny wonders whether she’s really cut out for life on tour. She can’t help but miss her family, her best friend Elliot… and her blog ‘Girl Online’.”

One of Noah’s bandmates tries to get away with heartbreak stunt and leaves Penny and Noah separated. But when Noah comes back to England for a festival Penny feels like it’s the time to talk after 6 weeks.

I loved this book. It had adventure and romance. I think this book is targeted more at teenage girls because it talks about relatable teenage situations and romances.

My favourite characters were Penny Porter and Noah Flynn. Penny Porter was a relatable teenager who was going through normal problems girls do, she loved photography and was quite shy and clumsy but ends up having a romance with Noah Flynn; a popstar new to the music industry. Noah was an American heartthrob, Penny met in New York. He wasn’t like all the other grungy teenagers out there. He was different.

When I read this book I cried tears of sadness, joy and confusion. This book made me feel like I was there, like it was real life. There wasn’t a night were I wasn’t up reading it past midnight and I finished it in 2 days! But I couldn’t stop there so I read the first book again (Girl Online) and read this book, the sequel; (Girl Online on Tour) and a year later the third book came out (Girl Online Going Solo) and I was right in WHSmith buying it.

When I was reading this book it emotionally hit me like a bus and it made me realise Anything Can Happen. It made me think that if you really want something you need to jump for it and take the opportunity that might never happen again, and all you have to do is just say “Yes.” In this book I had gone in head first and came out with some tips to get me through my teenage stages and some things that I am going to remember for life.

I highly recommend this book to teenage girls who like romance, drama and shocks. It has a frustrating twist and a brilliant variety of characters. This book will affect you like an emotional rollercoaster!

Girl Online on Tour
Written by Zoe Sugg
Reviewed by Bea Spooner

Penny is an ordinary girl who blogs her life weather it’s her hidden feelings, friendship, boys, her crazy family and the panic attacks that have begun to occur in her life. Things get worse and worse as she gets older and as this is happening her family takes her to New York, While she is here she meets a gorgeous, guitar-strumming American called Noah. They first become friends and that friendship turns to love, but this amazing person had something to hide. One that threatens to ruin Penny’s cover, and her closest friendship, forever.

I loved this book. It had romance, worry, happiness, and sadness. I think this book would be good for a range of people maybe girls more than boys, but I think some boys might like it too.

My favourite character was Penny, she was kind, mysterious, and brave she fought through lots of hard times in her life but even though this happened she kept going and living her dream.

This book really engaged me as a reader made me feel like I was right there with them, like I was there every step of the way and it felt amazing, sometimes I smiled sometimes I felt sad. When they brought out girl online on tour I couldn’t wait to read it.

Once I got into it I couldn’t stop it was too exiting, always wanting to know what happens next. Excitement in every sentence, in every word. It really got me reading.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes romance, friendship, and more. It has a relationship, a mysterious girl and some creative characters. I think that anyone between the age of nine and sixteen will enjoy this book it’s definitely my favourite book. It was great!

Holes
Written by Louis Sachar
Reviewed by Lewis H. (age 13)

Stanley Yelnats family was never very lucky. So he got accused for stealing a pair of shoes witch wasn’t a surprise, he got sent to camp green lake were they had to dig a hole every day “five feet wide and five feet deep” the length of their shovel, they had to dig fast before the hottest part of the day.

The head of the camp was the warden. She claimed they dig to improve their ways but Stanley knew they were digging to find something that Kate Barlow buried over 100 years ago. This lake wasn’t always dried up it was once a see-through lake that everyone loved.

My two favourite characters are Stanley and Sam ‘the onion man’, Stanley was quite fat when he went to camp but he got slimmer. Stanley did not have many friends at home but when he went to camp, he made a good friend called Zero (everyone has nicknames at camp). Sam was alive over 100 years ago when the lake was there he used to sell onions to people he thought they cured everything all his donkey ate was onions. Kate Barlow loved Sam very much but she wasn’t allowed to.

When I read this book it was quite easy to get into it because it is a good book it feels like you are there with the characters and you can feel what they are feeling. Louis Sachar made the characters in the book very interesting so that the reader wants to read more in the book to find out what happens next.

This book will make you realise how lucky you are to have warm water and people who care about you and look after you and how you can fall in love with anyone you want how would you feel if you couldn’t.
Holes is a very good book because of the cool characters and how all of their backgrounds aren’t that good it makes us feel sorry for them and want to know more and how the story ends if it ends in a good way or a bad way for them.

I recommend this book to everyone that likes adventure stories and likes a bit of a challenge, it has an amazing journey in it and a great group of friends it has superstition and friendship. Holes is a fantastic book you should read it.

House of Robots
Written by James Patterson
Reviewed by Jack Hurst (Age 12)

Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez. He is like most kids… except he lives in a house full of robots made by his mum. His mum’s most recent invention is called E. E is going to school with Sammy because it’s his mum’s super important experiment. Sammy doesn’t like this idea because he is her guinea pig. He says that he might die of embarrassment because E calls the brothers.

Sammy soon realises that E can be nice after he has had some adjustments after he was excluded from school on his first day because he started a food fight. E is very smart because he has been programed with lots of information including lots of skills. Sammy and Trip become popular because of E. Everybody loved E except Cooper Elliot –Sammy’s bully- but E sticks up for Sammy.

My favourite character is Maddie Hayes-Rodriguez because she is so positive even though it is very easy for her to get poorly. She is Sammy’s best friend and little sister. ‘her eyes are bluer than that blizzard blue crayon in the jumbo sixty-four-colour box’ is a description of her eyes which gives the sense that she is a positive person.

When I read this book, I think it shows many different problems in life. For example Sammy’s mum learnt from her mistakes from E before she gave him the adjustment and Sammy gave E another chance because he liked E eventually. Another example is that Maddie is so positive for the conditions she is in at the moment. It shows us that everybody has different lives.

I loved this book because it is fast to read and easy to get in to, it is also pulls you in, you won’t want to stop reading. I like the story because there are many things everyone has to overcome all the way through the story.

I recommend this for people who like robots, fiction and unique stories.

The Fault in our Stars
Written by John Green
Reviewed by Jess Jones

Hazel Grace Lacaster has never been very lucky. This is because she has had cervical cancer since she was a young girl. This meant that she spent a lot of time in hospital which resulted in her not having very many friends. Hazel grace was soon forced to go to some classes by her parents. These classes would let hazel grace talk about her cervical cancer.

Hazel soon realised that she is not alone, and that there are other ill people just like her. There was someone out there and someone perfect for her! All she needed to do was to find him.

I thought this book was fantastic. It had romance and drama which really helped you felt all the different emotions. I think that everyone would like this book because it is very realistic, and shows you the real journey of people with cervical cancer.

My favourite characters where hazel grace and Augustus waters. This is because both hazel and Augustus waters went through life threatening illnesses but always stayed strong. These two characters show that even if something is hard you can always push through it.

When I read this book, I felt many different emotions. Sometimes sad and sometimes happy, but sometimes sorrow filled my heart. This book made me feel like I was there, and going through Hazel’s journey with her.

It took me a long time to get into this book but a soon as I did I couldn’t stop reading It. It was as if someone had glued my hands to it and I could not get them off. This book made me feel very fortunate that I do not have a life threatening illness and that I have not spent most of my life in a hospital with no way to get out. This book made me realise that I am very fortunate for what I have.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves reading and emotion!