UGLIES TRILOGY

UGLIES TRILOGY by Scott Westerfeld
Simon & Schuster Childrens Books. (Ages 11 and up)

Rating: 4.5 Stars



UGLIES
448 pp.
ISBN 9780857079138



PRETTIES
384 pp.
ISBN 9780857079145



SPECIALS
400 pp.
ISBN 9780857079152

  The Uglies book series, intended for young adults, was actually recommended to me by my grandma. Now, although this might make you think, “boring”, and that this series must then be some weird old classic, I assure you it isn’t. Firstly, my grandma tends to pick good and modern books, and secondly she actually found out about this series from one of her high school students.
  Something I like about all the books in this series is that the main character, Tally Youngblood, is very, very far from perfect. Most of the time I dislike or hate her, and if we had met we probably wouldn’t have become friends. For me, this means that when Tally does do something good, it feels much more real and impressive, because you understand how hard it is for her. This also means that you feel like you are there with her on her rocky journey between right and wrong all the way.
  This series tells about the experiences of Tally, who lives in a future society where everyone is split into two groups: the Uglies and the Pretties. The Uglies series includes three books which document the lives of Tally and her peers: Uglies, Pretties, and Specials. (You may note that Scott Westerfeld also added a fourth book to this “trilogy”, Extras, but I think it does not mesh well with the others and therefore do not review it here.) Until the age of sixteen everyone lives as an Ugly, waiting for the day when they can be transformed into a Pretty, and look however they want to. However, there is also a group of people who want to keep their own faces and think that changing people into Pretties on their sixteenth birthday is wrong. In this series, Tally experiences friendship, love, betrayal and having to figure out -- and choose between -- right and wrong.
  Although this series is set in a fictional, futuristic society, it seems to be a commentary on our own social values. I think that the writer is trying to make a point about the way we view beauty nowadays and almost warn us about what will happen if we don’t change. It makes me wonder if with us already having Botox and plastic surgery we’ll be living in a world like in the Uglies series a few centuries from now. With the value put on beauty already, and people already striving to look like what someone says is perfect, I wouldn’t be surprised if that did happen. I think that the books show that we need to get our priorities straight. At the moment women, at least, put beauty before everything else (jobs, doing well at school, and even their own happiness). This, of course, is wrong. I mean, where does Botox and plastic surgery and make-up really get us in life? It doesn’t make us rich or happy, and it doesn’t even give us love (well, not the real kind at least). Most of the people who get their appearances changed, probably don’t even want to, and only do so because society would look down on them otherwise. This links directly to the Uglies series where everyone is forced to completely change how they look and act, whether they want to or not, to please their leaders and peers. At the moment, we are trying to change all this so our world doesn’t end up like the way it is in Uglies. For example, new Barbies are coming out that are curvy, tall and short, with diverse hairstyles, which are supposed to better represent people in the world around us. However, they will all still have perfect features and are extremely beautiful, therefore making it still seem as though there’s something wrong with looking anything less than perfect. Although these new Barbies help address the problem of young girls getting concerned with their weight and height because of Barbies, it doesn’t help the case of too many people smothering their faces with Makeup and even reassembling their faces with Botox and plastic surgery. In my opinion, changing Barbie is only the very beginning of what we need to do to protect our world from becoming like it is in Uglies.
  My favorite book from this series was Pretties because I think that Tally has to make the hardest choice in this book. In Uglies she doesn’t really know what it’s like to be a pretty yet, and she has more reasons for holding back and escaping with the Smokies, like her best friend Shay. Also, in Specials she doesn’t even really have to make that choice, because instead she gets to become something even better and stronger. However, in Pretties she has her best friend with her, gets a new, pretty boyfriend, and overall she knows how easy and fun it is to be a mindless pretty. Anyway, I think that this makes the second book especially interesting, because you can’t tell what her choices will be, and, to be honest, I’m not so sure I would make the right choice if I were in her position.
  My favorite character has to be Tally’s best friend Shay. This is because I feel like she’s always trying to be good, and help her friend Tally, but ends up messing up instead. I also feel like she doesn’t get enough credit for everything she does, and is sometimes just viewed as a sidekick. I think if I wanted to make the series better I would focus a bit more on her.
  Tally Youngblood reminds me very much of the main characters in two other books I’ve read: Katniss Everdeen (from “The Hunger Games series) and Beatrice Prior (from the Divergent series). All three of these characters are living in a futuristic world, and start off either poor, ugly, boring, or somehow inferior to the rest of society. Then they go through a sort of build up time where they make both right and wrong choices, on their way from being frightened young girls to becoming strong leaders. Although all three characters intrigue me, I have to say that Katniss Everdeen is my favorite because I feel like even though she probably went through the hardest time of all three characters, she managed to stay strong all the way through.
  I think that you should be at least twelve to read this book or else you might not understand it and see it’s hidden metaphors, however if you are younger you will probably still enjoy it. I really enjoyed this series so I think that it definitely deserves four and a half out of five stars.

GHOST KNIGHT

GHOST KNIGHT
By Cornelia Funk
352 pp. Orion Books. £6.99. (Ages 8 and up)

ISBN
9781444008494

Rating: 5 Stars


This story is about a boy called Jon who is 11 years old. When he goes to Salisbury’s boarding school, he finds out that the place is haunted with ghosts, so Jon gets a girl called Ella to find somebody to help. I like it because it has got ghosts and well illustrated pictures. It has got really good chapter names to hook the reader with action and magic. I think it could be more scary because the ghosts could be better. I think 6 to 12 year olds should read this book because 6 year olds like picture books and children over 12 might get bored of it. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

BEDEVILED: CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

BEDEVILED: CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
Bedeviled Series: Book 3
by Shani Petroff
Illustrated by J. David McKenney
240 pp. Grosset & Dunlap. $6.99. (Ages 10 and up)

ISBN
9780448451138

Rating: 5 Stars

   Angel try's to help a boy that she thinks needs help. but it ends up a disaster. Her friend now has her powers and she lost people she loves. She realizes that using her power isn't that easy. Even though her father already warned her. Now she has to deal with totally weird things and make them back to normal. Once again her father is correct, but he leaves her alone to make everything back to normal.
   Have you ever felt heart broken? This is how Angel felt when she heard that her boyfriend likes her best friend. Gaby wished for something that might ruin her relationship with her best friend. And even after that she still wishes for more things. How can she stop?
   I think the book has a connection with life. Like her friend Gaby breaking her best friends heart just because she wanted someone to like her. Gaby also isn't grateful of what she has, she just uses her wish power to wish for so many things she does not need. It's just so upsetting if a best friend wants something better than what her best friend needs. Let this be a lesson to all of you, always put family and friends before things that you want.
   I think this is a perfect book for Tweens. I think this book should be popular so much more people can know about this book.
   I give this book 5 stars.

DIVERGENT

DIVERGENT
Divergent Trilogy Book 1
By Veronica Roth
496 pp. Katherine Tegen Books. $17.99. (Ages 13 and up)

ISBN
9780062024039

Rating: 5 Stars

   This book is the best book I have ever read. It’s a teen novel about the future. It’s like all types of novels mixed together. It has love, adventure, friendship, science fiction and so much more. One of the other reasons I like this book is because it has so much information that you make an epic movie in your mind.
   I like romance, but not any kind of romance. I like teen romance or a story about crushes. I don't like when the romance is so simple, like the 70's romance. This book has a very advanced type of romance, it has sharing secrets, crushes, the type of ‘aww’ caring and more.
   Sacrifices are one of the worst parts of most books you may think, unless it has the enemy sacrifice themselves. Yes, I agree to. This book has too much sacrifice. Tris's mom, dad, and friends died in the book. It’s too much, hurts the reader’s heart. The deaths of Tris's friends and family is because of this erudite woman. Argh! The sacrifices are good because of the reasons they sacrificed themselves. I won’t say anything more to save the secrets.
   I love how the author made the fear simulation. It would not be the best book I have ever read. And also Four would not be there. Four is amazing, he has only four fears. My fears are uncountable. It’s also fasinating to imagine.
   I will rate this book all the stars in the word.

HORRIBLE HISTORIES: SAVAGE STONE AGE

THE HORRIBLE HISTORIES: SAVAGE STONE AGE
by Terry Deary
Illustrated by Martin Brown
144 pp. Scholastic. £5.99. (Ages 8 and up)

ISBN
9781407104287

Rating: 5 Stars



    I enjoyed reading this book because it had good illustrations and it was very funny also I learned a lot from reading it. The topic of this book is the Stone Age peoples! And it tells you about their way of life. I liked the illustrations because they look like comic books strips. Also the people in the illustrations act in funny ways.
    This book is written in a special way because most history books just give you the nice facts of history, but this book tells you all the horrible things in history. As a result, this book was scary and happy. So I guess that if you add up scary and happy at the same time that will make the book funny!
    The most interesting fact in the book is that hunters used to keep mammoth brains as souvenirs to show off with the other hunters. I was interested about the Stone Age because that was my topic at school. I want to learn more about this Stone Age topic because I know there are still more things to learn after reading this great book. I give the book 5 out of 5 stars.

THE UNLIKELY ADVENTURES OF MABEL JONES

THE UNLIKELY ADVENTURES OF MABEL JONES
by Will Mabbitt
Illustrated by Ross Collins
304 pp. Puffin. £6.99. (Ages 8 and up)

ISBN
9780141355146

Rating: 5 Stars



    This book is about a girl called Mabel Jones and she gets kidnapped by pirates. Then she becomes a pirate too and Mabel Jones has to help the crew find all the X’s so they can get through the map to the treasure, but along the way there are many ways to die.
    My favorite character is Mabel Jones because she is a tomboy that is very clever and not scared of anything!
    I think this book is special because most pirate books do not have time machines in them but this book does have them.
    I like this book because of what happened when I started reading it. At the time I was reading a boring book and picked up this one instead to try it. This book was so good, it made me never want to stop reading it and I finished it in less than a day even though it is almost 300 pages long!
    I think you should be 6 to 12 years old to read this book. I will give this book 5 out of 5 stars. I hope this author writes more books with the same illustrator.

also on the Guardian Children's Books Site

AMY WILD: AMAZON SUMMER

AMAZON SUMMER
Amy Wild: Book 1
By Helen Skelton.
304 pp. Corgi Childrens. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9780552568395

Rating: 5 Stars



      This book starts off with the main character (Amy Wild) being invited to go on a trip to Peru with her Aunt Marg, to help her take photos of all the wildlife and city life. Her aunt is a photographer for magazines. When she arrives there she meets a man called Dudu and his son Juan who are also helping her aunt, and for a few days everything seems to be going well. Their good luck doesn’t last long, though, as after a few days Amy accidentally runs over her aunt with a truck. Terrified that Dudu will kill her, or she’ll be put in jail by the police, she runs away and hides in a boat she finds in the Amazon. The next morning she wakes to find herself deep in the Amazon with Juan purposely driving the boat. Not wanting to turn back, Juan decides to let Amy tag along with him. Sadly, he hasn’t taken her clumsiness into account, and their adventure starts to get crazier and crazier…
      My favourite character has to be Amy as I feel like I can connect with her in many ways. For example, in the book she seems to be a tomboy who would rather be having adventures or playing games and sports rather than just talking and gossiping with her friends. I have to say I agree with her as in school I’ll often get bored of just talking to my friends and go and play football instead. I also feel I can connect with her, as I have actually been to the jungle myself before, so I understand some of the dangers she faced, even though it was probably much safer for me when I went to the jungle.
      The scariest part of this book was probably when Juan’s boat breaks because he and Amy were fighting, and they are left in the middle of the Amazon with no way of transport except their own feet. I found this the scariest part of the book because before it was already scary and they were all alone in the jungle, but at least they had some shelter and some way of transport. When the boat breaks, suddenly everything seems more real and scary than before.
      I think that this book should be read by children eight to fourteen years old who like adventure books, as younger children won’t be able to read it, and older children may find it childish. The majority of this story takes place in the Amazon rainforest in Peru and is set in our time. As it is an exciting adventure story about the rainforest I think this book deserves five out of five stars.
An interview with the author on the Guardian Children's books site

I AM THE ARCHITECT

I AM THE ARCHITECT
by Moon
Illustrated by Rosanna Tasker
48 pp. Moon. £7.00. (Ages 6 and up)



Rating: 5 Stars



    This book is about Archie and his mom .In the story Archie decided to design his own house.
    I like that in the book what’s funny is Archie used his mom’s M&S card to buy his items. Also I like the illustrations and how they are designed by the illustrator.
    I think this book is special because it tells you what an architect is and also it has a competition!.
    I like this book because it is very funny. I think the age you should be is 6-9 because it has hard words to understand. I will give this book 5 stars.

DEMON HEADMASTER

DEMON HEADMASTER
by Gillian Cross
160 pp. OUP Oxford. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9780192755827

Rating: 5 Stars



     The story is about a girl and 2 boys and a very mean headmaster. When you look in his eyes he says "You are so so tired" and then you fall asleep. Except for the Splat group…
     The most scary part was when the demon headmaster nearly killed Splat with learning children - but a noise interruption by Dinah stopped it. I like how there is always excitement in the chapters.
     I enjoyed this book and I will give this book 5 stars. I think 8 – 11 year olds will like this book because it is not that scary at all like it has a many bits of scariness.

THE BATTLE FOR WONDLA

THE BATTLE FOR WONDLA
WondLa trilogy book 3
by Tony DiTerlizzi
496 pp. Simon & Schuster $17.99. (Ages 10 and up)

ISBN
9781416983149

Rating: 5 Stars


    In most adventure books the main character is a boy and the girls are all quite weak, which disturbs me. However, in this book a girl (Eva Nine) is extremely brave, a hero and the main character. Eva Nine was created in a lab, which means that she isn’t a proper person so she’s supposed to be controlled by normal people, although she's still the one who saves Wondla. For these reasons she is my favorite character.

    This book started with Eva Nine having gone into hiding with Hailey in the forest. They did this so they weren't captured by Loroc, who had already consumed his own sisters to make himself more powerful, and now hoped to consume his brother Zin also. Eva Nine had an idea for where Zin was hiding and got a trader in goods to take her there. When she got there she asked him for help and warned him about Loroc. He agreed to help her but before they could speak anymore they were attacked by Loroc's warships. Luckily, Eva Nine managed to escape; Zin, however, wasn't so lucky and got captured. Having escaped, Eva and Hailey went to Eva's alien friend Rovender and his tribe to ask them for help in trying to thwart Loroc's evil plan. They agreed and together the unlikely team did their best to stop Loroc …
    One of the things that makes this book unique and amazing are the illustrations. Tony DiTerlizzi is an inspiration to me because he is one in few writers who write long books and illustrate them. This inspires me because I love drawing and writing and if I ever write a book I would like to illustrate it myself. He also inspires me because normally fantasy and sci-fi writers only use well known magical characters like werewolves, fairies, witches, vampires, ghosts and wizards, maybe inventing one or two more creatures, whereas, Tony DiTerlizzi invents a whole new world of them. When you read, notice how it uses allusion to older stories like the Oz stories, and even the Grimm brothers’ fairytales, except more modern. For example, they all invent new imaginary worlds. The Wondla stories are especially like the Oz stories because they both have a young girl making new, sometimes strange, friends, in a magical world. I suppose “Alice in Wonderland” sort of fits in with them too, but I think that it doesn’t completely, because while the other stories have a fixed goal (finding home) “Alice in Wonderland” seems sort of muddled.
    As this is such a good book I won’t restrict it too much to one age group. I think the right reader for this book is any one over 8 who liked the last two books and can read well. As this book was amazing, it definitely deserves five out of five stars.

also on the Guardian Children's Books Site

THE UNDERLAND CHRONICLES

THE UNDERLAND CHRONICLES by Suzanne Collins
Scholastic. £29.95. (Ages 8 and up)

Rating: 5 Stars

GREGOR THE OVERLANDER
The Underland Chronicles Book 1
256 pp.
ISBN 9781407137032

GREGOR AND THE PROPHECY OF BANE

The Underland Chronicles Book 2
256 pp.
ISBN 9781407137049

GREGOR AND THE CURSE OF THE WARMBLOODS

The Underland Chronicles Book 3
288 pp.
ISBN 9781407137056

GREGOR AND THE MARKS OF SECRET
The Underland Chronicles Book 4
272 pp.
ISBN 9781407137063

GREGOR AND THE CODE OF CLAW
The Underland Chronicles Book 5
336 pp.
ISBN 9781407137070

    These amazing books just blew me away, for example, already by the first chapter, I got to thinking about how lucky I was because this book, unlike others, was about a family who had just enough money to live off of. An interesting aspect of the way the story was written was how the writer described humans through the perspective of human-like creatures in the Underland. In the book humans are described as Killers because they kill not only all of the other animals but their own species too. Sadly, it is all too true.
    This series starts off about Gregor and his little sister Boots falling through the laundry chute into the Underland. In the first book, Boots is pronounced 'Princess' by the Crawlers (cockroaches). Meanwhile Gregor is told he is the warrior from the prophecy. At the end, he bonds with a bat, Ares. In the second book Gregor has to go on a long journey to kill the Bane, a large white rat. However, when he gets there he finds that the Bane is barely a pup so he refuses to kill it. In the third book, Gregor’s mother , and Ares, catch a disease. Gregor and some other people go to look for a cure for the disease, only to have it destroyed by the Cutters (ants) immediately. At the end of the story, they find that it was made by the humans and that it was there all along. In the fourth book the Nibblers (mice) mysteriously disappear. Gregor and his friends set off to discover why and are shocked by the terrible truth. In the fifth and final book the biggest war of all time occurs in the Underland and Lizzie, Gregor’s other little sister, breaks the code of claw. At the end Luxa, a human, and Ripred, a Gnawer (rat), bond, therefore ensuring peace between all the humans and Gnawers.
    My favourite characters in this series were Boots, Ares and Luxa. I liked Boots because she seemed so funny and innocent. She made the scary and sad parts in the book seem happy and funny. Luxa was one of my favourites because I felt I could link to her. She was very brave and was always running off on adventures when she wasn't supposed to. I felt sorry for Ares, because he was such a good guy but he was always treated badly and like an outcast. He was always put into positions where he had to make a hard choice, and got scolded afterwards for not choosing the other option even though he would have been treated the same or worse if he had. Sadly, at the end of the last book he got killed.
    I think ages nine and over should read this amazing series. This book definitely deserves five out of five stars.

ASTERIX AND THE PICTS

 
ASTERIX AND THE PICTS
by Jean-Yves Ferri
Illustrated by Didier Conrad
48 pp. Orion Children's Books. £10.99. (Ages 10 and up)

ISBN
9781444011678

Rating: 4.5 Stars


             This story starts with Asterix and Obelix finding a Pict man stuck in ice. Quickly, they call all of the Gauls to help them free the Pict man.  Together they take the Pict man to Getafixi's hut.  Suddenly the Pict man pops out of the ice and starts to walk. The Pict man sees a tiny man with a stone tablet talking to him and also writing things down on his stone tablet.  As the Pict man can't speak he tells them his story in actions and carves the way to his land on one of Obelix's menhirs.  Then the Gauls decide to have Asterix and Obelix take him back to his land: the land of the Picts. While on the boat the Pict man gets his voice back and tells them his name is MacAroon. 
              If you didn't already know this book wasn't written by the same writer then you wouldn't notice the difference.  However, if you did already know then you would notice small differences like how each character seems to get a more equal time in the spotlight.  Even though these books might be meant for young children, we still never cease to be amused by them. The reason for this is that our favourite character, Obelix, plays a great part in all the books and we are pleased to see that the new writer still gives Obelix a big role to play.
              We think all ages that can read should definitely read this book.  For all off the Asterix and Obelix books we give five out of five stars, for this book by itself we give four and a half stars.    

also on Guardian Children's Books Site

ANIMAL FARM

ANIMAL FARM
by George Orwell
140 pp. Signet Classics. $8.99. (Ages 13 and up)

ISBN
9780451526342

Rating: 5 Stars


    This was a very strange but brilliant book. It really made me think about our world, as in how the government always try's to make a new start, create a better place, but making it work is hard. After a while, sometimes, bad people will take over and ruin it, making it just as bad as it started. Are all revolutions like that? This book made me think of the Hunger Games. They are both about revolutions where the new leaders end up being just as selfish as the old ones.
    This book was about a farm where the animals were angry with humans for imprisoning them, treating them badly and then killing them when they grew up. Finally they chased out the farmers and put the pigs in charge (as they were the cleverest). Snowball and Napoleon were both leaders and disagreed with each other on everything. Snowball was actually the good leader because he did everything for the good of everyone instead of being selfish like Napoleon. One day Napoleon became sick of Snowball and let 6 hounds, that he had secretly been training, loose on Snowball. This forced Snowball to flee, leaving Napoleon in charge. Will Snowball come back and create the place everyone wishes for? Or will Napoleon create a place even worse than before?
    I think this book is for ages ten and up because you need to be quite clever to get the true meaning of the story. This book definitely deserves five out of five stars. My parents told me it is a classic, and I can see why.

THE FATE IN THE BOX

THE FATE IN THE BOX
By Michelle Lovric.
352 pp. Orion Childrens. £10.99. (Ages 12 and up)

ISBN
9781444003390

Rating: 5 Stars


The Fate in the Box was different.  I mean, at first it seemed like a fact file about what Venice was like back in 1783.  Except it was kind of like Steampunk because they had machines that haven’t even been invented now, while still keeping everything else the same as it was back then.  However as I got deeper into the story it got so good that I couldn't stop reading it!  The main bad guy was Fogfinger and he did many bad things to the poor people of Venice.  I think the worst thing he did was kill the male Sea Saur, pretend the female Sea Saur had done it,  and invent the lambing (where two children, a boy and girl, were said to be eaten by the female Sea Saur).  The reason I think this is the worst thing he did is because it is awful when everyone thinks I did some bad thing I didn't do and it would probably be even worse if the thing I was being blamed for was killing my best friend, mom, dad, or sister.
The story was about three children called Tockle, Amneris, and Biri.  Tockle, Amneris, and Biri all live in Venice, a beautiful place turned awful by Fogfinger.  One day Tockle and Biri were taken away by the Piccolissimi Pochi (which is what the group of people who fought against Fogfinger called themselves) and recruited to be Piccolissimi Pochi. They were asked to find out exactly what happened when the lambs were sacrificed.  Meanwhile Amneris was making friends with Latenia, a fat rich girl who used automata for everything.  When Tockle and Biri got back they recruited Amneris to be a Piccolissimi Pochi. Amneris kept visiting Latenia.  One day when Amneris visited Latenia she found that she was very upset.  This was because she had to marry Fogfinger, who was by then an ugly old man and because her brother told her that Amneris, Tockle and Biri was probably a member of the Piccolissimi Pochi.  So, she completely baffled Amneris by asking if she could hire her as her own personal killer.  However you will have to find out yourself what happened next.
I think ages ten to fifteen should read this book because it is too fantasy for adults and smaller children wouldn't understand it at all.  This book definitely deserves five out of five stars.

THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY

THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY
by Suzanne Collins
Scholastic. (Ages 12 and up). £7.99. Rating: 5 Stars


THE HUNGER GAMES
The Hunger Games Trilogy Book 1
464 pp.
ISBN 9781407132082


CATCHING FIRE
The Hunger Games Trilogy Book 2
480 pp.
ISBN 9781407132099


MOCKINGJAY
The Hunger Games Trilogy Book 3
464 pp.
ISBN 9781407132105




     I got this series as my tenth birthday present. I think this is a very good series and I really like the parts when she is actually in the arena where they have the Hunger Games in both book one and two. Even though it was a brilliant book I could say that Suzanne Collins should take out the boring parts, like when Katniss is in the cave with Peeta, because those parts are not really needed as part of the story. I can understand that to make the book more real you would have to have some grieving and death but I think that the author has gone a bit too far because it is not fun for the reader to be crying for most of each book in the series.
     The first book is about a girl called Katniss who volunteered to be in the Hunger Games instead of her twelve year old sister Primrose. The Hunger Games is something that happens on TV every year. It is where a boy and girl from each District, ages twelve to eighteen, are chosen to be put in varying Habitats and are forced to kill each other. The winner is the last person alive. Normally tributes (the children who are chosen to fight to the death) from District Two won, but this time Katniss and Peeta won. (You will have to find out how two tributes won from the book.) Even though one would think Katniss should have been happy about winning she was far from it, because while she was in the arena she made friends with a girl called Rue who was killed.
     At the beginning of the second book Katniss and Peeta thought that they and their families were safe from the Hunger Games and could live peacefully for the rest of their lives. However their hopes were soon shattered when President Snow proclaimed that that year the Hunger Games would include all the winners of the Hunger Games from the years before. In this Hunger Games the arena was a jungle shaped like a clock. It was similar to a clock because at each hour, always in the same place, something different happened. This time the Hunger Games was different because Katniss did not have to win. When there were still about six people left, Katniss and a few of the others were illegally taken to the secret District Thirteen. This surprised them because District Thirteen had supposedly been bombed away.
     At the beginning of the third book Katniss was so angry that she had not been let into the plans of rebellion and was still supposed to agree to be their Mockingjay ( the symbol of rebellion) that she kind of went crazy. Her anger got even worse when she was informed that she would not join in the fighting and when she saw how President Snow had brain washed Peeta on TV . Eventually her and Johanna (another winner who was in the last hunger games and got taken away towards the end) were allowed to do the training with children younger than themselves and if Katniss and Johanna were good enough (which they were) they would be allowed to fight. I think this was the saddest book because towards the end, while they are fighting, Primrose is burnt up by fire balls. Moreover it was doubly sad because her own side had made and fired the fireballs.
     I think ages ten and up should read this book because before that one would think it was boring. This book definitely deserves five out of five stars.

LOOK INTO MY EYES

LOOK INTO MY EYES
Ruby Redfort Book 1
by Lauren Child
432 pp. HarperCollins. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9780007334070

Rating: 5 Stars


     This book is especially interesting because it is all about codes, and Ruby Redfort (the main character) even makes up her own code which I am still trying to figure out! Really, besides this book being brilliant to read it is also really fun to stop reading for a bit, try to solve the code, then go back to reading and find out if you were right. I personally want to become a secret agent or spy when I grow up and wish that I had the chance to practice some of the amazing things Ruby Redfort does.
     This book is about a very smart girl called Ruby Redfort who was asked by a secret agency to become their secret code cracker. She had to find out a secret that their old code cracker Lopez found out just before she died. At first Ruby had trouble with the code and didn't attempt to become an action agent. However when she found a pencil of Lopez's she started to crack the code but to decode the rest she would have to become an action agent so from there first things went well but then things started to go wrong.
     I think all children would love this book because it shows how normally adults never listen to children even when what their saying is really important, and how normally something really bad happens then. This book definitely deserves five out of five stars.

NOAH'S ARK

NOAH'S ARK
By Georgie Adams

Illustrated by Anna C. Leplar
64 pp. Orion. £4.99. (Ages 4 and up)

ISBN
9781444007893

Rating: 5 Stars


The book is called Noahs Ark I like it because Noah listens to God. I will tell you about the story. Things have gone very wrong in the world he said to Noah

I’m going to send the biggest flood ever. I will keep you family safe. When the flood is over I’ll start.

I will tell you more about the story. so Noah got a girl and a boy firm each animals so he put the animals in the Ark.

5 out of 5 stars.

ARCTIC ADVENTURE

ARCTIC ADVENTURE
By Willard Price.
272 pp. Red Fox. £7.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9780099482277

Rating: 5 Stars


    I got this book from my school library when I was looking for a book to read. This is the second book I have ever read by this author. I really like this author's books because they make you want to save endangered species from becoming extinct. However, I do not agree that it is good for animals to all be in zoos because then animals don't learn how to live in the wild. I personally think this is a good book to read around this time of the year because I finished it yesterday, and as it just snowed it looks as if your in the Arctic today.
    This book is about two brothers, Hal and Roger, who go to Greenland and Alaska to pick up animals that their father sells to zoos. While they were in Greenland they made very good friends with Olrik and a polar bear that they named Nanook. Nanook saved them when they were at the point of death and was always there for them. In both Greenland and Alaska, Hal and Roger captured and saw some very interesting animals that I wish I could see in the wild sometime as most people never do.
    I think ages nine and up should read this book because if you are younger it will just be an adventure and you will not get the real point, even some nine year olds will get only the adventure from the story. I think this book definitely deserves five out of five stars.

THE GRIM GROTTO

THE GRIM GROTTO
A Series of Unfortunate Events: Book the 11th.
By Lemony Snicket. Illustrated by Brett Helquist.
352 pp. Egmont Books Ltd. £6.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9781405266161

Rating: 5 Stars


    Even though this is "Book the Eleventh" you can still read it on its own because it explains the rest of the series in the beginning. That said, this book was very interesting to me because it revealed a lot of secrets. For example I was very surprised to find out that their friend Fiona's stepbrother had joined Count Olaf's troupe. I felt extremely sorry for Fiona that she had to be the one in the middle: the one both sides wanted.
    This book is about the Baudelaires and their extremely unfortunate events underwater. I myself think that the most unfortunate and frightening event that they encounter is when Sunny is poisoned by the Medusiod Mycelium. Even though the events that occur after that are still very frightening, I hope I have not frightened you so much that you won't read the book.
    Ages nine and over should read this book because it is brilliant for EVERYONE who can read. This book definitely deserves five stars and would go on my favourite books list. Even so, there are other books in the series that are as good as this book.

THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY

THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY
By Trenton Lee Stewart
512 pp. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. $6.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9780316003957

Rating: 5 Stars

      I am not sure if this book would appeal to everyone but it certainly appealed to me! I must say that when it says (behind the front cover) that this book is like Lemony Snicket’s books, the Harry Potter series and Roald Dahl’s books, it is definitely true.
      Meanwhile I really like how the writer blends clues with adventure and fantasy. However this story isn’t exactly all fantasy. First of all it is true that most teachers are treated badly by parents if their children don’t get a perfect grade. Last of all TV does actually control your brain because of COMMERCIALS. Have you ever noticed that after seeing TV you run to the shop and buy something? Well if you have it’s because of commercials.
      Anyways the actual story in this book is about four children called Kate, Reynie, Constanse and Sticky. These four children do the same contest and all of them win. They then must go on an adventure to try and destroy the whisperer which is controlling everyone's minds, but I shall leave the rest for you to find out.
      Whether or not you would like this book depends on what type of person you are. For example if you like those books I mentioned at the beginning and you are six then you should read this book, and if you like those books and you are eighteen you should still read this book. I really enjoyed reading this book and I hope they will publish the rest of the series in England.