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

THE EARTH IS SINGING

THE EARTH IS SINGING
by Vanessa Curtis
336 pp. THE EARTH IS SINGING by Vanessa Curtis336 @Usborne @UsborneDigital http://bit.ly/1DBhh3J . £6.99. (Ages 14 and up)

ISBN
9781409577447

Rating: 4 Stars



    I will admit that I was actually rather surprised I liked this book, as it wasn’t my normal choice. Normally I read fantasy or sci-fi, not historical fiction based on real lives. I may have to change my usual agenda, though, as this book was fascinating, and there have also been a few other historical fiction books and biographies which I have enjoyed. Throughout this whole book I really felt like I could connect with the main character, Hanna, There were a few times when my heart clenched in fear for her and I smiled when she was happy.
    This book is set in World War 2 in Germany, and is narrated by a 15-year-old Jewish Latvian called Hanna, whose father has been taken by the Russians. It starts off not too bad. Life is hard, but Hanna is still following her dream of becoming a dancer. Although many of her friends have deserted her because she’s Jewish, her best friend and boyfriend Uldis stands with her, so you think everything will be okay. Soon, however her world is turned upside down when the Nazis come and slowly take away everything she’s ever cared about. This book took me on a whirl of adventure as Hanna faced all types of danger, heart breaking sadness, betrayal and fear during a fight for her life. I would definitely give this book 4 out of 5 stars as it really explored the awful treatment Jews got during World War 2 and captured my interest from the start.
    My favorite character has to be Hanna as the writer does an amazing job of making you feel like she’s a real person telling you all of this and experiencing all of this. I can also really feel for her when she’s wishing she wasn’t different from everyone else, as my family has had trouble with living in England as we are American and Portuguese, although the problems this causes for us are nowhere near as large as the problems being a Jew causes for her.
    Most of this book is quite sad, but I would say two parts stand out in particular. First, Uldis betrays her leaving her heartbroken. Second, all the Jews, her mother included, are shot and thrown into a pit of dead bodies. This is especially sad because after her mother dies she is left with no one else in the world to care for her and love her.
    Although most of this book is sad there are a few parts where Hanna is happy. I would say the happiest parts of this book are when it’s the New Year and her uncle brings up a feast for them to share, and at the end of the book when Hanna escapes from the Nazis. I think this because in both these times Hanna feels free and safe from the Nazis and like everything might be all right again.

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.

BUFFALO SOLDIER

BUFFALO SOLDIER
by Tanya Landman
368 pp. Walker. £7.99. (Ages 14 and up)

ISBN
9781406314595

Rating: 4 Stars


    The book is about the times when American had slaves. The main characters are Charlotte and Abe (her horse), and the Indians they were fighting.
    My favourite part is when she joins the army. My favourite character is Abe because she is an animal. My least favourite parts are when she falls in love and when her horse died. My least favourite character is the boss of the army.
    I liked how there are not many books that show you how awful it is to be a slave. It is written so you know what her voice sounds like (her accent). That made it special.
    Did we like this book? Yes and no. It was too intense for a child to finish, and the parent reading had to not read everything because there were swear words and very violent parts that the child did not want to hear. However, for a teenager or an adult it is very well written, interesting, and informative, with four out of five stars.
    I think teenagers would like this book because it is sad and has romance.
also on the Guardian Children's Books Site

WILD FRIENDS: ORANG-UTAN ADVENTURE

WILD FRIENDS: ORANG-UTAN ADVENTURE
by Linda Chapman and Michelle Misra
Illustrated by Rob McPhillips
75 pp. Red Fox. £4.99. (Ages 5 and up)

ISBN
9781849416955

Rating: 3 Stars



    This book is about Emily and Molly who are going to Borneo to see orangutans with Emily’s mom and dad, but there are some loggers that are destroying the rainforest.
    My least favourite part was the ending of the story because Emily did not stop the loggers! And then she even went back to look at more animals rather than trying to stop the loggers. I would try to sort out the problem if I was in her shoes.
    I like that in the book Emily and her friend and family explore the rainforest like what I did. But, we did different things like Emily cuddled orangutans, and I saw monkeys. I think the age for the book should be 5-8 because the book is not scary at all !!!. I will give this book 3 stars.

also on the Guardian Children's Books Site

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.

TOM GATES: GENIUS IDEAS (MOSTLY)

GENIUS IDEAS (MOSTLY)
Tom Gates book 4
by Liz Pichon
320 pp. Scholastic £6.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9781407134505

Rating: ? Stars


     This book won an award for the best book for children in 2012. It was also the winner of the Waterstones book prize in 2012. In my opinion, this book is suitable for all ages. The main character in this book is Tom Gates.(as you may have guessed.)

     Tom goes through a lot of embarrassing phases and unbearable shocks. One of the 'embarrassing phases' was when his dad started a fitness regime, and wore really tight cycling shorts and a vest. One of the unbearable shocks was when he saw his sister... WITHOUT HER SUNGLASSES! His sister always wears her sunglasses and she NEVER takes them off. But when he saw her without them, it made him so shocked that he was late for school.

     He has one shocking sister, an embarrassing mum and an extremely embarrassing dad. His best friend is called Derek, and he plays in a band with Derek and Norman - his other friend. His arch enemy is Marcus and he has to sit next to him in class.

     Tom Gates: Genius Ideas is a genius idea. It is a very funny book and I'm sure you would enjoy reading it, just like I did.

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 WOMAN IN BLACK

THE WOMAN IN BLACK
by Susan Hill
208 pp. Vintage £7.99. (Ages 15 and up)

ISBN
9780099288473

Rating: ? Stars



    This book started off on Christmas day with a man called Arthur thinking about his past and then deciding to write a book about the experience he had with a ghost when he was younger. He decides to write a book about his experience for the other members of his family to read. The rest of the book is the book he wrote about his experience with the woman in black. It starts of with him going to an old house to sort out the papers of a lady who died. He decides to go to the lady’s funeral as he is sorting out her things. Surprisingly, he is basically the only person there. At her funeral he sees a lady wearing all black with bluish white skin. Strangely, when he asks who she is no one seems to want to talk about her. Also he begins to hear strange noises at night even though no one except him is inside the house. To find out more, read the book.     The main character in this book was Arthur. However, he was not my favourite character. The dog, called Spider, was my favourite character because he seemed like such a good dog and helped Arthur not be so afraid of the strange noises in the night and of the woman in black.
    The scariest part of this book was when Arthur and his dog, Spider, heard the noise of someone dog whistling. At that point, Spider ran off and got stuck in the quicksand and nearly died. Luckily Arthur barely managed to pull Spider out without going under himself. The strange thing was, no one was near them for miles around. This was my favourite part because it was much more scary than the rest of the book as, firstly, the dog and Arthur nearly died and secondly no one could have whistled to Spider but someone did.     The worst part of this book was the entire first half, as I found it quite boring. My main reason for thinking this is that nothing scary happened at the beginning. Instead there is suspense, but no promise that the story will build up to a real ghost story. Suspense is good…but you have to make more things happen than seeing a strange looking lady and hearing whispers about her. Basically, you shouldn't leave all the scary and exciting bits to the end.
    The reason I read this book was for school as we were learning about suspense writing. In my opinion this book had extremely good descriptive and suspense writing because she conceals who the woman at the funeral is, only letting on that she’s a sinister and spooky character, but was a bit too slow and boring for my taste. However if you are a writer and need ideas for how to write a ghost story then this book is perfect because your getting shivers up your spine throughout most of the story.
    I think this book deserves 3.5 out of five stars because it was scary and sad, but a bit too dull for me. I would recommend that if you are under 10 you definitely don't read this book because you will probably find it very boring, as it is quite slow and action lacking. If you are older you may like it, but I suggest you wait until your 15 to read it because or else it may be hard to enjoy it because although you don’t need quite so much action to make it interesting when your about 13, but it would still probably be too slow. I also suggest that if you dislike scary or sad books you don't read this as it's quite scary and has a really sad ending.
    I realize this review has been a bit contradictory so I shall explain my muddled feelings as well as I can. On the one hand I feel that this is definitely not a page turner, spends to much time on the boring parts and that I wouldn’t recommend it to most people. However, on the other hand I appreciate that it does send some shivers up your spine and that when you are on the scary/sad parts she does write very well. I hope this has helped explain my contradictory feelings to you, I apologise for not being able to pick one side.

THE STORY OF THE WORLD CUP

THE STORY OF THE WORLD CUP
by Richard Brassey
24 pp. Orion Childrens. £4.99. (Ages 7 and up)

ISBN
9781444009460

Rating: ? Stars


    This book review is for football fans just in time for the World Cup. This is a nonfiction book about the FIFA World Cup. People fight in football. English people decided the rules for football. A team close to England called Scotland won the 1888 World Cup, before the FIFA World Cup started. Pele is the best football player in Brazil, the world, and forever.
    I like how the book includes sets from the FIFA World Cup. I think that 6,7,8, 9 and 10-year-olds would like this book because it has easy words and hard words. Girls should buy this book.

also on the Guardian Children's Books Site