SIX DAYS

SIX DAYS By Philip Webb
384 pp. Chicken House. £6.99. (Ages 10 and up)

ISBN
9781906427627

Rating: ? Stars

      I read the book because I read the back and it seemed like a thunderous mystery.
       I think ages nine and up should read this book because if you are any younger you will not understand the first half of the book. I would not recommend it to grown ups though because it has a childlike story.
       A shiver went down my spine when I found out about the soldiers that were basically machines controlled by the bosses mind. Six Days is about girl called Cass and her brother, Wilbur, who are both "Scavs" (scavenger). One day when Cass is out looking for Wilbur they meet up with two alien people who help them find something called the artefact.
       I think the characters were realistic because the main characters are not Mr Perfect or Miss Perfect but are more real. However the characters are a bit unrealistic because they can do some crazy things that normal people cannot do. Although the setting started off in London, which was realistic, it ended up in extraordinary places which were not realistic.
       Despite this story not having much off a moral, at least that I noticed, it is a book you would probably just read for fun. In addition this book reminds me of a time I had a sleepover at the British Museum and went sleep walking which scared the daylights out of my mother. Why? Because close to the end they go to the British Museum to find the artefact.

also on the Guardian Children's Books site

THE LIVES OF CHRISTOPHER CHANT

THE LIVES OF CHRISTOPHER CHANT
The Worlds Of Chrestomanci Book 2
By Diana Wynne Jones
336 pp. HarperCollins Children's Books. £6.99. (Ages 10 and up)

ISBN
9780006755180

Rating: ? Stars

      This book caught my eye because I had read another book by the same writer, and this story was supposed to have happened at least twenty five years earlier. I also read this book because the back of the book (the part that tells you what it's about) seemed like the style of story I like (fiction, but not the kind that is impossible to believe).
      People who can read proper big fat books should definitely read this book. I will not name any ages because some older people will not like it because it has too much magic, while others may like it because of that. Younger children might not like it because there is not always something exciting going on, while others will think that makes the exciting parts more exciting.
      When I was about two thirds of the way through I gasped in surprise when I found that Christopher's uncle, who seemed to be the only good person in our world, turned out to be the worst villain in all the twelve worlds. The book is about a young boy called Christopher Chant, who is first tricked by his uncle's evil ways. Christopher gets a big surprise when he finds out that he is destined to be the next Chrestomanci. However when he has to learn how to be the next Chrestomanci he faces the problem of being against the man that used to be his best friend.
      I think Christopher was obviously not completely realistic because no human being has nine lives or can even cast one spell. Unlike that Christopher is realistic in some other ways for example since he had never met any other children's parents he thought that all children's parents were like his and did not just know that they were different than his own.
      I think the setting was realistic in some parts of the story but completely unrealistic in most of it because it talked a lot about the twelve worlds.
      The book didn't exactly go straight to the point the writer (I think) was trying to make, but wrote about it in a sneaky way. I think that the writer was trying to say that the way people butcher different animals (that we don't even eat) and sell there different parts for a lot of money is evil and should be stopped.

THE NEVERENDING STORY

THE NEVERENDING STORY
By Michael Ende
445 pp. Puffin. £7.99. (Ages 9 and up)

ISBN
9780140317930

Rating: ? Stars

I haven't finished “The Neverending Story” and I never will because it never ends. I got this book for my ninth birthday because I read too quickly and my parents thought this might keep me company for a while. I started to read this book because I had watched the movie. The movie was good, so I expected the book to be just as good (or better, because most of the books I've read have been better than the movies which they make after them just to get more money).

This book is about a boy called Bastian who reads a stolen book in the school attic. The book Bastian reads is about a boy called Atreyu who is trying to save Fantastica. He can only do this by finding a human who can give the childlike empress a new name, which will make the Nothing go away and which will make the childlike empress well again. Bastian ends up calling the empress “Moon Child”, which makes the childlike empress well again and makes Fantastica safe again, but he does not know what adventures Fantastica has waiting for him.

I think that you should be at least nine to read this book because if you are younger you won't understand it when it switches between the two worlds, and if you are older you won't appreciate the adventure and the magic.

In my mind the old turtle is a bit like humans. Most humans don't care a bit in the world about what happens to the world and if their ancestors have a happy life or a sad life but only care about themselves, just like the old turtle. The Big Bang is a bit like the Nothing, except the Big Bang started off with nothing and ended with something, but the Nothing started off with something and ended with nothing at all. I think that Atreyu is bit like ME because he does care if Fantastica survives or not. When I came to the part where the monkey said that he would have to stay in that topsy turvy town forever if he didn't find his way home again before he lost all of his memory, a shiver went down my spine because I was worried that he would have to stay in that topsy turvy town forever.

The characters were definitely not all realistic because some could do magic, and the characters definitely don't look normal. Contrary to those big differences between the characters and us there were some similarities. For example, Bastian turned a little evil from having the power of wishing, because power makes you sour. Similarly the setting, like the characters, was a bit realistic and a bit unrealistic. The human world where Bastian lived was realistic, but Fantastica was completely unrealistic (you can even guess that by its name).

Although I had discovered many morals in reading this book there is one in particular that stuck with me. The moral that I think is really important is that when Bastian had the power of wishing he turned a bit evil. However, I am not sure that the book was all about this real moral problem in the world. Still, while reading it I noticed that it talked a bit about Bastian turning evil from all of the power he had, Atreyu trying to save him by defeating him, and Xayide trying to defeat him by being defeated (the opposite, something which doesn't make sense at first but after you think about it starts to make sense).

also on Guardian Children's Book Site