There is No Dog Review by Amelia

There is No Dog is an incredibly funny, poignant and unique story. It tells the story of Bob, a lazy, grumpy and girl-obsessed teenage boy. However Bob is God and is responsible in many ways for the problems of the world.

After Bob falls violently in love with a mortal the world seems set for a disaster. Every has word an effect – Rosoff is very succinct. The result is a funny and vibrant story. The book really reminds me of what I love about reading; the excitement of never knowing what happens on the next page. ‘There is no Dog’ drips with wonder. The book is also painfully sad and moving. Rosoff slowly peels way the layers of the characters exposing complex characters. I would recommend this book to any teenager who will find it relatable and humorous. It doesn’t try and make sense of the world but instead embraces the beautiful and the dysfunctional. A truly different read.


 

Between Shades of Gray – a Review by Eva, Year 10

Between shades of gray is a captivating book about the life of a 15 year old Lithuanian girl called Lina and her experiences with Soviet guards. She shares her stories about how her mother, her brother and herself are thrown into cattle cars and deported. The book tells tales about how she was sent away to Siberia and her fight for survival and how hope is all she had. It is an emotional book about strength, young love and survival even in the toughest of conditions. It has the potential to make anybody cry.

Lina uses art to keep her moral up, she may never see her father again but even in the hardest of times she finds a way to use her artistic talent to keep herself hopeful. She documents her life through her artwork, at the risk of death, hoping these messages will make their way to her father so he will be able to find them once again. She is forced to work in exchange for her life. The story let’s us have an insight on what it was like to live and work in one of Stalin’s gulags. It shows a side of World War II that many people may not know about. It is a brutal book but worth the read; however if you are easily upset by the type of things this book has to offer it may not be for you. Ruta Sepetys does a wonderful job and portraying what it would have been like to like in a gulag. It is such a wonderful book even though it is quite grim to say the least. It shows many harrowing truths that I myself never knew about.

This book will capture your heart and steal your breath.

 

1984 – a review of the classic, by Joseph Year 10

Nineteen Eighty Four is set in a dystopian world where the UK once was. The omnipotent government control everything; even down to the people’s own thoughts. Winston Smith fells that he is alone in his thoughts against “Big Brother”- the leader of the country that spans half of the globe. Then he meets Julia and is drawn into the rebellious acts of “The Brotherhood”.

 I would recommend this story to older readers as some of the ideas expressed and the images of Winston losing his mind area very disturbing. It is also quite a challenging read. It relates very strongly to both the modern world and things such as Nazi Germany with issues like surveillance and freedom cleverly intertwined into the story. Overall, I’d rate this novel 4.5/5 as the questions raised and the story are both incredibly interesting.


 

The Blue Castle – a lesser known classic by L M Montgomery, recommended by Alice 10C

Genre: romance, comedy, drama

Originally published: 1926

Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery

The Blue Castle is a lesser known book by the author L.M. Montgomery who is famous for writing Anne of Green Gables. It tells the story of 29 year old Valancy Stirling who for all her life has lived in an ugly house and has been overruled by the rest of the domineering, upper class Stirling clan. Ever since she was young she had two homes the ugly brick red house on Elm street and her imaginary Blue Castle in Spain. The story begins with “If it had not rained on a certain May morning Valancy Stirling’s whole life would have been entirely different.”

Valancy receives a letter which turns her whole life upside down. For the first time in her life she does exactly what she wants and says exactly which results in her uncle Benjamin saying that she has gone dippy. She goes to nurse “roaring” Abel’s (often seen in a drunken rage) ill daughter then runs away with the “vagabond” Barney Snaith and goes to live in a tumble down hut on the island of Mistawis or in  Valancy’s eyes her Blue Castle. Full of laughs galore and stunning descriptions of the Canadian wilds this book will suit people who usually do not read early 20th century romance novels because it is so fresh, timeless and different.

 

 

Messi! A Book Review by George 10B

The book I am going to be writing a review on is Messi by Luca Caioli.

This book is a biography about the best footballer in the world so, therefore I would recommend it to any big football fans. I really enjoyed this book because Luca Caioli has spoken to all of Messi’s family and the book describes his background very well. It also shows how practice really does make perfect! The book includes how Messi was kicking a ball from an early age. His family was poor and lived in Argentina, when Messi got home from school he would just tell his mother that he was going to play football and he would be gone till the evening. Messi’s dad coached Messi’s football team from a very young age. Messi’s family being poor, showed that it wasn’t all easy for him and he also had problems growing up . The author shows well how he grew up and would express himself by playing football, the book also includes pictures of Messi’s greatest moments as a footballer. I really enjoyed this book because it showed how much you have to work for your dreams and they can come true!

Luca Caioli also has lots of other biographies of famous footballers and their childhood which I would highly recommend. Overall this book has hooked me in and I am sure it would do the same to any other football fan out there.

The book

 

A Year 10 review of ‘The Danish Girl’ by David Ebershoff

The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff is a fascinating tale of a young Danish painter who doesn’t feel right in his body. He feels different and insecure, like something needs to change.

the-danish-girl-mtiIt all starts when Einar’s wife, Gerda, needs her husband to model a dress for a new painting. Einar discovers how comfortable he is in female clothing – and Lili is born. It starts with Lili appearing now and then for modelling, but as time goes on, Lili makes more appearances – although Gerda finished her painting a long time ago. The extraordinary transformation begins another life, a secret life – meeting new people, seeing old friends, new lovers.

The doctors believe that Einars need to dress as a woman is evil, and that he is posessed by the devil. Pressured by society, Einar has to choose – live comfortably as Lili, or uncomfortably as Einar. Old friends and loved ones help Lili on her journey, her journey of life.

I would definitely recommend this book, as long as you have an open mind. It is a difficult book to read, but definitely worthwhile. It makes you think differently about life, and consider other peoples’ problems and insecurities.

By Katherine, Year 10

 

 

Soon by Morris Gleizman – a review by Charlie, Year 10

soon_uk_2015Soon is the fourth instalment to the Once series about a 13 year old Polish Jew called Felix and is written by the renowned Australian author, Morris Gleitzman. In the previous books (Once, Then and After) we learn about Felix escaping the Nazis after they first murdered his parents in Once, hiding from the Nazis after they hung his best friend Zelda in Then and fighting the Nazis with the Partisans and his new-found guardian Gabriek in After.

In this book we find Felix still living in the rubbly remains of Poland with Gabriek but this time the Nazis have been defeated. However, the town he lives nearby is still in turmoil as it is being terrorized by a new enemy group who go by the slightly less intimidating name of Poland for the Poles and are led by the psychopathic murderer Gogol; whose main aim is to kill as many displaced foreigners as possible.

To sum it up briefly, Felix is taken by Gogol after he tries to help one of Gogol’s victims, escapes from him and in the process picks up a Ukrainian baby whose mother was killed by the Poland for the Poles thugs. He names the baby Pavlo, makes friends with a girl with a grubby pink coat called Anya, who lives with the mysterious Doctor Lipzyk and trys to take Pavlo back to Ukraine with Anya to try and find him a home. What happens to Felix, Anya and Pavlo? Well, you’ll have to read the book for yourself.

All in all, Soon is another brilliant book to add to this series which I very much enjoyed because of its tension, violence and especially its historical accuracy as I knew nothing about what happened in Poland after the Second World War. I would defiantly recommend this book to others but only if you’ve read the previous instalments.

 

A “Novelholic” review of the Bunker Diary by Charlotte in Year 10

ficturesThe “Novelholics” YA reading group have been reading the Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks. Below is Charlotte’s brilliant review of the book.

I can’t believe I fell for it.

It was still dark when I woke up this morning.

As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was.

A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete.

There are six little rooms along the main corridor.

There are no windows. No doors. The lift is the only way in or out.

What’s he going to do to me?

What am I going to do?

If I’m right, the lift will come down in five minutes.

It did. Only this time it wasn’t empty . . .

bunker diaryThe Bunker Diary is a young adult novel that was written by Kevin Brooks in 2013. In 2014, it won a Carnegie Medal for children’s literature. The book has been attacked because of this, as it is incredibly dark and not appropriate for children, although the Carnegie Medal has been known to award books that you would not expect a child to read in previous years. One comment was made that the novel “seems to have won on shock value rather than merit”, though I beg to differ.

Though the book itself does have a good dose of shock, it is still very well-written and down to earth. There have been arguments that there should have been a specification on the cover- a red flag that this book is for adults. I do agree with this, as even I was a little shocked when I finished the book late at night. It is certainly the kind of book that sticks in your head and won’t let go for days. I feel a warning would ease the protests a little more. As for the brutality of the book, well, how are we going to go through life without that sort of honesty? We can’t live on believing that “oh, life is so hard but maybe someday a shirtless vampire will fling himself through the window and whisk me away from this horrible life.” It could be reminder, in a way, that things aren’t actually so bad for us. Miracles? Those are rare as hen’s teeth.

The plot itself is rather simple- Linus Weems, a homeless teenager who originally came from a wealthy family, is kidnapped by who he presumes to be a blind man in need of assistance, and awakens alone in an underground bunker. Six rooms, six chairs, six sets of cutlery. There is no escape. More people are slowly deposited down a lift, which they also use to contact with their kidnapper. In turn, the kidnapper sends them down supplies. Misbehaviour results in punishment- deafening noise, a vicious dog, etc.

I would recommend this book to anybody who doesn’t mind being stabbed with the blunt knife of honesty multiple times in their soul. Also, if you like a good, gruesome thriller, that’s a good enough reason too. In many ways, it is beautiful, but it is not for the emotionally weak.

There is so much more to say about this book- the horrors, the controversies. But of course, I can’t expect you to read a whole book’s worth of thoughts, so I’ll leave you with this; you don’t have to love this book, or hate it, for it to be a good book. What matters is how it was written- the emotion it stirs and what we bring with us afterwards. Because once you pick it up, it’s a struggle to put back down.

 

1984 by George Orwell – a “Novelholic” review by Gemma, Year 10

fictures1984 is a book set in a dystopian city where nobody is free and the government is always watching you. It seems like everyone believes in the principals of Big Brother (the head of the corrupt government) apart from the main character, Winston Smith. He tries to keep his head down and look for any signs of rebellion in his co-workers. His whole life is turned upside-down when he falls in love with Julia, if they were found out they would be taken to the Ministry of Love where nobody ever comes out of.

500_1984comparisonI would give this book four out of five stars because it is very in depth story about the human mind and how willing people are to obey. I would recommend it for older students, as it can be difficult and disturbing to read when Winston begins to lose his mind in Room 101.