Book Review - Faith P

Book review of ‘The boy in the dress’ by David Walliams

The story is of a 12-year-old boy named Dennis and his 14-year-old brother John. The boys lived with their dad, he eats a lot after his wife leaves him. Dennis is good at football and is one of the best on his team. Dennis misses his mum, who left about five years ago, he keeps remembering a yellow dress his mum used to wear in an old picture.

One day, Dennis sees the same dress on the cover of a magazine, and buys a copy from Raj, the shop owner. His dad finds the magazine and is not happy. One day, at school his brother John teases him and calls him "Denise". Dennis is given detention for kicking a football through a window. When he is in detention, he talks to a girl named Lisa James, the prettiest and favourite girl in the school. Lisa takes him over to her house and dresses him up in girls’ clothing. Dennis puts on a blue dress and they both go out, he now is known as "Denise", a French student who doesn’t speak much English. They go to the corner shop and Raj does not recognise Dennis, now they know he can be Denise, he goes to school with Lisa - as "Denise".

Dennis kicks a football and falls which now shows him as a boy. He gets expelled from the school for being in a dress. When he gets home his dad sends him to his room. Dennis’s best friend Darvesh, comes to see him, but Dennis’s dad won’t let him see him. Dennis goes to a football match on Saturday, where his entire team tells him to play in a dress and team wins. Dennis's dad watches the match and forgives Dennis. On a Sunday morning, Raj tells Dennis that Mr Hawtrey's the headmaster’s sister, Doris, buys the newspaper now instead of him. He also tells him that there was something funny about her. Lisa and Dennis go to Raj's shop and find out that Doris is actually Mr Hawtrey in a skirt. The two threaten Mr Hawtry that Dennis should be allowed back to the school, if not they will tell everyone of Mr Hawtrey's different dressing, he agrees to let Dennis back.

At the end of the story, Dennis, his dad, and his brother have a better family life and remember the happy times of their mum. Dennis and Lisa stay friends.

Book Review by Ellie

Review of L.P. Tom Gates 'EPIC Adventure'

The story is about having two sets of grandparents, turning out to be very good for Tom Gates.

The WRINKLES: mums’ parents, are keen on giving me presents and they're planning a family outing too, which is going to be EPIC. Delia (my sister) wants to come as well. (Why?) I can always ignore her.

What happened was unusual because Tom went to a lady’s hairdresser, to get his hair cut.

The events didn't really follow on from each other because once one event had ended another one started.

Tom Gates, Mum, Dad, the grandparents, Derek, Amy, Marcus, Delia are the main characters because they get mentioned the most.

Tom Gates: In the story was a kind and caring person like most people are, but inside him is something mysterious and cheeky about him too.

Mum and Dad: Well they are embarrassing mostly throughout the story but in some parts, they are curious about what's going on.

The grandparents: Act like they are some sort of spy in someways then just a normal human in other ways.

Derek: Is a good friend for Tom when he needs it. He sticks up for him when Marcus is being annoying.

Amy: Is a sweet girl and caring and kind to everybody.

Marcus: Is jealous of how many friends other people have got, and is an annoying little brat.

Delia: Is just a normal teenage girl who is always in her room.

The character didn't seem to be described at all in the story.

The story is written in the first person throughout the whole book.

The story is that important but it is funny and hilarious in most parts of the story.

The setting wasn't detailed that much as it wasn't focused on the setting it was mostly focused on the characters.

They didn't describe the feeling at all throughout the story.

Yes, it was a very good story because it had detail and it just pulled you into it as soon as you started reading it.

My favourite moment in the story is when Tom goes to the hairdressers he was messing around outside on the way to school with Derek.

I wouldn't change any of the story or characters in the story.

I think he had experienced some of the stuff in the story, so I think that is why he wrote it.

It made me feel happy inside as I was reading it, then sad when I had finished it because it was really good.

I don't feel like I had learnt anything from the story.

I would recommend this book to people who like art because there is a lot of amazing art and because it is funny.

I will definitely read more by this author, this is my second Tom Gates book.

Book review - Fatima

The book today is:

Dork diaries - Party time

In the story there’s this girl called Nikki and she thinks of herself as a dork when she really isn’t. The book is just about her and her high school and how bad she thinks her life is, she meets her new real friends and secret crush and of course her worst enemy. There was a Halloween dance and Nikki got gutted because her worst enemy (Mackenzie) was bragging about taking Brandon (Nikki’s crush) to the dance so she would rather go to her little sister’s party.

The length of time that covers the book is just one year of high school and she hates it it’s just

all ruined because of Mackenzie. The actual happening of the book was usual it always happens she always gets made fun of and bullied by Mackenzie and her friends but Zoey and Cloe (Nikki’s best friends) always cheers Nikki up, such good friends.

The opening of the story is dramatic she was panicking about starting high school and was really upset because she was really worried if she wouldn’t find any friends and she was totally FREAKING OUT!

The story was about lots of different bits formed to make this story it’s like day after day after day that’s why each chapter counts as each day but the story line doesn’t change completely it just follows on in a different way.

The main characters are: Nikki, Mackenzie, Brandon, Jessica, Chloe and Zoey. Nikki: She is the main character because this book is about her. She is really nice to people but she doesn’t get the same respect back only with her friends there nice to.

Mackenzie: she is the school popular kid that shows off and nobody says no to her they all have to admire her she is just pure evil!

Brandon: he is really nice to everyone and he doesn’t show off and Mackenzie takes him away from Nikki so that she can’t talk to him at all but what Nikki doesn’t know is that he actually doesn’t like Mackenzie and likes her.

Jessica: she is really mean like Mackenzie because she’s her best friend and together they are the worst she absolutely humiliated Nikki at the dance and still does.

Chloe: she is one of Nikki’s best friends at high school and is super funny all the time and is weird as well but as a good friend does, she always sticks up for them and makes sure they are alright.

Zoey: she is really protective for her friends and never backs away from their problems and is always smiling like she never stops. EVER!

The characters weren’t described that much when they were first introduced into the story but as the story was going on little bits about them appeared so now at least I know what they are like.

I found Nikki the most interesting character in the story not just because she is the main one but she is the only one that is described the most in all ways not just what she is like.

Nikki is not changing as he story is developing she is just one ordinary person made into this story I am not saying the story isn’t good it is still very nice.

The story is presented in first person because it is a diary that she is writing and doing it in first person. I know it is in first person because it says I, me and she.

The setting was not described that much but there were pictures so you could see what the setting is but there wasn’t pictures in every new scene, there was still some little descriptions on what the setting looked like.

The feelings of the characters were described in a good amount of detail and you could really tell what the characters were feeling whether if they were happy or sad.

The story was brilliant it had a bit of everything like comedy a bit of sad times and a lot of happy times! I really enjoyed reading that story and I could read it a million times more. If I wanted to. Which I don’t. I can’t be bothered to. Any way I really enjoyed that story and it really tells me not to be afraid of high school. Never was. Never will be. My favourite moment

in the story is the bits where there was dramatic silence because I just think to myself if I were there I really wouldn’t be that dramatically silent. At all, so those moments made me laugh.

I think an improvement for the story is they should not mix the story up because in one or two bits there are just completely different lines and it doesn’t follow on to the story.

Book Review - Anissa

A book review about Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

Wonder, is about a young boy that has a facial disfigurement, he is ten years old and he lives with his sister, mum and dad. His name is August, sometimes he gets really upset because people give him different looks only because he has something wrong with his face. At the start of the story August was saying that he does ordinary things but his face isn’t the same. He is going into 5th grade [year six] but he didn’t really go to school because of his face and the surgeries he had. At first it was a happy story but then it started getting sad.

The main characters are August, his mum, his dad and his new school principal. August is a very kind and thoughtful boy, his dad is very funny because he always tells funny jokes, his sister is very thoughtful and helpful because she always helps August with anything and the principal is very nice and kind he can help at all times. Some of the characters were described like August about the way he looks like. I found August’s sister [Via] is the most interesting because she always tells people to stop and I could feel like I was her because it just gets in my mind. She didn’t change, she was the same all through. Their mum and dad are the only relationships there.

It was written in first person just like it was happening now. It was important because it made it feel like it was happening now and it would get in your mind. The setting wasn’t really in detail because it didn’t really give much information about it. The feelings were described in detail because they tell you how they feel. It was a very good and marvellous story because it has all the details and what happened. My favourite part of the story was when they came in to August’s new school and he went looking round because he was so scared about it but then got happy.

I think that the author had a particular reason of telling this story to show to some children to not judge people or a book by its colour or look. I felt really sad at one point because these older kids started picking on him and making him get upset but after I read it I felt happy that he found a lot of different friends to play with. I learned that you can’t be mean to people with disabilities or anything else. I would definitively recommend this book to a lot of people. I would read other books by this author because his books always tell true stories that people learn to be nice to others.

Book Review - Taylor

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

In the prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter) there is loads of magic. They find a giant bird and fly through the sky in order to free Sirius Black.

The story is about wizards and witches, magic and a boy that is a in the school of magic and adventure.

The length of time is over a school year and mostly night time because of the dark magic.

It is very unusual because they fly in the sky on a giant bird and there is ton of magic and death.

The opening was exciting because of all the detail so it makes you want to read on.

It started with loads of detail then to the next paragraph and more story for about 3 more pages and then the same on the rest.

The main characters are Ron, Harry Potter, Hermione, Sirius and Voldemort.

Voldemort is very horrible but the rest are nice and they have to kill him.

They were described in lots of minor details like Harry, the boy who lived.

I found Harry most interesting because he is the only person that survived the killing curse.

Ron Weasley turned on Harry because of a horcrux and ran away.

There was a big disagreement with freeing Sirius Black because everyone thought that he was a villain.

The story was written in third person because it said he and she plenty of times. It is very important because you can only use one of them, you can’t switch between them.

The setting was described in detail because it said he got forced to do it in secret at the dead of night.

The feelings were described in detail because in the story Harry shouted with anger and his words were in bold.

It was a good story because the detail made me want to read on.

My favourite part was when they were heading to the castle because of all the speech.

The ending because it ended really fast and I wanted to read on because I liked the story and all the fighting. I would put some more writing and I would but to be continued.

No, I don’t think JK Rowling had a particular reason to write the books.

I felt like I could be a wizard so I was excited and fell asleep because I read it before I went to bed.

Not really because I already read the fest of the books before.

I would recommend this book because it has fighting witchcraft and wizardry and people like that.

Yes, because the other books are amazing and magical so if there is some more, I will read them.

Book review by Kaitlin

Awful Auntie by David Walliams

Stella Saxby is the sole heir to Saxby Hall. But awful Auntie Alberta and her giant owl will stop at nothing to get it from her. Luckily Stella has a secret-and slightly spooky-weapon up her sleeve...

The opening of the story is very slow, but also very exciting. The plot of the story is interesting but also has a spooky vibe to it. The ending of the story is cool because it like takes you in to the future and then tells you about the past. The book covers over 80 years.

The main characters are Lady Stella Saxby, Auntie Alberta (and her owl Wanger), Soot, Gibbon and Detective Strauss. Lady Stella Saxby is a little girl (who has got no parents). Auntie Alberta is no ordinary Auntie she is the meanest, evilest Auntie in the whole entire world/galaxy. Wanger is Auntie Alberta’s owl, he is a Great Bavarian Mountain Owl. Soot is a little boy and he gets forced to be a chimney sweeper. Gibbon is the ancient butler of Saxby Hall. Detective Strauss is one of the local policemen. They were not described much in the book but there were loads of pictures of them in it.

My favourite part was when Stella captured Auntie Alberta and Wanger, because it was like Stella’s revenge to them. I would recommend this book to people who love reading and having adventures. I rate this book 5 STARS out of 5 STARS!

Book review by Madi

Book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, [Dog Days.] by Jeff Kinney Rating: Five stars.

Plot: In this story Gregory, a boy with an interesting life, has struggles when trying to fit in as he unexcitedly begins middle school. Drawing pictures are hard however, the books are filled with hand-written notes and simple drawings of Greg’s daily adventures. The story went on in days and then months with an incredible life of awkwardness. Unusually, most of the time when Gregory has an unexpected happening, it happens to his friend too- Rowley -, [ possibly as they are mostly always together!] The start of the story was normal, it had only talked about a kid named Gregory having a usual family that do day to day things. Normally in the story, every few pages were a day or even a month long! More detail was added throughout.

Characters: There were many main characters like: Gregory, Mum, Dad, Rodrick and his best friend Rowley. They were all very caring except Gregory’s brother- Rodrick. He was always hurting and being annoying to Gregory but he just got used to it and ignored. Detail is very important; all the characters were described with a lot of detail with their personality but not with any other expected features. My favourite character would have to be Gregory because he was such a well described person in the story and wasn’t as normal as others because he had a weird life and I kind of liked it. Gregory never really changes throughout as he is just a great guy and goes through unfortunate things! Everyone was caring and friends however Rodrick was just normally horrid and mean so everyone got used to him.

Comments on style: It was written in the first person as it was saying, ‘me and Rowley.’ It made the story better as you didn’t need to keep saying, ‘Gregory and Rowley,’ all the time. [ It was helpful.] The setting in the story wasn’t very much described as it was normally all about the characters and not about the scenes. However, sometimes they described the school with great description. Feelings of the characters was extremely good- it was always giving you a bit of detail of the feelings throughout the story. It was a good story as it gave you a picture in your head about it of a normal boy having an annoying brother and living a life at school, [ the pictures helped the head to create the story.] I enjoyed everything in the amazing story as I do not have a favourite part! I wouldn’t make any changes at all as my rating would be a massive five stars because it is just such an excellent story.

General: I think the author- Jeff Kinney- had a reason to tell the story being, it tells you a lot about what a boy normally does and it just shows how weird boys can be! I don’t really get a feeling about the story as I am a girl and this is a story about a boy but I really enjoy the book. I didn’t really learn anything as I am not a boy! I would definitely recommend this book because it is a great book and is just amazing as it tells you a really interesting story about a boy's life. I would recommend all the books of Diary of a Wimpy Kid because I have read most of the books and they are absolutely fabulous.

Book Review - Michael

The Midnight Gang by David Walliams

This was a story about a little boy named Tom, a boy who has a large bump on his head, gets sent into the ER/old hospital named The Lord Funt Hospital located all the way in London. Tom meets a misshapen faced man with a badge that said Porter (someone who pushed trollies around the hospital) and he was so incredibly frightening, the boy screamed as loud as possible which made an echo down the deep dark corridors of Lord Funt. This story is about Tom finding out about these mysterious children in the ward who went out at midnight to go on an adventure for some reason. He decides to follow the children ending up being a member of the Midnight Gang. Very exciting I know but he has to complete the challenge of wheeling a crooked wheelchair around the basement floors of Lord Funt, which wasn’t very fun as it was almost impossible to wheel this wheelchair around. Book cover from first year of primary school to year 6. Everything that happened in the basement of Lord Funt was not normal because Tom finds out the Porter is making all the children’s dreams come true. This little girl (Amber) had a dream to be the first child to go to the North Pole so as told the Porter makes a real-life North Pole look a-like in the freezer. The opening was Exciting because there were already crazy things happening just like the scary Porter and the part about joining the Midnight Gang’s adventures. The events followed on by them carrying on, trying to complete more dreams and racing the sunlight back up to bed before the Matron catches them.

The Characters

The characters were:

Tom. He is twelve and goes to a posh boarding school. He has come to the hospital because he has hurt his head.

There is Amber. She is twelve and has broken both of her arms and both of her legs, so has been in a wheelchair for some time.

There is Robin. He is also twelve and he is recovering from an operation to save his eyesight, and for now can’t see a thing.

George is eleven and from the East End of London, which makes him a cockney. He is recovering from having his tonsils taken out in an operation.

Finally, there is Sally. She is just ten and the youngest of the group. Because she is so ill, Sally spends most of her time sleeping in bed. Sadly, that means she can’t come on adventures with the others.

The adults in this story are;

Nelly. She is downstairs in one of the grown-up's wards on who knows floor because there are about forty-four floors in Lord Funt Hospital. Nelly is ninety-nine years old, almost one hundred.

Hundreds of people work at Lord Funt Hospital. Among them are:

Porter. A lonely figure, whose real name is a mystery. His job is to move people and things around the hospital, which he never seems to leave.

Matron. Despite running the children’s ward, she doesn’t like children at all.

Doctor Luppers. He has just become a doctor, and is rather easy to fool.

Tootsie. She is the hospital’s dinner lady. She brings meals round on a trolley to all the patients and seems to have all the food when really, she might just have a nacho and a drop of cheese. She is not like the others because she is very kind.

Nurse Meese. She is the tired-looking nurse, who never ever seems to get a night off work.

Dilly. She is one of the hospital’s cleaners. You can always tell where she has cleaned as there will be a long trail of fag ash.

Mr. Cod. He is the old chemist. He has a hearing aid and thick glasses. Mr. Cod runs the pharmacy in the Hospital.

Sir Quentin Strillers. He is the upper-class hospital principal, and is in charge of everyone and everything.

From outside the hospital there is Mr. Thews, the headmaster of Tom’s school, St Willet’s Boarding School for Boys.

These characters are described perfectly and I don’t think David Walliams missed anything about them. The characters did not change as they stay the same through-out the whole story. There were friends between all the children apart from Sally but luckily Tom was her friend but the others were against her.

Book Review - George

A Book Review on Vulgar the Viking and the Great Gulp Games by Odin Redbeard

This book is about a lame, determined boy named Vulgar who enters a sport competition against his biggest rival (Gunnar). They both participate in five events: Hammer Throw, Goat Hurdling, Ice Swimming, Walrus Fighting, and Reindeer Racing. In all of the events one of the competitors cheated. In hammer throwing, Gunnar covered the hammer’s handle with a slippery, thick grease. In walrus wrestling, Vulgar ate whale meat which smelled so bad it knocked the walrus out! In the goat hurdling event, Vulgar made a goat angry so it charged at Gunnar! In the reindeer racing, Gunnar got the superior reindeer that was a lot faster the old one Vulgar got left with. In the final event, the ice swimming, Gunnar had covered himself in whale bladder to keep himself warm and more buoyant. Vulgar’s dog, Grunt, had jumped into the water and swam after them. Vulgar didn’t let on it was his dog when Gunnar believed it to be a Polar bear so Gunnar got out the water at the half way island but Vulgar carried on to claim his victory.

Princess Freya had tried to train Vulgar up but it didn’t make a difference. In the end, King Olaf awarded Vulgar with the Skull cup (the accolade for winning). Also, as a surprise reward, Vulgar got to dance with Freya for the whole night but he actually loathed her on the account that she’d been so bossy! This teaches us winning doesn’t always turn out to be the best thing. The story also helps us understand how the Viking life differs from our modern life. Vulgar had a very close friend called Knut who cheered him throughout all the events.

I would rate this 9/10 and it has made me want to buy another book by the same author. I would recommend this book for 7-10 year olds because it’s a funny short book which is both enjoyable and educational. I enjoyed the twist at the end where Vulgar’s prize was the Skull Cup ....and to dance with the girl he hates all night!

Book review - Eleanor

Lightning Girl is a book by Alesha Dixon. 

It is a story about a girl called Aurora Beam, who has had very weird things happening to her - sparks of lightning are shooting out of her fingertips! Her mum is a secret super hero and now Aurora's powers are beginning to show. No one knows that Aurora has these special abilities until her mother tells her that she is a superhero too. This book is about Aurora learning to control her powers, while managing problems at school and even fighting a super villain! It is about her first months of being a superhero. The book is exciting and very hard to put down, it flows very well and always made me want to read more.

The main characters include Aurora beam, Mrs Beam (mother of Aurora), Mr Beam (father of Aurora), Kizzy (Aurora 's best friend), Mr Mercury the science teacher, Aunt Lucinda and of course Lucinda's pet ostrich Alfred.

All of the main characters are funny, interesting and full of personality and all are described in brilliant detail. I liked Aurora and found her very interesting as she is full of emotion and is very easy to like. I feel like Aurora changed a bit as the story progressed as she learned to control her powers and became less gullible and more mature. She hates her science teacher Mr Mercury and tries to avoid him at all times.

This story was written in 1st person all the way through from Aurora's point of view this was very important as if it wasn't it would not make as much sense and wouldn't be as good. Some settings were described in better detail than others but all settings were described well enough for you to picture the settings in detail. Feelings were described equally well and were very important to the book so it’s very good that feelings were described with great detail. This was an amazing story and I would happily read it again. There was nothing I could say needed to be improved.

I think the author had a very good reason to tell this story as it shows that girls are equal to boys.  I felt very sad when it ended as the story no longer went on. I would happily recommend this book to anyone who  love adventures because it’s fun and exciting and I would definitely read another Alesha Dixon book if one came out.

Book Review - Tom A

Five Nights at Freddy's The Twisted Ones by Scott Cawthon 

In the Twisted Ones book, Charlie, who is around 20 years old, is trying to overcome the horrific events at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza the year before. She, John, Marla and Jessica, Charlie's best friends, try to discover the secrets of patterned murders happening around town, including one that looks like Charlie herself!

 She travels to her old house and finds some dug up ground in her back garden. She and John dig up the pile of dirt and discover the animatronic shell of a fox, but it didn't look like the well known Foxy the Pirate Fox, it looked different. As she is examining the shell of the robot, a strange ringing in her ears begins to give her a headache. She looks away and looks back and the suit had sprung to life and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground. She thought she would die when John hit it round the head and punched in the chest. But as he did that, a disc flew out of the suit and landed in the grass. Charlie felt around for it, then when she actually found it, she noticed a strange red flashing light near the edge of disc. Her head still throbbing, she felt around for any other secrets on it when she noticed a small switch. She flicked the switch and her headache suddenly stopped. She flicked it again and the ringing in her ears and headache came back and the suit sprung to life again. She quickly flicked it again and the suit stopped right in front of Charlie and fell backwards. She and John head back to her car and mark out all the murders that happened on the map. The people, or things, that killed the people were travelling in a straight line and were heading towards the house of one of the people that had been murdered. So she decides to head to the house. She tells her friends Dad, who is a police officer, what she had found out so Officer Burke gave her the keys to the house so she could rest there and try to find out what they wanted. She gets to the house and lies in the bed in the upstairs bedroom when a dreaded thought comes across her, what if what they want, is her. She tried to sleep but she couldn't. She finally got close to drifting off when a loud thud was heard and the ringing in her ears returned. The bedroom door opened and a Freddy like creature rose up onto the bed and ate her alive! She then wakes up inside the bear costume in the ground. She found out how to open the suit and dig herself free. Charlie found herself in a maze full of the creatures that she was just inside of. When she thought they would kill her when the animatronics from the last location came and fought the ones that were going to kill Charlie. She made a run for it through a giant maze when she got confronted by the Purple Guy. This time she couldn't escape and got killed by being stuffed into a suit and being squashed alive.

As mentioned before, the main characters are Charlie, Officer Burke, John, Marla and Jessica. I felt that I got to know each of the characters really well through the book and got a great picture of what they looked like in my mind. My favourite character was John because he had a really good sense of humour like me and I felt I would get on with him if I actually knew him. The characters were all friends but Charlie and John started to date.

I felt it was a great and thrilling story because I was on the edge of my seat the entire time of reading this. It made me feel engaged in the book the entire time reading this. This book is the second in a trilogy of three and at this very moment in time I am on the final book in the trilogy called The Fourth Closet. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes nerve wracking horror stories.