This is what learning looks like when I am not at school
By Jane Leslie Conly
260 pages
When Margaret and her little bro Arthur, or R-T, get lost in the forest, after being confronted by a bear, things aren’t looking good. Then their saviour comes, in the form of the rats of NIMH, who take them in until they can go home. However, they must work for the rats if they want to stay. Can they do it, or will they be left in the wild to die?
This was a good read, and I give it a 9/10 rating.
By Jane Leslie Conly
278 pages
Racso is a city rat, used to things like candy, and T.V., but he decides he wants to be educated. He runs away from home, and goes to Thorn Valley, a place where educated rats have a civilisation. While there, he becomes part of a plan to sabotage a dam, which if opened, would flood the valley. Can he do it, or will the rats if NIMH be wiped out?
This book, which is a sequel to Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, was very good and I give it a 10/10.
By Gareth Ward
350 pages
Sin is a 14 year old boy, living on crime. When offered a way out of this lifestyle, Sin accepted, and joined COG, the Covert Operations Group, an organisation formed to prevent war. When Sin is framed, and sent out of COG, he has one chance to get back in. To do so, however, he must work with the school bully, Velvet Von Darque. Can he do it, or will he be going back to the streets?
This was a very good book, and I very much enjoyed it. I give it a 10/10 and recommend it to everyone.
By Elizabeth Laird
214 pages
Palestine is occupied by Israeli forces, meaning that tanks and soldiers are controlling the land, and curfews are always coming and going. This is bad news for all, including Karim, a young boy who loves football, and the outdoors. One day, a boy who introduces himself as Hopper, takes Karim to a place covered in rubble, which they slowly turn into a football pitch, called Hoppers ground. All is going well, and things are looking good, until the Israeli forces return with their tanks and soldiers, and introduce a sudden curfew. Karim is left trapped in an old car under a pile of rubble, with some kittens as company. Will he escape, or will he suffer the same fate as so many before him have?
I liked this book, it was very good, and I give it a 9/10. I recommend it to those who are mature enough to handle a war setting.
By Orson Scott Card
592 pages
The Lusitania Colony is under threat by a fleet sent by Starways Congress, because they rebelled after being requested to send away 2 scientists for trial on Trondheim, a neighbouring planet. The fleet is carrying the M.D. Device, a weapon so powerful that it can destroy a planet, and it is likely that they will use it. It is a rush on the surface of Lusitania to neutralise the descolada, which is more complicated than it seems, save Jane, who’s life may be at risk, and achieve faster-than-light travel, which is just as hard as it sounds. Will the Lusitanians survive, or perish at the hands of Congress, and their fleet.
I really liked this book, it had a complicated plot and kept me hooked in. I recommend this book for strong readers over 12, and give it a 10 out of 10.
By Avi (Edward Irving Wortis)
240 pages
Patryk, a 12 year old boy living in a Polish village during WW1, is a member of a group of 7 friends, Drugi, Jurek, Makary, Raclaw, Wojtex and of course, Patryk. One day in the forest, Patryk finds an old button. Jurek threatens to beat Patryk with a stick unless he gives the button to him. And so the button war began. Patryks village was occupied by the Russians, and Jurek stole a button from a soldiers uniform. He then told Patryk it was way better than the one he found in the forest. The button war escalated, until it was a life and death situation.
I thought that this book was amazing, but my mother thinks that it was horrifyingly gruesome and extreme. DO NOT let anyone under the age of 12 or your mother read this book, says my mum. I say it is a book for mature audiences only.