9

Name: Joda

School: St Joseph Primary School

Occupation: Young person

Age: 10

Book: Slightly Jones and the Case of the London Dragonfish

Rating: 9

Review:
This hilarious story is about Slightly Jones a young girl who wants to be a famous detective like Sherlock with Granny Tonic her great aunt, Mr Thurgood, Mrs Forth and Mr Wesley in Holmes. She lives Limpopo house. Mr Thurgood is a story writer and was hired to be night watcher for the National History Museum and then something disastrous happens. A rare fossil called the “London Dragon Fish” which is meant to be presented to the Queen is stolen, two police officers charge in and accuse Mr Thurgood of taking the fossil and take him to the worst prison in London! Slightly is furious of them for accusing him and is determined to find who had actually stolen the rare fossil. With the help of Granny Tonic they try to figure out if Mr Thurgood is really as innocent as he says he is..... I like this book because it's adventurous and funny and you can understand it. I recommend this book to people who like detective and mysteries stories. I’ve given this book 9/10 because it was amazingly funny. Slightly’s my favourite character because she loyal and brave.

Name: Liam

School: St Josephs RC Primary, Aberdeen

Occupation: Young person

Age: 10

Book: Zac and the Dream Pirates

Rating: 9

Review:
Zac and the Dream Pirates is an adventure book. Zac Wonder and his Granny are transported on the stroke of midnight to the dream world of Nocturne. There they battle with Vampires, Werewolves and Dream Pirates, who threaten to destroy sleep and drive people mad with tiredness. Do Zac and his Granny outwit the bad Dream Pirates? Zac and the Dream Pirates is a great book because there are lots of surprises and adventures on each page. I enjoyed the book because it is packed full of mysteries and magic. Magic will be sent straight into the readers fingertips, along with all the emotions possible. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes magical adventures and sleeping! For me this is a fantastic action book and I would rate it 9/10. I would like to see a second book soon.

Name: Sheena

School: Tollcross Primary, Edinburgh

Occupation: Young person

Age: 10

Book: There's a Hamster in my Pocket

Rating: 9

Review:
There's a Hamster in my Pocket is a comically weird story about best friends, Yosser and Kylie. During the summer the book is set in, Yosser and Kylie have a lot of ‘Worries!’ They are beset with worries, as Kylie would say. Kylie is very clever, and uses words like “psychological” and “incoherent” - words I didn’t know before I read the book. The storyline is weird, as the Worries are weird, but I like that. One of Kylies’ Worries is that her big brother is getting in trouble with the police, and she thinks that he and his mates are trying to kill someone! I don’t understand why they got a police warning, as it turns out they are planning a birthday surprise for Kylies’ mum. The modern writing style made me feel closer to the characters, as it felt like it was happening today. There were a lot of unique ways of saying things, like: “Germane’s dreadlocks hung like wet creepers in a dusky –grey forest”. I loved the animals in this book- Toffee’n’ Caramel and Killer Queen are cute! My favourite characters are Kylie and Auntie Shabnam- Kylie is creative and Auntie Shabnam is cool! All in all, I just loved this book!

Name: Claire

School: Edderton Primary

Occupation: Young person

Age: 11

Book: Zac and the Dream Pirates

Rating: 9

Review:
Zac & the Dream Pirates Written by Ross Mackenzie Main Characters – Zac Wonder, Evegenia Wonder, Rumpous Tinn, Tom Huggins, Tilly Huggins, Julius and Cornelius. Zac Wonder lives with his Granny because his mum died and his dad left him when he was little. Zac is 11 years old. He doesn’t have any friends at school because he gets bullied because people think his granny is a witch but in fact she is not she is a magician. Her name is Evegenia Wonder. She is a magician for the Knights of Nod. This story is about a boy called Zac Wonder who lives with his granny. Zac’s granny Evegenia Wonder is a magician. One stormy night Zac saw her jump into their pond. He went running out and then heard a voice telling him to follow her in so he did. He ended up in a big room. Two men appeared called Cornelius and Julius then they all travel to Nocturne. That is when he makes friends with Tom and Tilly Huggins. One night in Nocturne they turn themselves into mice and go on a mission with the Knights of Nod. The Knights don’t know they are there with them. The Knights of Nod are trying to save their leader Rumpous Tinn who got kidnapped. I would recommend this book to 8-12 year olds. I give this book 9/10.

Name: Liam

School: Edderton Primary

Occupation: Young person

Age: 10

Book: Slightly Jones and the Case of the London Dragonfish

Rating: 9

Review:
The Case of the London Dragonfish Written by Joan Lennon The main characters are Professor Snit, Professor Appleword, Slightly Jones, Mr Thurgood, Mathew Bone and Granny Tonic. Slightly Jones thinks she is a detective. She has red hair, freckles, brown eyes and a really bad temper which she and Granny Tonic keep track of. The book is about Slightly and Granny trying to solve The Case of the London Dragonfish. They use a riddle to try and find Professor Appleword’s fossil because Queen Victoria is coming to see it. I really enjoyed the story because it was mysterious. I’d recommend it for ages 7-12 and give it 9/10.

Name: Shanna

School: Inverclyde Academy

Occupation: Young person

Age: 14

Book: Wasted

Rating: 9

Review:
Nicola Morgan’s enjoyable novel “Wasted” deals with family and relationship problems. The novel’s protagonist Jack relies on the flip of a coin to make his decisions whatever the risk. He believes everything is chance. This keeps getting him into trouble. Chance brings him to the beautiful, intelligent bold Jess. She is a very talented singer who completely changes his life. A major conflict in the novel is Kelly. She is very jealous of Jess and does whatever she can to sabotage Jess and Jack’s relationship. Whilst their luck does not last because Kelly is in the way, the reader gets the last decision! Will there be life or death consequences? Alcoholism is a theme of the book. Jess is upset that she has an alcoholic mother who cannot cope. Jess has to do everything for herself and is too young for this burden. “Wasted” relates to major real-life family issues where children have to take on adult roles and responsibilities because of incapable parents. This makes some more independent but some anti-social and isolated. The more I read on, the more I understood “Wasted”. It was difficult to put down and I got caught up with the gritty, modern storyline.

Name: Rachael

School: Inverclyde Academy

Occupation: Young person

Age: 14

Book: Wasted

Rating: 9

Review:
Wasted A book I have recently read and enjoyed is Wasted by Nicola Morgan. It is about 2 teenagers: Jack and Jess. Jack first meets Jess when is walking through his old schools corridor when he hears Jess singing. He is captivated by the sound of her voice. He invites her to join his band and she accepts. Throughout the book they grow closer until they finally become a couple, although a rivalry with Jack’s ex-girlfriend leaves Jess in danger. Jess makes Jack happy; though he is still obsessed with playing his game. He must ask the coin a question then flip it and do whatever it tells him - no matter how dangerous. This book is written in a very unique way. There are chapters all the way through the book with heads or tails options, though only one of them will actually happen. At the end of the book it becomes the readers’ choice to choose heads or tails. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read another of Nicola’s. To anyone wanting to give this book a go, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. By Rachael

Name: Michael

School: St Fillans

Occupation: Young person

Age: 8

Book: Apple Pie ABC

Rating: 9

Review:
Book Review Zac and the Dream pirates This is about a boy called Zac and discovers that his Gran is a thing called the knights of nod and goes to the other side of sleep. He fights dream pirates, goes into another world, risks his life with his gran and meets new friends. I think this a brilliant book because it’s full of adventure and it is unexpected. My favourite part is when they fight the dream pirates because it’s dramatic and full of excitement. My favourite characters are Tom and Tilly because they are always up to something and finding new things. However I like Zac too because he is brave and respectful. I would recommend this book to anyone because it is descriptive and tense. I would give this book 9/10 because it’s a brilliant book.

Name: Finn

School: Edderton Primary

Occupation: Young person

Age: 12

Book: Zac and the Dream Pirates

Rating: 9

Review:
Zac and The Dream Pirates The author of this book is Ross Mackenzie. The main characters are Zac, Evegenia Wonder, Rumpous Tinn, Tom and Tilly. Zac lives with his grandma, Evegina Wonder, because his mum died when he was born and his Dad ditched him. Zac does not have any friends because everybody thinks his grandma is a witch and he gets bullied. The story is about a group of magicians called the Knights of Nod and they are trying to stop Dream Pirates who hijack dreams and make them into nightmares. Zac, Tom and Tilly try and help the Knights of Nod to stop the Dream Pirates and save the leader of the Knights of Nod, Rumpous Tinn. Will the Knights of Nod win? I think this book is very exciting and a must read. My favourite character is Tom because he’s got good ideas. I would recommend this book for 10 to 13 year olds. I give this book 9/10.

Name: Ben

School: Edderton Primary

Occupation: Young person

Age: 11

Book: Zac and the Dream Pirates

Rating: 9

Review:
Zac & The Dream Pirates Written by Ross Mackenzie The main characters are Zac Wonder, Evegenia Wonder, Cornelius, Tom Huggins, Tilly Huggins, Rumpous Tinn and Julius. Zac lives with his Granny because his mother died when he was born, and his dad left him with Zac’s Granny after his mum died. Zac got bullied at school because everyone thought that his Granny was a witch, but she isn’t she’s actually a magic Knight of Nod. Zac is starting to have bad dreams then one night he follows his Granny to the dream world and finds out his Granny is magic. Zac finds out there’s a war on between the Knights of Nod and the Dream Pirates. Then suddenly, Granny’s friend, Rumpous Tinn is captured by the Dream Pirates. Will Zac and his Granny beat the Dream Pirates and save their friend? I think this book is exiting and adventurous and I think it is a good book. I would recommend this book for 8-13 year olds. I would give it a 9/10.