Your Reviews - April 2009
Read reviews of:
Sword Quest Nancy Yi Fan, Illustrated by Jo-Anne Rioux; prequel to Swordbird
Review by Hanna Cockerill, Year 5, Ngaio School, Wellington
Do you like gripping adventure books? If you do then this is the book for you! Sword Quest is about a half dove - half sea bird who gets closer and closer to being the greatest hero in the whole of bird history. Wind- Voice is his name and he has many other friends to help him along the way like Winger,(who Wind - Voice saved from being "tomorrow nights dinner") Stormac (who had helped save Wind - Voice from the burning flames of the archaeopteryxes) and Fleydur (who has bells on his chest and a warm heart in it). This is a great book and I highly recommend it! (appears in the February 2009 edition of Around the Bookshops, and is supplied courtesy of Barbara Murison)
Coraline Neil Gaiman (adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell)
Review by Iain Christie, Year 5, Kapanui School, Waikanae
I really enjoyed reading this book because you never knew what was going to happen next. Some parts are creepy and scary and when you turn the page, sometimes the picture can give you a fright. Some pages sent a chill down my spine. The comic book layout is very easy to read and it helped add to the creepy feeling, having lots of pictures to look at. Overall I think this is a very good book to read. (appears in the November 2008 edition of Around the Bookshops, and is supplied courtesy of Barbara Murison)
Cosmic Frank Cottrell Boyce
Review by Hanna Cockerill, Year 5, Ngaio School, Wellington
Cosmic is a very funny and gripping father and child novel and would suit many ages from 7-12 that are interested in space, rockets and theme park rides! This book is about a boy called Liam Digby. Some people say he is too tall to be a kid anymore, but others say that the older he gets, the smaller he will become! That's when Liam gets into the biggest pickle he has ever been in, in his whole entire tall world! I think this is a great book and like all good books, it sucks you in so you yourself could be Liam Digby! (appears in the February 2009 edition of Around the Bookshops, and is supplied courtesy of Barbara Murison)
Lost Riders Elizabeth Laird
Review by Hanna Cockerill, Year 5, Ngaio School, Wellington
Lost Riders is a great book for young people and also adults! It is about two boys, Rashid and Shari who get soled to a man called Gaman Khan. The Boys then get separated and become camel jockeys. Rashid luckily makes new friends like Salman, Iqbal, Puppo and Haji Faroukh. Will Rashid ever find his brother again and also win a few races? Elizabeth Laird is a fantastic author and a great inspiration to young kids who want to write great books like this one! I myself have not read her other books but it sounds like they are very good! I give the cover rating a 9 and a half because it is like a fish hook, it pulls you in and you can't escape! The End (appears in the February 2009 edition of Around the Bookshops, and is supplied courtesy of Barbara Murison)
The Dragonfly Pool Eva Ibbotson
Review by Tamara Craigen, Year 6, Kapanui School, Waikanae
I really liked this book. I didn't want to put it down. The story is believable and awesome at the same time. I especially liked the unexpected the unexpected twists and the sense of urgency that came with them. (appears in the November 2008 edition of Around the Bookshops, and is supplied courtesy of Barbara Murison).
Fairy Secrets Gwyneth Rees, illustrated by Emily Bannister
Review by Kenzie Lynas, Year 5, Kapanui school Waikanae
I really liked this book. The fairies were very creative and the portal secret was very clever. Gwyneth Rees did really well with it and taught me to keep my ground and not give up. (appears in the November edition of Around the Bookshops, and is supplied courtesy of Barbara Murison)
I am not Esther Fleur Beale
Review by Thomas White, Age 11, Remuera Intermediate, Auckland
Winner of the NZ Book Month 2008 Lunch Pack Competition
I started reading this book for school, but instead of giving it back at the end of the day I took it home, so I could try to read more and more of it until I'd finished it. I'm not usually into books about religion and when I first heard about it I didn't think it sounded that great, but when I read it I ended up loving it.
I am not Esther is a book about a girl named Kirby whose mum leaves her with some family while she goes off to "help refugees". The family ends up being a very religous one, and is part of a faith called Children of the faith. They give Kirby a new name "Esther" and try to change her into one of them and believe in what they believe in nothing else. Kirby rebels against it all, by not wearing her religious clothes, and speaking as she used to. Her main catchphrase is "I'm not Esther". She slowly starts to get suspicious about her mother's whereabouts and believe that she wasn't telling her the truth. Her cousin Daniel is a source of comfort to her and when Kirby is locked in the prayer room all day to study hymns Daniel brings her food and makes it more bearable for her.
Slowly though Kirby begins to become Esther and loses her identity. One way you know this is the way she begins saying "I am not Esther" because the faith doesn't use abbreviations. Esther morphs into someone like her family and becomes the thing she tried so hard not to be. She gets sent to school where she is mocked and bullied because of her faith and gives up on fighting anything, her family, the bullies her suspicions about her mum and her own conscience at the end. But then a small bit in Esther snaps, and she becomes Kirby once again. She finds out about her mum, who is now in a psychiatric ward and goes to live with her. Daniel revolts to do what he wants for once and the families go to live in a brethren-type thing. But even after Kirby leaves the Family and goes back to her old life, friends and beliefs, she is still terrified of losing herself and becoming the puppet Esther again.
I am not Esther makes you really feel and go through Kirby's emotions with her like when Kirby's mum just left her I felt angry with Kirby and I felt scared when she was left with the random family. I liked the way that the book leads you on to think that Miriam's dead, when it turns out that she was just exiled for thinking differently than her family, which Daniel himself ends up doing. Daniel was my favourite character, because even though he wanted to follow his dream to become a doctor he wouldn't hurt or abandon his family, even though he didn't agree with most of the things they believed in and the way they treated him. I also liked Kirby because she doesn't give up or give in to despair when a lot of other people would have. This book touches on a lot of different issues and some are quite awkward but Fleur Beale manages to write about them without insulting anything or anyone's beliefs. I would recommend this book for people 11-19 years old because it's mature and has a lot of important and special issues in it that may face people in that age group.
So if you want to read of Travel, Love, Triumph over despair and believing in yourself I am not Esther by Fleur Beale is a great book for you.
Alan Bagnall
Review by Lucy Davy, 12 years, Ponsonby Intermediate School, Auckland
Winner in the 2007 School Journal competition Senior section
To Mr. Alan Bagnall [or 'Baggy' for short]
You write poems and stories. I know that you've taught
Lots of children to love sharing and reading aloud.
To understand poetry and feel proud.
I know you like farms. I can feel that in 'Muster'.
'Away in the Jungle' was a real boredom-buster.
The life of the girl in 'The President' was alarming.
The 'Afternoon Lesson' was funny and charming.
Your images are pretty. Your rhymes really witty.
Your metaphors are striking. Your similes to my liking.
Your work makes me cry, smile and laugh.
I've read it at school, at the beach, in the bath!
You're a real Kiwi writer, for kids of our nation.
I certainly know that you're my inspiration.
I loved 'Information'. I just wanted to say
'Thank you heaps' Mr. Bagnall ... Is there a poem on the way?
Anna Kenna
Review by Keneti Ah Kuoi - Atmore, 12 years, Ponsonby Intermediate School
Highly commended in the 2007 School Journal Competition Senior section
My favourite author in the School Journals is Anna Kenna. She writes about people, families and communities in a truthful way, which allows me to relate to characters in her stories very well.
The characters in Anna Kenna's stories are truthful with no exaggeration about abilities, appearance or personality. She only writes what did, or would have happened in real life. In Doctor in the House, one of her stories that I have read, a young girl went to her room and wept at the situation that their family were in, being attacked by the media because of an accident that her father had made, while operating on a young baby. The girl wept for the baby and her family. This is all very realistic and I could see myself in her shoes acting the same way and being overwhelmed by the emotional drama of it all.
Anna Kenna writes in a style that gripped me in and made me want to read on and on. This is because of her realistic writing which allowed me to relate to the characters in the story exceptionally well. Anna Kenna is by far my favourite author in the school journals.
Desna Wallace
Review by Sophie Maxtone, 9 years, Fendalton School, Christchurch.
Winner in the 2007 School Journal Competition Junior section
Desna Wallace is a journal writer and writes plays, poems and stories. Desna wrote a fabulous play that I really liked called "A House with a Mouse". I enjoyed that play because of its characters, especially the father he had a good sense of humour and the Mouse seemed to get up to lots of mischief (e.g when he scared the wits out of Dad by scuttling across the floor).
Desna writes plays on lots of different topics. Two other plays I was delighted with were "The Repair Shop" and "Everyone Forgets Sometimes". In "The Repair Shop" I got pulled in by the spectacular sound effects (e.g. ping! ping! ping! Pop! Pop! Pop! Zap! Zap! Zap! .......). In "Everyone Forgets Sometimes" it was interesting about the teacher that in the end he forgot something as well.
In Desna's poem "Changing Landscapes" to me it spoke of how people need to leave land for native animals otherwise the native animals might become extinct. In "Write a Poem" by Desna Wallace the beginning of the describing words in each verse started with the same letter (e.g whistle, whisper, whirl, happy, hiss, howl). I liked the feelings I experienced when I read those words because of their meanings. So now why don't you try one of Desna's books I'm sure you will enjoy it.
Clubs Kate De Goldi
Review by Frankie Healey and Anri Ichikawa, from Hampden St School, Nelson
Winners of the NZ Book Month 2008 Lunch Pack Competition
My cat likes to hide in boxes Eve Sutton
Review by Orlando Quartermain, age: 5 years, Ficino School, Auckland
Winner of the NZ Book Month 2008 Lunch Pack Competition
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