Excellent Reads

THE WOMAN IN BLACK by Susan Hill 208 pp. Vintage £7.99. (Ages 15 and up) ISBN 9780099288473 Rating: ? Stars     This book started off on Christmas day with a man called Arthur thinking about his past and then deciding to write a book about the experience he had with a ghost when he was younger. He decides to write a book about his experience for the other members of his family to read. The rest of the book is the book he wrote about his experience with the woman in black. It starts of with him going to an old house to sort out the papers of a lady who died. He decides to go to the lady’s funeral as he is sorting out her things. Surprisingly, he is basically the only person there. At her funeral he sees a lady wearing all black with bluish white skin. Strangely, when he asks who she is no one seems to want to talk about her. Also he begins to hear strange noises at night even though no one except him is inside the house. To find out more, read the book.  ...

THE STORY OF THE WORLD CUP by Richard Brassey 24 pp. Orion Childrens. £4.99. (Ages 7 and up) ISBN 9781444009460 Rating: ? Stars     This book review is for football fans just in time for the World Cup. This is a nonfiction book about the FIFA World Cup. People fight in football. English people decided the rules for football. A team close to England called Scotland won the 1888 World Cup, before the FIFA World Cup started. Pele is the best football player in Brazil, the world, and forever.     I like how the book includes sets from the FIFA World Cup. I think that 6,7,8, 9 and 10-year-olds would like this book because it has easy words and hard words. Girls should buy this book. also on the Guardian Children's Books Site

TERROR TOWN Elf Boy and Raven Girl Book 4 by Marcus Sedgwick illustrated by Pete Williamson 176 pp. Orion. £6.99. (Ages 8 and up) ISBN 9781444005271 Rating: 4 Stars      This book was set in a fantasy town called Terror Town where creatures like werewolves and zombies existed. The main characters were Elf Girl and Raven Boy whose real names were not revealed. They went to Terror Town to get the Singing Sword so that they could defeat the Goblin King.      I think this book is good for children who can read well but still like shorter books with pictures inside. This book definitely deserves four out of five stars.      Even though this book was for the most part just a funny and scary story, the main characters do grow on you. Eventually you begin to see that even though they act like they dislike each other, they are actually really good friends. A good thing about this book is that even if you haven't read th...

THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexie illustrated by Ellen Forney 236 pp. Andersen. £6.99. (Ages 14 and up) ISBN 9781842708446 Rating: ? Stars This book is about an Native American boy that is called junior. Junior is a poor boy that lives in the reservation* filled with Native American people. Junior is always bullied by most of the people in his school. One day, a teacher tells him to go to a new school to find hope for the himself, but he upsets his best friend. He goes to the new school and got bullied a few times but, after he manage to protect himself he made new friends. Not everything was perfect in his life…     This book is very interesting. This book has many emotions to it. Some parts are funny, gross, sad, crazy and awesome. When there is a part that is sad or makes you angry, the author puts in a joke to make you laugh. The book also has pictures that tell more about the character. the book tells a ...

YOUNG WEREWOLF by Cornelia Funke 64 pp. Barrington Stoke Ltd. £6.99. (Ages 8 and up) ISBN 9781781122686 Rating: ? Stars When I stared to read chapter 2 I noticed that I saw a dirty word called "stupid". So, if I changed it to "not very good" it would make it a better book. Wonder how does the boy called Matt turn in to a werewolf? Read the book to find out.

SHE IS NOT INVISIBLE by Marcus Sedgwick 384 pp. Orion £9.99. (Ages 11 and up) ISBN 9781780621098 Rating: ? Stars     How do writers describe the world in the books that you read? Take a look at a book you are reading, or have read recently and find a description of a person, place or thing. I would bet in most cases that the writer notes how things would look if you could be there and see what the writer describes. How often do the books you read have descriptions of the smell, feel, and sound of things? If you can see and have normal vision then imagine if you did not or were even born blind. What would it be like? How would a writer describe the world from the perspective of a person with a visual impairment?     Marcus Sedgwick, author of She is Not Invisible, performs several incredible feats of writing. For example, although he is a sighted person himself, he takes on the perspective of not being able to see and instead describes the world t...

FRANKIE VS THE MUMMY'S MENACE Frankie's Magic Football book 4 by Frank Lampard Illustrated by Mike Jackson 112 pp. Hachette £4.99. (Ages 5 and up) ISBN 9780349001630 Rating: ? Stars     This book is about four characters that are friends and go on a school trip. Suddenly they start to play football at the museum, so the teacher called Mrs Murray tells them off. But suddenly they go on a magic adventure to the pyramids to see the king's sister. But they did not have any football tickets for the ancient king.     I liked the book because I like football – mostly for tackles! I think 6 and 7 year olds will like this book because it is about time travel and because the book is short. I like the ways that the writer makes the book exciting and fun to read. also on Guardian Children's Books Site