Born to Run - Michael Morpurgo

This is the story of the many lives and adventures of one incredible greyhound. This poor dog is constantly travelling around moving from one owner to another - some good, some bad. Michael Morpurgo's writing makes you want to read on to find out what will happen next. Throughout the book I found myself wanting a particular happy ending, but I was surprised by the route it took. I finished the book with mixed emotions after a thoroughly enjoyable read. You don't have to be a dog lover to love this book!
Rowan B

Diary of a wimpy kid Jeff Kinney

Some people think this book is hilarious but i didnt really laugh much.
the only bit which made me laugh was the bit at the end when Rowley ate the cheese (cheese touch)
there alot of cartoons in the book one on every page they help you get story abit better.
in this book you learn about how some kids feel at school especially moving up to a senior school.
it makes me feel how you will  feel when moving up to senior school.

this book is 4/10 i dont like it but y ou might so give it a go?

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

Wolf Brother is a great book for everyone, especially for 12-14 year olds.  It is set in 4000 B.C. in the New Stone Age in Finland. Once you start it, you won't be able to put it down.  The story is written from two perspectives, Wolf's and Torak's. torak is twelve and is gifted with the ability to speak with wolves. He is an excellent hunter, one of the best in the forest.  He is cunning, quiet and clever.  He is also the listener. Wolf is shy and bravewhen he wants to be, and can speak to Torak. He doesn't pronounce his words right so like big-red-that-bites-hot is a fire. These are fun to decipher. Renn is another character who comes later in the book.  She is bold, brave and stubborn.  She is also a skilled archer. The action in this story is about a bear who is the stongest demon in the forest.  Someone called the crippled wanderer trapped an element demon in the poor bear and Torak is the only one who can stop it.  I would give this book a 10/10 because it is one of my best reads so far. Others in the series are Spirit Walker, Soul Eater, Outcast, Oath Breaker and Ghost Hunter.

Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliffe

The Eagle of the Ninth is a book about a Roman Auxillary general named Marcvs Aquilvs Flavivs. He leads a Legion of troops to a fortified town in northern Britain, partially because its his job, but mostly because his father was the commander of the Ninth Legion, the most elite and strong fighting force in the Roman army. However, it went on an expedition into the Caledonian lands and never came back. I havent finished it yet but in the parts I have read he meets a British Charioteer and he teaches Marcus to ride a war chariot.
When his slave captures a wolf cub, he keeps it. When the Brits attack Marcus leads the defence, but ends up get is then flesh torn from his lg by the same man who taught him to use chariots. He goes to stay with his uncle and he meets a girl who helps him look after Cub, the wolf.

This is as far as I got with this but what I have read I will rate it 10/10!!!!   L.B

department 19

Department 19 is a book about vampires (very vicious vampires at that, who will tear you limb from limb with no hesitation) and other horror myths. Department 19  is a facility where they try to track down vampires and killl them. Anyway this book is about a boy called Jamie who's father died suspiciously. Jamie's father came home from work early and rushed into the house then Jamie saw something suspicious in the tree it suddenly it dissapered shortly afterwards a van full of people dressed in riot gear appeared and shot his dad. Two years later Jamie mother gets taken by vampires and Jamie nearly gets killed by them but Frankenstein saves him jamie then gets taken to department 19 and makes a friendship with a vampire who is in the holding cells, her name is Larissa will this destroy his chances of getting his mother back or will it help them you'll have to read the book to find out.

I would give this book a 10/10 it is one of the best books i have ever read i would advise boys read it. S.H

Time Riders

This is a fantastic book and has lots of interesting turns in it and loads of action. the time travel is impossible to understand because you just cant understand it.
in this book three people who would have died are taken to the agency from the future in 11.8 and 11.9 2001 (new york) and are put on a time loop which means they live in the two days i said. Liam the one who does all the time traveling has to go back to the second world which in altered history hitler wins and find out as much as he can before the return window. But they cant get to the time window because their are Germans in the way  . The two people back home have to find Liam a way back home before six months when the support unit a meat robot that can get shot about 40 times and not die will self terminate. The two back in New York can communicate back home but when the world becomes post apocalyptic world with only a generator to power a time machine from 2050s it is up to Liam to communicate but you have to read the book to find out more.
Great book i am reading the next one which is even better and easier to understand i give this book anine out of ten clarkers

The Wind Singer

The wind Singer is a fantastic and imaginative book about three young children who live in the old city of Aramanth. Aramanth is almost like a prison, you have to reach higher you have to strive harder and you have to make tomorrow a better day than today! The children are called, Kestrel Hath, Bowman Hath and Mumpo, they are all incredibly adventurous and are all eager to find the secret of the wind singer to free the people of Aramanth and the Hath family. The Hath family are in deep trouble for breaking the rules of Aramanth and Kestrel, Bowman and Mumpo are determined to have freedom in Aramanth.
The whole book is mostly about Kestrel, her brother and Mumpo on their trip through the underworld, the children try as hard as possible to avoid the great dangers that lie amongst them but anything could happen.
This is a really good read... I really liked it.                           8/10            O.M

Gone

Gone is a book about all the fiftheen year olds and up just dissapear from the rest of the world.
The kids that have the courage try to survive for themselves and others.
There is a school called the Coates academy.
What people don't know is that the people that go to the school have certain powers.
A few kids come down from the academy and try to run the place with a boy in particualar.A 13 year old called Caine.
After a while Caine and Sam (also 13) don't get along and things get out of hand.
Will Sam survive 15 ?

Will the adults return ? 

Once by Morris Gleitzman

The book 'Once' is all about a boy called Felix and a girl called Zelda. Felix is a young boy who lives in an orphanidge  in Poland. He decides that he has to go and find his parents. So one morning runs away from the orphanidge. On his way to find his parents he encounters a house on fire. He walks up to it and finds a man and women lying dead on the floor in a puddle of blood. He then  goes closer and finds a young girl lying on the floor. He takes a feather and puts it above her mouth to check if shes breathing.......she is.He picks her up and carry's her for hours. Felix is so tired by this point and needs to rest somewhere. The next morning they wake up and on the passing road there are hundreds of people wearing jewish armbands. After Felix has finished admiring the road he turns around and there is Zelda with a Nazi soldier pointing a gun at her head. Felix and Zelda joined the crowd and continued the walk to the city. When they reached the city there were children being loaded onto trucks and being taken away but just at the right moment and old man came and stopped the nazi soldier from taking Felix and Zelda. But when the old man takes them and hides them in the city will they stay hidden or will they get found and taken away.....? I think this is a very exciting book and always keeps you on your toes. It makes you very curious at what will happen next. I would give this book a 9/10. F.A.

Stormbreaker - by Anthony Horowitz

Stormbreaker is the first book in the Alex rider series. It's about a boy who's uncle (who he lived with) got killed in a 'car crash' and 'wasn't wearing his seatbelt' but Alex thought this was a bit suspicious because his uncle always told Alex to wear his belt and his uncle was very cautious, and at the funeral Alex saw lots of people he never saw before, so Alex started to investigate, which he ended up becoming a spy and confronting life threatening positions and eventually saves the world from a virus.

I thought this was a good book and was filled with thrills 9/10.



MM

Boys dont cry malorie blackman

Dante is seventeen and lives with Adam his brother and his dad.  Hes waiting by the door for the postman who holds his future in his satchel, the piece of paper with his results of his A levels deciding whether he goes to uni or not...the doorbell rings and he gets it...its his old girlfriend Melanie with a baby.....his baby...
this is a good book and i rate it 7/10 ss

Darren Shan series by Darren Shan

Book 1: Cirque Du Freak. Darren Shan is an ordinary school boy who goes to school one day and meets his friends. One  of his friends is a boy called Steve who brings a poster with him to school for a freak show called the Cirque Du Freak. Darren and his friends have enough money to buy two tickets. They decide Steve should go because he gets the tickets and the others try to catch a gold piece of paper with their eyes closed. Darren catches the piece of paper so Steve and Darren go.

At the Cirque Du Freak there are lots of acts but one makes Steve nervous. The act that makes Steve nervous is a man called mr. Crepsley and his spider madam Octa.Mr.Crepsley can talk to the spider with a whistle and makes hiis spider do loads of tricks. At the end of the show Steve says to Darren that he forgot something at his seat and he has to go and get it.Darren decides to follow Steve. Darren hears Steve on the stage talking so Darren takes the stairs to a balcony. Darren sees Steve talking to mr.Crepsley and finds out mr.Crepsley is a vampire and Steve wants to become one too. Mr.Crepsley tests his blood and says he's evil, Steve gets annoyed and leaves in a strop. Darren goes home instead of waiting for Steve. Darren loves spiders but he especially liked mr.Crepsley's. Darrren decides to go back to the cirque and steal madam Octa. He successfully steals her and takes her home. A few days later in the week-end Steve goes to Darrens house unaware of Darren spying on him.. Darren shows Steve the spider and shows him some tricks. If you break contact with spiders they go crazy. When Darren makes madam Octa climb onto Steve's neck Darren's sister Annie bursts into the room Darren loses contact with madam Octa and she bites Steve who has to go to hospital. Mr.Crepsley knows Darren stole madam Octa and goes to Darren's  house. Mr.Crepsley says he can only be cured if DArren becomes his assistant as a half-vampire. Darren accepts and Steve is saved. Darren has to fake his death so he can leave his family.Steve finds out that Darren is a vampire and thinks that he took Steve's place as a vampire. When mr.Crepsley digs Darren out of his grave Steve knocks mr.Crepsley out and vows to hunt Darren down and leaves.

Book 2: The vampires assistant. Darren is learning the ways of the vampires but he refuses to drink blood, if he doesn't drink he will die. Darren and mr.Crepsley go to the circus were Darren meets new friends who are the performers but his best friend is Evra Von who is a snake boy. Darren shares a tent with him. At the cirque Darren helps mr.Crepsley on stage and does the daily chores like feeding the wolf man, cleaning the wolf mans cage and feeding the little people. The little people are dead people who have been given life by a man called mr.Tiny, you will find out who he is later. One day a boy called Sam Grest arrives at the cirque to check it out and Darren and Evra go to meet him. They go to the old unused railway track and meet an eco-warrior called R.V. Darren and Evra give them tickets to the cirque. At the show Darren went on with mr.Crepsley as his assistant. One of madam Ocata's tricks was to bite and kill a goat. At the end nof the show Darren and Evra meet Sam and R.V to see if they liked it. R.V hated the killing of the goat and the wolf man being trapped inside a cage. R.V frees the wolf man. The wolf man rips R.V's hands of and R.V runs away. The wolf man chases Sam to the old railway and Darren trys to help but the wolf man kills him. If a vampire wants to keep someones memories alive they drink from them when they are freshly dead. Darren decides to do that with Sam and it's Darren's first time drinking blood. 

Book 3: Tunnels of Blood. (The enemies of the vampires are called the vampaneze, when they drink they kill which makes their face go purple) Mr.Crepsley, Darren and Evra go to mr.Crepsleys home town were reports of bodys drained of blood have been found. Darren and Evra don't know where mr.Crepsley goes at night he says its a secret mission but Darren and Evra are suspicious. (it's christmas at the time) Darren decides to buy mr.Crepsley and Evra a christmas present but he meets a girl called Debbie (who later on becomes his girlfriend)who invites him to the cinema then back to her house. One night Darren decides to follow mr..Crepsley on his secret mission. Mr.Crepsley goes into a building and finds out he's trying to hunt down a vampaneze. Darren accidentally lets the vampaneze called Merlough go. Will they find and kill him? you have to find out yourself by reading it.

Book 4: Vampire Mountain. The trio come back to the cirque where a man called mr.Tiny is waiting for them. Mr.tiny tells mr.Crepsley and Darren that they have to travel to a place called Vampire Mountain.(The leaders of the vampires are called princes) At Vampire Mountain Darren will be judged by the princes to see if he's worthy of being a member of the vampire clan. Two little people accompany them. They have an exiting journey but you will have to read to find out what happens. At Vampire Mountain their met by an old vampire called Seba Nile who shows them to their room. The next day Darren gets a tour round Vampire Mountain. When the princes meet him they decide that he has to take the trials of death that you normally take to become a vampire general.(a vampire general is one step down from being a prince.

Book 5: Trials of Death. The trials can all bring death. Read the book if you want to know what the trials are and what happens to Darren. One of Darren's trials was to kill two boars. In the trial Darren almost died but a little person saved him. A vampire called Kurda Smalht asked him to escape vamire mountain with him because Darren would most likely be killed by the Princes and he accepted. Along a tunnel another vampire joined them called Gavner Purl. They get into a battle with the vampaneze and Kurda killed Gavner. Darren runs away then falls into a river that floats away from vampire mountain. The river is used when a vampire dies. They throw them in the river for the animals to eat.

Book 6: The Vampire Prince. At the end of the river Darren climbs out feeling very lucky to be alive but he has very little strength. Vampires share the same blood as wolves do so wolves like vampires. Darren gets rescued by some wolves and get taken back into the pack. When Darren got his strength back a wolf led Darren to a secret tunnel to the room of the princes to tell them that Kurda was a traitor. Kurda was about to become a prince and if the prices thought Darren wasn't lying the Kurda would die but so would Darren for failing the trials. Kurda brought vampaneze in to help him. The vampires find all the vampaneze and there is a battle. In the end Kurda gets executed and the only way Darren can not be killed for failing the trials is that he becomes a vampire prince!

Book 7:Hunters of the Dusk. Mr.Tiny comes into vampire mountain an discusses with everyone that there will be a war between the vampires and vampaneze and the vampaneze have a new leader called the vampaneze lord. Three hunters who are Darren mr.Crepsley and another vampire they meet later on. Only the hunters can kill the zampaneze lord and only the vampaneze lord can kill them. They will have three chances to defeat him. Read it to see the start of the hunt.

1. Book 8: Allies of the Night.In a town bodies are piling up so the hunters have a suspicion the Vampaneze are there so the check into a hotel. An inspector called mr.Blaws visited Darren one day to talk about going to school and how he has missed so much learning. Darren goes to school and finds Debbie as his English teacher. As a half-vampire Darren ages at 1 year every 5 so Darren will be young and Debbie is an adult. As Darren was walking away from Debbie's one night a man struck him on the head but another saved him. The person that saved him was Steve. Later on in the book you find out Steve betrayed them and lead them into another battle. At the end of the battle the protector of the vampaneze lord Gannen Hurst lets them run for 30 mins and then chase them. In the battle Darren knocked Steve out and took him with them and R.V who is now a vampaneze with hooks for hands has Debbie. The chase is on....

Book 9: Killers Of The Dawn. The Hunters They enter a building but police are surrounding it. The police had a suspicion that they killed the people. Vampires can jump a few stories without getting hurt so they decided to jump. As they fell mr.Crepsley hurt his ankle and couldn't walk.The third hunter called Vancha March captured the police chief. They decided Vancha should flit (a super fast run) away from the police and let Harkat (a little person who joined them), Darren and mr.Crepsley get arrested, Steve got taken to the next door to the police station hospital. At the police station Darren answers the questions. Word got out that Steve had killed a few people and escaped. The police man left and left one man in the cell stay with Darren. The vampaneze recruited humans which they called the vampets. The man was called Morgan James who was a vampet and knew Darren was a vampire.He let Darren go to free the others. They escaped and mr.Crepsley who was a full vampire couldn't stay in light for very long was getting burnt. Darren went to a shop and bought some sun cream. As he was leaving he looked at a TV on the ceiling where there was a report on Darren. The man behind the counter realized it was him then shouted. The people heard then started a mob. The hunters decided to run into a tunnel to get away from the mob and the sun. Vancha appeared with Alice and Debbie. They decided to move down the tunnel where they found a pit of stakes and the vampaneze. They knew there was another battle to come.mr.Crepsley snuck past the battle onto the platform where Steve, the vampaneze lord and Gannen Hurst was. Mr.Crepsley killed the vampeneze lord but Steve threw mr.Crepsley into the pit of stakes he was dead. At the end of the book Darren discovers the vampeneze lord was not the person mr.Crepsley killed, it was Steve. 

Book 10: The Lake Of Souls. Darren, Harkat, Vancha, Alice and Debbie go to the cirque disappointed. Harkat has had bad dreams all the time he's been a little person.Mr.Tiny arrives at the cirque a few days later. Saying that Harkat can go to the future (but they didn't know that then) and find out who Harkat was in his previous life to stop his bad dreams. Debbie and Alice go to vampire mountain to ask if they can have a human army called the vamperites who fight against the vampets. In the future world Darren and Harkat fight a panther, a giant toad, dragons twice and a weird mythical creature. Read it to see what happens. Harkat finds out he's the traitor Kurda Smalht.  

Book 11: Lord Of The Shadows. Darren and Harkat return to the cirque where there next performance was at Darrens old town. At the cirque a boy named Darious was spying on them. Darren and Harkat show them around. At the end of there tour Darren gave him a ticket to the show. Later on Darren explores his old town. He goes past his old house and sees his sister annie with her child. At the cirque Darren doesn't perform anymore because of the death of mr.Crepsley. So he decided to go out and see if he could see anyone he recognized. He saw his old friend Tommy who was now a goalkeeper for the local football club. At the end of the show Darren met Tommy again. Tommy gave him a ticket to the match the next day. At the end of the match the day after Tommy was the last person out of the tunnel but just as he left he was shot by RV who was with Steve. Darren chased them. read it if you want to read the battle. Darren comes of worse and ends up lying in an alley way on the streets. The next thing he knew he was in a house with Debbie, Alice and Harkat and a few days later Vancha. When Darren was strong again they went to the cirque to celebrate Evra's child Shancus' birthday. The next day they were talking to mr.Tall the owner of the cirque.They heard a scream and rushed out to see what it was. Steve had captured Shancus. Then RV shot mr.Tall. I forgot how but they had Darious. They chased him into a theater where Steve offered Shancus for Darious. As they swapped the kids Steve killed Shancus. Then told Darren that if he killed Darious he killed his nephew....    

Book 12: Sons Of Destiny. This book is the final of the series and there is something happening at almost every page so I don't wan to spoil it.

I would deffinatly give this book 10/10 and would recommend it for boys.
The film is completely different to the book so if you do both go with the books.

                                                          J.H

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

This book is about a boy called Christopher who lives with his Mum and Dad. Christopher has autism and doesn't like certain things. One day he sees a dog that belongs to Mrs Shears lying dead on the grass with a garden fork in him. The book is basically about how he tries to find out who killed the dog called Wellington(this is why he is writing the book). Other things happen in the book between his mum and dad but if I told you I would give away some of the book. This is a very good book and I would give it a 8/1.It was exciting and a bit weird because Christopher keeps on stopping the story because he will start talking about why he doesn't like brown and yellow and what happens with the sun and stuff like that. I would recommend it to everyone.
Mairi Donaldson. 

I Coriander

I Coriander is a book set in the year 1643 and is about a  12 year old girl called Coriander Hobie . She lives with her mother and father in London and there house is by the Thames. One afternoon a box arrives at there back door. Coriander goes to pick it up and inside are a pair of silver shoes with 'Coriander' engraved in the shoe, but when Corianders mother sees them she takes them away and looks very worried. Coriander is upset and confused , but what Coriander dosen't know is that they are cursed! The next day Coriander goes to see her mother , they start talking and Coriander finds out that her mother once had some shoes like the silver ones , suddenly a black raven flys in and as soon as her mother sees it she faints. In less than 4 hours Corianders mother dies. The rest of the book is about Coriander and her father trying to find out why her mother died - but even though this is all they want to do they suddenly find themselves in a heap of trouble involving the raven , a lady called Maud and a weird second world where her mother was once from.

I would give this book a 9/10 because it is exciting, and it has a really good storyline.
DH

 

A brief history on nearly everything

A brief history on nearly everything is an interesting fact book on Well you guessed it nearly everything, I liked it because of the way bill bryson the authour tells you about the book, which is different to other authors because he puts facts that you want to know in! i wold rate it 7/10
LA