Good Reads: Beachborough School

Chosen by Year 6 (10/11 year old) pupils from Beachborough, Northamptonshire.

Thanks to English teacher Yve Kerr.

King of Shadows

Susan Cooper, Puffin, 0 14 130799 4, £4.99 pbk

I really enjoyed this book because it inspired me a lot and I could read it again and again. I never wanted to put this book down because I like plays and William Shakespeare and this is about both. It is about a young actor called Nathan Field who wakes up one morning to find himself in the past, in 1599, acting at the Globe theatre. His partner for the show is the King of Shadows himself, William Shakespeare. Nathan’s new life is blazing with excitement and edged with danger. My favourite character is Nathan because he gets to meet William Shakespeare! Nathan rehearses with him and lives with him. Later he finds out that he has swapped places with another boy also called Nathan who has bubonic plague and the reason why they swapped was so the boy could get treatment, to make sure he did not die.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is full of adventure and sadness. I would recommend it for 9 to 12 year olds. I would give this a definite 10 out of 10.

Abigail Payne

The Bad Beginning

Lemony Snicket, Egmont, 0 7497 4611 4, £5.99 hbk

This is the best book ever. It’s totally terrific. The Bad Beginning may seem an unusual title for a book but it is really quite appropriate for it is mainly about misfortune and upsetting things and never seeming to be too happy but don’t let this put you off because it really is super.

The book is about three children, Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire, who never seem to have any luck after an awful fire. They always think that everything is going to work out fine but it never seems to. After quite a few unfortunate happenings the children are in quite a pickle. They go through a lot of things, with itchy clothing and never any hot meals; there is also an ugly, vile villain who is mad about glinting eyes.

I would recommend this book to people of age seven and up because I think even adults would enjoy reading it as well as children. People who aren’t keen on reading would love it too. So I give this book an amazing ten out of ten.

Florence Bell

Artemis Fowl

Eoin Colfer, Viking, 0 670 89962 3, £12.99 hbk

This book is probably the most smashing book ever. It keeps your nose in it all the time. When I got to the end I was devastated. The book is about a 12-year-old criminal mastermind called Artemis Fowl. He kidnaps a fairy called Holly Short of the Leprecorn Unit because he wants their gold, but he doesn’t know what he’s doing, these aren’t soppy fairies but dangerous armed fairies. They have weapons like bombs and guns; they also have trolls and dwarves to help them. Artemis has his trusty bodyguard, Butler, who is an ace with weapons and martial arts. First the fairies play fair by only using small weapons; they get defeated then they stop playing by the rules…

What attracted me to this book was that everybody was talking about it. It also has a golden shiny cover so that in the library it stands out from others. I recommend this book for 9+ and people who like technology and weapons. I think Eoin Colfer has really written an amazing book, I give this book 10/10.

WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED

Henry Carr

Behind Enemy Lines

J. Eldridge, Puffin ‘Warpath’, 0 14 130239 9, £3.99 pbk

This amazing book is about the English at war with the Japanese. It is written by John Smith, 142 commando. When I read it I really imagined what they were going through. One reading period at school I got to such a gripping scene that I was disappointed when reading time was over. Around the middle of the book the English set up explosives on one of the Japanese main railway lines; they waited for three days then a train came.

In another exciting part it is January 1943. The Japanese invaded the jungles of South-East Asia but one man sends 3000 Chindit soldiers with the English soldiers to stop the Japanese. It is the kind of book that gets you hanging off the edge of your chair. It is a good read if you like historic kind of things. The book is part fact, but mostly story, and is from a series of books called ‘Warpath’. I would recommend this book to people aged 9 and over who like a good, interesting read.

James Foley