Good Reads: Trafalgar Junior School

Chosen by Year 5 (9–10 year-old) members of the Readers and Writers Club, Trafalgar Junior School, Twickenham, Middlesex.

Thanks to Richard Smith, Deputy Headmaster.
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips

Michael Morpurgo, HarperCollins, 978 0 00 718246 6, £5.99 pbk

This is a great book which you will never put down. It’s set in Devon in World War Two. Lily is very upset as her granddad has just died and her gran is devastated. Lily is surprised when her nan disappears. She sends Lily a letter which she settles down to read… and what she reads there is the story of Adolphus Tips!

I loved Lily and her cat Adolphus Tips – it inspired me to want to get a cat! This book is very tense and exciting. You will feel like you are taking the journey with Lily, because of the way Michael Morpurgo draws you in to the events. I hope you can buy or borrow this book from your local library, because, trust me, it is great. I would recommend this book for 7 to 11 year olds, and anyone who loves cats.

Emma-Jane Hart

Second Form at St Clare’s

Enid Blyton, Egmont, 978 1 4052 1981 5, £4.99 pbk

The twins are starting their second form and they’re in for a big surprise. Carlotta is having her birthday feast (but it is not during the day!). A small and timid Gladys is proving to be someone she is not. Mirabel is determined to get out of school by half term, but Gladys finds that she has a great talent! Elsie is determined to ruin everything.

This is a great book about the twins Pat and Isabel O’Sullivan. It’s exciting, mischievous and very well written. My favourite characters are Bobby and Carlotta. Bobby is naughty and Mademoiselle goes crazy. I have also enjoyed other stories by Enid Blyton like The Famous Five, The Secret Seven and Malory Towers. I would recommend it for children in Years Five and Six.

Maddie Edwards

The Wave Runners

Kai Meyer, Egmont, 978 1 4052 1635 7, £5.99 pbk

The Wave Runners is about a 14-year-old called Jolly. She is a Pollywiggle. Later in the book she meets Monk and together they are the last of the Pollywiggles. (Pollywiggles are children who can walk on water.) They are also pirates.

I loved this book because it is set on the other side of the world. I like Jolly because she is very calm in a tricky situation, and I like Monk, although he is a bit of a goody goody. Bannon is their captain and he runs away from the ship because somebody lets poisonous spiders out, and the others are trying to find him. This is a great book which I would recommend to children who are quite good readers and probably between 8 and 15 years old.

Gracie Walsh

Jacky Daydream

Jacqueline Wilson, Doubleday, 978 0 385 61015 5, £12.99 hbk

This is a story about Jacqueline Wilson and her life up to the age of 11. It tells you about her family, house, pet and friends, and it makes you feel like she is right there telling it all to you!

I love Jacqueline Wilson books, but because this is an autobiography and not a story I thought it wouldn’t be so good. But it is fab! I loved it because it is cool and funny and helps you get to know your favourite writer better. I would recommend this book to children of 8 to 11 but especially to fans of her other books.
Jade Winslade