My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher

Jamie has moved to a new home after a tragedy split the family apart. 5 years ago, when Jamie was five, one of his two older sisters was blown up by a bomb. Now, 5 years on Jamies Mum has run away with the man from the support group, and Jamies Dad has turned to alcohol. At Jamies new school, however, there is hope. Jamie has made a friend, called Sunya. There is only one problem, Sunya is a Muslim, Muslims killed Jamies sister, and Jamies dad hates all Muslims becuase of it. Jamie must hide his friendship with Sunya, but is it possible...?

This book is sadly relevant to the hate a lot of muslims are getting at the moment, such as the Burkini Ban in France. You can read about that here.

I think this book is well written, and I liked the way you had issues that are often not discussed with children, through the eyes of a ten year old. The plot was well thought out. I liked the way there was a bit of a super hero theme. I liked the way there were quite a few themes going on at once. These themes include friendship and family.

I am going to give it a 9/10
and an age rating of 12+

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The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B

The Unlikely Superhero of Room 13B by Theresa Toten

When Adam meets Robyn at his OCD recovery group, he immediately falls in love with her. And over time, she grows to like him. Adam makes Robyn happier, and therefore better. But as Robyn gets better, Adams OCD continues to worsen.

I enjoyed this book because it draws light on issues that you generally don't think about. It makes you realise what some people have to go through. On top of that, it was also a really well written book, and had a good story line. I like that the characters called each other superhero names, such as Batman, hence the title of the book. I also like the fact that you good see inside the Group sessions and One-on-one sessions with the psychologist.

I am going to give it a 9/10
and an age rating of 12+

Chasing the Stars

Chasing the Stars by Malorie Blackman

Nathan and his friends are stuck on a planet in Mazon territory. Olivia, and her brother Adrian are in their spaceship, on there own. When Olivia picks up a distress signal from Nathan's mum, she meets Nathan, and they fall hopelessly in love. Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with this.

Firstly, I like the way one of the main characters basically has my name. I thinks thats the first time someones been called Nat, and not been a girl. ( I am talking about books I have read. If you can think of any others, please leave the name of the book in the comments). Now, moving onto the actual story, I liked the plot, and I loved the twist at the end. The book is mostly a romantic thriller, but there is a bit of a who-done-it thrown in. The book has you screaming something at it, until the last minute, when you realise you were wrong.

I am going to give it a 9/10
and an age rating of 11+

Guest Review: The World According to Humphrey

Guest Review: The World According to Humphrey Betty.G.Birney
Review by Sam

This book is about a school pet who is a hamster. His name is Humphrey. Each day a child would take turns to feed him. Each night, his friend, who was a cleaner, would feed him a delicious treat. However, it was coming up to a weekend, and he didn't know who was going to take him home...

I like this book because there's quite a lot of drama. My favourite character was 'Speak-Up Sahai'. I also like that they made an obstacle course for Humphrey. The plot was really clever. The illustrations were realistic.

I am going to give it an 8/10
and an age rating of 6+