Here
are some of our favourite books reviewed by the sixth class literary
critics. Below is the key to our reviews, all books were marked out of
five.
If you would like
to add any reviews to our list please e mail us.
Highly recommended
Well worth a read
Good
Try another book!
Books Reviewed
Book Title: Judith
and the Traveller
Author: Mike Scott
Reviewer: Catherine Halley
Publisher: Wolfhound press
ISBN: 0-86-327-299-1
Type: Adventure
Review: Judith’s mother died when she was young, and her father takes care of her all on his own, but then he gets married and Judith feels as though he is going to forget about her. She also doesn’t like her new stepmother, so she leaves her home in Dublin to start a new life. She meets a Traveller called Spider and he takes her to Galway but on there way they run into some trouble.
Rating:
Top
Book Title:
Nightmare StairsAuthor: Robert Swindells
Reviewer: Catherine Halley
Publisher: Doubleday a division of Transworld
ISBN: 0-440-86330-9
TYPE: Thriller/Mystery
Review: This book was about a young girl called Kirsty who was having nightmares since she was a baby and it was the same nightmare. She is standing at the top of a staircase and someone pushes her from behind but she can’t she who. Then she finds out that her grandma was killed the same way. She goes to investigate who was the murderer that pushed her.
What she finds out is some thing that she never thought was possible.
Rating:
Book Title:
Charlie & The Great Glass ElevatorAuthor: Roald Dahl
Reviewer: Christopher
Publisher: George Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 0-14-037155-9
Type: Adventure
Review: The story is about a boy named Charlie Bucket who lives with his mother, father and his four grandparents. One day he wins a trip to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, and brings his favourite grandfather. Later on that day Willy Wonka brings Charlie’s whole family up on the Great Glass Elevator into Outer Space.
Rating:
Book Title:
The Perfect PonyAuthor: Michelle Bates
Reviewer: Ciara Nolan
Publisher: Usborn Publishing Ltd.
ISBN: 07460 3329 x
Type of Book: Horses
Review: It is about a boy called Alex who goes to sandy lane stables. When he gets there, three of the horses are lame and Alex decides to go off to the market to buy a pony for five hundred pounds. When he comes back with a shabby pony the riders at sandy lane are very disappointed with his buy and Alex can’t take the pony back so he thinks he can tame the pony. Alex has to take care of it and wants to keep it so he does and everything turns out ok in the end.
Rating:
Book Title:
TitanicAuthor: Cora Harrison
Reviewer: Claire
Publisher: Wolfhound Press LTD
ISBN: 0-86327-679-2
Type: Traditional Story
Review : Kitty is leaving the family farm of Drumshee to go on the unsinkable Titanic as the maid of Lady Victoria Fitzgerald , niece and nephew,
Rating:
Book Title:
The Children Next DoorAuthor: Jean Ure
Reviewer: Debbie Ross
Publisher: Hippo
ISBN: 0-590-55833-1
Type: Fantasy
Review: The children next door was about three children who played in next door’s garden and Laura longs to make friends with them. But when she does she meets this girl called Zilla and there is no sight of the rest of the children.
Rating:
Book Title:
The mouse rat robber.Author: Enid Blyton
Reviewer: Elaine
Publisher: Blaney
ISBN: 0-86163-611
Review: The mouse is about four women who went out to hang out the washing. They heard a noise from
a shed nearby. The women screamed and their male friend heard them and ran out. He went into shed and he found a turtle it was their boss’s turtle.Rating:
Book title:
Teacher’s Secret’sAuthor: Malcolm Yourke
Reviewer: Elaine
Publisher:
ISBN: 0-7513-7017-7
Type: Fiction
Review: Teacher’ secret’s is about a teacher who is his pupil’s favourite pop star. The pupils don’t know that their teacher is their favourite star. His pupils never listen to him but one day that all change’s when the teacher sings for the class and all the pupils love it.
Rate:
Book Title:
Under the Hawthorn TreeAuthor: Marita Conlon McKenna
Reviewer: Evelyn
Publisher: The O’Brien Press
ISBN: 0-86278-206-6
Type: History – Adventure
Review: This is a story of love, loyalty and courage set in the time of the great famine in Ireland, the 1840’s. Three children- Eily, Michael and Peggy- are left alone, surrounded by disaster. In danger of being sent to the workhouse. They escape, and set out on a long and challenging journey to find the great-aunts they have heard about in their mother’s stories.
Rating:
Book Title:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher`s StoneAuthor: J.K. Rowling
Reviewer: Frank
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0-7475-3274-5
Type: Novel
Review: Harry Potter and The Philosopher`s Stone is about a boy who thinks he is an ordinary boy staying with his cruel Aunt and Uncle and there fat son. But when Harry turns 10 years old he keeps getting letters but his Uncle tries to hide them. He finally runs out of space in the house and Harry gets one of the letters. The letter is hogwarts wizard and witch craft school.
Rating :
Book Title:
Teacher Trouble.Author: Alexander McCall Smith.
Reviewer: Holly.
Publisher: Young Corgi Books.
ISBN: 0-552-52803-X
Type: School.
Review: Teacher Trouble is about a girl called Jenny who is very tall for her age. She is starting a new school. The same school is expecting a new teacher. They mistake Jenny for the teacher. So Jenny has to teach a class. Soon the principal finds out that Jenny is a child so Jenny runs home. Her mother is worrying at home and says Mr. Brown rang to say Jenny didn’t turn up. Jenny asked who Mr. Brown was. Jenny tells her Mother about what happened in school that day and they both figure out that she went to the wrong school and they start laughing.
Rating:
Book Title:
The Perfect Pony.Author: Michelle Bates.
Reviewer: Holly.
Publisher: Usborn.
ISBN: 07460 3329
Type: Animals
Review: The Perfect Pony is about Alex who wants to go on a cricket tour but he hasn’t got enough money. He bought a pony and thought he could sell the pony and make a profit. The pony needed a good groom and needed the vet. Alex brought the pony to the riding-school that he goes to and they got the vet to come and see the pony. Soon the pony was clean and healthy. Alex’s parents didn’t know about the pony but Alex told his parents about the pony and asked could he keep the pony and they said yes. Everyone was delighted.
Rating:
Book Title :
The year they stopped ChristmasAuthor : Harriet Graham
Reviewer : Kathy Fitzpatrick
Publisher : Haimish Hamilton Childrens Books
ISBN : 0241 897033
Type :Family
Review : The Christmas of 1655 threatened to be an ordinary day in the year calendar for the Puritans had forbidden the keeping of the seasonal festivities. To Lydia whose family were very rich this could not be true so they set off to save Christmas of 1655.
Rating :
Book Title:
Foals in the FieldAuthor: Lucy Daniels
Reviewer: Martina
Publisher: Hodder Children`s Books
ISBN: 0-340-69949-3
Type: Animals:
Review: Mandy loves looking after animals because her mother and father are vets. Her best friend James loves them too. There is a storm and where some horses are staying the roof blows off and the place goes on fire. Mandy and James try to find Nick`s father and she also skips school to visit him in the city and her parents found out and they were very cross with her. There are two horses and one of them is sick. The other one is alright. The horse that is sick dies when he runs out of the stables in to the fields and falls on all the wood and slates. Mandy and James get all the people from the village to help clear up and build a new stable for Nick and his wife and they were so happy together from then on.
Rating:
Book Title:
Millenium at DrumsheeAuthor: Cora Harrison
Reviewer: Martina
Publisher: Wolfhound Express Ltd
ISBN: 0-86327-715-2
Type: Adventure
Review: There is a girl called Emma who has to move to Drumshee in Ireland from London with her parents and she doesn’t want to. One day it is raining out and Emma is bored so she goes on the internet and meets this boy called Bruce. Every day from then on the two of them keep in touch on the internet. Then one day Bruce tells Emma that his father was blamed for stealing money from the bank where he worked. Bruce asked Emma will she help him find out who did it to his father. Emma and her father get busy and after a while they found out who did the robbery. Bruce and his family come to Drumshee and they have a party to celebrate the new millenium. But still Emma and Bruce keep in touch on the internet writing to each other all the time. They become best friends.
Rating:
Book Title:
Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets.Author: J.K. Rowling.
Reviewer: Pat Fitzgerald.
Publisher: Bloomsbury.
ISBN: 0-7475-3848-4.
Type: Adventure.
Review: Harry Potter is back with the Dursleys. He is locked in his bedroom. Ron and his two brothers come two bring Harry back. Harry, Ron and his family go to buy their books for school. When there are back at school that’s where the mystery begins.
Rating:
Book Title:
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanAuthor : J.K Rowling
Reviewer: Steven
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN : 0-7475-4215-5
Type: Action , Adventure
Review: This is Harry Potters third year at Hogwarts with the help of his friends Ron and Hermione. There is a prisoner of Azkaban on the lose and he is trying to brake into Hogwarts to talk to his friend Professor Lupin and it turns out that he is Harry’s Godfather.
Rating:
Book title:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer.Author’s name: Laura Anne Gilman and Josepha Sherman.
Reviewer’s name: Leanne Fogarty & Ailish Dunphy
Publisher :Pocket Books
ISBN :0-671-02628-3
Type of book: scary
What the book is about: When the stalker starts to take his malicious game to the next level, Buffy finds herself face to face with a being unlike any she’s ever encountered. But can she figure out its weakness before she is forced to participate in its dance of death?
Rating:
Book Title:
The Babysitter ClubAuthor: Ann M. Martin
Reviewer: Elaine
Publisher: Hippo
ISBN: 0-590-76628-7
Type: Adventure
Review: The babysitter’s are really excited. They are all
going on holiday’s. they are going to camp Mohawk. Some of the children that they baby-sit are going too. They think camp is going to be bonfires and sing-songs. It isn’t what they expected. Dawngets lost, MaryAnn gets caught sneaking into the boy’s camp. The girl’s won’t forget this in a hurry.Rating:
Book Title:
A Bad Spell For The Worst WitchAuthor: Jill Murphy
Reviewer: Elaine
Publisher: Puffin Books
ISBN: 0-14-031446
Type: Fiction
Review: A Bad spell For The Worst Witch is about a
little witch who goes to witch school. The witch’s name is Mildred. Mildred's spell’s always go wrong. Mildred hate’s having a bad reputation and is determined to get rid of it.Rating:
