The Great World of Books

  Author: Malorie Blackman Rating: 9/10 Age: 12+ Genre: Fiction, Family, Dystopian, History Pages: 454 Published in: 2001 Main Characters: Sephy, Callum, Jude, Kamal, Ryan, Jasmine, Meggie, Lynette   Synopsis: This is a story written by Malorie Blackman, and we are introduced to 2 very socially-divided groups, the Noughts and Crosses. The Noughts are seen as the ‘second class’ citizens, while the Crosses are highly revered and perceived as the ‘superior race.’ The story begins with 2 very different teenagers, with opposing personalities, traits, and of course, races. Sephy Hadley is a 14 year old young cross who is the second daughter of one of the most influential politicians in the country, Kamal Hadley. Callum McGregor is the son of Meggie and Ryan McGregor and brother to Jude and Lynette McGregor. He also has a secret relationship with Sephy in a world full of racism. The plot of this story focuses on th...

Author: Veronica Roth Rating: 9/10 Age: 12+ Genre: Fiction, Family, Science Fiction Pages: 592 Published in: May 2012 Main Characters: Tris, Caleb, Four, Jeanie Synopsis:   Picking up shortly where the first book, 'Divergent' ended, Jeanine Matthews sends a message to every faction in the city. She says that after the war, peace seemed unattainable. Now, she feels the opposite way, and that peace can be achieved so long as they purge the city of their one enemy - the Divergents. At the same time, Jeanine's men go to the Prior home in Abnegation faction (Tris’ old faction) and retrieve a box with a symbol of each faction on it, holding what is believed to be a message from the founders of the city. They need a Divergent to unlock it. In the second book of this series, we are again introduced to Tris and Four. As she searches for allies and answers in the wake of the uprising, Tris and Four are on the run....

Author: Veronica Roth Rating: 9/10 Age: 12+ Genre: Fiction, Family, Science Fiction Pages: 487 Published in: April 2011 Main Characters: Tris, Caleb, Four, Christina, Will, Al Synopsis:   The word “divergent” is defined as “differing from each other or from a standard .” This story begins with a 16 year old girl named Beatrice. In Chicago, society is divided into five factions, or groups, each dedicated to the personality of a person. These groups consist of the following: Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. Beatrice, her parents and her brother all belong to the Abnegation faction, and for her, the decision is between staying with her family or being who she really is—she can’t have both. So sh...

  Author: Roald Dahl Illustrator: Quintin Blake Rating: 8/10 Age: 9+ Genre: Fiction, Humour, Family Pages: 232 Published in: 1988 Main Characters: Matilda, Miss Honey, Miss Trunchball, Lavender     Synopsis: This story is about a young girl named Matilda. You might just think of her as an ordinary girl, but in reality, she is an extremely smart girl for her age. She was able to read at the age of 3! Now, you would expect her parents to be very proud of her, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately for Matilda, however, her parents sometimes forget that she was ever alive. Matilda has a brother, Michael, and her parents think very highly of him. Matilda is used to being treated like this, but deep inside all she ever wanted is for someone to love her and praise her for her talents. Harry (Matilda’s father) is a second-hand car salesman, who enjoys swindling his customers. Zinnia (Matilda’s mother) prefers to play bin...

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt Rating: 8/10 Age: 9+ Genre: Fiction, Friendship, Family, Pages: 188 Published in: 1995 Main Characters: Ruby, Garnet, Dad, Rose. Synopsis: This story is about two identical twins, with the names of Ruby and Garnet. The twins have been living with their father and grandmother since their mother, Opal, died. The two have always been close despite their differences—Ruby is sociable and dreams of being an actress, while introverted Garnet is content to let Ruby dominate their relationship. The twins have their own secret language, and they don't like to make friends at school because they have each other. When their father gets a new girlfriend, Rose, and a new job, their once stable relationship is thrown into turmoil, as the relationship leads to feelings of betrayal from their father to their late mother, and it comes with a big price—leaving their grandmother ...

  Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt Rating: 08/10 Age: 9+ Genre: Fiction, Friendship, Family, Humour Pages: 224 Published in: Jan 1995 Main Characters: Elsa, Mum, Mack, Pippa, Hank, Naomi, Famous Five Synopsis:   This story is about a young girl named Elsa, who was 10 years old. She loved to make up jokes and share them with others. But Elsa had a huge problem. She lived with her Mum, her stepdad named Mack (whom she liked to call Mack the Smack), her half-sister Pippa and her half-brother Hank.   She lived in a small flat which was big enough for the family to live in, and Elsa loved living there. One day, Mack got a new job which paid lots of money. Soon, they were all living in a house of their own! But this job didn’t stay for long. They had no other house to live in. Some people suggested they should buy a new flat, but nobody was selling any. All that was left to do ...

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt Rating: 9/10 Age: 9+ Genre: Fiction, Family Pages: 155 Published in: 1992 Main Characters: Andy, Mum, Dad, The 2 families and the new people at Mulberry Cottage. Synopsis : Andrea (Andy) is a young schoolgirl who loved playing with her toy friend Radish. One day, her parents split up and they had no idea whatsoever to do with their little girl. Her dad said that she would be happy living with him, however, her mum said she would be even happier living with her! Andy had no idea what to do. She badly wanted to live with her mum but she wanted her dad desperately too! Her parents knew that they could not live together any longer, so they needed a plan to make sure that their daughter could be safe and happy. Whilst Andy’s mum lived with a different family, her dad was also living with someone else. Their plan was that Andy would live in her mum’s house for on...

Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt Rating: 10/10 Age: 8+ Genre: Fiction, Family Pages: 96 Published in: March 2002 Main Characters: Verity, Gran, Miss Smith, Mabel, Dad Synopsis : Verity is a young school girl who has an old, miserable cat named Mabel. Verity always wished she could have pets like her friends, and not a boring tabby cat that only left her bed to wait for Gran to open her tin of cat food. That is the only exercise Mabel took throughout the whole day. However, one afternoon, Verity had just come home from another tiresome yet exciting day at school when she realised Mabel had not been very well recently. She wouldn’t touch her food, and she was sick all over the elegant carpet! Verity rushed off to find Mabel, hoping that she would be alright. That day, Verity found her poor cat hiding in her wardrobe. Verity was relieved to find the cat, but her happiness quickly faded as sh...

    Author: Jacqueline Wilson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt Rating: 09/10 Age: 9+ Genre: Fiction, Family, Home Pages: 336 Published in: Aug 2011 Main Characters: Ella, Jack, Sam and mum Synopsis : Ella lives with her stepdad and her mum. They are all enjoying their peaceful life when Ella’s baby brother arrives…. And then Ella’s mum falls into a coma! Ella goes to the hospital every day, and doesn’t go to school. She has to spend a very long time with her stepdad, Jack, whom she hates. Finally, Ella decides to go to school just to catch up on her schoolwork. She is very worried that her best friend, Sally, will find a new best friend. Everyone thinks that it is very unlikely that mum will ever wake up, but Ella is determined that she would. Has Ella’s fear of losing her best friend proven to be storm in the teacup? Can Ella’s love bring mum back? If you want to find out the answers you got to read this...