Brooke Weston Book Busters

Create Group Magazine

The Song Walker
I liked The Song Walker because of the plot twist at the end and how it is all about the main characters memory loss and how her character develops throughout the book. I also enjoyed how we learn about the different cultures of the First Country Australian people. I think it took quite a long time to really get into the main part of the book and it can be repetitive at points but it still was quite interesting and I liked the plot.

Felicity

The Door of No Return
Mixed feelings about this book: some of the themes were very dark but I felt that being told through verse made it more accessible for younger readers. The contrast of the first part of the story to the second was stark. Kwame Alexander portrayed Kofi as a happy-go-lucky young boy at the beginning of the story, who had hopes and dreams for his future. This made the second part of the story even more heart breaking and the scene has been set for the next part of Kofi's and his cousin's journey. We can only guess at the horrors that will lie ahead if they manage to survive but I think I will want to read on to find out more in Book 2.

Frederic

The Boy Lost in the Maze
'The Boy Lost in The Maze' is a verse novel with multiple perspectives that shows the similarities between Theo, a fatherless boy, and Thesus and the minotaur in Greek mythology. Both Thesus and the minotaur are in search of love from their fathers and their stories intertwine despite the time difference. You also have the option to choose possible options for the characters and see whether or not your character will survive. I really enjoyed the book and I loved how interactive it was.

chloe

The Boy Lost in the Maze
I like The Boy Lost in the Maze in the way it was written from the two perspectives of Theo and The Minotaur and Theseus and how Theo relates to the Greek myth. It includes lots of metaphors of how Theo relates to the myth. This book is a verse novel and the different types of poems are a really good idea. I also liked how in parts of the story you could choose what the characters did which made the book feel more personal. Sometimes the myth part of the story was harder to understand with the language and I got a bit confused between whose story it was talking about at times. Overall I enjoyed The Boy Lost in the Maze and it was a very interesting book.

Frederic

The Door of No Return
I enjoyed the storyline of 'The Door Of No Return'. Kofi's point of view was interesting and relatable, but I didn't particularly like the fact that it was a verse novel; making it slightly harder to understand, and the way that the speech was written was confusing, making it harder to follow. Besides this, I liked 'The Door Of No Return', and would rate it a 6/10.

Lilly

The Door of No Return
During the time I have been trying to read this book I have found the free verse style to be not very captivating with its unusual way to display pages and paragraphs. The content of this novel was good but it can get a little repetitive with the jokes. I would recommend it if you like historically accurate novels. This book is a great way to highlight the Slave Trade but not very fun to read. All of this is my personal opinion, so please don't let it put you off reading it if you like historical fiction.

Matthew

Safiyyah's War
A well written piece of hidden history based on real events highlighting the role Muslims and the Great Mosque in Paris played in helping the Jewish community escape persecution during the Second World War during the occupation of France by the Nazis. I also enjoyed reading about the relationship between the protagonist Saffiyah - a brave, young Muslim girl who helps lead the Jews to safety, and her wise grandmother. Overall, great story telling and an important story to be shared about the power of community, faith and hope.

Mrs Mann

Crossing the Line
'Crossing the Line' by Tia Fisher is a beautiful bildungsroman book that follows the story and of young Erik. The story is a verse novel which I personally found made the book harder to read due to the poetic structures. None the less, the plot is most enjoyable and guides the reader through an emotional roller-coaster. I would recommend this book to verse novel enjoyers.

caitlin

Choose Love
Choose Love is a very interesting book. It's one of those books where you read it and think you know exactly what the meaning is, until someone says something at school or at home and you have a massive realisation. This book has helped me understand more about refugees and what they go through. Definitely recommend.

Kristina

Choose Love
I would give this book an 8/10 as it loses 2 marks for the first couple of illustrations due to them being far too abstract for me and distracted me from the poems. It's a nice book that explores ideas of the difficult theme of being a refugee which I was able to understand.

Rashad

The Bowerbird
I loved this book as it was a bit more realistic than the others I have read. I think that this book would be great for ages around 10 years old because it might be a little sad for younger readers. For this book there was one specific message that the writer was trying to give the reader: do not trust strangers. When the bird came to help the bowerbird and the other bird took all the items the bowerbird collected.

Narina

April's Garden
I thought it was a good book that my group looked at because April's mum wanted to move to a new house because the old house was not a good place to live. I would think that children 7 years old would enjoy looking at this book.

hayden

April's Garden
To be fair I liked it, because it included some of the family, house and some emotional problems. Also, I just enjoyed it because it had cool pictures! I think that young children 10-15 years old will actually understand what the thought and meaning behind the book is - in particular the problems and what she is feeling.

Rozalia

April's Garden
I liked the book because it shows a girl who moved house and her emotions about moving home. I recommend age 8+ because they can read it but it could be upsetting to 5 year olds.

lucienne

The Tree and the River
It was a good book. The story behind it was that the tree was still there and the time changed into the past and the future. The pictures were really arty and it was very nice. I would say all ages can read this book. Basically some parts were sad and some parts of the book were about the future and some were about the present time. I really enjoyed this book I think this is my favourite book so far. In addition is also says that humans changed the present time into the future time and that the tree survived all along, that was the story behind it.

Nicola

The Tree and the River
I really enjoyed this book because it had lots of different types of pictures. However, it didn't have any words as it lets you imagine what is happening.

Narina

The Door of No Return
The Door Of No Return is a wonderful book written by Kwame Alexander. It not only displays his love for a different culture but it also displays his amazing writing skills and his ability to hook readers in using a verse novel format. The novel is a brilliant coming of age story and sheds light on the terror and horrific events of the North Atlantic Slave Trade through the eyes of the slightly naïve 11-year-old, Kofi Offin. It contains sections about family love, childish crushes, family feud and some historical events about black people. It has everything for everyone and is a nice way to show the world the true story of black culture and history.

Michelle

Choose Love
This book was a good mixture of overwhelming illustrations and amazing writing I personally didn't understand this book until I figured out the pictures represented something important in their life. It had some out of place poems but overall was good.

Aaron

The Song Walker
The Song Walker was a really fantastic book that quite literally brought tears to my eyes. The way the main character developed as the story progressed really inspired me. Usually, I find the symbolism in stories rather annoying, but Bethell does a fantastic job of making it understandable. This story was also very thought provocative, leading to an even deeper understanding of the character's lives and the authors intentions. On the other hand, I would have preferred it if we knew slightly more about how the main character and her friend turned out as we didn't really get a lot of detail as to what happened. Overall, I really enjoyed this book as the characters were my age and while they were relatable, they were completely different to what I would have expected. I would definitely recommend this book!

Kristina

Felicity

Steady for This
I would give this book a 5/10 because it just meets the alright mark. Growls mum works hard for him, I think Siobhan and him should just be friends. Honestly, I believe that the fact he is called "poopy pants" is pathetic and just cringe because all his mum did was carry laundry. It's also not Growls job to worry about eviction- it's his parents.

Rashad

The Boy Lost in the Maze
I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a mythological book with a real-life story running alongside it. It is about a boy who wants to find his father and starts to write about Theseus, the son of a king, who also goes on an adventure through many obstacles to find his father. There is also the minotaur who has a different life completely, he was abandoned and seen as a monster from the moment he was born. As well as this I like the fact that the book was written in three different perspectives, because it allowed me to immerse myself in the book more. There is also an interactive element of making your own choices and choosing your own adventure that makes the book a lot better and more expansive. Overall I think this book will be one of my favourites for quite a while. I would definitely recommend this book.

Aaron