Sam Enthoven Visit

Today, we visited the Samworth Academy to hear the Author Sam Enthoven talk about writing and specifically about his latest book, Crawlers. Crawlers is shortlisted for the Nottinghamshire Brilliant Book Awards. He said he was amazed and excited to have been chosen. Ben, Year 7, said he thought he was a bit crazy but that was probably what made his books so good.

An Overview, or Why it is So Hard to Choose.

I find it very hard to pick a favourite out of the books. They are all different genre so have different good bits and bad bits.

Desperate Measures by Laura Summers is written very well, but had a bit of an anti-climax.

The Vampire Blog by Peter Johnson is very funny, but has only a small amount of action.

Fightback by Steve Voake has lots of action but strong drug abuse (not necessarily bad).

Now by Morris Gleitzmen had good wartime and bushfire facts but is a bit slow to get to the point.

Joseph Yr 8

The Nottinghamshire Brilliant Book Award

The 2010 Shortlist to the BBA has been published and there seems to be a treat for everyone in store.

Crawlers by Sam Enthoven who wrote The Black Tattoo published earlier this year is a Horror/Thriller with his usual dry humour thrown in.

Desperate Measures by Laura Summers, a debut novel which explores family loyalties and friendship with the subtext of the struggle of living with disabilities.

Fightback by Steve Voake who wrote one of last years most popular 'Booked Up' choices is a gory thriller.

Now by Morris Gleitzman, the final chapter in the acclaimed WW2 trilogy which brings the story of Felix and Zelda up to the present day .

The Boy who Fell Down Exit 43 by Harriet Goodwin, a humourous fantasy adventure about parallel worlds and personal hurdles.

The Vampire Blog by Pete Johnson. More humour from one of our most popular funny writers.

Our Favourite Book

The Recruit is the first book in the Cherub series and is the one which caught my eye the most. The Recruit is an action packed adventure story full of suspense and humour. The Recruit is basically about young agents (under the agent of 17) working for Cherub going on under cover missions. James Adams is one of the new “meats” recruited to become an agent. This would change his whole life if he passes his basic training but as you probably guessed the training is brutal close combat at its hardest. Travel with James Adams on his basic training and find out whether he makes it or not.

Reported by Arjun N. and Ben B. Year 7

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

This book is about Nobody Owens, a young boy who escapes murder as a baby and then grows up in a graveyard away from the dangers of the city where he gets up to all sorts of trouble. It is a good book but can cause you to go mad with frustration, as it is a hard book to understand! 7/10
Joe Waplington

Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve

Recommendation by Dominic Stafford
The orphan Fever Crumb grows up the only girl in the order of engineers in a London recently ravaged by riots against the tyrannical mutated humans called The Heritage. Soon Fever Crumb is submerged in weird memories that aren’t hers and pursued by people who have realised her heritage.
A really good book set in the world of Mortal Engines. 9/10

2010 Carnegie Book Award

The Carnegie Short List has arrived! Having a quick trawl through the titles, Fever Crumb is the first to go. A preliminary assessment gives The Graveyard Book our award for Best Cover and Best First Paragraph. Rowan the Strange, whilst we found the cover frightening, won for Best Blurb.