Beads, Boys and Bangles by Sophia Bennett

Crow is in designer heaven;
Nonie's caught the eye of a gorgeous boy;
Jenny's rehearsing a new play.


But this time Edie's in trouble...
The rumours are that slave children in India
have been making Crow's new 
high-street collection.


How far do the girls have to
go to save their dreams?


I was so happy to find this in my Santa Sack on Christmas morning, because I've wanted this book for ages (well, 2 months, but still!). It's the follow-up to Threads which is my favourite book not-in-a-series ever!  So you can probably imagine my excitement when I opened it!

Beads, Boys and Bangles is again narrated by the eccentric, fashion-mad , 15-year-old Nonie. Nonie likes to stand out from the crowd and gets most of her clothes in charity shops, or else she makes them herself. She's that girl! Nonie is probably my favourite character. She's witty, hilarious and makes a great narrator. Or maybe Nonie's older brother Harry.(is my favourite character). He's just like his sister and he certainly knows how to annoy her. I really hated Alexander, Nonie's supposed-to-be boyfriend. I can't say much more about him, or else I'll spoil it, but take it from me. He's just...grrrr!

Around the middle of the book, Miss Teen, the fashion label Crow works for, sends the girls on a trip to.....India!!! The girls are super excited, because, not only only do they get to see how the clothes are made, they get to go...shopping! Mumbai is a brilliant place for shopping so Nonie is in heaven and Crow loves it too, because Mumbai has amazing fabrics Crow would love to work with. But then they find something appalling is going on, and when they get back to England, set out to fix it...

This book really is super. I wouldn't say it's as good as the first one (but then, that's a lot to live up too), but it still is brilliant. It gets 5/5, because I was gripped the whole way through, since there was one or two supporting storylines, so you never get bored! So, all in all, it was great. I definitely recommend you read it, and the first book , Threads. 


By the way everyone, I won't be posting for a week or so because I'll be at my Granny's and she doesn't have a computer*sob* Oh well.*sigh* But, at least that means I'll be posting extra reviews when I get back*yay!* Bye!!!!!!!

Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman

WHEN TRUTH AND JUSTICE ARE NO LONGER BLACK AND WHITE ISSUES...
Sephy is a Cross, one of the privileged in a society where the ruling Crosses treat the pale-skinned noughts as inferiors. But her baby daughter has a nought father...


Jude is a nought. Eaten up with bitterness, he blames Sephy for the terrible losses his family has suffered...


Now Jude's life rests on a knife edge. Will Sephy be forced, once again to take sides?


A razor-sharp and intensely moving novel, the second in the Noughts and Crosses trilogy.


WARNING: Spoilers alert. Don't read this review if you haven't read the first book.

I was so excited, and eager to begin reading this book when my mum brought it home from the library. If you have read my review of Noughts and Crosses, you will know how much I loved it, and so obviously I wanted to read this one. Who doesn't love a good sequel?! And it certainly didn't disappoint! Knife Edge had some wonderful new characters, and plot twists all the way through, so it kept me on the edge of my seat, hungry for more.

I found that this book explored the characters personalities more, whereas the first book concentrated more on the background of the characters, so that was interesting. I felt that we, as readers, got to know the characters better. On the subject of characters, I have to say, even though he has done some unforgivable things, I felt sorry for Jude the whole way through the book. He is filled with rage and hatred towards Sephy, because he blames her for his families,especially Callums death. He doesn't know where he's at, and what he wants from life, he is just focused on getting revenge on Sephy, which is an awful way to have to live your life.

I think anyone considering reading this book should read Noughts and Crosses before doing so as it contains information that you need to know to understand what's going on. And I would definitely advise you to read them, ASAP! This book gets a rating of 6/5! Thank you so much Malorie Blackman, for writing these books!OK, bye!!!

Age Group: 12+
Official Publication Date: 30 June 2005
Publisher: Random House Childrens Books
Author Website:www.malorieblackman.co.uk

Christmas Books

Hey everyone! Did you all have a good Christmas and get lots of books? Great! So did I! Here are the books I got:                                              

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy  

by Ally Carter

Beads, Boys and Bangles

by Sophia Bennett

Gleeful! A Totally Unofficial Guide To The

Hit TV Series Glee by Amy Rickman

This next one arrived in the post Christmas Eve Day, and even though I ordered it, I'm still counting it as a present!

Castle of Shadows 

by Ellen Renner

So, I hope everybody had an awesome Christmas (I know I did!) Bye!!!

P.S. I got a bike!!!!!Yay! I know-not very book related! Oh well. Bye!!!(again)

Merry Christmas
Everyone!!!!!
Have a good Christmas everybody! I hope you all get lots of pressies!xxxxx

The Longest Whale Song by Jacqueline Wilson

Dear Mum,
Oh dear, I know you can't read this but I still need to write to you.There's so much I want yo tell you. I've been doing a special project about whales. Did you know that humpback whales can sing? Isn't it amazing to think of all those whales down there in the depth of the ocean, singing? Usually the songs are quite short - but on whale was recorded singing non - stop for TWENTY-TWO HOURS! I'd sing for even longer if it would only make you wake up. I'm going to play you some beautiful whale songs when I visit you in hospital. You'll listen, won't you?
Lots and lots and lots of love,
Ella xxxxxxxx


Summary from www.jacquelinewilson.co.uk

Ella’s mum’s in a deep coma having just had a new baby. That means Ella has to live with Jack, her hopeless stepfather and cope with her tiny newborn brother, as well as worrying about Mum.

The only thing that’s going right is her school project. It’s all about whales and how they sing out to each other to attract a mate – sometimes for hours. Maybe a whale song could reach Mum, wherever she is, and bring her back to Ella and baby Samson.

Surely it’s worth a try?

I'm just going to start by saying this: I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! It was so brilliant! In my opinion it was definitely Jacquelines best book ever. When I saw it I didn't think it would be very good - I thought the storyline sounded a bit strange, but I'm so happy I did! I really liked the whale parts. I learned quite a lot about them from this book, actually! 

My favourite character was probably..... Jack, Ella's step dad. I felt sorry for him, cope with his wife being in a coma, at the same time as taking care of Ella and Samson and working. I didn't like Ella's so-called best friend Sally, because she wasn't there for Ella when she needed her most, and then she went off with another girl in their class, Dory, and practically left Ella all alone. I felt especially sorry for her at those parts.

My rating of this book is definitely 5/5.. I love all of Jacqueline Wilsons books, but this is by far my favourite one. Great, great, great job Jacqueline!

Official Publication Date: 30th September 2010  

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Author Website:www.jacquelinewilson.co.uk

Ten books I want to read

Here are ten books I really want to read soon!                                          

Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman

This book is the second in a series the first being Noughts 

and Crosses which is brilliant! So I can't wait to read this one!

Entangled by Cat Clarke 

I've seen loads of reviews of this on tons of 

blogs lately and it looks super! But it's not out

until 2011 : (

Beads, Boys and Bangles by Sophia Bennett

Another sequel! This one is a sequel to Threads, my 

favourite book ever! Luckily I'm getting it for Christmas : )

A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler

I've never read any of this authors book before, 

but it sounds amazing, so hopefully it will be good.

Conspiracy 365: January by Gabrielle Lord

This is part of a 12 book series, one for each 

month of the year. Sounds interesting, hmm?

When I Was Joe by Keren David

I don't really like the cover, it looks a bit 

depressing, but the storyline sounds great.

Clarity by Kim Harrington

Harringtons debut novel, it's looks really good

I love the cover!

Swapped by a Kiss by Luisa Plaja

The sequel to the HILARIOUS Split by a Kiss,

thanks Luisa!

 

Castle of Shadows by Ellen Renner

This is arriving in the post soon, I can't WAIT!!!

                                        

 Tall Story by Candy Gourlay

This looks really sweet! (haha - pun not intended!)

So there they are. The top ten books I wnat to read in or before 2011.

I hope you enjoy them too!

Shine On, Daizy Star by Cathy Cassidy

Meet the one and only Daizy Star!
She's quirky and cool and loving life in Year Six with her best friends Willow and Beth.But when Dad hatches a mad plan that will turn life upside down, Daizy is too horrified to tell anyone at all... and pretty soon she finds herself tangled up in a knot of secrets.Will Daizy realize that even when she's sinking, her family and friends are there to help her swim?


Daizy Star has just started a new school term with her three best friends, Willow, Beth and Murphy. She has a wonderful teacher, Miss Moon, and is loving Year Six. But then her Dad comes up with a crazy plan, one that will change Daizy's life forever. Or will it?

OK, I know this book is meant for younger readers, but so what? I have read a few of Cathy's books before and they were quite good, so I decided to give this one a try.  I really enjoyed it! It only took me a few hours to read it though!

My favourite character is Daizy. She's just so cool and fun. I know you're not meant to favour the main character, but I wasn't mad on any of the other ones. Well, I liked Pixie, Daizy's six-going-on seven year old sister. She sounds so cute! She wants to be a mermaid when she grows up! Awwwww! I love how little kids say that, like, I want to be a mermaid or a princess or whatever.

I would probably recommend this book for younger readers, around 8 or 9 year olds. Although it makes a nice short read for older readers too. It would be a great story to read to your little sister, as it's really funny!

I'm going to give this book 5/5, because I didn't find anything wrong with it, at all. I'll definitely read and review Daizy Star and the Pink Guitar, the sequel. Good job Cathy!

Age Group: 8 + 
Official Publication Date:4th June 2009
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd.
Author Website:www.cathycassidy.com