Rebel Readers

Glasgow Boys
I really enjoyed reading 'Glasgow Boys'. I think it is a book which is really well written. I like the way it splits into 2 different narratives and each has their own stories. Sometimes this can make the overall story really confusing, but not with this book. Finlay and Banjo's stories are too memorable to forget. I definitely would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 13. It is a really strong book from the very start to the very end, and the ending was really good. I would rate this book 10/10.

Jennifer

Flying High
I think 'Flying High' is a bit hard to understand. I didn't really like the illustrations as much as other books. There are too many pages and I think this fact would make a child less engaged with the story. However, the colours within the book were vibrant, and really eye-catching for young children. I would say this book would be for 5-7 year olds and I would rate it a 6/10.

Jennifer

Treacle Town
I really liked the book Treacle Town. It has lots of detail about the town it is set in. The story revolves around Conor and his closest friend, who are part of a gang. We are taken aback by the opening chapter at his best friend Biscuit's wake and funeral. Biscuit has been murdered in a park by a rival gang member and everyone is grieving his loss. Everyone knows who committed the murder but nobody reports it to the police. It is a harsh look at the reality of young boys who are faced with situations like this every day but can't escape their town.

layton

Flying High
Flying High was an amazing book! The illustrations were very detailed and I appreciated all the effort required to produce such memorable images. It is so well organized with all the different perspectives. Many of the other shortlisted books didn't exactly have the amount of variation in each page. I loved how the Chinese culture was portrayed and I would rate this book 7/10.

Ciarrai

Letters in Charcoal
'Letters in Charcoal' is a book which is well illustrated. However, I do think that the illustrations within the book are not vibrant enough to catch a child's attention. But, the book does shine a light on reading, which is important as lots of children nowadays don't read or look at books with pictures in them. I would rate this book a 8.5/10.

Jennifer

Grey
Grey was a really great and colourful book. I thought the cut-outs were really cute. I especially liked the page where the girl was in the coffee cup! An amazing and imaginative idea. This book will really help children who are having a bad day I give this book 8/10.

Jasmine

The Invisible Story
The Invisible Story was fabulous! I particularly loved how the book highlighted braille and told the story in a really sensitive way. I was amazed at the attention to detail and the technique of paper cutting required to showcase this story. Some pages were full of colour and mystery. This book is really wonderful.

DAVID

I Love Books
I read last year's shortlisted book, "Lost" by Mariajo and really enjoyed it but I have to say this one was exactly perfect! I was hooked from the start, with all the wonderful, colourful illustrations. I love the concept of the little girl's journey from hating books to loving them and I especially enjoyed the "nods" to "Lost" in this book like the polar bear at the end. Congratulations on a wonderful book!

DAVID

Flying High
Flying High was an excellent book I loved the inclusion of crafting and how to make a dragon kite at the beginning of the book. My favourite page was page 8, the group of children all flying their kites - it was a wonderful spectacle! I also like page 12, where one of the kids stomped on his kite. I liked this page because it was a powerful and impactful image! I would give this book 7/10 and would encourage everyone to read it.

Jasmine

Wolf and Bear
I found this book heartwarming. The illustrations really captured the feelings of each individual character. The bear painted blue and the wolf white explained the difference between the personalities of the two furry creatures. I liked that when the bear was sad at this part of his story. The illustrator would emphasize how he/she was feeling by the use of shadows. In contrast, the wolf was always in sunshine! This shows the differences between them , at a glance and is powerful. I thought the colours were engaging, bright and sometimes, subtle. Overall, I really loved the style and artwork in this book.

Anna

I Love Books
I loved this book because I found the illustrations so unique and striking, even though most of it was in black and white. The illustrator made sure main character was highlighted, as she stood out with her neon orange socks. She was so colourful. The watercolours suited the feeling of this book so much, I loved that you could see every individual stroke of the paintbrush. The way the pictures described the story on each page, really stood out for me! Overall, I really loved this book.

Anna

The Final Year
I found this book very interesting, The way the author made the book a poem was nice but sometimes hard to understand at the start but the further you read, the easier it gets. It is a hard and a sad story to read. I liked that it had real life problems and wasn't a happy story throughout the whole book. The author took his time to describe the characters feeling's - each character was given a distinct personality. I found it lovely that the book was narrated as if a diary except as a poem. One character stood out to me and that was Nates wee brother also known as "spideyman". I liked this character as no matter what happened he was able to have fun and find the bright side of things. For a young boy he was quite mature but yet playful. I would definitely read this book again.

Anna

All That It Ever Meant
All That It Ever Meant by Blessing Musariri is a good book but for the most part, I didn't really enjoy this book as much as some of the others on the shortlist. This book is about bereaved family going on a physical and spiritual journey back to their home in Zimbabwe. They all expected it to be fun, but it wasn't because they were all going through the grieving process. I would rate this book a 5/10.

Ailise

The Things We Leave Behind
The Things We Leave Behind by Clare Furniss is a great book and I enjoyed it. This book is about a girl called Clem and her half-sister Billie. London is no longer safe for them to live in. They have escaped to Scotland as there is civil unrest. I love how the book is laid out and the multi-layered narrative. There are text messages throughout the book and I thought that was really cool and relatable. I rate this book a 7/10.

Ailise

Clever Crow
One of the best books every! Splashes of inky colours everywhere! It has lots of information that makes me want to learn more about crows and how they live in the city.. The illustrations are very detailed and I was inspired to draw a picture of the crow sitting on the dustbin for the Gallery - note the red bottle cap!. This book is very detailed, creative and informative. I loved it!

Miley

Homebody
Home body is a nice book of exploring yourself, I liked the way they embraced its self and tried to stand out and not fit in the drawing were out standing and the plot is pretty easy to understand.

Miley

I Love Books
I Hate Love Books is a super cute book. The illustrations are very eye-catching. My favourite pages are: Pages 1 -2, the classroom scene with the teacher and all the children and, P6 -when the girl is told she is going to the library, to pick a book! "It's ridiculous, scandalous , completely outrageous. Overall, the book is amazing and full of wonderful colours! I give this book 8/10.

Jasmine

Wolf and Bear
Wolf and Bear was a really good book and although it was sad at the beginning, it had a happy ending! It was really cool the way the bear carried a little orange leaf throughout the whole story. It's the little details that catches peoples eyes. I think this book is for everyone to read but I know ages 3-6 will love it. I gave it a 8/10.

summer

I Love Books
It's a lovely, quick story and so easy to get into and understand. The magical aspect and the quirky drawings, makes the book feel it is tied up in a bow - perfect! I found the dancing frogs in Frog Forest, very funny and a highlight of the book. On the first page I am pleased at the way in the school everyone has a different appearance, making it more representative. I loved that our main character wears glasses - for me, that really makes it feel more real!

Miley

Clever Crow
Clever Crow was an excellent book. The illustrations were really stunning and eye catching. The starting and finishing pages were my favorite pages of all the pages. A little thing I noticed , was the little red cap the crow was carrying, throughout the story. One of my favourite pages is page 24. I like this page because it shows you the movement of the crows as they slide down the snow covered roof! I give this book 7/10.

Jasmine

The Final Year
The Final Year was a really good, yet sad story. The best page in my opinion is page 232, one half is a little poem for Nates little brother and the other is a picture of Nate looking at a pair of angel wings flying in the sky its really magical they are glowing. I gave this book a 10/10

summer

The Final Year
In this book, I really like the way that every character progresses through their own story. Also I think that the way it is composed like a poem is excellent because instead of writing it like every other book it is written in the way Nate writes it. A great book some parts could have gone into a bit more detail 8/10

Conor

Grey
I thought the illustrations in this book were lovely, The pops of colour where very pretty to look at. It was interesting that some of the pages had holes in them and peeked through to the next page. Overall I would rate this book a 6/10. :)

Emy

The Final Year
The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow is a very good book, which I really enjoyed. This book is about a boy called Nate and he is in his final year of primary school. He gets put in a different class than his best friend Ps, and they grow apart. His younger brother Dylan takes a turn for the worst- he gets diagnosed with an heart condition. At the end of the book Ps and Nate become friends again and they have another friend Caleb and they are all ready to start high school together. I rate this book a 9.5/10.

Ailise

Grey
This book shows children that everyone has bad days and a bad day always turns in to a good day. I gave it a 9/10

summer