Brooke Weston Book Busters
King of Nothing
'King of Nothing' by Nathanael Lessore is a great book that highlights the emotional journey of a young boy as he navigates life at school and at home. With his father in prison and his reputation on the line, we get to experience first hand the thoughts that run through Anton's head and the people that end up saving him when it's most important. I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of toxic masculinity, since many people think that it's not a big problem today when it is, and it's important that people recognise that. I also liked how the idea of peer pressure is explored through the very toxic friendship that Anton has with Kehinde, Marcus and Caleb, and how after Anton left the group, the other two did as well. This goes to show that even though anyone can be a bad example to others, anyone can be a good one too. I would 100% recommend this book to secondary school ages, as it has a wide variety of characters that can relate to almost all of types of teenagers.
Kristina
Letters in Charcoal
The book was good but I would recommend it to 3-5 years because it just tells you about books and to read them.
harry
Letters in Charcoal
This book was good it teaches children the importance of reading. My favourite part of the story was when Gina receives the letters from the doctor before he left. Also when there were letters in each page. I rate this book for 5+.
Shiloh
Letters in Charcoal
I did not enjoy this book. I don`t think the book will get a good audience as the book didn`t have a good ending or storyline. The characters were boring and plain and I didn't like the way they were able to learn the alphabet. But the author has shown good storytelling skills.
jereign
Grey
What I like about this book is because it was mostly grey and then colourful. There was a cloud following her and she was scribbling. I think kids in year 1/2 would love it.
OLLY
Grey
I think this book is fun to read. It tells us about what happens to a boy or a girl who is feeling grey . I enjoyed this book. I think this book this for age 6 to 9 years.
Emilia
The Things We Leave Behind
The book was good but the plot lacked any dynamics as throughout the book the same thing happened: mum is taken, sister is taken, dad is taken. It lacked diversity. However, I liked the description and character development of Clem.
matt
The Final Year
A moving and powerful free verse novel about a young boy Nate and the changes and challenges he faces, both at home and in school during the final year in Primary school. Dealing with themes about young carers, bullying, friendships, and family. It was great to see a strong male role model in Nate’s inspirational teacher Mr Joshua and I enjoyed seeing the support he provided Nate and how their relationship developed throughout the story. I loved the references to the book ‘Skellig’ by David Almond and ‘The Final Year’ is certain to become another classic. A must read for both children and adults, perfectly capturing the uncertain transition period many children face from primary to secondary school.
Mrs Mann
Play
'Play' is a terrifying, exhilarating, award-worthy book that shows the development of the lives of 4 young boys as they navigate through some of life's worst issues for teenagers: exams, home issues (abuse, neglect and absence of parents), drug-selling and addiction. As we follow their journey through the chapters showcasing each individual's thoughts and feelings, we get to see their thoughts and interests showing through more clearly, not just going with what 'the group' is saying. It was really interesting to see such diverse outcomes at the end of the book when they all started with the same opinions, and it was nice to learn that they all remained friends even into adulthood.
I personally found this book more difficult to read as it dealt with trickier topics, however I still appreciated it being on the shortlist because these things need to be discussed more among younger and more vulnerable members of society.
Kristina
All That It Ever Meant
'All That It Ever Meant' by Blessing Musariri is an incredible book about the troubles and experiences of a young girl who has suffered the loss of her mother. Musariri's depiction of the relationships and family dynamics inside this Zimbabwean household in the heart of London really resonated with me, as I am someone who grew up with a different culture at home, so I found it easy to relate to the characters. I particularly enjoyed the apparition of the God/Not God character, as they symbolise the outside help that we sometimes need in order to move on from traumatic experiences and come to terms with our own emotions.
'All That It Ever Meant' had a strong emphasis on culture, which some people may find a little boring, so although I enjoyed it, I would not recommend this book to people who don't enjoy slower, more relaxed novels.
Kristina
The Final Year
'The Final Year' by Matt Goodfellow was definitely one of my favourite books on this year's shortlist. I enjoyed the unique style of this book as it was written in prose, and I also felt that the topics that were covered were very different to what is usually written about. The book depicts a young boy struggling with the transition between Year 5 and Year 6 as he deals with friendship troubles, issues at home, and his personal anger issues, all of which collide with each other at the news of his little brother's heart failure. I do not think that the struggles of younger children are depicted often enough, so I thoroughly enjoyed this free-verse novel and would definitely recommend.
Kristina
The Things We Leave Behind
'The Things We Leave Behind' was an exceptional story by Clare Furniss that led me through many emotional roller-coasters. I particularly enjoyed the ending (which brought me to tears in two separate places!) as it brought the entire novel together in the last gut-wrenching chapters. My favourite part, however, was that if you re-read certain parts, you can see that a certain character (no spoilers) can be written out and it would still make sense.
10/10, I would definitely recommend this story to anyone who enjoys dystopian novels with a personal touch.
Kristina
Letters in Charcoal
It was a really nice story to read about. It was about a girl that didn't know how to read letters .The only person who knew how to read in her town was the shop keeper and he helped her to read letters. When she got older she became a teacher. I liked the pictures and I think children ager 6 to 8 years will be enjoy reading.
Emilia
Letters in Charcoal
I like this book because the girl in story didnt know how to read and then she did know how to and she taught other people how to read.
I think this book would be good for children any age.
olly
Letters in Charcoal
I loved the book so much because they could not read and the girl teaches them by using charcoal. I liked the part when the shopkeeper teaches the girl. I liked the pictures because they had the letters. I think kids in year 1/2 would love this book.
Rueben
Grey
The book was alright. It was about a child who was feeling down and grey and he tells all the colours that are bright happy and positive and he also says that grey doesn't belong. Later in the story it shows how his mother cares for him. I recommend this book for an age of 3-6 years old. My favourite parts in the story were the pictures and holes in the book.
Shiloh
Grey
The book was good I liked the holes in the pages. I think that the pictures say more than the text.
I think its meant for 3-8 years old, it might help you control your emotions.
harry
I Love Books
'I hate love books' tells us about encouraging children to love books and it tells us about putting away our devices and spending more time with books. The story starts with a little girl who hated books until it was the summer holidays and her teacher reminded them to read books. Then her and her mum went to the library and got a book. The girl read the book and then she changed her mind and thought that she was wrong about hating books, and she wanted to go to the library again. I recommend this book for 5+ years as this can be appropriate and supports young minds when reading books.
Shiloh
I Love Books
The book was very good because at the start it had a tail coming out of the book and she chose that book. Then she went on an adventure to see what would happen so it was a really good book. I enjoyed the adventure because of the adventure of finding potions to put in the witches spell! The age group I would say it's for is about 5-10years
harry
I Love Books
It was so nice to read and it is helpful for children to read all about how she went to the library with her mum. Her mum gave her a book that she read when she was her age and she went home to read the book and after she stared reading she was reading it all day! I enjoyed the book and the pictures. I recommend this book to children age six to ten .
Emilia
Clever Crow
I loved the book because the crow was super clever in the story. What a clever crow! It could solve everything you said to the crow. I loved the pictures because it tells everything you need to know about the crow. But when will it have baby crows? I recommend this book to children in year 1/2.
Rueben
Wolf and Bear
Pretty good book for children learning about friendship .Nice colour clash with black, white and a bit of rainbow.
Adriana
Wolf and Bear
It was a very good book with good descriptions of the things that happened in the book. It had vibrant colours but was also calming with a good description of what the characters look like. Over all, it was a good book and I would recommend for someone of any age.
Grace
Wolf and Bear
This book was vey wholesome and it shows you just how important friendship is and the vibrant colours represent the happiness friendship can give you and it is important to have a friend.
Charlie
Wolf and Bear
It was ok. I would personally suggest it for 4+
Nicol
Clever Crow
The book was very good it had many facts about crows. The illustrations were amazing the crows were very realistic but most pages were black white and grey and others were filled with colour.
Ridhwan
Clever Crow
Amazing images they relate to the words really well and I can tell that it took a lot of work to illustrate.
Remus
Grey
These illustrations in this book were awesome! It was a very creative idea to make a cut in the book that would show the pattern on the next page. The title of the book is grey and the whole colour scheme inside the book is grey and I liked that at the end of the book the colour scheme is colourful. I recommend this book to all children who want a bit of a colour release. xx
Tilly
I Love Books
This book is very adventurous and is a great book for young readers. It also has a lot of imagination involved and has a good story.
Oscar
I Love Books
I Hate/Love Books is a wonderful story and it shows that books can be important for people . It also shows that books can be about adventure.
Chibuikem
Grey
I thought it had deep meaning and was a good read for younger children struggling with emotions.
sylvie
Wolf and Bear
I enjoyed this book because it had colourful pictures. I think this book is for children under 8.
Emilia
Wolf and Bear
I like this book because the bear had a flower and the wolf sang a song to the bear but the bear didn't want to play. I think children from toddler age to year 2 would like this book. There was lots of colour when the wolf was having fun but it was dark when the bear wasn't.
Rueben
Wolf and Bear
The book was good, I liked it when the bear and the wolf reunited and when the wolf howled then the leaf was attached to it so you would follow the rainbow. I think this book is good for 5-8 year olds.
harry
Wolf and Bear
The book was okay so I kind of enjoyed it because it showed two friends who were together. But, what I didn't like about it was when there was no reason why the bear looked sad. Overall, a good book.
Shiloh
The Final Year
A very sad book with lots of cliff hanging moments waiting to see what happens next.
Frederic
King of Nothing
Very informative and gritty compared to his book on last year's shortlist 'Steady for This'
Frederic
Play
Very gritty and realistic to the life of a modern day male teenager. I would recommend reading.
Frederic
King of Nothing
The book was good and it showed that different friends can lead to a different pathway and career. It can inspire others to choose a pathway that will lead them to success. However, I believe this book could've been better if it was more formal and less colloquial.
matt