Chiswick Carnegie

All That It Ever Meant
Although it wasn't my favourite out of the selection, All That It Ever Meant was a really good book. It explores Zimbabwean culture and mourning, as well as how the main character and her family deal with being from a Black heritage and living in the UK. They even have to change their names to something more 'English'. However, that is not the main theme of the story. This story mainly focuses on loss, and includes a twist at the end which I myself NEVER would've seen coming. The story itself is being told by the main character - Mati - to a spirit / being called Meticais (It's never really specified what they are). However, the story was sometimes very confusing and hard to follow. Overall, I give it a solid 5/10.

Holly

King of Nothing
I LOVED King of Nothing. At first, the slang made it really hard to read and I didn't really understand it - but as the story progressed I realised the story was about more than just a boy in a gang. This story is about finding your people, loss, and putting yourself before other's opinions. The main character , Anton lives with just his mum and his nanna. 9.5 / 10.

Holly

All That It Ever Meant
I found the book inspiring and it helped me deepen my understanding of black history but it was very hard to understand and kept skipping from time to time and place to place it confused me a lot because it just didn't really make sense to me but I still found it a challenge which is nice.

Nora

King of Nothing
This book is about a boy in year 9 who is trying to find out who he really is and who his real friends are. I really enjoyed this book as it was really funny and had a good message about how to treat women and also to be yourself. However the colloquial language makes it slightly harder to understand.

Lily

The Final Year
I really enjoyed The Final Year. Although the verses were slightly hard to read, you get the hang of interpreting it! This book explores multiple themes like family troubles, bullying, new friends, mental health and moving schools.. perfect for children taking the steps into teenagerhood. We follow in the main character's - Nate - footsteps as he makes his journey through life, whilst battling with his inner thoughts and feelings.

Holly

All That It Ever Meant
The book is about a girl who goes on a journey through Zimbabwe with her family after the death of her mother to see her parents home town. I quite enjoyed this book as it was cleverly written and had a good plot. However, I did find it a bit confusing how the writer did not change tense when describing something that happened previously.

Lily

The Things We Leave Behind
The Things We Leave Behind is a great book, which follows the story on a girl called Clem who has to leave her home. I find it very interesting to learn about Clem's journey and how it is set as she is telling it to Polly. I think Overall it is one of the best books I have read (top5), the only thing that would make it better if the mild swearing was removed. Clem's journey is majestic and heart-warming, a good book for anyone who can take some mild swearing and solitariness, and can take some struggles

Talulah

The Final Year
It is a book about the struggles and life of a boy in his final year of primary school. I kind of enjoyed this book as I found the way the writer wrote it was very immersive and let you really connect with the characters. However, personally, I am not a fan of slam poetry or the colloquial language used.

Lily

The Final Year
The Final Year An interesting read which really gave light to what it is like for people who are less fortunate than most of us. I really loved it and it was super interesting. I met the author in primary school for another award and it was really fascinating to talk to him about how it reflects his childhood as well. The poems were really cool and personally, I'm not a fan of poems but a mix with a story changed my view. In the book, the protagonist, Nate, overcomes bullying, family issues and changing schools which can be hard for us all and on the way, makes new life long friends which he probably wouldn't have if he hadn't have been in the situation he was in which was not a good one. I give this book a 7/10.

Charlotte

King of Nothing
This book makes me look at my future and how people can easily be influenced by others and can be told to do the wrong things. I like how Anton looked back on his mistakes. His friendship can also be a lesson too.

Suheyla

The Final Year
Being a student this book was perfect for me as sometimes I feel how Nate felt so knowing that he overcame his 'beast' it makes me feel not only very happy for him but really heart warming for me. Thank you so much to the team who let me read this book it helped me so much and will definitely recommend it to my friends and people like Nate.

Sarah

The Final Year
This book has taught me a lot. For example, some people have problems but they just need to overcome them. Also, it must have been very hard for the main character to deal with problems at school and also the fact his brother is unwell. This is a great book. It is a great way to show how to deal with friend problems and home problems.

Suheyla