Helkats & Hardbacks

Popcorn
Popcorn I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was very well written and engaging and was definitely one of my favourites I have read so far. I really learnt to connect with the main character, Andrew, and definitely felt extremely sorry for him more than I would like to say. I thought it was a very good idea of the author (Rob Harrell) to integrate the real world ideas and truths of anxiety and mental health, as it made you think more about it but you didn’t really realise it was written to explore subjects like these instead of just a fun book that could be enjoyed by many which I thought made it even better as a book. I would recommend it to people age ranged 7-14. The plot line follows Andrew on his journey through school picture day where everything seems to go wrong, integrating bits of other plot lines ie his therapy sessions, until eventually at the end where he finally gets his school photo. It is very well written and I loved reading it, overall an amazing book.

Naomi

Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody
The first thing to say is that the storyline of The Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody may not be for everyone. I read this book and personally thought that it was an excellent choice for a Carnegie, however it may be better in a younger age category. I thought the plot line was a bit far-fetched but if you decided to just go along with it you realise it is actually quite enjoyable. I think there may have been some bits that confused me such as France on Zeke’s knee but that did get explained to me eventually in the book so I understand that well now! The plot follows three monitor lizards Zeke, Daniel and Alicia who have recently become hall monitors until Zeke punches the school bully and gets his responsibilities revoked. The book then follows how they befriend a hawk and escape the bully’s evil plans to ruin them. Overall I would say that this is an enjoyable book but definitely one to be read with an open mind!

Naomi

Popcorn
Although Popcorn was fun and included illustrations, it explored anxiety and bullying which adds some depth. However, I didn’t really understand if the plot of making sure Andrew’s, the main character’s, photo for picture day was perfect was very clear. Nonetheless, the events that took place in his day were quite dramatic and kept you wanting to read more. I found how Andrew described anxiety as a corn kernel heating up to popcorn quite interesting, and his ‘Anxiety Files’ were another intriguing way of him expressing his mental health in a “funny-ish” way, as he said himself. I liked the character profiles at the start of some of the chapters, too, as it gave a picture of the people described which was helpful. I did enjoy lots of this book, but I feel like the plot wasn’t very strong and how his shirt kept getting ruined a bit repetitive, so I rate Popcorn a 6/10.

Mae

Wolf Siren
Wolf Siren by Beth O'Brien is a powerful novel set in a small village surrounded by a forest. It follows Red, a girl who loves the forest and everything inside it. It includes many of the same themes and significant things as Little Red Riding Hood. The Village got famous for hunting the wolves inside the forest, but then they fought back. Wolf attacks kept happening to the point where they had to stop going into the forest altogether. They only attacked men though, this meant that women had to be the village woodchopper and the person standing watch in the watchtower. Red goes into the forest all the time, but is told by her mother that because men couldn’t go into the forest girls and women had to pretend they couldn’t either. Despite this, Red kept going in and she met her grandmother who had dissapeared when Red’s mother was just older then Red. Meeting her grandmother revealed something Red’s mother never wanted her to know. I really enjoyed this book because along with it being a great story, it is also a very powerful feminine novel. In the village, girls are expected to hide their period and not go into the woods because men think that womens’ problems are impolite at best and disgusting at worst. The main themes shown in this book are identity and connection to the environment. Througout the whole book, it hints at little red riding hood. I would recomend this book to anyone ages ten to fifteen, especialy to girls. I think everyone who reads it will enjoy it.

Greta

The Boy I Love
The boy I Love by William Hussey is set in World War 1 where a boy called Stephen finds love in the horrors of the trenches and must keep his feelings hidden from his fellow soldiers. Stephen never wanted to go to war but was sent by his father to make him stop loving other boys and to be more manly. The boy he loves, Michael follows him into war because of his love and loyalty to him. Tragedy strikes when Michael dies in the war. When Stephen is sent back out to the Somme he meets a boy called Danny and falls in love with him. He must hide his feelings from his fellow soldiers while also working hard to keep Danny safe in the long and tiring war. The main themes in this book are World War 1 and the difficulties gay people faced in those days. It is about finding love in the horrors of the trenches and hiding it from everybody else. I enjoyed this book not only because it is an amazing story but because it also told me about some of the things that happened in World War 1. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a bit of history and some romance. Overall, I think The Boy I Love is a brilliant book that is informing about how much gay people in the olden days had to hide but also about World War 1 and what happened in France and the Battle of the Somme.

Greta

Not Going To Plan
Not going to plan by Tia Fisher is a book about a teenage girl facing difficult decisions in life. She needs to learn who to trust and who to turn to for support and ultimately to have the confidence to choose for herself. Marnie is doing her GCSEs when she gets kicked out of her private school and must go to a local public school where she meets Zed. Zed is brilliant at physics so makes a deal with Marnie to teach her physics if she teaches him Spanish. When an unlikely friendship forms, Marnie convinces Zed to go to Harry’s party. She ends up having sex with Harry, who assures her he is wearing a condom. This turns out to be not true and Marnie ends up pregnant. She now faces a difficult choice and finds out who will be by her side whatever happens. This book covers difficult themes including abortion, consent and a person’s right to make decisions for themselves about their own body. There is also true friendship and the unquestioning love of a mother. The book is written in verse and the first-person changes from Zed to Marnie showing their different views on what is happening. I liked this style of writing, and it helped me to understand the characters better. I found some of the themes challenging but I enjoyed reading the book. I would recommend this book to teenagers who want to consider these issues.

Greta

Not Going To Plan
Not going to plan: Tia Fisher Not going to plan is a powerful young adult book written in verse and focuses on serious teenage issues but in a very clear and appropriate way. The story focuses on Marnie, a girl who is forced to leave her private school due to her rebellious personality. She stars afresh at a new school and meets Zed. A complete opposite of Marnie; he is clever and sensible. They begin to help each other with school work but after a party, everything changes for Marnie. She is left alone to deal with her consequences. Or is she? No she isn’t. Zed and her friends help her through tough times and sad times. The book is filled with different topics such as relationships and responsibility. Overall, Not Going to Plan is an engaging and important read, especially for older teens. It raises awareness of serious issues while still telling a compelling story about friendship and growing up. This book left me with the message that great friends will always be there to help no matter the circumstances.

Maggie

Birdie
Birdie by J.P Rose is a fascinating historic novel evolving around the life in a mining village and delves deep into animal use in the mines. The story comes from the point of view of Birdie Bagshaw , a trailblazer of a girl who moves to her aunts house after living in a children’s home most of her life. She hopes for a new start but instead faces unkind behaviour because of how she looks. Birdie doesn’t initially understand why people treat her differently, which makes the discrimination she faces even more upsetting for the reader. However, the novel balances these difficult themes with hope and resilience. She is brave, kindhearted and pure joy. After venturing into the old mine shaft, she comes across the most extraordinary thing. A beautiful horse. A pit pony She develops a close friendship with him and names him Mr Duke. Their relationship is filled with beautiful mischief. Their connection grows stronger and is a source of comfort even when Mr Dukes future is threatened. The book is written very clearly and the historical writing is really well written. I loved this book because I believe it really centres on that you can find friendship and kindness anywhere, even in the most unusual places. The story is a very memorable one and leaves happy lasting impacts.

Maggie

Popcorn
‘Popcorn’ by Rob Harrell is revolved around Andrew and the growing ‘kernel’ in his stomach. Picture Day has arrived and Andrew desperately wants to take a good picture for his mum. The book follows Andrew as he navigates through the day, with disasters happening left and right, and his anxiety growing. This book represents a lot of deep themes, including OCD, bullying and panic attacks. I especially liked the clever way Rob Harrell used to portray anxiety, with the ‘kernel’ in Andrew’s stomach and the way it grew closer to popping every time something dreadful happened. The representation of the themes in this book is immensely accurate: how panic attacks feel, the coping strategies and how challenging it can be to deal with Alzheimer’s. Despite these deep themes, the book manages to be funny and entertaining. The combination of the humour and mature themes balance the story really well and I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about deep themes in a relatable and funny way.

Hailey

Birdie
If you like stories about heroines challenging racism, untold truths and the hidden resilience of pit-ponies and an old English setting (that also includes old language like "thee" or "thou") to fascinate your imagination with, then Birdie is definitely your cup of tea with a slice of parkin cake. I love how Birdie, the protagonist, fights the stereotypes of her forced new life in the fictional 'Barrington Dale' and has to persevere when she is treated with disrespect for how she looks, for example when a group of boys bully her in only her first few days of arrival, saying, "look at the state of thy hair" or "does your colour wash off?" And other racist comments like these which made me so furious at the characters, sometimes I didn’t even want to read any more! This is such an empowering book about a topic that also links to schoolwork, and it is good to find an interesting story that delves into untold details about England's coal mining history. Furthermore, I adore how J.P. Rose included an extra 'History Note' at the end to show how the book Birdie was based off of true stories, including some of her own. So, I rate Birdie 8/10!

Mae

Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody
Although The Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody might be aimed at a younger age group and is a funny story including animal characters (for example, a pelican bully with egret sidekicks!) and cartoon illustrations, there is a hidden subtext which elevates the whole story into a deeper meaning. Some parts of this book are really quite strange and definitely fictional - like how the main character, Zeke, has the actual country of France located on his knee! - but other sections of the story can relate to thousands of people across the world. An example of this is how Zeke gets on the bus to school from the ‘poorer part of town’ leading to many students picking on him because of his economic background, or how he is socially separated from other groups because he is a monitor lizard (shown in the first few chapters when he comments on his principal’s choosing of the Hall Monitors, “I still think it’s because we’re monitor lizards”). Overall, I really enjoyed this book and like how the author, Ness, has crafted it, making it suitable for young children and older readers. I rate The Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody 6/10!

Mae

Birdie
Birdie by J. P. Rose is a wholesome and sad story that follows an orphan girl left by her Mother in a patch of turnips. She grew up in a children’s home in Leeds before moving to Barrington Dale to live with her great aunt Mabel. Birdie was left outside a church when she was a baby in a patch of turnips. She lived in a children’s home and went to school there. One day her great aunt said she wanted her so she moved to the Yorkshire dales to live with her. Her aunt is surprised by something about her but she won't tell Birdie what it is. She even refuses to let Birdie call her aunt. Birdie goes to school there, but is unfairly treated by the teacher, Miss Hartley, so she runs away. Birdie finds herself in the nearby coal mine and lost, when she meets a kind and gentle pit pony, who leads her back to the lift where she goes back up to the top. Despite her aunt’s warnings, Birdie finds herself coming back to see the pony in the mine and feeding him grass from the surface. Some themes in this book are, family and racism. This is shown when the whole Village of Barrington Dale doesn’t accept Birdie because of her race. She has many hardships because of what she looked like even though she is a kind hearted and loving girl. Even her family didn’t accept her as their relative when Mrs Winterbottom refused to let Birdie call her aunt Mabel. Reverend Hepplewaite and her uncle Walter were friendly and welcoming to her and were kind when others were mean. I loved this book and it is my favourite book so far! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves wholesome stories and who likes to be challenged by the books they read

Greta

Ghostlines 
Ghostlines by katya balen is set on a small island called Ayrie. No one ever moves to Ayrie so when two people stepped off the boat and on to the island, the news spread fast. Tilda tries to help the new boy settle in but it doesn’t work, she has to try something else. Every year when it’s puffin season, loads of visitors come to Ayrie. One day, at the end of puffin season, two people step off the boat instead of getting on the boat with the other visitors. They are a mother and a son. The boy is called Albie and he has a lot of trouble thinking of the island as home. A inslander called Tilda tries her best to show Albie around and to help him settle in, but he doesn’t want to. Albie misses his friends on the mainland so he refuses to settle in on the island. Tilda has an idea that her parents wouldn’t agree with, but it’s the only way to help Albie think of the island as home, she takes him to the haunted island that no one has been to in years. The main themes shown in this are friendship, nature and home. This is shown when Tilda tries her best to make Albie feel at home, even when Albie isn’t interested. Tilda doesn’t give up on Albie and that is what a real friend would do. Tilda also did all this when she didn’t know Albie that well. After Albie had been there for a while, Ayrie formed three mini football teams because Albie missed the football on the mainland. This shows how much the island changed for and because of Albie. Another idea formed in the book Ghostlines is family. This is because even though he left for the mainland for a job and never looked back, Rowan came back when it mattered most for his family and to save his sister. I liked the book because it was an adventure book that included the idea of home and settling into a new place. I would recommend this book to anyone ages nine to fourteen who like adventure stories.

Greta

Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody
An amazing book! Filled with laughter and fun this is the perfect book. Follow the story of Zeke and friends -Daniel and Alicia- through their highs and lows. In the end will Zeke be able to defeat Pelicarnassus?

Melissa

Popcorn
Popcorn is a book about a middle school boy in America facing challenges including anxiety, a grandma with Alzheimer's and a bully. It describes his emotions, thoughts and tells us how he is really feeling about the problems he faces. Rob Harrel starts the book by introducing us to Andrew Yaeger; a boy struggling with anxiety, Susan; Andrew’s hard working mother intent on not losing her brand new job, and his grandma called G who has had Alzheimer's for a year and a half. These characters face various problems throughout the book like financial difficulties. G often forgets who Andrew and his mum are and Andrew has to sleep in the kitchen because G sleeps in his room. The day the book describes is school photo day and Andrew is trying to keep as neat as possible for his mum. Unfortunately, after a bully rips the collar off his shirt, he gets hit in the face with a basketball and a science experiment explodes in his face, Andrew doesn’t think the day can get any worse. That’s when he gets a call saying that G has gone missing. The book focuses on Andrew’s difficulties with anxiety and how he accepts help from the adults around him. This is a theme that many children will relate to today. I really enjoyed this book because it tackles important themes in a relatable way. It made me laugh and cry at different times. I also liked the layout of the book where some pages would be handwritten extracts from his diary. I would recommend this book to anyone 10 or over who likes to be challenged by what they read but in an enjoyable way.

Greta

Wolf Siren
If you like adventures, forests and nature, girl power and mysteries then Wolf Siren is definitely for you. I found this book very inspiring because there are often wise words in some of the dialogue, for example when the main character’s (Red’s) grandmother says, “We do not need to be frightened of something working so hard to survive.” This shows that we don’t always need to intervene or attack if something seems to scare us but simply let it defend itself if necessary. I also like how this amazingly reimagined story of the fairytale ‘Red Riding Hood’ has a visually impaired teenage girl who is based on the wonderful author as the protagonist who just wants to be herself, protect her family and friends and find peace in the enchanting wood beyond her village. Another thing that I love about Wolf Siren is that it includes many genres and characters with lots of detail and backstories, helping to keep the reader always engaged. I would say that this book is aimed at readers aged 10-13 because it includes some violent or emotional scenes, but it’s also interesting to read about Red transforming into her wolf self, which really makes you think about animal welfare when characters try to hurt her. I rate Wolf Siren 10/10!

Mae