Mill Hill Scholars

King of Nothing
I found this book inspiring. It talks about the social pressures of growing up and how sometimes we can feel like we need to be the best and the most popular however we sometimes need to be ourselves.

Thomas

The Final Year
I found this book pretty good, it explored many issues for children, it portrayed them in an accessible way (the verse poetry). It was very moving and sad as well. Overall it was very well written, but I found some of the themes boring.

Evie

Little Bang
Little Bang Set in 2018 Northern Ireland, Little Bang is a persuasive text on abortions. In 2018 abortions were still illegal in Northern Ireland and Ireland was about to make abortions legal at the time this book was set. If somebody wanted an abortion, they would have to travel to England to get it. This story is an emotional journey following Sid and Mel, who becomes pregnant as an outcome of their first date. It displays how somebody’s life can change in an instant after teenage pregnancy. It provides the perspective of both the father and mother. Sid, the father, becomes more widely respected since at the start of the book he talks about dropping out of school after his GCSEs, however during the pregnancy his responsibilities increase, and he starts working to help pay for the baby. On the other hand, Mel, a nerdy, motivated character who wants to go to Cambridge, has her life change for the worse. People start to bully her once they find out about the baby, and everyone stops believing that she can do something in life. They assume that she will have to drop out of school to look after the baby. This forces tremendous pressure and stress on her which eventually influences her to make the choice to fly to the UK, alone, to get the abortion. Conclusion Overall, a very interesting book that displays a different perspective on this topic and convinces us to be more understanding and supportive of people in this situation. It also implies the importance of abortions.

Thomas

Play
I enjoyed this book, but it was pretty depressing the characters were very well written and I liked how all the characters (minus Johnny) were given equal amounts of chapters. It was sometimes a bit confusing as time moved around. Overall, it was a good book, but I felt that some aspects of it were very sad and depressing. It was very insightful.

Evie

The Things We Leave Behind
I really loved this book, the dystopian and realism worked well and complimented each other. The book really helped to create an insight into the lives of refugees and how they’re lives get turned upside down. The main character Clem was very well written, and ‘Billie’ was written incredibly well (I was stunned at the end). The book overall was really good and it was a hard but amazing read.

Evie