ST PAULS STARS

Create Group Magazine

The Invisible Story
This book is very enjoyable and easy to understand. It talks about how a book feels really sad since it is plain unlike having words until a girl picks up the book and reads it in braille. It makes the books feel accepted and happy. Near the end, it talks about the invention of braille and its impact!

Ivica and Rimsha.

Grey
This book is about a little boy who describes feelings as colors. He describes himself as grey. He feels as if all the other colors have disappeared from inside him. The boy says that grey is lonely and he feels as if he doesn't belong. I think this book is good for little kids as it shows that its ok to feel grey sometimes and talk about your feelings.

Rimsha and Ivica.

I Love Books
Keisha and I personally loved this book. Like the book name its a girl who hated books then starts loving them. We would recommend this book to any age group as its fun and inspiring. The red socks are the highlight of this book as everything else is grey.

Emlin and Keisha

Grey
This book shows emotions at full force with the lack of wanting to feel happy and feeling overly ‘grey’ It shows the emotions of feeling lost in oneself and highlights a wanting of self discovery Its a powering message of acceptance love and care for all

Evan, Ella, Aamna, Alindrena, Shanaye, Mariya, Aisha, Treasa

The Final Year
The pair of us who read this book think that this is book is suitable for kids. Its fun , lively, creative, inspirational to those who like poems. This is a good book for younger children who can learn about creative writing. Its a very interesting book for anyone who enjoys reading poems. Children can learn new words and new vocabulary.

Giana and Ivana

Grey
Grey is an unique yet subtly sad book which demonstrates the way children can just be numb on some days and how it is ok to not always be happy. The illustrations were really beautiful and we loved the sense of safety and comfort within the story. Lauren truly showed the comfort and love that the mother gave to the child and both of us can see ourselves in that position later in life. Overall, we loved the book to bits and I truly hope it wins the illustration awards.

Vrinda and Aisha

Clever Crow
This book was a thrill to read because of the friendship of the main characters. The wolf had patience and waited for the bear to come out of his shell. It shows that friendship comes in all shapes and sizes and in all ways and means. It shows that the smallest bit of common ground can make a friendship last forever.

Evan, Ella, Aamna, Alindrena, Shanaye, Mariya, Aisha, Treasa

The Invisible Story
The invisible story is a powerful one, which shows all stories are awesome ones.

Evan, Ella, Aamna, Alindrena, Shanaye, Mariya, Aisha, Treasa

Clever Crow
The book is educational since it shows different breeds of crows. It also talks about the life of the crows and how they are different, we enjoyed it and the illustrations also described the words on each page clearly.

Ivica, Rimsha , Ivana and Giana.

Wolf and Bear
Wolf and Bear was a heartwarming story of an unlikely friendship. We found it delightful and loved the key themes it covered. We would recommend this book to many primary schools. We loved the pictures within as the wolfs howls and lights up the page.

Benjamin, Zachary

Little Bang
Little bang by Kelly McCaughrain is not the best book for a secondary school as it contains sensitive topics. However, I think this book will be well enjoyed by older people. We personally think that it can have side effects as teenager can do the wrong things inspired by this book. For example, teenage pregnancy and abortion which is a very concerning topic for a secondary school.

Emlin and Keisha

Treacle Town
Our overall impressions of the novel are that it is quite good for older readers, but it is not adequate for younger audiences. A moment that sticks out the most is Biscuit’s death because he was a very iconic character. The character I like best is Connor is the protagonist and because he tries to escape the peer pressure of gang violence, making him a role model for any readers. Another novel which reminds us of Treacle Town is King of Nothing due to them both being Carnegie books with similar stories. We think the book was written fairly well but obviously, it is not appropriate for younger audiences when it could be.

Neil, Victor & Marco

All That It Ever Meant
This is a tale about grief and family, showing how loss can be challenging and strengthen relationships. Mati and her family leave London for Zimbabwe after her mother dies, with each person dealing with their sadness differently. She's joined by Meticais; a spirit who helps Mati understand and accept her loss. It follows a physical journey and an emotional one, weaving multiple meanings throughout. It explores how memories shape who we are and how we fit into the world. Mati's sister adds brightness to the story. The setting feels mysterious, showing that something strange is happening. However, it is very complicated and we wouldn't consider reading it again.

Ivica, Rimsha.

The Final Year
We think that this is an age appropriate book and is full of fun poems. The book we read was the final year and it has some very repetitive and catchy phrases. Occasionally, there are really nice illustrations that represents the story well.

Giana and Ivana

Clever Crow
Olivia makes her illustrations outstanding and fascinating to look at. The illustrations seem so realistic it immerses you into the story alongside the crow. This book is very simple to understand but has a fathomably powerful impact to the readers. Clever crow is currently my favourite illustration book as the words are not needed but only the art is to understand the intent of Olivia. I would recommend this to many others especially younger readers to empower them about how intelligence is an essential for everything.

Célio

All That It Ever Meant
We read the book as a pair and I think that this book is a good book but it is quite a slightly unsuitable for younger children as the topics are explicit and not appropriate for kids. Maybe a backstory would be a more suitable version for kids/ teens.

ivana and giana

Little Bang
Little bang changed our perspective on the lives of young women who face the consequences of their decisions, and allowed us to see how truly horrid it can be for teenage mothers. It helped us to know more and formulate a greater view on abortion, and will continue to aid us within discussions and ideas. The book was well written in an intriguing way, and allowed us to see both points of view, both male and female. This piece of literature would be recommended for KS4 and above.

Benjamin, Zachary, Victor

Treacle Town
We think that the book is unsuitable for younger readers because of the gang violence and the sensitive language. The book however is very deep and emotional and we would recommend it to Readers over 18. The book has lots of swearing and mainly associated with a gang member trying to escape that violence cycle of life.

Rudra, Caleb, Keith, Ethan and Shree

Rimsha and Ivica.

Ivica, Rimsha.

The Final Year
This book is such an incredible, amazing and emotionally charged book about 10/11 year old boys who face life challenges. It's a lovely book to read also it's a interesting story. This was the only book suitable for us. Thank you to the author for making it interesting.

Afrin, Mariya, Treasa, Aamna and Shanaye

Glasgow Boys
Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald is a book suitable for 13+ even though the book has mature content. We personally think that this book teaches a lot about teenage struggles and this book might even help us overcome it. So, I would recommend this book for teenage children over 13 so they know the difficulty of life and how to overcome it.

Emlin and Keisha

The Things We Leave Behind
Clare Furniss’ makes her book ‘The Things We Leave Behind’ outstanding by creating her story to be in a fathomless depth of emotions and brings the reader into the story as we are our own character along with the others. Throughout the whole story there are a numerous number of unexpected turns and twists. This book is almost impossible to stop reading once you are immersed in the story with the liveliness and detail.

Célio

The Things We Leave Behind
The Things We Leave Behind’ is a gut-wrenching story with a girl who was only 15 going through so much trauma and discrimination which can be relatable to many others causing them to empathise with her and break their heart. If teenagers who go through the same things read the book it could empower them to always push through and stand up for what they believe. Although this can empower teens, this story is not for children or newer readers as it is hard to understand and has content more for teenagers and young adults.

Vrinda

The Final Year
The Final Year is an amazing book to read . I love how they show that year 6 are very clever and how they face challenges in their live .

Alindrena, Hasan, Ela and Evan

The Final Year
We thought that 'The Final Year' was an entertaining and clever book. We enjoyed the verse format of the book as a nice change from a regular book format. It helped open our eyes to the thoughts and disturbances that a younger child carries in their lives, and will change our viewpoints of year 6 children.

Benjamin, Zachary, Victor

Play
Play was an insightful book that teaches what happens when children go down the wrong path yet also shows how a diverse range of people can become the closest of friends. The character of Johnny is a very curious and intellectual boy who sees life in a different perspective, which is quite interesting to read alongside the other 3 boy’s views. Although the 3 authors may seem difficult to understand it is quite simple and fun to see the other perspectives of the story from other people.

Célio

Play
Luke Palmer’s “Play”, is a thrilling story of 4 boys following different paths through the life of secondary school. The topics of drug usage and drinking really highlight the darker, more hidden paths that these boys venture through. My opinion on the boys is that Matt is smart yet he hides who he truly is, Luc is pressured a lot by his father and that makes him over confident in himself, Mark is going down a dark path, with his ‘game’ which supplies the others with drugs that are still in trial, and Johnny, well, he is quite a funny boy who is actually smart, just in a different way. My favourite character has to be Matt as his personality and determination are similar to my own, and his struggles and internal turmoil are that of what I can relate to.

Vrinda