TGGS Carnegie Readers
The Boy I Love
I really liked reading this one as it was historical fiction, and history from that period of time really interests me. I also liked how thorough the research was, and how we got to see some of that. However, I would have liked there to be an explanation of the military rankings in order so that it would be easier to see which rankings were higher up. This also caused me to do my own research about LGBTQ+ relationships in the time period. The story was a bit underwhelming though.
Bella
The Playdate
This book has a contrast of rich and poor as the little girls mum is the boy's mum's maid/cleaner, showing that it wasn't a playdate and thy were going there for her mum to work but the children just happened to be friends. There is also lots of subtle hints that this is what is happening.
grace
The Sleeper Train
I think that the front cover isn't as good as the story itself, and the style of the art freaked me out a bit, but apart form that, there was a great storyline and it's much more interesting as a story than with illustrations. I didn't really like the style of it, but I think that lots of children might. I think that the visual representation is also very good and, to some extent, I think you needed that to deliver the story, as there is nothing about their heritage or culture in the actual text.
Bella
Freedom Braids
I think that parts of the story were very clever and that the end pages were very useful as I could turn back to see what braids each of the characters had. I like how it took us from dark to light as the story happens, and I think this is very effective in telling the reader the emotion, mood, and tone of the situation. I think that there is good representation in the book and that some children might be happy to see someone who looks like them in a book. This is good for history as it tells us a story about slavery.
Bella
Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel
Having read the original Lord of the Flies by William Golding, I thought that this was a lot easier to follow with the illustrations, and that the overall story is a lot more impactful. I think that they chose the right parts of the books to showcase his writing as well. As a GCSE text, I think that this should be brought into secondary schools where children might not understand the text, as the illustrations help it to come to life a bit more. I liked the style of the illustrations and using colours to set the tone or the mood of the situation happening. A very good book.
Bella
The Endless Sea
This was a very emotional read (it almost left me in tears!), but a very good one. I thought that the visual representation was very good, and there was a good relationship between the illustration and the text- it was almost as if the illustrations gave the text more meaning to it. I also liked the formatting of this story, and it felt very easy to flick from page to page knowing what was happening, even if the part of the story feels overwhelming or sad. A very good book though.
Bella
The Playdate
This book was extremely clever with the use of illustration, and it is quite easy to see the innocent and not-so-innocent messages in this story. I think that all ages could read it- with the young children seeing the play and the innocence of the children in the story, and older children and adults seeing the hidden messages of social inequality. However, I'm not sure how I feel about the overall style of the illustrations. It was a very good book on the whole though.
Bella
Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel
I quite liked this book because of the storyline and the quality of the images.
They don't really do anything with the endpapers as they are just pure green but at the start there is an introduction to the story which i quite liked
grace
Not Going To Plan
I really enjoyed this book, and was definitely my favourite out of the Carnegie writing novels. Firstly, I liked how it was a verse novel- this definitely helped as some of the other books were quite long with small font (no disrespect to those of course!), so it broke those other books up quite nicely. Secondly, I loved so many of the characters in this book, and, somehow, I could find little parts of them that I could relate to. I can also relate to the theme of GCSE stress that we see through some characters- especially Marnie- and I can also relate to the theme of pressure in general throughout the novel. I also thought the use of speech was extremely effective and was definitely used at the right time, but also how we can see 2 perspectives- Marnie and Zed's inner monologues. I can see this being a stage production someday, or maybe a film, the book was that good. Would recommend to an older, more mature age group though (i.e. older teens, young adults).
Bella
The Paper Bridge
This book was really good but it almost contradicts itself as paperlee is made from forestlee and for some reason forestlee has elephant brothers.
The front cover and the fact it is two layers adds a lot of depth to the page
grace
Wildful
A very enchanting and magical story about nature- what a book! I liked the graphic novel style of the book itself, because it not only appeals to children and adults, but also teenagers too. I think that a lot of people would like this book, and it's very refreshing to read a graphic-novel style book like this in between larger books and novels, as a graphic novel can be interpreted in so many ways- a picture, in my opinion, can tell more words that any novel could. I like the amount of detail and precision in these drawings as well.
Bella
Wiggling Words
This book was among my favourites of the 8 books. The colour palette of red, white, and blue makes it look angry and frustrating. The full page bleed where it says RIP! shows that he is annoyed at the book as the image depicts of him ripping the book and the whole background in red really highlights the feeling of anger.
grace
Wiggling Words
This book was definitely my favourite out of all of them, and it is an entertaining and simply brilliant way of showing the readers what having dyslexia or learning difficulties might be like. I think that this should not only be shown to young children, but also to adults so that it can spread more awareness about it. I also liked the style of the illustrations, as well as how effective the simplicity of colours throughout the book is.
Bella
The Paper Bridge
This book was a joy to read, and the use of kirigami and the use of Paperlee and Forestlee was a very witty approach to the overall story. I also liked the variety of shapes and sizes of pictures in the book. The ending was also very satisfying to read- would recommend to all ages.
Bella
Wildful
I love the way the story is told through the picture (in the brownish panels) and only has a few words for the really important things. It has a good storyline and I love how the wilderness is represented. The use of different sized panels is very clever, and I love how it used multiple versions of the main character to show she was searching in different places. The dark panels can be hard to read but are fun, too. I would rate the book 10/10.
LuCy
The Playdate
I found The Playdate a really nice book to read. I wouldn't of noticed the hidden message in the pictures if somebody hadn't told me. I didn't really like the ending though;it was too quick and abrupt to just be the end. It almost just stopped,but overall I think it was a really nice book.
Evelyn
The Paper Bridge
a really good contrast between the amount of words and images with and even amount of each worlds (paperlee and forestlee) and told a really nice story. it also has elements of art and crafts as in paperlee as they have to make their own home and everything
grace
Wiggling Words
I really liked the illustration in this book because I found it really different and interesting. The illustration is made up of letters, and the letters form images like he uses 2 Os to create glasses or a flower made of C,W,D,I,i,c or as another example a watering can made of 2 Ds and a V. This type of illustrating also shows the struggles of dyslexia and how the words never seem to stay still but dance around like waves.
Enid
The Playdate
I enjoyed this book because it has the sweet storyline of a girl going to a friends house to play. However there is more than first meets the eye, on most pages you can see hidden details indicating the difference in class between the two families. Overall I think this book cleverly represents inequalities in the world through beautiful illustrations.
Nina
The Endless Sea
I think this book was good because it had an important message. Also, the storyline was intriguing, although a bit sad. The colour palette was very effective at conveying the emotions the girl was feeling. I also liked the subtle details you can notice if you look carefully, such as the fact that the photographs at the front can be seen on one of the later pages. Overall I would probably rate it about 4 and 3/4 out of 5.
Lucy
The Playdate
It was interesting how the writing and the illustrations told a different story. I like how when they were playing servants and kings, the roles were reversed. It had quite an abrupt ending though, and overall I would rate it 4 stars.
Lucy
The Endless Sea
This book was really good. The illustrations had different colours for different moods. I really enjoyed it and it got across the feeling really well. I would rate it 9/10
Evelyn