Allegiant by Veronica Roth ★★★★½

Reviewed by Katelyn (aged 13) Meet Katelyn.

    Ever since Tris found out that there is something outside the fence, and the only world she has ever known, she has been confused and worried.  

    With the world she knows in chaos and her brother sentenced to death under the new leadership regime, Tris meets the Allegiant, a group of people resistant to the new ways in which the city is heading and she is offered a chance to explore outside the fence. Tris accepts the offer as it is a new beginning, a way to get away from all the bad memories and make new ones. But when she and her companions find themselves outside they are amazed and shocked by what they find. Everything they have taken as truth is actually a lie. 

    Tobias has a lot of power now that his mother is now running the city and he is not adverse to using his newly found power to get his mother to agree to what he wants. He too, jumps at the offer from the Allegiant and joins Tris in her escape to outside, not only to be with Tris but also to escape from his abusive father and the mother that left him. Like Tris, he to finds that all he knew was a lie and not everyone can be trusted.

    Allegiant is an amazing book. At the start it can seem a bit slow and boring and doesn’t really make sense, however once you get used to the changes in the story telling perspective, you are in awe and will find yourself bawling your eyes out. There are major plot twists in this book which have you wondering what is going to happen next and leave you wanting more. This is a must read book!

    Thank you to the kind people at Harper Collins Australia for our review copy.

RELEASE Date:         Available now

MORE information:     CLICK HERE  

AUTHOR’s Website:   http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com.au/

THE AUTHOR

    Veronica Roth is only 24, so her bio will be short. She’s from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, and wrote DIVERGENT, her YA dystopian thriller while she was supposed to be doing homework. This was a decidedly good choice that will unfortunately make it difficult for her to someday lecture her future children on how important it is to get your homework done.

Elvis and the underdogs by Jenny Lee ★★★★★

Illustrated by Kelly Light

Reviewed by Sophia (aged 11) Meet Sophia

Benji is a small ten-year-old boy with a weird personality. He is always sick and faints a lot.

So when Benji wakes up from a bad spell the doctor gives him two options; to wear the world’s ugliest helmet or get a therapy dog. Benji chooses the dog. But when a huge crate arrives in his house he can’t believe his eyes! There before him is a massive two-hundred-pound dog!

The amazing thing about the dog is that it can talk! He tells Benji his name is Parker Elvis Pembroke IV. But the weird thing is that only Benji understands him; everyone else hears Elvis’s speaking as a bark or a whimper.

Elvis is very bossy and sometimes tells Benji what to do! But having a bossy dog could come in handy and might just show Benji how easy it is to make new friends.

I thought this was a wonderful and magical read with lots of exciting moments and heaps of bravery!

THANK YOU to our lovely friends at HarperCollins Publishers Australia for our review copy.

On Sale in Australia:           1st May/2013

 Formats:     Hardback | E-Book

Sneak Peek available here: CLICK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

           Jenny Lee is a writer and producer on the Disney Channel show Shake It Up.

She has written episodes for the shows In Case of Emergency, Samantha Who?, The Troop, and Shake It Up.

Mabel and Me Best of Friends by Mark Sperring & Sarah Warburton ★★★★★

Reviewed by Carmela Pollio.  Meet Carmela

“Mabel and Me” is a  brilliant book embracing the wonders of true friendship. Mark Sperring and Sarah Warburtan have created a book which transcends all ages and will surely be embraced internationally. It appeals on so many levels that my entire family enjoyed this book.

The story is told via the character “Me” who is by no means just a mouse. It has a bestest, bestest friend named “Mabel”, a likeable little girl who, whilst strolling down a “strolly” street, stops the mouse in his tracks and asks why they are bestest, bestest friends.

The two friends then encounter a Famous French Photographer and a Spanish Ballerina who help the mouse discover the answer to this tricky question.

The moment my children realised the hilarious twist, when the mouse misinterprets the photographer and the ballerina’s remarks and defends his friend Mabel, was a treat for me.

Sarah Warburtan’s visual portrayal of the four characters is delightful. There is a real sense of movement and emotion thanks to her artistic talent.  This combined with Mark Sperring’s cleverly written story means this is a book to be read and enjoyed over and over again.

Thank you to Harper Collins Australia for our review copies.

Available in hardback and ebook

Visit the Mabel and Me Best of Friends information page 

Brillustrators Mark Sperring and Sarah Warburton discuss their book project history together and the creation of Mabel and me Best of Friends:  CLICK HERE

PIVOT POINT by Kasie West ★★★★½

Reviewed by Rhiannan (Aged 11)  Meet Rhiannan

Imagine looking into the mountain range, but the mountains aren’t really mountains. Instead, the mountain is a secret world known as “The Compound”, where people have special powers.

Addie is a part of this very secret world. One day, she comes home from school to see her parents both sitting down on the couch. They tell her they are getting a divorce, which means Addie has to choose who to live with. She has to decide whether she goes with her dad, who is leaving the place that Addie grew up in or stay with her mum, who is remaining in The Compound.

Addie has to make a big decision that will affect the rest of her life. Addie’s best friend, Laila, offers to help Addie find the best choice for her.

Addie is a Searcher, which means that when faced with a choice she can look into the future and see what the outcome of her decisions will be. Instead of crying, Addie goes into her room and uses her secret powers to search the future of both her choices. Addie searches for six weeks, living both lives and trying to work out which life she can’t live without.

I think Pivot Point is a great book for ten to eighteen year olds and it is now one of my favourite books.  I would definitely recommend this to everyone!

The reason I liked this this book is that some of the stuff is true and I think the author went through this when she was at high school. Pivot Point is a little bit of fantasy, mystery and adventure.

Our review copy of Pivot Point thanks to the fantastic people at Harper Collins Australia

To buy or learn more visit PIVOT POINT Page at Harper Collins

eBook is also available here eBook

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

http://www.kasiewest.com/

Kasie West is a mother of four-three daughters and one son.  She lives in Central California where the summers try to kill her with their 115 degree heat waves.

Kasie loves to water ski. Kasie’s skill level on a wakeboard does not match her passion for the sport. Kasie would claim that maybe she could get better at it, but she’s too chicken!

THE CROODS ★★★★★

AGE OLD FAMILY FUN 

Australia: 28th March 2013; USA 22nd March UK 22nd March 

Other Countries:  Release Information 

Reviewed by Rhiannan Harris (Age 11) Meet Rhiannan

Imagine a world thousands of years ago when cavemen lived.

Over time, the Croods, find themselves the only surviving caveman family in their neighbourhood. Grug (Nicolas Cage), the father, wants his family to be kept safe, but that’s not always easy, especially when your world comes to a crashing end.

Mother Ugga (Catherine Keener) tries to keep the peace between her children Eep (Emma Stone), Thunk (Clark Duke)  and baby Sandy (Randy Thom), especially when she has her hands full keeping Grug and her mother, Gran (Cloris Leachman), from fighting.

Rebellious Eep finds it hard to obey her father, even when it might save her life. One night Eep breaks all her father’s rules about not going out at night and ventures off. She meets Guy (Ryan Reynolds) and his pet Belt (Chris Sanders), a boy who is the only surviving member of his family. Grug realises that Eep is missing and goes to find her and returns her home.

The next day, their word comes to a crashing end and the Croods discover there is another world out there, where Grug’s rules don’t always work. Together, with Guy as their guide, they make their way to “Tomorrow”, making new rules and reinventing old ones.

“The Croods” is a really funny movie and people of all ages would enjoy it. The animation is clever and suits the film, keeping it bright and colourful with not a dull moment. Children of all ages will enjoy the story and will want to see it again and again and again. It’s also a film that will appeal to adults, so make sure you don’t miss out.  Take your kids to see it because you’ll have a good laugh!

JACK THE GIANT SLAYER ★★★★★

Reviewed By Jack Cutbush [the Giant Slayer] (Age 11) Meet Jack

Australia: 21st March 2013; USA 1st March UK 22nd March
Other Countries:  Release Information 

       Jack the Giant Slayer is a wonderful movie based on the children’s fairy tale ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.  It is a fantasy adventure film packed full of action, comedy and a little romance (yuk).

The movie is about a farm-hand named Jack (Nicholas Hoult) and Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) who as children both love hearing the same legend of how King Erik and his magic crown defeated the giants who lived above the clouds. 

When they grow up, they both meet at a street theatre where Jack defends the Princess from some bad people before he knew she was a princess. One night, the princess sneaks out from the castle, away from her Father King Brahmwell  (Ian McShane) and Roderick (Stanley Tucci) the man who she has been told she must marry.  She is looking to find adventure and thanks to a thunderstorm ends up at Jacks farmhouse. 

Jack’s adventure starts when some beans he is given by a monk, who has stolen them from the castle, become wet.  Instantly, a huge vine grows rapidly into the sky, taking his house and the princess with it.  He then has to climb the vine to rescue her from some ugly, nose picking giants. He is aided in his quest by Elmont (Ewan McGregor), one of the King’s guards.  But they must also face a traitor amongst the King’s court, who wants the magic beans for himself.

      The great special effects and 3D bring the giants and their world to life and it’s very exciting especially when Jack and the princess are being chased by the giants.

The age group I would recommend for this movie would be about 8 and above as I believe it would probably not be suitable for any younger as people get stomped on and eaten and it may give little kids nightmares.

To wrap up it was a fantastic movie with a lot of action and excitement.  I would give it 8 and a half out of ten.  Go see it for yourself.
           If you want to see this movie or have seen it, please tell me what you think...