Cherwell: The Story Hoard

Star Review: Mrs Parish on Capital

Capital, by John Lancaster

My most enjoyable holiday read this Easter was Capital by John Lanchester. Residents of one South London street all get postcards proclaiming 'We want what you've got" and we get to see exactly what they've got as the mystery of the campaign on the street develops . We meet numerous residents, relatives and passers-by as they go about their lives.

Each chapter is a change in character or viewpoint and this makes for a pacy read.

Star Review: Miss Shakespeare

Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, by Matthew Green

Did you have an imaginary friend when you were younger?  Do you remember them now?  This is the story of Bruno, Max's imaginary friend.  He cannot be seen by anyone other than Max, oh, and other imaginary friends.  Max has some learning problems and he needs Bruno to help him get through his day, but can Bruno help when Max is in potential danger?

This is an absolutely fabulous read.  It is heartbreakingly moving and wonderfully written.  This book absolutely blew me away, made me sob as well as laugh out loud.  A rollercoaster of emotion awaits any reader.  If you liked The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night Time, you will love this.

Miss Shakespeare teaches Science at the Cherwell School. 

Feature: Story Hoard's 100th Review!

Stone Cold, by Robert Swindells

Review by Hannah Jennings (Year 9)

"Shelter is my favourite character in the book, despite the fact that he is the villain of the story"

Stone Cold is a powerful book, which won the Carnegie award in 1993. Robert Swindells’ novel explores the miserable lives of the homeless through the story of Link, a 17-year-old boy. It is excellently written, full of twists, turns, evocative descriptions and a unique story line which instils a sense of empathy for the characters.

Review: Stone Cold, by Robert Swindells

Review by Vincent Norenberg (Year 9)

"a yawning and disappointing read"

Stone Cold is about a young man who flees from his family in Bradford after Vince, his mum`s intoxicated boyfriend, moves in. The book is set in London, where Link (the main character) desperately attempts to find a job to cover the expenses of living. However, as he is 'voluntarily homeless', nobody offers him a job and he takes to begging on the streets as a last resort.

I didn`t enjoy enjoy reading Stone Cold as two thirds of the book are quite hollow; there isn`t really a plot. All Swindells does is describe how Link moves from doorway to hostel, and how he deals with the terrors of being homeless, albeit in great and vivid detail. The climax comes very suddenly, contrasting with the rest of the book enormously and it finishes the book with no real context. This makes Stone Cold a yawning and disappointing read.

Refugee Boy,by Benjamin Zephaniah

Review by Milo Murgatroyd (Year 8)

Refugee Boy is about a young 15 year old boy named Alem Kelo that has a very tough life in his home in Africa. He is having a difficult time because he is half Ethiopian and half Eritrean and they are at war so he is not welcome in any of the two countries.

His parents send him to England until the war has ended and it is safe for him to come back. This book is about Alem's journey in England.My favourite character was Alem's best friend Robert because he is a funny and caring character. I would recommend this to 13-15 year olds. A great read that anyone can enjoy!

Review: Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos

Review by Rowan Alexander

"It’s funny. It’s weird. It’s history."

Dead End in Norvelt is a hearty and feel-good story about a boy called Jack Gantos (the author) and his dying away town. Jack is grounded for the summer and loaned out to a feisty old neighbour to help write obituaries about the dying ‘original norvelters’, who founded the town.

As one obituary leads to another Jack is launched into a strange adventure and something just doesn’t feel right.  This story is like no other, even though it’s from America it’s still an amazing read. It’s funny. It’s weird. It’s history. I was hooked and so will you be.

Review: Face, by Benjamin Zephaniah

Review by Hugh Raj-Morlans (Year 8)

This is a story about a teenage boy called Martin. Martin is well known for being the main clown in his class as well as being the leader of the gang of three. School for Martin is place for him to go to by law. Martin does not enjoy school at all, so the least he can do is to have some fun.

One of the best fiction books I have read. The thing I like about Benjamin Zephaniah is that he puts a lot of action in his books, which makes you carry on reading. I would recommend this book to twelve years and older because of its language.

Review: The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Review by Maddie Purefoy (Year 12)

"At the very beginning, our narrator says: “It’s just a small story really”, but I have never read a novel that was so much the opposite."

I read this in a matter of days, due to a recommendation from a particularly influential English teacher. At the risk of sounding clichéd, this is a book that I was unable to put down – it is one of my favourites, and one that began an adoration of literature not unlike the love that the Book Thief felt herself.

This novel mainly takes place in a fictional town in Germany, named Molching, between the years 1939 & 1943. The story is narrated by Death, who presents the tale of Liesel Meminger, who later becomes the child from which the book takes its name.

Review: Rock-oholic, by C J Skuse

Review by Renata Paldi

"I really like this book because it really tells how hard life can be when everything is gone wrong."

Jody has a obssesion with a rock star. At the Regulators concert she's right at the front hoping for Jackson Gatlin to notice her. But when she's caught in the crush, she's carried backstage. But then only Jackson and Jody are alone everyone else id busy doing their job. Just then Jody remembers the Curly Wurly in her pocket and she offers it to Jackson but he thinks its a knife. Then Jody finds herself taking home a rockstar not just a poster. Jody kidnapped him... but what happens if the rockstar in her garage doesn't want to leave?

Review: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Siji

Review by Ella Handley (Year 12)

"You are taken on an emotional roller coaster, full of amusement, pain and regret."

Dai Siji’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is the tale of two “young intellectuals” who are faced with a world miles apart from their home, when in the midst of the Chinese Cultural Revolution they are sent to the countryside to be “re-educated by the poor peasants”.

The transition from city to country life is not easy and the desires for the local beauty – the little seamstress - inflamed by their youth and reading Balzac bring further complications.

Review: A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini

Review by Laura Bonsaver

"The novel is compelling, and brought me to uncontrollable tears."

After the great success of Hosseini's previous book, 'Kite Runner', his second novel ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ was similarly about life in Afghanistan during the war in the 80s and 90s, but is told through a very different perspective, or should I say, perspectives.  The story is of two women, each with very different upbringings, that create an unexpected friendship that until the end of the novel, shows care that would never fade.

Although the book is in 3rd person, it shifts between the perspectives of the two characters: Laila and Mariam.

Review: A Single Man, by Christopher Isherwood

Review by Felix Hawlin (Year 12)

Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel, A Single Man, is set at the height of the Cuban missile crisis. It tells of a single day in the life of George, a middle-aged English professor in southern California, grieving at the death of his partner, Jim.

This poignant setting allows us a subtle, touching, and delicate view into the now lethargic and lonely world George is seemingly lost in. It is no coincidence that Isherwood at the time of writing was himself a middle-aged English professor living in southern California. The semi-autobiographical nature of the novel makes Isherwood’s intense characterisation all the more heartfelt and affecting.

Review: Shine On Daizy Star, by Cathy Cassidy

Review by Elizabeth Thomas-Paine (Year 8)

"Cathy Cassidy has tried to use words that drag the reader's attention into the book."

I like her because she uses a lot of description. In this novel it is combined with a lot of imaginative and creative ideas. I like the way she puts her creative ideas and thoughts together because it makes the reader want to know what's going to happen next. This book never gets boring at any point, as it's full of description too.

I would recommend it to ages 10-13 and it's especially good to read for inspiration and ideas to help you to write and be successful in creative writing.

Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney

Review by Thomas Gale (Year 8)

"Over all the series is full of bad luck and humor."

I have been reading this series since I was 7 years old. Every year, a new book is added to the series, aimed at a different age group each time. The first one was based on a younger audience but the one that came out last year is aimed at around my age.

The first book is about the first year at secondary school and the stuff he has to put up with there. I think the intention of this book was to make primary school children less scared about moving up to  secondary school.

Review: Life on the Refrigerator Door, by Alice Kuipers

Review by Isla Masters (Year 8)

"quite a small read but with a lot of problems and emotions inside"

Life on the refrigerator door Life on the refrigerator door will amaze you. Clair and her mother basically only communicate using messages because they hardly see each other. This book shows how things can move on and what problems will come around at any time. The main characters are Clair and her mother. My favourite character is Clair she is a very strong person but she is also very soft and kind.

Lola Rose, by Jacqueline Wilson

Review by Anqui Hu (Year 8)

"I felt very sorry and hopeful for the characters"

Jayni, her mum and her little brother Kenny have run away because life at home suddenly became very frightful when her dad was abusive to her and her mum. One night they decide to escape in search of a new home and a new them. They want a fresh start, so they think up new names. Boring Jayni becomes cool, grown up and independent Lola Rose. But luck runs out eventually, and it certainly does for Lola Rose's family. Her mum has to go to hospital, leaving her to be more grown up than she really feels.

Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

Review by Emily Manley (Year 12)

"I know how hard it is to fit in. I think every teenager does."

The story is from Charlie's perspective. Charlie is in his first year of high school. He is socially awkward but he is intelligent beyond his years. He does not know it yet but he is about to enter the world of first dates, mix tapes, new friends, family dramas, sex, drugs and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Charlie will eventually find that we are all infinite.

I really enjoyed this book. I can relate to it on so many levels. I began to read this at the start of the Christmas holidays and I could not put it down.

Review: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, by John Boyne

Review by Amy Wright (Year 12)

"John Boyne's every word gripped me, and in the end reduced me to tears"

The novel starts off set in the period of World War II in Germany, where we meet 9-year-old Bruno. The adventurous story from the very first page drags the reader in, where we are told that Bruno and his family are sent away from Berlin so his father can carry out a 'very important job' in a place which is said to be called 'Out-With'. The family are sent to a house which is in the middle of nowhere, and without children or a school to go to. Instead both Bruno and his sister Gretel settle down to be being home schooled - something which they are not used to.

Review: Angel Cake, by Cathy Cassidy

Review by Julia Fendryk (Year 8)

Anya thought England was a wonderful place to live in; a place with cottages and flowers and beautiful gardens. But she thought wrong…

Anya and her mum, dad and sister were happily living in Krakow, Poland when her dad got offered a job in Liverpool.This was a big move for the family, but Anya always dreamt of how wonderful it would be to live there .

When they arrived in Liverpool it was not what they expected. It was cold, gray and dull. The biggest shock of all was the house they lived in … it was a small flat above a fatty old chip shop.

Review: TTYL, by Lauren Myracle

Review by Saskia Cookson (Year 8)

TTYL  (talk to you later) is the first book in American author Lauren Myracle's Internet Girls trilogy. It follows the eventful ups and downs of three teenagers' lives; Maddie, Zoe and Angela. As they begin 10th grade, things seem to turn upside down for the group, with broken hearts, exams to revise for, and a mistake that gets the whole school talking. But they manage to stay there for each other and prove that true friendship can get you through it all.

I think that me and many others enjoy these books and are able to relate to them because they are written entirely in instant messages, using casual, chatty slang and smiley faces. Exactly like how we would message our friends.