Lizzie+Reading

Reading Task 1 Term 4[[image:CLEAN_BREAK.jpg align="right"]]
Title: Clean Break Author: Jacqueline Wilson Publisher: Corgi Yearling Pages: 302 ISBN: 0-440-86643-X

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This book is called //Clean Break// by Jacqueline Wilson. The story is about the life of a girl called Emily, the oldest child of a very complicated family whose life is full of worries, dreams and wishes. Emily (who likes being called Em) is the oldest and on Christmas morning Em and her little brother and sister, Vita and Maxie. Rush into their parent’s room and have the best Christmas so far. However at the beginning Em feels a bit left out as the Dad isn’t really Em’s Dad and she =====

wishes he was, but when her step dad buys her an emerald ring Em feels so happy she could jump over the moon. Suddenly disaster strikes only halfway through Christmas day. Everyone finds out that Em’s step dad is going to live with another woman. Everyone except Gran is wishing and wishing and waiting for Dad to come back, but can any wish be strong enough? I found this book enjoyable mainly because of all the complications that go on in Emily’s life. However sometimes I found it a bit repetitive and boring as the writer tends to go on about things that aren’t really that important to the story. Emily has a very definite personality which you don’t often find in children, she was very mature and cared and looked after everyone else all the time The book starts at one Christmas and ends with the next Christmas which I thought was quite good. At first she is so happy and then suddenly she is miserable and can’t be bothered with anything. Clean Break is set in England, Jacqueline Wilson books never says where but you can get a vivid image of where it is. Emily and her family have to live with her Gran and none of them like it much. When their dad leaves it is like none if them know what to do. The main characters in this story is the Mum, Gran, Maxie, Vita, Dad, Dancer the reindeer and don’t forget Em!

We see the family’s life change through the year from a bright happy family to one that is always depressed and wishing. Em’s old life now seems like a dream and in spite of all this her Gran is lacking to give her encouragement for everything Em is trying hard at. I would recommend this book to children in the age of 10-12 year olds, but I suppose anyone could read it if they wanted to. All up I would rate this book a 7/10.

Reading Task 2 Term 3 2009
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Reading Task 1 Term 3 2009

 * Goodnight Mister Tom **

 This book for this review is called //Good Night Mr Tom// by Michelle Magorian. It is about a small boy called Willie who is living in the country with Mr Tom as a London evacuee. Through the book we see his confidence grow as he begins to love Mr Tom like a father.

Young Willie Beech is shy boy who is evacuated to the country as Britain stands on the brink of the Second World War. A sad, depressed child, he slowly begins to grow under the care of old Tom Oakley. However his new found happiness is shattered by a summons from his mother back in London… He comes back horrified and when even more bad news arrives, Willie doesn’t think he is going to last much longer on the Earth. After all this he somehow rebuilds his strength and his life goes back to normal once more.

I really liked this book because it had lots of things going on all the time. One minute I would be on the brink of crying and feeling relived the next. Willie had very low self-esteem right from the start but throughout the book you see him change and become quite confident in the end. The book starts when he is scared of Mr Tom and ends when Mr Tom is almost like his father. I can sometimes feel how Willie must feel and then I see him as a person not just book character.

The Story is set in Britain during the Second World War. I imagine the house and Garden to be quite big and old but untidy. This is just my opinion because it didn’t really say in the story. I think I would have liked to have lived there even so. This is because it’s big and you have a short walk to town and everyone knows everyone and you could probably go anywhere at night without your parents having to worry about you. It is quite strange, usually in old books the men are in charge not the women, in this book however the women are bossing their husbands around!

We see Willie’s story from when he gets off the train at the station and meets Mr Tom for the first time and he is timid as a rabbit then at the end when he said ‘I’m growing!’ quite confidently to Tom. It had a very good ending which is also why I liked it because at the end of the book you weren’t left with any questions.

I would recommend this book to all people from twelve to fourteen as if you were any younger you probably wouldn’t understand bits of it. I heard that there were more of these books in a series so I can’t wait to read them. This book is definitely a top five for me.