The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

Bruno is a 9 year old who lives in Germany during WW2. He lives in a big house with many servants with his parents and his big sister, Gretel. Bruno's father gets a new job meaning they have to move, most of the family are okay with the move apart from Bruno, who misses his friends and feels homesick.

Bruno finds that his new home is very different in comparison to his old one, it is guarded by soldiers and is much smaller. Bruno feels isolated and notices things he shouldn't from his bedroom window. 

Throughout the book Bruno explores and adventures, and finds a new friend, a Jewish boy named Schmuel, who helps him find out new things he was completely oblivious too and his curiosity slowly disappears. 

**** I would give this book 4 stars, because not only was it a very interesting book, it also helped me learn about WW2 and the holocaust. It showed me what concentration camps were like, how Jews were treated and how some German's were oblivious to how the Jews were being treated. I found this book better than the film. 

You can purchase this book from here http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=9781862305274

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Tessa is a 16 year old girl, she is not like other 16 year old females, she is suffering with terminal cancer and has a small amount of time before she is going to die..


Knowing that she will soon be gone, Tessa decides to make a list of 10 things she wants to do before she dies. As she does some of the things she requested to do with the help of her best friend Zoey, she comes across things such as sex and drugs which make her realise that the most unimportant things in life to her suddenly become important, she even comes across a new kind of love. 


As the book comes to an end, the book gets very emotional.


The book was written in a way that shows the situation from all different points of views, it shows not only how she is trying to deal with her death approaching but how her family and friends deal with the situation.


I found this book incredibly moving, Jenny wrote the book in a very good way which made me never want to stop reading. It was very emotional at times which made it a great read. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.


***** I gave this book 5 stars as it deals with the situation perfectly and there wasn't a bit that I didn't find affective, I would recommend this book to anyone but especially teenagers. 

Just In Case by Meg Rosoff

David Case is an ordinary boy, in a normal family. But shock appears when he saves his younger brother from a near death situation, after this he is positive something cannot be right...

David comes to the conclusion that fate is after him and he has to give everything to stop it, this becomes his new obsession. To try and fool fate, he changes his name, appearance and lifestyle, but even after this he can see fate catching up with him. Near death experiences for Justin (his new name) jump up randomly, although we do not see them coming, Justin does. He goes on adventures, finds new things and strange events occur. As time runs out, or so he thinks, he finds new people he think be able to trick fate too, his new love, new friends and his imaginary dog. Soon after, fate has just about caught Justin, but what will happen to him?

"He became enmired in what if. The weight of it wrapped itself around his ankles and dragged him under."


****
I would give this book 4 stars, this is because it was unique in comparisson to other books that I have read, and I did not want to put the book down as there was a lot of suspense. I did not give it 5 stars because in some chapters it was not as interesting. 

Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine

Unlike the beginning of most books, Rowan is not a normal girl. She has all the responsibilities in the house weighing her down. But her world changes when she goes to a shop one day and is told she dropped something by a boy which she knew wasn't hers- a negative.

The next day at school Rowan is greeted by a girl named Bee, who was in the shop also, curious as to what she was given. Bee helps her print the negative and it links to someone from the tragic accident who was now dead, the person who caused her parents to split up, her mum to get depression and ignore her two children, Rowan and Stroma, causing Rowan to have to look after Stroma the whole time. 


At the doctors for their mother, Rowan sees the person who gave her the negative. She is tempted to speak to him but just as she is about to, the boy is called up to fill out a form. He calls out his address loudly so Rowan can hear it. When Rowan and Stroma go to visit Bee, who lives with her single dad Carl and her "brother" Sonny, Bee suggests Rowan should go and visit this boy. Rowan is scared because the road is dangerous with people such as drug takers. Bee tells her to go by riding her bike. Rowan discovers that the boy's name is Harper and he has travelled in a rusty old ambulance all the way from America.


Throughout the story, Rowan still struggles to look after Stroma, lying to her father who doesn't know about the mothers situation. But Rowan gets help from Bee and her family.


As Harper and Rowan become closer, she discovers lots of new things about the one in her family she had lost, she thought Bee didn't know him, but it turned out she was very incorrect. She also finds out that Sonny is not actually Bee's brother, but someone who makes Rowan and Stroma close to him. 


Meanwhile, Rowan and Stroma's mother continues to struggle without her son and takes her own life. Luckily, she was taken to the hospital early enough to be saved. Rowan still worries that after she comes back home she will still be the same as she was before, but do things turn out this way?


Harper tells Rowan that he has to leave to go back to America for a few weeks to tell his family he is safe, he promises to come back, Rowan is unsure that he would but he reassured her. 


So how would the family cope after lots of things becoming clear?


****
I would give this book a 4 star rating because it was interesting, it grasped my attention and you could feel the hope rushing through yourself for Rowan. I did not give it 5 stars because I think the ending could have been a bit better and interesting.


I would recommend this book for teenagers aged from 13-16.