Book Report: DEAR OLLY

This book is called, ‘DEAR OLLY’ written by Michael Morpurgo. It is about a litle girl named Olly and her older brother named Matt. Olly is an ordinary girl living with Matt and her mother. She is fond of and passionate about a few different things. Matt’s talent is to be a clown and make people laugh. He also has a passion for taking care of swallows. Since Matt’s mother is a vet and because he has a love of swallows, Matt’s mother assumes that Matt will be a vet after graduating university. One day, Matt sees pictures of dejected kids from Africa who are hurt and helpless. Matt’s delicate heart cracks as he sees this. He tells Olly that he is going to Africa to cheer up the sad children there. His family are shocked at his decision. His family members try to dissuade him but nothing works. One day, Matt just leaves. Olly and mother grieve and Olly tries to comfort mother but nothing works. The joy in the house is gone. By and by, Olly gets closer and closer to the swallows and loves their elegant agility and fancy aerobatics. One day, she finds a swallow weak with a crooked wing. Olly and mother work on the bird and treat him. They warm him near the fire and give him a few drops of glucose. When he finally recovers, the two put a ring around him so they could recognise him when he flies back from Africa. They name him Hero. So, Hero flies off with his flock but loses his flock in a storm. He has two close calls with death but saves himself and gets back with his flock in Africa. There, he meets Matt who is just finishing his clown hour with the kids. Matt had reached Africa and started to take care of over two hundred scared children. He had also transformed a scared, shy boy named Gahamire into a happy, friendly boy who became quite close to Matt. Matt is a second father to all the sad but now happy children in the orphanage. One disastrous morning, Gahamire’s gone. Matt drives to the mountain and finds him. A landmine breaks Matt’s leg and he finds himself saying goodbye to his orphanage and hello to his old London. By and by, Matt recovers from his broken leg and get’s it replaced with a wooden leg. Although his leg is healed, his heart is not. Leaving his life in Africa where his children were, was tough. To console himself, Matt finds a father swallow with a slightly crooked left leg. He shows it to Olly. Could it be Hero?

What I like about this book:

• The significance of the title is that it tells a reader who hasn’t read the book that a character named Olly is away from someone. It also tells the reader that there is a certain batch of letters in the book.
• There were three parts to the book but the biggest part was Olly’s story. All the events in the book happened in Olly’s story and were seen through Olly’s eye but Hero and Matt’s Stories each gave a little more description on each of the events and situations.
• Michael Morpurgo’s stories always have a kind of tragedy in them and I like this because if a story has a tragedy to it and it’s touching, there can be a very deep meaning to. In this, its to persevere, do what your heart and instinct tell you and have faith in yourself. Another lesson was: if someone really wants to do something and has a particular talent, let them do it and don’t give them pain over it. These are the two big lessons and meanings I found in the book.
• The author uses Hero the swallow as an analogy and example to express perseverance, faith and the will to keep doing something. It reminded me a little of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and the way Richard Bach also used JLS as an analogy for perseverance and following your dreams. Here is the link to my book report of Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
• Fun time! Here is a little quiz for kids who have read the book:

1.    What tragic but good event happened to the hobby falcon so that he couldn’t chase Hero anymore?

2.   Did Olly have a father? If so, what happened to him?

3.   What color did Olly paint her toenails at the start of the story?

4.   Which hospital did Matt go to for his broken leg?

5.    What was the name of his broken leg?

I WOULD GIVE THIS BOOK A 10 OUT OF 10 RATING!

FIND OUT WHAT I MEAN BY READING ‘DEAR OLLY’!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON AMAZON FOR $7.99!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON GUARDIAN BOOKSHOP!

Book Report : THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

This book is called, ‘THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME’ written by Mark Haddon. It is a book about a boy with a condition who is trying to deal with complex relationships in his family. While dealing with them, he experiences mixed emotions and overcomes his awkwardness of talking to strangers and learns to show empathy and trust – which are difficult for him. Christopher likes two things very much: Math and dogs. The book starts with Christopher wanting to solve the mystery of Who Killed Wellington (the neighbour’s dog) and that changes a big part of his personality and also his life. Because, it  leads him to solve an even bigger mystery in his own life. When he tells his dad that Wellington is dead, his dad gets upset and tells him off for mentioning a person called Mr. Shears. Christopher has a lot of problems but doesn’t know yet that they are all related. In school, Christopher has to write a book and he writes about the mystery he is solving. A while ago, Christopher’s mother ran away with another person because she didn’t think that she was a good mother. She didn’t have time to tell Christopher so left Christopher’s dad in charge of that. Christopher’s dad, being very upset, turned the story upside down and said that Christopher’s mother was dead. One thing that Christopher doesn’t like is lies. Christopher didn’t know the truth so he believed his dad until one fine day Christopher’s dad hid his book so he could not find it. Christopher starts to look for it and lands up in his dad’s room. He finds a number of letters from his mom. After reading them, he realises that his mom is not dead. His dad sees Christopher reading the letters and then tells him that he is sorry and confesses that he was the one who killed Wellington in a fit of anger. Christopher thinks that he can no longer trust his dad and that it is not safe for him to be living with him anymore. So, he packs his stuff and heads to London where his mother is. After a long adventure on trains, he reaches his mom’s new house and sees Mr. Shears  with her. That night, Christopher’s mother makes an important realisation and makes a decision that it wasn’t safe for Christopher and her to live with Mr. Shears. So, Christopher and his mom drive back to Swindon where Christopher’s dad lives and went back to the house. Finally, Christopher and his mom move into a new room and Christopher and his father work on an important project: Learning to trust each other again.

What I like about the book is:

• I really like the way this book is formatted. Each chapter is a prime number. How interesting! I also like the way illustrations are used to help express what Christopher wants the reader to know
• One really interesting thing that I find with people who have conditions in books is that they seem to be very fond of prime numbers. In Rain Reign, there was Rose who was obsessed with prime numbers. Prime numbers are special because they are different and can’t be divided by any number except itself or 1. I wonder whether Mark Haddon and other authors who write about autism and other types of conditions may have chosen their characters to like prime numbers because they are different or unique – just like the chracters.
• This book reminded me of Rain Reign and a little bit of Ella Enchanted too. Rain Reign because Rose, the main character, also has a condition and Ella Enchanted because she has to obey whereas Christopher and Rose don’t like to be ordered.
• The author really brought the story to life. I was trying to anticipate what would happen next. I flipped through the pages one day and caught a glimpse of the sentence, ‘Father killed Wellington.’. Even though I knew the solution to the mystery but I clung onto the book to read Christopher’s own description and thoughts.
• This book is also quite tragic. I know that my parents love me, whereas, I think that because Christopher doesn’t like to be touched and doesn’t feel that sense of love that other people feel, he only thinks that his parents love him because he has heard them say it to him before.
• One of the touching part of the books is when Christopher’s mother chooses her son and sacrifices her relationship with Mr. Shears. It was her love for Christopher that made her sacrifice Mr. Shears and help Christopher. I think that that is very brave.
• At the back of the book in one of the paragraphs before the praise, there is a line which says ‘Christopher has no understanding of human emotions.’ I disagree with this statement because at times in the book, he leaves his father alone because he knows that he is angry and might start a fight. Also, he understands those emoji signs and how they make people feel. I really think that that line is being unfair to Christopher! (I am standing up for imaginary characters! Wicked!)
• Finally, FUN TIME! Here are a few questions for young adults who have read the book:

1.    What did Christopher’s father gift Christopher as a present?

2.   What is the name of Christopher’s teacher?

3.   How many prime numbers does Christopher know?

4.   What type of novel is this?

5.   How many letters did Christopher’s mom write to Christopher?

What I think the Author could have done differently:

• I think the author could have put in less swear words. I was almost not allowed to read this book because of the swear words but then my mom and my tecacher had a chat with me before I was allowed to read the book. Since this is a book that is suppsed to be for adults and children, I think that maybe he could have shown more restraint or care on the language used.

I WOULD GIVE THIS BOOK A 9 OUT OF 10 RATING!

FIND OUT WHAT I MEAN BY READING THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON AMAZON FOR $8. 89!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON GUARDIAN BOOKSHOP FOR $12.39!

Book Report: JAKE IN SPACE!

This book is called, ‘JAKE IN SPACE: MOON ATTACK!’, written by Candice Lemon-Scott. It is about a boy named Jake who lives on the Future Earth. But, Jake doesn’t know how to drive his own space car and Jake’s parents, not being satisfied with driving him to school, send Jake to a remedial driving school. Jake doesn’t want to be there but he is forced to go and train on the moon. There, he finds a few good friends named Rory (who is from Mars), Henry (who is from Jupiter) and Milly and Skye (who are from Venus). Jake hates it in the remedial driving school but during his stay there, discovers a dangerous mystery! What could it be? By and by, Jake sees Henry sneaking out in the night and driving out on space without a spacesuit! Wait a second, only robots can do that! Could Henry be a robot? Milly, Skye, Rory and Jake follow Henry on space cars one night and land up on a platform. Henry seems to know that they followed him and reveals a secret. Read the book to find out what this is! Anyways, they realise that Henry has only come to remedial space school stop Gradock, the owner, from doing something bad. Shocked by this discovery, Jake presses a button which delays Henry’s solution. After tracking Jake and his friends, Gradock arrives at their platform and starts his launching! He is going to destroy the Moon and Earth! Jake and his friends hop into a space car and follow Gradock as he drives away. Jake manages to turn upside down and the friends run into Gradock’s spacecar. Skye uses Slooper Goo 2 to make sure that Gradock doesn’t escape and then Henry’s fake parents come and arrest him. Jake and his friends learn that Henry works in a space company like a space police spy. Henry was working on his new mission, gathering help from Jake and friends. Henry’s fake parents are actually officers from the space police station called CIA. After solving this intriguing mystery, Jake goes back to his Earth and is proud to know that he can drive his own space car. He gets an invitation to a Rocket Battle competition. Will he go or not? Read Jake in Space: Moon Attack and Jake in Space: Rocket Battles to find out!

What I liked about the book:

·    I really like Sci- fi books and this is a true sci- fi book. I loved the intense language and all the cool technology gadgets in the book. While reading this book I was seeing it like a film in my head with chasing music in it! I was very excited to read about the levers, buttons, space cars, suits, walkie talkie like gadgets and other things. Now I feel like driving a space car! I wonder if there are actually remedial space car driving schools in real life. That would be awesome!

·    In some parts of the story, I had goosebumps because the scene was intense and mysterious. Mystery and Sci-fi and two of my favorite genres. In my opinion, this story mixed the two genres really well. I knew when the mystery started and the sci-fi died down but I never knew when the interest in the story would end.

·    I like the idea of robots a lot. It adds an extra mystery to the story.

·    Books don’t normally have the start of the next book in the book itself. Of course most books have sneak peeks of the next book in the series but this is different. While ending the story with Jake going back home, it starts a new story with an invitation to a Rocket Battle competition.  

·    My librarian in school recommended this book to me and I think I know why. This book is a great story about friendship and it teaches folks like me some action language that is catchy, quirky and fast- paced. When I read this book, I knew I had to read it fast because the language itself tells you to read fast and the author’s writing is fast paced and quirky. 

·    Finally, fun time! Here are a few questions for people who have read the book or come back to this blog after you have read the book to answer the following:

1.   How did Gradock track Jake and his friends?

2.   How many questions did Jake get right on his Theory test?

3.   What does CIA stand for?

4.   What is Slooper goo?

5.   How do you let go of Slooper goo?

6.   Who is your favorite character in the story? Why?

I WOULD GIVE THIS BOOK A 9 OUT OF 10 RATING!

FIND OUT WHAT I MEAN BY READING, ‘JAKE IN SPACE: MOON ATTACK!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON AMAZON FOR $14.99!