Opening up to a new world
Reading book reviews can be a useful habit. When somebody gives their opinion about a book, it can help you decide whether you want to read it yourself. A good review will say what is good about the book, what is not so good and probably recommend it, if it is worth reading.
On the other hand, writing a book review yourself can help you to concentrate as you read. Book reviews can be found in newspapers, including the Young Post, on the internet, in magazines and sometimes even on radio or television. In the end, you can make up your own mind, but it's often fun as well as interesting to see what others think first.
Spy High
Episode 1 - The Frankenstein Factory
By AJButcher
What do you get when you combine James Bond and Charlie's Angels with the Famous Five? The answer is Spy High: a secret training school for young intelligence agents set more than 50 years in the future. There might be six heroes in this tale and the real name of the school is actually the Deveraux College for talented teenagers but reality is not the point. This is adventure with a swagger, espionage with attitude. Faced with a crumbling world order, an old agent has set up a rigorous two-year training schedule designed to equip young adults with the skills to fight techno-activists and rogue geneticists. The Bond team consists of Lori, Ben, Jake, Jennifer, Eddie and Cally. They have been chosen because their unit is not quite meeting expectations in the first term. They face possible elimination from the programme for failing the simulation exercise to defeat a master criminal. They have only one more chance. Rival teams press home the point and, as a desperate measure, they are sent blindly out into the world to do their job. They think they are simply going on a camping trip. In reality, they have been dumped in the dangerous wilderness to see if they can help prevent a mad scientist doing a weird and life-threatening impersonation of Frankenstein. If all this sounds unlikely and even risible, then the author's witty dialogue and clever writing save the day. The characters are believable even if the storylines are not, and tight-plotting and a roller-coaster style make this an entertaining read. This is the first of a projected series of six titles. Bad guys beware: the new Bond is saving the world more than a century after the birth of the real thing.
Glossary
secret (adj) - kept private, unknown
swagger (n) - an arrogant or exaggerated way of walking
rigorous (adj) - strict, severe, exact
geneticist (n) - a scientist who studies genes
elimination (n) - removal, exclusion from a competition
risible (adj) - laughable or ridiculous
Comprehension
1. What is Spy High?
2. When is the story set?
3. How long does the rigorous training programme last?
4. How many more chances does the Bond team have?
5. Where do they think they are going?
6. What is the mad scientist doing?
7. What sort of read does the reviewer say
this is?
Be a writer
There are many different ways to write a book review. One way is to use a set format or template. This helps to organise your review while you are getting experience.
Use the format below to write your own review about a novel or storybook.
Name of book (title)
Name of author
Price of book
The main characters are ...
The story is about ...
I like the book because ...
One thing I didn't like was ...
I would give this book ... marks out of ten.
Book diary
Even if you do not want to review books, many people keep a book diary. In the diary, they write down the title and author of every book they read and a few lines on the content and what they thought about it. This builds up a fascinating reading journal that can become a treasured possession. Why not try it?
Crossword
There are lots of different types of books. Some people read a wide range of books while others tend to stick with one or two types. Read the clues below and write the name of each type in the crossword puzzle.
List: novel, encyclopaedia, guide, history, geography, cookery, reference
1. A book giving information on every subject with entries in alphabetical order
2. A book that tells a fictional story
3. A book with recipes to prepare dishes
4. A book that you can get information from that often cannot be borrowed from a library
5. A book about the past
6. A book about different places in the world
7. A book that tells you about one particular country and what to do there
Answers
1. a secret training school for young intelligence officers; 2. more than 50 years in in the future; 3. two years; 4. one; 5. on
a camping trip; 6. a weird and life-
threatening impersonation of
Frankenstein;
7. entertaining.
Crossword
1. encyclopaedia; 2. novel; 3. cookery;
4. reference; 5. history; 6. geography;
7. guide
