Book Report: Downham and Rosoff

In her Junior Certificate book report for last term's exam, Darcy Maule compared two novels with not-dissimilar titles, Before I Die by Jenny Downham and How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff.  

Darcy writes:

The book I preferred is most definitely Before I Die because I related to the book more than How I Live Now. I chose these books because they seemed to have good storylines that appealed to me. How I Live Now is about a girl called Elizabeth who calls herself Daisy who moves to England from New York City to live with her dead mother’s sister and cousins. A war breaks out in England while the aunt is stuck in Oslo and the children are separated by gender. Daisy then escapes with her younger cousin Piper to find the other family members including her cousin Edmund who she has fallen in love with.

Before I Die is about a girl who is 16 called Tessa who suffers with leukaemia. The doctors said to Tessa “I’d encourage you to do the things you want to do.” Tessa takes that quite literally and makes up a bucket list of things she wants to do before she dies with help from her best friend Zoey. Tessa’s parents are divorced so she lives with her loving Dad and her honest little brother Cal. Tessa’s dad is stuck in denial about her illness and just wants to spend time with her while her mother is very supportive about her list. Tessa’s main point on her list is to fall in love which happens when she encounters her neighbour Adam.


Read the complete book report here.

'No and Me' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

Term started today, and we have another busy term ahead of us on the blog. First, we need to catch up on some pupil work done last term, including Junior Certificate III form book reports.

Sally Kemp read and then wrote about two novels: No and Me by Delphine de Vigan, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (which Transition Year will shortly be studying).

Sally writes:

Both these books are from a first person narrative, both of which are female. Lou, a thirteen year old genius with already a very developed mind and Scout, who is very intelligent but still has a lot of learning ahead of her in terms of morality, and much younger. Lou’s perspective was something completely new to me, there would be so many ideas buzzing around in her head and she would analyse every single aspect of those ideas, each possible outcome of it.

Between the two, I found Lou the more interesting character to read about because of this fascinating mind. Whereas Scout was still learning, she was also very clever and articulate for a girl of her tender age. She is confident, brave and with the best of intentions. The fact that she would beat all the boys up and speak her mind in class, really reminds me of when I was her age. For that reason, I can identify with Scout a lot more than I can with Lou.

Read the rest of the book report here.

'Shadow Wave' and 'The Rescue'

III formers completed their book reports (preparation for the Junior Certificate) recently, and we'll post some of the best here, as usual. Juliana Huggard wrote on Robert Muchamore's Shadow Wave and Sophie McKenzie's The Medusa Project: The Rescue.

She writes: there was a a very helpful and wide range of interesting books on the list, but I have a very distinctive taste... these are equally extraordinary books.

Read Juliana's full essay here.

III book report: Godberson, Meyer

For her Junior Certificate book report this term, Opeline Kellett wrote a formidably thorough essay comparing Anna Godberson's The Luxe, and Stephanie Meyer's Breaking Dawn. The latter's 'Twilight' series has quickly become a real publishing phenomenon, especially with girls. Above, Meyer talks about Breaking Dawn and the series.

In her conclusion, Opeline writes :-

It was the ultimate out of a series of books and exceeded my expectations. It was supernatural fiction - vampires, yet it seemed so real. A normally bloodthirsty creature was turned into the most desirable creature around: Edward Cullen was every girl's dream!

Breaking Dawn mixed every emotion; each character was unique and shaped the book. As a book it creates an imaginary world of which you wish you were a part. I was thinking about the novel for days after I finished it. It still does enter my mind sometimes. It is also a book I could read again and again without a problem, I feel I would enjoy it just as much as the first time, with The Luxe I can't wait for the sequel, but reading it again, not for a while. It could get tiresome. With Breaking Dawn, getting tired of it is not in my vocabulary!

Read Opeline's full comparative essay here.

III form book report : Lee, Harris

III form Junior Certificate have a long book report to complete, which is then counted towards their examination mark. Albert Kyd-Rebenburg wrote about two very different novels, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and Robert Harris's dystopia Fatherland. He writes:-

The beginnings of Fatherland and To Kill a Mockingbird were very different. In Fatherland the beginning starts off with action: a dead body. The person died in strange circumstances, and one soon finds out that it was murder. On the other hand at the start of To Kill a Mockingbird one is immediately plunged into Scout's thoughts and at her funny way of looking at things.

When I think about it Fatherland’s beginning is slightly more catching because there is a lot more going on, and you immediately get into the quick rhythm and the race-against-time feeling. The endings are also very distinct one from another. I have to say To Kill a Mockingbird’s ending is far better than Fatherland’s end. Only at the end does the whole story come together, and that is when one can fully understand it. Fatherland’s ending is good and bad at the same time, and was easily predicted. Questions remained unanswered, and although To Kill a Mockingbird’s end didn’t have any questions left, I can still imagine Finch leading a very nice family life after the book ended.

Read Albert's full book report here.

III book report

As part of their exam mark, III form Junior Certificate pupils again this term wrote book reports on books of their own choosing. Here, Lingfan Gao writes about Jeffrey Archer's The Fourth Estate, unusually comparing it to William Golding's Lord of the Flies.

Frank, Boyne, Ure

Our second in the series of fine Junior Certificate book reports is from Sophie Millar, who has written this excellent review and comparison of three books - the current international bestseller The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne (pictured), Anne Frank's Diary, and Jean Ure's Plague 99.

She writes about the first book,
This terrific heart-breaking novel is very thought-provoking. Told through Bruno’s eyes, it covers some of the most serious political matters incredibly light-heartedly and innocently. It distresses and depresses the reader.

Sophie's full book report is here. John Boyne's website is here.

Junior Certificate Book Reports 1

Our III form have just completed their book reports, which form part of their end of term examination results. Winta Bairu wrote about three books of fiction - Stone Cold, by Robert Swindells, and The Friendship and Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, both by Mildred D.Taylor. She says about Swindells's novel :-

This book demonstrates the struggles, pain and desperation of the homeless and it influences you to stop just listening to the issues and do something about it. I admire the way the story line continues rising, without losing interest, until there is a huge climactic ending where you wonder what happened to Link. The overall message of this book was, don't judge someone by their looks or how rich they are. The ending happens so quickly but it is so vivid that you get so caught up in it and you don't want the book to end.

Read her full detailed book report here.

III form book reports

Two more book reports from the Junior Certificate reading project for III form. Here, Anna Traill writes about How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff and The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult, and here Jasper Mathews writes about Robert Swindells's Stone Cold and Mildred Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

Mitchell, Ahern, Sebold

Another example of the III book reports which have recently been completed for the Junior Certificate course. This is Kate Haslett's essay comparing three books, Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, Cecelia Ahern's P.S.I Love You, and Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones.

III form book reports

Our Junior Certificate pupils have just completed their school exams. 25% of their final mark this term is given to their book reports, completed prior to the exams. Rebecca Scott has written on Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses, Maeve Binchy's Night of Rain and Stars, and Elizabeth Laird's Red Sky in the Morning (here). More reports to be posted here in due course.

III form book reports

For many years, pupils in III form have written substantial book reports in this term. These reports must be on at least two books, which must contain an element of comparison. The report will count as 20% of their end of term Michaelmas examination and will be huge help in guiding/directing them to prepare for the Fiction element of their Junior Certificate examination. When they are completed in two months' time, we will post some of the work here. Guidelines can be downloaded here.