My review for Smart By Kim Slater

An exciting murder mystery story about an artistic, clever and observant young lad in Nottingham.


When Jeans friend Colin , a homeless man , was found dead in a river the police thought that he was drunk and had fallen in.Kieran believes he had been murdered.It's up to Kieran to find out what  happened.

Kieran is a master of observation ,a good drawer and wants to work for Sky news when he is older.He likes to watch TV  programmes such as CSI.
Kieran's dad died when he was younger and his step dad Tony is mean to him.(as well as being a drug dealer!) At home some suspicious stuff is going on too.A new boy in school called Karwana from Uganda becomes friends with Kieran and helps him solve the mysteries.This book is about finding out what happened to Colin and other local criminal activity.

I recognised a lot of the places mentioned as i live in Nottinghamshire too e.g the river Trent, Sherwood forest,lace making etc.It also mentions the artist Lowry a lot as Kieran likes his drawings.This book is a deceptive type of book.I got the hardback book and really liked the illustrations on the dust cover and on the inside of the book. This made me think it was going to be more cheerful than it was.
 The author described the characters and the area very well. I think this book would appeal to older children in their teens because it was serious, about murder,misery and violence to do with drug dealing.

I would rate this book 6/10 

It wasn't really 'my cup of tea' but it was good to read.

 This is my review for lovereading4kids.co.uk

Coming Soon.....

My review for smart by Kim Slater will be coming soon as i've just finished reading it.

My review for The Apple Tart of Hope by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald.

 An emotional teenage story about love,friendship and hope. A real tear-jerker .

Oscar goes missing and is presumed dead ,but his brother Stevie and friend Meg believe he is still alive and they never give up hope.

I found the story a bit gloomy at the beginning but still wanted to find out what actually happened.

It was confusing at first as the chapters switch viewpoints between the two main characters , but as the story continued I got used to it.

Meg writes a 'love letter' to Oscar but doesn't post it because she thinks it will ruin their friendship.But when Paloma moves into Meg's old house she finds the letter hidden under the mattress-will she post it ?

Emails between Oscar,Meg and Paloma tell the story too.

I would like to have seen some illustrations in this book but it was good to see 'Oscar's tips to make the perfect apple tart' at the end.

This is a bit of a teenage love story.I thought it was good even though it wasn't to my usual taste.

I think this would be suitable for teenage girls that like to read about love ,friendship and hope.

I would rate it 7/10.

My review for lovereading4kids.co.uk

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9781444006926/isbn/The-Apple-Tart-of-Hope-by-Sarah-Moore-Fitzgerald.html

Free sneak peek in the National Geographic kids magazine of two books I have reviewed.

 Hello,Just to let you know that in the National Geographic KIDS June 2014 issue 99, MARS EVACUEES AND SCARLET IBIS are featured.