My Order for the CARNEGIE AWARD.....
1. Blood Family by Anne Fin
2. Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
3. The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks
4. The Childs Elephant by Rachel Campbell-Johnston
5. The Wall by William Sutcliffe
6. Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper
7. Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead
8. All The Truth That’s In Me by Julie Berry

The Childs Elephant by Rachel Campbell-Johnston
This is a wonderful read. The book is separated into three distinct parts. This story is very well written and the relationships that develop between characters and especially Bat and Meya are very heart warming. This book is a wonderful roller-coaster ride of a read and one I thoroughly enjoyed much to my surprise.
First you meet the main character Bat who one day comes across poachers who kill an elephant which results in a calf being without a mother. Bat cares for this baby elephant and raises it. However his grandmother who he lives with warns him that one day Bat and his best friend Muka will need to let the baby elephant Meya go back into the wild.
The second part of our story takes us to a place where Bat and Muka are kidnapped and forced into the ‘Child Army’ that has been terrorising the lands. These moments are quite intense and really help develop the story to more than just a boy caring for an elephant.
In the final part of the book re-introduces Bat and Meya and their adventure to get back home after Bat and Muka escape the army.

All The Truth That’s In Me by Julie Berry
“All The Truth That’s In Me” is a surprisingly bad read. The story is written in short ‘chapters’ where Judith the main character talks about her life and longing for Lucas a boy she has grown up with. However one day she is taken from the village and returns home 2 years later with her tongue cut out so she cannot speak. The story moves through the past, present and the time she was captured the short chapters as well as the jumping of the time periods makes the book annoying and impossible to enjoy. It was an awfully written book which had at best an okay plot line which overall made the story drag.

Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper
The summary of this book gave me hope and I was eager to read it.
The writing and story starts as engaging and Little Hawk’s survival in the forest for 3 months (His tribe’s way of the boys becoming men) is wonderful to read and really helps you connect with the character.
The story continues around Little Hawk and his ‘tribe’, after he comes home, however when the story shifts the focus on the English settlers and another main character John the book falls a flat. There was so much going off over few pages that I felt the story lacked something. The historical references were good, but there was just too much and great periods of time seemed to lapse between chapters. This story had great plot but it just lacked in something!

Liar and spy by Rebecca Stead
I found this book a bit too young for me but still a good read. The book was full of mystery which kept me engaged and wanting to find out the truth about all the characters within the book. The plot was very well constructed and was a surprising enjoyable read. George is a young boy who’s moved from a house into an apartment and meets another boy named Safer and his family. Safer has a spy club and wants to recruit Georges to help him find out who Mr X is and what he’s up to!

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
Rooftoppers is a wonderful, truly beautiful written story about not giving up. Apart from the story I loved Katherine Rundell’s writing. The book is very vivid and it makes Sophie’s world come alive around you. The story is well paced and the ending is lovely. I really found this book enchanting and very engaging. The idea was very original and the