Book Review - My Name is Mina

I read the book My Name is Mina quite a few years ago and really loved it. So I recently decided to read it again because I'd forgotten what happens and I want to read its sequel, Skellig soon.

I think of this book as David Almond's secret masterpiece. Skellig is so well-known that it almost overshadows this one. Yet, I can't understand why, as I like My Name is Mina just a little more. It's one of those books that leaves you feeling a bit dazed after you've read it; like you're not quite back in the real world yet.

I'm not going to write my usual plot summary, as that would spoil the creativity and spontaneity of this book. Instead, I will give you a feel for the book by showing you my favourite parts.

Here are some of Mina's thoughts:

"When I was at school - at St Bede's Middle - I was told by my teacher Mrs Scullery that I should not write anything until I had planned what I would write. What nonsense!"

"Why is there anything? Why is there something rather than nothing? ... And before there was something was there just nothing? And did that nothing turn into something? And if that nothing turned into something how did it do it, and why? Why? Why? Why?"

"A few weeks later, we were reading an encyclopaedia. It said that if you counted all the people who had ever lived ... until about fifty years ago, there wouldn't be as many as the people who are alive today ... 'So that means,' I said, 'that Heaven only needs to be about as big as the earth.'"

"Ms Palaver ... was wearing a black suit with a white blouse an silver earrings. Mr Trench was also in black and white. I was about to ask them if they were off to a funeral but I thought perhaps not."

I would recommend this book to an age range of 9-13 because the language used is quite simple and Mina is a young girl. However, I definitely appreciated the humour and thoughtfulness of this book more the second time I read it, when I was older.

Overall, if you want to read something that will take you out of reality for a little while, be sure to pick up 'My Name is Mina'.

Book Review - War Horse

I have just finished reading War Horse by Michael Morpurgo and what a tale it was. Told from the point of view of Joey the horse, it was definitely different to any book I'd ever read before. To give you a feel for it, I will summarise the plot.

The story begins with the sale of a horse called Joey to a farm; consequently separating him from his mum. Luckily, Albert (the son of the drunken farm owner) cares for Joey to protect him from his father and later trains him as a farm horse alongside Zoey, the stoic farm pony.

Joey is sold on to a soldier named Captain Nicholls not long later by Albert's father because he "needs the money bad". Albert tries to stop the sale but does not succeed, yet all is not lost, as Captain Nicholls promises to take good care of Joey and says that when Albert is old enough, he could join the cavalry and maybe find his horse again.

However, Joey doesn't have an easy time of it in army training as he is ridden by the harsh Corporal Samuel Perkins who isn't as kind as Captain Nicholls. Fortunately, after training the Captain spends hours talking to Joey whilst drawing him which comforts the horse and makes his time in training decidedly more bearable.

Joey's luck seems to continue when he meets a new friend, Topthorn, the magnificent black stallion. They are competitors as well as companions and keep each other on their toes. Yet, sadness returns when Captain Nicholls is killed in their first battle. Joey is given Trooper Warren to be his new rider, but Warren is a lot less experienced and doesn't have as light a touch as Nicholls did.

A little after their meeting, Trooper Warren is separated from Joey when he and Captain Stewart are taken as prisoners of war. Joey and Topthorn are lead away and meet Herr Hauptmann who orders his men to give the horses the best treatment possible. However, both horses are needed to carry wounded soldiers away from the battlefields and are stabled elsewhere on a farm owned by a little girl named Emilie and her grandfather.

Although the work is punishing, Joey and Topthorn look forward to seeing Emilie at the end of every day because she cleans, feeds and chats for hours on end to them.

After a blissfully peaceful time working on Emilie's farm, the horses are taken away by soldiers to pull a gun alongside four others known as Heinie, Coco and the two golden Haflingers. After a while, Coco and Heinie both die and the others are left to pull the gun in worsening conditions.

After surviving the long winter, the spring comes and the horses are put under the care of a nicer man named Friedrich. However, Topthorn is still suffering and he dies just before an attack in which Friedrich is also killed by an explosion. Joey is so bereft that he stands guard over the bodies of Friedrich and Topthorn all night until he is frightened by a tank and runs as fast as he can in an effort to escape the war. He is eventually forced to stop running as his injuries and fatigue overcome him. With confusion and panic, he then realises that he is in no man's land.

From either side of him, a British and German soldier approach and flip a coin to see who gains ownership of Joey. The English win and take Joey to hospital. When he arrives, he is put under the care of two men named David and ... Albert! Joey is reunited with his original owner after David cleans him and reveals his unmistakable four white socks and cross shaped mark on his forehead.

Yet, Joey is still fatally ill and requires twenty four hour attention in order to recover from his tetanus. It takes the whole team of workers at the hospital to pull Joey through, but they succeed and all seems well again.

However, when David is killed, Albert falls into a state of depression. Even when the war finally ends, there is little celebration, merely relief for the remaining men that they are still alive.

The horses are auctioned off and just when it seems that Joey will be sold to a French butcher, Emilie's grandfather makes the final bid and buys Joey. He then sells Joey back to Albert for one penny on the condition that Albert will love Joey as much as Emilie did.

Albert takes Joey home with him to meet Maisie, his future wife. The story ends happily, with Zoey and Joey working alongside each other again, just like in the beginning.

I would recommend this book to an age range of 11-15 as the topic might be harder to handle for younger children, but the language used isn't challenging enough for very advanced readers.

I liked the fact that it had a happy ending and all the loose ends were tied up, but if you prefer books which mirror real life (which doesn't have an ending), the end to War Horse may seem too idyllic or unrealistic.

Overall, it's a very original and thoughtful book which could be used to educate children and teenagers on World War One.

Poem - A Rose-Tinted Childhood

Acting out the hairdressers in my pretty pink bedroom,

Asking my customers, “Are you going on holiday soon?”

Playing this marvellous game I would beam,

When it came to the real thing, I wasn’t so keen.                                                                                    

Baking with Grandma to make lemon cakes,

How much longer is it going to take?

For that cake to be ready and cooked right the way through,

So that we can eat it together, just me and you.       

Shoes shining, not a hair out of place,

All to be spoiled when I joined in the race,

Running across the playground as if a tiger was after me,

Then drawing a picture, what on earth could it be? 

Trying to catch a glimpse of the tooth fairy, 

To her I would probably seem very scary.

Maybe if I lie still and pretend to be asleep,

She might come in through the window and then I could take a peep.

So many memories that I have stored in my head, 

I expect there will be countless more on the path up ahead.