Young Quills reviews

Emerald Star by Jacqueline Wilson 

I think Emerald star is a great book because of the storyline. It keeps you thinking and wondering and you expect the unexpected to happen. At the beginning of the book she stays with her long lost father and then stays with her "family" who fostered her when she was small. This book took me by surprise [because of the choices she made]. At the end of the book I really wanted to change her mind. This was a good thing about the book because you feel as if you know the characters personally and you feel like you know what is best for them. [The author wanted the book to end in a way that was not what was] to be expected but she wants people to be surprised

Reviewed By Katie

2. Description

The description is great because it's long enough to indulge you on what the environment and the characters are like but not so long it takes 3 pages to describe a person and bore the reader.

Characters

The characters are a pleasure to read about as they go about their adventure.  For example you would expect Hetty to just go on one path but actually just enrolls on all the paths before settling with Madame Adeline.  And they have an attitude which outlines them and some attitudes are unexpected; eg you would expect Katherine to be as nice as her husband but actually she is his opposite.  (And you wonder why they're together.)

Plot

The plot is quite interesting.  In the previous books, Hetty expresses love to Jem.  However when she finally lives with him, you would never have expected her to leave the life she always wanted.  I didn't really like the little recap at the beginning of the book as I really just want to get on with the plot rather than read about something I know already.  The plot went too slow in my opinion and wasn't very exciting.

Extra comment

Encouraging font (too small- slow and discouraging, too big reader too quick)

Conclusion

I give 8/10.

Reviwed by Emily

 

3. This is the third book the series and I enjoyed it just as much as the others.  The plot is continually changing as Hetty Feather makes her life changing decisions. The book gives you a good sense of what life was like in Victorian times, with sharp contrasts between life in the town and in the country.  Hetty's mother has died and she sets about the search for a home, her father and some adventure.  It's a great end to the trilogy and I couldn't predict the ending. (I downloaded the app and the interactive cover is great!)

Reviewed by Caitlin

 

4. I thought Emerald Star was a great story and I thought it was a great way of carrying on the story of Hetty Feather. The story was easy to follow and I found that it was great way of showing the life of a fairly normal girl during the Victorian times. While reading this book it gave me another idea of what I thought the Victorian era. To me, the Victorian era was a time period of many inventions, I never really looked into the poor lives of people. Anyway back to the story, I just have to say that I thought that Hetty's choice at the end, to join the circus, wasn't very smart but I feel that Hetty should do what she thought was right and go for it.

Reviewed by Sruthy

 

5. I read 'Emerald Star' by Jacqueline Wilson and I think it was a good book. The book had some historical references, like, a bit on the era (Victorian) and the clothes they wore at the time, however it was mostly based on the history of the main character. 7/10

Reviewed by Milana

 

6. Setting

When and where is the book set? It is set in Victorian England in different parts of England. It is in the Victorian times.

What particular historical event does it describe? The particular historical event is when it says about how bad children were treated in a circus because nowadays most of the time there are not children in circuses and if there is they are treated kindly. And also we don't have circuses as much as we use to.

Did you learn anything new about history?

I learnt that if you were a girl you had to go to work at sometimes the age of 10 and you needed a reference to get another job if you left your last one.

Plot

Was this a good story? It was an overwhelming story with loads of surprising and exciting parts.

Did you want to keep turning the pages? Yes, as it was so detailed and every page was filled with adventure.

How did the author keep you interested? The author kept me interested with her excellent use of vocabulary and that extra twist of humour to make it even more interested.

Were there any surprises? There was quite a few surprises! I did not expect Hetty to find her dad and I did not expect her to run away with the circus.

Was the ending what you expected? I expected Hetty to marry Jem and they live happily ever after.

Characters

Who were the main characters?  The main characters was Jem, Eliza, Hetty's mum and Hetty.

Did you like them? Yes, I especially like them because they were all different in their own way.

Were they believable? Hetty's mum was not believable because somehow she spoke through Hetty which did not make sense to me but maybe Hetty's mum could be Hetty herself.

Who narrates the book? Hetty Feather

Overall Impression.

Did you enjoy this book? Yes I very much enjoy it. I especially liked the part when Hetty made he big choice between her dear brother Jem or the circus. It was so tense my heart was beating.

Would you recommend it to a friend? Yes I definitely would and tell them to read it slowly so it lasts.

Was it at the right level for you? It was a little easy for me but that's ok as it was a light read!

How would you mark it out of 10?

I would mark it 9.5 out of ten as it was a amazing book with such detail.

Reviewed by Heavenli

 

6. The book is set in the Victorian era. It is the third book in a trilogy about a foundling. I found out that life being an orphan was harsh and they were treated badly.

It was a brilliant story and I definitely wanted to know how it ended; a real page turner! Jacqueline kept me interested by bringing back people from the other books. There were a few sad moments, but the ending was certainly different from what I had imagined.

The main character is a girl called Hetty Feather, though that was her foundling name. Hetty creates a few different names through the trilogy. I do like Hetty, for she wants to be a writer like me. Hetty narrates the book, using her memoirs that she had written about her life.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book when I read it. I would recommend it to a friend like me, who likes to read Jacqueline Wilson books, about real times. It was the exact level for me and overall I rate it 10/10!

Reviewed by Emily