Young Quills reviews

Harbir's review
What happens? 
Rosalie is on a mission to read. Her dad is at war. But one day a blue envelope arrives. Something unexpected happened. It was that inside it says that her father died.

Who are the main characters?
The main characters are Rosalie, Rosalie’s mum, Edgar, and Rosalie’s teacher.

Who was your favourite character? Why?
My favourite character is Rosalie because she is very interesting because of her emotions.

Did you like the book?
I liked the book because it has interesting words and has loads of drama.

What was your favourite part? Why?
My favourite part was the ending because Rosalie gets a bronze medal.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I would recommend this book to a friend because it has loads of new words that you can learn.

Star rating ★★★★

Ria's review
What happens? Are there any plot twists?
It’s about this girl called Rosalie, about her father going to war, and the girl is on a mission that nobody knows. The mission is with the war and she becomes a spy. No, there are not any plot twists.

Who are the main characters?
The main characters are Captain Rosalie and her mum.

Who was your favourite character? Why?
Rosalie is my favourite because she is on a secret mission and nobody knows.

Did you like the book?
Yes, I liked the book.

What was your favourite part? Why?
My favourite part was when she has started her secret mission. I liked the part because it is suspense and you don’t know what is going to happen next.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I will recommend this book to my friend because it is really interesting and the pictures make you hooked on the book.

Star rating ★★★★★

Hajar’s review
Captain Rosalie is an amazing book that I have loved reading – I even read it twice!

The way Rosalie’s father spoke to his wife through the letters was interesting as well as the way she kept the whole subject a secret from Rosalie. I would understand why she did this, but I still found it quite tempting to find out her next move, as she was very secretive about it.

I love the way everything fitted so neatly into the plot, how Rosalie really did get a medal for learning how to read in the end.

I don’t think there was anyone I disliked from the story as they all seemed eager to help when Rosalie went missing. They were all so kind and so good.

I read this book to my mum and she enjoyed it just as much as I did. I understand all the history in the story, but my mum didn’t know one thing – what Rosalie’s mother was doing at the factory. I explained to her that many women volunteered to work as munitionettes, making bombs and shells to be sent off to war.

We learned so much about WW1 at school, so it was quite cool to read a novel that was set in 1917, during the war.

I would recommend this amazing book to anyone who knows about the First World War or to anyone who enjoys short but emotional stories.

Thank you for recommending this book to us; it was truly spectacular.

Amelia's review
Characters: Rosalie is the main character. She is a five-year-old girl teaching herself how to read as though she is a soldier on a mission. She lives with her mum and her dad is away at war.

Plot: Rosalie is only five but whilst her father is at war, her mother has to work so Rosalie has to sit at the back of the classroom with the older children. Rosalie is secretly teaching herself to read and she uses her new skill to learn what her mother hides from her father’s letters. The book is short but descriptive.

I think that this book teaches the importance of talking to each other and it reminds children to ask if they do not understand what is happening.

I recommend this book to boys and girls aged 7 – 13 who like history and stories.

Gracie's review
This book is about a little girl and her dad. The dad goes to war. The main character though is Rosalie and I liked her very much. The story is set in England and I would give this book 10 out of 10. It is lovely.

Alexis's review
Captain Rosalie is set in the time of World War One and is an emotional story about a young girl whose father is in the trenches of Germany fighting in the war.

The most interesting character for me had to be Rosalie because she is a bright and inquisitive young girl on a secret mission in her mind. No one takes any interest in her at all.

The master had to be my least favourite because he was one of those people that don’t pay much notice to her but he does get quite strict as you read on in the book. I did notice that they were not using your modern flat screen board at the front of the class room when they were working, no they were using chalk boards which meant that the teacher had to go in early every morning to write up the questions for the morning’s work. Some of the things that interested me were that the wartime was so long ago that they were still communicating by letters and they did not have phones to call each other. It just shows us how much different it was for people growing up then compared to us growing up now. There were some times in the book that made me stop and think about what was going on in the story, there were several times that were quite upsetting and some that were joyful. The thing that most stands out for me is that there is this young girl who believes in herself enough that she thinks she can help the war-torn country that they are living in. I would definitely recommend this book to a child over 7 years old because it is a short and magnificent book but it is quite upsetting and it even took me a little time to figure out the meanings of some things and I am not really that young.

Meg's review
My favourite character from this book is Rosalie. I think she is just so interesting because she is so determined to learn to read. I didn’t really like the teacher because he wouldn’t let her do anything even if he knew that she was planning something. However, I thought that I had learnt quite a lot from reading this book. I learnt that on rare occasions, some parents (who can afford it) put their children in an older class most days.

WW1 is where this book is set so it makes the book more exciting, waiting for a letter to arrive or seeing if there are any signs of them being killed in action.

This book was very calm but serious. The ending of this book broke my heart. The thought that Rosalie is this tiny, little girl really impressed me. She was only 5 ½ and was planning a secret mission to save her dad.

I would recommend this book to people who don’t enjoy reading long books but also to people who just want to read a little something in their spare time. I think 9 – 11 year olds will really enjoy this book.

Mia's review
This was a lovely book with some beautiful illustrations. I felt sorry for Rosalie because she has to go to school with the older pupils because her mum is at work and her dad is away in the war. I learned about what life was like for children during the war.

The ending of the book is very sad, when Rosalie shows everyone she has learned to read. She finds out that her father died and her mother couldn’t tell her.

I think this book is suitable for children aged 9 and over because it is very sad for younger children.

Rosie's review
I enjoyed reading this book because of the little girl. She was young but independent. I found the mum interesting because when the dad died she didn’t want to tell the daughter but I would have told her because she had the right to know what was happening in the war.

I found all of the characters very interesting and did not dislike any of them. I found reading about the war interesting but it also made me upset for the little girl when she finds out her dad has died in war.

I would recommend this book to people who are interested in history and the war.

Jessica's review
Plot: Five-year-old Rosalie is a captain on a very secret mission. But as Rosalie gets further along in her mission and begins to piece together the markings…words…then the full sentence in her father’s letters, the truth about the consequence of war is finally and irrevocably revealed.

Characters: Rosalie, Mum, Edger, school master, and the school children. My favourite character is Rosalie’s mum. This is because she is really secretive and brave just like me. In my opinion she would definitely be ninth in my top ten best mums. She is really nice, kind, and loving to Rosalie.

My opinion: I really enjoyed this book because it had both happy and sad moments. I really enjoyed the part when Rosalie and Edger left school to go and find what Rosalie’s mum had been hiding from her. I really wish that the book had carried on as I was sad when it ended. This emotional roller-coaster is a fab book to read. I would definitely recommend it, especially to those interested in the lives of children during the war.

Dislikes and improvements: My improvement would be that the book maybe could have carried on, been longer. My dislike was…was…well, I couldn’t find any dislikes.

Did I enjoy reading the book? I really enjoyed this book because it wasn’t just fact and it wasn’t just fictional, it was a bit of both. Also it didn’t drag on, it was really interesting and taught me a lot about the war. I would definitely recommend this book to other pupils as it was amazing.

Joseph's review
Plot: A young girl, of the age of 5, is on a very important mission to find out how to read so that she can find out what her father’s letters say. Her father is fighting in the war and sending letters home. But as she pieces together the hidden clues to what her father’s letters really say, she is surprised at what she hears.

Characters: Rosalie, Mum, Edgar, school master, and the school children. Edgar, Rosalie’s school friend, was my favourite character. He was the only one that cared about Rosalie and he helped her on her mission to discover what had been written in her father’s letters.

What I enjoyed: It was good when Edgar and the school children were all searching for Rosalie – I liked the way everyone was looking in one place when Rosalie was actually in a totally different place.

Improvements: I thought I would have learnt about the war, however it was all about Rosalie and I would have liked to learn more about the actual war that her father was fighting in. Also, the story was too short and I would have liked more detail and more of a story.

Imogen's review
This book is about a young girl called Rosalie, who lives in France. Her dad is a soldier in the war. In the morning Rosalie’s mum would always drop her off even before school had started. Her father wrote letters home to her, but she couldn’t read so her mum read it to her and would lie about what her dad had been saying because she didn’t want to worry her. Rosalie was on a secret mission to teach herself to read. By the end of the book she accomplished her mission.

I really enjoyed reading this book because it was interesting and also very emotional. I think it is very good. There were some sad bits. I enjoyed reading this book and I think other people should enjoy it too.