Abingdonian 2020

55 www.abingdon.org.uk Summer Term Lower School Desert Island Book Winners Imagine that a close friend of yours is going to be spending a year living alone on a desert island. They will have ample shelter, clothing, food and water, but no phone, music, YouTube, TV, or any other form of online entertainment or education. Your friend is, however, allowed to take three books with them, and has asked you for advice on what to take. Which books would you recommend - and why? One of Us is Next by Karen M McManus is amazing. It is a real page-turner. It is very convincing and realistic. It tells the story of some teenagers in high school trying to solve the mystery of who created the new truth or dare game. This book is a mystery book, a romance book and a thriller. You should definitely take it with you on the island because it is very entertaining. The chapters are written from the perspectives of different characters which is very effective. It has a great beginning, middle and end and it is very mysterious and hard to guess the plot. This is a brilliantly written book. The ending is very tense and hard to guess. There is murder and lots of tension and we should definitely study this book in English lessons. I recommend this book to anyone above the age of 10. It is great for adults and teens. I Know What You Did Last Wednesday by Anthony Horowitz is my favourite of the Diamond Brothers series. It is a take off of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None.’ It is a comedy, a mystery, an adventure and an action book. It is everything and it will definitely entertain you on an island with little to do. It tells the story of two stupid and bankrupt detectives who get invited to a Scottish island where they are picked off one by one. It is quite short but will linger in your mind for a long time. This is possibly my favourite mystery book of all time. It is also a bit creepy. This book is incredibly well written and planned and it would be very hard to guess the ending. Most mystery books are incredibly serious and a bit creepy but this book also has so much comedy, it is hilarious. It is a very quick and easy read. The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd is an adventure book and a mystery book. You will not be bored on the desert island if you read this book. You can also try to solve the mystery whilst you read this book. It tells the story of two children trying to solve the mystery of a missing child. The characters are very interesting, one of them has Asperger’s and the other is a stroppy teenager (but they are a very good team). This book had an amazing plot and there are lots of great, funny characters. I loved this book. It is also a quick and easy read. Siobhan Dowd is very talented. It is quite a modern book so isn’t old-fashioned and a bit boring like Agatha Christie’s books. The book is very enjoyable and has a very happy ending. The follow up book ‘the Guggenheim Mystery’ is also very good. Hamish Bloom, 2PCWM The first book that I would choose is Facing the Frozen Ocean by Bear Grylls. The main reason that I have chosen this book is because it is full of resilience and endurance. That is important as it is guaranteed that if you are going to be on an island by yourself for that long, the going will be tough at some point and this book will give self belief so you can power through. In this book, Bear Grylls crosses the Atlantic ocean in a RIB (rigid inflatable boat). This is something that had never been done before and he and the people he was with needed incredible self determination, something you will also need on the island. In some places it also will show that what you might be going through on the island could be a lot worse. In my view if you believe you can do something (and that goal is reasonable) you can do it if you put your mind to it. This will be useful on the desert island as it will make you able to put yourself in the best position possible. This book shows amazing endurance and would definitely help you on the desert island. My second set of books are the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. This is because they are books that everyone has come to know and love. The key point in having this series on the desert island is for its escapism. These books let people move into a different world and allow them to forget about anything they want but instead become fully immersed in the story. These books are entirely fictional, other than basic connections with the real world. It is important that the books have connections with the real world as without them the reader would not be able to relate to the books in any way. Another great factor about these books is that the more you read them, the more you find out. Most people who will read the whole series will still not know everything in the story unless they read the books many times. My final book is the Encyclopedia of Sailing. I have chosen this book as when you are on the desert island, you will have a lot of time where you do not have much to do. Therefore, having a book that you can learn from would really help as it is a larger activity and will take up more time than just reading a book. It is also a lot more useful than reading a normal book as all of the stuff in this book is useful and interesting to know. I have been interested in sailing for a long time. However, even though I would be unable to actually sail on the island, I would like to spend as much time learning about it and learning how to be as fast as possible. This book contains lots of information from how to sail in trapeze to navigation and night navigation. Rupert Mathieson, 2HFCP