Shortlisted for the 2013 Leeds Book Awards, 11-14 Category
A Review by Katy Poulter, aged 12
There was a very deep yet brilliant storyline behind this book including a subject that is usually avoided and I think that this is tackled extremely well. I really liked the idea that it was being written to Declan, the deceased best friend, and I could really imagine in my head what Ariel’s little eco- settlement and the scenery around it looked like, which for me is a sign that a book is really well written. I felt really sorry for Chris as he was going through an extremely difficult time and you could tell he was stressed and finding things really hard without his voice and his best friend. I was disappointed by the ending as I thought it all ended too quickly and it felt like it was building up to something but then when you got to the end, it all kind of ended happily ever after and so I felt a bit let down . I would have liked something exciting to happen at the end which would mean that the brilliant build-up would have paid off and it could have maybe left it open to a sequel, if the author wanted to write one because an exciting event at the end of one book makes it easier to write a second.
Katy Poulter is a member of the Lovereading4kids Reader Review Panel but she has reviewed this novel in the first instance for the Leeds Book Award as it is one of the 2013 shortlisted titles. The organisers have kindly agreed to let us also make use of Katy's review.
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Chris needs to talk, but he can’t. He lost the power of speech completely when his best friend, Declan, died in a car crash. As months pass, school friends give up on him and only eco-freak Ariel and a suspiciously friendly new boy, Will, are left. While Will encourages increasingly dangerous ways for Chris to forget Declan, Ariel realises her silent friend is hiding something. But what is Chris’s terrifying secret? And will he find his voice before it’s too late?
Shortlisted for the 2013 Leeds Book Award. For further information on the Award click here.
Shortlisted titles are:
9-11 category shortlist - Rachel Billington's Poppy's Hero - Charlotte Haptie's Granny Grabbers' Whizz Bang World - Conrad Mason's The Demon's Watch - William Osborne's Hitler's Angel - Michelle Paver's Gods and Warriors - Marcus Sedgwick's Fright Forest.
11-14 category shortlist - Kerry Drewery's A Brighter Fear - Caroline Green's Cracks - Mark Lowery's Socks are not Enough - Simon Packham's Silenced - Laura Powell's Burn Mark - Mark Walden's Earthfall.
14-16 category shortlist - Phil Earle's Saving Daisy - Sarah Hammond's The Night Sky in my Head - Sam Hawksmoor's The Repossession - Edward Hogan's Daylight Saving - David Massey's Torn - Teri Terry's Slated.
The winners will be announced on 21st May 2013 for the 9-11 category and on 23rd May 2013 for the 11-14 and 14-16 categories.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Silenced and determined it is suitable for children aged 11-14 years old
Silenced features in the following genres: Featured Books for 11+ readers, Recommendations, Thrillers, Adventure Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for 13+ readers
Silenced is available in Paperback
Silenced was written by Simon Packham and published by Piccadilly Press Ltd an imprint of Templar Publishing
Silenced has 182 pages
