Angus Book Award 2011

Review Competition

Winner

Corey Paton, Montrose Academy – When I Was Joe

I thought the teenage fiction novel, ‘When I Was Joe’ by Keren David was a brilliant read. It is a thrilling tale of a teenage boy who witnessed a crime and therefore was taken into the witness protection program for his own safety. He and his mother had to move away from home and everything and everyone they knew.

In my opinion this book keeps a fast pace making it hard to put down. I was desperate to keep reading to see what the next fantastic twist in the plot would be. Something exciting was always happening and at no point did it drag on. I think this pace of writing is vital for readers of my age group to keep us interested all the way through.

The language used in this book was effective yet reader friendly. The vocabulary included imitated that of modern teenagers which made it believable as the main character, age fifteen, writing in first person. Excellent descriptions were given but at no point did I find myself lost or confused by the story.

The main issues such as school, gangs, self harming and friendship are relatable to for many people my age. It informs you as to situations which go on in real life and is a very topical book.

The characters in this book are believable and easy to relate to and I think this plays a big part in the book’s success.

I feel that this was a superb book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading and would definitely recommend it to anyone else between the ages of about 14 to 25 (although older readers may also enjoy it) who are looking to read a marvellous fast-paced thrilling novel.