BOOKS for both leisure and study time are reviewed as part of our NIE project by pupils in last term's Year Eight at Walshaw High School, Burnley. All pupils in Year Nine at the school took part in our Super Story Search literacy project and, as with every participating school, a pack of brand new books was given to the school to keep and review. The first group of these are published today with more to come in two weeks time.

The Parsley Parcel, by Elizabeth Arnold (Heinemann, £11.99)

THE book is about a girl called Freya, who is a Romany gypsy. These are the oldest race of gypsies and there are not many of them left so Freya feels she has a duty to her family to "make the most difficult magic."

Freya is left by her mother and grandmother on a railway station. A social worker finds her and takes her home to live with her and her husband. Freya does not like living with this woman and is very stubborn towards her, making life difficult for everyone and refusing to go to school.

She misses life out in the open and living with her family. She is used to sleeping under the stars in the huge fields and cooking breakfast in the open air, so she does not take too kindly to Aunt Emma (the social worker) trying to buy her new trainers and wanting her to be like other children.

Later Freya rescues a baby magpie and names it Maggie. She and Aunt Emma take care of the bird together and Freya sees another side to her guardian rather than "the Snob" she thought her to be. This makes Freya feel more at home and she settles down better, learning that to fulfil her magic and grant a wish she must not pay in money, but in love. The book had a detailed story line to it and had strong characters. Each character plays a different role which makes the story come together. I would recommend this for 9-12 year olds but it does have a meaning behind the story which would be easier to understand for an older age group.

To really understand the book you must read deep into each character and get a feel for their parts in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend the book to any young person who enjoys a good read and something to think about.

SAMANTHA CHEEMA, aged 13

Horse and Pony Shows and Events, by Carolyn Henderson (Dorling Kindersley, £7.99)

THIS book is ideal for both novice and experienced riders. It encourages young children to learn more about riding and caring for horses in many modern original ways, from getting fit to preparing and doing your first show, from games and team sports to safety at your shows.

Expert advice on all aspects of horsemanship is in this book. Young people will read this book again and again to discover more about the increasingly popular sport.

JOANNA TALBOT, aged 13

Oliver Twist - Eye Witness Classics, by Charles Dickens (Dorling Kindersley, £9.99)

THIS well loved tale is about a young boy named Oliver Twist, an orphan who lives in a workhouse with many other boys. Then one day his life is about to change. One of the young orphans wants some more gruel (watered down porridge) and he tells the boys to pick a stick and whoever choses the shortest has to ask Mr Bumble for some more food.

Oliver, of course, gets the shortest stick. He walks the long walk towards Mr Bumble and the cook and asks for some more. Mr Bumble is so furious that he sells Oliver to an undertaker, and that is when the story really starts to get exciting.

A feature of Eye Witness Classics is that, alongside the main story are more pictures and text explaining the background to the events and characters and also the meaning of some of the more difficult words.

The book tells you about life in Victorian times, children, crime and punishment and life in a workhouse. It also tells you about the author, his life, where he lived and how he became such a famous writer.

I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. It is a fantastic book and I really enjoyed it.

NATALIE SNAPE, aged 12

The Eyewitness Visual Dictionary Of Human, Anatomy (Dorling Kindersley, £10.99)

THIS book is about the human body, it explains how the body works and describes how every muscle functions and how different systems are used to benefit everyday life. The illustrations in this book are very well drawn and you feel that you can actually see what your own body looks like inside. All the pictures and diagrams are clearly labelled, so that you know exactly where everything is.

Perhaps because I am still only in year eight, I enjoyed looking at the illustrations best and found these easier to understand than the text. I am sure that anyone in year 10 or 11, and possibly studying human biology would understand the more complicated parts of the text and find them useful and informative.

This is not the sort of book most young people would buy for themselves, but it would be an excellent book to have in school to help anyone doing GCSE science or biology.

AMY RYAN, aged 13

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.