The Christmas Journey by Gary Murrell

The Christmas Journey Reviews

• 
  Billy Buttons

  This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
  Title: The Christmas Journey
  Author: Gary Murrell, ill. by Helen Standing
  
  Star Rating: 4 Stars
  Number of Readers: 15
  Stats
  Editing: 8/10
  Writing Style: 7/10
  Content: 7/10
  Cover: 3/5
  
  Of the 15 readers:
  12 would read another book by this author.
  11 thought the cover was good or excellent.
  11 felt it was easy to follow.
  12 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
  Of all the readers, 6 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
  Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
  Of all the readers, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
  12 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
  12 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
  
  Readers’ Comments
  “I liked this story, but I still thought it was very sad, particularly at the end when she discovered her brother´s body. I thought the ending was clever and I only got that she was a ghost after reading the last page twice.” Girl, aged 12
  “It was a bit difficult to follow parts of the story as the writing was sort of flowery and difficult. But I still got most of it. I was very sad at the end when there was the crash. It was very sudden and a bit shocking. That part was very well written.” Girl, aged 12
  “I liked the story and I thought the illustrator was amazing. It´s not so much a ghost story but for the ending. It´s not a very long book, but I never got bored reading it. It only took an hour or so.” Boy, aged 11 – with a little help from his mum
  “I think the author did a good job of describing what it was like living back then and the way people talked. Very sad with everybody dying. I didn´t think the title was very exciting.” Boy, aged 10
  
  To Sum It Up:
  ‘A cleverly plotted story for 9 – 12 year olds with a ghostly ending. A RED RIBBON WINNER and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards