Saturday 6 August 2011

Book review: Tins by Alex Shearer

Title: Tins
Author: Alex Shearer
Source: A library... (I don't really know what to say here...)
Length: 252
Published: 2006
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Warnings: Severed body parts....? Is that really that bad....?
Summary: Fergal has a unique hobby. He collects the tins without labels from the bargain basket in the supermarket; it's his idea of a gamble as you can never tell what's inside. This seems like a harmless thing to do until he finds a finger inside a tin, and he gets caught up in something more sinister.
Review: To explain most of his actions and his appearance, Fergal is said to be "clever". Really now. Attempting to eat the finger is clever, is it? Never mind, I'll stop raving.
The first part of this book was mildly funny, I love how Fergal plays out scenarios and says things in his head: it's quirky and to be honest we all do that occasionally and makes him a loveable character. His childish perception of the world allows his to become overexcited by some things and work methodically the with others. His friend Charlotte is just like him, although slightly less freaked out by what she found in her tin, which probably encouraged Fergal be more rebellious, and right into a big mess near the end. I think that she came a bit too late into the book, but that's probably just my opinion.
The plot itself was either too predictable, or too unrealistic. I found that although the was a cliffhanger at the end of almost ever chapter, you could easily guess what happened in the next or something completely implausible happened. I also thought the way the pair dealt with the situation their was ridiculous and Charlotte acted really stupidly. And she's supposed to be clever too.

Rating: 2

5 comments:

  1. Please can you explain a bit more about what happens in the book as I need to know for my homework

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Abbie,

      The writer of this review has left the blog, so here's what I can glean from the internet... A boy enjoys picking up tins from the supermarket without labels. One day he finds a tin with a severed finger in it. Another day he finds a tin with a note saying help in it. He decides to go searching for who/what/where these tins come from. He finds a conspiracy. I don't know if he survives. Sorry.

      Delete
    2. Hi Abbie and Nina,

      They found a way to search where the factory comes from. Fergal found where it is. He went by himself to the factory while Charlotte is on her holiday.
      Fergal got caught by Mr. and Mrs Dimble Smith. So he were forced to work in the factory. The factory has many young children working there. They were either loss or got kidnapped.
      Fergal thought of some ways, and finally something came through his mind. To write a letter. He wrote a long letter and placed i into one of the tin and removed the label, hoping that Charlotte will buy that tin.
      Fortunately, when Charlotte came back from holiday, she found Fergal missing. So she went for the bargain basket and found the tin that have the long letter. She read it, Fergal warned her not to come to the factory by her own, but she did. Because no one trusted her and helped her.
      She sneaked into the factory, luckily, when Mr. and Mrs Dimble Smith spotted her, she already brought Fergal out of the factory.
      Charlotte called her dad to help. Soon police arrived there. All the children were rescued, but Mr and Mrs. were missing.
      Fergal and Charlotte believed that they were pushed into the machine and made into dog and cat food.

      THE END . . . . . .

      Some weeks later, Fergal's dad opened a dog's food tin. and found a ring inside. Frightened, Fergal's dad threw all the dog food.

      By Daryl, From Austin Heights International School, Year 8

      Delete
  2. I have read it too, Fergal escapes with Charlotte, Xavier and Angelo (Angelo and Xavier are brothers). The police save the rest of the children and they were sent to their parents or some orphanage. But I don't know what happened to Mr and Mrs. Dimble-Smith. And I need to make my own story of what might've happened to Mr and Mrs. Dimble-Smith.

    Any Ideas?

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking time to read this!
Comments are much loved.
Nina xxx

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