... Well actually he states on his website that he was actually fired for throwing a packet of antiseptic wipes at his boss after a huge row! This book is the first in the Cherub series and was published in 2004, to date he has written 10 Cherub books with the 11th to be released in September.
WHAT ... Read review
Advantages: A really well written book for kids Disadvantages: Only for older readers
...is the first in the Cherub series and was published in 2004, to date he has written 10 Cherub books with the 11th to be released in September.
WHAT ARE CHERUBS?
Cherubs are basically a national secret; they are children who are trained to be spies. This started in World War 2 when a British spy called Charles Henderson worked in France helping the resistance; he saw how they used children and teenagers to work as messengers ... ...1946 but his creation thrived, CHERUB has grown to over 200 agents all under 17 they have the best education and technical support.
CHERUB agents are hand picked and are orphans who are offered this amazing opportunity they live on a huge campus with the best education including all the normal school stuff but also martial arts, weapons training, physical training and a whole lot more but the reason for their success remains the same ... more
I love reading and have tried to pass this love onto my boys, when I was younger computer games had just really started but it was books that caught my imagination. These days there is so much for kids that reading seems to have taken a back seat, my boys have to read every day for their homework and in the past I have found this a bit of a battle as they were given books from school that just didn't interest them. So they are now allowed to chose their own books and this has made a huge difference, they are choosing books that interest them and the battle has got less.
We have been through all the Harry Potter books, Lemeny Snickets, Andy Mcnab, Alex Rider and a few Terry Pratchet. Then my eldest asked for this series, apparently his friends had started reading them and recommended them to him, so I managed to get him the first 3 books on a 3 for 2 offer. When I read the cover of the first book It states on the front that this book is not for younger readers so I thought I had better read the book to ensure it is suitable for my eldest who is 11. Now believe it or not I have read a few of their books normally my eldest will tell me that I have to read a certain book because it is so good and being the duitiful mum I obey! So did I enjoy this one?
THE AUTHOR
Robert Muchamore is 35 years old; he worked as a private investigator for 13 years before becoming a writer full time. Well actually he states on his website that he was actually fired for throwing a packet of antiseptic wipes at his boss after a huge row! This book is the first in the Cherub series and was published in 2004, to date he has written 10 Cherub books with the 11th to be released in September.
WHAT ARE CHERUBS?
Cherubs are basically a national secret; they are children who are trained to be spies. This started in World War 2 when a British spy called Charles Henderson worked in France helping the resistance; he saw how they used children and teenagers to work as messengers and scouts. When he returned to Britain he took what he had learned in France and trained 20 British boys for work on undercover operations, he named this project CHERUB. Charles Henderson died in 1946 but his creation thrived, CHERUB has grown to over 200 agents all under 17 they have the best education and technical support.
CHERUB agents are hand picked and are orphans who are offered this amazing opportunity they live on a huge campus with the best education including all the normal school stuff but also martial arts, weapons training, physical training and a whole lot more but the reason for their success remains the same even after all these years and that is adults never suspect that children are spying on them!
THE PLOT
Every series of books have to start somewhere and this one starts with a young boy called James Choke to be honest he hasn't got a great life, his mum is very overweight, runs a shoplifting gang and just lays on the couch all day. He has a half sister called Lauren who is the only light in his life he really does adore her but hates her dad who has a on off relationship with his mum. The other problem James has is his temper he has some serious issues with anger and this comes out at the beginning of the book when a popular girl with big brothers starts taking the mickey out of his mum. He loses his temper and pushes her unfortunately for him she falls into a wall and scratches her face on a nail; this gets him in serious trouble with the school and the girl's brothers.
Things then get worse for James when his mum suddenly dies, his sister has to go with the step dad he hates and he gets dumped in a children's home, here he makes friends with his room mate Kyle but he also manages to get himself in trouble with some older children and get himself arrested. After a lecture from a policeman he realises he is on a very destructive path but can't seem to stop himself, after returning from the police station he suddenly wakes up in a strange bed and weird place it is here that James learns all about CHERUB. He is given the chance if he wants it to attempt the tests to see if he has what it takes to become a CHERUB agent, James is lucky because he has a very good mathematical brain but the tests turn out to be very different to the normal school tests.
Of course he passes the tests but then has to make the decision whether he wants to join CHERUB or not, this takes him about 10 seconds when he sees what they have to offer him and so starts the gruelling basic training where James learns a lot about himself and more about the set up including the colour T-shirts showing other children you're rank (a bit like colour dots for ciao) and also more about the missions children are sent on. Through this book you get to see James make friends and see him go on his first mission to infiltrate a hippie commune with terrorist links. You learn more about him and his personality. The missions can be anything from low risk to high risk but the agents have the choice whether to go or not they are not forced into anything.
MY OPINION
Ok I know this is a kid's book but I have to say that I really enjoyed it! My eldest has read the whole series and is really looking forward to the next instalment, it really is something in my house when I have to tell my monsters to stop reading but this is how it was when he is reading these books! The book is not over long it is only 330 pages so it is not so thick that a child would find it daunting but i feel its just long enough.
I found the writing style very easy to follow and that some adult book writers could learn from this, I find some books I read to be over descriptive to the point of boredom but for me this book was descriptive but not boring. Everything was explained in a non-patronising way and the story flowed very well, I do feel that this book and the series is not suitable for younger readers as they do cover topics such as terrorism, drugs, drink, gangs and of course as the kids get older sex. I have to say that these topics are covered very well and there are a lot of morals and consequences it also feels quite real and in parts gritty and up to date with the world today. At the end of the book you get a update on all the characters that were part of the story and what happened to them, this is also brief and to the point but does give a good closure to the story.
Full price of these books is £6.99 but you can pick them up cheaper on line from EBay.
This series of books has won quite a few awards including Richard and Judy's best kids award 12+ 2007
WOULD I RECOMMEND IT?
Yes I would for ages of about 11 upward, it amazes me how kids books have become so much more descriptive and modern. Although this book does cover some topics that some parents may find a bit much I felt that it also showed the consequences of certain actions and that most of the time the baddies do get punished. I also like the way that the main character is shown to have flaws and how he has to work through them. Famous five this isn't but a good read never the less at least it kept my eldest of his computer for a while!
Advantages: Punchy, original and fun! Disadvantages: The book ends eventually
...is the author of the cherub books. He was born in Islington on Boxing Day 1972. For more information on the author follow the links below.
~~~What is The Recruit about?~~~
The Recuit is about a secret organisation called Cherub. This organisation recruits children to work for them . This book is about a boy called James and his younger sister Lauren. At the beginning we learn about James and Lauren and their family. However unfortunately James ... ...return they live on the Cherub Campus which is MOD owned land hidden in the British countryside. Children under the age of 10 also live on the campus and have a small amount of training but they can not go on missions until they have done the 100 day basic training and the age of 10.
~~~Characters~~~
James Adams
----------------
Originally James Choke before joining Cherub. The Cherub books are focused on James Adams who is the main character. ...
tiger645 22.12.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cherub The Recruit - Robert Muchamore
Advantages: great fast moving story line Disadvantages: too addictive.
...using adults they used Children. Cherub has been an active organisation since that point and is one of the most succesful government secret organisations.
The story:
James is like any normal child he goes to school lives with his mum and sister on an estate in london. James however is an incredible gifted mathmatician. When his mum dies from a drug overdose James is put into foster care for a while after a run in, with a difficult group of children ... ...and what is happening.
Cherub is so brilliant as all of the charectors in the book have to experience the ame problmes that any other child of that age woudl have to deal with at that point in their life.
A brilliant story and after reading one I wished I hadnt just read but I had lived. ...
splatman2000 10.05.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Cherub The Recruit - Robert Muchamore
Advantages: Great story, characters, exciting to read Disadvantages: None
...the first book of the CHERUB series and is a brilliant book and has made me want to read the rest of the series which I hope are as good as this book. This book is and the series are about the secret organisation CHERUB. This organisation recruits young people to catch criminals. They use children to spy on criminals as they are not expected to be up to something and spying on them. The book is similar to other spy books like Alex Rider and you will ... ...it for free from the cherub website which is cherubcampus.com which is really good and interesting.) The General, Brigands MC, (Coming out in September 2009) Shadow Wave (Coming out some time in 2010.) As you can see this is a big series and it will give me something to read for a few weeks or maybe even a few months which is good. This review will also appear on other sites under the names ns1209 or mariofan123. ...
mariofan123 07.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Cherub The Recruit - Robert Muchamore
Advantages: Great book . Very realistic. more realistic than Alex Rider Disadvantages: NONE
...broken legs. That is until CHERUB comes into the picture.
What's the storyline?
The story line follows the adventures of a young teenager called James Choke and his connections with a government agency called CHERUB who recruit teenagers from ages 12 to 17 to act as spies. We hear about James's feelings, strains and pains though CHERUB'S grueling 100 day training course and eventually his first mission. But this book isn't solely crammed with line ... ...to stray into the usually unchartered awkwardness of a teenager's love life and the complex system of friendship. An overall fantastic read
How's it written?
The book was written with the energy of an excitable young child at a party fueled by too much ice cream and coca cola inside it, it's fast, witty, laugh out loud funny, intelligent (this may not apply to the child) , sometimes in your face but overall a non stop rollercoaster of peaks and ...
njack 10.09.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Cherub The Recruit - Robert Muchamore
Advantages: interesting and riveting Disadvantages: has some explicit content later on in the book
The recruit is a good book with an interesting storyline. The characters are unfortunately mostly mainstream, but the action is suspenseful and there are interesting twists in the plot. Another good thing is that the series is pretty long, so if you like it you can buy the next few as well. Parts later in the series are slightly explicit, so I would not reccommend this book for younger readers. The story in The Recruit is about James Adams, who is ... ...coordinator, has a seizure and dies. James suffers at the orphanage, but takes a test and manages to join Cherub. This book is about his trials and tribulations while undergoing his basic military training. He meets friends and makes some enemies along the way. The book has a relatively large size font and the spacing is adequate to make it an enjoyable read. ...
ershadtjy 10.01.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Cherub The Recruit - Robert Muchamore
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