Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera
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Kate
Year 9
Brighton & Hove High School
This book was all about the famous location Guantanamo Bay, and how people are and were treated there. The main story follows Khalid a fifteen-year-old boy who is visiting his family in Pakistan. His life is soon turned upside down when his father goes missing. Shortly after this Khalid is kidnapped and questioned about Al-Qaeda. He is taken all over the world and he begins to wonder whether he’ll ever get out. However things turn for the better when Khalid meets his cousin Tariq. I found this book hard to get into but after a few chapters I really enjoyed it.
Grace
Year 9
Brighton & Hove High School
This book is about a boy who is penalised because of his religion. He goes on holiday to Pakistan to see his family, but the holiday is brought to an abrupt end when his dad disappears, and soon after Khalid is kidnapped and taken to the horrific Guantanamo Bay as he is suspected to be part of Al Quaeda. It is very interesting and you can learn quite alot from this book. The book was a bit slow at the beginning, but it got quite interesting a few chapters in. It was very sad that such a bad thing could happen to a young boy, and as it was based on true things that have happened before, it really made me think about how some people can be so victimised because of their religion.
Matthew
Year 9
Beacon Community College
A very strong book, not for the faint hearted, the book starts out looking at an average boy, though he is not quite average. Khalid is a Muslim; whilst he is on a trip to Pakistan he is kidnapped by American agents and sent to the prison “Guantanamo Bay”. He is tortured and forced into solitary confinement. The story progresses as he starts to lose his grip on reality. This book is disturbing but truthful; this kind of stuff does happen. This is also an attraction to this book; it is a representation of life today, a great book if you can handle it.
Miriam
Year 9
Brighton & Hove High School
The book was very boring at the beginning, so much so that I had to force myself to read it, it didn’t grab me at all, made me not want to read on.
It was pretty exciting in the middle, the whole being kidnapped thing was good, very gripping, but when he was actually in Guantanomo Bay, it was very depressing and made me depressed.
The end was far too unrealistic and rushed. The story was definitely not a page-turner, I found myself skipping pages. Very simply written, but well written for its genre. It was also VERY predictable, I could easily guess what was going to happen. All-in-all, not really my sort of thing.
Abe
Year 9
Brighton College
Khalid is a normal Rochdale boy. He's fifteen, and likes football, hanging out with his mates, drinking the odd illicit can of lager (but not getting drunk) and girls - well, one particular girl; green-eyed Niamh. Khalid's doing well at school, but he does get the occasional letter home about poor behaviour. He has two annoying little sisters, a mother who makes the most delicious curry, and a loving father, if a little distant and prim and proper. He loves computer games and chatting on the internet to his cousin Tariq in Pakistan. Tariq is writing his own computer game - Bomber One - and the two chat to other gamers all over the world.
I think that the book is very realistic and Anna Perera describes how Khalid feels very well. However this book is quite hard to get into and I did have to put it down a lot because it did get quite boring at times and there is a lot of information which is not needed.
Overall I would rate this book 7/10.
Sophie
Year 9
Benenden School
This book was very realistic and it got extremely tense towards the end. I enjoyed the book more and more as it went on, however the beginning was slightly slow. But it made the book much easier to relate to, later on. I think this book is suitable for age 12 upwards. I really liked it, even though I found it quite heavy-going and scenes of torture were quite disturbing. It must have taken a lot of research, work and effort and it really shows. I enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone.
Martin
Lycée Henri Avril – Lamballe (France)
Shadowing School
I didn’t like Guantamo Boy, when I took this book out of the library I was wondering (looking) for something hard, something that could change my mind about novels for teenagers (I hate this genre), but I didn't find anything in Guantamo Boy. This novel is unreadable, it’s so boring. I mean, a good novel should keep the right balance between the beginning and the story and Anna Perera had not understood this concept obviously. Nonetheless, Guantamo Boy is researched well. In brief, the story could be so much better if the author had not made this mistake.
Connor
Year 9
St Richard's Catholic College
Follow the story of Khalid, who is an English Muslim who lives in the small town of Rochdale. He has never been persecuted for his religion, and has nothing to do with his parent's native countries of Pakistan and Turkey. Yet, when a distant family member dies, he finds himself there and also finds that he has been associated with an organization that he has no idea about.
The book displays the difficulty of people who have been through hell and back trying to adjust to everyday life. This book made me really think about the subject matter.
I would recommend this book to people who are 15 to 20 years old as some of the content may be disturbing.
Peony
Year 9
Brighton College
Guantanamo Boy is an interesting and exciting book. It achieves this by using normal characters (helping us to relate to the book) and a series of very unfortunate events. I loved the way the book taught me about Guantanamo Bay and what happens there even though it was a fictional book. It was incredibly interesting and informative. It also shows that horrible things do happen to people even when they are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The ending is an ever so slight anti-climax but then it is hard to live up to the amazing standard of the rest of the book. I would recommend it to others for it was gripping and moving and I would almost definitely read it again.
Rebecca
Year 9
Peacehaven Community School
This is an interesting book which touches on world issues. I would recommend it to anyone who would like to read something different.
Iona
Year 9
Benenden School
Guantanamo Boy starts with a normal boy whose life gets turned upside down because of a family holiday where he is captured and accused of being a terrorist. Khalid is sent to Guantanamo Bay prison where he endures hell on earth. Perera’s writing style is unique and persuasive. Before I started reading it I didn’t know about Guantanamo Bay and I finished it feeling that I had learnt something from this book. I thought the cover was eye-catching and gets the point across and the characters were easy to relate to and believable. I will read another book by this author.
Georgie
Year 9
Benenden School
Guantanamo Boy is about a 15 year old boy who is quite ordinary and has a great interest in computer games, but his interest takes him to bad places as he gets kidnapped and taken to a prison in several places (Guantanamo Bay is one of them). I really enjoyed the book because of its unusual story. Quite often teenage books don’t really explain the whole truth and I think this book really brings out the truth; it can be a good thing and also a bad thing as I think it would appeal to older readers. I also think the cover isn’t very approachable and that there could be a more suitable cover that relates to both boys and girls. I really like the character of Khalid as he is strong willed and is a good role model figure and I like the way he is totally ordinary until he gets sucked into the mess of Guantanamo Bay.
Otillie
Year 9
Benenden School
I thought Guantanamo Boy was quite a good book, especially the beginning because you could really relate to his normal life, but then in the middle I found it quite slow and hard to carry on through all his time in prison. Khalid’s character is well-drawn because you could see a possible two sides to people, one which is true and normal and the other a false image of him as a terrorist. Overall I thought this book was quite moving and I have never read a book like it.
Hebe
Year 9
Benenden School
This book starts off with a typical teenager doing typical teenage things with his typical friends, until he is taken on holiday to Karachi to visit his aunties. But when his dad goes missing things started to go downhill and Khalid is abducted, tortured, questioned, made to have sleepless nights, is starved and even goes crazy and all for playing a computer game that his cousin invented. Will Khalid ever get out or will he eventually die because of the game.
Jemima
Year 9
Benenden School
Guantanamo Boy is about a boy called Khalid living in Rochdale who is kidnapped and thrown into prison whilst in Pakistan. The hardships he faces and the people he meets make this book very realistic. His close friendship with his cousin and his invented computer game bring accusations and punishment. This book brings to life the pain and suffering that comes with being misunderstood.
Kimberley
Year 10
St Richard's Catholic College
Khalid is just an ordinary Muslim school boy who has never been to Pakistan or Turkey, where his parents originally came from. Then, the 9/11 attacks shock Khalid and little does he know, that a family trip to Pakistan will change his life forever.
I think this book was well written and I enjoyed reading it. I like the way that the author makes Khalid a normal school boy, who something like that should never happen to. It is a very believable story; in some parts shocking and others sad.
I think this book should be read by older children and I also think that adults might enjoy reading it.
I would give this book 7/10.
Connor
Year 9
Beacon Community College
The book was a very original idea as I have not read any books as gripping and fast paced as this one. The characters are strong and very believable in their day to day lives. When the main plot starts, which is a little way into the book, you cannot put the book down, and you keep turning and turning the pages. My biggest love of this book is the plot, one word – brilliant.
Charlotte
Year 11
The Causeway School
Khalid, a fifteen-year-old Muslim boy from Rochdale, is abducted from Pakistan while on holiday with his family. He is taken to Guantanamo Bay and held without charge, where his hopes and dreams are crushed under the cruellest of circumstances. An innocent denied his freedom at a time when western boys are finding theirs, Khalid tries and fails to understand what’s happening to him and cannot fail to be a changed young man.
I didn’t really like book as I thought it was a bit slow and it didn’t really get to the point quickly enough, as it seemed to take forever to finish the book whilst reading it! However, I would recommend it to people who have a lot of patience and if they enjoy a book with lots of controversy.
Naomi
Year 7
Seaford Head
An unimaginable place that no child has ever been to. Or has one experienced the horrors…?
This is a book that shows the reality of a living hell. It is an individual book in a genre of its own. The author keeps the tension high throughout the book and grabs the reader. It is not a book for light reading. I would rate this book 7/10.
Charlotte
Year 10
St Richard's Catholic College
Khalid is a young boy who has lived in Rochdale for his whole life. He likes football, and girls. He is like every other teenager in Rochdale. Apart from the fact he’s Muslim. After the 9/11 attacks, Khalid learns that being Muslim can be dangerous.
I found this quite unrealistic. It was just quite a lot to tell us and make us imagine, which was hard if you had absolutely no idea of what it was like. It was quite touching, but it frustrated me.
It was quite a good book, but I didn’t like it as much as the others. 6/10
Daisy
Year 9
Roedean School
Guantanamo Boy is a unique story about a teenage boy from England named Khalid. When visiting relatives in Pakistan, he is unfairly accused of being part of Al Qaeda and is taken from his family and imprisoned.
I really enjoyed reading this book. Although I found it hard to get in to, as the beginning was not particularly interesting, I kept on reading and found myself unable to put it down. Although the storyline was slow to unfold, it was well written and kept you interested.
I found all the characters in this book completely believable, and I like how the author wrote this story in such a way that we felt strongly for Khalid, and we automatically took his side and understood things the way he did.
My favourite part of this book was when Khalid was finally released. Although the ending was a slight anti-climax, I still liked it. I think the emotions of him and his family are really well portrayed.
Rhiannon
Year 9
Beacon Community College
Guantanamo Boy is the story of Khalid, a 15 year old boy who is in Pakistan visiting family when he is kidnapped. He is tortured and abused in many different prisons until he agrees to sign papers admitting that he was involved in a bomb plot, and is sent to Guantanamo Bay. It’s a very gripping story that makes you feel sympathetic towards him. He is a likeable character and you discover his personality through the course of the book.
Oscar
Year 9
Ardingly College
Guantanamo Boy is a very moving and meaningful novel and on the whole is well written. However, the lack of description is really disappointing because such a horrible place should have been described better. Anna Perera did not write it in the first person so it made it extremely hard to get any real idea of the emotions the main character had. I think this book was very repetitive in parts but was a good idea and I think that Perera will write some better books in the future. This book was quite dull and only gets a 5/10.
Emily
Year 11
Davison C of E High School for Girls
Guantanamo Boy is a about a lonely boy called Khalid who finds friendship in his cousin, Tariq. It is 6 months after the 9/11 incident and Khalid's family decide to move back to Pakistan.
When I first picked up "Guantanamo Boy" I was really intrigued to find out what happened. I found that the beginning of the book was quite slow to get going. The first 5 chapters didn't make you want to continue reading. Towards the middle ofhe book there are a couple of pages with disjointed writing, at first it gives you an idea of the thought process of Khalid, but as you go on, it gets more distracting and annoying as it interrupts the flow of the story.
The end of the book was of bit of a disappointment. A book with such a serious story and an ending such as in "Guantanamo Boy" is an anti-climax in a way.
Overall, I enjoyed the middle of the book, but the beginning and end didn't really live up to my expectations. I would recommend this book if you have the patience to persevere with the slow story line.
Isobel
Year 9
Brighton College
15 year old Khalid lives in Rochdale, Britain. His family are Muslims. He is a typical English boy who likes football, seeing his friends and a girl called Naomi! When Khalid’s family decides to visit family in Pakistan his world is turned upside down. The book is located in three main locations: Rochdale, Pakistan and a mystery third location!
The plot in this book is quite easy to follow although there are times when you are a bit unsure what is happening. This plot is definitely unique, but sometimes the author does go on a bit.
I believed that all of the characters could be real especially Khalid as the book follows him and tells you how he feels. Tariq - Khalid’s cousin - was a little less believable as he was incredibly clever and was portrayed as almost completely perfect. In some ways I didn’t like Tariq because he was so clever it was almost annoying, but he seemed like quite a cool character.
My favourite part was when Khalid came home. It was very touching how he tried to be a better person and how the family had grown in his absence but he was still welcomed back with open arms. This was a very nice, relieving ending.
Georgie
Year 9
Lancing College
At first I found this book quite hard to read because it was written in the 3rd person. But once I got to about chapter 6 I really got into the story, I liked the descriptive writing that this book used to describe Khalid’s terrible ordeal it made you really feel like you were actually there. I really enjoyed the ending although it was very predictable. I would definitely recommend this book to readers who like action books but although this book was very well written and entertained me it didn’t quite beat my favourite book so far.
Sophie
Year 9
Bishop Bell CE Mathematics and Computing Specialist School
Matthew
Year 8
Bishop Bell CE Mathematics and Computing Specialist School
Guantanamo Boy was a very good story. Khalid learns about how dangerous life can be in Pakistan and is still probably happening as you read this. The theme is a good, novel one and it was a great experience to read someone's own interpretation of such a horrid place.
Rosie
Year 10
St Richard's Catholic College
This book really opened up you eyes to the horrific incidents between us and the Middle East, it made you think of the injustice and prejudice of many people. The story line to this book was very strong and moving. I really thought that the language used could have been more emotive. The ending of the book reminded me of a fairytale and was very predictable. Overall, I give this book 7/10.
Eden
Year 10
Homewood School
This book had some great reviews so I was looking forward to reading it very much. When I first picked the book up I was disappointed at the lack of detail but was assured that it did describe things better the further you read into the story. This was correct although I still would have like more description in places. We believe (at Homewood) that it is written like this to show that as Khalid moves from each place he begins to take more notice of his surroundings. Another reason why I didn’t like the writing style was that it was in the third person, I feel that it would have been better in the first person where the emotions felt by Khalid could have been better described and we would have had a better insight into Khalid’s personality. The story line was very clever and believable but was extremely predictable.
The characters started off well but faded into the background; it would have been nice to swap between Khalid and his family so that we knew what both were doing. I didn’t like the end, it seemed as if the author ran out of ideas and decided to just end the book. This book wasn’t my cup of tea, I felt it could have been a lot more emotional.
Aisha
Year 9
Roedean School
Guantanamo Boy is a story based on true life experiences. Experiences of torture and helplessness. An early adolescent is charged with being a murderer and being involved with Al Qaeda, a dangerous terrorist group. He is innocent, completely innocent. That doesn’t stop the American authorities from throwing him into the cruellest prison that could ever exist. Guantanamo Bay. This story is about Khalid’s journey through complete and utter hell and how he manages to get through it.
I thought this story was very passionately written. It is a very powerful book, which really brings out your emotions. I would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night just to finish one more chapter. This book is extremely hard to stop thinking about. It really makes you think if there is really justice in the world and how cruel people can be. I think there haven’t really been other books about this topic and if there are they aren’t as memorable as this one. I would recommend this book to anyone, especially the prison guards who worked in Guantanamo Bay.
Tabitha
Year 9
Brighton & Hove High School
This book is about a fifteen-year-old boy who gets kidnapped and imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. While he is locked away he finds out that there is great prejudice against Muslims, and that everyone thinks he is guilty, whether he had a trial or not. Behind bars, he starts to go mad. This book follows his story with painful details, and makes you question the world’s attitudes and prejudices. It really made me think about the way we should treat people and about human rights, but I would have preferred it to have a more uplifting ending.
Luke
Year 9
Bishop Bell CE Mathematics and Computing Specialist School
This is a very good book, written with real emotion and suspense. The language used is good. Anna Perera made Khalid feel so insecure and I think anyone that has read the book, will say that she told the story with amazing passion! This is an insanely good book, but it doesn't have the suspense and drama that makes Numbers what it is!
Tegh
Year 9
Brighton College
Guantanamo Boy is about a boy called Khalid who is just like a typical English boy, likes football and girls. He is also a Muslim boy. His parents are from Turkey and Pakistan respectively but he has never been there and just thinks of himself as a normal boy from Rochdale. But in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, he finds that being a Muslim can be dangerous. He faces big questions about identity and belonging - questions that have counterpointed many western Muslim lives since 9/11. And then, on a family visit to Pakistan he is kidnapped, handed over to the CIA as a suspected terrorist, faces torture in Afghanistan’s CIA Department and is made to sign a letter saying that he is a boy who wants to blow up Western Europe.
I didn’t like the writing style because it was in the third person and even though the story line worked well and was very interesting, I thought it was a tad unpredictable. The ending also felt a bit rushed as there was so much detail about his life behind bars.
Overall I really enjoyed it and would rate it 4.75/5
Amy
Year 9
Bishop Bell CE Mathematics and Computing Specialist School
I've never read a book like this! It's easy to follow and quite original. The main boy character is easy to relate to; he's like other teenage boys. The end tied up all the loose ends well.
Emily
Year 9
Bishop Bell CE Mathematics and Computing Specialist School
The plot of this story is original and relatively easy to follow. The best bit for me was where he was talking to the female guard at Guantanamo Bay. I liked some of the characters, but I do not think there was a good ending to the book.
Shannon
Year 8
St Richard's Catholic College
Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera was not a very good book as it was depressing and not a good read. I have read many sad books but none were like this. I don’t think the content was very suitable for children or teenagers. This book was also set in the present tense, which was not very good and you couldn’t picture anything in your mind. I would not like to read this book again and would not recommend it to anyone under the age of 15.
Guy
Year 9
Hove Park School
I think that this book is quite a balanced book, balanced with good and bad things. The good things being that this is a very realistic and moving book, however, it begins to get very repetitive and almost irritating; the author should have varied the book a bit more but it was quite an enjoyable read
Ciara
Year 9
Hove Park School
Guantanamo Boy is about the aftermath of the al-Qaeda bombings. It is set in 2002. Khalid is a normal 15 year-old boy. He lives in England with his parents and sisters. He goes on holiday to Pakistan to visit his aunts but from there on everything goes wrong. I think that this was a good book because there is a strong plot and it is very realistic. However, the repetitiveness can became annoying and boring, it should only be used for emphasis and not as often as it is in this book. The characters were very well thought-out. Overall this was a good book.
Kieran
Year 9
Hove Park School
I found this book to be a thrilling read, truly representational of life in Guantanamo Bay. Repetition depicts how it would feel everyday stuck in a dingy cell slowly being driven crazy.
However, I believe many people will find the repetition extremely annoying and may be unable to relate to the symbolic contents of the story, but this was not the case for me.
To sum up, this book was a thrilling story that rips along to a hair-raising climax!
Lucy
Year 9
St Richard's Catholic College
Guantanamo Boy is a story about Khalid a 15 year-old Muslim boy from Rochdale. When Khalid went to Pakistan to visit his family everything went very wrong for him.
This is a very well written book as it uses descriptive language in a well thought-out structure for the story. Also, throughout the book it gives subtle hints towards the sudden events that happen in the end of the book. The type of language the book uses is proper English (no slang apart from some speech) this makes it easier to relate to and easy to understand.
This is definitely a good choice for the winner of the award but is not my first choice.
Stars:
(4/5)
Claudia
Year 7
Seaford Head Community College
Guantanamo Boy is about a teenager you might meet in any other ordinary book. He’s lived in Rochdale all his life. He likes football and computer games. He’s got a crush on a girl at school, but can’t bring himself to do anything about it. He’s not anything out of the ordinary except he is a Muslim and when he visits his relatives in Pakistan…things change. In the remains of the 9/11 attacks, he finds that being Muslim can be seriously, deadly dangerous. He faces big problems being a Muslim. And then, on a family visit to Pakistan, he is kidnapped, handed over to the CIA as a suspected terrorist, and ends up being held.
This is a tragic novel in which Anna Perera makes almost something you could believe might happen to you. It is so realistic in her imaginative descriptions it is frighteningly believable. It is based on true happenings, but the fiction in it is Khalid’s story.
The book is dramatic in every way and when I read it I was hoping that Khalid would come out of his shell. As his character is so plain you just know he is going to feel different inside. He may even have different secrets. But that is never really shown in Khalid as that is just who he is. Understand Khalid as he is that kind of guy. I found it quite difficult to understand his true personality even though it was explained to great depths.
So far this hasn’t been my favourite book. I am not really into that style of book, but if I were I would definitely read it again and again. On a scale of one to ten I would give it an eight. It may not have been my favourite but it would most definitely be someone else’s.
Beatrice
Year 9
Brighton College
Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera, is about a normal boy, keen on computer games, who is abducted from Karachi while he is on holiday visiting his aunts. From that point the book takes a changes from a light-hearted story, into something violent but exciting. The teenager, Khalid, is forced to follow the life of a terrorist prisoner, and endure anything the soldiers throw at him, being dragged to many countries and places, getting beaten, and tortured until ending up at Guantanamo Bay.
The book is distressing at some points, as well as being disturbing when he gets hurt, and I know lots of children would find this book scary. However, there is a lot to do with religion, and teaches that everyone should be treated equally no matter what they believe. It also taught me a lot more about the war, and what happened and is still going on now, which is intriguing.
I liked reading the book, as there was lots of action all the time; however some parts weren’t as enjoyable to read. I would have preferred it if the author had used more detailed description on Khalid, and the prison, as it would make it easier to imagine. However the feelings of the characters, especially Khalid were explained very well and the effects used to show his thoughts worked really well.
I found the book very predictable from the start, as the title gives away the story in an obvious way. This made it a bit disappointing, as the story line was clear from the start, although I really liked the plot to the story, as there aren’t that many books about prison and war aimed at teenagers. The story was satisfying to read, as it ended nicely, however I would have preferred it if the writer told us what happened to one of the characters in the end, as it seems like the story hasn’t quite finished.
All in all I did enjoy the book, as it had a striking title, (as well as it being orange!) and it was exciting to read, if a bit worrying at times. The story flowed nicely and towards the end I didn’t want to put it down.
Jessica
Year 10
St Richard's Catholic College
This book is about teenage Muslim Khalid. When his family travel to Pakistan, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, his whole world is turned upside down. I think this book was realistic but found it quite hard to get into and expected it to be a lot more powerful than it was. At the start I found the style of writing quite hard to get used to but after a few chapters I got used to it.
I would recommend this book to 12+ and boys and girls.
Lydia
Year 9
Brighton College
This book really opens up your eyes to the injustice and unfairness going on in the world today. 15 year old Khalid goes to Pakistan on holiday, and comes back 17 years old and a changed man, brutally beaten within the walls of Guantanamo Bay. It is well portrayed and, in itself, is a really good book, but compared to others in the SSBA series, it isn’t winning material. The characters are very believable and understandable and you can really sympathise with them, especially Khalid and his cousin. Overall I would give this book 4/5 because it is a bit predictable but very descriptive and intriguing.
Dean
Year 8
Beacon Community College
A great book with an excellent original idea inspired by true events. It is one of the most gripping stories I have ever read. It keeps the reader wanting more and questioning themselves about what is going to happen next.
Sophie S.
Year 9
Roedean School
Guantanamo Boy is about an innocent boy who gets sent to prison whilst he is on holiday with his family in Pakistan. He has a vague idea about what is happening as he has seen people like him on the news, who have also been arrested but are innocent. The Americans give him no chance to prove his innocence and he is tortured and eventually taken to Guantanamo Bay. I think this is where the story finally picks up, as the beginning is a little slow, but still interesting. Once I got into the book I found it gripping and wanted to finish it. The only thing I thought was that the main character could have had a bit more personality.
Ruth
Year 8
St Richard's Catholic College
Khalid is just an ordinary boy until he goes to visit his relatives in a war torn country where suspicions are running high especially paid ones …
I thought the characters were really realistic. They were so real you easily became attached to them so even after you finished the book they lived on in your mind.
I liked the way the words were designed on the page, the way they went wobbly when Khalid was unconscious.
This has changed my view of the current war in Asia. It makes me think about the lives of the people imprisoned, who are tortured to admit their faults.
I think its winner status was 4/5.
