I really got into this book right from the beginning. I felt as if I was Anna trapped inside a world gone wrong. The characters were all well developed and I loved them especially Peter and Anna. Mrs Pincent was so evil she fascinated me. Throughout this book I went from laughing out loud to tears.

Katherine gave The Declaration 4 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

BRILLIANT! I LOVE THIS BOOK! ITS NOT THE BEST BUT ONLY IN MY TOP ONE!!!!!!!!

Jessica gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

I would recomend this book. :-) :-)

Ellen gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

I would recomend this book to anyone because it is interesting and you can not put it down once you have picked it up.

Aimee gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

wow a brilliant book i couldnt put it down

Natasha Beth gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read The Kiss of Death.

This is my second favourite book on the list as it has a brillian plot and you can really understand the characters.

Belinda gave The Declaration 4 out of 5.

The Declaration written by Gemma Malley is about a teenage girl named Anna Covey who believes that she has no right to be in the world and since the book is set in the future times have changed so therefore it is believed that children should no longer be born. This is because in the future a new drug is introduced that people can take which enables them to live forever and it is illegal to both take this drug and have children, unless a person had a child before the drug was introduced. Anna is a surplus which means her parents had her as well as took the drug therefore she was put in grange hall which is a special place where surpluses are kept.
Anna always believed that she had no right to be in the world and she hated her parents until mysterious boy Peter comes along and tells her different. Who knew that a boy and a journal could really change somebody’s life so much?
The Declaration is aimed at a teenage audience and is for both boys and girls. It shows how lucky we really are and how unfair prejudice can be. This touching story shows the problems of growing up and trying to live your life like a normal person although nobody will accept you. Many people have to go through not being accepted in their lives and this story could relate to many people in many different ways.
I think that The Declaration is a very touching book that when you start reading it you just don’t want to stop. I think this because the characters act in a very realistic way and relate to their problems as many people would.

Jenny gave The Declaration 4 out of 5 and now plans to read A Perfect Ten.

Amazing book. Easy to get in to it's 1 of my favourite books of all time!

Sara gave The Declaration 5 out of 5.

When I first looked at it, it didn’t look to exciting but when I started to read the book it started to get really interesting like I said it was boring at the start because it had a very confusing start which lead it into a very long introduction. The description of the book was very well presented it went into full detail especially with the characters it was a good book but I will not read again as it wasn’t my cup of tea but I still think over people should read it I would rate this book a 7/10

Christopher gave The Declaration 2 out of 5.

Looking at the cover of this book, it gave me the impression that it was aimed at girls, but it really isn't. I think that this is a book that anyone would enjoy, but the storyline had some very complicated twists, which lead to quite a long introduction, but once I got into it I really enjoyed the thrilling storyline :)

Alex gave The Declaration 4 out of 5.

I thought it was quite good because the action started in the first chapter. Yet I have read better books. But it was still interesting.

Ryan gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

Gemma Malley portrays a sense of loss in her book about isolation from society. FAB!!!

Emma gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

A realy astounding book ! With a entertaining storyline and an interesting plot .

Sonia gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

It was great! I found the first pages boring but in the end i found it really great and exciting

Elizabeth gave The Declaration 5 out of 5.

i didn't really like the declaration because i just couldn't getb into the story prbulary!!!

manisha gave The Declaration 3 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well described and it was easy to imagine and the plot was fantastic and very clever. It's scary to think that it could actually happen in the future (but hopefully we will have more sense.)

Gemma gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Invisible City.

This book was great it had a good plot , the characters are believable . It was written well but had a sad ending.

Stephen gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Scared to Death.

I thought this book was to far out there as it was a bit silly that you should be able to take a pill to live forever and never catch a disease. I thought it was a good book to read with a good plot and a few wierd strange sections that shouldn't happen if they were still human. I wouldn't read it again because of the far out reason but entertained me for the day it took me to read

Steven gave The Declaration 3 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

Unlike most people who seemed to enjoy this book, I didn’t. When I started reading this book at first I thought it would be easy to get into after all the great reviews I have read, but after a few chapters I still wasn’t able to understand what the plot was. Then after a week I felt I had to try and make myself read it but since I had got through a third of a book I decided to give up because I didn’t enjoy it.

Georgi gave The Declaration 2 out of 5.

Leeds Book Awards-
Book Review-
The Declaration

Plot
I thought that the plot for the Declaration was good; very imaginative and creative; as far as I know, no-one has ever written such an intriguing, and somewhat frightening book about what the future could be like if we continue being so obsessed with our appearances and living forever! This makes the book very unique and thought provoking. However, because of the frightening subject, I found the plot quite depressing; for it makes you worry if the world does become like that, and although I into the did get into the story and attached to the characters, I didn't really enjoy it- I more was stirred by it... If the author's intention was this, then she succeeded in making me feel concerned for the world's future!

Characterisation
I found the characters were very believable and convincing; I did get emotionally involved with the main characters and hated the baddies. The book succeeded in making me feel empathy for the characters. Moreover, I think the characters worked well together and acted in ways that I found believable and realistic.

Writing Style
I found the language and writing style easy to understand and follow, although is that really a good thing? The writing style wasn't too descriptive or imaginative, well that's what I found anyway! It was well written in the sense that it was easy to understand, but maybe it could've been more imaginatively written?

Final Comments
Overall, the book was creative and very unique in its storyline and plot, which was thought provoking and triggered emotions like tension and worry for the real world. I did enjoy the book; though it wasn't my type of book and I found the harsh truth of the possibility of a future like that in the book- depressing! However, the story had lots of suspense and happy bits, which make it entertaining!

Clare gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

Spoiler Alert! this has to be the best books ever. it's also sad that her parents dies at the end

beverley gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

I really loved this book! The story line was quite simple in a way and yet very confusing in others. I liked the way the author portrayed anna as a clueless and sensible person in the Surplus hall and daring, couragous and wilfull on her escape.Peter was a really wonderfull character. He was a rebel of all things anna thought right and important. He really brought some differences and twists to the story. He totally changed anna's personality and her view of the world for the better.

Roshni gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Scared to Death.

This was an absoloutly fabtastic book, and definately my favourite. It was fast-paced and kept you reading till the last page. It's scarily realistic as it describes an event that could actually happen in the future that would effect everybody. The caracters were really well described so you could easily visualize them in your mind and really understand what htye were feeling or thinking. The storyline was unusual and really interesting. I definately think this book is a winner!

Madeline gave The Declaration 5 out of 5.

An mind stopping book, fantastically written. It Gives an amazing impression on what could happen 130 years into the future, and how what a person says to someone can really effect their thoughts of themselves. Anna really thought she was worthless, a thing hammered into her brain by Mrs. Pincent. I think that this is a brilliant book that will probably effect my way of thinking about things for a long time. A deffinite favourite of mine, i hope it wins! :-)

Zachary gave The Declaration 5 out of 5.

The middle and end are much better than the start but it is still a good book. It is more realistic than most futuristic books are. It is an interesting problem though one which Gemma gave a lot of thought to. It was very gripping and made you want to keep reading. It was interesting seeing the way someone thought if they didn't think they should be alive. I would recommend this book to any one I know and think that Gemma Malley could end up being like J.K. Rowling with her skill in book writing. I very much enjoyed it and I can't wait to read the next book.

Elisabeth gave The Declaration 4 out of 5 and now plans to read Invisible City.

Brilliant! this book was fast-paced, gripping and well thought out. Gemma Malley knew exactly where she was going with this book and the result was an amazing story. the plot was unusual, yet it felt so real and familiar. this is because its so close to the world we live in, even though its set 130 years in the future. the idea of living forever has always appealed to people yet this book makes you realise that if we could then the consequences would be so severe that it is better to die. the thought of surpluses being locked away and made to hate their own existence is so scary, but very real, because if people could live forever then the world would be full.brilliant. also, this book depicts the very nature of humanity - selfishness, vanity and greed. all shown in those who will do anything to live forever - even kill the new people in the world.

Filippa gave The Declaration 4 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

A brilliant book definately a winner!
It is the best book in the 11-14s we've read so far.
The book has lots of suprises and it is scary as it could actually happen in the near future. We couldnt put it down it had loads of twists and turns.We agree with zoe it has a really good storyline.
The decription is very good as you can imagine the people and places with ease. We would definately recomend it to anyone!

Beth&Sally; gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

An amazing book I thoroughly enjoyed which mixes twists and tension into a beautifully written story, whilst still keeping the plot simple enough to understand. Definitely one of the hardest books to put down because you are always desperate to find out what is around the corner, and it always surprises you. You can really relate to the people in the book because there is the scary possibility that the events in the book could really happen.Its really realistic and because its set not so far of into the future, so many of the issues that people contend with today are used in the book, with a few scary extras.

Ellie gave The Declaration 5 out of 5.

This book had a really good storyline and great character description but I kept waiting throughout the whole book for something totally outrageous to happen but nothing much did.I loved the Idea of the fact that this could happen in the future and if it did it would be extremely scary.Overall OK book.

Zoe gave The Declaration 3 out of 5 and now plans to read Scared to Death.

This great book is my favourite in the 11-14 section. The way that the authur has put together a amazing future world that is so realistic that it scares you. I love the way the main character has to break out of her shell and try to escape from her current life. The only bad thing about it is that im now having to wait for the sequel. I recomend this book for anyone who loves books with adventure and twists.

Katherine gave The Declaration 5 out of 5.

It was quite a good book,I like the way they set it in the future and the the reality of it.I liked the way it's topic of longivety made it an amazing book.

Jess gave The Declaration 4 out of 5 and now plans to read The Kiss of Death.

This book kept me constantly reading and is definetly a worthy candidate for the Leeds Book Awards. It's topic made me think about the future and what could become of the human race. It's realistic features about longivety made it one of the best books I have ever read and I would definetly reccomend this fantastic book to anyone that enjoys a good read. This may have my definetly have my vo9te and is a brilliant candidate for The Leeds Book Awards.

Jess gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

It shows you how lucky we really are, if we cured old age we would have problems about having too many people in the future. Anyway it was a very good book and the adventure was great. I hope to read the sequel soon.

Joshua gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Scared to Death.

AN INTERESTING BOOK WITH A BASIC BUT VERY WELL THOUGHT OUT PLOT VERY GOOD READ

CARRIE ROSE gave The Declaration 5 out of 5.

This book was hard to put down. it was a very entertaining and gripping and the charecters were very beliveable i would love to read it again.

ann-marie gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Invisible City.

this is the best book i have ever read! i first read its when i was 10 and loved it, i t thought it was a belible plot and a real page turner and loved every second so i aced when it came up on the list

Rebecca gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Scared to Death.

This book was brilliant because it made me think about how humanity would progress and how we would deal with overpopulation the book was very thought provoking and i can't wait to read the sequel

Joe gave The Declaration 4 out of 5.

I enjoyed this book a lot. Although it took quite a while to get to the REAL action it was good when it got onto it. I think 4 out of 5 will suit this book well :)

Connor gave The Declaration 4 out of 5 and now plans to read A Perfect Ten.

This book is a very good and i really enjoyed this book because this could actually happen in the future. It created a lot of tension and made me not want to put the book down because it was so exciting. The author Gemma Malley did a fantastic job on the book and i can not wait for the sequel.

Jack gave The Declaration 5 out of 5.

it was brilliant its was depressing thougth it was a good book i liked it alot because im a depressing person but it had a bit of romance in witch made it intersting so it was one of those books when you start you cant stop reading it i was started it at 8pm and i was reading it till 3 am when i finished it and its just a brilliant book i hope it gets made in to a movie even thougth i put 5 out of 5 id give it 5 stars and 100% out of ten i recomend it to every one because its not made for girls its not made for boys its made for both its just spectacular

Ben gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Scared to Death.

I think that this book was amazing and so easy to get into because of the way it was written. It was easy to follow and relate to the characters so this makes it exciting and lets you get absorbed into the story and feel what the characters feel. The story is believable as it is set in the near future so this also makes it quite scary for some people. I think that this also makes it a very unputdownable story.

Rianne gave The Declaration 5 out of 5.

WHY DOES THERE HAVE TO BE A SEQUEL? Now I have to go out and buy it when it comes out. It was a great book, beautifully written with a great plot and fascinating ideas. However, the cover markets it to girls but it isn't a girls book.

Sam gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read The Kiss of Death.

This book was AMAZING! I loved the way it was set out. e.g. it had a strong begining, a griping middle and an extremely exciting end! It tells you a lot about the characters as you go through the book, each chapter revealing another thing about some one in the book. When i read the book, at first it felt relly weird because the first thing i noticed was the date! It was set in the future! And as i went through the book, reading the dates, the stories, and all about where they lived and what they did, it accured to me that this could really happen in the future! In the book they managed to achive every thing we are trying to achive now! I would deffinately recomend this book and i think my 5 out of 5 is underrated!

Isobel gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

A really good book but it lacks reality at times. Although it can be weird at it makes up for it with the storyline of a girl called anna.It really makes you not want to put it down.

Mercy gave The Declaration 4 out of 5 and now plans to read A Perfect Ten.

The Declaration was ecstatic and was impossible to put down. At the beginning of the book I thought to myself' wow this is so cool yet so mysterious'!Having read the book I really feel different for others and how I treat them because having to live like Anna would be awful. When she first met Peter I was really suspicious about him being at the surplus hall. If you want to know abot the relationship between Anna and Peter then read this fantastic yet sometimes confusing book!!!

Harriet gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read The Kiss of Death.

The Declaration was a brilliant book, it was well written, with an interesting plot and charcters and was for me, the perfect book. I really like Sci-Fi and Real Life stories and this for me was the best of both. The book was quick to get into to, with a nice ending and undoubtably the best book I've read so far.

Darren gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

THE WAY IN WHICH THE AUTHOR TOLD THE STORY WAS GOOD. IT SHOWED HOW ANNAS OPINIONS AND VIEWS CHANGE.

AZHAR gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read A Perfect Ten.

This book is the best book I have ever read! It delivers a really powerful message and is a really thought provoking book. The plot is fantastic, such a great setting with believable characters. A real page turner that made me impatient for the resistance to come out!

Tonicha gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read The Kiss of Death.

The declaration is one of the most mysterious books I've read, and it's hard to put down. Your always wanting to know what's happening? Who's that? So far this is the best book on the shortlist I've read.

Josh gave The Declaration 4 out of 5 and now plans to read Blood Ties.

The Declaration is amazingly real, and beautifully written. I think it is un-putdown-able, and is a great read for anyone. I can really picture the characters, scenes and emotions clearly, and it's an amazing book. For anyone who hasn't read it, you really should!

Laura gave The Declaration 5 out of 5 and now plans to read Invisible City.