Sarah Jane Crawford is the presenter of 1Xtra’s weekend breakfast show; you can also catch her on a weekly basis presenting the official top 40 for MTV as well as the Urban chart for MTV Base.
She’s interviewed many big names as a presenter on E4 including the likes of Robert DeNiro, Forest Whitaker, Kings of Leon and 50 Cent and is also an experienced host of numerous live events.
Find out what Sarah Jane thought of some of the books on 2009 Booktrust Teenage Prize shortlist. If you’ve enjoyed reading any of these books, you can leave your own review too!
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
With brilliant, original, fantasy content, Neil Gaiman uses a unique storytelling style to enable his reader to enter a world of the living and the dead in this amusing and engaging tale.
'allowed me to escape my life each and every time that I picked it up.'
Throughout the book Gaiman evokes our curiosity about and affection towards, the book's star character, Bod and his carers and guardians. The Graveyard Book is a highly entertaining read, which allowed me to escape my life each and every time that I picked it up
Aüslander - Paul Dowswell
The fascinating and provocative subject matter of Nazi Germany combined with the cliff hanger element to each chapter made this a gripping page-turner for me.
Dowswell, through his characters, allows the reader to understand better, life on the other side of the fence for those in Berlin during the Second World War.
'a gripping page-turner'
Even though the subject matter is dark, Aüslander could act as a great introduction to the life of young people during these times, for a teenage audience. It definitely encouraged me to investigate further into Hitler's reign, belief systems, and control tactics.
Dowswell gives an exciting and interesting account of those whose beliefs conflicted with that of the Führer.
The Ant Colony - Jenny Valentine
Jenny Valentine very cleverly takes her audience on an emotional rollercoaster ride with her characters, despite the incredibly normal setting of the story. The Ant Colony makes us feel sympathy for the characters, as well as leaving us with a positive feeling at the end.
The `language used to reflect the two main characters Sam and Bohemia was simple and often resulted in me laughing out loud. I always become much more attached to a character if the narration is told through their eyes.
