Discussion of the given topics/subjects/questions

·         Think about what you have learned from the book/what you did not know before.

I think I have learned about the book that one of the hardest things in the world is to make peace and to be fair and that in the midst of all violence and inequality two people try to be together although it is forbidden.

·         Discuss your favorite/least favorite character.

I don’t have only one favorite character because I have two and I was no able to decide between this two. My favourite characters are Sephy and Callum because their love is forbidden in society but they also meet and try to see each other as often as possible. I think this book relates a little bit to Romeo and Juliet. Both families hate each other but their children also fell in love, and both books end in tragically in a deadly fate.

·      Discuss your favorite scenes. What did you find shocking?

I think the most shocking scene in this book is as the bomb explodes and Callums family accountable for this explosion is. At this moment, I think was most shocking that no matter what the light skinned Noughts say, the dark skinned crosses are in right and everyone believe them.

·         What makes the most important moment in the story? Give reasons why you think so.

I think the most important moment in the story is when a few nought are allowed to visit the school of the crosses, because at this moment Sephy and Callum thought that their love could go public.

·         If you could change the plot, how would you do this?

I think I won’t change the plot because I like this book really very much and if you would change anything this book wouldn’t be as good as it is now.

·         Which questions would you like to ask the author?

I think I would like to ask Malorie Blackman what her idea was behind the book and if she could imagine that this could be the reality eventually.

·         Discuss what makes the book a page turner/a bore?

I think the book is a page turner because you could put oneselves in the situation of the different characters and I think that you also think when you read this book that this world is real.

·         Discuss what you think the main message is?

I think the main message of the book is that love is stronger than everything else and also that you should have the courage to stand up for what you believe in. 

Summary of the plot

Sephy and Callum know themselves since they are little and they become very good friends. The problem is that Sephy is a black skinned cross and Callum light skinned nought and that the world is divided in these two groups where the light skinned Noughts get choked.

Sephys family and Callums mother argued themselves and Callums mother got fired from the job in Sephys family, so Callums brother, Jude has to leave his school because they haven’t got any money anymore. Jude was so frustrated because he has no more future chances, that he connected to a armed resistance against the Crosses.

One day four noughts are allowed to attend cross schools under them also Callum was one of the four noughts. Sephy hopes that this friendship could finally get public.  Against all expectations from the noughts that they get a chance to show what they know, they got joshed and more choked by the crosses and even by the teachers.

So Callum does the same as his brother and he is forced to go underground. One day Callum and the other people in the underground decide to abduct Sephy. In these two days of this abduction, Sephy and Callum finally fall in love and spend a night together.

Callum lets Sephy escape and they got isolated from each other. Days later Sephy realized that she is pregnant from Callum, and she only has two choices. Choice one is to kill her unborn child and the other choice is that Callum got killed because he was romantically involved with a dark skinned cross. In the end Callum gets hung because he takes the second choice. 

Review of the book

I am going to write a review about the book “noughts and crosses” from Malorie Blackman. “Noughts and Crosses” is the first book of the trilogy.

The book is about a world which is divided into the light skinned Noughts and the dark skinned crosses. In this book everything is contrariwise. For example, in reality the white people were stronger that the black ones, but in this book there are the dark skinned Crosses who has got the power and the light skinned Noughts get chocked.

In this “new” world these two classes don’t mix and there are also no equal rights.

The story is about two characters, Sephy and Callum who became friends as children. The problem is that Sephy is a cross and the daughter of the extremely powerful man, Kamal Hadley and Callum is a nought who is the son Maggie McGregor. Maggie was the nanny of Sephy.

Step closer to more equal rights, a few nought were allowed to attend cross schools. Sephy and Callum are really excited because they thought their childhood friendship which finally turns into love, can finally get public, but this love should lead both of them in terribly danger.

I really like this book because it is so disturbing, sad and also fascinating at the same time. This book reminds us more at the discrimination and the brutal violence in the world but it also reminds us of the love which can exist between light and dark skinned people. I think the book makes us look close to all the inequity and discrimination that is still in the world we live.

Malorie Blackman

Noughts&Crosses

                                 X&O