Originally reviewed at: http://www.booksbiscuitsandtea.co.uk/...The reason why I picked up this book is that Billy Elliot is one of my all time favourite films and I was really intrigued by the fact that it’s been released as a novel. Since it’s related to my thesis work I’ll have to start working on in the next few weeks and it’s been a while since I’ve seen the film, I decided to combine work with pleasure and read Melvin Burgess’s novel. To be honest, I found Billy’s narration quite strange at first and I thought it wouldn’t live up to my expectations after all – but I couldn’t be further from the truth. Burgess’s novel is just as good, if not better, than the film and I was in tears all the way to the end.What I loved about it the most is the fact that it’s narrated by several different people. Most of the time it’s Billy who’s speaking but there are chapters that are told by either Billy’s father, brother, or his friend Michael. I loved the contrast between these chapters, especially those of the father’s and his two children. The way we see things from a twelve-year-old’s point of view at first and then from an adult’s is just brilliant. Billy’s father was definitely my favourite character and I really enjoyed reading the story from his perspective as well. It was actually one of the reasons why I eventually found the book even more touching than the film. The way he describes what he feels about his wife, how poverty-stricken they are and how he can’t do anything to build a better future for his sons, how he’s ready to sacrifice himself and give up everything just to make at least one of their dreams come true is very touching.However, there are two things I should mention – rather as an advice than something negative- in connection with the book. The first one is that even though it’s a young adult book, it contains strong language therefore it might not be suitable for everyone. The other thing is that, I think, you really need to have some sort of background information about Thatcher’s reign and this era in order to fully understand what Billy and his family are going through, what the strike is about and what state their town is in at the time.All in all, Melvin Burgess’s novel is a fantastic read you don’t want to miss, whether or not you’ve seen the film before. It’s a tear-jerking tale about hope, sacrifice, love and devotion and I can guarantee that you’ll fall in love with it even if you’re not familiar with the story yet. It’s a definite must-read.
Billy Elliot is a novel written by Melvin Burgees. Billy Elliot is also a really famous play that was written by Lee Hall. It is about a boy who likes to dance especially ballet dance. Billy's father made Billy box but Billy's passion was dancing. Billy lives with his brother called Tony Elliot and his dad called Jackie Elliot. His mum died a long time ago. Billy would go to Mrs Wilkinson for ballet lesson for 50 pence. He would go home and practice like doing the spin. When his father asked him what he was doing he would lie to his father and say that it was for boxing.My favourite part of the story is when Billy and his dad went to London for Billy's audition. He did the position for the audition well but when he needed to do a solo dance the song was halfway through instead he just stood there and stared at the judges. He remembered what Mrs Wilkinson told him which was “Billy you’re not concentrating! When you’re up there in front of an audience, you have to concentrate, no matter what’s going on. So go on - just do it!”, so Billy danced(135). When he finished his audition he ran to the changing room and there was a boy who tried to comfort Billy but Billy didn’t need comfort and so Billy punched him. Billy was in a lot of trouble and he thought that he would never ever will get into this school. At the end of the story Billy succeeded in getting a place at the dance school. When he performed he had to do a spin. When his brother shouted Billy’s name and he did a spin and another spin for his family(155).I recommend this book to 13 years old and up because there is some bad language in this book. I would also recommend this book to people who like to dance and also to people who strives for something but they are not allowed to do but are determined to follow their dreams.I rated this book 5 stars because the author described the book in full detail. I could really understand what was happening and I thought it was a really great book.
I read this book for a class and had to analyze different elements of the book for a paper. While I enjoyed the book, it isn't what I usually read and even though I liked the story, the novel is just all right for me. Nothing special.Billy Elliot is a shy 12-year old boy who randomly discovers his love for ballet one day. A boy dancing ballet is unheard of in his community but Billy shows maturity and open-mindedness when considering why the working class does not accept of boys dancing. “Ballet
—Neusha
1,Penguin level 32,6/15 60min 6/16 30min3,dance,boy,family,life,study,sport,like4,The main charactor is Elliot. Elliot is 11 years old. His family are poor, so they want Elliot to be rich. Elliot learn boxing to get a lot of money,but he doesn't like boxing. One day, he looked the lesson of dance. He became want to be a dancer, but his family oppose to be dancer.In the future, he became a famous dancer overcame family's opposition.5,I have little interest in this book. This book is fun, but I think that this story is little monotonous.
—✧Riho✧
1. PENGUIN Level 3 2. 10/8 40 min 10/12 25 min 3. lost, strike, box, ballet, destruction, competition, got into, 4. a A strike can destroy some families. Dad and I are friends because ballet dancing! B they had very complicated relationship after his mother died. however thanks of Billy their relationship is fixed. So I thought, even a small thing could change and solve difficult situation and problems. 5 This book was interesting to read. I thought, I shouldn't judge the things by gender. also, it's important to have a thing that I can have a confident.
—Haruka Furuta
