Jake M’s Letter Essay #7 – Loot by Jude Watson

4/1/16

Dear Reader,

I finished reading Loot by Jude Watson. It is a 266 page adventure and realistic fiction book.  Even if you know you can’t judge a book by it’s cover I chose this by its cover. What really stood out to me was “How to steal a fortune” on the cover which made me think of a million different ways what the story could be about. Could the story be about mastermind villains? Kids? And sure enough it was about kids stealing a fortune.

The book takes place in Amsterdam. Where one night somebody falls from a rooftop on to pavement. But it’s not just anybody it’s Alfie McQuin, an evil cat burglar. Alfie’s son March was with him that night. Alfie’s last words to March were “Then Find jewels.” March originally thinks he is talking about the loot. But March comes to find out that Alfie was talking about Jules, the twin sister March never knew he had. March is later picked up by the police and meets his twin Jules. They are both sent to a terrible orphanage. they say it feels like prison. March and Jules both then team up and have no attention for staying. They both know everything about their father’s way of life. All they need is one good heist and they will be living the life of riches in no time. Will March and Jules live the life of riches? Read the book to find out!

I was surprised when I found out March had a twin sister. I feel this way because I was thought the same way as March did when I was reading the book. I thought he meant a stash of loot too. But then apparently it was Jules not Jewels.

I liked how the author, Jude Watson added a lot of detail to the story. For example on page 9, “blood frothed from Alfie’s mouth. His eyes were unfocused now, staring up at the moon. If she wanted to take shortcut she would have just said “He died.”

However, I disliked how Jude Watson killed off Alfie so quickly. He died in Chapter 2! I wish the author would have made the twins, March and Jules meet before his death so the twins could have already known each other pretty well before doing the heist.

This is a quoted passage about March seeing his father, Alfie being on TV after his death .

“A face flashed on the screen . March smothered his gasp. It was Alfie. The photograph was an old one. Alfie looked younger, lean and handsome in a dinner jacket. Thieves avoided being photographed. If March wanted a picture of his dad, he’d have to reach a mugshot. Now here was his father’s grin, his way of cocking  his head slightly at you, as if he was inviting you in closer to hear something outrageous or to share a joke. March’s face felt red with the effort to look unmoved. He sat very still.”

That quoted passage is on pages 64 and 65.

What I liked about the writing in the quoted passage was how it mentioned how Alfie used to look. Kind of like a little flashback for March.

I rate this book an 8 out of 10.

From,

Jake M

 

 

  

 

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9 thoughts on “Jake M’s Letter Essay #7 – Loot by Jude Watson

  1. Dear Jake,
    You did a great job on your letter-essay. I liked how you found a passage that showed how the author writes. Next time, you should describe more on the passage itself. Overall, you did a great job.
    From,
    Luke

  2. Dear Jake,
    Your letter essay was very well written and I liked how you described the book. But you should describe more about what the problem of this book is.

    From
    Rob

  3. Dear Jake,
    Your letter essay was very well written. This book looks very interesting! Realistic fiction is my favorite genre so I may have to give this book a read. Overall great job!

  4. Dear Jake, I think you a fine job with this, but I think there’s a typo when you typed (“Then Find jewels”).

  5. Dear Jake,
    You did a nice job on this essay. Next time I would proofread out loud before you publish it and give a little more description but overall it was good!
    -Harrison

  6. Dear Jake,
    I really enjoyed reading your letter essay. I really liked how you explained the characters to the reader since most people have not read this book. There was a few spelling errors, but overall it was very good!

    -Zoe W.

  7. I think you did spent a lot of time writing this letter essay, and I agree that a books cover does define a book and is one of the main things that drives a reader in.

  8. Jake,
    You identified an excellent example, with the author’s description of Alfie’s death, of “show, don’t tell.” Try replicating that in your own writing.
    Sincerely,
    Mr. Jockers

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