Cool Reads

Created in January 2001 by Tim Cross, then 11 years old, and his 13-year-old brother, Chris, this decidedly cool site puts many grown-up website designers to shame. Tim and Chris have put together a set of reviews for 10 to 15-year-olds, written both by themselves and by regular visitors to the site, to form a set of cool reads. Latest reviews are listed to the left of the screen while the right hand bar offers the opportunity to explore the site's reviews by theme. The main body of the homepage highlights regularly updated Top Picks plus any new websites that have taken Tim and Chris's fancy. There's a small games section at the bottom and the site also hosts a lively discussion forum.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Reviews can be reached by clicking a theme, ranging from Action to Friends/Families, to the right of the screen. Reviews follow a set question and answer format, designed to lead the reader through the book until the verdict, in the form of a star rating, is reached. One star means ‘read this book if you've got nothing better to do' while five-star books receive the ultimate accolade, a ‘cool read'. Visitors to the site are encouraged to add their own comments and there's a clearly laid out submission screen for those who want to add a review, although you will have to register if you want to do either of these.

Word Search reached from the bottom of the homepage. The aim of this game is to find the book-related words to the right of the letter grid by running the cursor over your chosen letters in the fastest possible time.