Reading – Form Time
Reading More
Reading Better
| Year 7 | ||
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Once / Boy In the Stripped Pyjamas Once is a 2005 novel by Australian author Morris Gleitzman. It is about a Jewish boy named Felix who lives in a Catholic orphanage in Poland during the events of WW2. One day the Nazi’s turn up to the orphanage and begin burning books. Felix misinterprets the Nazi’s antisemitism – he believes that the Nazi’s are a group with a hatred for Jewish books only , not Jewish people. His parents are book-sellers and so Felix escapes the orphanage and embarks upon a quest in order to warn his parents about the book burnings. Felix makes a friend on his journey through the unsafe streets of occupied Poland, a young girl named Zelda. Felix and Zelda quickly learn leading the true nature of the Nazi’s ambitions…. Boy In the Stripped Pyjamas Nine-year-old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. He is oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has been moved from a comfortable home in Berlin to a house in a desolate area where there is nothing to do and no one to play with. Until he meets Shmuel, a boy who lives a strange parallel existence on the other side of the adjoining wire fence and who, like the other people there, wears a uniform of striped pyjamas. Bruno’s friendship with Shmuel will take him from innocence to revelation. And in exploring what he is unwittingly a part of, he will inevitably become subsumed by the terrible process. Key Themes
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A Monster Calls The novel is set in present-day England and features a 13-year-old boy, Conor O’Malley, who struggles to cope with the consequences of his mother’s terminal illness. He is repeatedly visited in the middle of the night by a monster who tells stories. Conor awakens from the same nightmare he has been experiencing for the past few months at seven minutes after midnight each night. Conor meets the monster who called, a mass of branches and leaves formed in a human shape from the yew tree at the bottom of the garden. The monster is intrigued that Conor is not afraid of it and insists that it is Conor that summoned it. The monster wants the truth from Conor. The monster claims to be a version of the green man and warns that it will tell Conor three true stories, after which Conor must tell a story of his own, which is the truth. Conor’s struggles are not limited to dealing with his mother’s illness – he is also struggling with bullying in school. Key Themes
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The House with Chicken Legs The House With Chicken Legs follows the journey of twelve-year-old Marinka who faces a lonely destiny as a guardian of The Gate between the living and the land of the stars. She dreams of a normal life, where her house stays somewhere long enough for her to make friends. But her house has chicken legs and moves on without warning. The only people Marinka meets are dead and they disappear when her grandmother, Baba Yaga, performs the nightly guiding ceremony. The book deals with deals with the themes of life, death, loneliness, love and betrayal. In The House with Chicken Legs, Marinka lives in a house with chicken legs. Key Themes
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| Year 8 | ||
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My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece is about a boy called Jamie. He has ginger hair and a cat called Roger. When Jamie was just five years old, his older sister, Rose, was killed by a terrorist attack on September 9th in London. Although everyone in the family tries to live with what’s happened, it’s impossible. Jamie’s dad starts to drink too much and then Jamie’s mum decides to move out and live with another man called Nigel. Throughout the book, all he wants is to have a happy family again. Just before Jamie’s 10th birthday, Jamie, Jas, their dad and Roger move to the Lake District. This is where the story starts. Jamie must cope with starting at a new school and making new friends as best as he can without the help of either of his parents. At his new school, Jamie befriends Sunya, who is a Muslim. Jamie knows his father wouldn’t approve of their friendship, as he hates Muslims and blames Rose’s death on the entire Muslim population. Key Themes
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Ghost Boy Set in Chicago, Ghost Boys is the story of Jerome, a 12-year-old boy who is killed by police. Jerome had been playing with a toy gun, which the police officers mistook for a real gun. After the unjust killing, chapters in the novel jump between ‘DEAD’ and ‘Alive’, with Jerome in the present as a ghost as well as in the past when he was living. As a ghost, Jerome is witness to various scenes in the aftermath of his death, such as his family’s grieving and the court hearing of Officer Moore, the police officer who shot him. As a ghost, Jerome meets the ghost of Emmett Till, who shows him hundreds of other ‘ghost boys’ who have been shot just like them. Key Themes
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Quiet Power Childhood, adolescence and your early twenties are times wrought with insecurity and self-doubt. Your search for your place in the world can seem daunting. Focusing on the strengths and challenges of being introverted, Quiet Power is full of examples from school, family life and friendship, applying the breakthrough discoveries of Quiet to readers that so badly need them. This insightful, accessible and empowering book is eye-opening to extroverts and introverts alike. Unlock your hidden superpower and give yourself the tools to make a mark – in your own quiet way. Key Themes
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| Year 9 | ||
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Noughts and Crosses There are two races in the book: the Crosses (darker-skinned people) are the dominant race with the individuals owning most of the wealth, good jobs, different and better schools. The second race, the Noughts (lighter-skinned people) are at the poorer end of society usually doing manual labour or being servants to Crosses, with poor schools – if any at all. Racial inequality is the driving force of the storyline, and there are few laws or constitutional protections to prevent discrimination against Noughts. The novel is told through Persephone “Sephy” Hadley, a Cross and the daughter of a wealthy senior politician, Kamal Hadley, who later becomes Prime Minister and Callum McGregor, a lowly Nought. Sephy and Callum used to play together when Sephy’s mother, employed Callum’s mother, as a nanny. Ever since Jasmine fired Meggie, however, Sephy and Callum’s friendship has been secret, as such interracial friendships are frowned upon by society. The two meet again in Heathcroft, a school for Crosses that now accepts the best-performing Noughts. Sephy is overjoyed to see Callum in her class, but most of her classmates do not accept her association with a Nought. Despite this, she deepens her relationship with Callum. Callum is the first person in his family to be offered the opportunity to be educated at a high performing Cross school. Whilst Callum is at school, his family members become involved in anti-Cross supremacy politics, which threatens to destroy Callum and Sephy’s relationship. Key Themes
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The Book Thief The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel, a little girl who is taken to a new home because her mother can’t afford to take care of her. The story is told by Death, who, uncharacteristically, is a sympathetic figure with a philosophical outlook on life. His narration puts an odd perspective on the story. The Book Thief is set in Nazi Germany, at the start of World War Two. On the journey to her new home, Liesel’s younger brother dies and she steals her first book: The Gravedigger’s Handbook. However, Liesel can’t read. When she arrives at her new home, she has a new foster mother and father. Haunted every night by nightmares of her brother’s death, Liesel and her new father set themselves the challenge of reading the book, Liesel’s last link to her brother. Liesel is fascinated by books and steals another book during a Nazi book burning on Hitler’s birthday. A love affair with books and words begins, as Liesel, with the help of her foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library, wherever there are books to be found. Literature helps to open up Liesel’s world, however, when Liesel’s foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel’s rapidly opening world begins to close down. Key Themes
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Boys Don’t Cry In Boys Don’t Cry, bestselling author Malorie Blackman explores the unchartered territory of teenage fatherhood. You’re waiting for the postman – he’s bringing your A level results. University, a career as a journalist – a glittering future lies ahead. But when the doorbell rings it’s your old girlfriend; and she’s carrying a baby. Your baby. You’re happy to look after it, just for an hour or two. You assume Melanie , your girlfriend, is helping a friend, until she nips out to buy some essentials, leaving you holding the baby… Key Themes
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| Year 10 | ||
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Happy Head The novel is set amidst a national mental health crisis. The novel asks questions such as ‘what if preventative measures could be taken to allow young minds to be happy?’. Happy Head is the one thing that promises to make everything better. Tasks, assessments, and teamwork all combine to allow the students to be analysed, categorised, and ultimately scored. Seb is offered a place on this radical retreat designed to solve the crisis of teenage unhappiness. He is determined to change how people see him and make his parents proud. Seb, however, finds himself drawn to the enigmatic Finn, which changes everything, Seb starts to question the true nature of the challenges they must undergo. The deeper into the programme the boys get, the more disturbing the assessments become, until it’s clear there may be no escape… Key Themes
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It’s behind You Welcome to the reality game show that’ll scare you to death! Have you got what it takes to last the night? Five contestants must sit tight through the night in dark and dangerous Umber Gorge caves, haunted by a ghost called the Puckered Maiden. But is it the malevolent spirit they should fear… or each other? As the production crew ramps up the frights, secrets start to be revealed… these teenagers have hidden motives for taking part in It’s Behind You! and could some of them be… murder? It’s Most Haunted meets I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Key Themes
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They Both Die in the End One day, shortly after midnight, Mateo receives a phone call from Death-Cast, a company that can predict the deaths of individuals. He is informed that he is now a Decker, someone with only twenty-four hours (or less) left to live. What might be the implications of finding out you have 24 hours to live? Similarly, another young man, Rufus, is informed that he will also pass away within 24 hours. Both Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: there’s an app for that. It’s called Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure – to live a lifetime in a single day. The two young strangers embark on a remarkable adventure – within the confines of one day. Initially, Mateo intends to spend his last day in bed. If Death-Cast called you, how might you plan your last day? Key Theme
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| Year 11 | ||
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The Midnight Library The book’s protagonist is a young woman named Nora Seed who is unhappy with her choices in life. During the night, she tries to kill herself but ends up in a library managed by her school librarian, Mrs. Elm. The library is a space situated between life and death with millions of books. Each volume represents a version of her life where she made different choices. In this library, she then tries to find the life in which she’s the most content. For example, in one possible life she tries to reunite with her boyfriend and finds herself married to him, but it isn’t the way as she expected. Nora is able to step into the possible outcomes of her life, exploring the best and the worst that could happen. There is a Nora who became a rock star, another who has won Olympic medals, another living aboard an Arctic research vessel. Key Themes
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The Curious Incident Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the colour yellow. This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighbourhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years. Key Themes
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Purple Hibiscus Fifteen-year-old Kambili lives in luxury in Enugu, Nigeria. Kambili, her seventeen-year-old brother Jaja, and their parents—Papa and Mama—inhabit a huge house inside a walled compound. While the Achike family are wealthy and comfortable, they live in a country beset by political instability and economic difficulties. Papa, Eugene Achike, is a wealthy and famous factory owner, newspaper publisher, philanthropist, and champion of human rights. On the surface, he appears a powerful and respected figure in the community but at home, Eugene is both a religious zealot and a violent figure, subjecting his wife Beatrice, Kambili herself, and her brother Jaja to beatings and psychological cruelty. The plot is told through Kambili’s eyes and is essentially about the disintegration of her family unit and her struggle to grow to maturity, whilst oppressed in her household by her father. Key Themes
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