English / Reading Skills

Pig City by Louis Sachar

Laura sets up the Pig City Club in school, but wants to keep it secret, so she needs insurance from the gangs members that it will stay secret, however things get really complicated when another club is set up.

Can Cows Walk Down Stairs by Paul Heiney

What is ear wax for? How do they put stripes in toothpaste? Does your nose run in space? What are stars made of? This book answers those tantalising or perplexing questions for which you thought you’d never find an answer. A book for the naturally curious, as well as those seekers after scientific truths, it unravels both those things we take for granted, such as why is the sky blue.

Kaspar by Michael Morpurgo

How does John, a bell boy in the Savoy in London become a stowaway on the Titanic, with the King of Cats, and how come he manages to escape or does he? Read the book to join the dots, and see what really happens at the end. If you like this book, there are plenty of other books written by Michael Morpurgo, so check them out.

Gangsta Rap by Benjamin Zephaniah

Zephaniah describes teenagers that have been excluded from a mainstream school, and sent to a school for Rap and Hip Hop. This book explores what can really happen if teenagers are encouraged to follow their strengths and enthusiasm. It will challenge all the stereotypes you have, forcing you to think in a different way.

The Power of Five: Necropolis by Anthony Horowitz

Five children with unique powers, however one of them is missing and they need the power of all five. Where puddles of water turn into blood, it’s looking look a very difficult time to be living, but can they find the door at Man Ho temple and put things right again.

Cloud Busting by Malorie Blackman

When you conform to peer pressure and being in the right crowd at school, you can lose yourself and your identity, and what if you have more fun with thegeeks than the cool crowd. Two totally different teenagers form a close bond after Davey saves Sam’s life. Is he really the drug fiend Sam thought?

The Roman Mystery Series by Caroline Lawrence

Want to find out what it was like to live in Italy hundreds of years ago? And what mysteries and scandals were happening? Well what are you waiting for read some and find out!!!!

Benny and Omar by Eoin Colfer

Benny is struggling to come to terms with being relocated to Africa with his family, when he meets Omar. Omar talks in TV catchphrases and suddenly things don’t seem so bad, for Benny.

Airhead (Airhead Trilogy) by Meg Cabot

Emmerson, the tomboy who has a secret crush on her best mate wakes up in Nikki’s body. Nikki just happens to be incredibly popular and have a huge supermodel contract, but what does Emmerson do, when they all presume she is dead?!

Mirrorscape by Mike Wilks

Mirrorscape is world where you can walk through paintings into another world. The bizarre is common place, and logic is nowhere to be seen. Want to find out more about the pyramids, angels and talking houses – you’ll have to read it!

Gifted: Better Late Than Never by Marilyn Kaye

Jenna, can read anyone’s mind. Her Mum is admitted to hospital because she is an alcoholic and suddenly her long lost Father turns up, but is it all as it seems?!

Skim by Mariko Tamaki

After a boy at school takes his own life, teen-witch Skim’s fragile world seems to topple and turn upside down too. In her diary entries, Skim confides the frenzy of grief that surrounds her, while deep down she struggles with her own loneliness and the secret inner stirrings she feels when falling in love for the first time.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help is about black maids in Mississippi in the 1960s and how their white owners mistreated them. Abook that will make you laugh and cry at the same time! It’s about these maids surviving against all odds.

Eragon (Inheritance Cycle) by Christopher Paolini

When Eragon finds a polished stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter.
But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.

The Young Bond Series by Charlie Higson

Ever wondered what it was like to be the Young Bond, before all the films were made about him. Bond must take dangerous gambles to unravel cryptic codes and rescue people from death. Books in the series include SilverFin, Back by Royal Command, Blood Fever and Double or Die.

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking) by Patrick Ness

Imagine living in a world where you can hear everyone’s thoughts and they can hear yours. What happens when all of a sudden you hear silence, and you return to tell everyone, and suddenly you find out you are no longer safe there.

The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo

Sadie and Fami have to leave their family in Nigeria after their mother is killed, and start to make a new life for themselves in London. This books details their journey and how difficult things are for them.

The Sweetest Thing (Inside Girl) by J. Minter

Two close friends fall for the same guy, but one has an amazing boyfriend who adores her. Do either end up with the guy, and what happens to their friendship?

Eagle Day (Henderson’s Boys) by Robert Muchamore

Some young boys are playing a dangerous game, translating for the Nazis in 1940, and then sending the information back to Britain. Will they live to tell the tale?

Darkness Calling by Darren Shan

Events take an unexpected turn in this ninth awesome foray into the worlds of the Demonata…” The Disciples are being manipulated by beings older than time. Only Kernel Fleck knows that something is wrong. But he is in the grip of a creature who cares nothing for the fate of humanity. Voices are calling to him from the darkness and he’s powerless to resist.

The Spook’s Sacrifice by Joseph Delaney

As the Spook’s apprentice, Tom’s first duty is to protect the County from the dark. But now Mam needs his help in her homeland of Greece. One of the most dangerous of the old gods, the Ordeen, is about to return there, bringing slaughter and devastation. Meanwhile, the Devil himself is still loose and if he and the Ordeen join forces, a new age of darkness will descend.

Why not try some of the classics?

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll

The Wind in The Willows by Kenneth Grahame

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Oliver and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein

Some Other Ideas…

Modern/Current Issues

Almond, David – Skellig; Almond Eyes; Kit’s Wilderness

Blackman, Malorie – Noughts and Crosses; Tell Me No Lies

Brooks, Kevin – Martyn Pig

Chambers, Aidan – Postcards From No Man’s Land

Cormier, Robert – Chocolate War; Other Bells For Us To Ring; We All Fall Down

Cross, Gillian – Tightrope, The Demon Headmaster

Doherty, Bertie – Dear Nobody

Gibbons, Alan – The Lost Boys’ Appreciation Society

Holm, Anne – I am David

Hooper, Mary – Amy; Megan; Megan 2

Newbery, Linda – The Shell House; Sisterland

Pielichaty Helena – Jade’s Story; Getting Rid of Karenna; Never Ever

Rai, Bali – The Crew; Rani and Sukh; (Un)arranged marriage

Swindells, Robert – Dosh; Smash; Abomination

Syal, Meera – Anita and Me

Westall, Robert – Love Match; Machine Gunners

Wilson, Jacqueline – Bad Girls; The Illustrated Mum; Falling Apart

Wooding, Chris – Crashing; Endgame; Kerosene

Zephaniah, Benjamin – Face; Gangsta Rap; Refugee Boy

 

Science Fiction/Fantasy

Adams, Douglas – Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Baxter, Stephen – Flux

Colfer, Eoin – Artemis Fowl series; The Wish List

Gaiman, Neil – Neverwhere

Hawking, Lucy & Prof – George’s Secret key to the Universe

Higson, Charlie – The Enemy

Hoffman, Mary – Stravaganza series

Horowitz, Anthony – Power of 5 series

Jaques, Brian – Redwall series

McCaughrean, Geraldine – Kite Rider; The Stones are Hatching

McKenzie, Sophie – Blood Ties

Meyer, Stephenie – Twilight Series

Naylor, Grant – Backwards; Last Human;

Ness, Patrick – The Knife of Never Letting Go

Nicholson, William – Wind on Fire series

Nix, Garth – Mister Monday series; Sabriel, Lirael

Paolini, Christopher – Eragon Trilogy

Pascal, Francine – Fearless series

Patterson, James – Maximum Ride, Daniel X, Witch & Wizard

Pratchett, Terry – Jingo; Mort; Sourcery; Small Gods; Johnny and the Bomb

Pullman, Philip – Northern Lights series; Clockwork

Rees, Celia – The Bailey Game; Blood Sinister; Sorceress; the Vanished

Reeve, Philip – Mortal Engines, etc

Rowling, J. K – Harry Potter series

Sedgwick, Marcus – The Dark Horse

Stroud, Jonathan – Bartimaeus Trilogy

 

Humour

Abdel-Fattah, Randa – Does My Head Look Big In This?

Asquith, Ros – I Was a Teenage Worrier; The Teenage Worrier’sGuide to Life

Griffiths, Andy – Zombie Bums from Uranus

Gleitzman, Morris – Blabber Mouth

Cabot, Meg – Princess Diaries series

Gleitzman, Morris – Two Weeks With the Queen

Jennings, Paul – Uncanny!; Unseen!

MacFarlane, Aidan – A New Diary of a Teenage Health Freak

McPherson, Ann – I’m a Health Freak Too

Townsend, Sue – Adrian Mole series

 

Autobiography

Dahl, Roald – Boy: Tales of Childhood

Durrell, Gerald – My Family and Other Animals

Frank, Anne – Diary of Anne Frank

Holmes, Kelly – Black, White & Gold

Khan, Amir – A Boy from Bolton

Mandela, Nelson – Long Walk to Freedom

Panesar, Monty – Monty’s Turn

Lampard, Frank – Totally Frank

Gerrard, Steven – Gerrard My Autobiography

Sports Fiction

Barker, Dominic – Sharp Shot

Bowler, Tim – Shadows

Dhami, Narinder – Bend it like Beckham

Flint, Helen – Not Just Dancing

Forde, Catherine – Fat Boy Swim

Hornby, Nick – Fever Pitch

Maekawa, Takeshi – Kung Fu Boy

Paul, Bette – Becca’s Race

Peet, Mal – Keeper

Redmond, Diane – United!

Riordan, James – Young Oxford Book of Football Stories

Rushton, Rosie – Break Point

Voigt, Cynthia – The Runner

Walker, Nicholas – Crackling Ice; Skating on the Edge