What do your peers recommend? Adventure Genre Reading Level Author Title *Easy read Anthony Horowitz Skeleton Key (Alex Rider series, book 3) *Average Chris Bradford *Average Cressida Cowell *Average Gary Paulsen Hatchet *Challenging *15+ Oliver Bowden Assassins Creed Renaissance (Series, book 1) *Challenging Michael Morpurgo War Horse book 1 *Challenging Scott Westerfield Uglies The Way of the Dragon(Young Samari series, book 3) How to Train Your Dragon series, book 1 Content Alex Rider has been through a lot for his fourteen years. He's been shot at by international terrorists, chased down a mountainside on a makeshift snowboard, and has stood face-to-face with pure evil. Twice, young Alex has managed to save the world. And twice, he has almost been killed doing it. But now Alex faces something even more dangerous. The desperation of a man who has lost everything he cared for: his country and his only son. A man who just happens to have a nuclear weapon and a serious grudge against the free world. To see his beloved Russia once again be a dominant power, he will stop at nothing. Unless Alex can stop him first... Jack Fletcher is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan, his beloved father and the crew lie slaughtered by ninja pirates. Rescued by a legendary master swordsman and brought under his wing, Jack begins the gruelling physical and psychological training needed to become a samurai. Life at Samurai school is fraught with difficulty for Jack who is bullied and treated as an outcast. With his friend the remarkable, beautiful Akiko at his side and all the courage he can muster, Jack has to prove himself. Will he be able to face deadly rivals and challenges that will test him to his very limits? How to Train a Dragon chronicles the adventures and misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III as he tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan, the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, by catching and training a dragon! Since it was first published in 1987, the story of thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson's survival following a plane crash has become a modern classic. Stranded in the desolate wilderness, Brian uses his instincts and his hatchet to stay alive for fifty-four harrowing days. Betrayed by the ruling families of Italy, a young man embarks upon an epic quest for vengeance. To eradicate corruption and restore his family's honour, he will learn the art of the assassins. Along the way, Ezio will call upon the wisdom of such great minds as Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli – knowing that survival is bound to the skills by which he must live. To his allies, he will become a force for change - fighting for freedom and justice. To his enemies, he will become a threat dedicated to the destruction of the tyrants abusing the people of Italy. So begins an epic story. In 1914, Joey, a beautiful bay-red foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western Front. With his officer, he charges toward the enemy, witnessing the horror of the battles in France. But even in the desolation of the trenches, Joey's courage touches the soldiers around him and he is able to find warmth and hope. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer's son he left behind. Will he ever see his true master again? Tally Youngblood is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait for the operation that turns everyone from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to party. But new friend Shay would rather hoverboard to "the Smoke" and be free. Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The "Special Circumstances" authority Dr Cable offers Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever. Family Genre Reading Level Author Title *Average Sita Brahmachari Artichoke Hearts *Average Bali Rai (Un)Arranged Marriage *Average Mary Hooper At the Sign of the Sugared Plum *Challenging Malorie Blackman Noughts & Crosses *Challenging *14+ Jenny Downham You Against Me *Challenging Roddy Doyle Wilderness *Challenging L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables Content Twelve-year-old Mira comes from a chaotic, artistic and outspoken family where it’s not always easy to be heard. As her beloved Nana Josie's health declines, Mira begins to discover the secrets of those around her, and also starts to keep some of her own. She is drawn to mysterious Jidé, a boy who is clearly hiding a troubled past and has grown hardened layers like those of an artichoke - around his heart. As Mira is experiencing grief for the first time, she is also discovering the wondrous and often mystical world around her. 'Harry and Ranjit were waiting for me - waiting to take me to Derby, to a wedding. My wedding. A wedding that I hadn't asked for, that I didn't want. To a girl who I didn't know... If they had bothered to open their eyes, they would have seen me: seventeen, angry, upset but determined - determined to do my own thing, to choose my own path in life...' Set partly in the UK and partly in the Punjab region of India, this is a fresh, bitingly perceptive and totally up-to-the-minute look at one young man's fight to free himself from family expectations and to be himself, free to dance to his own tune. It is 1665 and Hannah is full of excitement at the prospect of her first trip to London. She is going to help her sister, Sarah, in her candy shop, 'The Sugared Plum'. But Hannah does not get the welcoming reception she expected from her sister, because the Plague is taking hold of London. However, Hannah is determined to stay and together the two young women face the worst-with the possibility of their own demise, growing ever closer. But through it all they persevere with the support of their neighbours and each other. And at last, they find hope in a daring attempt to escape the city. Two young people are forced to make a stand in this thought-provoking look at racism and prejudice in an alternate society. Sephy is a Cross -- a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a Nought -- a "colourless" member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood, but that's as far as it can go. In their world, Noughts and Crosses simply don't mix. Against a background of prejudice and distrust, intensely highlighted by violent terrorist activity, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum -- a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger. Can they possibly find a way to be together? When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her, his world begins to fall apart. When Ellie's brother is charged with the offence, her world begins to unravel. When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide. A novel of mothers’ lost and found. Grainne's Mom disappeared years ago when her parents were divorced, and Mom moved to the U.S. Now, bafflingly, she's reappeared and wants to meet. What could she be up to? To get out of the way of this mysterious reunion, Grainne's half-brothers, Johnny and Tom, go with their mother, Sandra, on an "adventure holiday" in Finland. But before they're more than a few days into the snowy north, the boys are separated from Sandra, taking impossible risks to save her life. WILDERNESS is part-adventure, part-family drama with a charm that's all Roddy. Everyone's favourite redhead, the spunky Anne Shirley, begins her adventures at Green Gables, a farm outside Avonlea, Prince Edward Island. When the freckled girl realizes that the elderly Cuthberts wanted to adopt a boy instead, she begins to try to win them and, consequently, the reader, over. Fantasy Genre Reading Level *Average Author Philip Pullman & Leonid Gore Title ClockWork Content Fritz, the writer, spins a spine-tingling tale to cheer up Karl, the apprentice clockmaker. But rather than helping matters, the story beings to come true.... The stories of Karl, the apprentice; Dr. Kalmenius, his nefarious “savior”; Gretl, the brave daughter of the town innkeeper; and a young prince whose clockwork heart is in danger of winding down come together in surprising and magical ways in a story that has the relentless urgency of a ticking clock. Mystery Genre Reading Level Author Title *Detective *Average *15+ M.C.Beaton The Perfect Paragon *Detective *Challenging Arthur Conan Doyle The Sign of Four *Challenging Malie Meloy & Ian Shoenherr The Apothecary *Challenging Andy Mulligan Trash Content Detective Agatha Raisin must take on her greatest nightmare—a divorce case. Bad enough that her struggling detective agency needs the whacking great fee pompous businessman Robert Smedley is offering to prove his wife is unfaithful; it’s even worse that Mrs. Smedley is the kind of sweet, accomplished, lovely, gentle, and all-around perfectly wonderful spouse that Agatha couldn’t be in a thousand years. So, when Smedley turns up poisoned, Agatha is relieved enough to help his now-desperate wife clear her name. And with the assistance of her firm’s eccentric new staff, Agatha enthusiastically follows leads and a batch of suspects through the English countryside’s seediest byways. But the police aren’t about to let an interfering “amateur” beat them. Yellow fog is swirling through the streets of London, and Sherlock Holmes himself is sitting in a cocaine-induced haze until the arrival of a distressed and beautiful young lady, forces the great detective into action. Each year following the strange disappearance of her father, Miss Morstan has received a present of a rare and lustrous pearl. Now, on the day she is summoned to meet her anonymous benefactor, she consults Holmes and Watson. It’s 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows—a fascinating boy who’s not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin’s father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary’s sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies—Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. In an unnamed Third World country, in the not-so-distant future, three “dumpsite boys” make a living picking through the mountains of garbage on the outskirts of a large city. One unlucky-lucky day, Raphael finds something very special and very mysterious. So mysterious that he decides to keep it, even when the city police offer a handsome reward for its return. That decision brings with it terrifying consequences, and soon the dumpsite boys must use all of their cunning and courage to stay ahead of their pursuers. It’s up to Raphael, Gardo, and Rat—boys who have no education, no parents, no homes, and no money—to solve the mystery. Science Fiction Genre Reading Level Author Title *Easy read Stephenie Meyer Twilight *Average Allison Allen-Gray Unique *Average Suzanne Collins Mockingjay (The Hunger Games 1 series, book 3) *Average Ann Halam Dr Franklin’s Island *Average *15+ Stephanie Meyer The Host *Challenging Douglas Adams Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy *Challenging *14+ Michael Grant Gone Content Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife-between desire and danger. Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, this is a love story with bite. When Dominic discovers he had an older brother who died before he was born he realizes the reason why he is such a disappointment to his father. His brother was a brilliant academic and promising scientist - but Dominic prefers to spend his time painting. Dominic heads for Cambridge to find out more about his brother and discovers much more than he ever bargained for - after his brother's death his father had him cloned and the result was Dominic. How can Dominic ever live with this mind-blowing discovery? Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Kat, her family, friends, and entire District 12. Semi, Miranda, and Arnie are part of a group of 50 British Young Conservationists on their way to a wildlife conservation station deep in the rain forests of Ecuador. After a terrifying mid-air disaster and subsequent crash, these three are the sole survivors, stranded together on a deserted tropical island. Or so they think. Semi, Miranda, and Arnie stumble into the hands of Dr. Franklin, a mad scientist who’s been waiting for them, eager to use them as specimens for his experiments in genetic engineering. Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor. Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide. In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE. Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened. Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And time is running out… Thriller Genre Reading Level Author Title *Easy read Alyxandra Harvey Out for Blood (The Drake Chronicles series, book 3) *Average Chris Bradford Hostage (Bodyguard series, book1) *Average *15+ Will Hill Department 19 (series) *Average Sophie McKenzie The Set Up (Medusa Project series, bk 1) *Challenging *Age 15+ Linwood Barclay Never Look Away *Challenging Susan Hill The Woman in Black Content Hunter Wild is the youngest in a long line of elite vampire hunters, a legacy that is both a blessing and a curse at the secret Helios-Ra Academy, where she excels at just about everything. Thanks to her friendship with Kieran Black, Hunter receives a special invitation to attend the coronation of Helena Drake, and for the first time, she sees the difference between vampires that must be hunted and vampires that can become friends—or even more. When students at the academy fall victim to a mysterious illness, Hunter suspects they are under attack from within. She will need someone she can trust to help her save the future of Helios-Ra . . . help that shockingly comes in the form of Quinn Drake, a gorgeous vampire. In a dangerous world, everyone needs protection. No one suspects that a teenager could protect someone – but Connor Reeves is no ordinary 14 year old. He’s a professional bodyguard trained in surveillance, anti-ambush techniques, hostage survival and unarmed combat. When he’s summoned to protect the President’s daughter, his protection skills face the ultimate test. Jamie Carpenter's life will never be the same. His father is dead, his mother is missing, and he was just rescued by an enormous man named Frankenstein. Jamie is brought to Department 19, where he is pulled into a secret organization responsible for policing the supernatural, founded more than a century ago by Abraham Van Helsing and the other survivors of Dracula. Aided by Frankenstein's monster, a beautiful vampire girl with her own agenda and the members of the agency, Jamie must attempt to save his mother from a terrifyingly powerful vampire. Fourteen years ago, scientist William Fox implanted four babies with the Medusa gene - a gene for psychic abilities. But Fox died and the babies were hidden away for years. Now they're teenagers - and unaware that their psychic powers are about to kick in. Cocky, charismatic Nico thinks his emerging telekinetic abilities will bring him money, power and the girl of his dreams. He's about to find out just how wrong he is. A warm summer Saturday. An amusement park. David Harwood is glad to be spending some quality time with his wife, Jan, and their four-year-old son. But what begins as a pleasant family outing turns into a nightmare after an inexplicable disappearance. A frantic search only leads to an even more shocking and harrowing turn of events. Until this terrifying moment, David Harwood is just a small-town reporter in need of a break. His paper, the Promise Falls Standard, is struggling to survive. Then he gets a lead that just might be the answer to his prayers: a potential scandal involving a controversial development project for the outskirts of this picturesque upstate New York town. It’s a hot-button issue that will surely sell papers and help reverse the Standard’s fortunes, but strangely, David’s editors keep shooting it down … Set on the obligatory English moor, on an isolated causeway, the story has as its hero Arthur Kipps, an up-and-coming young solicitor who has come north from London to attend the funeral and settle the affairs of Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. The routine formalities he anticipates give way to a tumble of events and secrets more sinister and terrifying than any nightmare: the rocking chair in the deserted nursery, the eerie sound of a pony and trap, a child's scream in the fog, and most dreadfully--and for Kipps most tragically--The Woman In Black. Young Adults Genre Reading Level Author Title *Easy read *12+ Elizabeth Laird The Garbage King *Average Kevin Crossley Holland Gatty’s Tale *Fantasy *Average *14+ Sarah J Mass Throne of Glass *Comedy *Average John Van De Ruit Spud *Challenging J.G. Ballard Empire of the Sun Content This novel of unusual power for older boys and girls tells the gripping and dramatic story of homeless street children forced to do whatever they have to do in order to stay alive in the brutal slums of an Ethiopian city. The two main characters, Mamo and Dani, come from stable families but are hurled by circumstances beyond their control into the dangers and deprivations of street life. They find a makeshift way to survive when they are taken into a street gang led by a tough but likable boy named Million. The gang is composed of kids who have never known the security and happiness of family life. Children of our own culture, who take for granted the protections and comforts of home and family, will be shocked when they read this spellbinding story, but they will also learn about the deprivations, uncertainties, and sometimes the stark terror experienced today by too many Third World children. The story of Mamo and Dani, although alarming in its authenticity, is also an inspiring tale of courage and generosity in a world where danger and anxiety are the norm. In the year 1203, nine companions set out on a great pilgrimage. The journey - on foot, on horseback and by sea - is fraught with danger. Not all of them will come home. Among them is Gatty, whose whole life has been spent working in the fields. Bright, eager and resolute, with the singing voice of an angel, she is at the heart of this enthralling novel that sweeps across Europe towards Jerusalem. We come to know the pilgrims intimately - their bickering, praying and joking, their fear and exhaustion, their loyalty and sacrifice as they face thieves and storms and precipices, a vicious attack and a heartbreaking impulsiveness land her in danger, yet she is transformed by her experiences and by her exposure to new people and new ideas. How can she go back to her old life in the Welsh Marches after this? After serving out a year of hard labour in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. It's 1990. Apartheid is crumbling. Nelson Mandela has just been released from prison. And Spud Milton - thirteen-yearold, prepubescent choirboy extraordinaire - is about to start his first year at an elite boys-only boarding school in South Africa. Cursed with embarrassingly dysfunctional parents, a senile granny named Wombat, and a wild obsession for Julia Roberts, Spud has his hands full trying to adapt to his new home. Armed with only his wits and his diary, Spud takes readers of all ages on a rowdy boarding school romp full of illegal midnight swims, raging hormones, and catastrophic holidays that will leave the entire family in total hysterics and thirsty for more. The classic, award-winning novel tells of a young boy's struggle to survive World War II in China. Jim is separated from his parents in a world at war. To survive, he must find a strength greater than all the events that surround him. Shanghai, 1941 -- a city aflame from the fateful torch of Pearl Harbour. In streets full of chaos and corpses, a young British boy searches in vain for his parents. Imprisoned in a Japanese concentration camp, he is witness to the fierce white flash of Nagasaki, as the bomb bellows the end of the war...and the dawn of a blighted world. Young Adults Genre Reading Level Author *Challenging *14+ Stephen Chbosky *Challenging *13+ Jenny Downham *Challenging *14+ John Green *Different Cultures *Challenging Diane Matcheck *Challenging *Age 13+ Marissa Meyer *Challenging J.D.Salinger Title Content Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, The Perks of intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run being a from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, Wallflower family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the side line forever. Tessa has just a few months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating sideBefore I Die effects, Tessa compiles a list. It's her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is sex. Released from the constraints of 'normal' life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa's feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa's time finally runs out. Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours The Fault in our in her lungs... for now. Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, postStars friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey that will define her and her legacy. An Apsaalooka (Crow) Indian girl has lived her life as a despised loner, overshadowed by her dead twin brother, who, it The Sacrifice was prophesied at their birth, would become a "Great One" among his people. One night, she sets off on a forbidden journey to prove to her village, and her brother's spirit, that "she" is the one destined to become the true Great One. Her trek over the plains and into the mysterious region of modern-day Yellowstone National Park is a disaster, culminating in her eventual capture by a tribe of Pawnee. Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and Cinder (The blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly Lunar finds herself at the centre of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, Chronicles bk 1) loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. The hero-narrator of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield. Catcher in the Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, second hand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania Rye and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it. There are many voices in this novel: children's voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden's voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvellously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. What to do when you’ve read a book. Once you’ve read a book, record it in the book log overleaf. Don’t forget to get your parent/guardian to sign and date when you read it. There is also a book review section you must fill in for any one of the books you have read. Once you’ve read more than 6 books you can get a bronze reading certificate. Once you’ve read more than 9 books you can get a silver reading certificate. Once you’ve read more than 12 books you can get a gold reading certificate. Once you’ve read 16 books (2 of which must be Classics), you can get an elite platinum reading certificate. All you have to do is give your name to your English teacher and they will do the rest. At the end of the year, a prize will be given to the person who has read the most books! Book Log Book number Book title & author Star rating Challenge rating Would you recommend? Stretch word learnt? Parent/Guardian signature & date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sprowston Community High School: Mrs A. Harris Book Log Book number Book title & author Star rating Challenge rating Would you recommend? Stretch word learnt? Parent/Guardian signature & date 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Sprowston Community High School: Mrs A. Harris Book review Plot What was the story about? How did the opening hook you? Was the story told in chronological order? Characters Who were the main characters? What were they like? Which character did you find most interesting & why? Book review Your opinions What was your favourite moment in the story & why? How did you feel during and after the story? Do you think you learnt anything from the book about people? Ways of life? How would you compare it to other books you’ve read in this genre? Would you recommend this book/read another by the same author? Please note that the books included in this book list are the students’ choices and have not all been read by staff. Where there is an age appropriate issue the age has been researched (as far as is possible) and clearly stated in the Reading Level column, so that parents can guide their children in their selections.