This all began when Mr. Baker challenged Ms Webb the librarian to read Little Brother by Cory
Doctorow, then Ms Arthur said read…
So Ms Webb issued all staff with a challenge, a writing task and here is the result… not everyone has quite finished yet, so watch this space.

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I read Stoner
By John Williams
This moving book had a profound effect on me.( It is not about taking drugs, by the way!).
The book’s narrative follows the ordinary life of an English professor(William
Stoner) teaching at a Mid-Western
University, during the first half of the twentieth century. A man of quiet determination, he navigates the problems life throws at him with grace and dignity.
This includes ,the painful breakdown of a doomed marriage and the resultant estrangement of his only daughter, his passion for his subject ,despite his personal battles with some of his departmental colleagues at the university and the final realisation that his life has been unremarkable.This is a beautifully written book. I will miss
William Stoner.
My name is Mr Jackson and I teach English

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I read A Wild Sheep Chase
By Haruki Murakami
It was brilliant…. It is brilliant.
Everything I want and need from a novel.
A desire to visit the location helps –in this case Japan, particularly Tokyo in all its ordered craziness.
A mystery involving a hunt for a sheep with attractive characters and a sheep-man ……c’mon what more do you want? It’s like Sherlock Holmes but not him! And it is set in a very socially disciplined world.
There’s a kind of sequel called
’Dance, Dance, Dance’ –which is brilliant!
My name is Mr Salmon and I teach Mathematics and some Politics

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I read Life after Life
By Kate Atkinson
This is an unusual read and very thought provoking! Imagine living your life over and over again; experiencing being born and dying in different ways a multitude of times while correcting the mistakes you made and with the possibility of choosing a different path along the way.
That’s the essence of this book- if you feel you’ve read a passage before then you probably have as it retells events but with different outcomes.
If you want to read a novel which constantly reminds you that you are reading a story while at the same time seems unbelievably real then this is one for you!
My name is Ms Konec and I teach children.

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I read The Hosts Of Rebecca
By Alexander Cordell
It was one of the first novels I ever read as a teenager long long ago.
It is about West Wales and the struggle of the people against the masters and their unfair taxes and tolls.
It felt very much a part of my history; a story that many of my school friends were living at the time –they were from coal mining families who were out of work and really struggling.
The black gold that was coal was very much a part of the landscape of my growing up.
My name is Mr Salmon and I teach Mathematics and some Politics.

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I read Selected Poems
By E.E. Cummings
Woody Allen’s film Hannah and Her Sisters contains a number of great cultural references. The ones that stand out for me are the stunningly beautiful piece of music by Bach – his F minor harpsichord concerto and a poem by E.E. Cummings. As a result of this film I bought a copy of the selected works of E.E Cummings. I return to this selection of poems occasionally and enjoy its simplicity and directness.
The main character is a well read, sophisticated intellectual. Despite all of his achievements and appreciation of culture and great literature he cannot make sense of his own feelings of love. The recital of the poem in the film is skilfully placed to highlight the overwhelming power of feelings and the limits of reason in making sense of our lives. your slightest look easily will unclose me though i have closed myself as fingers, you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose
My name is Mr. Kubilius and I teach Music

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I read A Star Called Henry
By Roddy Doyle
It is brilliant; a fictional account around the time of the Easter Rising in Dublin
1916. It makes me live the story –the agony, the dirt, the noise of a nation being born.
Doyle writes in a way that makes me sound Irish in ‘me head’ –an accent, a language that makes English beautiful –a country that is green in its poverty and filth.
It is such a fascinating record of a time when the world was going crazy with war and one man’s journey/struggle to cope, to survive and make something of himself….a star.
My name is Mr Salmon and I teach Mathematics and some Politics.

I read A Monster Calls
By Patrick Ness
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I have never actually cried at the end of a novel before; felt sadness, loss, satisfaction and disappointment yes, but never cried, until this novel. It was recommended to me by a year 8 student who told me it was an emotive novel and that it was ‘difficult ’in places.
This is the story of Conor, who has a reoccurring nightmare about his mother, who is suffering from cancer. One day, however, he has a nightmare that seems too real. It is! A real monster visits Conor to tell him three stories or ‘truths.’ Conor in turn has to tell the monster his ‘truth.’
This is a beautiful novel, it will tear your heart apart at the end, when we finally share with Conor what his ‘truth’ is. The illustrations by Jim Kay only add to the harrowing and mystery of this novel.
My name is Miss Simmons and I teach English

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I read Pigeon English
By Stephen Kelman
It was… one of the funniest books I have ever read! The story is told by the main character Harrison Okupu (Harri). The book covers some very serious topics; gang violence and murder are just two of them!
But through the innocent eyes of Harri, it doesn’t seem so real and dangerous- he plays a detective trying to work out who is behind a murder on his estate. He gets in to all sorts of trouble with his older sister and her friends as well as other residents on the Dell Farm estate and is constantly ducking and diving to stay out of trouble.
The book also deals with the harsh truth of gang violence and really hits hard. A book I wont forget and a character that still makes me smile
My name is Miss Sparkes and I teach BTEC, Maths & RE

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I read The Quiet American
By Graham Greene
It was about a British journalist and an
American soldier in the special forces who are both sent to Vietnam and fall in love with the same girl.
It helped me to imagine what life might have been like for Westerners who were sent to Vietnam during the war and the sort of things they might worry about apart from the war.
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.

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I read One Child
By Torey Hayden
It was emotional!!! The book is a true story, the challenges that face the teacher and the child are huge. It is sad to read about the reasons behind the difficulties faced by the child. It was inspiring to read about the successes they made together.
I don’t read a lot but this series of books by Torey from her educational psychology career are really interesting. They are hard to read for the emotional context as there are many true/adapted true stories.
My name is Mr Davey and I teach P.E.

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I read The Ballad of Peckham Rye
By Muriel Spark
It was really fun to read. The book tells the story of a Scottish man who arrives in Peckham and causes problems for some of the people living there.
It was really interesting to find out what Peckham was like in the 1950s and thinking about how it has changed since then and how it has stayed the same too.
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.

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I read This Thing of Darkness
By Harry Thompson
It was about Charles Darwin and his now famous voyage around the world on a ship named the Beagle where he gathered crucial evidence and observations that led to his theory of natural selection. A historical fiction, it focused on the touching relationship between Darwin and the ship’s captain Robert Fitzroy and their increasingly opposing viewpoints on God and Creation among other things.
Darwin went on to publish his theories and became famous, Fitzroy pioneered the Met
Report and descended into madness….
A brilliant, gripping and thought-provoking novel – the pages just turned themselves!
My name is Winston Lo and I teach Science.

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I read The Day of the Triffids
By John Wyndham
It was probably my favourite book that I read this summer. It is a science-fiction book which is not a genre I usually read. I liked it because it was set in London and the South East of England.
It made me think about how people behave in a crisis, the sort of world we live in now and the sort of world I would like to live in.
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.

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I read Storm Front (Book 1 of The Dresden
Files)
By Jim Butcher
Harry is the only real wizard in the yellow pages.
HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD
Lost Items Found.
Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses,
Parties or Other Entertainment
The first in a series of fast paced books full of action, comedy, strong characters and magic as this private eye battles
Vampires, faeries, demons and evil wizards.
Please don’t blame me if your grades start to suffer if you read all 14 books.
My name is Mr Evans and I teach Science.

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I read The Submission
By Amy Waldman
Written by a New York Times journalist, the Submission of the title is a sealed bid to design the memorial to be built on the site of the World Trade Centre post 9/11.
The winner turns out to be an American
Muslim, Mohammad Khan.
The families of those who died in the attack do not want the memorial built by him, and public opinion is mixed. And what is his motivation for designing this?
An intelligent and thought-provoking look at some of the debates which arose in
America after 9/11.
My name is Mr Pinfold and I teach English and Film Studies.

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I read The Museum of Innocence
By Orhan Pamuk
It was the longest book I read this summer! Sometimes I found it really easy to read and sometimes I felt like it was just too long!
It was set in Istanbul, the capital of
Turkey, and tells the story of a man who becomes obsessed with a woman.
It was really interesting to learn about
Turkish culture and there really is a
Museum of Innocence in Istanbul now – I hope I get to visit it one day!
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.

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I read A Game of Thrones
By George R.R. Martin
It was excellent!
The book is described as an epic fantasy.
I like how each chapter is told from a different character’s point of view and how that leads to many plot twists and intrigues. I like how as a reader that you know different pieces of information that all start to piece together at the end.
Plus the battles and dragons make it an exciting read!
My name is Miss Lewis and I teach Science.

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I read Animal Farm
By George Orwell
It was a great short novel with straightforward language, memorable characters and an incredible ending.
It’s about a gang of animals who take over a farm and run it themselves.
Their motto is ‘four legs (animals) good, two legs (humans) bad’. But are all the animals really good?
I recommend it to anyone of any age. It is an ageless, timeless book that you’ll return to again and again, discovering new things every time.
My name is Lewis Dawber and I teach people.

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I read India
By Patrick French
It was a non-fiction book all about how
India has changed since they became an independent country in 1947.
I read it because I am going to go to
India for Christmas and I wanted to know what it might be like.
I have read another book by Patrick
French about the Indian independence movement and I really like the way he writes. He talks about big themes but also tells really interesting stories about individual people that are funny or sad or just very unusual!
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.

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I read Pig Iron
By Benjamin Myers
It was gritty, honest and brutal yet poetic and beautiful.
It tells the tale of John-John Wisdom, recently released from a youngoffenders institute, a young man with a dream; a dream to escape from the shadow of his violent father Mac – infamous bare-knuckle fighter.
Told in multiple narrative voice and with a shocking and tragic conclusion,
Pig Iron has me gripped.
My name is Miss Evans and I teach English.

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I read Shelter
By Harlan Coben
Mickey Bolitar is having a troubled time: his dad has just died; his mum is in rehab and he is forced to go and live with his uncle. The one bright spot is meeting his girlfriend, Ashley. Life is starting to get better for Mickey until one day, Ashley vanishes. Soon Mickey gets caught up in a mystery. What has happened to Ashley? Is his father really dead? Why is the paramedic who took his father's body away in a picture from the
1940s on his crazy neighbour's mantelpiece?
My name is Miss Blunden and I teach History.

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I read Candide
By Voltaire
It was something I read as a philosophy student and then I heard a writer on the radio, say that he read it every ten years, as it has different meaning for each stage of your life.
I was shocked to find how violent, sexist and racist it was and that I must have either blocked that out of my mind or it has fundamentally developed my humanitarian outlook.
It’s a pacy adventure story of an innocent/ naïve young man, his choices to be or not to be, affected directly by those people he meets along the way.
I love a good classic.
My name is Ms Porthouse and I teach Explorers.

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I am still reading Atlas Shrugged
By Ayn Rand
This is the last book I started this summer and so far I really like it. It is very long so I don’t think I’ll finish it until half term!
It is a really fascinating story about all the men of talent disappearing for apparently no reason and how things stop working without them. My favourite thing about the book is that the lead character is a really strong female who is very clever and successful. I don’t know how it finishes yet but I can’t wait to find out!
My name is Ms Davey and I teach History.

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I read Percy Jackson and the Lightning
Thief
By Rick Riordan
It was a really good read, I preferred it to the film, it was amazing to see the difference between the book and the film, the book had me using my imagination more.
A very good read.
My name is Miss Davies and I teach Design and Technology.

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I read The Invisible Man
By H.G.Wells.
It was a real page turner.
The story was first published in 1897 and so is set at the end of the Victorian Era, but the story is thrilling and as it is a science fiction story the plot seems very modern for its time.
A stranger arrives at an inn on a snowy winter’s day. He keeps his hat and gloves on and his scarf wrapped over his face.
No one can see what he looks like. No one could guess that he had found a way of turning himself invisible. What would you do if you could be invisible? This man turns to crime. He steals and hurts other people for his own gain, but he is alone.
How can he be stopped?
My name is Ms. Kenton and I teach Languages.

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I read Persepolis
By Marjane Sartrapi
It was a really powerful account of a young girl growing up in war torn Iran.
It was an unusual choice for me because it is a graphic novel and I’ve never thought that I would enjoy stopping, to make sense of the pictures, as well as the words. However having read this book, I’m a graphic novel convert. The pictures add so much in terms of the places, people and experiences in the book, that I found myself scanning them for every little detail.
My name is Roisin McEvoy and I teach English.