I am often asked for suggestions of novels which are particularly accessible and engaging for our new Y9 and  current Y10. Here is a quick list of some titles which have proved popular in the past with our students. Some are so well regarded that they are considered modern young adult or children’s classics such as ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar and ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy by Philip Pullman (the first book is ‘Northern Lights’)

• Holes – Louis Sachar
• Noughts and Crosses series and Pig-Heart Boy by Malorie Blackman
• My Swordhand is Singing by Marcus Sedgwick (chilling Gothic vampire tale)
• The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton (the original teenage rebel story, a young adult classic which is still readable and relevant today)
• Pompeii and Archangel by Robert Harris
• The Chocolate War – Robert Cormier (not for the faint-hearted!)
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (short dystopian novel written in 1953 set in a future American society where owning books is illegal and ‘firemen’ are sent to burn any books they discover)
• Any of John Green’s novels
• Smart by Kim Slater (for fans of The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon)
• Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
• The Gone series by Michael Grant
• The Robert Galbraith(aka J.K. Rowling) detective/murder mysteries
• Itch books by Simon Mayo (for those interested in action packed adventure stories on a scientific theme.)

‘Boy X’ by Dan Smith and ‘Lifers’ by Martin Griffin are two recently published young adult novels which a number of current Y10 form boys raved about. They recommended ‘Lifers’ for fans of ‘The Maze Runner’ series.

See the reading lists page and reading recommendations for  further recommendations

Happy holiday reading!