Summer Reading 2023

As is our custom, we sent out a book for summer reading to our incoming 3rd Formers (Y9) and encouraged tutors and teaching staff to read it too. We deliberate long and hard to find a book which appeals to boys and girls, isn’t too lengthy for our less keen readers, is thought-provoking, and lends itself to discussion in tutor groups. This is not designed to be an English set text or feel like homework; rather a welcome to the Library and here’s a book to read for enjoyment over the long summer break. For some, it may be the only book they read over the holidays, for others a style they would not have picked up by choice and for a number of avid readers a short reading experience in a long list keenly recorded on Good Reads or their favourite reading app.

During the library induction session on Day 1 at Wellington we gave tutor groups a quick tour of the library and explained what we offer in terms of books, e-books, audiobooks, information, extensive digital resources, support with projects and inter-library loans as well as providing chess, board games and jigsaws. It was also an opportunity to canvas feedback on the summer book and start a conversation about keeping the reading habit going at Wellington.

Reading Attitudes Survey

The students also filled in a Reading Survey exploring their attitudes towards reading and their habits. We have yet to fully analyse the results but it is interesting to note how many state that they would read more if they could find the ideal book for them. Many said their preferred reading times are holidays and before falling asleep. We’ve taken steps to address the former and are keen to work with House staff to encourage the latter.

The survey helps us identify and nurture avid readers with recommendations and book clubs and also help the more reluctant readers or students who struggle with reading to find the right book.

We’re looking forward to discussing ‘The Blue Book of Nebo’ with a number of tutor groups from next week and setting up tutor group reads so they can share their reading. It is pleasing that The Blue Book of Nebo deservedly went on to win the Yoto Carnegie Book Prize.

Here are some 3rd Form student comments on the book:

I found it was a very interesting book. I thought the idea of a family fighting for survival in a future dystopian world very intense and page turning. It made me always on my nerves and made me want to keep on reading.

I thought it was a book with a strong message behind it – technology, pizza and the joys of modern life aren’t everything, but family is – it shows perseverance in life and teaches you to be grateful with your life at the moment – I am looking forward to seeing how the book ends.

I really liked it as some books have straight forward endings e.g. good/bad endings while in this book it really depends on how you view it while the mother wanted life to continue as it is, some people who read/reading the book ‘hoped’ everything came back to normal.

I felt it was a very enjoyable book. The idea of a dystopian future intrigued me. It was a very clever book which displayed emotion in the troubles of the family.

‘adventurous but a bit confusing.’

I really enjoyed learning about both opinions and how the mother thought of life before the end and how Dylan’s life changed after then and  how their lives changed drastically after.

I really enjoyed the book and I think that it was very insightful and interesting. My favourite but also the saddest part of the book was when the little sister died and the mother was crying at her grave.

It was an amazing book and very heart warming and interesting.

I am enjoying it but it’s not my usual type of book I like to read.

I felt like it was very upsetting and I’m not really used to reading a book like it.

I thought it shows what life is like without civilisation and without any electricity and it was an interesting plot and a good storyline.

I found the concept interesting at the start and the messages and morals about a world without tech. However, I found the ending to be underwhelming and unfulfilled.

We also sent it to our new 4th Form students and here are some of their responses:

I liked the book as it was interesting to see a dystopian world. However, it interests me because it seems such like the real world we live in which is relatively worrying because the book shows how you can lose so much so quickly which as a result makes you more grateful for what you have.

I feel like the book covers a large variety of different topics with lots of different messages. For instance, the book demonstrates that we should appreciate everything we have because things can always rapidly have a turning point. I also enjoyed reading it because it is relatable to the modern world. It is a very intriguing book where you are curious what will happen next where you also wonder whether or not the characters will survive .

At first I felt it was a bit boring because I couldn’t understand the story. But once I officially started it the different stories told by Dylan and Rowenna were interesting. It a very nice book but I wouldn’t like to read it for pleasure though.

I think that the book was really well written but I didn’t really like the fact that they didn’t explain exactly what the end was.

Some of our students would have preferred a more plot driven novel, others wanted a more clear-cut ending. Whether they enjoyed it or found it unsettling, what is clear is The Blue Book of Nebo had a lasting impact on the readers spurring them to empathise with the characters and put themselves in that post-apocalyptic survival scenario.

Y9 reading week – Summer Term 2019

‘Moonrise’ by Sarah Crossan

‘A very quick read that will emotionally stick with you forever.’

Looking for a meaningful focus for the final week of the school year the Head of 3rd form proposed a ‘Reading Week’. This fitted perfectly with the whole school aim to encourage and promote more reading across all year groups and the Head of English and Library staff were keen to get involved and support this.

We agreed that we liked the idea of all students reading the same book during the week with a part of each lesson (and possibly the whole lesson in some cases) dedicated to quiet individual reading – or reading aloud in groups of around the class. We invited teachers to bring classes to the library for a change of venue in a comfortable, informal environment.

The tricky bit was deciding on a book. We agreed we wanted it to be fiction and preferably a shortish, accessible, recently published YA title with emphasis on the enjoyment of the reading experience and far removed from the feel of an English lesson ‘set text’. It was important that the book would draw in self-confessed ‘reluctant readers’ while at the same time being an enjoyable experience for keen readers. I read many YA books I’d been planning to read and English teachers recommended some of their favourites before eventually agreeing on ‘Moonrise’ by Sarah Crossan. Our Head of English raced to finish reading it and was very moved by it. We both agreed that the themes were thought-provoking and encouraged discussion of the issues of capital punishment and death row.

The reading week was launched in a year group assembly and I introduced the book and gave a brief overview of the scenario and characters. We were delighted that Sarah Crossan sent us a witty video message which we played in the assembly and the students spontaneously applauded.

As they left the assembly each student was given a copy of ‘Moonrise’ to read and keep. Any returned will be kept in the library as a loanable tutor group set.

Feedback from teachers and students was very positive. The Head of Y10 is keen to run something similar for her year group at the end of the Summer Term next year and we will refine and develop this idea for Y9 next year.  I certainly enjoyed my time reading in the library surrounded by a class,  teacher and library staff all reading in companionable silence. It was lovely to see two girls come into the library to borrow more of Sarah’s books as they’d finished ‘Moonrise’ and wanted to read other similar books. By the end of the week all the library copies of Sarah Crossan’s books had been issued (to students and staff) and she rapidly became the 2nd most borrowed author of the year.

We also had two visits from staff dogs to the library to keep the students company and ran book cover quizzes and book dingbats.

So far my very brief questionnaire, sent out in the holidays has had 44 responses (out of a year group of 185).

• All of the respondents either finished reading the novel in school during the week or finished it in their free time afterwards.
• Only 1 student said they didn’t enjoy having time to read in lessons during the week.

There were some very interesting and positive comments about the book:

It was very sad, and made me reconsider my thoughts on the death penalty.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Moonrise and thought it was an excellent read!!

It was really good I liked that it was written in verse as it was a nice change from other novels I have read.

A very quick read that will emotionally stick with you forever.

It was extremely good but had a very traumatic ending.

I thought that the ending made the book more relatable.

It’s awesome.

I found it extremely eye-opening and heart wrenching. I always enjoy these books and the format is very effective at emphasising certain aspects of the story.

Really clever the format in which the pages were written.

I liked how the pages weren’t very long, meaning it was easy to read and you felt like you had made more progress in the book than you actually had.

The writing style made the book quick and easy to read. The story builds up to a climax, ending very sadly. It made me think about what it would be like to be in a disjointed family.

I found it hard to concentrate on the story line when all the pages were printed as poems on different lines.

I asked the students to suggest a possible book for next year and these were there suggestions:

• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
• Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
• Blood Ties by Sophie Mackenzie
• Numbers by Rachel Ward
• After the Fire by Will Hill
• Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
• Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• Release by Patrick Ness
• Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
• Bodyguard by Chris Bradford
• Any Jodi Picoult
• I think a modern classic would be good so that classics can be gently introduced to get rid of any reticence to read them!

It was lovely to receive your postcards with comments on your responses to ‘The boy at the top of the mountain’ by John Boyne. We appreciated the positive feedback and are looking forward to having our book discussion tutorials with all of you as term progresses. This is an opportunity for all our new Y9s to share their views on a book they are read over the summer and to recommend favourite books to their peers.

Here are two insightful reviews:

‘This book is filled to the brim with emotional scenes, touching moments and inspirational messages. Although depressing and dark at times, John Boyne manages to convey a meaningful message of how the people you grow up around can influence your life forever. A similar book to this is ‘The boy in the striped pyjamas’ That book is also based on WWll and the life of a German boy during the war.’

Torsten writes:

‘To Wellington Library,

Powerful, devastating and tragic are the three wors that most strongly come to mind after reading this book. The theme of manipulation scared me and that Pierrot could be controlled and transformed into a different character…..Tragic! A must read!

(I removed a small section to avoid a plot spoiler!)

Fun and fierce competition characterised the Y9 library induction sessions. After a whistle-stop tour around the library our house groups (mixed boys and girls’ houses where possible) had a go at a Kahoot online quiz based on information about the library. We were impressed at how much they’d taken in on a very busy, information rich day!

We’ve had a wonderful start to this academic year in terms of seeing a great deal of the new Y9s in the Library. Not only have they been joining us for research sessions during their geography lessons (getting to grips with the wealth of online resources on the e-Library) but they are also coming to us for ‘book chat’ tutorials – sharing their likes and dislikes and recommending books to their peers. This year each tutor group will have a discussion with one of the librarians – starting off with a Kahoot to quiz what they remember about ‘Revolver’ by Marcus Sedgwick (the book they were all given to read over the summer) and another to hear about their responses to it.

Each Y9 class is having a one hour session in the Library every fortnight providing the opportunity to choose books freely, bring books or e-readers from home, recommend books for new stock and where multiple copies exist read the same book as friends so that they can discuss it afterwards. We are particularly encouraging the pupils to try different types of books and are currently developing our collection of graphic novels – both in size and range. We now have our first Manga and comic books and graphic novels on topics in history such as Palestine by Joe Sacco and Barefoot Gen: a cartoon story of Hiroshima. Author Sarah Crossan did an excellent presentation on verse novels at a librarians’ conference and we have a small collection of free verse novels – an unusual form but surprisingly compelling as well as generally quick to read.

It has been incredibly encouraging to see how enthusiastically the new students have shared their favourite books and at the same time how honest others have been about not being ‘readers’. We have a hugely supportive staff who share their reading recommendations through posters on their classroom doors, the loan of books and chatting to students. Here is a blog post by an American school librarian that I wholeheartedly agree with:  Learning to read alone is not enough. Your students need a reading champion. 

Let’s hope we can keep this reading momentum as they progress up the school!

Here are some of the Y9 student suggestions (many more to come!)

Y9 Orange Book Recommendations

The House of Silk – Anthony Horowitz (this was the first official new Sherlock Holmes mystery)

Before I Die – Jenny Downham

Cuckoo Song – Frances Hardinge

My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult

The secrets we keep – Jonathan Harvey

An island of our own – Sally Nicholls

The London Eye mystery – Siobhan Dowd

Cherub series by Robert Muchamore

We need to talk about Kevin – Lionel Shriver

The Leopard – Jo Nesbo (and any of his crime novels!)

It’s kind of a funny story – Ned Vizzini

We all looked up – Tommy Wallach (the story of an asteroid on a potential collision course with Earth as told from the alternating viewpoints of four high school students.)

Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom (on the Wellbeing Top Ten Reads list)

Mum, can you lend me twenty quid? – Elizabeth Burton-Phillips (subtitled: What drugs did to my family)

Archangel – Robert Harris

An officer and a spy – Robert Harris

Y9 Picton – recommended reads:

Noughts and Crosses series – Malorie Blackman

My swordhand is singing – Marcus Sedgwick

Midwinter Blood – Marcus Sedgwick

Paper Towns – John Green

Alex Rider series

Holes – Louis Sachar

Journey’s End – R.C. Sherriff

Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time – Mark Haddon

Pig-heart Boy – Malorie Blackman

Tell me no lies – Malorie Blackman

Any and all of John Green’s books

‘If you haven’t read the whole of the Harry Potter series you haven’t lived’ Lucas

See more pupil book reviews here