KS3 reading list

READING List

K S 3

CONTENTS Introduction

3

Fantasy

4

Detective & Crime

5

Horror and Ghost Stories

6

Humour

7

Poetry and Drama

8

Historical Fiction

9

Science Fiction and Dystopia

10

Graphic Novels

11

Relationships

12

Adventure

13

Pre-1900

14

Have you read them all?

15

KS3 READING LIST 2

INTRODUCTION Welcome to the King Edward VI Five Ways English Department Reading List for Year 7 and 8.

We want you to enjoy literature as much as we do; not only is it key to success in English exams, but reading improves your imagination, memory, verbal skills, empathy and reduces stress. Exploring novels opens your mind to new places, cultures and ways of thinking.

You might be searching for a book that will change your life, or some lighter reading for the beach - we are sure you will find something to suit in the following pages.

Books are organised by genre or period, so you can get a sense of the variety of literature you are reading.

By the end of Key Stage 3 (Y8), we in the English department think you should have read‌

KS3 READING LIST 3

FANTASY His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

Sabriel - Garth Nix

Ly ra i s d ra w n i n t o a

The sun is shining in

fantastic adventure when

Ancelstierre. A few yards away

her friend

Roger

across the border in the Old

disappears under rather

Kingdom, it is snowing. Death

mysterious circumstances. She soon finds out that

has been waiting for this

Mrs Coulter and her evil friends are after her, for

moment for centuries, and

some purpose she must discover for herself. The

only one person stands

trilogy cannot be praised enough. Read and

against them; Sabriel, a 16-year-old girl with a

marvel!

terrible destiny.

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

The New Policeman - Kate Thompson

Bilbo Baggins is a friendly hobbit

There’s a new policeman in

who is content with his quiet life.

Kinvara, but he doesn’t seem to

One day he receives some strange

do his job very well. Growing

visitors: a wizard called Gandalf

numbers of missing socks, a small

and a band of dwarves. Life will

matter of time itself disappearing,

never be the same again.

and rumours flying are just some

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis

of the odd occurrences - but could they be

Carroll

connected? Myth, traditional music and Celtic

Now 150 years old, Alice’s tale

gods contribute to this exciting Irish mystery.

follows a hasty hare

The Wind Singer series - William Nicholson

underground—where she

The Hath family live in Amaranth

comes face-to-face with some

and all of life is controlled by

of the strangest adventures

exams. Even two year olds have

and most fantastic characters in all of literature.

to take part, with results that

Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer

determine their families’ futures.

Magic, humour, and adventures

Kestrel Hath dares to rebel and

abound when Artemis Fowl - a

sets off a series of events

12-year-old boy with a girl’s

launching her on an epic journey. A fantasy series

name - is on a quest to find Fairy

you may well love, even if you think you aren’t into

Gold.

fantasy.

KS3 READING LIST 4

DETECTIVE & CRIME Death Cloud - Andrew Lane The year is 1868, and

The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency -

Sherlock Holmes is

Alexander McCall Smith

fourteen. His life is

A humorous first book in a series

that of a perfectly

of novels set in Botswana,

ordinary

army

Precious Ramotswe founds a

officer’s son: boarding school, good manners, a

detective agency and leads us to

classical education – the backbone of the British

discover such things as wayward

Empire. But all that is about to change.

daughters, missing husbands,

Selected Sherlock Holmes stories - Arthur

philandering partners, and

Conan Doyle

curious conmen, all in her rickety white van.

Try ‘A Study in Scarlet, ‘The Red-

The Ruby in the Smoke - Philip Pullman

Headed League’, or ‘The Hound of

‘Have you ever heard the

the Baskervilles’. There’s a reason

phrase The Seven Blessings?’

Holmes and his long-suffering

That question causes a man to

sidekick have lasted so long!

die of shock, and propels Sally Lockhart into an adventure that will expose the deepest secrets

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-

of the corrupt and murderous opium trade. Sally is sixteen

Time - Mark Haddon The most amazing thing about

when the story begins, orphaned and alone.

a good book is that it can take

A Gathering Light - Jennifer Donnelly

you inside the mind of a

This wonderful book brilliantly

completely different person.

intertwines fiction and reality.

When Christopher, a 14-year-

Set in a small New England

old boy with autism discovers a

resort town in 1906, it tells the

murdered dog on his neighbour's lawn, he

story of Mattie and how her life

decides to solves the mystery using the detective

interacts with that of drowned

methods of his idol, the identity of whom you can

Grace Brown.

probably guess given the previous two suggestions…

P U B L I S H E R

KS3 READING LIST 5

HORROR AND GHOST STORIES The Red Room - H.G. Wells "Eight-and-twenty years," said I, "I have lived, and never a ghost have I seen as yet.”

Things are about to change in this gripping short story…

The Company of Ghosts- Berlie Doherty Over the past year many things have changed in Ellie’s life.

Fortunately she meets Morag, a friend from orchestra, who says she can stay at her house.

When events take a tragic turn, in the confusion Ellie is left alone on the island. But she soon starts to wonder whether she may not be on her own after all…

Darren Shan - Lord Loss Lord Loss is the first title in Darren Shan's The Demonata series. Grubbs Grady thinks he's having a bad day when he's sent home from school. Very soon however, he learns that this is the least of his worries. On opening his bedroom door, Grubbs finds Hell and the dead bodies of his father, mother and younger sister, all murdered by Lord Loss and his demons.

Coraline - Neil Gaiman Coraline lives in a big old house with her mum and dad. One day she opens a door she’s never found before and enters a parallel universe. But stranger and stranger things start to happen.

Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale - Holly Black As a child, Kaye took her faerie friends for granted. Dragged back into their world as an independent 16-year-old, she discovers that it is no longer friendly, and is now patrolled by two competing rulers.

City of Bones - Cassandra Clare An evening takes an unexpected turn for Clary when she witnesses what looks like a murder - but the victim's body has vanished into thin air. New York is the city that never sleeps — but evil spirits, angels, warlocks, faeries and shadow-hunters don’t need much rest anyway.

The Signalman - Charles Dickens A story of supernatural powers, and of the men who believe, and struggle not to believe, in them. At first tricky because of the older language, but worth it for the spine tingles and chills!

KS3 READING LIST 6

HUMOUR My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell

Boys Don’t Knit - T S Easton Ben Fletcher must get to grips with his more

Gerald Durrell loved animals, and

'feminine' side following an

in this laugh-out-loud yarn he

unfortunate incident with a

recounts the astonished and

lollipop lady and a stolen bottle of

often-horrified reaction of his

Martini Rosso from Waitrose. All a

mother and siblings, newly

misunderstanding of course. To

settled in Corfu, as he ferries home a selection of

avoid the Young Offenders unit,

furry and creepy creatures…

Ben is ordered to give something back to the

The Chronicles of Narmo - Caitlin Moran

community and develop his sense of social

Morag Narmo doesn't want to go

alignment.

to school: she and her rabble of

The Positively Last Performance - Geraldine

siblings would rather feed their

McCaughrean

heads into a waste disposal unit

Gracie’s parents arrive in a

than 'do the academical'. When

seaside town with a plan to

the children convince their parents

restore its run-down theatre – but

to take them out of school and educate them at

it is there that Gracie meets the

home, a muddle of chaotic events ensue.

ghosts. There’s Miss Melluish, who

All Creatures Great and Small - James

faced a freak wave; Joanie and Jim who met a lion

Herriot

on the beach; and actor Roland and the trauma of Delve into the unforgettable world

the day he died his hair - we are treated to the

of James Herriot, the world's most

entertaining and exuberant life stories of them all.

beloved veterinarian, and his

Geek Girl - Holly Smale

menagerie of heartwarming, funny,

Everyone at school knows Harriet

and tragic animal patients.

Manners is a geek – she’s always spouting random facts, has zero fashion sense and can often be

Dodger - Terry Pratchett Terry Pratchett proves himself a

found in a tangled heap on the

master storyteller in this tribute to

floor after falling over. But Harriet

one of Dickens' best-known

just can’t see why this means everyone seems to

characters, the Artful Dodger.

hate her.

KS3 READING LIST 7

POETRY AND DRAMA Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare A street brawl between their rival

What are We Fighting About? - B. Moses and

families is the prelude to Romeo’s

R. Stevens

first encounter with Juliet. Despite

Starting from 1914, this collection of poems

this, they fall in love. But any plans

explores individual as well as

for their future happiness are

universal experiences of life, love,

cruelly destroyed by renewed

death and bereavement at times of

violence between their families.

unrest from the perspective of

Billy Liar - Keith Waterhouse

adults, children, soldiers and

Billy Fisher is a young Yorkshireman living at home with his parents. He

civilians.

The Weight of Water - Sarah Crossan

fights the boredom of his

When Kasienka’s father leaves the

humdrum existence by constant

family home in Poland in search of

daydreaming. Much of this fantasy

a new life, her mother resolves to

life is centred on an imaginary

follow him to England. Kasienka

country called Ambrosia, where Billy is the ruler

finds their shabby home in

and military hero.

Coventry damp and depressing.

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (adapted by

She is constantly made to feel like an outsider in

Philip Pullman)

her new school and finds no solace at home, as

Frankenstein is the famous story

her mother spends all her free time determinedly

of a young man who thinks he

searching the streets of Coventry for her missing

can change the world by making

husband. The only release Kasienka finds from her

better human beings. Instead he

problems is through swimming and an important

creates a living monster with a mind of its own.

friendship she makes. This beautiful book is

The Best Poems Ever - ed. by Edric S.

written in verse.

Mesmer

Unheard Voices - Malorie Blackman

These are some of the most

This collection of writing about

amazing poems ever written,

slavery was published to coincide

touching the heart, challenging the

with the 200 year anniversary of

mind, and conjuring worlds of

the Abolition of the Slave Trade

experience and imagination.

Act 1807.

KS3 READING LIST 8

HISTORICAL FICTION

Coram Boy - Jamila Gavin Captain

Coram

was

a

The Silver Sword - Ian Serraillier

philanthropist who opened a

The classic tale of a journey

hospital for abandoned children

through war-torn Europe. Alone

in the mid-18th century. Here is

and fending for themselves in a

the tale of two young boys that

Poland devastated by World War

came into its care and discovered dark and

Two, Jan and his three friends

horrifying secrets.

cling to the silver sword as a

Chinese Cinderella - Adeline Yen Mah

symbol of hope. As they travel through Europe

This isn’t a fairy story, it’s a true

towards Switzerland, where they believe they will

story, an autobiography. When

be reunited with their parents, they encounter

Adeline was born in China, her

hardships and dangers.

mother died shortly afterwards,

The Executioner’s Daughter - Jane Hardstaff

and she was blamed. Her father

The crowds at the Tower of

thought her unlucky, and she was

London love nothing better than

treated with contempt by the family. Despite the

the grisly spectacle of an

ill-treatment, Adeline’s story is inspiring.

execution. But as the

Troy - Adele Geras

executioner's daughter, Moss

You probably know the story of

has seen more than her fair share

Helen of Troy, whose face

of horror. Every day she longs to escape,

launched a thousand ships. If you

dreaming of the freedom that lies beyond the

don’t it doesn’t matter; Geras tells

Tower's walls, though she knows that she and her

you what you need to know and

father are prisoners.

Goodnight Mr Tom - Michelle

more.

Magorian

Witch Child - Celia Rees Witch Child is so vivid that you

London is on the brink of World

forget it’s set in 17th century

War Two. Scrawny Willie Beech --

New England.

A vivid insight

an abused child -- is evacuated to

into witchcraft with a twist in the

the English countryside. At first,

telling, highlighting how

he is terrified of everything, even of Mr. Tom, the

prejudice and bullying have

gruff old man who has taken him in. But gradually

shaped lives for centuries.

Willie forgets the hate and despair of his past.

KS3 READING LIST 9

SCIENCE FICTION AND DYSTOPIA Mortal Engines - Philip Reeve

The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness

Mortal Engines follows the

The story begins in a small town

fortunes of city boy Tom and a

where women have been

disfigured outcast girl, Hester. It’s

banished and only men remain.

set in a world where gigantic

Due to a virus, everyone can hear

motorised cities roam the earth; a

each other’s thoughts, which they

future in which our civilisation is

call ‘Noise'.

just a fragment of memory and technological

Exodus - Julie Bertagna

advancement has proved flawed and fleeting.

At the turn of the next century

Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman

global warming has reached

Here, the population is divided

extremes. The polar ice caps

into two: the white Noughts are

have melted and the world is

second-class citizens, and the

drowning. As Mara's island is

black Crosses are revered and

swallowed up by the advancing

perceived as the superior race. 15-

ocean, she becomes one of

year-old Callum is a Nought, and

thousands of refugees seeking sanctuary in the

his best friend, Sephy, as well as being a Cross, is

'cities in the sky' of the New World. The city

the daughter of an influential politician. The story

administrators however, are elitist, cruel and

focuses on their condemned relationship.

discriminatory.

A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L’Engle

The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells

When Charles goes searching

The night after a shooting star is

through a 'wrinkle in time' for his

seen streaking through the sky

lost father, he finds himself on an

from Mars, a cylinder is

evil planet where all life is

discovered in London. At first,

enslaved by a huge pulsating

locals approach armed just with a

brain known as ‘It'. Finding his

white flag only to be quickly killed

father makes for an exciting mixture of fantasy and

by an all-destroying heat-ray, as

science fiction.

terrifying tentacled invaders emerge. Soon the whole of human civilisation is under threat.

KS3 READING LIST 10

GRAPHIC NOVELS Maus - Art Spiegelman

Jane, the Fox, and Me - Fanny Britt

This is the story of Vladek

Hélène spends her school days trying to hide

Spiegelman and his wife, living

from girls who whisper behind

and surviving in Hitler's Europe.

her back. She seeks consolation

By addressing the horror of the

in the pages of Charlotte

Holocaust through cartoons,

Bronte's Jane Eyre, 'the best

whereby the Nazis are depicted

book I've ever read', identifying

as cats and the Jews as mice, the

with Jane's hardships. When she

author captures the everyday reality of fear and is

has to undertake a class trip and finds herself

able to explore the guilt, relief and extraordinary

relegated to the outcasts' tent, there is even more

sensation of survival. An absolute must-read!

humiliation ahead of her; but Jane, an

When the Wind Blows - Raymond Briggs

unexpected encounter with a fox, and a new girl

James arrives home, his wife

all play their part in helping to point her in a more

g r e e t s h i m . Pe a c e a n d

hopeful direction.

domesticity reigns. But soon this

The Arrival - Shaun Tan

tranquility and this routine are

This classic, wordless graphic

about to be broken. It is 1982,

novel perfectly expresses what it

the height of the Cold War, and

means to leave your country and

the Russians are about the drop The Bomb.

your family and start a new life in a

Britten and Brulightly - Hannah Berry

new country.

'Nowadays I don't get out of bed for less than a murder. Until

King Lear - Manga

today.' Private Researcher Britten

The story of Lear, the old

would view being shot as a

chieftain, who divides his

blessing. The years spent

kingdom among his three

uncovering people's secret

daughters is the most terrifying

dramas and helping to confirm

tragedy ever written.

their darkest suspicions have taken their toll but

Shakespeare’s apocalyptic play is

new revelations re-energise even the cynical

vividly transferred to the colonial frontiers of 18th-

Britten.

century America, where it is the last of the Mohicans who is bound upon a wheel of fire…

KS3 READING LIST 11

RELATIONSHIPS Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson Jess doesn’t have any friends until

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece - Annabel Pitcher

new girl Leslie comes to his

We meet Jamie in the midst of his

school. Like Jess, Leslie is an

family falling apart after the traumatic

outsider. Together they create a

death of his older sister Rose. His

magical kingdom. Life is perfect

mother leaves, his father turns to

until tragedy strikes.

alcohol, and Jamie and his sister

Journey to the River Sea - Eva Ibbotson

Jasmine are left to fend for themselves.

Orphan Maia is thrilled to learn she is to live with relatives in

The Kite Rider - Geraldine McGauchrean

South America. She cannot wait

Haoyou's father is dead - his spirit

to experience the Amazon.

lives among the clouds above

When Maia arrives, however, the

Ancient China. Feeling powerless

family is hostile and they have

when the man responsible for his

blocked out all evidence of the

father's death demands to marry

rainforest from their stuffy home. Maia turns to her

his mother, Haoyou determines to

strict yet kindly governess, and strikes up some

follow in his father's footsteps and joins a

unusual and rewarding friendships.

travelling circus. The Jade Circus offers him the

The Shell House - Linda Newbury

chance to escape his enemies and perform:

Graveney Hall is a beautiful home

strapped to a kite, he takes to the skies.

that burned down during the First

Being Billy - Philip Earle

World War. It links the stories of

He is angry with his ineffectual,

Greg, who is photographing the

a l c o h o l i c m o t h e r, w i t h h i s

hall for his project, and Edmund,

abusive stepfather, with the

the Graveney family’s last heir, who

supervisors at his residential

disappeared in 1917.

home, the teachers and the

The Outsiders - SE Hinton

pupils. And yet, with his younger

An exciting story of gang warfare,

brother and sister he is kind,

written by the author when she

caring, protective and responsible - so when it

was only seventeen years old.

looks as though they may be taken from him, what is left of his world begins to fall apart.

KS3 READING LIST 12

ADVENTURE Lord of the Flies - William Golding

The Moonriders - Theresa Tomlinson

Golding tells the story of a group of

Myrina, a young Moon Rider, who

boys stranded without adults on a

were known historically as the

deserted island after a plane crash. A

Amazons, rides to the aid of Troy

promising beginning descends into

when the city is besieged by the

savagery…

Greeks.

Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain

The Call of the Wild - Jack London

Scared that his drunken father

This is a book about appalling

might pursue him for the money

animal cruelty. Buck, half

he has discovered, Huck escapes

sheepdog and half St. Bernard, is

to Jackson’s Island where he

kidnapped from him home and

meets his friend Jim, a runaway

taken to the wild north of Canada.

slave. Considered one of the best

Things get worse and worse until it

sequels ever!

seems that a happy ending is impossible - or is it?

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S

Across the Nightingale Floor - Gillian

Lewis

Rubenstein

When Peter, Susan, Edmund and

An epic fantasy story set in a

Lucy take their first steps into the

feudal Japanese society, this is an

world behind the magic

exciting tale of treason, violence

wardrobe, little do they realise

and death. Tomasu is a young boy

what adventures are about to

from the Hidden clan. This is a taut,

unfold. The epic story of Narnia.

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

compelling love story in the Samurai warrior tradition.

After the sinking of a cargo

Around the World in Eight Days - Jules Verne

carrying his family and their

One ill-fated evening at the

zoo, Pi is shipwrecked. Think

Reform Club, Phileas Fogg

things could not get any

rashly bets his companions that

worse? Add the endless Pacific

he can travel around the entire

Ocean, a hyena, zebra and a

globe in just eighty days - and

450-pound Bengal tiger.

he is determined not to lose.

KS3 READING LIST 13

PRE-1900  Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

The perfect story of exotic

Orphaned Anne Shirley, begins

adventure. Treasure maps,

her adventures at Green

Long

Silver,

Gables, a farm outside Avonlea,

bloodcurdling action and black

Prince Edward Island. When the

treachery.

freckled girl realises that the

John

elderly Cuthberts wanted to adopt a boy instead, she begins

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson

to try to win them and, consequently, the reader,

Burnett

over.

Mary Lennox was horrid. Selfish and spoilt, she was sent to stay

The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole

with her hunchback uncle in

The first ever Gothic novel. It

Yorkshire. She hated it. But

tells the story of Manfred, the

when she finds the way into a

prince of Otranto, who is keen

secret garden and begins to

to secure the castle for his

tend it, a change comes over

descendants in the face of a mysterious curse.

her and her life.

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre caused a storm of

King Solomon’s Mines - H. Rider Haggard

p r o t e s t w h e n i t w a s fi r s t

Th re e m e n t re k t o t h e

published. - it was deemed too

remote African interior in

revolutionary, too depressing

search of a lost friend - and

and too controversial. Well, see

reach, at the end of a

for yourself. Having survived a

perilous journey, an

grim and loveless childhood,

unknown land cut off from

Jane ventures into the world on her own, and falls

the world, where terrible

in love with her rich employer who is harbouring a

dangers threaten anyone who ventures near the

dark secret.

spectacular diamond mines of King Solomon.

KS3 READING LIST 14

HAVE YOU READ THEM ALL? FANTASY His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer Sabriel - Garth Nix The New Policeman - Kate Thompson The Wind Singer series - William Nicholson

DETECTIVE & CRIME Death Cloud - Andrew Lane Selected Sherlock Holmes stories - Arthur Conan Doyle The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith The Ruby in the Smoke - Philip Pullman A Gathering Light - Jennifer Donnelly HORROR AND GHOST STORIES The Red Room - H.G. Wells

The Company of Ghosts - Berlie Doherty

Darren Shan - Lord Loss

Coraline - Neil Gaiman

Tithe : A Modern Faerie Tale - Holly Black

City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

The Signalman - Charles Dickens

HUMOUR My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell

The Chronicles of Narmo - Caitlin Moran

All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot Dodger - Terry Pratchett

Boys Don’t Knit - T S Easton

The Positively Last Performance - Geraldine McCaughrean

Geek Girl - Holly Smale

POETRY AND DRAMA Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare

Billy Liar - Keith Waterhouse

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (adapted by Philip Pullman)

The Best Poems Ever - ed. by Edric S. Mesmer

What are We Fighting About? - B. Moses and R. Stevens The Weight of Water - Sarah Crossan

Unheard Voices - Malorie Blackman

HISTORICAL FICTION Coram Boy - Jamila Gavin

Chinese Cinderella - Adeline Yen Mah

Troy - Adele Geras

Witch Child - Celia Rees

The Silver Sword - Ian Serraillier

The Executioner’s Daughter - Jane Hardstaff

Goodnight Mr Tom - Michelle Magorian

SCIENCE FICTION AND DYSTOPIA Mortal Engines - Philip Reeve

Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman

A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L’Engle

The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness

Exodus - Julie Bertagna

The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells

GRAPHIC NOVELS Maus - Art Spiegelman

When the Wind Blows - Raymond Briggs

Britten and Brulightly - Hannah Berry

Jane, the Fox, and Me - Fanny Britt

The Arrival - Shaun Tan

King Lear - Manga

RELATIONSHIPS Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson

Journey to the River Sea - Eva Ibbotson

The Shell House -Linda Newbury

The Outsiders - SE Hinton

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece - Annabel Pitcher

The Kite Rider - Geraldine McGauchrean

Being Billy - Philip Earle

ADVENTURE Lord of the Flies - William Golding

Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S Lewis

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

The Moonriders - Theresa Tomlinson

The Call of the Wild - Jack London

Across the Nightingale Floor - Gillian Rubenstein

Around the World in Eight Days - Jules Verne

PRE-1900 Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

KS3 READING LIST 15

Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole

King Solomon’s Mines - H. Rider Haggard

KS3 READING LIST 16