Merry Must-Reads UNWRAP THE MAGIC WITH THESE PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
Books for CHILDREN THE CATS WE MEET ALONG THE WAY BY NADIA MIKAIL
Seventeen-year-old Aisha has not seen her sister June for two years. With the world about to end, she and her mum decide that it is time to track her down and mend the hurts from the past. Walter, Aisha’s boyfriend, his parents, and a stray cat called Fleabag join them on a road trip across Malaysia to track down June. ‘Poignant, thoughtful and life-affirming’ The Bookseller. ‘Original, emotionally truthful and infused with love and hope’ Patrick Lawrence.
Books for CHILDREN THE MIRACULOUS SWEETMAKERS: THE FROST FAIR BY NATASHA HASTINGS
The Great Frost of 1683 has London in its icy grip. Thomasina and Anne sell sweets on the frozen river Thames but is it true that Father Winter holds a magical fair there at night time, and if so, does he really grant wishes. ‘A spellbinding and unforgettable tale of deep friendship, glittering magic and enchanting mystery’ Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month for November 2023. ‘A heart-warming, wintry treat of a read perfect to snuggle up with on cold, snowy days’ Hannah Gold, best-selling author of The Last Bear. ‘Spooky and haunting – what struck me most about this historical fiction/ fantasy story for children was the high quality of writing’ Philippa Gregory, best-selling author of The Other Boleyn Girl.
Books for YOUNGER CHILDREN RABBIT AND BEAR: RABBITS BAD HABITS
THE CHRISTMASAURUS AND THE NAUGHTY LIST
BY JULIAN GOUGH & JIM FIELD
BY TOM FLETCHER
Bear wakes early from hibernation. If she can’t sleep she’ll just have to build a snowman. Rabbit has never made a snowman, but he wants to make one better than Bear’s. However, with an avalanche and a hungry wolf on the way, Rabbit realises that it might be nice to have a friend, especially when building snowmen.
Some children are on Santa’s naughty list, so are in danger of not getting any Christmas presents. Luckily for them the Christmasaurus is tracking them down and helping them to change their ways.
THE OWL WHO WAS AFRAID OF THE DARK BY JILL TOMLINSON
Plop, the Baby Barn Owl, is just like all other Barn Owls, except for one thing he’s afraid of the dark. Mrs Barn Owl sends him out to ask about the dark and he meets lots of interesting people. Perhaps there is magic in the dark after all.
BOHDI THE PIRATE DOG BY ALISON H SIMPSON
A rhyming and counting picture book, in which Bodhi thinks that he is a dog without the talents of other animals. That is until there is a storm at sea and he gets the chance to be a hero.
THE PUG WHO WANTED TO BE AN ELF BY BELLA SWIFT
Peggy the pug wants her family to be together for Christmas. The only person who can help is Santa, so to get close to him she needs to become an elf.
FUN FACT! Author Tom Fletcher is also a musician, Guinness World Record holder and vlogger!
Books for CHILDREN
THE BREAKFAST CLUB ADVENTURES BY MARCUS RASHFORD
THE ACCIDENTAL STOWAWAY
There’s something fishy going on at school… When Marcus kicks his favourite football over the school fence, he knows he’s not getting it back. But the next morning during Breakfast Club, Marcus gets a mysterious note inviting him to join the Breakfast Club Investigators and he is soon pulled into an exciting adventure to solve the mystery and get his ball back.
BY JUDITH EAGLE
Patch did not intend to be a stowaway on a ship to New York, but now it’s happened and she has friends aboard who need her help.
THE LIGHT IN EVERYTHING
BY KATYA BALEN
Tom’s mum and Zofia’s dad are in love, having a baby and moving in together. But Tom and Zofia could not be more different from each other and hate the thought of sharing the same house.
A BEAR AND A BOY IN A BOAT
BY DAVE SHELTON
A boy and a bear go to sea, equipped with a suitcase, a comic book and a ukulele. They are only travelling a short distance and it really shouldn’t take long. But their journey doesn’t quite go to plan. A funny book about a memorable friendship.
ROOFTOPPERS
WHERE THE WORLD ENDS
BY KATHERINE RUNDELL
BY GERALDINE MCCAUGHREAN
Sophie’s been told that she’s an orphan, but she believes that her mother could have survived the shipwreck from which Sophie escaped. Rather than be sent to an orphanage she sets off to Paris to find her mother, following the only clue that she has – the address of a cello maker.
Every summer Quill and his friends are put ashore on a remote sea Stac to hunt birds. But this summer, no one arrives to take them home. Surely nothing but the end of the world can explain why they’ve been abandoned - cold, starving and clinging to life, in the grip of a murderous ocean. How will they survive?
THE VERY MERRY MURDER CLUB A wide variety of crime stories set at Christmas and written by some of the best-known authors for young people.
A BOY CALLED CHRISTMAS BY MATT HAIG
Father Christmas has not always been a jolly old man with a white beard. Here you can read about him as a boy.
THE LIE TREE
CODE NAME BANANAS
When Faith’s father is found dead under mysterious circumstances, she is determined to untangle the truth from the lies. Searching for clues, she discovers a strange tree. A tree that feeds off whispered lies and bears fruit that reveals hidden secrets. But as Faith’s untruths spiral out of control, she discovers that where lies seduce, truths shatter...
It’s 1940 and Britain is at war. When London starts to be bombed eleven-year-old Eric knows that he has to rescue Gertrude the gorilla from London Zoo. While on the run with Gertrude and his Uncle Sid, a keeper at the zoo, they discover a top-secret Nazi plot…
BY FRANCES HARDINGE
LAMPIE
BY ANNET SCHAAP
Every evening Lampie the lighthouse keeper’s daughter must light a lantern to warn ships away from the rocks. But one stormy night disaster strikes. The light goes out, a ship is wrecked, and an adventure begins. In disgrace, Lampie is sent to work as a maid at the Admiral’s Black House, where rumour has it that a monster lurks in the tower. But what she finds there is stranger and more beautiful than any monster.
BOYS DON’T KNIT
BY T.S. EASTON
Following an ‘unfortunate incident’ with a lollipop lady and stolen bottle of wine, Ben avoids being sent to the Young Offending unit if he gives something back to the community and takes up a hobby. Reluctantly Ben joins the a knitting group and to his surprise find he enjoys it. If he can just keep this from his mates…
BY DAVID WALLIAMS
THE EXTRAORDINARY & UNUSUAL ADVENTURES OF HORATIO LYLE BY CATHERINE WEBB
In Victorian London at the height of the industrial revolution, Horatio Lyle is a former Special Constable with a passion for science and invention. He’s also an occasional, but reluctant, sleuth. The truth is that he’d rather be in his lab tinkering with dangerous chemicals and odd machinery than running around the cobbled streets of London trying to track down stolen goods.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL BY TOM FLETCHER
An old copy of A Christmas Carol comes to life and Ebenezer Scrooge comes from its pages to threaten Christmas. Can William, Santa and the Christmas dinosaur save the most special time of the year?
LOKI’S WOLVES
THE JAMIE DRAKE EQUATION
What if the Norse myths of Viking times were true, and only the gods could stop the end of the world … or if not the gods then a group of kids, led by Matt, must stand in for the gods in the final battle.
Wouldn’t it be amazing for your dad to be an astronaut? Amazing, but what happens when his mission starts to go wrong and his only hope is you and a bunch of aliens!
BY K.L ARMSTRONG & M.A. MARR
BY CHRISTOPHER EDGE
Books for TEENS EVERYONE DIES FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN
THE BLUE BOOK OF NEBO
BY BONNIE-SUE HITCHCOCK
BY MANON STEFFAN ROS.
Meet teenagers in the rural American West, separated by distance, but brought together in surprising ways. Their stories are woven together in this gem of a novel.
Dylan is a fourteen-year-old living above the village of Nebo in north-west Wales. The End came eight years ago. Now he and his mum must survive in a place of isolation. The author originally wrote this book in Welsh.
THE INHERITANCE GAMES BY JENNIFER LYNN BARNES
Avery is working hard to secure her future, until suddenly a billionaire leaves her a fortune in his will. No-one knows why. The dead man’s family contests his instructions and Avery finds herself caught in a deadly game that everyone in this strange family is playing.
DID YOU KNOW...? Author Manon Steffan Ros has written over 23 books for adults and children in the Welsh language!
BONE TALK
BY CANDY GOURLAY In the Philippines of the late nineteenth century, Samkad dreams of owning a shield, spear and axe. Luki, his best friend, also wants to be a warrior, but as a girl, that path is closed.
I MUST BETRAY YOU BY RUTA SEPETYS
In the winter of 1989 Cristian Florescu is seventeen and living in Bucharest. His society is one of fear and isolation, but it is also on the brink of revolution.
Books for TEENS LIONESS: MY JOURNEY TO GLORY
GLEANINGS (ARC OF A SCYTHE)
BY BETH MEAD
BY NEAL SHUSTERMAN
The top scorer at the Women’s 2022 Euros tells the story of her football career, beginning in the local boys’ team.
There are still countless tales of the Scythedom to tell. For years humans lived in a world without hunger, disease, or death with Scythes as the living instruments of population control. A collection of short science fiction stories set in the world of the Scythe series.
FIVE SURVIVE IRON WIDOW
BY XIRAN JAY ZHAO Science fiction and East Asian myth combine in this dazzling retelling of the rise of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history.
BY HOLLY JACKSON Eighteen-year-old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. The RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere and, as the wheels are shot out, the friends realise that this is no accident. There’s a sniper out there. He’s watching them and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for. Buried secrets are forced to light and tensions within the group reach deadly levels. Only one thing is for sure. Not everyone will survive the night...
Books for ADULTS
WRITTEN IN BONE
BY PROFESSOR SUE BLACK
PIRANESI
Prof Sue Black is a forensic anthropologist with a fascinating examination of the endless details in our bones. Limb by limb, case by case - some criminal, some historical, some unaccountably bizarre - Sue Black reconstructs with intimate sensitivity and compassion the hidden stories in what we leave behind.
BY SUSANNA CLARKE
Chalk messages start to appear in the House, but who has written them and why? Part thriller, part fever dream, this strange and wonderful novel won the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction.
TO CALAIS, IN ORDINARY TIME THE PROMISE
BY DAMON GALGUT
Salome, a black woman, was promised her own home and land by a white South African family after years of service. That promise remains unfulfilled, giving Anton and Amor one more thing to detest about their own family.
BY JAMES MEEK
One of today’s finest historical novelists takes us back to 1348. Three characters meet on the road to Calais, but coming in the opposite direction is the Black Death, the plague that will take away half of Northern Europe’s population.
PEOPLE LIKE US BY LOUISE FEIN
Hetty Heinrich’s father is an SS officer and she believes resolutely in her country, until she meets Walter - blond-haired, blue-eyed, perfect in every way. A Jew. Anti-semitism is growing by the day, but Hetty falls deeper in love. Hetty will have to risk everything to save Walter, even if it means sacrificing herself...
Books for ADULTS OTHERLANDS: A WORLD IN THE MAKING
MAPLE; TWELVE NEW STORIES
BY THOMAS HALLIDAY
BY AGATHA CHRISTIE
See the world as it existed many millions of years before humans existed.
A brand new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Crime’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable best-selling and acclaimed authors.
LESSONS THE UNCOMMON READER BY ALLAN BENNETT
BY IAN MCEWAN McEwan’s latest work is a partly autobiographical novel set against some of the most important events of the last seven decades.
What would happen if the Queen became a reader of taste and discernment rather than of Dick Francis? The answer is a perfect story. The consequence is, of course, surprising, mildly shocking and very funny.
LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY BY BONNIE GARMUS
Elizabeth Zott is a scientist in the 1960’s, where she works in a male dominated world. A great scientist falls in love with her and Elizabeth achieves fame in a very different environment. A hugely successful debut novel.
DID YOU KNOW...? Author Agatha Christie was an English detective novelist and playwright. She wrote 75 novels, including 14 short story collections and 66 detective novels!
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas FROM EVERYONE AT HAMPTON SCHOOL