Reading in St. Columba’s College Most Popular Fiction Books (Junior Forms) ● Private Peaceful
Michael Morpurgo
● Millions
Frank Cottrell Boyce
● Maze Runner
James Dashner
● Once
Morris Gleitzman
● Gone
Michael Grant
● Cherub Series
Robert Muchamore
● Artemis Fowl
Eoin Colfer
● Wonder
R.J. Palacio
● The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
● Skellig
David Almond
● Goodnight Mister Tom
Michelle Magorian
● Noughts and Crosses
Malorie Blackman
● The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman
● Maggot Moon
Sally Gardner
● The Ruby in the Smoke
Philip Pullman
● A Monster Calls
Patrick Ness
● How I live Now
Meg Rosoff
● Matilda
Roald Dahl
● Number the Stars
Lois Lowry
● War Horse
Michael Morpurgo
● Secret Diary of Adrian Mole
Sue Townsend
● The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas John Boyne ● The Knife of Never Letting Go
Patrick Ness
Summer 2018 New Releases (11-13) Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
Amal’s peaceful life in Pakistan is uprooted after she accidentally insults the town’s wealthy landowner and is forced into indentured servanthood. She desperately misses her family and her beloved books. When Amal gets a chance to expose the landowner for the murderer he is, she does, hoping it will be enough to free her and the others in the household. Amal Unbound is an engrossing and atmospheric story.
The Boy, The Bird and the Coffin Maker by Matilda Woods
Set in the Italian town of Allora, a magical bird and a boy named Tito unexpectedly arrive at the home of Alberto, a lonely coffin-maker. Hoping he’s finally safe from his abusive stepfather, Tito slowly builds bonds of trust and friendship with Alberto. Rich description, magical realism, and a heartfelt friendship will enchant readers.
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
Lucy became a genius after she was struck by lightning when she was eight years old. Now at age 12, Lucy’s grandma is sending formerly homeschooled Lucy to middle school for one year. Her grandma wants Lucy to make one friend, join one activity, and read one non-math book. Middle school is hard, more so for a genius with OCD and social anxiety — but in this emotionally resonant story, Lucy perseveres and finds just what she needs.
Refugee by Alan Gratz
Experience the lives of three children, each from different times and countries, all fleeing their homelands. Josef is a Jewish boy fleeing Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Isabel is a Cuban girl leaving on a raft toward the U.S. in the 1990s. Mahmoud is a present-day Syrian boy whose family hopes to find safe refuge in Europe. This is a must-read novel that shows the dangers of war and the hope that comes with migration.
The Length of String by Elissa Brent Weissman
This heartwarming novel centers on Imani, a young black girl who was adopted into a Jewish American family. Imani longs to search for her birth parents and find out where she came from, but when she uncovers her great-grandmother’s diary from 1941, she begins to see her family and her place in their lives in a new light.
New Releases Summer 2018 (13+)
The Opposite of Here by Tara Altebrando
Natalie's parents are taking her and three best friends on a week-long cruise for her birthday—a sail-a-bration! Sigh. It’s also only been months since her boyfriend died in a tragic accident, and she wants to be anywhere but here. So she’s surprised when she meets a guy on the first night and feels a connection she’s never felt before. After a late-night talk on a secluded part of the ship, Natalie runs to her cabin for a change of clothes. But when she returns, he’s gone without a trace. And something he said makes her think he may have jumped. . . . What pulled her to him, and what pulled him away? Was he ever even there?
A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews
An emotionally charged story of music, abuse and, ultimately, hope. Beck hates his life. He hates his violent mother. He hates his home. Most of all, he hates the piano that his mother forces him to play hour after hour, day after day. He will never play as she did before illness ended her career and left her bitter and broken. But Beck is too scared to stand up to his mother, and tell her his true passion, which is composing his own music - because the least suggestion of rebellion on his part ends in violence. When Beck meets August, a girl full of life, energy and laughter, love begins to awaken within him and he glimpses a way to escape his painful existence. But dare he reach for it?
Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh (Sequel-Flame In The Mist)
After Okami is captured in the Jukai forest, Mariko has no choice--to rescue him, she must return to Inako and face the dangers that have been waiting for her in the Heian Castle. She tricks her brother, Kenshin, and betrothed, Raiden, into thinking she was being held by the Black Clan against her will, playing the part of the dutiful bride-to-be to infiltrate the emperor's ranks and uncover the truth behind the betrayal that almost left her dead. With the wedding plans already underway, Mariko pretends to be consumed with her upcoming nuptials, all the while using her royal standing to peel back the layers of lies and deception surrounding the imperial court. But each secret she unfurls gives way to the next, ensnaring Mariko and Okami in a political scheme that threatens their honor, their love and very the safety of the empire.
I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman
Around the time that Freya loses her voice while recording her debut album, Harun is making plans to run away from everyone he has ever loved, and Nathaniel is arriving in New York City with a backpack, a desperate plan, and nothing left to lose. When a fateful accident draws these three strangers together, their secrets start to unravel as they begin to understand that the way out of their own loss might just lie in helping the others out of theirs.
SCC Pupils’ Book Club: The pupils’ book club has read and discussed the following books: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman Asking For It by Louise O’Neill A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness This is How it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
SCC Staff Book Club: The Staff Book Club has read and discussed the following books: Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh [memoir, science] A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov [novel] Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels [novel] Reading Turgenev by William Trevor [novella] The Crocodile by the Door by Selina Guinness [memoir] It's Beginning to Hurt by James Lasdun [short stories] The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood [novel] The Girl with Seven Names by Lee Hyeon-Seo [autobiography] My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout [novel]
SCC SUBJECT DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: ART The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich Japanese Arts and the Tea Ceremony by T Hayahiya BUSINESS Bankers by Shane Ross CLASSICS Mythos by Stephen Fry ECONOMICS Freakonomics by Stephen Levitt and Stephen J Dubner ENGLISH Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times (edited by Neil Astley) Shakespeare: The World as a Stage by Bill Bryson The 100 Best Novels in English (selected by Robert McCrum) Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss FRENCH Pardon My French by Charles Timoney Conversations avec un Enfant Curieux by Michel Tremblay For younger readers: Les Trois Mousquetaires (en francais facile) by Alexandre Dumas (Editions Cle International) Tartarin de Tarascon (en francais facile) by Alphonse Daudet (Editions Cle International) Asterix:Le Bouclier d’Auvergne by Goscinny and Uderzo GEOGRAPHY Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Harari Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall Divided: Why We are Living in an Age of Walls by Tim Marshall Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of Flags by Tim Marshall The Strange Death of Europe by Douglas Murray
Adventures in the Anthropocene: A Journey to the Heart of the Planet we Made by Gaia Vance National Geographic Magazine HISTORY Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II by Keith Lowe For younger readers: Horrible Histories by Terry Deary, Usborne history books. IRISH Duil by Liam O’Flaherty Motherfocloir by Darach O’Seaghdha Cathair an Tiogar by Feargal O Dubhghaill For younger readers: Iomanai o Iasacht by Sean O Cearnaigh Scealta Eile by Oige O Ceailleachair LATIN Wheelock’s Latin Ecce Romani MATHS Fermat’s Last Theorem by Simon Singh MUSIC Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music by Stephen Fry PHYSICAL EDUCATION Open by Andre Agassi Taking the World by Ellen MacArthur RELIGIOUS EDUCATION Simply Christian by Tom Wright The Lion Handbook to The Bible Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaardner (an introduction to Philosophy) SCIENCE Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari For younger readers: How to Make a Universe with 92 Ingredients by Adrian Dingle Why is Milk White and 200 Other Curious Chemistry Questions by Simon Quellan Field
SPANISH The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca For younger readers: Mafalda 1 by Quino SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Tania Stokes