The Kingston Academy Year 8 Reading Challenge The reading challenge is a year long reading project that aims to stretch you as a reader and to encourage you to discover different authors and genres. You will read a different book each month, review them and be prepared to discuss your reading with a teacher. If you read 11 books in a year, you will be awarded the Bronze Reading

Challenge certificate.15­20 books is Silver. Over 20 books in a year is Gold. Special prizes will be also be available for outstanding readers throughout the year. Codes: ER ­ Easy reads / Dyslexia friendly ­ these will appeal to readers who like more accessible books. CH ­ Challenging reads ­ these will appeal to readers who like a challenge.

September ­ Teen reads; novels that feature children and teenage characters

‘The Fault in our stars’ by John Green ‘There’s a boy in the girls’ bathroom’ by Louis Sachar (ER) ‘Millions’ by Frank Cottrell Boyce (ER) ‘Half my Facebook friends are ferrets’ by J. A Buckle ‘Paper Towns’ by John Green ‘When Mr Dog Bites’ by Brian Conaghan ‘A seven Letter word’ by Kim Slater ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ by Jesse Andrews ‘The Thing about Jellyfish’ by Ali Benjamin ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’ by Philippa Pearce ‘We are all made of Molecules’ by Susan Nielsen ‘Demigods and Magicians’ by Rick Riordan ‘The Maze runner’ by James Dashner ‘Memoirs of a Neurotic Zombie’ by Jeff Norton ‘Young Sherlock’ by Andrew Lane ‘Cherry Blossom Dreams’ by Gwyneth Rees ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by J. D. Salinger (CH) ‘The Adventure of Tom Sawyer’ by Mark Twain (CH) ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee (CH) ‘Little Women’ By Louisa M Alcott (CH) ‘Silence is Goldfish’ by Annabel Pitcher

October ­ Any award winning novel (Carnegie, Guardian Fiction Prize, Blue Peter Book Award)

‘Apple and Rain’ by Sarah Crossan ‘An Island of our own’ by Sally Nicholls ‘My name’s not Friday’ by Jon Walters ‘The Nowhere Emporium’ by Ross Mackenzie ‘Frozen in Time’ by Ali Sparkes ‘Buffalo Soldier’ by Tanya Landman ‘Goth Girl’ by Chris Riddell (ER) ‘Ruby Holler’ by Sharon Creech (ER) ‘The Ghost of Thomas Kempe’ by Penelope Lively ‘Joe All Alone’ by Joanna Nadin ‘A Song for Ella Grey’ by David Almond (CH) ‘A Boy called Hope’ by Laura Williamson ‘Night Runner’ by Tim Bowler ‘Skullduggery Pleasant’ by Derek Landy ‘Poison Boy’ by Fletcher Moss ‘My Brother is a Superhero’ by David Solomons (ER) ‘Jessica’s Ghost’ by Andrew Norriss ‘Crossover’ by Kwame Alexander

November ­ War Fiction

‘The Boy at the top of the Mountain’ by John Boyne ‘One Day in Oradour’ by Helen Watts ‘Five Children on the Western Front’ by Kate Saunders ‘Stars shall be bright’ by Catherine MacPhail (ER) ‘Anzac Boys’ by Tony Bradman (ER) ‘The Wickford Doom’ by Chris Priestley (ER) ‘War Games’ by Terry Deary (ER) ‘Hostage’ by Malorie Blackman (ER) ‘Listen to the Moon’ by Michael Morpurgo ‘The Reluctant Time Traveller’ by Janis Mackay ‘War Song’ by James Riordan ‘Opal Plumstead’ by Jacqueline Wilson ‘Poppy’ by Mary Hooper (CH) ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ by Erich Maria Remarque ‘The Book Thief’ by Markus Zusak (CH) ‘The Kite Runner’ by Khaled Hosseini (CH) ‘When the guns fall silent’ by James Riordan

December ­ Horror, thriller, mystery and dystopia ‘The Vampire Hunters’ by Pete Johnson ‘Beswitched’ by Kate Saunders (ER) ‘Mel Foster and the Demon Butler’ by Julia Golding (ER) ‘Murder Most Unladylike’ series by Robin Stevens ‘Diamond Brothers’ series by Anthony Horowitz Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness ‘Devil you know’ by Cathy Macphail (ER) ‘Hagurosan’ by Darren Shan (ER) ‘Gamer’ by Chris Bradford (ER) ‘Looking for JJ’ by Anne Cassidy (ER) ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker (CH) ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley (CH) ‘Book of Dead Days’ by Marcus Sedgwick ‘Uglies’ by Scott Westerfeld ‘How I live now’ by Meg Rosoff ‘The Bombs that brought us together’ by Brian Conaghan (CH) ‘N or M?’ by Agatha Christie (CH) ‘The Disappearance of Tom Pile’ by Ian Beck ‘A Study in Scarlet and other Sherlock Holmes Adventures by Arthur Conan Doyle (CH) ‘Teacher’s Dead’ by Benjamin Zephaniah

January ­ Nonfiction books OR Graphic novels Nonfiction books: ‘Being a boy’ by James Dawson ‘Horrible Histories’ by Terry Deary (ER) ‘What’s so special about Shakespeare?’ By Michael Rosen ‘Will farts destroy the planet?’ by Glenn Murphy ‘Girl Online’ and ‘Girl Online: The Tour’ by Zoe Sugg ‘Minecraft: The Official Handbook’ ‘The Hobbit companion’ by David Day ‘The Epic Book of Epicness’ by Adam Frost ‘A Smidgen of Shakespeare’ by Geoff Spiteri ‘What’s so special about Shakespeare’ by Michael Rosen ‘Blame my brain’ by Nicole Morgan ‘Super Skills: How to be a Blogger and Vlogger in 10 easy lessons’ by Shane Birley ‘Steampunk characters’ by Mark Bergin Graphic novels: ‘Alex Rider graphic novel’ by Anthony Horowitz ‘Through the woods’ by Emily Carroll ‘El Deafo’ by Cece Bell ‘Percy Jackson and the sea monsters’ Graphic novel by Rick Riordan ‘Raven’s Gate’ by Anthony Horowitz ‘Suffragette’ by Sally Heathcote / ‘Tokyo Ghoul’ by Sui Ishida

February ­ Classics: books that have stood the test of time ‘Robinson Crusoe’ by Daniel Defoe ‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding (CH) ‘The Sword in the stone’ by T.H White ‘Goodnight Mister Tom’ by Michelle Magorian (ER) ‘Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry’ by Mildred D Taylor ‘Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh’ by Robert C O’Brien ‘Stuart Little’ by E. B White ‘War of the Worlds’ by H. G Wells ‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte (CH) ‘Hetty Feather’ by Jacqueline Wilson (ER) ‘Wonder’ by R.J Palacio (ER) ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar (ER) ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ by Lemony Snicket (ER) ‘The Wolves of Willoughby Chase’ by Joan Aitken ‘The Silver Sword’ by Ian Serrallier ‘Mockingjay’ by Suzanne Collins ‘Swiss Family Robinson’ by Johann Wyss ‘Two Weeks with the Queen’ by Morris Gleitzman (ER) ‘Mary Poppins’ by P.L Travers ‘Harriet the Spy’ by Louise Fitzhugh ‘The Call of the Wild’ by Jack London ‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett

March ­ Books made into films or TV series ‘Starring Tracy Beaker’ by Jacqueline Wilson (ER) ‘Hetty Feather’ by Jacqueline Wilson (ER) ‘Framed’ by Frank Cottrell Boyce (ER) ‘Millions’ by Frank Cottrell Boyce (ER) ‘Swallows and Amazons’ by Arthur Ransome ‘The Voyage of the dawn treader’ by C S Lewis ‘His Dark Materials’ by Philip Pullman (CH) ‘Paper Towns’ by John Green ‘The Fifth Wave’ by Rick Yancey ‘The Jungle Book’ by Rudyard Kipling ‘The Hobbit’ by J.R.R Tolkein ‘The Lord of the Rings’ by J.R.R Tolkein (CH) ‘Insurgent’ by Veronica Roth (CH) ‘Journey to the Centre of the earth’ by Jules Verne (CH) ‘Around the World in 80 days’ by Jules Verne (CH) ‘David Copperfield’ by Charles Dickens ‘The Body’ by Stephen King (Stand by Me ­ film)

April and May Books set in different countries, exploring other cultures or time periods

Historical fiction: ‘The Help’ by Kathryn Stockett (CH) ­ 1960s America ‘Witch Child’ by Celia Rees (CH) ­ 1659 England and America ‘A Tale of two cities’ by Charles Dickens (CH) ­ 1789 London and Paris ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens ­ Victorian London ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’ by Brian Selznick ­ 1930s Paris ‘The Marvels’ by Brian Selznick ­ 1766 and 1990s London ‘Coram Boy’ by Jamila Gavin ­ 1750s England ‘I, Coriander’ by Sally Gardner ­ 1650s London ‘Anyone but Ivy Pocket’ by Caleb Crisp ­ Victorian England (ER) ‘Smith’ by Leon Garfield ­ 18th century London (ER) ‘The Wolf Wilder’ by Katherine Blundell ­ 1900s Russia ‘The Boy in the striped pyjamas’ by John Boyne ­ 1940s Germany (ER) ‘The Lies we tell ourselves’ ­ 1959 America (CH) ‘All Fall down’ by Sally Nicholls ­ 1349 Yorkshire (outbreak of the Black Death) Fiction set in different countries: ‘Rooftoppers’ by Katherine Blundell ­ Set in Paris (ER) ‘Emil and the Detectives’ by Erich Kastner ­ Set in Germany (ER) ‘Rift’ by Beverley Birch ­ Set in Africa ‘Hatchet’ by Gary Paulsen ­ Set in Canada ‘Revolver’ by Marcus Sedgwick ­ Set in the Arctic Circle ‘The Phoenix Code’ by Helen Moss ­ Set in Egypt ‘Purple Hibiscus’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ­ Set in Nigeria (CH) ‘Chains’ by Laurie Halse Anderson ­ America during 1770s (CH)

June and July ­ Adventure stories ‘The Mystery of the Drowning Man’ by Helen Moss (ER) ‘Fearless’ by Cornelia Funke ‘Five Hundred Miles’ by Kevin Brooks ‘Itch’ by Simon Mayo ‘Lottery Boy’ by Michael Byrne ‘Tape’ by Steven Camden ‘The Enemy’ by Charlie Higson ‘Unhooking the Moon’ by Gregory Hughes ‘The Crystal run’ by Sheila O’Flanagan ‘Alien Rain’ by Ruth Morgan ‘Alone’ by D.J Brazier ‘Spooks: The Dark Army’ by Joseph Delaney ‘Messenger of Fear’ by Michael Grant ‘Booked’ by Kwame Alexander (ER) ‘Boone’ by Richard Masson ‘Boy Nobody’ by Allen Zadoff

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens­books­site

http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers/

List compiled by TKA