YEAR 7 READING LIST

RECOMMENDED READS

COMPILED BY THE ENGLISH DEPT

AND LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve stories written

by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his famous detective. Venture back in time

to Victorian London to join literature's greatest detective team — the

brilliant Sherlock Holmes and his devoted assistant, Dr. Watson — as they

investigate a dozen of their best-known cases.

Maurice, a streetwise tom cat, has the perfect money-making scam. He’s

found a stupid looking kid who plays a pipe and he has his very own plague of

rats and rats who are strangely educated, so Maurice can no longer think of

them as ‘lunch’. Everyone knows the stories about rats and pipers….. But

when they reach the stricken town of Bad Blintz, the little con suddenly goes

down the drain, for someone is playing a different tune.

Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to

feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs

Napoleon and Wellington leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing

to eliminate the terrible inequalities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal

Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. Ba as time passes, the

ideals of the rebellion are corrupted, then forgotten, and something new and

unexpected emerges….

The story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is very difficult to describe.

Usually we give some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case we

think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that

you start to read without knowing what it is about. If you do start to read,

you will go on a journey with a 9 year old boy called Bruno. Sooner or later

you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. Fences like this exist all over the

world. We hope you never have to cross such a fence.

Dicken’s classic tale centres on bad-tempered miser, Ebeneezer Scrooge. A

cold Christmas Eve finds him in his counting house, refusing offers to join in

festive merriment and forcing his long-suffering clerk, Bob Cratchit to work in

freezing conditions. A visitation from the chain-bound ghost of his dead

colleague, Jacob Marley, warns him that he will soon be visited by three

spirits. The events of the next three nights are set to show Scrooge who he

really is; but will it be enough to move his stubborn soul?

A tale of two cities, Gloucester and London. A tale of two boys, Toby, saved

from an African slave ship; Aaron, the illegitimate son of the heir to a great

estate. A tale of fathers and sons. Otis, dealing in the vilest trade of all, and

his son Meshak, not quite of this world; Sir William Ashbrook, landowner, and

Alexander, the son he disinherits. An epic journey fraught with every danger

and excitement, until love triumphs over hatred and corruption.

Pepper Roux has his whole life ahead of him. If he’s lucky, that’s 14 hours by

the hall clock. Without wanting to annoy, he would much prefer not to die.

But can you sidestep Fate? Step sideways into a different life? Join him on

the run – if you can keep up.

’12 June 1942: I hope I will be able to confide everything to you as I have

never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of

comfort and support.’

In Amsterdam, in the summer of 1942, the Nazis forced teenager Anne Frank

and her family into hiding. For over 2 years, they, another family and a

German dentist lived in a ‘secret annexe’, fearing discovery. All the time,

Anne kept a diary. An intimate record of tension and struggle, adolescence

and confinement, anger and heartbreak.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, a young hobbit is entrusted with an immense

task. He must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of

Doom, there to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power – the only thing that

prevents the Dark Lord’s evil dominion.

Willie Beach is evacuated to the countryside as the Second World War breaks

out. A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of old

Tom Oakley. But then his mother summons him back to war-torn London…….

Will he ever see Mister Tom again?

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Well,

he would be perfectly normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised and

educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the

world of the living, nor the world of the dead. There are dangers and

adventures for Bod in the graveyard; a gravestone entrance to a desert that

leads to the City of Ghouls; friendship with a witch and so much more.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely

travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End. But his

contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of 13

dwarves arrive on his doorstep to whisk him away on a journey ‘there and

back again.’ They have a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the

Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon…..

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem,

a shining Capitol surrounded by 12 outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and

cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and

one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to participate in the annual Hunger

Games, a fight to the death on live TV. 16 year old Katmiss Everdeen regards

it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the

Games. If she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh

survival against humanity and life against love.

Haoyou’s father is dead – his spirit lives among the clouds above Ancient

China. Feeling powerless when the man responsible for his father’s death

demands to marry his mother, Haoyou determines to follow in his father’s

footsteps and joins a travelling circus. The Jade Circus offers him the chance

to escape his enemies and perform: strapped to a kite, he takes to the skies,

and soon amazes audiences across the land – including the infamous Kublai

Khan himself. But is the circus master leading him into even greater danger?

Jennifer Jones was 10 years old when she killed her friend Michelle. Now

renamed Alice Tully, she is being prepared to join society again. She is now

17 and working in a coffee shop until she can go to university. Affectionate

and eager to please, all Alice wants is a quiet life. When news of her release

breaks, certain sections of the press want to find her and the hunt for JJ is on.

When Ted & Kat watched their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye, he

turned and waved before getting on. After half an hour it landed and

everyone trooped off – but no Salim. Where could he have gone? How on

earth could he have disappeared into thin air? Since the police have no luck

finding him, Ted & Kat become sleuthing partners. Despite their prickly

relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across

London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. Ultimately it comes down to

Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the

mystery.

Conor has the same dream every night, ever since his mother first fell ill, ever

since she started the treatments that don't quite seem to be working. But

tonight is different. Tonight, when he wakes, there's a visitor at his window.

It's ancient, elemental, a force of nature. And it wants the most dangerous

thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth.

In a terrifying and brutal future world, cities are mounted on giant wheels.

They hunt each other to the death. Aboard London, lowly apprentice Tom

Natsworthy longs to be part of the next attack. When he saves his chief

from a mad assassin, he is suddenly flung from the speeding city with a

mysterious scar-faced girl. They must run for their lives through the

wastelands, tracked by an unstoppable cyborg programmed to kill them……..

Sephy is a Cross – a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a

nought – a ‘colourless’ member of the underclass who were once slaves to

the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood. But that’s as

far as it can go. Until the first steps are taken towards more social equality

and a limited number of Noughts are allowed into Cross schools… Against a

background of prejudice and distrust, intensely highlighted by violent

terrorist activity by Noughts, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum –

a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger.

A young boy seeks his fortune on the streets of London. Until the age of nine,

Oliver has spent his life in a workhouse orphanage. Frustrated and hungry, he

runs away to London, where he falls into the company of a gang of clever

pickpockets, including Fagin, Bill Sykes and the Artful Dodger.

What will become of poor Oliver Twist?

It all begins with the scratching in the ceiling. From the moment Alison

discovers the dinner service in the attic, with its curious pattern of floral owls,

a chain of events is set in progress that is to affect everybody’s lives.

Something old and powerful is stirring in the Welsh valley. Alison, Roger and

Gwyn can all feel it, but only Huw seems to understand it. Inevitably, forces

from the past overwhelm the present. Will any of them be strong enough to

forestall the fate that threatens?

Heroism or cowardice? A stunning story of the First World War from a master

storyteller. Told in the voice of a young soldier, the story follows 24 hours in

his life at the front during WW1, and captures his memories as he looks back

over his life. Full of stunningly researched detail and engrossing atmosphere,

the book leads to a dramatic and moving conclusion.

As the family lay sleeping, soldiers kicked down the door of the house and

entered waving their rifles erratically……Life is not safe for Alem. His father is

Ethiopian, his mother Eritrean and with both countries at war, he is welcome

in neither place. So his father does an astonishing thing, which at first

appears callous, but is in fact the ultimate gift of love from a parent to their

child….

Before the name became a legend. Before the boy became a man. Meet

Bond. James Bond. There's something in the water at Loch Silverfin.

Something deadly. Something that must be kept secret...

It's James Bond's first day at Eton, and he's already met his first enemy. This is

the start of an adventure that will take him from the school playing fields to

the remote shores of Loch Silverfin and a terrifying discovery that threatens to

unleash a new breed of warfare.

Alone and fending for themselves in a Poland devastated by World War Two,

Jan and his three homeless friends cling to the silver sword as a symbol of

hope. As they travel through Europe towards Switzerland, where they believe

they will be reunited with their parents, they encounter many hardships and

dangers. This extraordinarily moving account of an epic journey gives a

remarkable insight into the reality of a Europe laid waste by war.

Michael was looking forward to moving house. It was all going to be

wonderful. But now his baby sister’s ill, his parents are frantic and Doctor

Death has come to call. Michael feels helpless. Then he steps into the

crumbling garage…… What is this thing beneath the spiders’ webs and dead

flies? A human being, or a strange kind of beast never seen before? The only

person Michael can confide in is Mina. Together, they carry the creature out

into the light and Michael’s world changes forever……..

Stig’s nice. He’s my friend. Nobody believes Barney when he says he’s

discovered a boy living wild in the dump. But for Barney, Stig is totally real.

They become great friends, learn each other’s ways and embark on a series of

exciting adventures.

The Walker children – also known as Captain John, Mate Susan, Able Seaman

Titty and Ship’s Boy Roger – set sail on the Swallow and head for Wild Cat

Island. There they camp under open skies, swim in clear water and go fishing

for their dinner. But their days are disturbed by the Blackett sisters, the fierce

Amazon pirates. The Swallows and Amazons decide to wage war and so

begins a summer of unforgettable discoveries and incredible adventures.

Heady tale of a treasure map, a perilous sea journey across the Spanish

Main, a mutiny led by the infamous Long John Silver, and a lethal scramble

for buried treasure as seen through the eyes of cabin boy Jim Hawkins.

In the deadly chaos of the First World War, one horse witnesses the reality of

battle from both sides of the trenches. Bombarded by artillery, with bullets

knocking riders from his back, Joey tells a powerful story of the truest

friendships surviving in terrible times. The bedlam of battle had begun. All

around me men cried and fell to the ground, and horses reared and

screamed in an agony of fear and pain. The shells whined and roared

overhead, and every explosion seemed like an earthquake to us. One horse

has the seen the best and the worst of humanity. The power of war and the

beauty of peace. This is his story.

‘We’ve got to go away before it’s too late.’

Fiver could sense danger. Something terrible was going to happen to the

warren – he felt sure of it. So did his brother Hazel, for Fiver’s sixth sense was

never wrong. They had to leave the warren. And so a small band of rabbits

began a long and perilous journey.

Long ago, at a time in history that never happened, England was overrun with

wolves. But as Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia discover, real danger often lies

closer to home. Their new governess, Miss Slighcarp, doesn't seem at all nice.

She shuts Bonnie in a cupboard, fires the faithful servants and sends the

cousins far away from Willoughby Chase to a place they will never be found.

Can Bonnie and Sylvia outwit the wicked Miss Slighcarp and her network of

criminals, forgers and snitches?

Auggie wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things - eating

ice cream, playing on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside. But ordinary kids

don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary

kids aren't stared at wherever they go. Born with a terrible facial abnormality,

Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life. Now, for the

first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is

to be accepted - but can he convince his new classmates that he's just like

them, underneath it all?