S2 Book List:

• The Harder They Fall by Bali Rai
• Nadine Dreams of Home by Bernard Ashley
• Clockwork or All Wound Up by Philip Pullman
• Torrent by Bernard Ashley
• Fox Friend by Michael Morpurgo

S3 Book List:

• The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington
• The Last Summer of Us by Maggie Harcourt
• Silverfin by Charlie Higson
• Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
• The Seventh Tower The Fall by Garth Nix

“The Harder They Fall” by Bali Rai was rated     

We read the book “The Harder They Fall” by Bali Rai in class in our Literature Circle. It was about bullying in school, friendship and how some families have to struggle with everyday things in life. It is about people showing kindness when others are being unkind and, above all, it is a story of loyalty between friends.

We would recommend this book to young teenagers because it deals with issues that all teenagers would understand and so we would rate this book four out of five.

By Dagmara and Brian (S2)

“I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban” was rated  

 We read “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban” by Malala Yousafzai. This is a non-fiction book and so it is not something any of us would have normally picked up. One of the good things about the book is it gave us all an insight into the inspirational life of Malala. To start, we found the book very hard to get into. However, we persevered and we began to enjoy learning about a culture that is so different to our own. However, there are many details in the book and we felt this made the story drag on. Also, we found all the cultural bits – although interesting – sometimes made us loose interest meaning it lacked flow. We definitely found the book a challenging read. However, when we got to the end, we felt a sense of achievement as it was very long.
Overall, we would recommend this book to people who enjoy learning about different cultures and people who like to read non-fiction.

By Kieran, Dario, Brooke, Niamh and Ruth (S3)

“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas 

We read “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas.  It is a fiction book that discusses many modern issues such as racism.  The novel is about a young black girl who witnessed her friend being shot by a white police officer.  We enjoyed this book because we could relate to the very real problems the main character faces.  However, we did find the book quite emotional in places.  We would recommend this book to teenagers and young adults. 

By Aya, Lily, Aveena, Lucy, Sam and Olivia (S3)