Riveting Reads

 

AJ’s grandfather has always been the one to keep his unusual family together, so when he dies things start to unravel at the edges. AJ is worried about his parents but they don t really seem to notice. In order to deal with his grief and to keep his anxiety at bay, AJ does what he and his grandfather did best: running. Round and round the Olympic Park, aiming for the cross country trials, running to escape, AJ only seems to be heading ever closer to disaster. Running On Empty is a beautiful book about false starts and emotional journeys, with hope as the ultimate finishing line. From the author of Little Bits of Sky.

 

 

Tommy, Y7 says:

I enjoyed this book. It was about a young boy growing up into a teenager. His strong relationship with his parents made this book good. It was also about coping with loss. I think it got all of its messages through very nicely.

 

A taut thriller about murder, maths and the mind. Peter Blankman is afraid of everything and must confront unimaginable terror when his mother is attacked.

Seventeen-year-old Peter Blankman is a maths prodigy. He also suffers from severe panic attacks. Afraid of everything, he finds solace in the orderly and logical world of mathematics and in the love of his family: his scientist mum and his tough twin sister Bel, as well as Ingrid, his only friend. However, when his mother is found stabbed before an award ceremony and his sister is nowhere to be found, Pete is dragged into a world of espionage and violence where state and family secrets intertwine. Armed only with his extraordinary analytical skills, Peter may just discover that his biggest weakness is his greatest strength.

 

Bethan, Y7 says:

I really liked this book because it had a lot of unrealistic things in it. However, the author told the story so well it seemed like they were real. I would recommend this book to older readers who like spy stories and similar books.

 

An extraordinary tale about the search for love from the acclaimed Costa and Carnegie winning novelist Sally Gardner.

Jazmin has been shunned ever since her best friend Becky disappeared. But Becky didn’t just disappear – she jumped off a tall building and seemingly never reached the ground. It was as if she simply vanished into thin air. Did Jazmin have something to do with her disappearance? Or was it more to do with Icarus, so beguiling and strangely ever youthful, with whom Becky became suddenly besotted . . .

 

Eden, Y7 says

A good book about a girl finding out what happened when her best friend Becky mysteriously disappears after jumping off a building. Jazmin is puzzled by the strange boy who never seems to age and who Becky suddenly gets obsessed with.

 

How do you know you really exist? It’s Maisie’s birthday and she can’t wait to open her presents. She’s hoping for the things she needs to build her own nuclear reactor. But she wakes to an empty house and outside the front door is nothing but a terrifying, all-consuming blackness. Trapped in an ever-shifting reality, Maisie knows that she will have to use the laws of the universe and the love of her family to survive. And even that might not be enough… A mind-bending mystery for anyone who’s ever asked questions.

 

Fran, Y7 says:

This book is very exciting because there are two different sides. It can get very scary at points but it is VERY good. I like that one of the chapters is the normal side and another is the  abnormal side.I also like that there is chemistry with the chapters.

 

Xiomara has always kept her words to herself. When it comes to standing her ground in her Harlem neighbourhood, she lets her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But X has secrets – her feelings for a boy in her bio class, and the notebook full of poems that she keeps under her bed. And a slam poetry club that will pull those secrets into the spotlight.

Because in spite of a world that might not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to stay silent.

A novel about finding your voice and standing up for what you believe in, no matter how hard it is to say. Brave, bold and beautifully written – dealing with issues of race, feminism and faith – this is perfect for fans of Orangeboy, Nicola Yoon’s Everything Everything and Zoella Book Club choice Moxie.

 

Lottie, Y7 says:

I found this book really enjoyable. I loved it because the way it’s set out is really nice. The entire book is a poem and it’s amazing in words I can’t describe. I didn’t find that anything didn’t work. I think that someone who likes drama and romance will like this book.

 

Bethan, Y7 says:

I really enjoyed this book because it is written in an unusual way – in verse and different styles of poems. The main character, Xiomara, is very headstrong and determined, which I love! I would definitely recommend this book to people who like reading books that are set out differently.

 

The Ghosts and Jamal is an intriguing story, touching on religion, terrorism and Nigeria’s internal conflicts, following a young orphan who is negotiating an unforgiving society. Waking up in the aftermath of a terrorist attack, 13-year-old Jamal tries to piece together what has happened whilst simultaneously trying to evade capture by the attackers. It soon becomes clear that he has been living in a separate outhouse from his family on account of the “bad spirits” or rather his epilepsy that plagues him.

As he wanders around his family’s compound, he comes across red canisters leaking yellow gas, which he works out were the weapon that killed his family. With his family dead, he begins to search for his grandfather who he hardly knows; when his grandfather turns him away Jamal keeps walking. On the way he meets prejudice, exploitation and friendship, before finally discovering that it is people, not ghosts, that have killed his family, and they have plans to keep on killing.

 

 

 

Annie is starting college and she can’t wait for the adventure to begin. No more being told what to do. No more rules. No more labels. As a teenager with cerebral palsy, independence matters more than anything to Annie. The last thing she’s looking for is romance.

Fab is starting college too. He’s wild and energetic and he believes that the greatest adventure in life is falling in love. He’s left his home in Poland and he feels adrift in the world. The one thing he’s looking for is romance.

What will happen when Fab and Annie meet? Will either of them find what they are truly looking for?

 

Caitlin, Y8 says:

Annie andFab leave home to go to college. That’s where they meet. I thought this book was very good and engaging. It would be good for someone who likes life stories that are a bit random.

 

‘Hoop kings SOAR
in kicks with wings.
Game so sweet
it’s like bee stings.’

It’s 1988. Charlie Bell is still mourning his father, and struggling to figure out how he feels for his best (girl) friend, CJ. When he gets into trouble one too many times, he’s packed off to stay with his grandparents for the summer. There his cousin Roxie introduces him to a whole new world: basketball. A legend on the courts is born. But can Charlie resist when trouble comes knocking once again?

From the New York Times-bestselling author Kwame Alexander, Rebound is a stunning coming-of-age novel in verse about basketball, family and staying true to yourself. 
A prequel to The Crossover, winner of the Newbery Medal, and follow-up to Booked, highly commended for the CLiPPA prize and nominated for the Carnegie Medal.

With comic-book illustrations from award-winning graphic novel artist Dawud Anyabwile

 

Tommy, Y7 says:

When I picked it up I was worried that it would all be about basketball, but it wasn’t. It was also about friendship and coping with trauma. Basketball was almost like a side story.

 

Thirteen-year-old Martin and his younger brother Charlie are on a very special journey. They’re going to be travelling 421 miles all the way from Preston to the very tip of Cornwall. They’re hoping to catch a glimpse of the dolphin that regularly visits the harbour there. But is that the only reason they are going? 

It’s a journey that’s full of challenges and surprises. Martin adores his brother Charlie but he’s not like ordinary kids. He’s one in a million. He was born far too early, and ought to have died. And cheeky, irrepressible, utterly unique Charlie is always keeping Martin on his toes – especially on this crazy trip they are now on. Martin is doing his best to be a good big brother, but it’s hard when there’s something so huge coming once they get to Cornwall …

 

Ciara, Y7 says:

Martin travels to St Bernard’s to see the dolphin from last summer. He doesn’t want his parents to come though which suggests that there’s something else going on. This book is funny and ,at times, sad, but you won’t regret trying it!