Bohunt Worthing's Top 20 Reads of 2019-2020
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Bohunt Worthing’s Top 20 Reads of 2019-2020
Top 20 Reads compiled by Jamie Quick (7DHU)
1. Chinglish by Sue Cheung
Jo Kwan is a teenager growing up in 1980s Coventry with her annoying little sister, too-
cool older brother, a series of very unlucky pets and utterly bonkers parents. But unlike
the other kids at her new school or her posh cousins, Jo lives above her parents' Chinese
takeaway. And things can be tough whether it's unruly customers or the snotty popular
girls who bully Jo for being different. Even when she does find a BFF who actually likes Jo
for herself, she still has to contend with her erratic dad's behaviour. All Jo dreams of is
breaking free and forging a career as an artist.
Told in diary entries and doodles, Jo's brilliantly funny observations about life, family
and char siu make for a searingly honest portrayal of life on the other side of the
takeaway counter.
2. Wonder by R. J. Palacio
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?
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
It's a brand-new year and a brand-new journal and Greg is keen to put the humiliating
(and secret!) events of last summer firmly behind him. But someone knows everything,
someone whose job it is to most definitely not keep anything embarrassing of Greg's
private big brother, Rodrick. How can Greg make it through this new school year with his
cool(ish) reputation intact?
4. Ink by Alice Broadway Every action, every deed, every significant moment is tattooed on your skin forever. When Leora's father dies, she is determined to see her father remembered forever. She knows he deserves to have all his tattoos removed and made into a Skin Book to stand as a record of his good life. But when she discovers that his ink has been edited and his book is incomplete, she wonders whether she ever knew him at all. 5. Mr Stink by David Walliams “Mr Stink stank. He also stunk. And if it was correct English to say he stinked, then he stinked as well…” It all starts when Chloe makes friends with Mr Stink, the local tramp. Yes, he smells a bit. But when it looks like he might be driven out of town, Chloe decides to hide him in the garden shed. Now Chloe's got to make sure no one finds out her secret. And speaking of secrets, there just might be more to Mr Stink than meets the eye… or the nose. 6. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling Harry Potter is an ordinary boy who lives in a cupboard under the stairs at his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's house, which he thinks is normal for someone like him whose parents have been killed in a 'car crash'. He is bullied by them and his fat, spoilt cousin Dudley, and lives a very unremarkable life with only the odd hiccup (like his hair growing back overnight!) to cause him much to think about. That is until an owl turns up with a letter addressed to Harry and all hell breaks loose! He is literally rescued by a world where nothing is as it seems and magic lessons are the order of the day. Read and find out how Harry discovers his true heritage at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, the reason behind his parent’s mysterious death, who is out to kill him, and how he uncovers the most amazing secret of all time, the fabled Philosopher's Stone! All this and muggles too. Now, what are they?
7. The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James Can you fall in love with someone you've never met, never even spoken to - someone who is light years away? Romy Silvers is the only surviving crew-member of a spaceship travelling to a new planet, on a mission to establish a second home for humanity. Alone in space, she is the loneliest girl in the universe until she hears about a new ship which has launched from Earth with a single passenger on board. A boy called J. Their only communication is via email and due to the distance between them, their messages take months to transmit. And yet Romy finds herself falling in love. But what does Romy really know about J? And what do the mysterious messages which have started arriving from Earth really mean? Sometimes, there's something worse than being alone... 8. S.T.A.G.S by M. A. Bennett It is the autumn term and Greer MacDonald is struggling to settle into the sixth form at the exclusive St Aidan the Great boarding school, known to its privileged pupils as S.T.A.G.S. To her surprise Greer receives a mysterious invitation with three words embossed upon on it: huntin' shootin' fishin' - an invitation to spend the half-term weekend at the country manor of Henry de Warlencourt, the most popular and wealthy boy at S.T.A.G.S. Greer joins the other chosen students at the ancient and sprawling Longcross Hall, and soon realises that they are at the mercy of their capricious host. Over the next three days, as the three blood sports - hunting, shooting and fishing - become increasingly dark and twisted, Greer comes to the horrifying realisation that those being hunted are not wild game, but the very misfits Henry has brought with him from school… 9. Tom Gates is Absolutely Fantastic (at Some Things) by Liz Pichon This takes the form of Tom's battered homework diary - crammed with his doodles and stories. "Exciting News! Mr Fullerman announces that class 5F are going on an 'Activity Break'! Which should be fun. As long as I don't get stuck in a group with anyone who snores or worse still with . . . . . Marcus Meldrew.
10. Ratburger by David Walliams The fifth screamingly funny novel from David Walliams, number one bestseller and fastest growing children’s author in the country. Hot on the heels of bestselling Gangsta Granny comes another hilarious, action-packed and touching novel – the story of a little girl called Zoe. Things are not looking good for Zoe. Her stepmother Sheila is so lazy she gets Zoe to pick her nose for her. The school bully Tina Trotts makes her life a misery – mainly by flobbing on her head. And now the evil Burt from Burt’s Burgers is after her pet rat! And guess what he wants to do with it? The clue is in the title… 11. Noah Can’t Even by Simon James Green Poor Noah Grimes! His father disappeared years ago, his mother's Beyoncé tribute act is an unacceptable embarrassment, and his beloved gran is no longer herself. He only has one friend, Harry, and school is... Well, it's pure hell. Why can't Noah be normal, like everyone else at school? Maybe if he struck up a romantic relationship with someone - maybe Sophie, who is perfect and lovely - he'd be seen in a different light? But Noah's plans are derailed when Harry kisses him at a party. That's when things go from bad to utter chaos. 12. The Hypnotist by Laurence Anholt Jack has left his native Ireland and is making a new life as Professor of Neurology at a university in the American South. He has certain skills, honed over his lifetime, which he mostly keeps hidden. Skills in hypnotism and mind control . . . Thirteen-year-old Pip is plucked out of an orphanage by a farmer, hired as a farm- hand, and as carer for the farmer's wife. But Pip is black. The farmer and his wife are white. And this is 1960s America, where race defines you and overshadows everything. As racial tensions reach boiling point with a danger closer to home and more terrifying than either thought possible, Jack and Pip's lives become inextricably linked. And Jack's hypnotic skills are called on as never before . . .
13. Raven’s Gate by Anthony Horowitz The first episode in The Power of Five series by the author of the bestselling Alex Rider series, Anthony Horowitz. Matt has always known he has unusual powers. Raised in foster care, he is sent to Yorkshire on a rehabilitation programme, only to find himself in the midst of sinister goings-on. Matt investigates and uncovers a terrible secret – eight guardians are protecting the world from the Old Ones, beings banished long ago by five children. But devil worshippers want to let the Old Ones back in… 14. Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy Meet the great Skulduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective, powerful magician, master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course)… Oh yeah. And dead. Then there's his sidekick, Stephanie. She's... well, she's a twelve-year-old girl. With a pair like this on the case, evil had better watch out... Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn't fiction. Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard. Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie and Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to stop it? One thing's for sure: evil won't know what's hit it. 15. Booked by Kwame Alexander Like lightning/you strike/fast and free/legs zoom/down field/eyes fixed/on the checkered ball/on the goal/ten yards to go/can’t nobody stop you/can’t nobody cop you… Twelve-year-old Nick is a football-mad boy who absolutely hates books. In this follow- up to the Newbery-winning novel The Crossover, football, family, love, and friendship take centre stage as Nick tries to figure out how to navigate his parents’ break-up, stand up to bullies, and impress the girl of his dreams. These challenges – which seem even harder than scoring a tie-breaking, game-winning goal – change his life, as well as his best friend’s. This energetic novel-in-verse by the poet Kwame Alexander captures all the thrills and setbacks, the action and emotion of a World Cup match.
16. Re-made by Alex Scarrow Leon and his younger sister, Grace, have recently moved to London from New York and are struggling to settle into their new school when rumours of an unidentified virus in Africa begin to fill the news. Within a week the virus hits London. The siblings witness people turning to liquid before their eyes, and they run for their lives. A month after touching Earth's atmosphere the virus has assimilated the world's biomass. But the virus isn't their only enemy, and survival is just the first step . . . 17. Percy Jackson and The Lightning thief by Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is the first bestselling book in Rick Riordan's phenomenally successful Percy Jackson series. Half boy. Half God. ALL Hero. Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God. I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. Now I spend my time battling monsters and generally trying to stay alive. This is the one where Zeus, God of the Sky, thinks I've stolen his lightning bolt - and making Zeus angry is a very bad idea. 18. GONE series: Light by Michael Grant All eyes are on Perdido Beach. The barrier wall is now as clear as glass and life in the FAYZ is visible for the entire outside world to see. Life inside the dome remains a constant battle and the Darkness, away from watchful eyes, grows and grows . . . The society that Sam and Astrid have struggled so hard to build is about to be shattered for good. It’s the end of the FAYZ. Who will survive to see the light of day? This is the nail-biting finale to the GONE saga. The GONE series is Lord of the Flies for the 21st century. In turns breathtaking, harrowing, and utterly terrifying. Its complex characters and moral dilemmas will delight fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent and The Maze Runner. This is dystopian fiction at its best.
19. Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman The first book in Philip Pullman's classic SALLY LOCKHART quartet in a beautiful new edition to celebrate the 30 year anniversary. Soon after Sally Lockhart's father drowns at sea, she receives an anonymous letter. The dire warning it contains makes a man die of fear at her feet. Determined to discover the truth about her father's death, Sally is plunged into a terrifying mystery in the dark heart of Victorian London, at the centre of which lies a deadly blood-soaked jewel. Philip Pullman's ever- popular, action-packed Victorian melodramas are rejacketed for the bicentenary of Charles Dickens in 2012. 20. Young Bond: SilverFin by Charlie Higson 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.
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