NEW BOYS' READING LIST 2018 - Books chosen by boys, beaks and staff. All books are available from the Vaughan Library - Harrow School
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NEW BOYS’
READING LIST 2018
Books chosen by boys, beaks and staff.
All books are available from the Vaughan Library.
Tin by Padraig Kenny Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick
Christopher is ‘Proper’: a real boy Anapra is one of the poorest
with a real soul, orphaned in a fire. He neighbourhoods in the Mexican city of
works for an engineer, a maker of the Juarez - 20 metres outside town lies a
eccentric, loyal, individual mechanicals fence, and beyond it, America. Faustino
who are Christopher’s best friends. is trying to escape from the gang he‘s
After a devastating accident, a secret been working for. He has dipped into a
is revealed and Christopher’s world is pile of dollars he was supposed to be
changed forever. Christopher embarks hiding and now he is on the run. He and
on a remarkable adventure and his friend Arturo have 36 hours to replace
discovers who he really is, and what it the missing money, or they are as good
means to be human. as dead. Watching over them is Saint
Death (or Santissima Muerte), A folk saint,
Flamingo Boy by Michael Morpurgo a rebel angel, a sinister guardian.
Set in the unique landscape of the
Camargue in the South of France during After the Fire by Will Hill
WW2, a young autistic boy lives on his Father John controls everything inside
parents’ farm among the salt flats and The Fence. Father John likes rules,
the flamingos. There are many things he especially rules about never talking to
doesn’t understand, but he does know Outsiders, because Father John knows
how to heal animals; he loves routine the truth. He knows what is right and
and music too and every week he goes what is wrong. He knows what is coming.
to market with his mother, to ride his Moonbeam is starting to doubt, though.
special horse on the town carousel. She is starting to see the lies behind
Father John’s words. She wants him to be
The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson revealed. What if the only way out of the
A story about finding friendship darkness is to light a fire?
and hope when you are lonely and
frightened. Twelve-year-old Matthew Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
is trapped in his bedroom by crippling Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to
OCD, spending most of his time staring pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire
out of his window as his neighbours in Russell Pickett, but there is a $100,000
Chestnut Close go about their business. reward at stake. So she and her best
When his next-door neighbour’s toddler, friend Daisy navigate the short distance
Teddy, goes missing, Matthew must turn and broad divides that separate them
detective and unravel the mystery of from Russell Pickett’s son Davis.
Teddy’s disappearance. Aza is trying to be a good daughter, a
good friend, a good student, and maybe
The 1,000 Year Old Boy by Ross Welford even a good detective, while also living
Alfie Monk is like any other nearly within the ever-tightening spiral of her
teenage boy – except he is 1,000 years own thoughts.
old and can remember the last Viking
invasion of England; obviously no one Thin Air by Michelle Paver
believes him. When everything Alfie The Himalayas, 1935. Kangchenjunga. The
knows and loves is destroyed in a fire sacred mountain. Biggest killer of them
and the modern world comes crashing all. Five Englishmen set out to conquer
in, Alfie embarks on a mission to find it, but courage can only take them so far.
friendship, acceptance and a different The higher they climb, the darker it gets.
way to live, which means finding a way
A gripping story which unsettles the
to make sure he will eventually die.
reader from the very first page.
Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk Indigo Donut by Patrice Lawrence
Crow has lived her whole life on a Seventeen-year-old Indigo has had a
tiny, starkly beautiful island. Her only tough start in life, having grown up in
companions are Osh, the man who the care system after her dad killed
rescued her from a washed-up skiff as her mum. Bailey, also 17 lives with his
a baby and raised her, and Miss Maggie, parents in Hackney and spends all
their neighbour across the sandbar. his time playing guitar or tending to
When a mysterious fire appears across his luscious ginger afro. When Indigo
the water, an unspoken question of and Bailey meet at sixth form, serious
her own history forms in Crow’s heart, sparks fly. When Bailey becomes the
and an unstoppable chain of events is target of a homeless man who seems
triggered. Crow sets out to find her lost to know more about Indigo than is
identity – and, ultimately, to learn what normal, Bailey is forced to make a
it means to be a family. choice he should never have to make.
A life-affirming story about falling in
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who love and everyone’s need to belong.
Climbed Out of the Window and
Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson The Bone Sparrow by Zana Faillon
Sitting quietly in his room in an old Subhi is a refugee who has spent his
people’s home, Allan Karlsson is entire life in a detention centre and
waiting for his 100th-birthday party. he longs for the day that his family
The Mayor will be there, the press will will join him. Life is tough but Subhi is
be there, but, as it turns out, Allan will befriended by one of the guards and
not. Escaping (in his slippers) through by an older boy whom he helps to
his bedroom window, Allan makes his secretly trade goods around the camp.
getaway. So begins his unlikely journey One day he meets Jimmie, a girl from
involving criminals, several murders, a outside. Unrest in the camp grows and
suitcase full of cash and incompetent Jimmie shows him a way to escape but
police. As his escapades unfold, Allan’s will he take it? This is a gripping book
earlier life is revealed, a life in which he that highlights the plight of refugees
played a key role behind the scenes in and the importance of hope for people
some of the momentous events of the held in this way.
20th century.
The Explorer by Katherine Rundell
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy From his seat in the tiny aeroplane,
Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, Fred watches as the mysteries of the
magician, warrior. Oh yes, and dead. Amazon jungle pass by below him.
Stephanie’s uncle Gordon is a writer He has always dreamed of becoming
of horror fiction. When he dies and an explorer, of making history and of
leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns reading his name amongst the lists of
that while he may have written horror, great discoveries. As the plane crashes
it certainly wasn’t fiction. Pursued into the canopy, Fred is suddenly
by evil forces intent on recovering a left without a choice; he and the
mysterious key, Stephanie finds help three other children may survive, but
from the wisecracking skeleton of a the jungle is a vast, untamed place.
dead wizard. Without hope of rescue, the chance of
getting home feels impossibly small,
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by but it seems someone has been there
John Boyne before them.
Nine-year-old Bruno knows nothing of
the Final Solution and the Holocaust. Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner
He has moved from a comfortable Narrated against the backdrop of a
home in Berlin to a house in a desolate ruthless regime determined to beat its
area where there is nothing to do and enemies in the race to the moon, this
no one to play with. Then he meets is a powerful story of unforgettable
Shmuel, a boy who lives a strange heroism. When his best friend Hector is
parallel existence on the other side taken away, Standish Treadwell realises
of the adjoining wire fence and who, that it is up to him, his grandfather and
like the other people there, wears a a small band of rebels to confront and
uniform of striped pyjamas. Bruno’s defeat the ever-present oppressive
friendship with Shmuel will take him forces of the Motherland.
from innocence to revelation where he
will inevitably become subsumed by
the terrible process.
The Bombs That Brought Us Together Shtum by Jem Lester
by Brian Conaghan Ten-year-old Jonah lives in a world of his
Fourteen-year-old Charlie Law has own. He likes colours, feathers and the
lived in Little Town on the border feel of fresh air on his skin. He dislikes
with Old Country all his life. He knows sudden loud noises and any change to
the rules: no going out after dark, no his daily routine. Jonah has never spoken,
drinking, no litter, no fighting. You do yet somehow he communicates better
not want to get on the wrong side of than the adults in his life. Inspired by the
the people who run Little Town. When author’s experiences with his own son,
he meets Pavel Duda, a refugee from Shtum is a novel about three generations
Old Country, the rules start to get of a family learning to get along.
broken. Then the bombs come and the
soldiers from Old Country, and Little The Humans by Matt Haig
Town changes forever. After an ‘incident’ one wet Friday night
where Professor Andrew Martin is found
My Name is Leon by Kit De Waal walking naked through the streets
It is 1981, a year of riots and royal of Cambridge, he is not feeling quite
weddings. Nine-year-old Leon and himself. He feels lost amongst a crazy
his little brother Jake have gone to alien species and hates everyone on the
live with Maureen. They have lost one planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton
home, but have they found another? – and he’s a dog. What could possibly
Maureen feeds and looks after them, make someone change their mind about
she has wild red hair and mutters the human race…?
swearwords under her breath. She
claims everything will be okay, but will The Knife of Never Letting Go by
they ever see their mother again? Who Patrick Ness
are the couple who secretly visit Jake? Imagine you are the only boy in a town
Between the street violence and the of men; you can hear everything they
street parties, Leon must find a way to think and they can hear everything you
reunite his family... think. Todd Hewitt is just one month
away from the birthday that will make
Where the World Ends by Geraldine him a man but his town has been keeping
McCaughrean secrets from him. Secrets that are going
Every summer, Quill and his friends to force him to run. This is an unflinching
are put ashore on a remote sea stack novel about fear, flight and the terrifying
to hunt birds but, this summer, no one path of self-discovery.
arrives to take them home. Nothing
but the end of the world can explain The Call by Peadar O’Guilin
why they have been abandoned – cold, Nessa and her friends attend Boyle
starving and clinging to life, in the grip College to train for the most dangerous
of a murderous ocean. How will they time of their lives – The Call. Without
survive? warning, each one of them will wake in
a terrifying land, alone and hunted, with
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the a slim chance of returning alive. No one
Night-Time by Mark Haddon believes Nessa can make it, but she is
Detective, and narrator, Christopher determined to prove them all wrong and
Boone is 15 and has Asperger’s she will need every ounce of spirit and
Syndrome. He knows a very great courage in order to survive. A brutal but
deal about maths and very little about compelling read combining folklore and
human beings. He loves lists, patterns fantasy.
and the truth. He hates the colours
yellow and brown and being touched. Rook by Anthony McGowan
He has never gone further than the end A poignant, beautifully written novella
of the road on his own. When he finds a about growing up and family, Rook is
neighbour’s dog murdered, he sets out a tale of two brothers and a wounded
on a terrifying journey, which will turn bird. A companion piece to the hugely
his whole world upside down. successful Brock and Pike, McGowan
warms hearts once more with the
adventures of Nicky and Kenny.
Wonder by R J Palacio
Classics
“My name is August, I won’t describe
what I look like, whatever you’re The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by
thinking, it’s probably worse.” Auggie Douglas Adams
wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old.
It is an ordinary Thursday lunchtime
He does ordinary things and he feels
for Arthur Dent until his house gets
ordinary – inside, but ordinary kids aren’t
demolished. The Earth follows shortly
stared at wherever they go. Born with a
afterwards to make way for a new
terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has
hyperspace express route, and his best
been home-schooled by his parents his
friend has just announced that he’s an alien.
whole life. Now, for the first time, he is
At this moment, they are hurtling through
going to a real school and he is dreading
space with nothing but their towels and
it. He wants is to be accepted – but can
an innocuous-looking book inscribed in
he convince his new classmates that he
large friendly letters with the words: DON’T
is just like them underneath it all?
PANIC. The weekend has only just begun...
The Haunting by Margaret Mahy
Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle
Eight-year-old Barney has been haunted
In a spaceship that can travel at the speed
before. He thought it was something he
of light, Ulysse, a journalist, sets off from
would just grow out of, like the imaginary
Earth for the nearest solar system. He finds
friends his stepmother believes he has,
there a planet that resembles his own, but
but this time it’s different. Footsteps
on Soror humans behave like animals and
follow him, there’s a demanding voice
are hunted by a civilised race of primates.
barking orders and Barney begins to feel
Captured and sent to a research facility,
that sometimes his body is not his own
Ulysse must convince the apes of their
at all. With the help of his sisters Tabitha
mutual origins, but such revelations are
and Troy, Barney sets out to uncover the
met with prejudice and fear...
truth about their family secrets and to
find out who is haunting him. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha
Christie
Spud by John Van De Ruit
Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the
It is 1990. Apartheid is crumbling,
Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious
Nelson Mandela has just been released
train is surprisingly full for the time of the
from prison and Spud Milton is about
year but, by the morning, it is one passenger
to start his first year at an elite boys-
fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his
only boarding school. Cursed with
compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his
embarrassingly dysfunctional parents, an
door locked from the inside. Isolated and
eccentric granny and a dormitory full of
with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule
strange characters, Spud has his hands
Poirot must identify the murderer in case he
full trying to adapt to his new home.
or she decides to strike again.
The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A prequel to the His Dark Materials trilogy.
The unforgettable novel of a childhood
Eleven-year-old Malcolm Polstead and his
in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis
dæmon, Asta, live with his parents at the
of conscience that rocked it, To Kill a
Trout Inn near Oxford. Across the River
Mockingbird became both an instant
Thames (which Malcolm navigates often
bestseller and a critical success when
using his beloved canoe, a boat by the
published in 1960. Compassionate,
name of La Belle Sauvage) is the Godstow
dramatic and deeply moving, To Kill A
Priory where the nuns live. Malcolm learns
Mockingbird takes readers to the roots
they have a guest with them: a baby by
of human behaviour – to innocence and
the name of Lyra Belacqua.
experience, kindness and cruelty, love and
hatred, humour and pathos.
Running Girl by Simon Mason
Garvie Smith has the highest IQ ever The Call of the Wild by Jack London
recorded at Marsh Academy with the
Life is good for Buck in Santa Clara
lowest ever grades. What is the point?
Valley, where he spends his days eating
Life sucks. Nothing surprising ever
and sleeping in the golden sunshine. One
happens, until Chloe Dow’s body is pulled
day, a treacherous act of betrayal leads
from a pond. DI Singh is already on the
to his kidnap and he is forced into a life
case; ambitious, uptight, methodical –
of toil and danger. Dragged away to be a
he is determined to solve the mystery.
sledge dog in the harsh and freezing cold
He doesn’t need any ‘assistance’ from
Yukon, Buck must fight for his survival.
notorious slacker, Smith…or does he?
The series continues in the sequel Kid Got Shot.
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by
Northern Lights introduces Lyra, an Yuval Noah Harari
orphan who lives in a parallel universe in Fire gave us power, farming made
which science, theology and magic are us hungry for more, money gave us
entwined. Lyra’s search for a kidnapped purpose, science made us deadly. This is
friend uncovers a sinister plot involving the thrilling account of our extraordinary
stolen children and turns into a quest to history – from insignificant apes to rulers
understand a mysterious phenomenon of the world.
called Dust. In The Subtle Knife, she is
joined on her journey by Will, a boy who Bomb: the race to build – and steal –
possesses a knife that can cut windows the world’s most dangerous weapon by
between worlds. As Lyra learns the truth Steve Sheinkin
about her parents and her prophesied In December 1938, a chemist in a German
destiny, the two young people are laboratory made a shocking discovery:
caught up in a war against celestial when placed next to radioactive material,
powers that ranges across many worlds a Uranium atom split in two. That simple
and leads to a thrilling conclusion in The discovery launched a scientific race
Amber Spyglass. that spanned three continents. This is
the story of the plotting, the risk-taking,
Non-fiction the deceit and genius that created the
world’s most formidable weapon. This is
the story of the atomic bomb.
The Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb
In 1945, at the end of World War Two, Adventures of a Young Naturalist:
Adolf Eichmann, the Head of Operations Sir David Attenborough’s Zoo Quest
for the Nazis’ Final Solution, walked into Expeditions by Sir David Attenborough
the mountains of Germany and vanished
In 1954, a young television presenter was
from view. Sixteen years later, an elite
offered the opportunity of a lifetime – to
team of spies captured him at a bus
travel the world finding rare and elusive
stop in Argentina and smuggled him to
animals for London Zoo’s collection, and
Israel, resulting in one of the century’s
to film the expeditions for the BBC. This
most important trials that cemented
is the story of those voyages. Staying
the Holocaust in the public imagination.
with local tribes while trekking in search
The Nazi Hunters is the thrilling and
of giant anteaters in Guyana, Komodo
fascinating story of what happened
dragons in Indonesia and armadillos
between these two events.
in Paraguay, he and the rest of the
team recorded the incredible beauty
How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg
and biodiversity of these regions. The
Over the course of history, men and methods may be outdated now, but the
women have lived and died. In fact, fascination and respect for the wildlife,
getting sick and dying can be a big, the people and the environment – and
ugly mess – especially before the the importance of protecting these wild
modern medical care that we all enjoy places – is not.
today. How They Croaked relays all the
gory details of how 19 world figures
gave up the ghost. Readers will be
fascinated well past the final curtain,
and feel lucky to live in a world with
painkillers, X-rays, soap and 999.
Shell Reading Group Websites
The Shell Reading Group meets on alternate Tuesdays www.goodreads.com
in the Vaughan Library. We discuss contemporary and www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers
classic books and review new books and films. If you are www.childrensbooksequels.co.uk
unsure what to read next, or want to share your favourite www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/
book then please join us. We also have book-based www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site
games, quizzes and refreshments and a library-based www.lovereading4kids.co.uk
murder mystery to solve. Please ask for more details at www.teenreads.com
the Vaughan Library.
VAUGHAN LIBRARY Summer 2018
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