Reading List
This section provides some recommended reads, mostly geared towards young people aged 10-18. It includes some timeless classics to give students an edge when tackling their GCSE or A-Level exam texts, and YA fiction that celebrates writers from a diverse range of backgrounds, allowing children to explore different ideas and perspectives across time and place.
Recommended reads for students starting secondary school:
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Reading Charles Dickens’s classic novel Oliver Twist is a great way to introduce students to the chaotic, sordid and treacherous world of Victorian London. Following Oliver’s childhood journey, we come across every layer of human society, from the super rich to the extreme poor, and meet some terryfying villains along the way. The story explores themes and ideas linked to journeys, childhood and poverty.
No Ballet Shoes in Syria by Catherine Bruton
Linking to the ideas of childhood and journeys, this modern day story follows the perilous journey that Aya and her family take when escaping their home in war torn Syria and their attempts to gain asylum in Manchester. Despite facing hardship, grief and isolation in an unfamiliar city, Aya joins a ballet class and begins to rediscover her joy and passion for dancing, as well as developing some powerful, life-changing friendships.
Freedom 1783 by Catherine Johnson
Set in the 1700’s, this story follows Nat, a 12 year old enslaved boy from a Jamaican plantation, who is sent on a ship to England by a cruel family, to look after exotic pineapples. As he approaches England he begins to dream of freedom and a life away from bondage. The novel is fictional but based on historical events that give students an insight into some of the horrors of slavery, and the work of brave abolitionists such as Olaudah Equiano and Granville Sharp.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The novel A Monster Calls centres around a teenage boy as he attempts to come to terms with the serious illness of his mother. It incorporates gothic and fantasy elements that allows readers to explore the complex themes of death, anger and isolation in a sensitive and empathetic way. The idea of the story came from Siobhan Dowd who died before being able to write it. Author British-American author Patrick Ness used her ideas to later create this story. Ness’s many other YA novels are certainly worth exploring.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Book Thief is an epic historical fiction novel that focuses on a young girl called Liesel Meminger, who is adopted by Hans and Rosa Hubermann during 1930s Nazi Germany, and later develops a friendship with a Jewish man named Max who hides in the basement of their house. The novel has an unusual style with Death as its narrator, and it regularly switches between perspective and time. In a period in which books are being burned, Liesel begins to steal them in order to learn to read and write, and daringly begins to write a book of her own. The novel covers the horrors of Nazi rule, the persecution of Jewish people, and the experiences of World War 2 from a German child’s perspective.
Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
Noughts and Crosses is the first of a series of highly acclaimed novels by one of Britain’s greatest author’s. It follows the friendship and romance of Seph (a Cross) and Callum (a Nought), two teenagers caught up in a dystopian, alternative world, whereby the Crosses (dark skinned people) control the Noughts (lighter-skinned people) within a segregated and divided society. It is an extraordinary novel that tackles important ideas around race, power and inequality. There are countless Malorie Blackman novels that could be included in this list and I would urge teenagers to read as many as possible.
Recommended reads for students starting their GCSE’s:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Bronte’s classic novel is a continuation of the themes of journey and self-discovery, as seen in the list above, as well as an exploration of class, gender, family and relationships in 19th century England. This is an ideal novel for students to learn about these complex ideas in greater depth, alongside the context of the novel, as well as to significantly broaden their vocabulary.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
First published in 1958, Things Fall Apart is an ideal novel to introduce students to ideas linked to the impact and consequences of cultural imperialism and colonisation. Whilst it touches on a number of the themes seen in the GCSE texts such as family, masculinity and fate vs freewill, it also (like many other texts on this list) allows students to enjoy and celebrate literature beyond the narrow scope of the current requirements of the exam texts specification.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Another Bronte! This gothic, supernatural and Romantic masterpiece takes readers on a journey into the power and destructiveness of love - into the worlds of both the living and the dead - through the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliffe. Students can transport themselves into the dark and stormy Yorkshire Moors and try to untangle the mysteries of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights.
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Winner of the 2021 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, this short story is set in a small, rural Irish town in the 1980’s and follows one man’s terrifying discovery of his local covent’s cruel treatment of unmarried mothers and their babies - later known as the Magdalene Laundries. Whilst it may not sound like the most obvious text to read at GCSE, the novel explores a number of ideas that link to the exam texts including hope, compassion, religion and community, and is a must read for better understanding this tragic period of modern Irish history.
The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
Obioma’s 2015 debut novel is set in 1990’s Nigeria but has many links to Shakespearean tragedies with its focus on terrifying prophecies and curses, sibling loyalty and rivalry, and grief and revenge. It follows the story of four young brothers whose lives are thrown into disarray when they encounter a local madman by a forbidden river.
Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
The first (and only) nonfiction book on the list so far. Dreams From My Father was published by Obama back in 1995 when he was just starting out his political career running for the Illinois Senate - long before he became the most recognised politician on the planet. These memoirs delve deep into his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, exploring his relationship with his parents and family, and takes the reader through his college years, as well as his experiences as a community activist in Chicago and as a law student at Harvard. It culminates with an emotional visit to Kenya - his father’s country of birth. It is a beautifully crafted story of identity, race and belonging in America, and an insight into the diverse array of individuals and events that shaped and influenced America’s 44th President.
Recommended reads for students entering sixth form/post 16 study:
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize, Beloved is an enduring modern classic by the celebrated, Nobel Prize winning American author Toni Morrison. Set during the period after the American Civil War, the story centres on the character of Sethe as she deals with her complicated and dysfunctional family history, the devastating impact and legacy of slavery, and a malevolent supernatural force haunting her home. An extraordinary story for students to consider ideas of race, identity, legacy, family and community.
The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon
Trinidadian author Sam Selvon’s 1956 novel follows the lives of a group of mostly poor, Black immigrants from the West Indies, as they adjust to the cold, chaotic and often hazardous streets of London. The novel switches seamlessly between comedy and tragedy and shines a light on the trials and tribulations of the Windrush Generation. I was lucky enough to watch Roy Williams’s incredible recent adaptation of the novel at the Jeremyn Street Theatre.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Ghanaian-American novelist Yaa Gyasi’s debut novel is an incredibly ambitious work of historical fiction that follows eight generations of families across three continents. It begins with two half sisters in the ‘Gold Coast’ (later known as Ghana) in the 18th century who lead very different lives and follows their different descendents across the major historical events of the subsequent centuries including the trans-Atlantic slave trade, British colonisation, the Great Migration, and American segregation (to name just a few.)
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
My Brilliant Friend is the first volume of a four-part series of novels (known as the Neapolitan novels) that follows the childhood relationship of Lenu and Lila who grow up in working class Naples after World War Two. It explores ideas linked to family, gender, class and education within an intensely emotional and at times violent environment. The subsequent novels follow the ever changing fortunes of the two main characters as they enter adulthood and eventual old age.
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A story that will remain with you for a long time after reading. This novel, published in 2006, takes place before, during and after the 1960’s Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, and follows the fate, fortunes and tragedies of an eclectic group of individuals caught up in the political violence. The colonial and political backdrop of the novel merges with the intense romance and drama of the characters involved. In such a turbulent and ever-changing environment, we see all layers of human behaviour, and are left wondering if there are any real heroes or villains in the story.
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
Shuggie Bain was published in 2020 and is written by Scottish-American author Douglas Stuart. Set in post-industrial Glasgow during the Thatcher era, it tells the story of a five year old boy’s attempt to save his beautiful, loving but destructive mother from alcoholism, abusive relationships and depression. It also provides a harrowing insight into the hardships, cruelty and violence of poverty-stricken Glasgow during this period; seen through the lens of a child struggling with his own identity and sense of belonging.