Find your next favourite read with recommendations from students and teachers

The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell follows the story of Vita, who moves to New York after her grandfather was robbed of everything he owned. With the aid of 3 unlikely friends, she concocts a plan to steal back all he lost. I recommend this book to people who love mystery and adventure, and a good historic read. I would describe this book as adventurous, exciting and suspenseful – I couldn’t wait to turn the next page!

– Issie Pincus (age 12) at Skippers Hill Prep School

The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Hargrave is an amazing fiction book about an island with a legend that leads to intriguing happenings, and from the small village comes a cartographer’s daughter who will do anything to save her friend. I love that I really feel connected  with the characters, and there are always reasons to turn the page and keep reading. It is a book of Friendship, Adventure and Mystery and a gripping book that inspires and shapes young minds.

– Molly Burden (age 12) at Skippers Hill Prep School

  For older readers I would highly recommend Fake Law, written by the Secret Barrister, who is a real-life junior barrister. They use their anonymity to give a behind-the-scenes account of the world of criminal law and even reveal cases of corruption. I was interested learning about the shocking cases where laws have been manipulated to serve questionable outcomes and protect those in power rather than victims of crime.I would only recommend this book to older readers due to the content around very serious criminality.

– Arthur Pavey (age 14) at Oakwood Park Grammar School

A book which I would recommend is “The Woman In Black” by Susan Hill. We study this text with our Year 7 students and I have found that they thoroughly enjoy the wonderful description and use of imagery, the brooding atmosphere and the clever build-up of tension. Without giving away too much, it also has a stunning ending. The book provides an accessible and enjoyable introduction to the genre of Gothic fiction without being too terrifying! 

– Katrina Atkins Head of English at Marlborough House

I thoroughly enjoy sharing extracts from the
Bill Bryson travel books with our Year 7 and 8. He writes with such superb detail and his clever, often ridiculous sense of humour appeals greatly whilst also teaching us about humour in writing. We study carefully selected extracts from: “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid”, a memoir of his childhood spent in Iowa in the 1950s, and “Neither Here Nor There”, a tale of his backpacking adventures in Europe. Highly entertaining!

– Katrina Atkins Head of English at Marlborough House

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