A selection of classics and new,
exciting reads for the summer
as recommended by Ms. Nicholas, Villiers School Librarian
Recommended reads this summer
Orangeboy, by
Patrice Lawrence:
The book
just won the YA Book Prize. The story of sixteen-year-old Marlon. A dead
father, a helpless gang-leader brother, Marlon promised his mother he would
stay out of trouble. Everything goes to plan until his date with the beautiful
Sonya ends tragically. Marlon becomes a hunted man and turns to his brother’s
world of guns, knives and drug runs in order to uncover the truth and protect
those close to him.
Release, by
Patrick Ness:
One day in
the life of seventeen-year-old Adam Thorn. A day of confrontation, running,
sex, love, heartbreak, and maybe, just maybe, hope. He won't come out of it
unchanged. And all the while, lurking at the edges of the story, something
extraordinary and unsettling is on a collision course.
The Hidden Oracle, by Rick Riordan:
The answer
to the question: what happens when a god is punished by his father, Zeus; lands
in New York city and finds himself learning to survive while gods, monsters and
mortals try to destroy him.
The One Memory of Flora Banks, by Emily Barr:
Flora Banks
has no short-term memory. Her memory goes blank several times a day. Then, one
morning, she remembers kissing Drake who left town the night before. Convinced
he is the key to restoring her memory, she sets off for Norway to find Drake,
but what awaits her is not what she had expected.
The Hate U Give,
by Angie Thomas:
Sixteen-year-old
Starr Carter lives in a poor neighbourhood and attends a fancy suburban school.
This uneasy balance is further disturbed when her best friend Khalil is shot
dead by a police officer. Her community takes to the street while others call
Khalil a thug or even a drug dealer. Policemen and drug lords try to intimidate
her family. Stuck in the middle of these opposing forces, Starr holds the key
to what happened that night. But anything she says will have consequences.
The Upside of Unrequited, by Becky Albertalli:
Molly and
Cassie. Two tins sisters who deal with rejection in different ways. Molly’s
afraid of it and is careful, Cassie get over it and is tough. Enters a cute
girl who Cassie falls irremediably in love with, and her cute sidekick, Will.
Molly might fall for his funny and flirtatious personality. But what about
Reid, her geeky co-worker?
We Were Liars,
by E. Lockhart:
A private
island. A beautiful and rich family. A group of friends. An accident. A first
love. All the rest is lies. You don’t know what is true and what lies beneath
the surface until the very end of this thrilling read, perfect for the summer.
The Sun is Also a Star, by Nicola Yoon:
Take a
down-to-earth girl who is more concerned about her family being deported to
Jamaica than about love, and a serious daddy’s boy. Put them together at a
fateful moment, and wait for the results.
Carve the Mark,
by Veronica Roth:
The new
fantasy epic from the author of Divergent.
Enter a world of magic, gifts and powerful gods. A woman from one family, a man
from another. They should hate each other but will have to work together to
survive.
The Whole Thing Together, by Ann Brashares:
The perfect
summer read. Sasha and Ray share the same beach house, the same bedroom, the
same siblings, yet they’ve never met. One’s mother used to be married to the
other’s father. The story of two families who fight for the beach house and
what it represents: family relationships, secrets, and love.
The Giver, by
Lois Lowry:
This one is
not so new but a forerunner of the dystopian genre. Jonas lives in a perfect
world. There is no war, no hunger, no pain. At least until his twelfth
birthday, when he is chosen as the Receiver of Memory and realises his world is
not as perfect as it seems. A story of bravery and adventure.
The Lines we Cross, by Randa Abdel-Fattah:
Michael is a
privileged son. He does everything his parents say, even if it means going to
anti-immigration rallies. His beliefs are shaken to the core when he meets
Mina, a beautiful girl who fled Afghanistan and now faces a cold welcome at her
new school. With their families on both sides of the line, they will have to
choose where they stand.
Wires and Nerve,
by Marissa Meyer:
The first
volume in this graphic novel series. An extension of the Lunar Chronicles. We
follow Iko on a dangerous and new adventure in her fantasy world. A story of
love, loyalty and humanity.
Any book by Michael Morpurgo makes a
great read. Favourites include Private
Peaceful, War Horse, Shadow and
many more.
Any book by John Green, including The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska.
Other Great Reads
Junior
Cycle:
One, by Sarah Crossan
Holes, by Louis Sachar
Noughts and Crosses, by Malorie Blackman
The Dare, by John Boyne
The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly
Chalkline, by Jane Mitchell
We Come Apart, by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan
Coraline, by
Neil Gaiman
The Harry
Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar
Children, by Ransom
Riggs
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
Wilderness, by Roddy Doyle
The Accident Season, by Moira Fowley-Doyle
Knights of the Borrowed Dark, by Dave Rudden
The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness
Keeper, by
Mal Peet
Anna and the Swallow Man, by Gavriel Savit
Eleanor and
Park, by Rainbow Rowell
Senior
Cycle:
Things Fall
Apart, by Chinua Achebe
Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
The Count of
Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Asking for It, by Louise O’Neill
Room, by Emma Donoghue
White Lies, by Mark O’Sullivan
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Maus, by Art Spiegelman
The Spinning Heart, by Donal Ryan
The Great Gatsby, by Francis Scott Fitzgerald
The Perks of being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Persuasion, by Jane Austen
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
The Art of being Normal, Lisa Williamson
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
Non-fiction:
The Burning Question, by Mike Berners-Lee
The Good Immigrant, by Nikesh Shukla
The Marshmallow Test, by Walter Mischel