Bryony Pearce, author of Angel's Fury (longlisted for Branford Boase 2012), makes her personal book recommendations for readers aged 11-14:
Technically my book is aged 15+, but I have lots of younger readers so of course I’d recommend my own J
Really I just love reading and I think KS3 readers should be reading what makes them love literature. Whether it’s Michael Morpugo or Michael Grant.
My personal favourite books for teens are:
- Chaos Walking trilogy - Patrick Ness. I think the second book in particular gives an incredible insight into how one group can be controlled by another. Any teen wanting to gain insight into Nazi Germany or other dictatorships should read this book.
- Skin Hunger - Kathleen Duey
- Sacred Scars - Kathleen Duey
- Firebrand - Gillian Philip
- Discworld series - Terry Pratchett. It is very clever, comedic and hugely satirical with an inclusion of a huge range of educational sources, from Shakespeare to science. Again, for a comment on the pointlessness of war, read Jingo.
- Brain and Brawn series - Anne Macaffrey. I loved this when I was a teenager. Her characterisation is amazing and I reread those books time and time again – crying each time.
- Ash Mistry - Sarwat Chadda
For ‘younger’ readers, I enjoy:
- Eoin Colfer
- Terry Pratchett again (The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is a favourite)
- a version of Tales of King Arthur
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Thank you Bryony, we haven't read any of those (other than Michael Morpurgo)! So we'll be having a good look.
The thing with making book recommendations is that there are always lots more good ones that didn't make it onto your list the first time.
ReplyDeleteOn Twitter, Bryony has added: "I'm missing lots of old classics too!"