Easter Holiday Reading List 2021 - "Reading gives us a place to go when we have to stay where we - Dulwich Prep London
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Easter Holiday Reading List 2021
“Reading gives us a place to go when we have to stay where we
are”
All the books are suitable for Years 5 to 8, although the easier reads are at the top of the list, and
the books lower down the list are recommended for more mature readers.
The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes
Nine is an orphan pickpocket determined to escape her life in the Nest
of a Thousand Treasures. When she steals a house-shaped ornament
from a mysterious woman’s purse, she knocks on its tiny door and
watches it grow into a huge, higgledy-piggledy house. Inside she finds a
host of magical and brilliantly funny characters, including Flabberghast –
a young wizard who’s particularly competitive at hopscotch – and a
hideous troll housekeeper who’s emotionally attached to his feather
duster. They have been placed under an extraordinary spell, which they
are desperate for Nine to break. If she can, maybe they can offer her a
new life in return… This easy read magical mayhem is enormous fun
and perfect escapism.
The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh by Helen Rutter
Billy Plimpton is an eleven-year-old boy with a big dream: he wants to be
a stand-up comedian when he grows up. It’s a tough career for anyone,
but surely impossible for Billy, who has a stammer? How will he find his
‘voice’ if his voice won't let him speak? We guarantee you will love this
book, mainly because you will love Billy - he is kind, honest, funny and
friendly, and you will be rooting for him from start to finish. Now Billy is
11 he has bravely chosen to leave his primary school friends behind and
go to a new school where he can make a fresh start. Yet, as always,
there are some children who make fun of him. Can he use humour to
defend himself and to turn the tables on them? By turns very funny, very
sad, and totally uplifting, this is a book for all ages (even adults!).
Vi Spy: Licence to Chill by Maz Evans
This first book in a new series features young Valentine Day who
discovers her divorced parents have very secret lives. Mum is an ex-spy,
and absent/ presumed dead dad is/was a super-villain. Vi’s life is just
about to become dramatic, emotional and possibly deadly too… Those
boys who have read this author’s brilliant ‘Who Let the Gods Out?’
Series will be delighted to know that she has done it again… this book
will make you laugh out loud but also cry. It is full to the brim of
hilarious scenes and characters but at the centre of the story is Vi, a
mixed-race child, and her soon-to-be stepbrother, Russell, who must
deal with problems including divorce, emotionally absent parents and
friendship issues…. whilst saving the world, of course!
After the War by Tom Palmer
Award-winning author Tom Palmer was a reluctant reader as a child,
which is probably why he now writes many books for the publisher
Barrington Stokes – who specialise in short books like this for reluctant
and dyslexic readers. After the War, however, is a book that everyone
should read. It is about three boys who were among 300 child Holocaust
survivors who were brought to the Lake District at the end of World
War 2, for rehabilitation. The boys are fictional characters, but all events
are based on meticulous research from first-hand sources. The children
who arrived in England were severely traumatised, and were in very poor
health. The book is sensitively written for the modern reader and leaves
you with a lasting impression of the value of kindness and hope, as well as the resilience of
the human spirit.
A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicholl
This is the story of 11-year-old Addie as she campaigns for a memorial in
memory of the witch trials that took place in her Scottish hometown.
Addie knows there's more to the story of these 'witches', just like there
is more to hers. Can Addie challenge how the people in her town see
her, and her autism, and make her voice heard? A Kind of Spark has won
both the Blackwell’s Book Award and the Blue Peter Book Award this
year, and is a book that should be widely read by both children and
adults. It is gentle enough to be suitable for its intended age group whilst
uncompromising on the harsh reality of how painful the world can be for
autistic young people – for whom every day can be a physical and mental
obstacle course. The author is herself neurodivergent, and the clarity and empathy of her
portrayal of Addie makes for an emotional – and educational – read.
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
Having just read this author’s wonderful World Book Day title,
Skysteppers, I couldn’t resist going back to what is perhaps my
favourite of her many brilliant books for this list. In this utterly
charming, rather quirky story, one-year-old Sophie is found floating in a
cello case after a shipwreck, and is taken in by her rescuer - a generous
and very polite Englishman, who lives by his own rules. It’s a fairy tale of
sorts (but without any fairies) about what can happen when you never
ignore life’s ‘possibles’. It won many awards on publication, including
the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book
Prize, and will surely be in print for generations to come. (P.S.
Skysteppers can be read as a prequel, sequel or standalone title with this book!)
The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson
The Carnegie Medal is the UK’s oldest book award recognising
“outstanding achievement in children’s writing”. In recent years, its
shortlist has tended towards books for older, YA readers, but there are
a few books on this year’s shortlist that I can heartily recommend. This
is the first of these, and is a book that also won last year’s Independent
Bookshop Award. It’s the story of Yanka, found abandoned in a bear
cave as a baby, who has always been caught between the world she
knows and the world she feels drawn to. When she flees her home,
searching for answers, her journey takes her beyond her imaginings and
into a magical world of folklore and fairy tales.
Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
Also on the Carnegie shortlist is this collection of ten interlinked
stories, featuring characters in Middle School (our Years 7-10) and their
journeys home from school. The author is a masterful storyteller, and
the stories are humorous and yet poignant – touching as they do on
subjects such as bullying, parental illness and homophobia. Ten different
children, ten walks home – their friendships, worries and routines; it’s a
book about in-between moments and the spaces where young people
begin the walk from childhood to adulthood. It’s a relatively quick and
simple read, but with plenty of food for thought.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Most of the books on this list are new (or relatively new) titles, but I
make no excuses for including one of children’s literature’s most
beloved and enduring books that is now 60 years old! It is here in
homage to its author, Norton Juster, who died this month at the age of
91. “There was once a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do
with himself,” the book begins, “not just sometimes, but always.” Mr
Juster sent Milo through a magical tollbooth into a universe full of
strange lands and characters. His first stop is a place called
Expectations. “Some people never go beyond Expectations,” a man
there tells him, “but my job is to hurry them along whether they like it
or not.” The fellow dispensing that information is the Whether Man —
“not the Weather Man,” as he explains to Milo, “for after all it’s more important to know
whether there will be weather than what the weather will be.” And so it goes, until by the
end of his journey Milo is no longer the blasé boy he was at the start. It’s a classic, and an
irresistible read for everyone (adults included!).
The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle
Followed by The Lost Tide Warriors and The Storm Keeper’s Battle
Once in a generation, Arranmore Island chooses a new Storm Keeper
to keep its magic safe. The time has come for Fionn's grandfather to
step down but, when Fionn arrives and the battle to take over begins, a
more sinister magic is waking up deep underground, intent on
rekindling an ancient war. The first book in this trilogy won several
awards, including the Independent Bookshop Award, and is a richly
intricate, sometimes a little scary, magical adventure. Now that the
final book in the trilogy has just been published, it’s a good time to try
this book (so you won’t have to wait for the sequels!).
Maximilian Fly by Angie Sage
You are about to meet an extraordinary human. His name is Maximillian
Fly and he looks mostly like a giant cockroach: he stands six feet two
and has beautiful indigo wings, long antennae, and more arms than you
do. If you follow his journey, you will find yourself in the strange and
often frightening city of Hope, which is trapped beneath a huge orb to
protect it from the Contagion outside. In this world, humans may look
very different, some with wings and carapaces and some without, but
inside they are alike. Who can be judged on their appearance when
individual actions define good and evil? This gripping and moving
dystopian tale is set in an alternate reality where a deadly disease almost
wiped out the human race, and is highly recommended for Year 6 upwards.
The Invisible Boy by Alyssa Hollingsworth
Nadia is a would-be investigative reporter and expert on superheroes,
who believes she has found one living on her street - the Invisible Boy.
As Nadia sees the world in black and white, in comic strips (and there’s
a comic strip page in each chapter to reinforce this) it takes her a while
to understand what is really under her nose: that Eli is a boy in trouble,
and is ‘invisible’ for a much more sinister reason. “All this time, he
wasn’t invisible because of some superpower. He’s been invisible
because I couldn’t - wouldn’t - see the truth.” This is the second novel
from an author who won the UKLA Children’s Book Award with her
debut novel, The Eleventh Trade, and, as in that book, she sends a
powerful message to young readers about an issue - in this case modern
slavery - wrapped up in a brilliant story that will draw in even the more reluctant reader.
The Soul Hunters by Chris Bradford
This author’s two previous action series are immensely popular with the
boys - so much so that we have invited him into school at the end of
next term to talk to Middle and Upper School. Chris Bradford practises
what he terms 'method writing'. For his ‘Young Samurai’ series, he
trained in samurai swordsmanship, karate, ninjutsu and earned his black
belt in Zen Kyu Shin Taijutsu. For his ‘Bodyguard’ series, he embarked
on an intensive close-protection course to become a qualified
professional bodyguard. And now, for his brand new ‘Soul Prophecy’
trilogy, he travelled extensively to experience first-hand the cultures
featured in the story - from living with the Shona people in Zimbabwe, to
trekking the Inca trail, to meditating in a Buddhist temple amid the mountains of Japan. This
is the first book in that series, and is an exciting, action-packed and fascinating adventure
about Genna - hunted across lifetimes by a powerful long-forgotten enemy – and Phoenix,
the boy who is destined to protect her in every life. Highly recommended!
Contender: The Chosen by Taran Matharu
Followed by Contender: The Challenger
Convicted of a crime he didn't commit, Cade is facing a year in reform
school when he finds himself suddenly transported to another realm
populated by bloodthirsty prehistoric creatures and fierce warriors
from centuries earlier. Along with his fellow students, Cade is forced to
become a contender in a deadly game, controlled by invisible overlords.
Who are these brutal rulers, and why did they choose Cade? Before he
can find answers, Cade must get ready to fight, because in this game,
failure is not an option. This author, an ex-Dulwich College pupil,
found fame with his ‘Summoner’ series (also recommended!) and I think
this will also be a hit. Better suited to older readers (probably Year 8)
as it can be quite violent at times, but a terrific sci-fi fantasy that feels at
times like you’re inside a fast and furious video game.
Dark Blade by Steve Feasey
Followed by Dark Art
It’s been a few years since this author’s last book for young readers, so I
was keen to read the first in his new ‘Whispers of the Gods’ series. It’s
a fast-paced epic fantasy adventure but without the huge cast of
characters and complicated worlds that can sometimes make such
fantasies a little hard to follow. Lann knows nothing of his mysterious
past, but by his fifteenth birthday he will come face to face with destiny
– for he must wield the Dreadblade, an ancient sword forged to defeat
terrible monsters. Across the mountains a King has been murdered.
His daughter, Astrid, is a warrior with no desire to bear the crown, but
only she can uncover her father's killer before her brother is framed for
the crime. Evil is stirring. Lann and Astrid are the kingdom's last
defence, and together they must face the greatest darkness their world has ever known.
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