Chellaston Academy Reading

An extract from 'Birdsong' by Sebastian Faulks. A war novel and family saga. 

An extract from 'The Lord of the RIngs' by JRR Tolkien. 

An extract from 'Matilda' by Roald Dhal

Truly, Wildly, Deeply by Jenny McLaclan

The blurb: "Annie is starting college. She can’t wait. No more school, no more uniform, and no one telling her what to do. It’s the start of a new adventure and Annie’s not going to let anyone or anything get in the way of that. Freedom matters to Annie. She has cerebral palsy and she’s had to fight hard to get the world to see her for who she truly is. Then she meets Fab. He’s six foot two, Polish and a passionate believer in…well, just about everything, but most of all Annie and good old fashioned romance. The moment Fab sees Annie, he’s wildly drawn to her and declares she must be his girl. Annie’s horrified. She doesn’t want to be anyone’s anything, especially if it means losing her independence. But then Annie finds herself falling for Fab. As things go deeply wrong, Annie realises that love can make you do wild, crazy things, and so she sets out to win his heart with a romantic gesture of truly epic proportions!"

Jenny McLachlan writes the best kind of real-life fiction – with big themes and characters you’ll love, her books go straight to your heart.

This short story from 1915 starts with the bold opening of a man waking up to find out he is now a giant cockroach! No explanation is given of how this happened, but Gregor Samsa has to come to terms with his new existence and the impact it will have upon his confused family.

Want to know how it ends? This is a short story and is also out of copyright. You can read the rest of the story here.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5200/5200-h/5200-h.htm

Extract from 'The Birds' a short story taken from 'The Birds and other Stories' by Daphne du Maurier  (this was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock)   Daphne du Maurier also wrote Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel and many other stories that have been made into both TV Series and Films.

A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines (1968) KS3 or KS4

An extract from 'Diary of a Young Naturalist' by Dara McAnulty.

Dara is conservationist and activist from Northern Ireland. He is 16 years old and autistic. This is his first book.

An extract from Chapter 11 of 'Mortal Engines' by Philip Reeve, suitable for KS3.

An extract from 'The Client' by John Grisham