Amina (Through My Eyes) by J. L. Powers
The year is 2011, and Somalia's civil war has been raging for two decades. Amina's world is shattered when government forces come to arrest her artist father and rebel forces kidnap her brother.
Can Amina use her own street art to provide a voice for others like herself? Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11+ |
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Coffer
Rumour has it Artemis Fowl is responsible for every major crime of the century. At twelve years old he's a criminal genius, plotting to restore his family's fortune with a spot of corruption and kidnapping. Kidnapping a fairy for ransom, to be precise. He has found a world below ground of armed and dangerous - and extremely high-tech - fairies. But he may have underestimated their powers. They will fight back. Is he about to trigger a cross-species war?
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11+ |
Canterbury Quake (My NZ Story) by Desna Wallace
Anyone would have thought that Maddy's world had crumbled when she didn't get a cell phone for her birthday. But Maddy soon has far more important things to worry about. Suddenly, words like 'liquefaction', 'aftershocks' and 'state of emergency' bubble to the surface of her vocabulary. As Maddy navigates life after the big quakes, she discovers how strong family ties can be, and finds friendship in the most unlikely places.
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11-13+ |
Cup Magic (My NZ Story) by Susan Battye
Mike Lucas wants to know why he's being sent to live with his grandparents. There's some big secret that no one's telling him. At least Poppa is teaching him to sail. But then Mike learns the reason for the secrecy: his parents are working with the Team New Zealand for the 1995 America's Cup challenge. And then he finds out that the family is going to San Diego! Everyone is wearing their lucky red socks... can Black Magic win the Cup?
Comprehensive Guided Reading Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 10 - 12 + |
Hero on a Bicycle by Shirley Hughes
In extraordinary circumstances, people are capable of extraordinary things… It is 1944 and Florence is occupied by Nazi German forces. The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope, though – and neither have Paolo and his sister, Constanza. Both are desperate to fight the occupation, but what can two siblings do against a whole army with only a bicycle to help them?
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11+ |
Lake of the Dead by Stu Duval (Nitty Gritty Series)
Six classmates are on a hiking trip to study the geological features of the vast and wild Bellevue Forest when the mighty Mt Darius erupts. Josh and Greer find themselves alone, the fate of their companions unknown. The pair are lost. When they stumble upon an abandoned town, they uncover long forgotten secrets of the area and discover why the lake that surrounds the town was once given the name - Lake of the Dead . . .
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 12 - 14 |
My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher
A sad, funny and uplifting story about a family in crisis, mourning for a child killed in a terrorist attack. Jamie, the central character, has an offbeat, unflinchingly honest voice that readers won't forget in a hurry.
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 12+ |
Naveed by John Heffernan
Naveed is sick of war - of the foreign powers and the Taliban, the warlords and the drug barons that together have torn Afghanistan apart. He's had to grow up quickly to take care of his mother and little sister, making what little money he can. When he adopts Nasera, a street dog with extraordinary abilities, he has a chance to help rebuild his country. But will a new friend's betrayal crush his dreams of peace forever?
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11-13 |
Once by Morris Gleitzman
Once by Morris Gleitzman is the story of a young Jewish boy who is determined to escape the orphanage he lives in to save his Jewish parents from the Nazis in the occupied Poland of the Second World War.
Everybody deserves to have something good in their life. At least Once... Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11-13 |
Parvana/The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
Imagine living in a country in which women and girls are not allowed to leave the house without a man. Imagine having to wear clothes that cover every part of your body, including your face, whenever you go out.
In this powerful and realistic tale, eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11-13+ |
Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis
A sequel to The Breadwinner, this novel tells the story of Parvana's journey once she leaves Kabul to search for her family. The Taliban still controls Afghanistan, but Kabul is in ruins, Parvana's father has died, and her mother, sister and brother could be anywhere in the country. Parvana doesn't know where they are. She just knows she has to find them.
Comprehensive Guided Reading/Independent Chapter Notes Also Available Reading Age: 11-13+ |
Shahana (Through My Eyes) by Roseanne Hawke
Shahana lives with her brother in the shadow of the Line of Control, the border patrolled by Pakistani and Indian soldiers that divides Kashmir in two. Life is hard, but Shahana ekes out a living with her beautiful embroidery. Then she finds a boy lying unconscious near the border. Zahid is from across the Line of Control, and Shahana takes a terrible risk by sheltering him. But how can she give Zahid up to the authorities when she knows he'll be imprisoned - or worse?
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11+ |
Silverstream by Jillian Sullivan (Nitty Gritty Series)
In a future society, the government restricts its citizen’s rights and punishes people who disagree with it by sending them to work camps. Six years ago, Lorna's father was killed during a protest meeting, now Lorna's outspoken mother has disappeared. Lorna refuses to lose another parent to the camps and makes a decision that will put her own freedom, and even her life, on the line...
Comprehensive Guided Reading/Independent Chapter Notes Also Available Reading Age: 11 - 13 |
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
The story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with nine-year-old Bruno. And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. We hope you never have to cross such a fence.
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11+ |
The Midnight Fox by Betsy Byers
No one asked Tom how he would feel about spending two months on his Aunt Millie's farm. Maybe that's because he would have said he didn't feel good about it at all. Tom doesn't like animals and they don't like him — and now the city boy has to put up with stampeding baby lambs, boy-chasing chickens, and more. Worst of all, he's lonely. Then Tom sees a graceful black fox in the woods...
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 10 - 13+ |
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice.
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11 - 13 |
The Lost King by Scot Gardner (Nitty Gritty Series)
Peter King never wanted to go on the school wilderness camp. Twelve grumpy teenagers, heavy backpacks, biting flies and a lot of pointless walking. He was even less happy when Mr Pearson put him in an activity group with one girl he didn’t know, another who had made sarcasm an art form. And now, thanks to Sully, they had left the track and couldn’t find it again. The bush was closing in and so was the night.
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 12-14 |
This Land We Call Home by Alison Lohans (Nitty Gritty Series)
It is 1941 in rural California. Paula Harmon and Ken Nishimura have been friends and neighbours for as long as they can remember. But racial tension mounts as World War II intensifies and culminates in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Suddenly, Ken and his family are considered enemies in their own country. Paula and Ken’s friendship is tested and their lives changed forever in the horrifying events that follow.
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11-13 |
Zafir by Prue Mason (Through My Eyes Series)
Zafir has a comfortable life in Homs, Syria, until his father, a doctor, is arrested for helping a protester who was campaigning for revolution. While his mother heads to Damascus to try to find out where his father is being held, Zafir stays with his grandmother - until her house is bombed. With his father in prison, his mother absent, and not a friend left in the city, Zafir must stay with his Uncle. But that too becomes dangerous as the city becomes more and more besieged. Will Zafir survive long enough to be reunited with his parents?
Comprehensive Guided Reading Plans Available Independent Learning Contracts Available Reading Age: 11-14 |
