Year 9 Reading List
All these books can be found in the Learning Resource Centre
for you to borrow – along with many other great reads!!
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Savannah Grey Cliff McNish With a secure new home, life is good for Savannah Grey. But now it seems that her body has turned against her. It’s become an enemy and a weapon. New boy Reece thinks Savannah’s troubling powers are a special gift. No wonder she is attracted to him. But there’s another force luring Savannah from safety into danger… |
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Sabriel Garth Nix Sabriel is the daughter of the mage Abhorsen. Ever since she was a tiny child, she has lived outside the wall of the old kingdom – far away from the uncontrolled power of free magic, and away from the dead who won’t stay dead. But now her father is missing and Sabriel is called upon to cross back into that world to find him. Leaving the safety of the school she has known as home, Sabriel embarks upon a quest fraught with supernatural dangers, with companions she is unsure of – for nothing is as it seems in the boundary of the old kingdom. There she confronts an evil that threatens much more than her life, and comes face to face with her hidden destiny… |
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Black Rabbit Summer Kevin Brooks Pete Boland was busy doing nothing that summer. Long, stifling hot, lazy days stretched ahead of him. Then she called. It was Nicole. ‘Listen Pete…you know that funfair, up at the recreation ground…I thought we could all meet up….You know, for old times’ sake.’ But, where there are old times there are old tensions, and as secrets, bitterness and jealousies resurface, five old friends are plunged into the worst night of their lives…. |
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Heart Burn Anne Cassidy Ashley owes Tyler a favour. Now he’s calling that favour in. But Tyler’s done time in jail recently, and mixes with a bad crowd. Ashley knows that getting involved with him again will be dangerous. But she owes him. What she doesn’t know yet is she could end up paying with her life.
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The Ask and the Answer Patrick Ness Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor’s new order. But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then one day, the bombs begin to explode…. |
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Lies Michael Grant Suddenly it’s a world without adults and normal has crashed and burned. When life as you know it ends at 15, everything changes. Tensions are growing in the FAYZ . The mutants are under attack. Food is scarce. Sam’s gone AWOL. At night, a solitary figure roams the streets – the ghost of a boy with a whip hand, haunting the dreams of those he has tormented. Then the town is deliberately set on fire…And through the flames, Sam sees the figure he dreads the most – Drake. But that’s impossible, Drake is dead. |
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon Fifteen year-old Christopher has a photographic memory. He understands maths. He understands science. What he can’t understand are other human beings. When he finds his neighbour’s dog lying dead on the lawn, he decides to track down the killer and write a murder mystery about it. But what other mysteries will he end up uncovering? |
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Midwinterblood Marcus Sedgwick In 2073 on the remote and secretive island of Blessed, where rumour has it that no one ages and no children are born, a ritual sacrifice takes place. It echoes a moment ten centuries before, when, in the dark of the moon, a king was slain, tragically torn from his queen. Their souls search to be reunited, and as mother and son, artist and child, forbidden lovers, victims of a vampire, after they come close to finding what they’ve lost. But can love last forever? |
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Procession of the Dead Darren Shan Quick-witted and cocksure, young upstart Capac Raimi arrives in the city determined to make his mark as a gangster. Then he crosses paths with The Cardinal, and his life changes forever. The Cardinal is the city and the city is The Cardinal. They are joined at the soul. Nothing moves on the streets, or below them, without the Cardinal’s knowledge. His rule is absolute. As Capac begins to discover more about the extent of the Cardinal’s influence on his own life he is faced with hard choices. And as his ambition soars ever higher he will learn all there is to know about loss, and the true cost of ultimate power… |
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The Splendour Falls Rosemary Clement-Moore Sylvie is broken. Her father’s death broke her heart. Her mother’s marriage broke her spirit. And a broken leg ended her career as a ballerina. She’s lost so much….is she losing her mind as well? Shawn is the resident golden boy, the one everyone thinks Sylvie should be with, the obvious choice. Rhys is handsome and mysterious and has a hold on Sylvie that she doesn’t quite understand. |
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The Scorpio Races Maggie Stiefvater Every year, the Scorpio Races are run on the beaches of Skarmouth. Every year, the sea washes blood from the sand. To race the savage water horses can mean death, but danger is irresistible. When Puck enters the races to save her family, she is drawn to the mysterious Sean, the only person on the island capable of taming the beasts. Even if they stay together, can they stay alive? |
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Insurgent Veronica Roth Tris has survived a brutal attack on her former home and family. But she has paid a terrible price. Wracked by grief and guilt, she becomes ever more reckless as she struggles to accept her new future. Yet is Tris wants to uncover the truth about her world, she must be stronger than ever…because more shocking choices and sacrifices lie ahead.
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The Power of Six Pittacus Lore I’ve seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened to John Smith. To the world he’s a mystery, but to me… he’s one of us. Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us, if we all still believe in our mission. There are six of us left. We’re hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another, but our Legacies are developing, and soon we’ll be ready to fight. Is John number four – and is his appearance the sign I’ve been waiting for? And what about number five and six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who might be strong enough to bring the six of us together? |
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In the Shadow of the Ark Anne Provoost When Re Jana first sets eyes on the giant hull of the boat rising up from the dry centre of the desert, she doesn’t understand what she is seeing The rising waters have chased her and her family from their old home in the marshes to this barren desert, now transformed into a tented city bustling with industry. But the rumour of the impending flood seems too remote to be believable in this land where water is so scarce. As she falls in love with the Builder’s son, Ham, the skies darken and panic spreads in the gathered tribes. Re Jana questions all that she hears – and believes her family will be saved; even as the deluge begins and the doors to the ark are sealed… |
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The Dead Charlie Higson Maxie, Blue ad the rest of the Holloway crew aren’t the only kids trying to escape the ferocious adults who prey on them. Jack and Ed are best friends, but their battle to stay alive tests their friendship to the limit as they go on the run with a mismatched group of other kids – nerds, fighters, misfits and one adult. Greg, a butcher who claims to be immune to the disease. They must work together if they want to make it in this terrifying new world. But as a fresh disaster threatens to overwhelm London, they realize they won’t all survive… |
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The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins In a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called the Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed. When sixteen year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sister’s place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature. |
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Deeper Roderick Gordon In this quest to find his father, Will is plunged even deeper underground. And as if things weren’t bad enough already, he stumbles across Styx plot with terrible implications for the world above. |
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Great Expectations Charles Dickens Pip is a boy with a few prospects when he stumbles upon a runaway convict called Magwitch, who convinces Pip to aid his escape. Little do they know that this innocent act of kindness will have far-reaching consequences for them both. Then Pip receives a curious invitation to the grand house of Miss Havisham, where he is introduced to and mesmerised by the beautiful but cold-hearted Estella. And so, two chance meetings begin this tale of morality, love and obsession and Pip’s transformation into a man of great expectations. |
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The Gift Alison Croggon Maerad is a slave in a harsh, desperate settlement, taken there as a child after her family is destroyed in war. She is unaware that she possesses a powerful gift, a gift that marks her as a member of the school of Pellinor. It is only when she is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great bards of Lirigon that her true heritage and extraordinary destiny unfold. Now, she and her teacher Cadvan must survive a punishing and uncertain journey, battling with dark forces from the deepest recesses of otherworldly terror. |
