A gathering light, by Jennifer Donnelly
Mattie Gokey is given a bundle of letters to burn by Grace Brown. When Grace is found drowned the next day in Big Moose Lake, Mattie finds that it is not as easy to burn those letters as she had thought. Contains adult themes
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Anita and me, by Meera Syal
Meena is 10 years old and growing up. She wants to eat fish and chips and have a boyfriend. Funny and thought-provoking. Contains adult themes.
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Before I die, by Jenny Downham
Contains adult themes.
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Before I fall, by Lauren Oliver
Sam Kingston is killed in a car crash, but instead of seeing a tunnel of light, she wakes up in her own bed, on the morning of the same day. Forced to live through the same events, she struggles to alter the outcome, but wakes up again on the day of the crash. What follows is the story of a girl who comes of age in a matter of days.
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Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell
A familiar story to many, but until you've read the book you can't really appreciate the special voice and true feeling Anna Sewell gives to this best loved horse. An essential read for any horse lover.
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Blitz, by Vince Cross
Little does Edie know when she starts writing her diary that the summer is going to become one of air-raid sirens, bombs, leading to the evacuation of herself & her brother to Wales - away from everything she knows and loves
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Bloodchild, by Tim Bowler
You won't be able to put this down once you start, It will send shivers down your spine and ensure that at the end of every chapter you want to keep turning the pages.
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Bog child, by Siobhan Dowd
Set during the troubles in Northern Ireland, Bog Child follows Fergus as he struggles for his own identity amidst the fear and hatred of a torn country. His brother is on hunger strike, his family are frightened and angry ; he is being blackmailed into carrying packages that could be anything; and throughout it all he hears the voice of the Bog Child; the tiny body he found in the peat. Contains adult themes
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Boy meets boy, by David Levithan
Meet Paul. Gay his whole life, and finding love as wonderful, confusing and heartbreaking as every other teenager in his high school. Originally published: New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003
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Carrie's War, by Nina Bawden
A young girl is evacuated to Wales during the Second World War.
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Caught in the crossfire, by Alan Gibbons
The events of September 11th lit a fuse that binds the fates of 6 young people in this powerful novel about race, riots and real life.
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Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Isabel and Ruth are slaves in New York, 1776. As the revolutionary war rages around them, they fight to stay alive and together. Subject to terrible cruelty; betrayed and abandoned; unable to find anyone to trust; Isabel is determined to break the chains of bondage and be free. Riveting and heartbreaking - this is a book you won't be able to put down.
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Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah
Contains adult themes.
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Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
Coraline is not to be put off by a sign of danger read in some tea-leaves or indeed a message sent to her by some very talented mice. Eerie and unsettling.
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Dreaming of Amelia, by Jaclyn Moriarty
When the beautiful, talented and mysterious Riley and Amelia transfer to elete private school Ashbury High for their final year, the school becomes obsessed with them. Told through a series of blogs, essays and minutes (!), we hear many versions of many truths - but what is the secret they are hiding?
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Every day, by David Levithan
Each morning, A wakes up in a different body. There's never any warning about who it will be, but A is used to that. Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. That is until A wakes up in Justin's body and meets Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon.
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Fallen Grace, by Mary Hooper
Victorian London is brought vividly to life as we follow the unfortunate Grace and her sister from misery to misery. Just as we think she is to be saved, an unscupluous family plot to snatch away her inheritance. It isn't long. however, before our fiesty heroine smells a rat, and starts to unravel the fraud in a race against time.
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Fat boy swim, by Catherine Forde
Jimmy Kelly is fat, bullied and the worst player ever to lumber onto a football pitch. When he decides to start swimming, however, things change - and family secrets start to come out.
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Flour babies, by Anne Fine
Simon's class are each given a bag of flour to care for as if it is a real baby. Not so easy - the flour babies are checked regularly, and spies in the community make sure babysitting is taken seriously.
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Goodnight Mister Tom, by Michelle Magorian
Young Willie Beech is evacuated to the country as Britain stands on the brink of WW2. A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley - but his new-found happiness is shattered by a summons from his mum back in London.
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Goodnight Mister Tom, by Michelle Magorian
As Britain stands on the brink of WWII, Willie Beech is evacuated to the country. Thomas Oakley is the most unlikely refuge you could imagine - gruff and resentful, he is forced to take on the young evacuee. Together they form a wary bond, that grows into love and trust. Willie begins to flourish; but the day comes when his mother demands that he return home, and his happiness is shattered. A powerful, heart-rending, unforgettable story.
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Heartbeat, by Sharon Creech
Annie loves to run for the sheer pleasure of running. It's when she feels the most free. Everything is changing, just like the apple that Annie has been assigned to draw one hundred times.
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Hitler's canary, by Sandi Toksvig
Based on true-life events during the Second World War, this novel is a funny and gripping account of a childhood spent under occupation and a daring rescue.
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How I live now, by Meg Rosoff
Fifteen year old anorexic Daisy arrives in England from the US to stay with her father and his pregnant partner and strange things begin to happen. Contains adult themes.
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I am David, by Anne Holm
12 year old David has no memory of life before the concentration camp. He doesn't know how to smile, and trust has no meaning. Can he survive, and will he ever be free?
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Indigo Blue, by Cathy Cassidy
Indie's mum loves the colour blue. So much so that she named her children Indigo and Misty - shades of blue, special colours, magical colours. Indie loves her mum. But blue isn't always a happy colour - and there's a lot of sad stuff in her mum's life.
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Jackdaw summer, by David Almond
A long hot summer, a wild boy, an abandoned baby, and an act of violence. This is an unsettling novel set in the wilds of Northumbria. Contains adult themes.
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Kensuke's kingdom, by Michael Morpurgo
Michael's parents buy a yacht and sail around the world. Michael is thrown overboard and washes up on a remote tropical island, where he meets Kensuke.
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Killing God, by Kevin Brooks
Two years ago Dawn's father disappeared, her life fell apart, and it's all God's Fault. It all started when her dad found God, but it didn't end there. Her mum fell apart, leaving Dawn to be the grown up. Now she's 15 and doesn't fit in - which is fine with her, except the popular girls have suddenly started paying her attention, and a van keeps driving past her house.....
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Koh Tabu, by Ann Kelley
When a group of 9 cadets and 1 adult set off for 3 days camping on a tropical island, they aren't worried that they land on the wrong island. 24 hours later and they are living their worst nightmare - will they get out alive?!
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Looking for jj, by Anne Cassidy
A child is murdered by her best friend. Seven years later JJ is released, and has a new identity. But is there any way that she can lead a 'normal' life? A chilling story for older teenagers. Some adult content.
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Lord of the flies, by William Golding
After a plane crash a group of boys set up a fragile community on a previously uninhabited island. As memories of home recede and the blood from frenzied pig-hunts arouses them, the boys' childish fear turns into something deeper and more primitive.
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Lucas, by Kevin Brooks
Caitlin's life changes from the moment she sees Lucas walking across the causeway one hot summer's day. He is the strangest, most beautiful boy she has ever seen - and when she meets him, her world comes alive. But to others, he quickly becomes an object of jealousy, prejudice and hatred. Caitlin tries to make sense of the injustice. Some adult content.
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Man and boy, by Tony Parsons
Harry Silver has it all. A successful job in TV, a gorgeous wife, a lovely child. And, in one moment of madness, he chucks it all away. Contains adult themes.
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Marley & me, by John Grogan
Meet Marley, a yellow furball of a puppy who quickly grows into a large, rowdy Labrador retriever. Marley is always getting into trouble, whether he is stealing underwear or crashing through doors. But those who know and love Marley accept him as a dog like no other. He brings joy to his family and teaches them what really matters in life.
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No and me, by Delphine De Vigan
Lou Bertignac has an IQ of 160, a mother who barely speaks and hasn't left the house in years, and a father who is desperately struggling to keep his family together. Then she meets No, a homeless girl a few years older than her. As their friendship grows, Lou resolves to help No get her life back on track, unaware of the impact her new friend's sudden presence will have on all their lives.
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Noughts & crosses, by Malorie Blackman
In their world, Noughts and Crosses simply don't mix. And as hostility turns to violence, can Callum and Sephy possibly find a way to be together? They are determined to try. And then the bomb explodes&
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Numbers, by Rachel Ward
What would you do if every time you looked at someone you knew the exact date of their death? Jem is 15, and avoids relationships for obvious reasons. But then she meets Spider.....Contains adult themes
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Once, by Morris Gleitzman
Not for the faint hearted, this is the first in a trilogy that will have you laughing and crying - sometimes at the same time. Yes, it's another holocaust story. But if you only ever read one, make it this one. Felix spends almost 4 years in an orphanage, convinced his Jewish Bookseller parents are still alive, and coming back for him. When Nazi soldiers come to burn the nuns' books, Felix escapes from the orphanage to find and save his parents. His perilous journey through Nazi occupied Poland finds him befriending orphan Zelda, and coming into the care of the kindly Barney. All three of these books are very slim, but they really pack a punch.
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Oranges are not the only fruit, by Jeanette Winterson
Mother is a passionate evangelist who is grooming her adopted daughter to be a missionary but her daughter has other ideas. Contains adult themes.
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Ostrich boys, by Keith Gray
Fast-paced and moving. Kenny, Sim and Blake embark on a remarkable journey when they steal the ashes of their best friend Ross to take them to the tiny hamlet of Ross in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Contains adult themes.
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Playing dead, by Tim Bowler
A boy at the end of his tether and on the run has only his wits and a knife to save himself. This is the first book in a thrilling new series for teenagers.
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Pride and prejudice, by Jane Austen
In early nineteenth-century England, a spirited young woman copes with the suit of a snobbish gentleman, as well as the romantic entanglements of her four sisters. Contains adult themes.
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Rowan the strange, by Julie Hearn
It is the beginning of World War II, and mental illness is seen as something to be frightened and ashamed of. Rowan hears voices - or rather A Voice; and it makes him do things. He didn't mean to scare his sister. He is a gentle boy, who wouldn't hurt a fly; but when The Voice speaks, he is no longer in control of his own actions. Reluctantly, his family take him to an asylum, to take part in an experimental treatment, and Rowan begins a strange journey. Thought provoking, heart wrenching, and funny at times, this is a book you will never forget.
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Sacred hearts, by Sarah Dunant
Serafina is condemned to life in a convent. 16, passionate, and in love she fights her confinement with everything she has. A witty, extravagent glimpse of life in an Italian renaisance convent. Contains adult themes
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Schindler's Ark, by Thomas Keneally
More than a thousand Jews were saved from death in the Holocaust by a womanizing, heavy-drinking, German-Catholic industrialist and member of the Nazi Party, Oskar Schindler. Contains adult themes
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Skellig, by David Almond
There's a man in our garage and my sister is ill and it's the first day I've travelled from the new house to the old school.
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Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
From her first moment at Merryweather High, Melinda Sordino knows she's an outcast. She retreats into her own world to escape the lies and hypocrisies of high shool. But there is a terrible incident from her past which just won't go away.
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Stolen, by Lucy Christopher
Told in a moving letter to her captor, 16-year-old Gemma relives her kidnapping from Bangkok airport while on holiday. Taken by Ty, her troubled young stalker, to the wild and desolate Australian Outback she reflects on a landscape from which there's no escape. Some adult content.
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Stop the train, by Geraldine McCaughrean
Marooned in the vast Oklahoma prairies, Florence relies completely on the railway line beside which it stands. A bypass threatens to end the settlers' livelihood. Somehow or other, the train has to be stopped
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Tarka the otter, by Henry Williamson
A moving account of the life of an otter.
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The Cardturner, by Louis Sachar
Alton knows his summer will suck from the minute his girlfriend dumps him for his best friend, but spending it helping his blind uncle play cards (because his mother hopes to inherit millions from the near-death relative) really isn't going to help. It is impossible not to warm to Alton, or his crabby uncle, and before long you'll be hooked on the decades old mystery and romance that pulls this novel along.
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The Crow Road, by Iain Banks
It was the day my grandmother exploded" begins this extraordinary novel of death, sex, drink, God and illegal substances. Contains adult themes.
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The Silver Sword, by Ian Serraillier
The night the Nazis come to take their mother away, three children escape in a terrifying scramble across the rooftops. Alone in the chaos of Warsaw, they have to learn to survive on their own.
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The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
In his first book for young adults, Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist, who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian reservation to attend an all-white high school.
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The ant colony, by Jenny Valentine
Number 33 Georgiana Street houses many people and yet seems home to none. Life there is a kind of ordered chaos. Like ants, they scurry about their business, crossing paths, following their own tracks, no questions asked. But it doesn't take much to upset the balance. Dig deep enough and you'll find that everyone has something to hide.
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The boy in the striped pyjamas, by John Boyne
Although suitable for quite a young age, this is potentially one of the most disturbing books I have ever read. The inevitability of the ending, the innocence of the main character, and the unstoppable pace of the story combine to create a heartwrenching vision of the horror of the holocaust.
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The butterfly lion, by Michael Morpurgo
Bertie rescues an orphaned white lion cub in the African veldt. They are inseparable until he is sent to a boarding school in England and the lion is sold to a circus. Bertie swears he will find the lion again but the Great War intervenes
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The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, by Mark Haddon
Christopher has Asperger's, and needs order to protect himself from the bewilderment of life and people. Join him on his quest to find the dog's killer, and discover life through his eyes. Stark, funny and enlightening. Some adult content.
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The dead house, by Anne Cassidy
Lauren has always blocked out that fateful day when her mam and sister were killed, but now that she'd older, things are coming back to her...things that could mean her dad is innocent of murder. After all these years of hating him Lauren now faces the prospect of loving her dad once again. But is it that easy?
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The death defying Pepper Roux, by Geraldine McCaughrean
When he was born, Pepper's Aunt predicted that he would not live past 14 years of age. His parents try not to get too attached to a child they know is going to die, and Pepper spends his time practising the last rites, and memorising prayers and requests to take with him to Heaven. On the day of his 14th birthday, Pepper braces himself for death, but as the day wears on an idea grows - can he outrun Death? And so a galloping adventure begins, as Pepper dodges Death, changing names, places and personae, always one step ahead. Join Pepper in his riotous headlong race against fate & Angels - meeting gangsters, transvestite Pirates and horse thieves along the way.
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The diary of a young girl, by Anne Frank
A timeless story rediscovered by each new generation, 'The Diary of a Young Girl' stands without peer. For both young readers and adults it continues to bring to life this young woman, who for a time survived the worst horror the modern world had seen.
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The fire-eaters, by David Almond
Bobby's dad is mysteriously ill. His new school is a cold and cruel place. Nuclear bombs are being tested. Bobby found the fire-eater, a devil called McNulty. What can they do together on Bobby's beach? Can they work miracles?
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The ghost road, by Pat Barker
Based on a mix of real and imagined characters and events, this book tells the story of Sarah, a young woman working in a munitions factory, and the poet Wilfred Owen. Contains adult themes
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The illustrated mum, by Jacqueline Wilson
Covered from head to foot with glorious tattoos, Marigold is the brightest, most beautiful mother in the world - Dolphin thinks. Her older sister, Star, isn't so sure any more - why can't mum just be normal?
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The knife of never letting go, by Patrick Ness
The first of the Chaos Walking series. Set on another world, where men can hear each other's thoughts. Todd is nearly a man, but the town has been keeping secrets from him; secrets that could end in death. Contains adult themes
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The knife that killed me, by Anthony McGowan
Just how was Paul dragged into using a knife by Roth, a bullying teenager he fears and hates? A tense and chilling book.
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The lovely bones, by Alice Sebold
Victim of a serial killer, Suzie keeps watch from heaven as her family mourns, and the search for her killer continues. A moving exploration of loss and grief, The Lovely Bones is an un-put-down-able read.Contains some adult themes
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The machine gunners, by Robert Westall
"Some bright kid's got a gun and 2000 rounds of live ammo". Chas McGill has the second-best collection of war souvenirs in Garmouth, and he desperately wants it to be the best.
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The red tree, by Shaun Tan
You can be forgiven for thinking this is just a picture book - but you'd be wrong. Red tree is a powerful exploration of depression, and its power to blight our lives - hanging over everything we think and do, colouring our every thought and movement. Beautiful, sensitive illustrations paired with very few carefully chosen words tell us that we are not alone in this feeling, however devastating and incomprehensible it may be. Finally, hope blossoms and the light comes back. An inspiring book about the power of hope.
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The road, by Cormac McCarthy
A father and his young son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road. Originally published: 2006
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The savage, by David Almond
Blue's life isn't great. Ever since his dad died, and the town bully started knocking him about. But when the Savage from Blue's story turns up one night, and things get out of hand, Blue has to wonder who the Savage really is.....
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The star of Kazan, by Eva Ibbotson
Read this book and embark on an adventure which includes a big gloomy mansion, a war obsessed boy and a little girl determined to solve the mystery of her life.
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The vanishing of Katharina Linden, by Helen Grant
In a small German town, young girls start disappearing. Eleven year old Pia decides to unravel the mystery. A real page-turner with a thrilling climax.
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This book is gay, by James Dawson
Former PSHCE teacher and acclaimed YA author James Dawson gives an uncensored look at what it's like to grow up as LGBT. Including testimonials from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, this frank, funny, fully inclusive book explores everything anyone who ever dared to wonder wants to know - from sex to politics, how to pull, stereotypes
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To kill a mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Steep yourself in the deep South of the 30's, where Atticus defends a black man accused of raping a white girl, and Scout and Jem Finch observe the irrationality of the adult world. A warm and funny book full of truth. Contains adult themes.
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Two weeks with the queen, by Morris Gleitzman
'I need to see the Queen about my sick brother.' Sent from Australia to stay with his aunt in London because his brother has cancer, Colin is sure that the Queen will be able to make things better. An amazing story about a truly heartbreaking situation. Contains adult themes.
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What I saw and how I lied, by Judy Blundell
Summer's ending, Evie's stepfather is finally home from the Second World War, and Evie is tired of her glamorous mother treating her like a little girl. Then a mysterious stranger appears; a handsome ex-GI who served with Evie's stepfather. Slowly, Evie realizes that she is falling in love with him - but he has dark secrets, and a strange control over her parents.
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Wolf brother, by Michelle Paver
Set thousands of years ago in a world steeped in natural magic: a world of wolves and Aurochs, tree spirits and hidden people: a world in which trusting a friend means risking your life.
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Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
At the centre of this novel is the passionate love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff - recounted with such emotional intensity that a plain tale of the Yorkshire moors acquires the depth and simplicity of ancient tragedy.
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