Read any ‘good’ books lately- Carnegie shortlist
Our Y9 shadowing group members have been reading away. The list has been varied including historical, science Fiction and contemporary issues as well as one book where the character narrates her story with a lack of punctuation. The authors have included an Australian and three American authors. Having several copies of the shortlisted books enables a large group of students to read the books simultaneously and provokes heated discussions about the merits and drawbacks of all of them.
The list includes: the science fiction novel “Railhead by Philip Reeve; the historical novel “Salt to the Sea” by Ruta Spetys; the funny but seriously fantastical “Sputnik’s Life to Earth by Frank Cottrell Boyce; “Bone Sparrow” by Zana Fraillon; “The Smell of Other People’s House” by Bonnie Sue Hitchcock set in 1970s Alaska; “The Stars at Oktober Bend” by Glenda Millard where one of characters’ narration has little punctuation; “Wolf Hollow” by Lauren Wolk about a 12 year old girl facing a difficult decision in rural America in 1943, and “Beck” by Mal Peet and Meg Rosoff a 16+ read. One of the Carnegie Medal’s criteria is the book has to be of “outstanding literary merit”.
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