Junior Book Groups
Summer 2026
Students meet each term in small groups with a subject specialist to discuss and analyse a book they have chosen from the list below. The books on offer change each term and include a wide range of both fiction and non-fiction titles.
Survival stories
Hatchet
By Gary Paulsen
With Ms Atherton
Brian is a city boy. Not used to living rough. Until his plane crash-lands in the Canadian wilderness. All he has is a hatchet - and a desperate will to survive. Now Brian must learn to live the hard way - or die.
Historical Fiction
Innocent Traitor
By Alison Weir
With Miss Anderson
"I am now a condemned traitor . . . I am to die when I have hardly begun to live." Lady Jane Grey, also known as the Nine-Day-Queen, was beheaded at just 16 years old. Alison Weir expertly transports us back in time to see the story through Jane's eyes as she is raised to be a political pawn for her power-hungry parents. The high stakes game sees Jane achieve the highest heights, before plummeting to the lowest lows. A truly powerful read.
Jazz and the Roaring 20s
Young Man with a Horn
By Dorothy Baker
With Mr Evans
Do you like jazz but are afraid to admit it? Here's a safe space for us to explore the world of gin jukes, speakeasies, and freeform music. Baker’s novel tells the story of Rick Martin, his candle-like destructive life dedicated to the creation of music. He is a marked man; a lifelong sucker for syncopation.
Historical fantasy
Across the Nightingale Floor
By Lian Hearn
With Ms Moore-Bridger
Set in a mythical, feudal, Japanese land, a world both beautiful and cruel, the intense love story of two young people takes place against a background of warring clans, secret alliances, high honour and lightning swordplay.
Lock in with some non-fiction – Fascinating look at how social media is transforming the future of language
Algospeak
By Adam Aleksic
With Dr Evans
From the rise of leetspeak and words such as “unalive” to the trend of adding “-core” to different influencer aesthetics, the internet has ushered in an unprecedented linguistic upheaval. In Algospeak, online etymologist Adam Aleksic shines a light on the roots of words that we don’t realise have come from unexpected places – from incel culture, from the innovation of users trying to get around content moderation algorithms, from the marketing speak that has invaded our personal lives.
Jane Austen Fans
Sense and Sensibility
By Jane Austen
With Ms Smith and Ms Cho
Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic.
YA Climate-Fiction Thriller
Dry
By Neal Shusterman
With Mr Wragg
How would you survive if the taps ran dry? Set in California after a 'Tap-Out' scenario, the teen protagonists struggle to survive as water becomes scarce and all the adults die.
Gothic mystery
Rebecca
By Daphne du Maurier
With Miss Cumiskey
In the 1930s, a young woman marries a handsome, wealthy widower and arrives at his sprawling ancestral home only to discover that not all is as it seems... what exactly happened to his first wife, Rebecca? And why does Mrs Danvers seem so unwelcoming? Mysteries abound in this gripping gothic novel.
Gothic Horror
Frankenstein
By Mary Shelley
With Mrs Robbins
Mary Shelley started writing this novel when she was just 18. It tells the story of gifted scientist Victor Frankenstein who succeeds in giving life to a being of his own creation. However, this is not the perfect specimen he imagines that it will be, but rather a hideous creature who is rejected by Victor and mankind in general. The Monster seeks its revenge through murder and terror.
Greek Mythology
No Friend to this House
By Natalie Haynes
With Mrs Howe
This a modern re-telling of the story of Jason and the Argonauts and the part played by the powerful and dangerous Medea.
Psychology and technology
The Anxious Generation
By Jonathan Haidt
With Leo Wilkin (L6th)
Acclaimed psychologist Jonathan Haidt reveals how the decline of free-play in childhood and the rise of smartphone use among adolescents is changing our world.
Golden-age detective fiction
Murder Must Advertise
By Dorothy L. Sayers
With Ms Bergquist
Lord Peter Wimsey takes a job - one that soon draws him into a vicious network of blackmailers and drug pedlars. Five people will die before Wimsey unravels a sinister and deadly plot.
Economics
Can You Run the Economy?
By Joe Mayes
With Mrs Campion, Mr Whitworth & Miss Huang
Could you run the country without crashing the economy? This book puts you in the Chancellor’s seat. Every choice counts, taxes, spending, strikes, scandals, and one bad call could end your career. Fast, interactive, and brilliantly real, it turns economics into a high-stakes game. Will you survive?
Coming-of-age novel set in Afghanistan
The Kite Runner
By Khaled Hosseini
With Mr Bilclough
A powerful coming-of-age novel about friendship, guilt, and redemption. Set against the backdrop of a changing Afghanistan, the story follows Amir, a privileged boy from Kabul, and his loyal friend Hassan. After a betrayal in childhood, Amir spends years haunted by regret, eventually embarking on a journey as an adult to confront his.
Sweeping Historical Adventure
Washington Black
By Esi Edugyan
With Mr Bilclough
A sweeping historical adventure that follows Wash, a young boy born into slavery on a Barbados sugar plantation. After a shocking incident forces him to flee, Wash embarks on a globe-spanning journey that takes him from Barbados to the Arctic and beyond. Blending themes of freedom, identity, science, and belonging, the novel.
The story of refugees fleeing Syria
The Beekeeper of Aleppo
By Christy Lefteri
With Mr Bilclough
Tells the moving story of Nuri, a beekeeper, and his wife Afra as they escape the devastation of war in Aleppo and undertake a dangerous journey across continents seeking safety in the UK. Set against the realities of the refugee experience, the novel examines love, grief, resilience, and hope, highlighting how trauma reshapes memory.
Graphic Novel
Lord of the Flies
By Aimee De Jong/William Golding
With Ms Atherton
A new powerful and beautifully illustrated graphic novel adapted from William Golding's classic of 30 children fighting to survive whilst stranded on a remote island.
Whimsical Parisian Mystery
The Red Notebook
By Antoine Laurain
With Mrs Thomas
A charming Parisian mystery where a lost notebook sparks a chain of small wonders, connecting strangers through kindness and curiosity.
Geography and Politics
A History of the World in 47 Borders
By John Elledge
With Dr Basra
From the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilisation, to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, to the reason why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a fascinating, witty and surprising look at the history of the world told through its borders. By telling the stories of these borders, we can learn a lot about how political identities are shaped, why the world looks the way it does - and about the scale of human folly.
Fun and humorous Sci-Fi
Project Hail Mary
By Andy Weir
With Nefeli Maniadaki (L6th)
Project Hail Mary follows Ryland Grace, the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission to save humanity from an extinction-level threat. Waking up with amnesia millions of miles from home, he must piece together his mission and rely on an unexpected, alien ally to solve an impossible scientific mystery. Packed with razor-sharp science, unexpected humour, and edge-of-your-seat twists, the soon to be a major film Project Hail Mary is written by best-selling author Andrew Weir, author of the sci-fi classic, The Martian.
Candid business memoir
Shoe Dog
By Phil Knight
With Tom Holborn (L6th)
Shoe Dog is a candid memoir in which Phil Knight recounts the scrappy, uncertain early days of building Nike from a small startup into a global brand. Blending business lessons with personal struggles, it offers an honest look at risk, resilience, and the messy reality behind entrepreneurial success.
Spooky fantasy
Something Wicked Comes This Way
By Ray Bradbury
With Miss Ferreira
When a mysterious carnival rolls into town, two boys are swept into a battle against its eerie, soul‑twisting magic. As the carnival feeds on people’s deepest fears and desires, they must confront darkness both supernatural and within themselves to save their community.
YA Crime Thriller
The Cousins
By Karen M. McManus
With Mrs Charlier
Three cousins, one cold‑hearted grandmother, and a summer on a mysterious island where the family’s darkest secrets refuse to stay buried.
Engineering Science
Stuff Matters: The Strange Stories of the Marvellous Materials that Shape Our Man-Made World
By Mark Miodownik
With Mr Rea
From the everyday objects in our homes to the most extraordinary new materials that will shape our future, Stuff Matters reveals the inner workings of the man-made world, the miracles of craft, design, engineering and ingenuity that surround us every day. From the tea-cup to the jet engine, the silicon chip to the paper clip, from the ancient technologies of fabrics and ceramic to today's self-healing metals and bionic implants, this is a book to inspire amazement and delight at mankind's creativity.
Leadership Memoir
A Different Kind of Power
By Jacinda Ardern
With Mrs Bateson
The deeply personal memoir from the former prime minister of New Zealand, then the world's youngest female head of government and just the second to become a mother in office. This is the inspiring story of how a Mormon girl plagued by self-doubt changed our assumptions of what a leader can be. A Different Kind of Power is more than a political memoir. Powerfully evocative and refreshingly open, it is a profound insight into how it feels to lead, it asks: what if you, too, are capable of more than you ever imagined?
YA Dystopian Fiction
The Hunger Games
By Suzanne Collins
With Miss Cole
In a brutal arena where survival is a spectacle, Katniss Everdeen becomes the spark of rebellion. Forced to fight for her life, she discovers that sometimes the greatest weapon is defiance.
Psychology and Sport
Bounce: The Myth of Talent and The Power of Practice
By Matthew Syed
With Sam Gulliford and George Morgan (L6th)
Discover the science behind success as Matthew Syed reveals why greatness isn’t born — it’s built through purposeful practice.
An engaging and entertaining book that shows us how effort, mindset, and resilience can turn potential into achievement.