BOOK OF THE WEEK
15 July 2024
Hello Bookworms!
Did you enjoy my last book recommendations? I have three wonderful books for you to read this week, as I am off on my holidays next Monday and will be back at the beginning of August.
I have also shared our new Lion Print magazine, under our Further Resources tab. Do take a look as I think you will like some of the stories our younger pupils have written at the beginning of the magazine and give you inspiration for your own writing. There is also some incredible art work from our pupils.
If you’d like some more ideas of great books to read, do check out our Reading List.
The Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird
Dani and Mamo live very different lives in Addis Ababa, one in a grand house full of servants, the other is homeless. But both go on the run and when they meet they have to trust each other with their lives.
Inspired by the true story of an African childhood lived on the edge of destitution, award-winning Elizabeth Laird’s new novel takes readers on an unforgettable emotional journey.
When Mamo’s mother dies, he is abandoned in the shanties of Addis Ababa. Stolen by a child-trafficker and sold to a farmer, he is cruelly treated. Escaping back to the city, he meets another, very different runaway. Dani is rich, educated – and fleeing his tyrannical father. Together they join a gang of homeless street boys who survive only by mutual bonds of trust and total dependence on each other.
Scottish Arts Council Children’s Book of the Year
Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal
‘A gritty, deeply moving story that shows how the human spirit can triumph in the harshest of worlds.’ – lovereading4kids
‘Elizabeth Laird has written over 30 highly acclaimed books for children on a wide range of subjects. Many of her books introduce and explore themes of social justice. The Garbage King is a coming of age story set on the streets of Addis Ababa.’ – Story Museum
Biggles of the Fighter Squadron by Captain W.E. Johns
The First World War is nearing its end and Biggles and his comrades are struggling to keep control of the skies. He needs some desperate and cunning plans just to stay alive.
PERIL IN THE SKIES!
Biggles dogfights over the trenches as World War 1 takes to the skies!
Well into the later stages of the First World War, Biggles and his fellow flyers are struggling to maintain supremacy over the enemy pilots determined to shoot them down. In this game of cunning, they must use all their wit and skill to stay ahead of the fight against the German air force but will Biggles’ daring and bold schemes keep them alive in such treacherous skies?
Join cult hero and flying ace, Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth on another action packed adventure!
My Family and Other Animals by Greald Durrell
The Durrell family, along with Roger the dog, take off for the island of Corfu. But the Durrells find that, reluctantly, they must share their various villas with a menagerie of locals – among them scorpions, geckos, toads, bats and butterflies.
‘Sometimes it’s pretty hard to tell them apart… my family and the animals, that is. I don’t know why my brothers and sisters complain so much. With snakes in the bath and scorpions on the lunch table, our house, on the island of Corfu, is a bit like a circus. So they should feel right at home…’
When the unconventional Durrell family can no longer endure the damp, gray English climate, they do what any sensible family would do: sell their house and relocate to the sunny Greek isle of Corfu. My Family and Other Animals was intended to embrace the natural history of the island but ended up as a delightful account of Durrell’s family’s experiences, from the many eccentric hangers-on to the ceaseless procession of puppies, toads, scorpions, geckoes, ladybugs, glowworms, octopuses, bats, and butterflies into their home.
‘Durrell has an uncanny knack of discovering human as well as animal eccentricities’ – Sunday Telegraph
‘A bewitching book’ – Sunday Times
‘Wickedly funny’ – Jojo Moyes