5 books to read when you’re in Year 7

Thriller

Risk by Fleur Ferris

Fleur Ferris is one of the iCentre’s favourite authors. Fleur creates characters that are relatable, the books are set in Australia and they are page turners! You can’t go wrong when you pick one of her books from the shelves. Risk is on high rotation in our iCentre – the book is about two best friends Sierra and Taylor. Taylor and Sierra do everything together and have known each other all their lives. They have just turned 16 and spend a lot of time in online chat rooms, something that doesn’t thrill their parents. When Sierra meets someone online and decides to meet in real-life, Taylor is at first jealous as she feels like Sierra gets everything her own way and doesn’t want to cover for Sierra when the date is set. Sierra sets off to meet her online date but doesn’t come back …. soon parents and police are involved. Will Sierra be found? Who can you trust?

Graphic Novel

The Baby-sitters Club – Kristy’s great idea by Raina Telgemeier (based on the novel by Ann. M. Martin)

Raina Telgemeier has written some fantastic graphic novels and we have many of them on our shelves in the iCentre. If you like The Babysitters Club series, you will like her other graphic novels. The Babysitters Club series is based on novels published in the 80s, they’ve been updated by Raina and feature great illustrations and a fun story line. Kristy’s Great Idea is about a group of four girls who decide to start a baby-sitting business, but the business is not the only thing that they have on their minds!

Mystery

Fuzzy mud by Louis Sachar

Two friends Tamaya and Marshall walk to school everyday and have been friends for years. One day their journey home is disrupted when the school bully challenges them to a fight. They decide to run in to the woods to find a new way home to avoid the fight and they find bigger trouble than they ever expected. This trouble could affect the future of the world!

In the past

The war that saved my life – by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Set in war time United Kingdom, when all the children in London where being sent to stay with strangers in the countryside to keep them safe from bombings.

Ada and her brother, Jamie live with their extremely cruel mother who keeps Ada locked in a cupboard as she is humiliated by Ada’s disability. They both manage to escape their home and find themselves on a train with all the other children going to the countryside.

A lonely lady called Susan is asked to look after Ada and Jamie and the three of them form a beautiful family bond.

All the while the war is raging through Europe and the United Kingdom and Ada and Jamie’s mother is looking for her children. Will they be safe from the war and their mother?

Dystopian

Hive – by A. J. Betts

Hayley’s job is to look after the bees in the strict world she lives in. One day a bee escapes from her care and she follows it to fine the ceiling leaking drops of water. This is very unusual in Hayley’s world, and she has a lot of questions.

Having questions leads Hayley down a path to a lie, a death, a boy, and even more awful questions.

A.J. Betts is a favourite author of students at Mount Alvernia and this is a dystopian nail-biting thriller!