Michael Morpurgo

Reasons why we like to read in bed.

It’s warm and comfortable and gives you a relaxing place to sit or lie in peace.

It’s quiet. It is a lovely place to just relax with a good

book. There’s no little sister to bug you and once

you’re finished you can go to sleep. You can relax with no distractions. It helps me calm down after a busy day. It’s cozy and comfy and I’m not disturbed by my

younger brother and sister. It is private and peaceful. It’s a relaxing place to read and it’s quiet so you

can concentrate. It’s very soothing before I go to sleep and more

exciting than playing a computer game before bed.

I like to read at the beach because it’s nice and quiet and you can hear the tide and you are getting some sun while you read!

I like to read on a plane because it is quiet and, if you’re on it for a long time, it is good to do something instead of being bored.

I like to read on my sofa because it is very cosy and warm and I can get into books sitting on it.

Or you could read a book in the garden.

If it’s a good day, then you might as well make the most of it, but if it’s raining then I prefer to be warm and comfortable, safely inside!

You can hear the birds chirping and it is peaceful.

It’s peaceful and you get fresh air as well. It’s peaceful and calm.

A selection of books read as part of Annan Academy’s READ SIX BOOKS IN SIX WEEKS Summer Challenge

War Horse

I really liked the description of the different scenes… I could feel all the emotions the author wanted me to.

I would highly recommend this book.By Lucy Kirkpatrick

Born to Run This is a great emotional book. Once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down!Patrick was walking to school when he saw an unusual shaped bag floating down the canal so he went and fished it out, only to find five tiny greyhound puppies.Patrick really wanted to keep the puppies, but there was more to it than that.

I would rate this book five stars. By Danielle McAnespie

I loved Cool by Michael Morpurgo because it was quite emotional and at the same time really funny and, in a way, sweet.

I would recommend this book as it’s soothing before you sleep and it’s just amazing. By Katie Reid

The Dare Game is amazing!

One day Tracy bunks off school and meets these two boys called Alexander and Football. They play dare games and Tracy always wins. Her mum came to pick her up from her foster mother Cam’s house but it all goes wrong

when her mother goes out to drink and leaves Tracy till midnight. Near the end, Tracy ran away and didn’t have a real home anymore. In the end she lived happily ever after with Cam.By Katie Reid

The Diamond Girls is exciting. There are so many things going on, you just can’t put it down.

There are so many characters, I don’t know who my favourite character is. The main character is Dixie. She has three sisters, Rochelle, Jude and Martine. Their mum, Sue, is pregnant with a boy, but, when he is born, Sue has a big secret.They move house from their flat to a house on the Planet Estate but it isn’t as nice as she thinks. The house is a tip and there are gangs that Jude fights with, but Rochelle just flirts with them.She doesn’t let anyone else look after her little boy who she called Sundance. When Sue goes out of the room, Sundance stated crying so Dixie changed him and found out he was a she.By Abbie Richardson

Also recommended:

Jacqueline WilsonVicky Angel

Also recommended:

This is my favourite book of all time! It’s about two best friends and nothing could come between them - until now. BANG! Vicky has been hit by a car. They are still the best of friends, although Vicky’s body is not there.

I would rate this book five stars. By Danielle McAnespie

Vicky is a young girl that is always having fun, unless her best friend Jade stops her. When Jade and Vicky have an argument, this time there is no apology, but there is a new angel in the sky – Vicky.

This book is fun to read with small illustrations. Perfect for 10-13 year olds.By Megan Parker

The Longest Whale SongThis book is a fun, happy and also a sad story. In it a little girl called Ella has to face dilemmas, distress and downpours of emotions thrown at her.Her mum and dad get divorced, her mum meets a new guy and a few months later her mum is pregnant. Ella does NOT like her new step-dad. As her mum is having the baby, something goes wrong and she ends up in a coma.This book is called The Longest Whale Song because Ella, at school, is doing a whale project and Ella enjoys it. She finds a CD of whale songs and plays them to her mum and she soon wakes up.

I enjoyed reading this and liked how the writer put it together.By Rebekka Graham

Crime and DetectionSkulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days by Derek Landy

I enjoyed this book because of the story’s fast-paced action, and Landy’s warm humour and his ability to put great, witty remarks into the story, particularly into Skulduggery’s mouth!Landy thinks up his characters well, and describes them perfectly. He has a wonderful imagination – which he would need, to fit a living skeleton into his books! – and uses it to suck his readers into the story.

I found myself unable to put it down until it was finished. A great book!By Iona Bryson

Lost Bullet by Malcolm Rose

It’s about a forensic investigator, who is – surprise, surprise! – investigating suspicious deaths. It seems to be set in the future, as cats and dogs are endangered; there are new sophisticated sat-nav systems set into British taxis, which means no driver is required; and also, a new invention for police investigation, called a Mobile Aid to Law and Crime, or MALC for short.By Iona Bryson

Also recommended:

Check out Charlie Higson’s series which features a young James

Bond.

Dear Diary…

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

A funny first book to the series Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It’s a book about a boy starting middle-school that starts writing a “journal” as he thinks he is one day going to become famous, so he is writing his life story.

A really funny, likeable book that makes you want to read more, and ALL of the series. A book I most definitely recommend to others.By Rebekka Graham

I liked Life as we knew it by Susan Pfeffer because it was about the moon and how it changed the weather and a lot of people died. In the story, the main character is keeping a diary and it shows you what she did for almost a year.It is very interesting and you get to see what life is like for others when something major has happened and they don’t know what to do.By Lois McLatchie

Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls

This is a moving but funny story about a young boy that has leukaemia. The story takes you through the last months of Sam’s life and all of his wishes, like kissing a girl, drinking beer, seeing a ghost and watching horror films.

This is one of my favourite books of all time! I always cry when I read it. Ten out of ten!By Ellie McCormick

Stories set in the past

My Story: The Hunger by Carol Drinkwater

The Hunger is about the potato blight in Ireland from 1845 -1847. It explains how it was hard for the main character, Phyllis, and her family because they use potatoes in all they eat as they are easy to cook. In summer, when potatoes are always in short supply, they sell a fattened pig for money to buy food. This year the pig isn’t fat so they can’t sell her. As a result of this,

Eileen, Phyllis’ baby sister, dies, and her mother’s health deteriorates. They are forced to move out when their landlord burns down their house and they walk to Dublin. On the way, Ma dies. Phyllis works in the manor house and becomes fond of a boy called Edward. When he leaves for Dublin she follows and eventually finds him. They get on a ship to America and she is reunited with her family. Her brother, who is in trouble with the law, stays to fight for a free Ireland.By Rebecca Ward

Witch Child by Celia Rees is about a young witch who migrated to America in the 1600s.

I really enjoyed this book because there was not a single dull moment so it was hard to put it down. It is a book girls will enjoy from about 10 years old.

Sorceress is the sequel.

This book is brilliant because the story alternates between past and present. Celia Rees is a really good author.By Imogen Cook

More of our favouritesLife at the Shallow End by Helen Bailey

Once you get into the book it feels like you’re the main character, Electra. It’s a book you can get stuck into!By Elise Jordan McHardy

My favourite book is

Skellig by David Almond.

It’s about a person with arthritis and two people help him get better by giving him

food and drink and at the end they find out he is an Angel. By Regan Smith

Holes by Louis Sachar

Holes is a book of friendship, love, trust and courage. By Benjamin Harrop

The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson

I would recommend this book because it is exciting and takes you in to another world.By Courtney Copland

Also: Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson

Books we think you’ll like tooGingersnaps by Cathy Cassidy is about a girl who was bullied when she was younger and went to high school and didn’t tell anybody about it until someone from Primary comes and nearly steals her friend from her.I would recommend this book to others because you don’t know what is going to happen next and once you start reading it, you find it hard to put down.By Lois McLatchie

Also by Cathy Cassidy:

The Demon Headmaster by Gillian Cross

This is one of my favourite books because it is addictive.

The main characters are Dinah, Lloyd, Harvey and all the SPLAT members. SPLAT is short for Society for the Protection of our Lives Against Them. The people the headmaster hypnotises are called “Them”. When the headmaster goes to hypnotise people he takes off his dark sunglasses and says, “Look into my eyes.” It’s kind of creepy.By Abbie Richardson

Check out Rick Riordan.

Greek and Egyptian myths with a modern twist.

Full of action and adventure.

You’ll love these books.The CHERUB series

byRobert Muchamore.

Teenage spies - action and adventure galore.

The Blade series by Tim Bowler,

Follow the adventures of Alex Rider, teenage spy, in this fantastic series by Antony Horowitz.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Magic all the way with Roald Dahl.Everyone’s favourite

teenage wizard.

Where would you go if you could travel in time? Alex Scarrow’s teenage time-travellers have to put right changes to the timeline which could change the world as we know it, forever.

Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight – The first book in the series introduces us to sparkly vampires; playing baseball in a thunderstorm; and the romance between Bella and Edward.