book to do in school with very good 12 and 13 year old readers

Another vote for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Not familiar with the English curriculum but how about some WW1 poetry or All Quiet on the Western Front? Will they all have done The Diary of Anne Frank?

I think at 12 and 13 they can handle adult content so The Handmaid's Tale is a great idea or The Edge of Reason by Marge Piercy. Poignant now in light of celebs looking like conveyor belt women etc

Late to this but how about How I live Now Meg Rosoff? Or that Kazuo Ishiguro one that was made into a film recently. Lots to discuss in both...

Frankenstein, then Jurassic Park. Compare the way they depict the creation of monsters.

TH White

The Once and Future King

Beautifully written, funny, touching, wealth of historical detail, connections forwards and backwards into literature so could lead to all sorts of branches into Arthurian legend.

Or, Kevin Crossley Holland- The Seeing Stone, for much the same reasons.

Chaucer? Short, and will get them looking at the English language in a different way. Maybe best if they can hear it before they see it.

Amongst the O Level texts we did were Wilkie Collins' 'The Moonstone', Dorothy L Sayers 'The Nine Tailors' and an omnibus of Father Brown stories from the detective fiction category. I thought that they were all really good reads.

Of the the two plays we did, the only one I enjoyed reading was 'The Browning Version'. Would still love to see that at the theatre some day. (The other play was 'She Stoops to Conquer'.)

The rest was Shakespeare, Sherlock Homes and one other title I can't remember.

Would you be allowed to do book and film? Jane Eyre or the War Horse could both work for that. Always good to go on a trip...

At my school, the G&T reading group shadow the Carnegie Medal short list. You can register your group on the website and the students then review the books as they read them.

The 2012 short list has been published Here

The students enjoy discussing the books and feeling part of the awards process.

Even if you don't register with the website, past nominees and winners should give you some ideas for books to read.

Otherwise, I would recommend Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses.

great expectations?
Or
something by shakespeare.

Oops - Shakespeare

Thinking back to when we were at school (Grammar, so I guess would be G&T equivalent now)
We did a different Shakespear each year
Various Charles Dickens novels
Thomas Hardy (which were very boring IMO)
Wuthering Heights
Scoop
Cider with Rosie
1984
Animal Farm
Lord of the Flies

My dcs (15 and 13) have both just read SE Hinton's 'The Outsiders' and enjoyed a lot - there's a lot to talk about there.

Hattymattie - my 12 year old is reading Great Expectations at the moment and loving it. She was inspired to read it by the tv series recently and I couldn't be more pleased, even if it's because of the handsome chap playing Pip.

Cry the beloved country.
The eagle of the ninth.
Far from the madding crowd
Bog child by siobhan dowd about the Irish troubles
Agree animal farm 1984 and my family and o a
If you are allowed cartoon books persepolis
The Sherlock Holmes stories

Fahrenheit 451 is one that occurred to me too. Extending the classic science fiction theme I'd love to recommend The Stars My Destination but the hero's a rapist so I think it's a no go.
Le Guin's Left Hand Of Darkness or The Dispossessed are worth a thought though.
Wodehouse might be great - or Evelyn Waugh (not Decline and Fall though - it has a "hilarious" comedy paedophile, and not Black Mischief for obvious reasons). Or Cold Comfort Farm.

PotteringAlong's recommendation is excellent. My ten year old read them but I loved them just as much. They're beautifully written and deeply moving.

Or "1984"
Or "The Owl Service" or "Red Shift" by Alan Garner

Wow - I remember Fahrenheit 451 and loved it - I wonder if it could be reinterpreted in the light of e-books etc. I loved lord of the flies at school - lots of discussion points (my eldest did it last year and loved it 14 yrs old ) likewise Great Expectations although maybe it's been on TV too much. Again I second 1984 and Animal Farm. Rebecca - simply brilliant but maybe not boy appeal and I feel I got more rereading as an adult woman than as a teenager. Gatsby also - but I think is an A level text. Noughts and Crosses is also a great book plus any Phil Pullman.

A Brave New World was one of my favourite ever books at school and one of the only ones I have felt compelled to reread as an adult. I think the themes are ultra-pertinent and accessible to modern teenagers.

The Great Gatsby?

Don't do A Fine Balance. It's a completely fantastic book but not at all suitable for 12 year olds IMO.

Agree with poster who suggested something outside of the usual novel format. My most memorable English lessons involved studying plays such as Time and the Conways by JB Priestly and Look Back in Anger by John Osbourne. Good opportunities for reading aloud as a group and watching DVD or live theatre versions as a reward later.

My other suggestion would be PG Wodehouse..

Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine might fit the bill - would appeal to both sexes, interesting and challenging themes, very well written, and not too long, if you only have a few sessions with them.

1984
Animal Farm
Brave New World
Cider With Rosie

I'm not familiar with the curriculum in England so don't know what might be covered by GCSE but what about:

Catcher in the Rye
Things Fall Apart
Wessex Tales (you could choose which ones to cover)
The Snow Goose (can be as complex as you want it to be and it's short)
Road to Wigan Pier for a bit of social history

What about something more modern like Phillip Pullman, Holes, The Hunger Games, Eva or Boys Don't Cry. Or perhaps a play by someone like Samuel Beckett or poetry by Seamus Heaney, Caroline Duffy or Tony Harrison.

Sorry- I forgot qbout the sex in A handmaid's Tale- I just want everyone to read it! Thinking about it, I didn't give it to dd until she was 14.

What about Slaughterhouse 5? Or My Family and Other Animals. Or Something by KM Peyton?