y8 reading comprehension book ideas

[gillybeanz]

hello dd is going into y8 and was told to read appropriately aged material over the holiday, that was challenging.
She isn't very good at comprehension so dh read Lord of the Flies and we have studied it over the holidays.
She really enjoyed it so would like something on this line but obviously not as challenging as this. Whilst we all enjoyed the book, it took a lot of telling her the questions she should be asking and explaining more subtle bits.

Apart from girly books
Any suggestions gratefully received. Thanks.

has she read "Wonder" - quite easy for yr8 but a really good one to have read.
what about the Carnegie prize winner, "One" by Sarah Crossan? or any of the shortlist here

amid

Yes, unfortunately she has. It's one she chose for herself, there haven't been many though, so if you have any more suggestions.

Anything challenging.

I had thought Of Mice and Men, Animal farm etc but think the actual proper understanding comes around y9 - 11 unless I'm mistaken.

Sorry, missed the link. Many thanks, I will have a good look at these.

i think those are too hard tbh. dd is going into yr8 and is really good at english and wouldn't have a go at those yet.

she hates girly stuff too. let me take a look at her bookshelf and come back!

Philip Pullman, Philip Reeve, Matt Dickinson,
Warrior Cats series, Ali Sharpe Shapeshifter series

Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream

this could be really worthwhile working through
ks3 english

DD is going into year 8 the have a classic literature list including Alice in Wonderland, the Railway children, the little prince and the little princess. In school last year she read My Family and Other Animals. I read Catcher in the Rye in year 8, along with Much ado about Nothing and To Cider with Rosie ( also on DD's list).

Now, classic literature would be my choice, having missed out on anything like good English Lessons.
It may sound sad but all 3 of us really enjoyed this book together
My dh is a star.

However, in the real world anything that will encourage her to read for pleasure would be brilliant. Teacher said she needs to read more challenging material, but we never see what she is reading, or pretending to.

We have the Shakespeare suggestions, Railway Children and she asked for my copy of Jane Eyre but I know she'll never read it at this age.
A good mystery or adventure though and she gets sucked in.

Thanks so much amid

My DD read The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas as a class reader when she was in Year 7.

Gilly

Katherine Mansfield short stories are great and a bit "bite sized" IYSWIM. I have a spare copy of the collected stories I could send to you if you PM - she grew up in NZ and wrote about her life there and later in England. She came over hoping to be a novelist and wrote short stories set here and also in Europe. They are beautifully written IMHO (and not just my opinion - they are sometimes set for A level) but not too much to digest in one chunk. A decent shot at classic writing but not turgid. They can be analysed to death but you can also read them as a short story IMHO.

For pleasure (poss too young) , what about Susan Cooper , Alan Garner. Children's books but well written. Eg the Dark is rising or the Weirdstone of Brisingamen.

Will think more

Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy is stunning and would be enjoyed by the whole family. Maggot Moon or the Door That Led to Where by Sally Gardner are very well written and seemed to be enjoyed by LOTF fans. Neil Gaiman is always good value and, for example, The Graveyard Book is a reworking of The Jungle Book which makes for interesting discussions. In my experience pushing adult classic fiction at this age can turn them off reading in general so I would suggest a focus on YA fiction to get the 'reading bug' or Classic children's fiction.

Stone Cold by Robert Swindells

There are some brilliant ideas here, thank you all very much.
i have compiled a list from them all and slowly working through, I'm going to be so skint.
We have a library which is great for the classics but its usually a few years until they have the popular newer ones in, so usually have to buy them new.

Ah, The Graveyard book, she came home from school with this and moaned she couldn't get into it. I will have a look at it and encourage her to persevere.

12yo DS is reading The Hobbit. We saw a lot of the 3-part adaptation recently, & DS is constantly telling me how the movies are different from the book.

The obvious choices... The Hunger Games, stuff by Darren Shan, The Judy Blume books for older kids (like Deenie), Harry Potter, One (which is excellent, btw), Faults in Our Stars, Book Thief, books for young teens by Jacq. Wilson.. there's a really good novel for young teens I'm struggling with the title, about a girl who compulsively leaves poems all over town after the death of her sister. There are a lot of... adult things treated sensitively & worth talking about together in that book.

also... I loved My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece. Plenty to talk about!

I'm trying to get DS to read Dogsbody, which was a favourite of mine about his age & my other DC think is brill, too.

Another vote for My Sister Lives On The Mantlepiece.

Yes My Sister is excellent with very topical themes, Ketchup Clouds by the same writer is also very good.

My DD is just going into Yr9 and has read many of the above. At the moment she is reading a lot of dystopian fiction, which is her thing, but has also read Neil Gaiman's American Gods and is reading We Really Need To Talk About Kevin at the moment. Next on her list are two books by Chuck Palahniuk and Eats Shoots and Leaves (she is a grammar nerd).

lljkk my DD loves DWJ and has read everything she has ever written - I'd definitely recommend her to anyone, especially her stuff for older readers. I'm thinking Hexwood, Fire and Hemlock, the Homeward Bounders for starters - plenty to talk about in those as well.

Dd is just going into year 7 and has to do a book review. She is doing The Indian In the Cupboard which is on the school book list and is quite good for the slightly younger ones at secondary.

Skellig
Holes
Curious incident of the dog in the night time
Black Beauty - is not girly !
American Born Chinese - prize winning graphic novel

YY to Noughts and Crosses series. My DD - just going into Y8- read the last 2 in the series in about 4 days this holidays, couldn't put them down.
If she likes mysteries, my DD has also started the Ruby in the Smoke books by Phillip Pullman and enjoys those (She loved His Dark Materials trilogy)
She has also read a couple of Miss Marple stories - some of the historic bits need a bit of explanation (eg what a telegram is!!) but had liked the stories.
She also loved The Lie Tree mentioned up thread