You may have been asked by your child’s School to get them involved in a summer reading challenge to keep them reading over the next 6 weeks! The aim of such a challenge is to get your child to read a wide range of books, covering a particular choice of genres….
Here at BOOKS etc. we’ve chosen the follow genres:
*Fantasy
*Adventure
*Historical fiction
*Mystery/Sci-fi
*An animal book
*A funny book
*An information/reference book
The list below is hand-picked and has been shared with you to make your choice of books easier…it’s mostly aimed at boys aged 10yrs+ but there are a few in there that girls will like to discover too. The age range does of course depend on your child’s reading ability, but it’s a selection that ticks most boxes.
If you can manage to take a photo of your child reading over the summer then tag us in a photo and they’ll be entered into our end of summer prize draw…..and one lucky winner will win some fantastic books.
Now get your kids reading!
FANTASY
The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo Book 1)
The Trials of Apollo
By Rick Riordan
How do you punish an immortal?By making him human.After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus’s favour.But Apollo has many enemies – gods, monsters and mortals who would love to see the former Olympian permanently destroyed. Apollo needs help, and he can think of only one place to go . . . an enclave of modern demigods known as Camp Half-Blood.
You can buy your copy HERE for £6.41 (RRP £7.99) + free UK delivery
Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer (Book 1)
Magnus Chase
By Rick Riordan
The first book in the incredible new series from the author of Percy Jackson, the Kane Chronicles and Heroes of Olympus.My name is Magnus Chase. I’m orphaned and living rough on the streets of Boston. And things are about to get much worse.My day started out normally enough. I was sleeping under a bridge when some guy kicked me awake and said, ‘They’re after you.’ Next thing I know, I’m reunited with my obnoxious uncle, who casually informs me that my long-lost father is a Norse god.Nothing normal about that. And it turns out the gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Apparently, if I can’t find the sword my father lost two thousand years ago, there will be doom. Doomsday, to be precise.A fire giant attacking the city?Immortal warriors hacking each other to pieces?Unkillable wolves with glowing eyes?It’s all coming up.But first I’m going to die. This is the story of how my life goes downhill from there…
You can buy your copy HERE for £7.29 (RRP £7.99) + free UK delivery
ADVENTURE
The Boy Who Biked the World Part Three
Riding Home Through Asia.
Tom dreamed of being an adventurer. But people told him he was crazy, so he decided to prove them wrong by cycling round the world! Books One and Two follow Tom crossing Europe and descending Africa, then pedalling through the Americas to Alaska. In Part Three, the final leg of his journey, he continues to have amazing experiences. He tackles the freezing temperatures of Siberia, rides behind reindeer in Russia, floats in a Japanese pool watched by monkeys and follows the Great Wall of China. Finally, he bikes back home to England. Tom learns about the world, and himself, as he tackles this epic journey. Based on the author s personal adventure and with engaging illustrations, maps and handwritten journal entries throughout, this book provides an immersive experience for any young adventurer.
You can buy your copy HERE for £4.40 (RRP £5.99) + free UK delivery
The Accidental Billionaire
By Tom McLaughlin
A new, hilarious book from author Tom McLaughlin, creator of the highly-acclaimed The Accidental Prime Minister. Funny by Name. Funny by Nature. Jasper Spam is mad about science, the problem is that all of his experiments tend to end in a BANG, until one day quite accidentally Jasper manages to invent something that will change the world forever …One crazy experiment involving a shed, a mallet, and a poorly aimed laser beam results in Jasper’s cat Rover, becoming the world’s first talking cat. Finally an invention that works – the Cat Chat 2000! Soon people are handing over all of their cash to get a talking cat. With his new found wealth Jasper can finally live the life he’s always dreamed of – buying a mansion, sports team, and producing a Hollywood blockbuster. But is there a huge price to pay for bringing talking cats to the world, and money won’t be able to solve the problem that the Cat Chat 2000 has caused.
You can buy your copy HERE for £5.18 (RRP £6.99) + free UK delivery
HISTORICAL FICTION
The Bombs That Brought Us Together
By Brian Conaghan
Fourteen-year-old Charlie Law has lived in Little Town, on the border with Old Country, all his life. He knows the rules: no going out after dark; no drinking; no litter; no fighting. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of the people who run Little Town. When he meets Pavel Duda, a refugee from Old Country, the rules start to get broken. Then the bombs come, and the soldiers from Old Country, and Little Town changes for ever. Sometimes, to keep the people you love safe, you have to do bad things. As Little Town’s rules crumble, Charlie is sucked into a dangerous game. There’s a gun, and a bad man, and his closest friend, and his dearest enemy. Charlie Law wants to keep everyone happy, even if it kills him. And maybe it will …Perfect for readers of Patrick Ness, John Boyne and Malorie Blackman.
You can buy your copy HERE for £6.00 (RRP £7.99) + free UK delivery
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
By John Boyne
Lines may divide us, but hope will unite us …Nine-year-old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. He is oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has been moved from a comfortable home in Berlin to a house in a desolate area where there is nothing to do and no one to play with. Until he meets Shmuel, a boy who lives a strange parallel existence on the other side of the adjoining wire fence and who, like the other people there, wears a uniform of striped pyjamas. Bruno’s friendship with Shmuel will take him from innocence to revelation. And in exploring what he is unwittingly a part of, he will inevitably become subsumed by the terrible process.
You can buy your copy HERE for £6.00 (RRP £7.99) + free UK delivery
MYSTERY/SCI-FI
Railhead: shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2017
By Philip Reeve
Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2017! Step Aboard – the Universe is Waiting. The Great Network is a place of drones and androids, Hive Monks and Station Angels. The place of the thousand gates, where sentient trains criss-cross the galaxy in a heartbeat. It is also a place of great dangers – especially for someone who rides the rails and rides his luck the way Zen Starling does. Once Zen was just a petty thief, stealing to support his family and living by his wits. Now everything has changed. Zen is still a thief – but it could be that the key to the whole universe rests on finding out what else he is …
You can buy your copy HERE for £5.74 (RRP £7.99) + free UK delivery
Midnight for Charlie Bone
Charlie Bone 1
By Jenny Nimmo
Classic magic and mystery from one of Britain’s best-loved authors of fantasy adventure. Perfect for fans of Harry Potter, Eva Ibbotson, Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart and Shane Hegarty’s Darkmouth. An Academy for magic and special talents. A destiny unfulfilled. A secret legacy. The first instalment of the international best-selling fantasy series from Jenny Nimmo starring Charlie Bone. Since his father died, Charlie Bone has lived with his mother and her mother, in the house of his other grandmother, Grandma Bone. Looking at a picture of a couple with a baby and a cat, he suddenly discovers he can hear their voices. Although he tries to hide his new gift, Grandma Bone and her scary sisters soon find out, and send him to Bloor’s Academy. Charlie quickly finds life at Bloor’s pretty tough, with its strict rules and the malevolent head boy, Manfred, set against him. When Charlie discovers that the child in the photograph is being held, hypnotised, against her will, he and his new friends with ‘gifts’ try to awaken her.
You can buy your copy HERE for £5.25 (RRP £6.99) + free UK delivery
AN ANIMAL BOOK
Deadly Creatures
By Claire Llewellyn
Come face to face with the world’s top predators. Discover the strangest facts, read incredible information and get up-close to teeth, fur, fins, claws and feelers. Internet links on every page guide you to fascinating information about these killer creatures.
You can buy your copy HERE for £8.20 (RRP £9.99) + free UK delivery
Science Comics: Coral Reefs
By Maris Wicks
Every volume of Science Comics offers a complete introduction to a particular topic: dinosaurs, coral reefs, the solar system, volcanoes, bats, flying machines, and more. These gorgeously illustrated graphic novels offer wildly entertaining views of their subjects. Whether you’re doing a natural science unit at school or a thirty year old with a secret passion for planes, these books are for you! In Coral Reefs, we learn all about these tiny, adorable sea animals! This absorbing look at ocean science covers the biology of coral reefs as well as their ecological importance. Nonfiction comics genius Maris Wicks brings to bear her signature combination of hard-core cuteness and in-depth science.
You can buy your copy HERE for £6.88 (RRP £7.99) + free UK delivery
A FUNNY BOOK
AniMalcolm
By David Baddiel
Illustrated by Jim Field
From David Baddiel, the brightest new star of children’s books and winner of the LOLLIES award, comes a laugh-out-loud adventure for every child who ever wondered what it might be like to be a bit of an animal… Malcolm doesn’t like animals. Which is a problem because his family love them. Their house is full of pets. What the house is NOT full of is stuff Malcolm likes. Such as the laptop he wanted for his birthday. The only bright spot on the horizon is the Year Six school trip, which Malcolm never thought his parents would pay for. And yet there he is, on the bus, heading to… oh no. A farm. Over the next days, Malcolm changes. He learns a lot about animals. More, in many ways, than he would like. He learns what it’s really like to be an animal. A whole series of animals, in fact… It does make him think differently. And speak differently. And eat differently. And, um, smell differently. But will he end up the same as before? Because sometimes the hardest thing to become is… yourself.
You can buy your copy HERE for £5.91 (RRP £6.99) + free UK delivery
Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth
By Frank Cottrell Boyce
Illustrated by Steven Lenton
The Blythes are a big, warm, rambunctious family who live on a small farm and sometimes foster children. Now Prez has come to live with them. But, though he seems cheerful and helpful, he never says a word. Then one day Prez answers the door to someone claiming to be his relative. This small, loud stranger carries a backpack, walks with a swagger and goes by the name of Sputnik. As Prez dithers on the doorstep, Sputnik strolls right past him and introduces himself to everyone in the household. Prez is amazed at the response. The family pat Sputnik on the head, call him a good boy and drop food into his mouth. It seems they all think Sputnik is a dog. It’s only Prez who thinks otherwise. But Prez soon finds himself having to defend the family from the chaos and danger unleashed by Sputnik, as household items come to life – like a TV remote that fast-forwards people: ‘Anyone can do it, it’s just that people don’t read the instructions properly’; and a toy lightsaber that entertains guests at a children’s party, until one of them is nearly decapitated by it – and Prez is going to have to use his voice to explain himself. It turns out that Sputnik is writing a guidebook to Earth called Ten Things Worth Doing on Earth, and he takes Prez on a journey to discover just those ten things. Each adventure seems to take Prez nearer to the heart of the family he is being fostered by. But they also take him closer to the day that he is due to leave them forever . .
You can buy your copy HERE for £5.25 (RRP £6.99) + free UK delivery
AN INFORMATION/REFERENCE BOOK
A World of Information
Illustrated by James Brown
By Richard Platt
A visually stunning collection of facts and figures for all the family to enjoyThis visually stunning miscellany from the effortlessly stylish print-maker James Brown is a collection of incredible facts and figures. Do you know how many bones there are in the human body or how clouds form? Or about different types of knots or how Morse code works? Each illustration is both beautiful and enlightening, and is accompanied by an engaging fact-filled explanation by celebrated author Richard Platt. Covering more than 30 diverse and fascinating topics, there is a world of information at your fingertips in this book, which is perfect for all the family to enjoy.
You can buy your copy HERE for £8.47 (RRP £15.00) + free UK delivery
Human Body Theater Paperback
by Maris Wicks
Welcome to the Human Body Theater, where your master of ceremonies is going to lead you through a theatrical revue of each and every biological system of the human body! Starting out as a skeleton, the MC puts on a new layer of her costume (her body) with each “act.” By turns goofy and intensely informative, the Human Body Theater is always accessible and always entertaining. Maris Wicks is a biology nerd, and by the time you’ve read this book, you will be too! Harnessing her passion for science (and her background as a science educator for elementary and middle-school students), she has created a comics-format introduction to the human body that will make an expert of any reader – young or old!
You can buy your copy HERE for £10.47 (RRP £10.99) + free UK delivery