This combination of a graphic novel and historical fiction tells the story of a little boy discovering the evolution of filmmaking. The orphan Hugo lives hidden in a train station in Paris. One day he is caught stealing at a toy booth. He starts to work there and becomes friends with the owner’s goddaughter Isabelle. […]
A young adult novel about conflicts and migration, family relationships and a boy fighting for survival. 14-year old Alem is half Ethiopian and half Eritrean. Because his parents countries are at war with each other, his only way to safety leads him to Europe. In London he struggles to be officially recognised as a refugee […]
This poem illustrates why Zephaniah himself rejected the title Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003: A rhyming critique of authors who work towards and accept awards only to compromise their voice afterwards.
An empowering poem on migration and diversity creating an understanding for the fact that it takes so little to turn a ‘someone’ into a refugee because, following the speaker, we ‘all came here from somewhere’.
A poem calling for justice, respect and equality. Zephaniah reflects on the diverse backgrounds of the people currently living in the United Kingdom, all mixed up in the shape of a recipe.
A dystopian novel between loyalty and betrayal, publicity and privacy. When Mae is offered to work at The Circle, an influential tech company, she could not be happier. It is only when she realizes the company’s desire to permeate ever more fields of their customers’ lives that Mae starts to wonder where the use of […]
A children’s dark fantasy novel set in a world where societies of witches exist. Their goal is to hunt human children and make them disappear in mysterious ways, but a young boy and his Norwegian grandmother are determined to stop them.
A novel for younger learners of English on power, hierarchy and the value of words and creativity. Protagonist Nick is the class clown at school. When he has to write an essay on where words come from, he gets an idea. This is when he starts calling a pen a frindle. The word spreads quickly, […]
Book one of the series Percy Jackson & the Olympians is an empowering, American fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology. 12-year-old Percy Jackson has ADHD and dyslexia and feels out of place at school. When he discovers he is a demigod, the son of a human and a Greek god, a whole new world unfolds. […]
A dystopian novel about conformity and otherness set in a world where every teenager is transformed from an “ugly” into a “pretty” with the help of extreme cosmetic surgery when they turn 16. 15-year-old Tally can’t wait, but her friends Shay and David show her the downsides of their society, which causes her to rebel. […]
A book series surrounding two siblings, Jack and Annie Smith, traveling through space and time in a magic tree house. Their adventures range from watching dinosaurs and meeting Shakespeare to being dropped into the American Civil War. Suitable for interdisciplinary teaching, primarily in the subjects History, Geography, and Biology. The “Fact Trackers” are non-fiction books […]
This novel portrays abuse, resilience, violence and a girl fighting for her rights. The story follows 15-year-old Aiyana’s escape from a brutal patriarchal riverboat community in Arkansas in the 1930s. Having been denied any education and having suffered from her abusive father, this young heroine sets out to flee with only her grandmother and brother […]
The young wizard Harry broadens his knowledge and skills in the second volume of the Harry Potter series. Together with his friends Ron and Hermine, he critically investigates Hogwart’s history and the continuing conflict between students from Gryffindor and Slytherin – in which identity seems to play a major role.
A dystopian novel on gender, sex, fertility, rebellion, and love. In the near future, most women have become infertile and the USA have transformed into a theocracy where women are either the wives of party officials, supposed to take care of the household, or have to take part in a bizarre ritual. Offred is one […]
A magical realist novel about dependence and independence, myth and reality, power and self-reflexivity. Saleem is born at midnight, 15 August 1947, which is India’s day of independence. Growing up, he discovers his telepathic abilities and finds out that children born in India on this particular day (so-called Midnight’s Children) are gifted with magical powers. […]
A novel about fate and egotism, hatred and bigotry. Cándido and América are a married couple from Mexico, living unregistered in the suburbs of Los Angeles. One day Cándido is hit by the car of Delaney, a liberal middle-class white man, who reimburses him with a twenty-dollar bill. With Cándido being injured and unable to […]
This realistic novel features a group of young people in the1980’s Edinburgh that have to deal with heroin and alcohol addiction, violence and crime. Renton, Mark and Simon usually steal to get the money for their next hit. The story addresses friendship, punk and rebellion – it reveals the causes and outcomes of unemployment, the […]
After surviving the adventures in the Harry Potter novels and triumphing over the evil Lord Voldemort, Harry, Hermione and Ron have grown up and find themselves on platform 9 3/4. Together with Rose, the daughter of Harry’s friends and Albus, Harry’s son they wait for the Hogwarts Express to take the children to Hogwarts for […]