Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams
The History Boys by Alan Bennett
Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
A Doll’s House Henrik Ibsen Recommended Reading List for Key Stage 4 Poetry Classics Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald Poet X Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens A Change is Gonna Come by Various authors Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Ariel by Sylvia Plath Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen Paper Aeroplane by Simon Armitage Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin Middlemarch by George Eliot Coming of age novels/exploring what it North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell means to be a young person Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Outsiders by S E Hinton Vanity Fair by William Thackeray The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Beloved by Toni Morrison Chbosky
The Color Purple by Alice Walker The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Animal Farm by George Orwell The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
White Teeth by Zadie Smith The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Brighton Rock by Graham Greene Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie Lord of the Flies by William Golding The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Plays One Day by David Nicholls Anything by William Shakespeare Starter for Ten by David Nicholls Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail The Crucible by Arthur Miller Honeyman
Look Back in Anger by John Osborne Life of Pi by Yann Martel
A Raisin in The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett Junk by Melvin Burgess
Slay by Brittney Morris Autobiographies/biographies Brick Lane by Monica Ali This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Angelou
On The Come Up by Angie Thomas Becoming Michelle Obama
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson How to Fail by Elizabeth Day
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran
Science Fiction Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
1984 by George Orwell Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood You Can Get It If You Really Want by Levi Roots
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
War of The Worlds by H G Wells Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
The Invisible Man by H G Wells Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
Dune by Frank Herbert Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Ray Bradbury: Short Stories Volume 1 by Ray Bradbury Humour
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline About a Boy by Nick Hornby LGBTQ+ The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
The Fingersmith by Sarah Waters Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeannette Winterson Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli Screen Burn by Charlie Brooker The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple Luna by Julie Ann Peters Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Boys Don’t Cry by Malorie Blackman Kaling
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae My Brother’s Name is Jessica by John Boyne
Non-fiction/lessons on life Historical Fiction and War
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels by Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig Philippa Gregory
Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Notes on a Small Island by Bill Bryson The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson Suite Française, by Irene Nemirovsky
The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way by Bill All The Light We Cannot See by Antony Bryson Doer
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible by Yomi Adegoke Small Island by Andrea Levy Feminist Don’t Wear Pink (and other lies) by Scarlett Curtis Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Everyday by Jay Shetty Bravo Two Zero: The Original SAS Story by Andy McNab 31 Songs Nick Hornby Atonement by Ian McEwan Fantasy Zero 22 by Chris Ryan The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien Strike Back by Chris Ryan Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Northern Lights by Philip Pullman Maria Remarque
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman The Longest Day: June 6, 1944 by Cornelius Ryan The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman Band of Brothers by Stephen E Ambrose The Wheel of Time (series) by Robert Jordan Born on the Fourth of July by Ron Kovic The Game of Thrones (series) by George RR Martin Generation Kill by Evan Wright Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi If I Die in a Combat Zone by Tim O’Brien American Gods by Neil Gaiman The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett Journalists (much of their work can be found The Dark Tower by Stephen King online).
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks 1. Gary Younge 2. Caitlin Moran The Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb 3. Polly Toynbee 4. A A Gill The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan 5. Afua Hirsch Note to parents: Some books from this list are written for young adult readers; 6. Hadley Freeman this means there may be occasional ‘gritty’ content. Generally, by Key Stage 3 7. India Knight young people are ready for this, but parents know their children best; if you 8. Arwa Mahdawi have queries about suitability, please check online reviews or ask your child’s teacher. 9. Sathnam Sangera 10. Hugo Rifkind