Form Time Reading

Term

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Autumn Term

1. To supplement Greek Myths, students will read ‘Coraline’ by Neil Gaiman during form time. This novel will further explore the allusion to Pandora’s Box. Diversity of representation is to be found in the novel’s female protagonist/heroine.

2. Students will also read ‘The Last Storyteller’ by Donna Barba Higuera which instead considers the importance of storytelling and its role in shaping views on society. Here diversity of representation is to be found through the novel’s author- a female Latinex writer.

1. To supplement Of Mice and Men, students will read ‘Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry’ by Mildred D. Taylor during form time. This novel will further explore the idea the treatment of African Americans in 1930s America, this time, instead, narrated through the authentic voice of a young black girl, and authored by a black woman, the great grand-daughter of a former slave.

2. Students will also read ‘Underground to Canada’ by Barbara Smucker which places Of Mice and Men into its historical context through the narrator’s position as an escaped slave. This creates diversity through the focus on a black protagonist’s experiences, as opposed to a chapter dedicated to race in Of Mice and Men.

1. To supplement Jekyll and Hyde, students will read ‘Klara and the Sun’ by Kazuo Ishiguro during form time. This novel will further explore the idea of science and its role in discussions about morality. Diversity of representation is to be found in the novel’s author, who is Japanese born.

2. Students will also read ‘The Upper World’ by Femi Fadugba during form time. This novel will further explore the idea of science and morality by considering the possibility of crossing space and time. Diversity of representation is to be found in the novel’s author, who is now a British citizen but was born in civil war-torn Togo.

1. To supplement A Christmas Carol, students will also read ‘Thug’ by Angie Thomas, which instead considers the view of social injustice through the topical critique of police brutality towards ethnic minorities. Here diversity of representation is to be found through the novel’s authentic voice and verse form.

Spring Term

3. To supplement The Tempest, students will read ‘Like a Charm’ by Ellie McNicoll during form time. This novel will further explore the ideas of magic and power. Diversity of representation is to be found in the novel’s neurodivergent female protagonist

4. Students will also read ‘The Thief who Sang Storms’ by Sophie Anderson, which considers the view of overcoming prejudice, like Caliban, through the power of community. Here diversity of representation is to be found through the novel’s female author.

3. To supplement Macbeth, students will read ‘Witch Child’ by Celia Rees during form time. This novel will further explore the ideas of witches and witchcraft, through the historical setting of Salem, to reinforce contextual understanding of the supernatural and Jacobean fascination with it. Diversity of representation is to be found in the novel’s female heroine, who gives a voice to those women punished for their differences.

4. Students will also read ‘The Shadows Between Us’ by Tricia Levenseller which explores the theme of dangerous ambition and power, instead through a female protagonist. Here diversity of representation is to be found through the novel’s female author and protagonist.

3. To supplement A View from the Bridge, students will read ‘Dreamland Burning’ by Jennifer Latham during form time. This novel will further explore the idea of how we relate to episodes of prejudice that pre-date our own lives and why it matters that we look at and challenge historical, outdated attitudes to race.

4. Students will also read ‘Solo’ by Kwame Alexander, which considers the significance of what makes a home and identity within a prejudiced society. Here diversity of representation is to be found through the novel’s Black American author detailing the life experiences of a black protagonist.

2. To supplement Romeo and Juliet, students will read ‘These Violent Delights’ by Chloe Gong during form time. This novel is a modern retelling of the play, set in Shanghai. It further explores issues of sexual identity. Diversity of representation is to be found through the novel’s author who is Chinese born as well as its direct engagement with LGBTQ+ issues.

Summer Term

5. To supplement Northern Lights, students will read ‘The Wind Singer’ by William Nicholson during form time. This novel will further explore the ideas of fantasy and adventure found in Pullman’s work Diversity of representation is to be found in the novel’s promotion of social equality.

6. Students will also read ‘Ink Heart’ by Cornelia Funke which also considers a female heroine in the fantasy genre. Here diversity of representation is to be found through the novel’s protagonist.

5. To supplement The Art of Rhetoric, students will read ‘Green Rising’ by Lauren James during form time. This novel will further explore the ideas of environmental activism in response to Greta Thunberg’s speeches. Diversity of representation is to be found in the novel’s call to social justice for future generations.

6. Students will also read ‘You Think You Know Me’ by Ayaan Mohamud which explores racial prejudice, specifically Islamophobia and the mistreatment of refugees. Here diversity of representation is to be found through the novel’s authentic female voice and contemporary representations of Britain.

5. To supplement anthology poetry about familial love, students will read ‘A Monster Calls’ by Patrick Ness during form time. This novel will further explore the ideas of strong emotions attached to familial love and loss. This will tackle PSHE topics around death and grief.

6. Students will also read ‘As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow’ by Zoulfa Katouh, which explores the concept of family and home against the backdrop of the war in Syria, and its impacts on communities. Here diversity of representation is to be found through the authentic voice of the writer and protagonists.

3. To supplement their study of An Inspector Calls, students will read ‘The Burning’ during form time. This novel will further explore the ideas of misogyny from the Middle Ages to today’s culture of “revenge porn” and sexual shaming.  Diversity of representation is to be found in the novel’s ecriture feminine form.