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Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6892
Author:  liberty [ Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:31 am ]
Post subject:  Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
I made a reading list for Year 9 a couple of years ago and the advice I got here made this far easier to do (and provided me with a number of interesting books to read)! I'm now putting together a reading list for Year 7 (12 year olds) and Year 8 (13 year olds) and thought I would call on the CBB to help again. The list can be made up of novels or historical books.

Year 7 study Ancient Egypt, Medieval Africa and Medieval England (although we take in Scotland, Ireland and Wales too). Year 8 study the Renaissance, the Reforation, Tudors, Stuarts, witches and England from 1714-1914. We also touch on Africa, India and other areas of the Empire (such as Australia and New Zealand) within this time period. Obviously we cover slavery as well.

Thanks in advance
Author:  andydaly [ Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
Liberty,

I found Witch Child, by Celia Rees to be good, bought it for my SLOC's niece for Christmas and she liked it. It raises issues around tolerance and religious persecution, and has an historical background of the Puritans leaving England for America. A possibility for your Year 8 students?
Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
I'd second that recommendation - I loved that book. The sequel isn't as good, though, I thought.

What is the reading standard, roughly? I ask because I can think of a couple of really good books that I read around that time but I don't know if they would be too difficult. I can recommend 'Morality Play' by Barry Unsworth, which we did a couple of weeks ago, but which was a very easy read. It's set, IIRC, in the 1300s, and is about a group of travelling players. It basically looks at the place of religion and authority within society during the time, as well as giving a good idea of the period.

For Year 8, would H. Ridger Haggard be an option? I've only read one of his books, 'King Solomon's Mines', set in Africa during the period, but I really enjoyed it.
Author:  RroseSelavy [ Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
How about Will Nicholson's trilogy that starts with The Wind Singer? They're fantasy novels (and IMHO the most inventive fantasy I've read in a long time), but they touch on ideas about how societies work, including authoritarian government, education systems and slavery (second book).

A bit early perhaps for "mediaeval," but The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium : An Englishman's World is a really well-written, concise and informative guide to late Anglo-Saxon England. The whole thing might be too much information for Year 7, but I think they'd enjoy some of the individual chapters. Pagan's Crusade by, I think, Katharine Jinks, is a nice easy read with a good story about the Crusades and pilgrims to the holy land.

For history in general, the Osprey books are pretty good and have excellent illustrations. They each cover a very discrete topic related to military history/warfare - more here: http://www.ospreypublishing.com/
Author:  liberty [ Thu Nov 19, 2009 2:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
They are grammar school girls so can generally read well above their age level.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
Author:  ChubbyMonkey [ Thu Nov 19, 2009 4:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
May I then add 'Sarum' by Edward Rutherford to my suggestions, please? They might not want to read it all - it spans something like 2,000 years - but it is an excellent and engaging read. It's set around Salisbury and Stonehenge, and just traces, IIRC, three families from generation to generation, through the building of the Cathedral to the 1980s. It's purely fictional, but an amazing read, with a wealth of detail on all of the periods it covers. (Sorry for the ramble :oops: I read our copy so much it fell apart, and I keep meaning to buy a new one, I want to do a re-read)
Author:  Nightwing [ Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
For Medieval England, you might what to try "Catherine, Called Birdy" and various other books by Karen Cushman. Catherine Jinks' Pagan Chronicles is excellent, but I have a feeling that there may be some mentions of sex, so while 12 year old would be capable of reading them you might want to check the books out first.

When I was that age I really loved the "Horrible Histories" series, although you're probably already familiar with that!

If you have any really reluctant readers, you could try "The Mummy Monster Game" - it's a thriller/adventure story about three kids who get sucked into a video game, but it's got a fair amount of information about ancient Egypt in it.

Um, I know quite a lot of stories set in early New Zealand, but whether you'd be able to get your hands on them is quite another matter. Let me know if you'd like some titles, though :D
Author:  Kacca [ Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
Have a look at some of Jackie French's books.

http://www.jackiefrench.com/historical.html

I have read three of her historical novels and they are wonderful. A Rose for the Anzac Boys had me sobbing. And when I'd picked it up I had concerns that it may be boring. :shock: Wasn't!

She has some that fit your time periods, I haven't read any of those however.
Author:  Lolly [ Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
Liberty how old are Year 7 & 8 children?

When I was about 9 we 'did' the Middle Ages (in almost every subject except maths I think!). We had an amazing form teacher and some very inventive lessons....

Anyway before I lose myself in reminisence (sp?), we read 'The Wool Pack' by Cynthia Hartnett which I would definitely recommend - as I would any of her books actually.

I was also given 'One is One' by Barbara Willard which is an excellent book, following the coming of age of a younger son in mediaevel England, promised to the Church as a monk by his father against his wishes. Very interesting and well-written.

eta for your Year 8s there is another Cynthia Hartnett set in Tudor times, about Doctor Dee.

Somebody on here will know the name of it...
Author:  RroseSelavy [ Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
Nightwing wrote:
Catherine Jinks' Pagan Chronicles is excellent, but I have a feeling that there may be some mentions of sex


Gosh, maybe I should read the rest of the series! :lol:
Author:  liberty [ Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
Thanks for all the help. My list is actually starting to resemble a list! I don't suppose anyone has read any Susan Higginbotham have they? I found her books on amazon and wondered if they'd be any good for the 11-13 age group
Author:  Catrin [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 12:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
What about Rosemary Sutcliffe? She writes fantastic books. Most are Roman but some are Middle England, like The Armourer's House (not sure if it's still in print).

I find Green Knowe books good for setting English history in context as they flick backwards and forwards in time, and one of them deals with slavery (can't remember the title but it's the one where we meet Susan for the first time).
Author:  Lolly [ Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
Catrin wrote:
What about Rosemary Sutcliffe? She writes fantastic books. Most are Roman but some are Middle England, like The Armourer's House (not sure if it's still in print).

I find Green Knowe books good for setting English history in context as they flick backwards and forwards in time, and one of them deals with slavery (can't remember the title but it's the one where we meet Susan for the first time).


Catrin, you're a genius!!! I was just about to go on Booksleuth....liberty's post reminded me of 'The Armourer's House' at once but all I could remember were the names of some of the characters and how much I'd liked it!!!

'Chimneys at Green Knowe' btw
Author:  Emma A [ Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
Terry Jones wrote two excellent mediaeval-set children's books called (IIRC) 'The Knight and the Squire' and 'The Lady and the Squire'. They're quite adventurous and involve travelling all over Europe, but very good on the customs and mores of the time. The 'Lady' in the second book is quite young (though an heiress), for example, but her horrible uncle wants to get a dispensation from the Pope so that he can marry her...
Author:  Sarah_G-G [ Sat Nov 28, 2009 10:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
I don't know if it would be too much like fantasy, but I loved "A traveller in time" by Alison Utterly when I was that age. I can't remember the details but a modern-day (for the time it was set) girl goes back to Tudor times when Henry VIII is on the throne. Can't now remember how she gets there (she might fall and hit her head or something) but the majority of the book is set in Tudor England.

ETA: Nope, got it wrong, it's to the reign of ELizabeth I she goes back to. Here's a summary from amazon: "Reading this book, it is hard to believe that the author didn't personally travel back to the 16th century, her descriptions of life and conversations of the 16th century characters are so convincing. Penelope, staying with her great-aunt and uncle at Thackers Farm in Derbyshire, finds herself able to slip back and forth to the reign of Elizabeth I, when the Babbington family owned Thackers, and her own distant ancestor, Cicely Taberner, was their cook. Aunt Cicely and the other servants are particularly convincing as real peopel, their manners,language andattitudes seem totally authentic, more so than the slightly romatncised upper-class Babbingtons. Penelope becomes involved in the doomed plot to save Mary Queen of Scots from nearby Wingfield Manor, even though she knows she cannot change history.
And she falls hopelessly in love with Francis Babbington, although there is no future in it. Apparently Alison uttley was planning to write a sequel to this lovely book, it is fascinating but frustrating to speculate what it might have been like." And it was published in 1939, apparently, so "modern day girl" might be pushing it a bit!
Author:  Emma A [ Sat Nov 28, 2009 11:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Recommendations wanted for Year 7 and 8
The advanced readers could try one or two of C J Sansom's Tudor-set mysteries (the first one's set at the time of the Dissolution), but they are a bit gory. Fantastic on the period detail, however.
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