Recommended Reading Around The Curriculum

In this section you will find Stretford High’s Recommended Reading Around The Curriculum lists. All of the books have been linked to topics that Key Stage 3 pupils are studying in each area of the curriculum, and will provide context and extra information for pupils to learn at their own pace outside of the classroom.

Each book on the list is available for pupils to borrow from the Library, and the lists will be updated each half term to link with each current area of study.

We encourage pupils to explore these reading lists and borrow books from the Library to further their specific subject knowledge as well as gain more understanding through context and reading around their topics.

English:

Year 7

The Taming of The Shrew – Shakespeare, William
The Taming of the Drew – Strohm, Stephanie Kate
Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare dictionary – Crystal, David
Usborne World of Shakespeare – Usborne Publishing
Shakespeare’s Theatre – Morley, Jaqueline
Shakespeare for Kids – Aagesen&Blumberg

Year 8

Eleanor and Park – Rowell, Rainbow
Rebound – Alexander, Kwame

Art: (no change 7 and 8)

Year 9

Art: The Whole Story – Thames & Hudson.
50 Artists You Should Know – Koster, Thomas.
Frida Kahlo – Laidlaw, Jill.

Drama

Year 7

Goodnight Mr Tom – Magorian, Michelle.
Blitz – Cross, Vince.
Hidden: True Stories of Children who Survived World War II – Prins & Henk Steenhuis.
Evacuee: A Real Life World War II Story – Pollard, Jan.
Hana’s Suitcase – Levine, Karen.

Year 8

The Haunting – Bell, Alex
Jessica’s Ghost – Norriss – Andrew
13 Chairs – Shelton, Dave

Year 9 no change

Music

Year 7

Pop Music: The Textbook – Bricheno, Toby
Pop Composer’s Handbook
Story of Now That’s What I Call 100 Pop Artists

Year 8

Children’s Book of Music – DK.
Complete Guide to Playing the Blues – Alexander, Joseph
Blues Rhythms You Can Use – Ganapes, John
The Blues – A very short introduction – Elijah Wald

Year 9

This Song Will Save Your Life – Sales, Leila
Playlist for the Dead – Falkoff, Michelle

Year 7

What Does It Mean to Be British? – Hunter, Nick.
This Book is Gay – Dawson, Juno.
The ABC’s of LGBT+ – Mardell, Ashley.

Year 8

Puberty & Growing Up – Claybourne, Anna.
Relationships – Senker, Cath.
Usborne Staying Safe Online – Stowell, Louis

Year 9

101 Small Ways to Change the World – Andrus, Aubre.
Volunteering & Activism – Wood, John.
Overcoming Personal Challenges – Parker, Vic.
101 Ways to Be Smart About Money – Vickers, Rebecca.
Managing Money – Hollander, Barbara.
Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees – Mason, Paul.

Science

Year 7

Energy (DK Eyewitness) – Challoner, Jack.
Fossil Fuel Frenzy – Twiddy, Robin.
Solar Power – Thomas, Isabel.
Wind Power – Spilsbury, L&R.
Coal, Gas & Oil – Morgan, Sally.
Nuclear Power – Spilsbury, L&R.
Biomass Power – Thomas, Isabel.
The Oil Industry – Spilsbury, Richard.
Nuclear Power – McLeish, Ewan.
Running Out of Energy – McLeish, Ewan.
Dams & Hydropower – Spilsbury, Richard.

Year 8

Energy (DK Eyewitness) – Challoner, Jack.
Fossil Fuel Frenzy – Twiddy, Robin.
Solar Power – Thomas, Isabel.
Wind Power – Spilsbury, L&R.
Coal, Gas & Oil – Morgan, Sally.
Nuclear Power – Spilsbury, L&R.
Biomass Power – Thomas, Isabel.
The Oil Industry – Spilsbury, Richard.
Nuclear Power – McLeish, Ewan.
Running Out of Energy – McLeish, Ewan.
Dams & Hydropower – Spilsbury, Richard.

Year 9

Science Encyclopedia – DK.
The Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Science.

Catering – no change

DT – no change

Engineering

Year 7

Energy (DK Eyewitness) – Challoner, Jack.
Fossil Fuel Frenzy – Twiddy, Robin.
Solar Power – Thomas, Isabel.
Wind Power – Spilsbury, L&R.
Coal, Gas & Oil – Morgan, Sally.
Nuclear Power – Spilsbury, L&R.
Biomass Power – Thomas, Isabel.
The Oil Industry – Spilsbury, Richard.
Nuclear Power – McLeish, Ewan.
Running Out of Energy – McLeish, Ewan.
Dams & Hydropower – Spilsbury, Richard.
How To Be an Engineer – Vorderman, Carol
How to Be Good at Science, Technology and Engineering – DK

Year 8

Energy (DK Eyewitness) – Challoner, Jack.
Fossil Fuel Frenzy – Twiddy, Robin.
Solar Power – Thomas, Isabel.
Wind Power – Spilsbury, L&R.
Coal, Gas & Oil – Morgan, Sally.
Nuclear Power – Spilsbury, L&R.
Biomass Power – Thomas, Isabel.
The Oil Industry – Spilsbury, Richard.
Nuclear Power – McLeish, Ewan.
Running Out of Energy – McLeish, Ewan.
Dams & Hydropower – Spilsbury, Richard
How To Be an Engineer – Vorderman, Carol
How to Be Good at Science, Technology and Engineering – DK

Year 9

Mortal Engines series – Reeve, Philip
Amazing Engineering Jobs – Hynson, Colin
Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational architects, engineers and landscape designers – Lewis, Anna M
How to Be Good at Science, Technology and Engineering – DK

Computing

Year 7

Follow Me Back – Geiger, VA
Staying Safe Online – Usborne
Lola Offline – Doherty, Nicola

Year 9

The Science of Computers – Gifford, Clive

Geography

Year 7

Humans & Other Life on Earth – Sawyer, Ava.
Africa’s Most Amazing Animals – Ganeri, Anita.
Asia’s Most Amazing Animals – Ganeri, Anita.
Europe’s Most Amazing Animals – Ganeri, Anita.
Immigration Today – Dickmann, Nancy

Year 8

Aid & Development – Bojang, Ali.
Population Explosion – McLeish, Ewan.
Senegal – Brownlie, Alison.
Changing Africa – Bowden & Wilson.
African Culture – Bowden & Wilson.
Modern Africa – Bowden & Wilson
Kenya – Bowden, Rob.
South Africa – Gallagher, Michael.
Nii Kwei’s Day – Provencal & McNamara.
Ghana – Utley, Ian.
Nigeria – Robson, Lorna.
Surviving Tsunamis – Cunningham, Kevin.
Rivers & Coasts – John, Andrew.

Year 9

Weather – DK Eyewitness.
How the Weather Works – Allaby, Michael.
Global Warming – Pearce, Fred.
Catastrophic Weather – Levete, Sarah.
Changing Climate – Morgan, Sally.
Climate Change – Spilsbury, Richard.

History

Year 7

The Crusades:

How Would You Survive in the Middle Ages? – MacDonald, Fiona.
The Anglo-Saxons – Harrison, Susan.
Medieval Life – Langley, Andrew.

The Tudors:

You Wouldn’t Want to be Married to Henry VIII! – MacDonald, Fiona.
You Wouldn’t Want to be Ill in Tudor Times – Senior, Kathryn.
A Day in the Life of a Tudor Criminal – Childs, Alan.
The Gruesome Truth About the Tudors – Powell & Buckingham.
The Tudor Monarchies 1485 – 1603 – McGurk, John.
What Do We Know About the Tudors and Stuarts? – Tames, Richard.

Year 8

Black Peoples of America – non-fiction:

Making Their Mark – Hermann, Spring.
The Slave Trade – Herr, Melody.
The Struggle for Freedom – Hermann, Spring.
Building the Future – Cregan, Elizabeth.
African American History for Dummies – Penrice, Ronda.
Martin Luther King – Morgan, Nina.
Independence & Equality – Cregan, Elizabeth.
The Story of Slavery – Courtauld, Sarah.
Black History for Beginners – Dennis, Denise.
Black History Makers: Musicians – Foy, Debbie.
Malcolm X – Downing, David.
Black History Makers: Rulers & Leaders – Sutherland, Adam.
Slavery & Civil Rights – Steele, Philip.
African Roots – Herr, Melody.

Black Peoples of America – fiction:

The Lies We Tell Ourselves – Talley, Robin.
The Hate U Give – Thomas, Angie.
The Poet X – Acevedo, Elizabeth.
Piecing Me Together – Watson, Renee.
Ghost Boys – Parker Rhodes, Jewell
Passing For White – Landman, Tanya

WW1:

The Centenary of the First World Wars – DCMS.
The First World War – Brook, Lloyd Jones & Mason.
World War I – Steele, Philip.
World War I – DK Eyewitness.
World War I – Wayland.
The First World War – Hatt, Christine.
World War I: Lost Words – Saunders, Nicholas.
Stories of WWI – ed. Bradman, Tony
War Girls – various authors

Industrial Revolution:

The Industrial Revolution – Connolly, Sean.

Year 9

Life in Nazi Germany

Boy at the Top of the Mountain, The – Boyne, John
Hilter’s Angel – Osborne, William
Refugee – Gratz, Alan
Children of Willesden Lane, The – Golabek, Mona
Storm to Come, The – Glatshteyn, Yankev
Chocolate Cake With Hitler – Craige, Emma
Once – Gleitzman, Morris
Salt to the Sea – Sepetys, Ruta
Rise of the Nazis, The – Tonge, Neil
Rise of the Nazis, The – Freeman, Charles
Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank
World War II – DK Eyewitness Guide

The Holocaust

Yellow Star – Roy, Jennifer
Holocaust; A Young Boy’s Journey, The – Stewart Ross
Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank
Hana’s Suitcase – Levine, Karen
Holocaust, The – Steele, Philip
Promise, The – Schloss, Eva
After Auschwitz – Schloss, Eva
Tattooist of Auschwitz – Morris, Heather
Holocaust, The: Causes – Levy, Pat
Holocaust, The – Tonge, Neil
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The – Boyne, John
Orphan, Monster, Spy – Killeen, Matt

Civil Rights Movement in America

Slavery & Civil Rights – Steele, Philip.
Malcolm X – Downing, David.
See also Black Peoples of America – Y8

Conflict in the 20th Century

DK Eyewitness Vietnam War
Who Protested Against the Vietnam War? – Spilsbury, Richard
Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Grant, R.G
War in Kosovo, The – Ross, Stewart
War in Former Yugoslavia, The – Harris, Nathaniel
Vietnam 1950-79 – Waugh, Steve
Syrian Civil War, The – Dicker, Kate
Living Through the Arab-Israeli War Since 1948 – Woolf, Alex

Year 7

- World Religions – Bowker, John

Lion Encyclopedia of World Religions – Self, David

World Religions – Meredith, Susan
Feasts and Festivals – Dineen, Jacqueline

Year 8

Judaism

Religion in Focus: Judaism – Teece, Geoff
World Beliefs and Customs: Judaism – Penney, Sue
What Do We Know About Judaism? – Fine, Doreen
World Religions Book – Bowker, John
Religions Book, The – DK
Lion Encyclopedia of World Religions, The – Self, David
World Religions – Meredith, Susan
What Do You Believe? – DK; Jones, Aled

Maths

Year 7

KS3 Maths is Easy! Geometry and Measures

Year 8

Fraction Frenzy – Colson, Rob

KS3

Non Fiction

Women in Sport – Ignotofsky, Rachel
Sport, Inc: Why Money is the Winner in the Business of Sport – Warner, Ed
Money in Sport – Hunter, Nick
Training to Succeed: Track Athletics – Storey, Rita
The Games – The Times
High Tech Olympics – Hunter, Nick
Rugby Focus: Teamwork and Tactics – Richards, Jon
Rugby Focus: Laws of the Game – Richards, Jon
Rugby Focus: Players and Skills – Richards, Jon
The Football Book – DK
The Sports Book – DK
Changing the Game: Fantastic Female Footballers – Stoney, Casey
The Ultimate Guide to Women’s Football – Thorpe, Yvonne

Fiction

Booked – Alexander, Kwame
Crossover – Alexander, Kwame
Rebound – Alexander, Kwame
Big Match Manager – Sheldon, Tom
Ultimate Football Heroes – Matt & Tom Oldfield