Recommended Reading & Why Reading Matters

At All Saints Catholic College, we encourage all students to carry and read a book daily. Reading is one of the strongest predictors of academic success and supports growth across all subjects. Research from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) shows that reading comprehension strategies can add up to six months of progress in a single year. Vocabulary-rich reading also improves attainment across all GCSE subjects. Regular reading strengthens concentration, memory, and resilience, while also supporting emotional wellbeing, imagination, empathy, and confidence. Ensuring that students carry a reading book helps create a culture where reading is regularly practised and valued.

Students can borrow from our well-stocked library, which includes modern fiction, diverse authors, non-fiction, graphic novels, and age-appropriate classics. Staff are available to support students in choosing books, helping them explore personal interests, build reading stamina and fluency, develop independence and responsibility, and discover new authors and genres. The library is open before school, at break, lunch, and after school for borrowing and returning books.

Students have until Tuesday 6th January 2026 to ensure they have an appropriate reading book. From this date, reading books will form part of the Period 1 daily equipment check.

Thank you for supporting your child in developing strong reading habits. Together, we can help every student succeed!

Suggested Reading Lists (Years 7–11)

Year 7: The Boy at the Back of the Class, Ghost, When Life Gives You Mangoes, Artichoke Hearts, Freedom, Ajay and the Mumbai Sun, Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun, The Crossover, Amari and the Night Brothers, The Last Bear, No Ballet Shoes in Syria, The First Year, Kick, Look Both Ways, The House with Chicken Legs

Year 8: Noughts & Crosses, The Crossing, Rani & Sukh, The Shark Caller, Kick the Moon, Boy, Everywhere, The Girl Who Stole an Elephant, A Kind of Spark, Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels, Ghost Boys, Northern Lights, The Book Thief, The Giver, The Hunger Games, Booked

Year 9: The Hate U Give, Orangeboy, Dear Martin, Run, Rebel, Clap When You Land, The Dark Lady, This Book Kills, The Door of No Return, The Poet X, Refugee Boy, The Blue Book of Nebo, Boys Don’t Cry, Catch Your Death, The Maze Runner, One of Us Is Lying

Year 10: Long Way Down, I Am Thunder, Monday’s Not Coming, Open Water, We Hunt the Flame, Shatter Me, The Poppy War, Just Mercy, The Hate U Give, The Inheritance Games, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Crossing the Line, Children of Blood and Bone, Last One to Die

Year 11: Purple Hibiscus, The White Tiger, The Nickel Boys, Queenie, An American Marriage, Born a Crime, The Shadow King, Memorial, Girl, Woman, Other, They Both Die at the End, You Think You Know Me, Concrete Rose, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Kite Runner, Never Let Me Go