January Book Club
This Article was written by our Head Girl, Lina Kürten (Year 13) and Rayna Venkadesh (Year 7)
New year... new reading list. Here are some book recommendations to kick start the year.
Whether you are a book worm- or prefer to watch the motion pictures; you can never go wrong with a good book! Share us your favourite novels that you feel should make it to the list next!
Young Adult recommendation:
The Hunger Games
By Suzanne Collins
Genre: Dystopian fiction
This is a thrilling story about a girl called Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a futuristic society where every year kids get sent to the Capitol to participate in a ruthless battle called the Hunger Games.
If you have not yet read this book, I urge you to pick it up. It has become a staple in pop culture and is definitely worth the read. It keeps you at the edge of your seats and the books and world of Panem becomes more complex as the trilogy unfolds.
Turtles all the way down
By John Green
Genre: Young Adult fiction
This book is centered around Aza Holmes who has obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and how she tries to navigate her way through her ever-tightening spiral of thoughts. The book explores friendship, what “self” really means and many other things along the way.
I found this a very well crafted book. The character’s thought spirals are sometimes hard to read as she convinces herself to do things that you know are wrong. It is beautifully written, as many other John Green books are, and is my personal favorite novel by this author. If you have already enjoyed other John Green books like “The Fault in Our Stars” or “Paper Towns” I would definitely recommend picking this one up since I believe it is much more memorable and impactful.
Middle Grade recommendations:
Percy Jackson Series
By Rick Riordan
Genre: Fantasy, Mythology
Have you read “Mythology Mondays” and want to learn more about Greek Gods and heroes?
Percy Jackson is a tale about Greek mythology, based upon the Greek myths and Mt Olympus. The protagonist, Percy, finds out that he is a 'half-blood;' A child born from a Greek God and a human. There are a total of 5 books in the series.
This series gets you hooked on the very first page. I recommend this for ages 12-13 (Year 7s and 8s). The author, Rick Riordan, wrote the Percy Jackson series because he wanted those young children with ADHD and Dyslexia to feel like they belong. All half-bloods in the series are Dyslexic and have ADHD. Rick has a son named Haley who has both ADHD and Dyslexia, so the character Percy Jackson was based upon Haley. Percy Jackson is one of those unique stories where the main character is not perfect. The main characters in most stories have happy endings but Percy? He doesn’t live in a perfect world. He handles fighting monsters and living with ADHD and Dyslexia head on. Find out how he manages and get inspired!
There it is! Join the KCDSpeaks book club by reading these books, sending your take on them & then sharing some new reads that we can add to the list next month! Just email us your views & recommendations on: newspaper@kentcollege.ae - you can also email me directly at: linku21@kentcollege.ae Or DM us on instagram (@kcdspeaks) Until next time! Love, Lina & Rayna
