Key Stage 3 Recommended Reads

Fiction Books

The Ice Man by Alan Parkinson

When a body was discovered by two German hikers walking in the Alps in 1991, little did they realise it had been there for over 5000 years. Who was Ötzi the Ice Man, as he has become known? What did scientists find out by examining his remains? And what further finds from the ancient past might our changing climate reveal?

 

 

 

Extreme Survival by Alan Parkinson

What would you do to survive? Would you eat frogs, spiders … or even human flesh? Read the amazing true stories of people who have survived in extreme situations. This book tells the real-life stories of people who have survived in extreme situations from plane crashes to getting lost in the jungle, desert or mountains. Learn the basics of survival and take part in survival quizzes to test your knowledge.

 

 

The Explorer by Katherine Rundell

From his seat in the tiny aeroplane, Fred watches as the mysteries of the Amazon jungle pass by below him.  As the plane crashes into the canopy, Fred and the three other children may be alive, but the jungle is a vast, untamed place. With no hope of rescue, the chance of getting home feels impossibly small. Except, it seems, someone has been there before them.

 

 

Adventure Books

Touching the Void (abridged) by Joe Simpson

Based on the internationally acclaimed book by Joe Simpson, Touching the Void is the compelling true story of a mountaineering expedition which goes dreadfully wrong.

 

 

 

 

Great Adventurers by Alastair Humphreys

Hand-selected by Alastair Humphreys, read about the incredible journeys undertaken by twenty of the most heroic and impressive explorers who ever lived, including Ibn Battuta (14th-century explorer); Apsley Cherry-Garrard (a member of Scott's Antarctic expedition); Michael Collins (Apollo Moon mission astronaut) and Nellie Bly (who travelled round the world in less than 80 days). A wide-spread selection of explorers from young to old, male to female and with a range of abilities, these explorers crossed land, sea and sky in the name of adventure.

 

The Boy who biked the World (three volumes) - Alastair Humphreys

Tom really wants to be an explorer. His favourite book is an atlas, and he follows adventurers not footballers. His schooldays are spent daydreaming about travelling from Tibet to Timbuktu. A private wish blurted out loud started his freewheeling adventure: I'm going to cycle round the world. His classmates laughed. No one believed him, least of all his teacher. The mountains will be too high! The desert is too hot! Everyone shouted their reasons why his dream was impossible. But it was a funny thing, the more that people told him he couldn't do it, the more Tom found himself wanting to prove them wrong.

 

Factual Books

I am Malala: How one girls stood up for education and changed the world (teen edition) by Malala Yousafzai

Raised in the Swat Valley in Pakistan, Malala was taught to stand up for her beliefs. When terrorists took control of her region and declared girls were forbidden from going to school, Malala fought for her right to an education. And, on 9 October 2012, she nearly paid the ultimate price for her courage when she was shot on her way home from school. No one expected her to survive. Now, she is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

 

 

Horrible Geography (Series) - Anita Ganer

These books explore our world the wild way: from plant-choked rainforests and polar caps to raging rivers and violent volcanoes.

 

 

 

 

 

Key Stage 4 Recommended Reads

The Almighty Dollar by Dharshini David

Have you ever wondered why we can afford to buy far more clothes than our grandparents ever could but maybe less likely to own a home in which to keep them all? Why your petrol bill can double in a matter of months, but it never falls as fast? Behind all of this lies economics. It's not always easy to grasp the complex forces that are shaping our lives. But by following a dollar on its journey around the globe, we can start to piece it all together.

 

 

Factfulness by Hans Rosling

In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective―from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse).

 

 

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to follow world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements - but if you don't know geography, you'll never have the full picture. If you've ever wondered why Putin is so obsessed with Crimea, why the USA was destined to become a global superpower, or why China's power base continues to expand ever outwards, the answers are all here. In ten chapters and ten maps, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer an essential insight into one of the major factors that determines world history.