SE CHRONICLE 684

T IME TO READ

21 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

TIME TO READ

We believe that Time to Read will have a significant impact on the reading habits of our community and we ask parents to support us in this by sharing a love of reading with their children, and encouraging them as much as possible. Many of the most successful people in the world report that they read without fail every single day and those who read regularly through adulthood continue to learn, continue to question and continue to be inspired throughout their life. In this issue, you will see that we celebrate the launch of Time to Read by sharing book recommendations from all areas of our community – pupils, teachers, governors, OSE and support staff – and we hope you feel inspired to give one of them a try.

TIME TO READ

TIME TO READ

TIME TO READ

Sarah Eldred, Head Librarian and Research Coordinator Noughts and Crosse s by Malorie Blackman I would recommend Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. It’s an important story which tells of an alternative history where black people are known as Crosses and white people are called Noughts. Crosses are born into privilege and Noughts are considered to be less than nothing – there to serve Crosses. The story is relatable on many levels and feels realistic, and it is also the first book in a truly unputdownable series! Noughts and Crosses is available in the Library as a regular text-only book or as a graphic novel.

The Warden All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Set in northern France during the closing months of World War II, this novel follows a blind girl’s journey in occupied St Malo towards freedom and love. Home for me and for my family in the holidays is a house in Normandy rich in wartime history, with US howitzer ammunition boxes turned into floorboards in the barns and local tales of the Occupation, so the setting has a particular resonance for me. Aristotle wrote that plot is paramount, and he would have liked this book – the pages turn themselves from evocative beginning to exciting end.

TIME TO READ

TIME TO READ

TIME TO READ

TIME TO READ

Charles Davies, Jubilee HM Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières As a teenager, I read a lot of war novels, things by Tom Clancy, Andy McNabb or J G Ballard. They were great fun and I still recommend these authors but reading Captain Corelli’s Mandolin when I was 17 changed my whole perception of the genre – it’s set during WW2, on the Greek Island of Cephalonia. Corelli, a captain in the occupying Italian army, falls in love with Pelagia, and with that his priorities change. It is very funny, crushingly sad, and beautiful.

Patrick Maxwell, Head of School Middlemarch by George Eliot George Eliot’s mid-Victorian work Middlemarch is one of a small group of novels which can be said to take in a sizeable proportion of human experience. Set in a provincial England accommodating itself to gradual reform, the tale centres around the life, marriage, concerns and griefs of Dorothea Brooke and the figures that populate her life. Most of all, the novel is a transforming read for its immense perception: class, relationships, love and guilt are all investigated with a nuance matched only by Tolstoy. This makes every character speak to the reader in a way only Eliot’s extraordinary style could do.