Mrs Cassell’s pick of the Senior School book list

25 May 2021

I’m painfully aware that it’s been months since I’ve posted any Library chat, but I have been busy.
I’ve been putting book list after book list together and this week I’ve sent years 7, 8 and 9 even more of them so there should be no shortage of reading ideas.

The pick of my list? There are so many good ones but possibly “The Ghost of Gosswater” by Lucy Strange for years 7 and 8 (although it’s not yet on a list I’ve published in school) which is a well written, ghostly, historical mystery, mildly scary in parts, full of atmosphere. I really struggled to put it down.
“In a tiny tumbledown cottage, Aggie struggles to adjust to her new life and the stranger who claims to be her real father. Nearby, on the shores of Gosswater Lake, the spirit of another young girl will not rest. Could the ghost of Gosswater hold the key to Aggie’s true identity?”

And anything by Karen McManus for senior fiction girls wanting a well written crime thriller. The one on my list is One of us is Lying but having just finished The Cousins I’m full of praise for that too. Both books kept me guessing until the final few pages and fully deliver on surprise/shock value. “The Cousins is the story of the Storys who are the envy of their neighbours: they are rich, beautiful, and close. Until it all falls apart. The four children are suddenly dropped by their mother with a single sentence: You know what you did. They never hear from her again.” It certainly delivers for those who like a twist in the plot!

Mrs Cassell, Librarian

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