I party with Jay Gatsby!

Already read 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald?

For a similar themed read try:

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Howards End by E.M.Foster

For a more light hearted look at the rich between the wars try:

The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

Carry On, Jeeves by P.G.Wodehouse

Devoted Ladies by Molly Keane

Or try some 1920s set crime:

The Burry Man's Day by Catriona McPherson

Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie

The Man with Tiger Eyes by Karen Wallace

In The Company of Cheerful Ladies

In The Company of Cheerful Ladies

Alexander McCall Smith

This book is about an African lady (Mma Ramotswe) who runs a detective agency. She has been proposed to by a man she met at a dancing class, she is not very fond of him as he can’t dance and he can’t speak properly as he has a stutter, despite all this though she accepts the offer. She also comes across a man whilst driving in her beloved white van. She sadly runs him over and feels obliged to help. She finds out he is very poor and is struggling to support his large family, Mma Ramotswe feels bad and offers him a job at her husband’s garage. Then the worst thing imaginable turns up at Mma Ramotswe’s door, literally.

Kate Milligan

Young Samurai The Ring of Fire

Chris Bradford- Young Samurai The Ring of Fire

This amazing book is all about a young boy, Jack Fletcher whose boat crashes on the foreign waters of Japan, his crew murdered by the ninja dragon eye.  Saved by the legendary sword master Massamoto he has been training in the way of the warrior and recently learning ninjitsu. He embarks on many adventures.

In this particular book he is forced to take shelter in a nearby village who’s problems are equal to his. Jack has been on the run from the samurai guards as a price has been put on his head since the new Daimyo came into being, banishing all foreigners and Christians out of the country and he fought against him in a great battle. The village is in need of great protection from mountain bandits who have been raiding their village for rice. Jack has decided to stay and fight the villagers cause but is in need of great help from other samurai if only his friends were still by his side...
You should read this book because it is a great fantasy and a great enjoyment to read J

By Sapphire dragon 

Pirate Cinema

Pirate Cinema

Cory Doctorow

A kid nicknamed “Cecil”, from Bradley, England, gets his internet access cut off by the anti-piracy lobbyists, after he is accused of copyright infringement. His passion is remixing old clips of films and uploading them to the internet for all to see. His family begin to lose control of their lives when they can no longer access the internet to study and do their daily work, so under all this pressure, Cecil leaves and runs away to London, where he continues making his films on the run, showing them in sewers, and eventually on the walls of the Houses of Parliament. He and his friend ‘26’ attempt to get the corrupt entertainment industry to scrap bills on copyright laws, restricting them from creating and remixing the films they love.

It’s a great book, full of twists and is a very real life scenario, showing the corruption in the Government and Entertainment industry. Plus, it is licensed under the Creative Commons Share Alike Non-Derative license, and is available for a free download on Doctorow’s website, http://craphound.com -- LordPankake

Beach Road by James Patterson

The book is about a lawyer who does not get many cases but was involved in a fight at a basketball court where an all white team faced off against an all black team and a gun was pulled. A threat was made that “this isn’t over” and later that night members of the white team where found dead. A promising basketball player, Dante Halleyville was placed at the scene and arrested. The main plot follows how Dante takes on the lawyer to defend his case and the lawyer puts aside his differences with his ex-girlfriend in order to protect Dante. The story also follows a mysterious criminal named “loco” who is responsible for murdering other witnesses who were at the scene.

You should read it because it is gripping from start to finish and the plot takes a dramatic turn at the end that is guaranteed to make everyone gasp.
by AzzaFrazza

Zoya’s Story by John Follain and Rita Cristofari.

This book is about a girl called Zoya who lives in Afganistan. She lives with her Gran and its around the time Russia started a war with Afganistan and her Gran tells her all the bad things about the Russian’s and tells her to stay away from then. It also has a few sad bits.

I think this book is really intresting and very good to read, when you start reading it you wont want to stop. It’s one of the first books I have ever read, as I usually give up with books but this one was really intresting.

by Miss O.

Divided city by Theresa Breslin

This book is about a couple of boys who live in Glasgow and they play for a football team. Some of them support Rangers and some Celtic but one of them has a secret. I think that it’s a great book because as you get further through it, it gets even more exciting. I didn’t want to put the book down. I would highly recommend that you get this book.

By Floppy banana

Bang, Bang, You’re Dead by Narinder Dhami

This book is about a family made up of a pair of non-identical twins and a mother experiencing problem after problem. The girl gets bullied at school and her brother has done some very horrific things over the years and thinks he is going to do something very drastic - there is a big twist at the end. I think who ever is reading this should check it out the library now because of all the twists and turns in the book. Code Name: camper cool

Double Cross By Malorie Blackman

This book is a romance book, at first I did not know because someone said it was good, so I got it and then started to get into it and then suddenly realised it was a romance. The book was also made by the award winning author of 'Noughts and Crosses'. The book is about a couple who are living quite an extraordinary life, at the beginning a bomb hits a hotel and kills Callie Rose's grandmother (the main character is Callie Rose) every one assumes that a terrorist did it but Callie knows who did it. Her boyfriend Tobey is struggling in school because of gangs in the streets because he’s making money doing drug deliveries. I’ve enjoyed it and I’d recommend it to boys and girls don’t be put off by the romance. By nojoke90

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

The first thing you should know about this book this book is that Malorie Blackman is trying to invert our common things that we think about regarding the discrimination against black people (so she is swapping it around and making it the white people being the victims). This book is about two teens called Callum and Sephy. Callum is a Nought (or a white person) and Sephy is a Cross (this meaning she is black). Even though Callum is poor and white and Sephy is rich (and black) their friendship has blossomed since they were small and Calum's mum worked for Sephy's mum but times have changed since then and Callum's brother and daad have joined a terrorists group fighting against the Crosses power. *********** Spolier Alert *********************** Later on Sephy has come back from boarding school and has not seen Callum for a while but it still in love with him. Unfortunately Calum has joined the terrioist group and is here to capture Sephy for ransom as her father is the Prime Minister. They keep Sephy in a cell and when she finally gets out after escaping she finds out she is pregnant with Callum's baby. Her father suspects that Callum has raped her but it was both of their descisions. Sephy's dad makes her chose between having an abortion or Callum getting hung. After meeting up they both decide Callum will die so their baby can live. ************************************************** I think this book is amazing as it shows that love can excist between two different races, an amazing book. By batmansupernoodle

The Whisper by Bali Rai

The Whisper is all about gangs and there are rules and if the rules are broken then the game is on. Everyone should read The Whisper because it is a really good book because it is all about gangs and crime stuff that I like. I recommend this book to the people that like the books with crimes and some exciting parts in it. by lochie boy.

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' is a thrilling book about a innocent boy called Bruno whose father is a commandant in the Nazi party. Bruno meets a young Jewish boy who is the same age as Bruno.
I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in history and thrilling books!
By Inkelbert Humperdink

The book I chose is about a little boy called Bruno that meets another boy called Shmuel who were in the middle of World War II in 1940. At the start of the book Bruno was in Berlin but then moved to the countryside because his Father’s job.

I think everyone should read this book because it is a very interesting book that makes you understand what is was like for two nine year old boys during World War II in Germany.

By Ed Sheerin

The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas is about two young boys who become friends in the middle of WWII. They end up becoming good friends and start to see each other more often. The two young boys are called Bruno and Shmuel, Bruno comes from Germany and Shmuel comes from Poland. The boys had a lot in common and they had never heard each other’s names before.

I like this book because its fascinating and interesting because it is also telling you about what life was like back when the World War was on.

By katy

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas is about a little boy who moves away from his country to Auschwitz. He moved with his mum, dad and his older sister Gretal. He then started to become good friends with a boy called Shmuel, they end up finding out that they are the exact same age, born on the same day and same year. There is a good twist to the end of the story which keeps you reading.

I didn’t really like this book it’s not my style but when you get into it you can’t stop reading it. This isn’t one of my favourite books, i wouldn’t read it again.

By Asa

The 12 Day of July by Joan Lingard

This book is about the Irish Troubles. It is about a girl called Sadie that is Protestant and a boy called Keven and he is a Catholic. They both go on to the opposite side and write things on the walls of houses. But they find that they become more friendly every time they met and decide they want to be together.
I would fully recommend this book to anyone who likes history of wars, and read the other books too.

by Chloe

Children's Book Week

Looking for inspiration? Children's Book Week also covers Teen reads. This year the theme is books from 'around the world' why not try one of these:

Toby Alone

By Timothee de Fombelle

The Book of Everything

By Guus Kuijer

Inkheart

By Cornelia Funke

Where I Belong

By Gillian Cross

Just Like Tomorrow

By Faiza Guene

Have a look at the Book Trust website for more ideas

Native American Reads

Apache: Girl Warrior by Tanya Landman

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian (by Sherman Alexie

Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake

Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman

Want to know more? Try 398.2097 for Native American myths and legends or 970 for more on the history.

Guantánamo Bay Prisoner Reading List

There's not a lot to look forward to if you're one of the 176 prisoners held in the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay — no visits from loved ones; no parole or release date; and for many, no prospect even of a day in court to answer charges. One ray of light the the library trolley that offers a range of titles. What is one of the most popular? Harry Potter of course - the Arabic translation is one of the most requested books they have.

Read more about this story here

Want to know more about Guantánamo Bay try reading Anna Perera's book 'Guantánamo Boy'. It's the story of Khalid, an ordinary 15-year-old from Rochdale who spends his time playing computer games, hanging out with his mates in but while in Karachi to visit family, Khalid is abducted and ends up being held for two years, without charge, in the world's most notorious prison.

‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian’ by Sherman Alexie

It’s about a Native American boy who leaves his local reservation school to go to the white school nearby. It was excellent, funny and very frank, I really enjoyed it a lot and it gave a great understanding of the issues faced within that community just now.

To Kill a Mocking Bird - by Harper Lee

The American classic 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' is 50 years old this year. The story is written from the perspective of a little white girl who's father has taken on the defense of a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman.

Based on the author's childhood in the 1930 is Alabama, where she watched her father defend people in the local court it was published during the Civil Rights Movement "Those of us who stood up for civil rights were much encouraged by the book because in a very skilful and subtle way it addressed itself for justice." - Rev.Butts (who was a civil rights campaginer).

You could also try 'Roll of Thunder here by Cry' by Mildred D. Taylor which tells the story of a black girl in Mississippi in the 1930s.

Cry, Beloved Country - Alan Paton

The World Cup is about to kick off in South Africa but the country  hasn't always been so open and welcoming. Between 1948 and 1994 South Africa was under apartheid. This is a legal system that kept the much larger Black population under the control of the White minority.

This split in society did not happen overnight and it is a complicated issue but "Cry, Beloved Country" tries to explain the development. Published in 1948 it is the story of a Black Zulu Pastor, Stephen Kumalo, from Ixopo (a small village) whose sister is in trouble and his son missing in Johannesburg. The story is slow paced but wonderfully written. It talks of the bus strikes by the Black communities in Johannesburg over the unfair rise in fares, the growing fear of the White communities about the Black population, the destruction of the tribe system and of many other ideas and issues that led to aprtheid. It ends before apartheid and ends with hope but I found it was mixed with sadness for me as a reader with the benefit of knowing what was to come.

Apartheid was condemned internationally and movements within South Africa worked to try and end it such as the ANC (African National Congress). Nelson Mandela was a member of the ANC and was imprisoned for 27 years but when apertheid ended and he was released he became a major political figure. President of South Africa from 1994 to1999 and receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. You can read about his struggle in his autobiography - "Long Walk to Freedom".

Refugees

Refugees have been prominent in the news. A recent survey said that Scots had become less tolerant of refugees and asylum seekers despite the fact that these people are only in the UK because they are not safe in their own country. It is a basic Human Right to live in safety without threat of persecution because of race, religion, sexuality, political belief or anything else.

You can make a difference to this by doing some of the 20 Simple Acts that have been suggested by Refugee Week.

One is to Read a book about exile so why not pick up one of these titles from the library:

'Girl Underground' or 'Boy Overboard' by Morris Gleitzman
'The Other Side of Truth' by Beverly Naidoo
'Refugee Boy' by Benjamin Zephaniah
Or for a real life account read 'Desert Flower' by Waris Dirie

Want to find out more why not try a quiz on the Simple Acts site or have a look at the Scottish Refugee Council