Are you a man or a mouse? A tale of friendship and hardship

OK, so this isn't strictly a BOOKClub post, but I've had such a fab time with this novel, I felt the need to share.  Indulge me!  

Year 9 have been enjoying this short novel by John Steinbeck and wow - what a reaction we've had! 

(Our Year 7 and Year 8 BOOKClub members haven't read it as part of BOOKClub, but there's always a copy in the classroom and we've talked about the story.)

Year 9 have absolutely loved the characters in this book, with lots of empathy being shared in the classroom. 

What's been particularly surprising, is how the students have reacted to the way the characters deal with their own particular situations: 

"Curly's Wife is really unlikeable at first.  But when you understand how rubbish her life is, you can understand why she behaves like that.  She's just lonely." 

"I thought Lennie was weird - I didn't know why he was relying on George so much.  The ending is harsh." 

Too many spoilers to share much more.  Suffice to say, this is a book to read in Year 9 before the pressure of GCSE texts hits! 

It's CHRIIIIIIIISTMAAAAAAAS!

Well now, Christmas simply wouldn't be Christmas without a festive story or two now would it? 

Our favourites: 

'How The Grinch Stole Christmas'












'The Night Before Christmas'

'The Polar Express'

'The Snowman'










Have a lovely Christmas.  Hope Santa brings you (and me!) lots of books. 

Miss Corbishley. 

Skellig - a ghost story? A horror story? You decide...

This term, Year 7 have been enjoying 'Skellig' by David Almond. 

Their reviews have been almost overwhelmingly enthusiastic: 

"It's good the way it doesn't tell you what the man is doing in the garage.  He might be a ghost..."

"I think the man is the ghost of the man who used to live in the house.  It is a bit scary, but it's more of a mystery than a horror story.  I really like it." 

"The bits with the baby make me sad.  I like it when books make you have an emotional response.  It's like the author is trying to make you feel a certain way and I think that's good." 







And I must say, I agree!  Many of our Year 7s have decided that they will read the prequel, 'My Name Is Mina'.  So check yours out of the library quickly and let us know what you think. 

It's decision time...

It's that time of year when we look through a selection of books (provided by our wonderful Librarian here at Fearnhill, Mrs Hunt - thank you!) and try to decide what we're going to read. 

(And if last year's anything to go by, there is likely to be a lot of indecision and strongly held opinions which, hopefully, will give way to some of us finding joy in books we may have otherwise passed by...) 




So, what's on the table?  Well, we have Lemony Snicket's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' which is a favourite of at least one of our regular members (mentioning no names - you know who you are!).  Don't let the films fool you - it was unanimously agreed that they are "rubbish" but the books are certainly not! 


Next up, quite a surprise for me as Eleanor is usually not one for soppy fairytales, but she soon set me straight! 

These are re-tellings of traditional fairytales but with a twist.  This one, 'As Old As Time' is Beauty and the Beast with a twist:  What if Belle's mother was the one who cursed the beast? 

Published by Disney, we think there are four of these out at the moment, but I'm sure there'll be more in the pipeline. 

Lastly, a favourite amongst almost all the students in Key Stage 3 (and some in Key Stage 4 - a sign of a real winner!), James Dashner's 'The Maze Runner'. 

A bit like 'The Hunger Games', it's a real page-turner.  It's the first of a series too, so lots more to read if we decide we like it! 

So, decision time it is. 

Which would YOU choose? 

New Term - New Challenges - New BOOKS!!!!!

OK, so perhaps we're a bit over-excited at the prospect of a whole new year ahead of us - with an almost endless tower of new books stretching into the distance... 

But we don't care!  Fearnhill BOOKClub is back for another academic year and we need YOU to join us. 

Every Friday lunchtime (from 1.30pm) in E5 - that's Miss Corbishley's classroom.  She often brings cake*

This year we'll be looking at the novels that Key Stage 3 classes are reading as well as choosing and reviewing some of our own. 

Looking forward to welcoming you soon. 

Miss Corbishley. 


*She actually very rarely brings cake - but you are more than welcome to bring some! 

Happy Summer!

Well now, it's that time of year when we begin to say goodbye to school for another six weeks (I know, I know - you're all as upset as I am.  No really!). 

But you know what's the BEST thing about having all that time off school?

Yes!  Having all that time to read. 

Here's a selection of recommended summer reading:

Ruby Redfort is a girl on a mission.  A top secret mission.  If you're a fan of spy fiction, but yearn for some strong female characters, then this one's for you! 

Or how about something more challenging?  

Agreed, this was a bit beyond our Year 8s, but Year 9s (and above) won't be able to put it down!  

I first read it about three years ago, and bits of it still come back to me.  A really fabulously told tale of friendship and heartbreak.  One for the parents too!  

And if you're still in need of inspiration, check out this brilliant website:  http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/genre/sr/Summer-Reading.html

Enjoy your summer and we'll see you in September!  

Yours, Miss Corbishley.  

Into That Forest

NB - It's not that musical with James Corden...


(Not this weird musical.  Seriously, have you seen it?  It's really weird!).

It's this magnificent novel by Louis Nowra:

A really unusual book, kind of like a modern day Jungle Book, with girls, not a boy!



However, Poppy disagrees with Miss Corbishley.  "It's not like The Jungle Book!  Because in The Jungle Book, they're teaching him how to be a human.  But in this book, they're teaching the girls how to be tigers.  The girls start copying the tigers:  hunting and walking on four legs and stuff."

Eleanor actually stopped reading this book after the first two pages!  Disgraceful!  "I fell asleep.  It was so boring. There's no action.  It's very slow paced (like Dreaming The Bear)."

Poppy agreed that the beginning was boring, but that once it gets going, it's really good.

Miss Corbishley liked the narrative style.  It's narrated by one of the girls when she's an old lady - so it's all told in a flashback.

Opinion is completely and utterly divided.  Miss Corbishley asked "Shall we recommend this?" and was met with a simultaneous "YES" and "NO".

So the jury's out on this one.  On balance, as Poppy said, "Don't just read the first page, you know.  Read the first 20 or 30 before you make your decision!"

And I agree.