Reading at HGS
Our aim is for all students to develop a life-long passion for reading and we have a culture where reading is enjoyed and celebrated.
Reading is a core skill which not only helps to improve spelling, increase vocabulary and written skills but also stimulates the imagination and challenges beliefs and perspectives. Reading for pleasure boosts brain and memory function, reduces stress, promotes relaxation and improves sleep; this is why reading regularly is so important.
All students have access to a vibrant and inspiring library, where fiction and non-fiction texts can be borrowed. Whether these texts are complementary to their wider curricular studies or are simply being read for pleasure, our library has something for every reader.
The library can be accessed by all students before and after school and during every morning break and lunch times. Students in Year 7 and 8 also experience one library lesson per fortnight, in which they are able to browse the library, listen to motivating author talks and book recommendations and participate in engaging reading activities.
To achieve excellence in reading, we actively promote reading through form time and via home learning. We celebrate our annual Harrogate Grammar School Reading Week and participate in many national activities and competitions.
Suggested Texts
Click on the links below to access suggest texts:
Recommended Reading
To support students and parents, we regularly share reading recommendations, please click on the links below to access the recommended reads for this academic year.
April Recommended Reads
Myths Retold
This month our theme is Myths Retold. Step into one of the enchanting recommended reads for April - ranging from Greek God's to a catfish under the islands of Japan. You can also pop into the LRC to borrow one of the new arrivals (listed at the bottom of the page).
Key stage 3
Wolf Girl the Greeks and the Gods 'The Persians are coming....' Hearing these words, Gorgo of Sparta is plunged into a dangerous world of vengeful gods and invincible heroes. For a mighty empire threatens Athens, Sparta and all who stand in its path... Calling on the ancient power to transform into a wolf and the blood of Zeus that runs through his veins, Gorgo must lead her nation in one of history's greatest wars. Multi award winning author Tom Holland and acclaimed illustrator Jason Cockcroft boldly weave myth and history in this dramatic tale of Greeks and Gods. |
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Who Let the Gods Out - Maz Evans Elliot's mum is ill and his home is under threat, but a shooting star crashes to earth and changes his life forever. The star is Virgo - a young zodiac goddess on a mission. But the pair accidentally release Thanatos, a wicked death daemon imprisoned beneath Stonehenge, and must then turn to the old Olympian gods for help. After centuries of cushy retirement on earth, are Zeus and his crew up to the task of saving the world - and solving Elliot's problems too? |
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Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman The No. 1 Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller from the author of Netflix hit 'The Sandman'. Tales of dwarfs and frost giants, of treasure and magic, and of Asgard, home to the gods: Odin the all-father, highest and oldest of the Aesir; his mighty son Thor, whose hammer Mjollnir makes the mountain giants tremble; Loki, wily and handsome, reliably unreliable in his lusts; and Freya, more beautiful than the sun or the moon, who spurns those who seek to control her. From the dawn of the world to the twilight of the gods, this is a thrilling, vivid retelling of the Norse myths from the award-winning, bestselling Neil Gaiman. |
Key Stage 3/4
Catfish Rolling - Clara Kumagai There's a catfish under the islands of Japan and when it rolls the land rises and falls. Sora hates the catfish whose rolling caused an earthquake so powerful it cracked time itself. It destroyed her home and took her mother. Now Sora and her scientist father live close to the zones - the wild and abandoned places where time runs faster or slower than normal. Sora is sensitive to the shifts, and her father recruits her help in exploring these liminal spaces. But it's dangerous there - and as she strays further inside in search of her mother, she finds that time distorts, memories fracture and shadows, a glimmer of things not entirely human, linger. |
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Medusa - Jessie Burton If I told you that I'd killed a man with a glance, would you wait to hear the rest? the why, the how, what happened next? Monster. Man-hater. Murderess. Forget everything you've been told about Medusa. Internationally bestselling author Jessie Burton flips the script in this astonishing retelling of Greek myth, illuminating the woman behind the legend at last. Exiled to a far-flung island after being abused by powerful Gods, Medusa has little company other than the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. Haunted by the memories of a life before everything was stolen from her, she has no choice but to make peace with her present: Medusa the Monster. |
Key stage 4/5
Lies we sing to the Sea - Sarah Underwood A fantasy romance, by dazzling new talent Sarah Underwood, inspired by Greek mythology and the tale of Penelope's twelve hanged maids. In the cursed kingdom of the Ithaca, each spring brings the hanging of twelve maidens, a gift to the vengeful Poseidon. But when Leto awakens from her death on the shore of a long forgotten island, its enigmatic keeper Melantho tells her that there's only one way the curse can be broken. Leto must kill the last prince of Ithaca.. |
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The Boy Lost in the Maze - Joseph Coelho In his new verse novel, Joseph Coelho brilliantly blends Greek myth with a 21st century quest. In Ancient Greece, Theseus makes a dangerous and courageous journey to find his father, finally meeting the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. While Theo, a modern-day teenage boy, finds himself on a maze-like quest to find his own father. Each story tells of a boy becoming a man and discovering what true manhood really means. The path to self-discovery takes Theo through 'those thin spaces where myth, magic and reality combine'. Doubts, difficulties and dangers must be faced as Theo discovers the man he will become. |
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