With half the summer holidays still to enjoy, there’s no better way to while away the long and (well, it may still happen...) sunny days than with a book you can really get lost in. Whether you’re on a plane or a train, relaxing by the sea or lounging in your back garden, we’ve picked a selection of our favourite doorstoppers that are sure to capture your imagination and fill your days this summer
1. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
This classic coming-of-age novel is narrated by Cassandra Mortmain, whose life with her eccentric family living in a crumbling castle is the source of both humour and despair. Her father, a once-brilliant novelist, is struggling to regain his reputation, doted on by her anxious stepmother Topaz, while beautiful big sister Rose rages against the ennui and poverty of life at home.
When the wealthy Cotton family become the Mortmains’ new neighbours (and landlords), Cassandra and Rose find themselves entranced by brothers Simon and Neill, with their whiff of American exoticism and their promise of change. A brilliant mixture of comedy, melancholy, nostalgia and intelligent romance, this is a must read for anyone at a loose end this summer.
2. Mighty Fizz Chilla by Philip Ridley
Five months ago 13-year-old Milo Stick turned from his mum’s little angel into a monster, and now he’s angry with everyone. Packed off by his stressed-out mum to stay with two old and eccentric ladies in their old former boarding house by the sea, Milo is prepared to hate everything, especially wobbly-bosomed, kiss-smothering Cressida Bell and pointy-nosed logician Dee Dee Six.
Despite his permanent bad temper, someone and something begins to capture Milo’s imagination: the wild cave-dwelling Captain Jellicoe and his tale of the legendary Mighty Fizz Chilla. With its Dickensian cast of characters and inventive exploration of psychological vulnerability, Mighty Fizz Chilla is a bizarre but intensely absorbing read, drenched in the sounds and scents of the sea.
3. Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
Former children’s laureate Malorie Blackman presents us with a world that’s almost similar to our own, apart from one crucial factor - the paradigms of historic western racial prejudice are reversed. In this world, with segregation firmly in place, white people are inferior Noughts, while black people, the Crosses, are the supposedly ruling race.
There are shades of a Romeo and Juliet-style doomed romance between wealthy Cross Sephy and Nought Callum, whose complex love story is enmeshed with crushing social prejudice, family disapproval, and racial warfare. If you love this book, look out for An Eye for an Eye, Knife Edge, Checkmate and Double Cross, which continue Callum and Sephy’s compelling story.
4. A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Jennifer Donnelly won the 2003 Carnegie Medal for this novel set in early 20th century America. Based around the events of the real life Grace Brown murder case in 1906, the novel is narrated by 16-year-old book lover Mattie Gokey. Mattie’s harsh life on a northern New York farm with three younger sisters and a surly widower father conflicts heavily with her innate love of learning and desire to go to college. Torn between her family loyalties and her own ambitions, Mattie’s story becomes intertwined with the tragic Grace’s, who handed Mattie a mysterious package of letters before she died.
5. The Shell House by Linda Newbery
The literal shell house of the title is Graveney Hall, a once-grand house that was ravaged in fire and now stands deserted. Sixth-form student and keen photographer Greg become fascinated by the house as he struggles to overcome as series of challenges with his sexual identity. Against Greg’s story runs the parallel history of Edmund, one-time heir of Graveney Hall and soldier on the Western Front in 1917. Despite their radically different lives, Greg and Edmund are beset by similar prejudices, and share the same sense of crisis about who they are and what they ultimately choose to believe in.
6. Lucas by Kevin Brooks
Hale is a small island, and it can be hard for outsiders to fit in - at least it’s hard for Lucas, a stranger who turns up on Hale and tries to earn his living through odd jobs, but earns only the distrust of the tight-knit community. Only 15-year-old Caitlyn can look past the islanders’ prejudices and find friendship with Lucas. When vicious rumours start flying, however, Caitlyn’s support might not be enough to protect him. This is an eerie classic from one of the masters of YA fiction.
7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Set in Germany during the second world war, The Book Thief follows the story of nine year-old Liesel, who struggle to cope amidst the burgeoning atrocities of the Nazi regime.
After bonding with Jewish refugee Hans, Liesel embarks on a mission to become the “book thief”, saving books from the Nazi bonfires, and beginning to write her own. Markus Zusak’s bestseller has since been made into a film starring Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson – try the book first and then see what you think of it on the screen!
8. Troy by Adèle Geras
This is the famous story of Troy re-told by two women at the heart of the siege, young healer Xanthe and weaver Marpessa, who has a special connection to the gods. Delving into the lives of famous figures such as Helen of Troy and Mycaenean King Menelaus, this novel brings the sights and sounds of the ancient city to life, capturing the violence, passion and humanity of one of the greatest stories in classical mythology.
9. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
This is the first novel in a trilogy of books set in a girls’ boarding school at the end of the 19th century. Unhappy Gemma is sent away from her home in India to receive a formal English education. Ostracised at first, Gemma eventually comes to from a close group of friends. When Gemma discovers a mysterious diary, she unearths the story of an ancient and mystical sect called the Order, whose powers may be closer to her than she thinks.
10. Come Clean by Terri Paddock
When Justine Ziegler’s parents decide she’s been to one wild party too many, they take her to a so-called teen rehabilitation centre, Come Clean. It’s the last pace Justine wants to be, not just because she knows she doesn’t need to be there, but because it’s where her twin brother Justin was sent just months before. Shortlisted for the 2005 Booktrust Teenage Fiction prize, this is an incredibly moving portrayal of the ferocious love of a sibling relationship, as well as an intelligent examination of the horrific abuses of an authoritarian system.
