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English teachers: Is it time to change your class novel?
Have you considered changing your class novel?
Do you need something that talks to today's students and is excellently written?
It doesn't have to be difficult choice with a fantastic selection of titles for students from The O'Brien Press.
As Ireland's leading independent book publisher, we're offering teachers a great choice of contemporary, fantasy and
historical fiction titles that are ideal for today's students. With good writing, a broad spectrum of contemporary
themes and issues and fresh exciting stories, our books are ideal for class reading and discussion.
Find a book that will be perfect for your students, whether they are mixed or single sex, urban or rural,
Irish or multi-cultural.
Check out our Six of the Best, and see how easy it is to get a new class novel!
- QUALITY: Excellent novels, including many award-winning titles such as Epic by Conor Kostick, Siobhan Parkinson's Four Kids, Three Cats, Two Cows, One Witch (Maybe), Aubrey Flegg's critically-acclaimed "Louise" trilogy and others
- PROVEN: O'Brien Press books have a long history of success in Irish schools and we continue to encourage new and exciting writing for young people
- IN-DEPTH: O'Brien Press novels come with relevant and in-depth teaching support and resources, all available FREE to teachers
- RELEVANT: With a wide range of exciting, interesting and relevant titles, well-known and new Irish authors and contemporary themes and issues, O'Brien Press novels are ideal for your class.
The Big Six: perfect novels for first and second year english
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17 Martin Street
Marilyn Taylor
A web of secrets can risk lives …
When Hetty’s family move to Martin Street near Portobello bridge in Dublin, they’re not sure of their welcome. And next door, Ben’s family are not sure about their new Jewish neighbours: it’s The Emergency and they are suspicious of strangers.
But for Ben, the chance to earn a few pence is too great and secretly he does odd jobs for them. And there’s a bigger secret: Renata, a World War Two refugee, is on the run in the city. Hetty is determined to rescue her.
The web of secrets begins to unravel and there are lives at risk. Can Hetty and Ben overcome their differences and save Renata, or are they just meddling in things they know too little about?
Teaching guide to the novel by Peter Heaney
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Wings over Delft
Aubrey Flegg
Book 1: The Louise trilogy
Winner of the Bisto Book of the Year Award 2004 and Reading Association of Ireland Award 2005.
As the daughter of a wealthy Dutch family, Louise Eeden knows that certain things are expected of her. When her father commissions a famous artist to paint her portrait, she reluctantly agrees.
But lately things have started to move too fast in her life. Somehow everyone believes she is engaged to Reynier de Vries; a marriage that will bring about the merger of two respected pottery businesses. In the studio with Master Haitink and his gangly apprentice, Pieter, Louise unexpectedly finds freedom to be herself. But someone has been watching her every move, and her deepening friendship with Pieter has not gone unnoticed. Behind the scenes, a web of treachery and deceit is gradually unravelling, leading to a brutal and shocking confrontation.
And fate has yet another surprise in store for Louise Eeden.
Teaching guide to the novel by Liz Morris
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The Shakespeare Stealer
Gary Blackwood
Fourteen year-old Widge has very little going for him, no family, no real name, but he can write shorthand and that is a very valuable asset to the man who wants to steal William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. In those days there was only one copy of the play script, and that was jealously guarded at the Globe Theatre, London by Shakespeare's company of players.
Widge sets off for London, accompanied by Falconer, a cruel and fearsome cutthroat whose job is to make sure that the mission is accomplished, no matter what the cost. But Widge gets so caught up in the play that soon all that matters to him is whether Hamlet will take action to avenge his father, and he forgets his task. Then his notebook is stolen.
Under threat from Falconer, he manages to work his way into the troupe of actors, who befriend him and, for the first time, make him feel part of a family. How can he betray them now?
Teaching guide for The Shakespeare Stealer from O'Brien Teaching Guides for Second Level Schools.
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Faraway Home
Marilyn Taylor
In 1938 Nazi troops march into Vienna. Karl and his sister Rosa, young Jews who escape the terror on a Kindertransport, are forced to leave their family behind. After frightening experiences and a harrowing journey, they find a safe haven at a refugee farm in Millisle, County Down. Here they meet Judy, a reluctant volunteer from Dublin, and Peewee Crawford from the Shankill area of Belfast. Gradually these young people from different religions, cultures and backgrounds come to understand each other and to appreciate each other’s problems. Judy learns that not everyone enjoys a childhood of peace and security, and Karl learns what it is to be a refugee. The devastating Belfast Blitz of 1941 provides the climax to this moving and atmospheric story of the horrors of war, of young people coping with racist violence, homesickness and loss, and learning to face a difficult future with courage and hope.
Teaching guide from O'Brien Teaching Guides Collection 1
Teaching ideas for sixth class from O'Brien Reading Programme
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Epic
Conor Kostick
#WELCOME TO EPIC: PRESS START TO PLAY#. On New Earth, Epic is not just a computer game, it's a matter of life and death. If you lose, you lose everything; if you win, the world is yours for the taking. Seeking revenge for the unjust treatment of his parents, Erik subverts the rules of the game, and he and his friends are drawn into a world of power-hungry, dangerous players. Now they must fight the ultimate masters of the game -- The Committee. But what Erik doesn't know is that The Committee has a sinister, deadly secret, and challenging it could destroy the whole world of Epic.
Teaching guide to the book, written by the author, Conor Kostick
Teaching resources by Ms Tara-Lynn Walker, Franklin Middle School, NJ: classroom questions, character design, post-reading activities
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Of course, there are lots of other novels that your students might also enjoy.
Contemporary Novels
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Brown Morning
Franck Pavloff
Charlie and his friend live in a time marked by the rise of an extreme totalitarian regime: the Brown State.
A remarkable parable of how easily people allow their rights to be removed.
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A Horse Called El Dorado
Kevin Kiely
Pepe must flee from Colombia, leaving behind his favourite horse El Dorado, to Ireland, the birthplace of his father. What future awaits him there?
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The Love Bean
Siobhán Parkinson
Full of romance, secrets and rivalries, The Love Bean weaves two compelling
stories of four teenage twin girls across time, location and race.
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Out of the Flames
Vincent McDonnell
An action-packed story of conflict and courage, set in Africa and Ireland. Maria flees to Ireland in fear of her life - but has danger followed her?
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Fantasy/Science-fiction Novels
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The Old Country
Mordicai Gerstein
'Never look too long into the eyes of a fox'
'So this is what it's like to have fingers,' the girl laughed, and pointed the bow at Gisella. 'How does the world look from the other side of the crossbow?'
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Under Fragile Stone
Oisín McGann
Volume II of The Archisan Tales. Taya and Lorkrin's parents are trapped when a mine tunnel collapses in a haunted mountain. Can they rescue them before it is too late?
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Historical Novels
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