English A Level Transition Work

A Level Reading List

Novels

A Mercy – Toni Morrison

Beloved – Toni Morrison

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou

The Color Purple – Alice Walker

The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood

We Need to Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriever

Enduring Love – Ian McEwan

The Child In Time – Ian McEwan

The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

One Day – David Nicholls

Case Histories – Kate Atkinson

Empress Orchid – Anchee Min

Memoires of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

On Beauty – Zadie Smith

Wise Children – Angela Carter

Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Adiche

The Magic Toyshop – Angela Carter

The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters

A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini

The Road – Cormack McCarthy

The Siege (Helen Dunmore)

Water for Elephants – Sarah Gruen

A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess

This Side of Paradise – F. Scott Fitzgerald

On The Road – Jack Kerouac

Summer Reading Presentations

Read one or more of the books on the A Level Reading List. Research the titles/authors to help you to select the books you might enjoy before you make your choice. Prepare a short presentation on your chosen book; this must be ready and brought with you to your first English lesson in Year 12.

Things to Include

A very brief introduction to the book – genre, style, time period, plot outline, key events etc.
Any relevant information about the writer
Characterisation – what did you find most interesting and why?
Themes and issues explored in the novel
Did you enjoy it? Why/why not?

Your presentation should be 5 minutes long and should involve a visual aid e.g Powerpoint (make this image-based and avoid lots of text; 1 slide only), collage or poster, artefact or prop relating to the book etc.