Liam (Read On) - Softcover

Zephaniah, Benjamin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007464851 ISBN 13: 9780007464852

Publisher: Collins Educational, 2012

Synopsis

The photo was small. I clicked to enlarge it. It was upside down. I clicked to rotate it. Then I stopped. As I stared into the computer screen I couldn’t believe what I saw.

A handsome, tall black man, with very short hair, wearing a black suit. He had on a pair of those small round glasses that clever people wear, and he looked so happy.

Liam’s life is going well. He’s done okay in his GCSEs; he’s getting pretty good at playing the guitar. If he could just persuade Amy Zyskowski to go out with him, everything would be perfect.

Oh, and if he could find out who his real parents are...

·Help Key Stage 3 students move from Level 3a to Level 4c in reading.
·Support comprehension with fascinating and contemporary illustrations.
·Encourage shared and guided reading using the ready-made tasks and discussion points on the activity pages at the back of the book.

About this title

Review:

‘Liam by Benjamin Zephaniah was very enjoyable and funny for teenagers: high interest level and clearly written, accessible and engaging, with topics that young people can relate to. Would appeal to weak readers at KS4 as well as KS3 which is a major strength.’

Fiona Dyson, Southfields Academy on Liam by Benjamin Zephaniah

‘Boys were very excited and I haven’t seen boys of this ability as engaged in their reading.
Students had no idea what a gladiator was and were impressed when they found out. All wanted to be gladiators by the end of it! Much better than the competition.’

Kristy Sheeran, Queensbury School, Bradford on Gladiator by Alan Gibbons and Robbie Gibbons

‘At the end of the session, three boys asked if they could take Lone Wolf home. This has never happened before.’

Fiona Dyson, Southfields Academy, London on Lone Wolf by Alan Gibbons and Robbie Gibbons

‘Students loved Lone Wolf. The pace was good and they enjoyed the illustrations. The amount of text per page was good and lent itself to listening to children reading aloud in a group. My dyslexic children found the pages easier to read because of the line spacing. Some great opportunities for extension work.’

Sarah Beach, Langham Primary School, Rutland on Lone Wolf by Alan Gibbons and Robbie Gibbons

‘This is the only book I have ever wanted to read.’
‘I like reading stories about people like me.’

Two students at Southfields Academy on Point Danger by Catherine MacPhail

‘I trialled this story with my Year 8 dyslexic group and a Year 9 bottom set. It was an excellent text with which to develop inference skills: students had lots of ideas about the twist as we picked up clues. Good chapter lengths and cliff-hangers at end of sections. Humour appealed. One reluctant reader asked to take it home to finish. Another said “can I get a read?”– unheard of! One of the best.’

Fiona Dyson, Southfields Academy on The Passenger by Dan Tunstall

About the Author:

Alan Gibbons trained as a teacher and through working with young people discovered his literary voice. He started writing fiction for his pupils and published his first novel in 1993.

Alan has also appeared on the BBC education programme Writer’s Block, the Blue Peter Book Awards, radio 4’s Front Row, and is a regular contributor to TES, Junior Education, Carousel, Books for Keeps and other journals.

About this edition

• Publisher: Collins Educational
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0007464851
• ISBN 13: 9780007464852
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 56
• Illustrator: Taylor Dan