Audiobooks for Secondary School Students
Audiobooks for Secondary School Students
Back to school? You might be on the lookout for some great books to read or listen to for the new school year. With Listening Books’ hundreds of titles for young adults, you might not know where to begin! That’s why we’ve put together some suggestions for each year at secondary school, from titles to settle in the new starters of Year 7, to books that may help calm those pre-exam nerves for GCSE students. Whether you’re a teacher looking for educational books that complement the curriculum, or just want to recommend some fantastic listens to build an interest in reading, this list has something for you!
Year 7
Horrible Science: Fatal Forces by Nick Arnold
Learn about the scientists who discovered "Smashing Speed", "Gruesome Gravity", and "Facts about Friction". Tons of interesting facts about the forces of nature are packed into this instalment in the Horrible Science series.
In 1914, a beautiful foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, is sold to the army and thrust into the midst of the war on the Western front. But his heart aches for Albert, the farmer's son he left behind. Will he ever see his true master again?
The Island at the End of Everything by Karen Millward Hargrave
Amihan lives on Culion Island where some of the inhabitants, including her mother have leprosy. Ami loves her home, with its blue seas and lush forests but the arrival of the malicious government official Mr. Zamora changes her world forever. All of the islanders without leprosy are banished across the sea and can Ami find her way home before it’s too late!
Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson's #1 New York Times bestselling guide to the cosmos, adapted for young listeners From the basics of physics to big questions about the nature of space and time, celebrated astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson breaks down the mysteries of the cosmos into bite-sized pieces. Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry describes the fundamental rules and unknowns of our universe clearly-and with Tyson's characteristic wit, there's a lot of fun thrown in, too. This adaptation by Gregory Mone includes extra explanations to make even the trickiest concepts accessible. Building on the wonder inspired by outer space, Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry introduces an exciting field and the principles of scientific inquiry to young listeners.
Older readers may enjoy the original edition of this book for adults.
Sam hates life on the council estate - everyone knows why he and his mum had to move there and they won't let him forget it. When he meets the beautiful and mysterious Cassie he quickly falls head over heels. But when Sam's life begins to spin out of control.
Year 8
Positively Teenage by Nicola Morgan
Positively Teenage gives you tools to approach your teenage years with optimism and understanding and to develop real wellbeing for life. The media so often portray adolescence negatively but this book shows you how to approach these years far more positively so that you can really flourish and be in control. You'll find simple strategies to develop a positive attitude, growth mindset, self-understanding, determination and resilience and you'll see how those strengths will help you cope with any challenges, enjoy life and achieve your potential. Full of practical, proven strategies for physical and mental health, Positively Teenage will show you lots of ways to flourish physically and mentally - from doing things you enjoy to learning new skills; looking after your diet, exercise and attitude to being healthy online; getting great sleep to understanding your personality - allowing you to take control of many areas of your life.
Strong Voices by Tonya Bolden and Cokie Roberts
Strong Voices: Fifteen American Speeches Worth Knowing is a collection of significant speeches, made both by those who held the reins of power and those who didn't, at significant times in American history. Read the original words—sometimes abridged and sometimes in their entirety—that have shaped our cultural fabric.
Lois Lowry’s The Giver is the quintessential dystopian novel, followed by its remarkable companions, Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.
Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.
Reaching For the Moon by Katherine Johnson
The inspiring autobiography of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, who helped launch Apollo 11. As a young girl, Katherine Johnson showed an exceptional aptitude for math. In school she quickly skipped ahead several grades and was soon studying complex equations with the support of a professor who saw great promise in her. But ability and opportunity did not always go hand in hand. As an African American and a girl growing up in an era of brutal racism and sexism, Katherine faced daily challenges. Still, she lived her life with her father's words in mind: "You are no better than anyone else, and nobody else is better than you." In the early 1950s, Katherine was thrilled to join the organization that would become NASA. She worked on many of NASA's biggest projects including the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first men on the moon. Katherine Johnson's story was made famous in the bestselling book and Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures, which older readers can enjoy from our collection too! Now, in Reaching for the Moon she tells her own story for the first time, in a lively autobiography that will inspire young readers everywhere.
We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen
Meet Stewart. He’s geeky, gifted and sees things a bit differently to most people. His mum has died and he misses her all the more now he and Dad have moved in with Ashley and her mum.
Meet Ashley. She’s popular, cool and sees things very differently to her new family. Her dad has come out and moved out – but not far enough. And now she has to live with a freakazoid step-brother.
Stewart can’t quite fit in at his new school, and Ashley can’t quite get used to her totally awkward home, which is now filled with some rather questionable decor. And things are about to get a whole lot more mixed up when these two very different people attract the attention of school hunk Jared. . .
Year 9
Pig-Heart Boy by Malorie Blackman
Cameron is thirteen and desperately in need of a heart transplant, when a pioneering doctor approaches his family with a startling proposal. He can give Cameron a new heart - but not one from a human, one from a pig. It's never been done before. It's experimental, risky and very controversial. And it's all up to Cameron. Will he become the world's first ever pig-heart boy?
Key Stage Three Shakespeare: The Tempest
Packed with easy-to-revise notes on what happens in 'The Tempest' by William Shakespeare, this audiobook also describes the key themes, characters and language. It will help you with your SATS questions.
Students can also listen to The Tempest and lots of other Shakespeare plays through Listening Books!
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl, including the 5 'missing pages' discovered by the Anne Frank Foundation in 2001. Insightfully read by the actress Helena Bonham Carter. In Amsterdam, in the summer of 1942, the Nazis forced teenager Anne Frank and her family into hiding. For over two years, they, another family and a German dentist lived in a 'secret annexe', fearing discovery. All that time, Anne kept a diary. An intimate record of tension and struggle, adolescence and confinement, anger and heartbreak, Anne Frank's diary is one of those unique documents, famed throughout the world. It portrays innocence and humanity, suffering and survival in the starkest and most moving terms.
The animals in the farmyard decide that working for humans is doing them no favours, so under the leadership of Napoleon, the only Berkshire Boar on the farm, and the other pigs, they drive out the farmer and his cohorts and set about structuring their own society. Based on a list of supposedly animal-friendly rules such as "four legs good, two legs bad" the animals work together to harvest their own food and run their own farm. However, little by little, the rules begin to mysteriously change and the pigs seem to gain power little by little, making the animals question what society they were striving for in the first place and whether their new-found freedom is as liberating as they might have hoped. With direct allusions to political figures such as Lenin, Marx, Trotsky, Stalin and Molitov, to name but a few, Animal Farm is one of the greatest socio-political works of all time, and this UNABRIDGED audio does it absolute justice.
We also have the Smart Pass Study Guide to Animal Farm!
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
A plane crashes on a desert island and the only survivors, a group of schoolboys, assemble on the beach and wait to be rescued. By day they inhabit a land of bright fantastic birds and dark blue seas, but at night their dreams are haunted by the image of a terrifying beast. As the boys' delicate sense of order fades, so their childish dreams are transformed into something more primitive, and their behaviour starts to take on a murderous, savage significance. First Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies is one of the most celebrated and widely read of modern classics.
GCSE students may find the CPG Lord of the Flies Text Guide helpful too!
Year 10
GCSE English Writing Skills: The Study Guide
This book contains helpful advice for improving GCSE English writing skills. It covers every writing style students will come across in GCSE English, including Writing About Texts, Writing Non-Fiction and Creative Writing. Each type of writing is explained with clear, easy-to-read study notes and examples, with practice questions to test understanding of the important points.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This audiobook is narrated in the all-knowing matter-of-fact voice of Death, witnessing the story of the citizens of Molching and especially two children's struggle to steal from the Nazi book burning piles. While it is a tale of the cruel twists of fate and the coincidences on which all our lives hinge, this is also a joyous look at how books can nourish the soul. CONTAINS ADULT THEMES.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Scout is a young girl whose father, Atticus, is a small-town lawyer defending a black man accused of raping a white girl. The book is set in Alabama in the 1930s and although one of the major themes of the book is racism, it also tackles the issue of how children view the world and how their understanding of the society they live in changes and develops.
Failosophy for Teens by Elizabeth Day
A game-changing guide to being happier, healthier and succeeding better, based on the Sunday Times bestseller. Pretty much all of us would like to feel happier, less anxious, more successful and at ease with ourselves. Right? The key may surprise you: FAILURE! Failosophy For Teens is an inspiring and empowering guide to those moments when life doesn't go to plan. Using personal experience and stories shared by guests on her award-winning podcast, How to Fail, Elizabeth's book is full of creative and inspiring advice on how to: - talk openly about failure- turn failure into success- build resilience for when life sends you curveballs- reframe negative thoughts about yourself . . . and much more! Failing better is the key to learning, growing and ultimately loving yourself as the truly AWESOME human being you are. Failosophy For Teens will challenge your self-perception and change your life! Perfect for fans of Marcus Rashford's You Are a Champion and Bryony Gordon's You Got This.
Year 11
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Devon School, an exclusive prep school for boys in New Hampshire, is a world unto itself. But it's the summer of 1942 and the massive thundercloud of World War II threatens the school's peaceful environment. Paralleling the war, where enemies real and imagined are sometimes collaborated with and sometimes destroyed, is the friendship between Gene and Phineas, two students attending the 1942 summer session at Devon. Their idyllic world begins to fall apart as the war escalates, and suspicion and the complexities of adolescence result in violence and betrayal. A Separate Peace has become a modern classic.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping young-adult novel about one girl's struggle for justice. Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
From award-winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time.
Felix Love has never been in love - and, yes, he's painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it's like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What's worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he's one marginalisation too many - Black, queer and transgender - to ever get his own happily-ever-after.
When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages - after publicly posting Felix's deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned - Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn't count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi-love triangle . . .
But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Narrated by Amir, a 40-year-old novelist living in California, this audiobook tells the story of a boyhood friendship destroyed by jealousy, fear, and the kind of ruthless evil that transcends mere politics. Running parallel to this personal narrative of loss and redemption is the story of modern Afghanistan and of Amir's equally guilt-ridden relationship with the war-torn city of his birth. The first Afghan novel to be written in English, the story begins in the final days of King Zahir Shah's 40-year reign and traces the country's fall from a secluded oasis to a tank-strewn battlefield controlled by the Russians and then the trigger-happy Taliban. When Amir returns to Kabul to rescue Hassan's orphaned child, the personal and the political get tangled together in a plot that is as suspenseful as it is taut with feeling.
GCSE English Of Mice and Men: The Text Guide
This text guide is designed to help GCSE students write better essays about Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. It is packed with useful explanations about the themes, characters, context and interpretations of the book, all backed up with quotes. There are four sections, all written in CGP's clear, chatty style. It would also make a handy reference guide for anyone keen to sharpen up their writing.
This list only skims the surface of the hundreds of books we have in our catalogue for young people. Get exploring today on our ‘Browse Books’ page, where you can filter by ‘Subject’ and ‘Key Stage’. If there are any books you need that we don't have, please send us an email at info@listening-books.org.uk and we will try our very best to add them to our collection!
If you have a disability, illness, mental health condition or learning difficulty that affects your ability to read or hold a book, sign up to Listening Books to access all these titles and thousands more for just £20 a year or for free if this would be a barrier to joining!
Are you a teacher who thinks your students would benefit from audiobooks? We also provide school memberships, starting at just £100 a year for 10 pupil log-ins. With a Listening Books school membership, teachers can manage their subscriptions on our Schools Dashboard, as well as access resources such as certificates and reading lists like these for key dates in the school year! Find out more here.
Author: Annabel Morgan
