Back-to-School Reading Picks

Updated January 14, 2026
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If you want to blitz your year 12 exams read this book
Smith, Alexandra
Paper Book
The must-read book for anyone in their last two years of high school A little book with the potential to make a big difference ... IF YOU WANT TO BLITZ YOUR YEAR 12 EXAMS READ THIS BOOK is packed with outstanding advice and awesome tips that will help you to excel in your final two...
Your best score : how to reach your full potential in year 12 : your best score
Karkanis, Chris
Paper Book
Every student who achieved great results in Year 12 once stood where you are now. They had the same doubts and fears about how they'd perform throughout the year. Most students start out thinking that only 'gifted' individuals receive good marks, but at some point, for those who succeed, something...
A girl's guide to starting high school
Blake, Chloe
A Girl's Guide to Starting High School is a girls silent friend to get in the mindset, build confidence and resilience for a new stage in school life. Written for girls in their last year of primary school (ages 10 - 12-year-old) this book is an essential tool to empower them to...
The high school survival guide : your roadmap to studying, socializing and succeeding
Holsman, Jessica
Paper Book
The Ultimate Guide for High School Success "The High School Survival Guide teaches you how to survive both school and life!" -Lenoria Addison, Partner Manager, AwesomenessTV #1 Best Seller in Test Preparation, SSAT & COOP, and Mindfulness & Meditation<...
Everything you need to ace geometry in one big fat notebook : the complete high school study guide
Needham, Christy
Paper Book
Geometry? No problem!  This Big Fat Notebook covers everything you need to know during a year of high school geometry class, breaking down one big bad subject into accessible units. Learn to study better and get better grades using...
Everything you need to ace chemistry in one big fat notebook : the complete high school study guide
Swanson, Jennifer
Paper Book
Chemistry? No problem!  This Big Fat Notebook covers everything you need to know during a year of high school chemistry class, breaking down one big bad subject into accessible units. Learn to study better and get better grades using...
Everything You Need to Ace Algebra 2 in One Big Fat Notebook
Workman Publishing.
Paper Book
The ultimate Algebra 2 study guide that reviews all the skills students need to ace high school Algebra 2 class, in language that is actually easy-to-understand. Filled with helpful tips, definitions, and side bars, all written in accessible student-friendly...
Everything you need to ace pre-algebra & algebra 1 in one big fat notebook : the complete high school study guide
Wang, Jason (Mathematics educator)
Paper Book
Millions and millions of BIG FAT NOTEBOOKS sold!   Pre-Algebra & Algebra 1? No Problem! The BIG FAT NOTEBOOK covers everything you need to know during a year of Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1 class, breaking down one big fat subject into accessible units...
Everything you need to ace science in one big fat notebook : the complete high school study guide : borrowed from the smartest kid in class
Geisen, Michael
Paper Book
It's the revolutionary science study guide just for middle school students from the brains behind Brain Quest.      Everything You Need to Ace Science . . . takes readers from scientific investigation and the engineering design process to...
UCAT guide & getting into medicine. 2024-2026
Anzum, Afia
Lady Audley's Secret
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth
Paper Book
Weathering critical scorn, Lady Audley's Secret quickly established Mary Elizabeth Braddon as the leading light of Victorian 'sensation' fiction, sharing the honour only with Wilkie Collins. Addictive, cunningly plotted and certainly sensational, Lady Audley's Secret draws on...
Refugee
Gratz, Alan
Paper Book
The award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling novel from Alan Gratz tells the timely--and timeless--story of three different kids seeking refuge. A New York Times bestseller! JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration...
Meet Poppy
Wang, Gabrielle.
Paper Book
Meet Poppy is the first story in a set of four about the amazing journey of a young Chinese Aboriginal girl, who lives on a Christian mission in 1864. It is a story of bravery and love, as Poppy sets out to chase her brother after he escapes from the Mission in search of freedom and a better life.
Tracks of the missing
Merrison, Carl
Paper Book
Age range 12+ 'There must be payback.' 'There must, you are right,' Grandfather agrees. 'What can you offer in exchange?' Grandfather holds up his arms, open, offering himself as a sacrifice. 'I am old.' Deklan 'Dek' Archer and...
Animal farm : a fairy story
Orwell, George
Paper Book
75th Anniversary Edition--Includes a New Introduction by Téa Obreht George Orwell's timeless and timely allegorical novel--a scathing satire of a downtrodden society's blind march towards totalitarianism. "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than...
The F team
Arja, Rawah
Paper Book
*A 2021 CBCA Notable Book: Older Readers* *Longlisted for the 2021 ABIAs: Book of the year for Older Children* *Shortlisted for the Australian Book Design Awards 2021: Best Designed Children's Fiction Book* *Shortlisted for the 2021 New South Wales...
The hate U give
Thomas, Angie
Paper Book
8 starred reviews · Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best · William C. Morris Award Winner · National Book Award Longlist · Printz Honor Book · Coretta Scott King Honor Book · #1 New York Times Bestseller! "Absolutely riveting!" --Jason Reynolds ...
Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare, William
Paper Book
Read Shakespeare in graphic-novel form--with NO FEAR! No Fear Shakespeare Graphic Novels is a series based on the translated texts of the plays found in No Fear Shakespeare. The original No Fear series made Shakespeare...
Wonder
Palacio, R. J.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A PARADE BEST KIDS BOOK OF ALL TIME * Millions of people have fallen in love with Auggie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face--who shows us that kindness brings us together no matter how far apart we are. Read the book that...
The outsiders
Hinton, S. E.
Paper Book
From Penguin's The Originals collection, The Outsiders is an outstanding story of teenage rebellion, written when the author was only 17. __________ Teenagers in a small Oklahoma town have split into two gangs, divided by money, tastes and attitude. The...
Station eleven
Mandel, Emily St. John
Paper Book
This Anniversary Edition of Station Eleven, a finalist for the National Book Award and named a Best Book of the Twenty-First Century by the New York Times, celebrates ten years of this now iconic novel with a new color illustration and a guide to "The Mandelverse" A...
The great Gatsby
Collins, Anne
Paper Book
The only edition of the beloved classic that is authorized by Fitzgerald's family and from his lifelong publisher. This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author's own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book...
Nineteen eighty-four
Orwell, George
Paper Book
Written 75 years ago, 1984 was George Orwell's chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, his dystopian vision of a government that will do anything to control the narrative is timelier than ever... This 75th Anniversary Edition includes: *...
Running wild
Morpurgo, Michael.
Paper Book
The epic and heart-rending jungle adventure from the nation's favourite storyteller Michael Morpurgo. For Will and his mother, going to Indonesia isn't just a holiday. It's an escape, a new start, a chance to put things behind them - things like the death of Will's father. ...
Catching teller crow
Kwaymullina, Ambelin
Paper Book
This Victorian Premier's Literary Award winner is a totally addictive ghost story, crime story and thriller, told half in prose and half in verse, from two of the most exciting Aboriginal voices in Australia.
Follow the rabbit-proof fence
Pilkington, Doris
Paper Book
A major motion picture from Miramax Films, directed by Philip Noyce and starring Kenneth Branagh, this is the remarkable true story of three girls who crossed 1,500 miles of harsh Australian desert on foot to return home. Following a 1931 Australian edict, the white government rounded up aboriginal...
Foreign soil
Clarke, Maxine Beneba
Paper Book
From a new voice in international fiction, a prize-winning collection of stories that cross the world--Africa, London, the West Indies, Australia--and express the global experience "with exquisite sensitivity" (Dave Eggers, author of The Circle). In this collection of award...

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