Below are the most borrowed 50 novels from the junior library from September 2019 until the school closed in March 2020. In previous years the top borrowed title has approached 200 issues, so Covid-19 has had a major impact on these statistics.

Congratulations to Peader O’Guilin for reclaiming the number one spot from Alice Broadway’s Ink (which drops to eight). Two years ago The Call was ranked number one and shows the incredible longevity of this stunning dystopian fantasy novel. The Call 2: Invasion is also the highest placed sequel at number 34.

We were also delighted to see so many books from the TSBA Six Book Challenge perform incredibly well; these books dominate the top ten and are placed at two, three, four, six, seven and eleven. In case you missed the announcement, the eventual TSBA winner was I Have No Secrets, which was also the Emanuel School winner.

If a book is marked YA, this stands for Young Adult and these books are aimed at slightly older children (around Year 8 and above).

If you have any queries about any of the books or would like further information about age appropriateness, please contact the senior librarian, Mr Tony Jones, at tony.jones@emanuel.org.uk. There is an amazing selection of titles to choose from, with almost 5,000 issues from this section of the library alone.

  1. Peader O’Guilin – The Call (77)
  2. Penny Joelson – I Have No Secrets (76)
  3. Nicky Singer – The Survival Game (65)
  4. Jewell Parker Rhodes – Ghost Boys (64)
  5. Sophie McKenzie – Girl Missing (63)
  6. Andrew Norriss – Mike (58)
  7. Zana Fraillon – The Ones That Disappeared (57)
  8. Alice Broadway – Ink (53)
  9. Neal Shusterman – Scythe (49)
  10. Sarah Govett – The Territory (48)
  11. Tanya Landman – Beyond the Wall (48) YA
  12. Gemma Malley – The Declaration (43)
  13. Holly Jackson – A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder (38)
  14. Sara Pinborough – The Death House (37) YA
  15. Michael Grant – Gone (35)
  16. Laura Bates – The Burning (34)
  17. Karen McManus – One Of Us Is Lying (31)
  18. Alex Bell – Frozen Charlotte (31)
  19. Rachel Ward – Numbers (27)
  20. Stewart Foster – Bubble Boy (26)
  21. Sara Holland – Everless (25)
  22. Will McIntosh – Burning Midnight (25)
  23. Patrick Ness – The Knife Of Never Letting Go (25) YA
  24. Jerry Spinelli – Stargirl (24)
  25. Kim Liggett – The Grace Year (23) YA
  26. Teri Terry – Slated (23)
  27. Sarah Crossan – One (22)
  28. Kim Slater – The Boy Who Lied (22)
  29. Lois Morgan – Sleepless (21)
  30. Sally Nicholls – Things A Bright Girl Can Do (21) YA
  31. Jeremy De Quidt – The Wrong Train (21)
  32. Pittacus Lore – I Am Number Four (20)
  33. Karen McManus – Two Can Keep A Secret (20)
  34. Peader O’Guilin – The Call 2: the Invasion (20)
  35. Robin Stevens – Murder Most Unladylike (20)
  36. William Sutcliffe – The Gifted, The Talented and Me (20) YA
  37. E Lockhart – We Were Liars (19) YA
  38. Angie Thomas – On The Come Up (19) YA
  39. Virginia Bergin – The Rain (18)
  40. Malorie Blackman Noughts and Crosses (18) YA
  41. Philip Pullman – Northern Lights (18)
  42. Elizabeth Laird – Welcome to Nowhere (17)
  43. Onjali Q Rauf – The Boy At The Back Of the Class (17)
  44. Helen Gardner – My Side Of The Diamond (16)
  45. Sara Pinborough – Thirteen Minutes (16) YA
  46. Sue Wallman – Your Turn To Die (16)
  47. Kevin Brooks – The Bunker Diary (15) YA
  48. Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games (14)
  49. Sarah Crossan – Apple and Rain (14)
  50. Sarah Govett – The Territory book 2: Escape (14)