YA Reads

Windows and Mirrors is a brand-new series of 6 engaging and thought-provoking titles that will offer a powerful opportunity to open conversations, challenge bias and prejudice, foster a sense of community, and build resilience. Written by award-winning writer, editor and journalist, Katharine Quarmby, these titles can act as ‘mirrors’, reflecting the reader’s own experiences to help them feel heard and understood, as well as ‘windows’, where students are given an insight into lives different from their own. Set in an inner city school, each book looks at the experience of a student who is going through a difficult time. The books navigate the reader through hardships and signpost how to access, or offer, help. Although the books can be hard-hitting, the subjects examined are expertly and sensitively handled.

We spoke with author Katharine Quarmby about the series:

Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your series ‘Windows and Mirrors’? Were

Why is reading in Year 7 important?

Moving from primary school to secondary is a huge change for eleven-year-olds. It is also a pivotal moment in defining their reading habits. With the beginning of secondary school comes new distractions and motivating students to read can become challenging.

Fostering a love of reading has a huge impact on students’ progress and overall socio-economic success in life. The Reading Agency states that “children who read books often at age 10 and more than once a week at age 16 gain higher results in maths, vocabulary and spelling tests at age 16 than those who read less regularly.” Reading regularly also helps concentration levels, improves writing skills, and expands vocabulary.  

But it’s not just about providing students with the crucial ability to read in order to aid future

This year we are excited to launch our very own Badger Book Awards, designed to encourage reading for pleasure and champion incredible books. We’ve shortlisted fifty titles from 2022, splitting them into the top 10 titles for Years 7 to 11. 

Each vote submitted gives you a chance to win £500 worth of books for your secondary school! The author of each winning category will also be given £500 worth of books to donate to a UK school of their choice.

VOTING ENDS SOON! 3Oth June 2023

Welcome Back

It’s fantastic to see children back in school after so long a break, and we know how hard staff have had to work to implement all the new (and changing) procedures to get to this stage.

Here at Badger Learning we have been working on updating our products to make sure we have what you need to ensure children are supported in their reading journey and with their wellbeing. We know that the pandemic has put a huge strain on some children’s mental health and wellbeing and as much as we hope that will all be eased now they are back at school, some will need additional resources. Primary teachers may want to take a look at our PSHE Through Stories Collection.  For secondary schools, our Minding Your Mental Health and Supporting

Climate conversations are never simple, with many people finding it hard to visualise a world of climate chaos or simply refusing to do so. That is why discussions through literature are so important – they bring the pandemonium to life and aid in envisaging a ravaged world, unlike anything we have seen before.

It feels like we are approaching the Golden Age of Young Adult ‘cli-fi’ (climate change fiction). Our worldwide news is constantly awash with ecological disasters and the beginning of 2020 has been no different with the devastating bush fires in Australia horrifying people all over the world. Although gaining popularity, very few ‘cli-fi’ novels actually deal directly with climate change but rather discuss the after-effects. Our No Planet B collection strives to raise awareness of the irreversible damage we are causing, a collection to shock but also to inspire – books that act as literary catalysts.

No Planet B contains various ecological dystopias,

You asked for more, so here you go! We are delighted to announce that six, brand new Papercuts books will be published in January 2020. Papercuts III builds on our award-winning Papercuts I and Papercuts II series of bone-chilling horror stories for students aged 13+. Once again, our talented authors and artists have created six eye-catching and engaging books that will be sure to grab, and hold, the attention of even the most reluctant teenage reader. Each story is packed with horror and elements of the supernatural and, for the first time ever, two of the titles are sci-fi horrors set in space!

Each book contains four full-page images interspersed throughout the text, helping readers to visualise the story, whilst retaining the appearance of a teenage novel. As with our other Papercuts titles, the books in Papercuts III have a reading age of 8–9 and a manageable word count of 5000­–6000. A dyslexia-friendly font and design is used, with bite-sized chunks of text and line

Two Sides II – Out Now!

We are thrilled to announce that we are back with a brand-new series — Two Sides II.

Given the success of the first Two Sides series — published in September last year — we expect these six new books to be a real hit with students.

As in the first series, the texts consist of two first-person narratives with differing perspectives. One ‘bystander’ narrative, usually presenting a narrow or prejudiced view, alternates with the main character’s voice who reveals the broader reality of their difficult situation.

These books really do pack a punch and consider hard-hitting topics that affect many of today’s teenagers. Gender identity, racism, sexuality, anxiety, loneliness, domestic abuse and homelessness are all covered.

They are specifically written for struggling and reluctant readers aged 13+, with reading ages of 8–9.

Each book has a dedicated section at the back with easily-digestible information about the topics