We the Children (Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School series #1)
By Andrew Clements
Benjamin Pratt’s school is all set to become the site of a glitzy new amusement park that is expected to give the town a face-lift. Ben tries to convince himself to get used to the idea of losing his 100-year-old school and the priceless views of the sea from the classroom windows. However, an odd run-in with the school’s janitor, Mr. Keane, fills Ben with doubt. Doubled over in pain because of an illness, Mr. Keane presses a gold coin into Ben’s hand and tells him that the school must be saved. With his friend Jill Acton’s help, Ben looks for support from a most unlikely source: the people who built the school. The gold coin turns out to be one of many clues that have been handed down over generations to rescue the school in a time of desperate need.
Mr. Stink
By David Walliams
Mr Stink stank. He also stunk. And if it was correct English to say he stinked, then he stinked as well…
Mr. Stink is a homeless man who is seen sitting on a park bench every-day with a small dog by his side. He smells so badly that pedestrians avoid coming down the road when they know he's there. Everybody keeps away from him except Chloe. She has no friends at school. Her sister, Annabelle, is described as “perfect” and “evil,” with reason. Her mother frowns on the idea of anything that is not posh, and her father never raises a protest against any of her mother’s decisions. Chloe makes up stories in her head to try and explain why Mr. Stink would want to spend his life on a bench by the side of a road. However, when she hears that he may be driven away from the spot due to a new legislation, she takes matters into her own hands.
The Room on the Roof
By Ruskin Bond
Rusty is a lonely, orphaned Anglo Indian boy who leads a rather melancholy existence in Dehradun. He is under the thumb of his formidable guardian, Mr Harrison, who has no qualms in using violence to mould Rusty into a disciplined English gentleman. Then one rainy day Rusty's life changes forever when he meets three local boys - Somi, a good-natured Sikh; Ranbir, a burly wrestler; and Suri, a cunning Kashmiri. Unbeknownst to his guardian, Rusty takes up Somi’s invitation to visit him at the Indian Bazaar. For Rusty, this proves to be a revelation and he takes pleasure in eating at the Chaat shop, playing with colours during the festival of Holi, and interacting with the locals. In the company of Somi, Ranbir, and Suri, his unhappiness fades away. Soon, Rusty runs away from his guardian’s house and embarks on an adventure. This award-winning book was Bond’s first novel written when he was just seventeen.
