Want to know what books Alom Shaha recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Alom Shaha's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
Katherine Paterson | 4.14
Angel Morgan needs help. Daddy is in jail, and Mama has abandoned her and her little brother, leaving them with their great-grandmother. Grandma is aged and poor, and doesn’t make any attempt to care for the children—that’s left up to Angel, even though she is not yet twelve. The only bright spot in Angel’s existence is the Star Man, a mysterious stranger who appears on clear nights and teaches her all about the stars and planets and constellations. “We’re made out of the same stuff as the stars,” he tells her.
Eventually, Grandma warms to the children and the three begin to... more Angel Morgan needs help. Daddy is in jail, and Mama has abandoned her and her little brother, leaving them with their great-grandmother. Grandma is aged and poor, and doesn’t make any attempt to care for the children—that’s left up to Angel, even though she is not yet twelve. The only bright spot in Angel’s existence is the Star Man, a mysterious stranger who appears on clear nights and teaches her all about the stars and planets and constellations. “We’re made out of the same stuff as the stars,” he tells her.
Eventually, Grandma warms to the children and the three begin to cobble together a makeshift family. Then events in Angel’s life take yet another downturn, and she must once again find a way to persevere. less Alom ShahaThe title is based on the fact that the elements of which we are made will have been formed in a dying star…you take that thought and put it into a human story, and it’s powerful. (Source)
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2
Many hundreds of years ago, the city of Ember was created by the Builders to contain everything needed for human survival. It worked - but now the storerooms are almost out of food, crops are blighted, corruption is spreading through the city and worst of all - the lights are failing. Soon Ember could be engulfed by darkness-But when two children, Lina and Doon, discover fragments of an ancient parchment, they begin to wonder if there could be a way out of Ember. Can they decipher the words from long ago and find a new future for everyone? Will the people of Ember listen to them? more Many hundreds of years ago, the city of Ember was created by the Builders to contain everything needed for human survival. It worked - but now the storerooms are almost out of food, crops are blighted, corruption is spreading through the city and worst of all - the lights are failing. Soon Ember could be engulfed by darkness-But when two children, Lina and Doon, discover fragments of an ancient parchment, they begin to wonder if there could be a way out of Ember. Can they decipher the words from long ago and find a new future for everyone? Will the people of Ember listen to them? less Alom ShahaPost-apocalyptic, character driven, novel with anti-nuclear themes about an underground world where electricity is an incredibly rare resource. (Source)
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3
When Albie's mum dies, it's natural he should wonder where she's gone. His parents are both scientists and they usually have all the answers. Dad mutters something about Albie's mum being alive and with them in a parallel universe. So Albie finds a box, his mum's computer and a rotting banana, and sends himself through time and space to find her... more When Albie's mum dies, it's natural he should wonder where she's gone. His parents are both scientists and they usually have all the answers. Dad mutters something about Albie's mum being alive and with them in a parallel universe. So Albie finds a box, his mum's computer and a rotting banana, and sends himself through time and space to find her... less Alom ShahaI like that Christopher Edge was able to take a big idea like the many worlds hypothesis and marry it to a very human story of a boy’s longing to see his mother again. (Source)
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4
Jack Challoner, Kate Cragoe Mayfield | 4.60
Meet scientist, inventor, thinker, hero Cuthbert Armeeni, who lives in a land where people use satellites to predict the weather but no one knows that germs cause disease; where calendars can skip a month by royal decree; and where cats can talk – or can they? Discover some of the stories from his own diary, retold in rhyme. more Meet scientist, inventor, thinker, hero Cuthbert Armeeni, who lives in a land where people use satellites to predict the weather but no one knows that germs cause disease; where calendars can skip a month by royal decree; and where cats can talk – or can they? Discover some of the stories from his own diary, retold in rhyme. less Alom ShahaThe book is filled with Jack’s love and knowledge of science, presenting the same kind of ideas that you would get in a popular science book in a gloriously creative manner. (Source)
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5
Raymond Briggs' now famous bestselling comic cartoon book depicts the effects of a nuclear attack on an elderly couple in his usual humorous yet macabre way. more Raymond Briggs' now famous bestselling comic cartoon book depicts the effects of a nuclear attack on an elderly couple in his usual humorous yet macabre way. less Alom ShahaThe anti-nuclear message of When the Wind Blows is such an important one that I think Briggs was right not to sugar-coat it. (Source)
James MillerThis haunting graphic novel was a tender and tragic counterpart to the epic battles of Judge Dredd, and all the more memorable as a result. (Source)
James MillerThis haunting graphic novel was a tender and tragic counterpart to the epic battles of Judge Dredd, and all the more memorable as a result. (Source)
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