Faith Jackson - Super Reader!

I've been following Faith's reading adventures for quite a while now and I have to say I'm not surprised by all the attention she is getting. So after speaking to her mum, Laura, I was only too eager to share more of Faith's reading journey on my blog. So I will pass you over to Laura Jackson now to tell you more about Faith and discovering what her Top Twenty books are for 2015.

Recently Faith has been in a few newspapers, not the ideal place for an 11 year old probably but, if she's going to be "in the news" then doing so for being a bookworm isn't too bad!

Faith has been on a pretty unbelievable (I can use that word safely, as I've recently had email communication about her from Ripley's Believe It Or Not!) reading journey in the last 4 or 5 years. From scarcely being able to recognise all 26 letters at age 7, and testing as having "dyslexic tendencies" to ending up on national television with Cressida Cowell 2 years ago because of how many books she'd read and having two fantastic authors (Holly Webb & Lucy Coats) dedicate books to her!

We started making a list of what she read on July 1st 2013, mostly because I was amazed at how much she'd improved with her reading in the preceding 6 months. Little did I know that two and a half years later I would still be diligently recording every single title and author - the cry of "Muuuuum, I've finished another boooook" is almost annoyingly familiar now.

So, in the first 6 months she read 272 books, after which she ended up on breakfast television and in several papers. In 2014 she read 942 books, and was furious not to have made it to 1000. Which brings us to her most recent coverage, for reading 1151 books in 2015. She had been determined to get over 1000 and obviously she did!

Two newspapers covered the story and a third asked her to make a list of her top 5 or 10 books of 2015. Faith said that was impossible, and in the end agreed to pick 20 (but, as you can imagine, even choosing 20 out of 1151 was a mammoth task!) that she most enjoyed.

Unfortunately, after all Faith's effort, the newspaper decided against running the story which seemed a shame so, here in all its glory is her full list.

The books are in no particular order and have been chosen from any that she read during 2015, rather than being restricted to only books published in 2015. She has also cheated slightly and says that all those books which are part of a series ( yes, that's a large percentage of the list!) represent the whole series, and not just the individual book.

• Fire Storm by Lauren St John

• The School For Good And Evil by Soman Chainani

• Taking Chances by Lauren Brooke

• The Dreamsnatcher by Abi Elphinstone

• The Palamino Pony On Parade by Olivia Tuffin

• The Girl Savage by Katherine Rundell

• A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig

• Jeannie Of White Peak Farm by Berlie Doherty

• The Secrets Of Sam And Sam by Susie Day

• Take Your Last Breath by Lauren Child

• The Water Horse by Holly Webb

• Sweet Honey by Cathy Cassidy

• Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

• Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens

• Emily Windsnap And The Monster From The Deep by Liz Kessler

• Thirteen Secrets by Michelle Harrison

• Harper And The Scarlet Umbrella by Cerrie Burnell

• Elephant Thunder by Elizabeth Laird

• Return To The Secret Garden by Holly Webb

• The Brilliant Fall Of Gianna Z. By Kate Messner

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What an amazing list of books! Thanks to Laura and Faith for sharing this with us. If you want to follow Faith's reading journey further, you can follow Laure on Twitter or on Facebook. Congratulations to Faith on such a successful year in reading and let's hope 2016 is even better.