An avid reader from Great Cornard is the first at her school to complete a list of 50 top books set by teachers including works as varied as Twilight and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.

East Anglian Daily Times: Daisy Houlden, 13, from Great Cornard, is the first student at Thomas Gainsborough School to read 50 must-read booksDaisy Houlden, 13, from Great Cornard, is the first student at Thomas Gainsborough School to read 50 must-read books (Image: Thomas Gainsborough School)

Daisy Houlden, 13, goes to Thomas Gainsborough School, which launched the list a year ago to encourage more students to read – especially books they may not otherwise pick up.

“I have always loved reading, ever since Year 3 when I first read the Harry Potter books,” said Daisy. “I love losing myself in a book and I also like finding out about all the different characters so to take part in the TGS 50 challenge, and be the first to complete it, is great.”

A mix of classical and modern fiction was included in the 50 top titles – which includes Great Expectations, The Hobbit, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Twilight with pupils of all year groups taking part in the literacy project.

While Daisy was the first student to complete the 50-book challenge, others were not too far behind.

East Anglian Daily Times: Daisy Houlden, 13, from Great Cornard, is the first student at Thomas Gainsborough School to read 50 must-read booksDaisy Houlden, 13, from Great Cornard, is the first student at Thomas Gainsborough School to read 50 must-read books (Image: Thomas Gainsborough School)

Emily Mowles, 15, from Great Cornard, has just four to go and she revealed the challenge has changed her love of reading.

She said: “I like the fact that I have been encouraged to read books that I may not have read otherwise.

“There have been many books I haven’t read before and one of them, Gone with the Wind, is now my favourite book.”

Cieran Jacobs, 14, from Sudbury, said his favourite book so far was The London Eye Mystery.

“The challenge has certainly encouraged me to read more and visit our school library more,” he said.

Headteacher Wayne Lloyd said: “In this digital age, we must do all we can to continually encourage young people to read and write and the reaction of the students to the TGS 50 has been brilliant.

“Some students may only read half of the TGS 50, but some will read them all. We just want to continually encourage a love of reading among our young pupils.

“It was difficult compiling a top 50 but these are all great books that will help with vocabulary, knowledge and literacy.”

The list in full is as follows:

•1984

•Animal Farm

•Cider with Rosie

•Dracula

•Fahrenheit 451

•Flowers in the Attic

•Gone with the Wind

•Great Expectations

•King Rat

•Little Women

•On the Road

•One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

•Parade’s End

•Pride and Prejudice

•Tess of the d’Urbervilles

•The Diary of Anne Frank

•The Grapes of Wrath

•The Help

•The Hobbit

•The Life of Pi

•The Lord of the Rings trilogy

•The Secret Garden

•To Kill a Mockingbird

•Wild Swans

•Wuthering Heights

•Before I Die

•The Graveyard Book

•Mates Dates Series

•Goodnight Mr Tom

•Harry Potter Series

•Heidi

•Huckleberry Finn

•Kensuke’s Kingdom

•Lionboy

•Lord of the Flies

•Skellig

•The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

•The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

•The H I V E Series

•The Hunger Games trilogy

•The Journey to the River Sea

•The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

•The London Eye Mystery

•The Silver Sword

•The Story of Tracy Beaker

•The Half Bad Trilogy

•Treasure Island

•Twilight

•War Horse

•The Book Thief