A Kestrel for a Knave
Barry Hines
Billy Casper is fifteen, small for his age and in trouble at home and at school in a Yorkshire mining town. His brother Jud bullies him and most of his teachers have given up on him. But Billy has a secret: a wild kestrel he has trained himself, and when he is with Kes nothing else matters.
- Length
- About 55,000 words
- To read it
- About 37 days
- Stage
- Key Stage 3
Reading time at 1,500 words a day, the pace we start from until we know your child’s own.
Where it is taught
Why A Kestrel for a Knave is on the list
- Year 9, Stretch. A step up in length or difficulty, for a confident reader. Former GCSE set text.
Reading it here
What your child does with it
- 1
Choose it and set a finish date
You get a suggested target from the length of the book and your child's reading pace.
- 2
Check in along the way
A longer book has short check-ins every week or two, so it keeps moving and nothing is forgotten.
- 3
Answer two questions
When they finish: a review of the book, and a deeper question about how it works.
- 4
Get it marked, and redraft
Every answer is marked against the rubric for their year, with a reason for every score.