Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
On a ship trapped in Arctic ice, the explorer Robert Walton rescues a half-frozen stranger, Victor Frankenstein, who tells him a terrible story. As a brilliant young student, Victor became obsessed with discovering the secret of life, and set out to build a living creature of his own.
- Length
- About 75,000 words
- To read it
- About 50 days
- Stage
- Key Stage 3, GCSE
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 Frankenstein is on the list
- Year 9, Stretch. A step up in length or difficulty, for a confident reader. GCSE set text.
- Year 10, Stretch. A step up in length or difficulty, for a confident reader. GCSE 19th-century novel (AQA, Edexcel).
- Year 11, Stretch. A step up in length or difficulty, for a confident reader. GCSE 19th-century novel (AQA, Edexcel).
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.