Mortal Engines
Philip Reeve
In the far future, whole cities roll across the land on giant wheels, hunting and eating smaller towns. Tom Natsworthy, a lowly apprentice in the travelling city of London, meets his hero, the explorer Thaddeus Valentine, just as a scarred girl called Hester Shaw tries to kill Valentine, and Tom is soon swept out of the city altogether.
- Length
- About 90,000 words
- To read it
- About 60 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 Mortal Engines is on the list
- Year 8, Stretch. A step up in length or difficulty, for a confident reader.
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.