As part of our continued promotion of the National Year of Reading with students, pupils in Year 9-11 will be reading an extract from The Night House by Jo Nesbo- The Night House follows Richard, a teenager who moves to a small town. 

Struggling to fit in at his new school, he becomes involved in a strange and frightening incident that makes other students think he’s responsible for a classmate’s disappearance. As more mysterious events happen, Richard begins to question what is real and what isn’t. The story blends mystery and psychological suspense as he tries to uncover the truth.

This is not like other books written by Jo Nesbo but I loved it! It reminded me of 'Stranger Things' - old school town/unknown but clearly vintage era/paranormal goings on. This extract had me glued to the page- wacky as it is! Clearly aimed at YA readers and suitable for 14+. 

“I saw something stir inside him. The thought of impressing people. For someone who had never impressed anyone about anything, this was obviously a serious

consideration. But also the fact that I said ‘we’. He and I. Two friends who played jokes together, who had made a prank phone call and stood there giddy with laughter, who

had had to hold each other up to stop ourselves collapsing when we heard the poor guy at the other end of the line wonder if it really was the devil making the call.

‘Hello?’

The sound came from the telephone receiver. It was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman, a grown-up or a child.

Tom looked at me. I nodded eagerly. And he smiled. He smiled a kind of triumphant smile and raised the receiver to his ear.

I mouthed the words as Tom looked at me and repeated them without the slightest trace of a stammer…”

If students enjoyed this story opening, please find further recommendations below:

  1. Clown in a Cornfield
  2. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
  3. One of Us Is Lying
  4. The Mary Shelley Club
  5. There's Someone Inside Your House
  6. In the Dark of the Night