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Article  •  11 December 2025

 

2026 Education Highlights: Intermediate and Secondary Schools

Recommended texts for the new English curriculum

To help you in your lesson planning, we've gathered a collection of the best books to inspire, engage and delight your students.

These recommendations include novels from NZ authors, short stories, poetry, seminal texts, film-tie ins and non-fiction texts that fit in with the new curriculum.

Linking to teachers' notes and real life examples of how teachers have taught these books in their classrooms, we hope you find this resource a useful source of inspiration!

Download our free printable 2026 Education Highlights resource for Years 7-13 here!

Looking for more great education resources including printable activites, teachers' notes, book reviews and more? Subscribe to the Penguin Schools newsletter! Click here to sign up. 

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