Alex Abbott is [Un]Dead
Not only an engaging and funny diary-style book that is visually interesting and will keep kids turning the pages, this is also an epic adventure…
Book Recommendations
Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good
As punishment for his misdeeds, Norse trickster god Loki is banished to Earth in the form of an eleven-year-old boy for some moral improvement. Frustrated…
The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks
Lottie Brooks faces the embarrassing every-day dramas of starting secondary school in this fun, engaging series. Not only is this the top recommendation of my…
Land of the Last Wildcat
This fast-paced adventure sees Puffin and her best friend Lance racing to save the last of the kuri, a rare magical wildcat, from a scientist…
A Kind of Spark
Addie knows how it feels to be looked down on for being different, so when she learns about the witch trials that took place in…
Starminster
Astrid’s mother hides her away from the world in a rhubarb shed, until one day a stranger with wings comes to take her to the…
Starminster: The Month of Birthdays
In the second of the Starminster series, Astrid’s longed-for wings have arrived, but she cannot take flight. Desperate to keep her place in the magical…
Orphans of the Tide
An epic tale set in the last City after the Enemy has drowned the world. This book follows orphan Ellie, a talented inventor, trying to…
When the Sky Falls
Joseph is angry. With Mum dead and Dad off fighting the war, his grandmother has sent him to the city to live with gruff Mrs…
Mammoth Rider
Ash has grown up at the Arctic research station where scientists have brought mammoths back using cloning technology. Her dad’s role caring for the herd…
Finn’s Epic Fails
Finn is a walking disaster who has a bullying prankster for a big brother, a unicorn-obsessed little sister and a dad who wears way too…
Anya and the Light Above the Ocean
When Mum fails to return from her nightly trip out to sea to conduct her cutting-edge experiments, Anya decides to row out in search of…
The Monsters at the End of the World
Scattered survivors live in coastal villages, struggling to grow crops on ever-shrinking patches of unpoisoned land, relying on desalination for uncontaminated water, and braving seas…
Quill and the Last Generation
Babies are no longer born, winter never gives way to summer and the world is dying. Twelve-year-old Quill is one of the last generation and…
Inkbound: Meticulous Jones and the Skull Tattoo
Fates are revealed on a child’s tenth birthday when magic ink mixes with their blood to reveal their destiny in a tattoo on their hand….
Cruise Ship Kid: Thief at Sea!
This high-energy story stars Silver, who is 10 ¼ and lives on a cruise ship. Her mum is deputy cruise director and is often busy,…
Hari Kumar: Ultimate Superstar
Hari knows he’s going to be a superstar, and the film festival competition at school is his chance for that lucky break. But when the…
Harley Hitch and the Iron Forest
Harley is determined to win pupil of the term. Her inventions are brilliant, but her headmistress doesn’t think Harley fits the role, with her colourful…
The Night I Borrowed Time
As a seventh son, eleven-year-old Zubair discovers he has the power to travel through time. After having some fun rewriting tiny moments of his school…
Tidemagic: The Many Faces of Ista Flit
In the atmospheric streets of Shelwich, magic rises and falls with the tides and people disappear when the mists rise. Ista comes in search of…
Alex Vs Axel: The Impossible Quests
A killer combination of laughter and peril combine in this exciting page-turner. Nerdy school boy Alex and hero-in-training Axel are cosmic twins who end up…
Twitch
Many books tell us it’s okay to be different, that we should dare to be different. This book makes it aspirational. Twitch is an avid…
GreenWild: the World Behind the Door
Daisy lives a wild, adventurous life, travelling the world with her charismatic mother, until a particularly dangerous trip means a stint stuck in a staid…
Journey to the River Sea
It’s 1910, and orphaned English girl Maia is excited when distant relatives agree to take her into their home on the Amazon River. She finds…
Wolf Siren
I was completely drawn in by this atmospheric retelling of Red Riding Hood; it has all the vibes of a classic fairytale, but layered with…
The Shell Keepers
Corrine misses her beloved Grandad, but he has left behind more than memories; he was a shell keeper, protector of the tiny shell-dwelling folk who…
The School For Good and Evil
My older two were obsessed with this series as tweens; a fairytale school for heroes and villains with plenty of twists and turns. Every four…
Asha and the Spirit Bird
Asha’s home is at risk, because Papa has stopped sending money from the city, so she and best friend Jeevan set out on a dangerous…
When Life Gives You Mangoes
Clara can’t remember what happened last summer, and with the arrival of a new girl in their small town, things get even more complicated with…
The Girl of Ink and Stars
Isabella dreams of exploring the lands her cartographer father once mapped, but she is forbidden to leave her island and the Governor has declared its…
Oh Maya Gods
When football fan Vesper accidentally releases Kizin, the Maya god of death, from imprisonment, only a game of Pok-a-Tok can stop him from ending all…
Impossible Creatures
Animal-lover, Christopher isn’t allowed up the mysterious hill near his grandfather’s remote Scottish home, but of course he can’t resist. There he finds mythical creatures…
The Scream of the Whistle
Miserable daughter of divorcing parents, Ruby, decides the best way to reunite her split family is to flee the creepy village they’re staying in by…
The Witchstone Ghosts
Autumn is hassled by the dead, which makes it hard not to seem weird to the living. But when Dad dies, he’s the one ghost…
Another Twist in the Tale
When Oliver Twist was born, his twin sister was left on a scrap heap to die. The tale of Twill Twist is a fantastic blend…
Millions
When a bag of cash falls from the sky, nine-year-old Damien thinks his prayers have been answered, literally. He wants to do good with the…
Role Model
Aerial is 13 and wishes she wasn’t in London. She never asked to be in the spotlight, but with her mother’s election as Prime Minister,…
The Last Bear
When April’s Dad is offered a six-month job in the Arctic Circle, she hopes they’ll have more quality time together, but as he dives into…
Malamander
This is an eerie adventure set in a seaside town in the misty quiet of its winter season, where legendary nautical monsters are more than…
Floodland
Separated from her parents and alone on the island of Norwich after rising seas have covered most of the land, Zoe takes a little boat…
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
Blamed for every misfortune as a cursed child, Morrigan is destined to die on her eleventh birthday. But instead, she is whisked away to the…
A Place Called Perfect
Violet is frustrated when Dad gets a new job and she has to move to a new town. Everyone there has to wear glasses to…
The Explorer
Katherine Rundell writes gorgeous books and I’m a huge fan. If I’m recommending one of her books to a kid in my class, this is…
Gregor the Overlander
Best known for her incredible page-turning Hunger Games series, Suzanne Collins has also written one of my favourite middle grade series – The Underland Chronicles….
Dragon’s Green
In the first of the Worldquake series (Dragon’s Green, The Chosen Ones and Galloglass), we meet Effie and her friends as they each discover their…