I have given each of my recommendations for children an age suggestion. These are of course approximate. Please also have a look at younger or older categories.
Fourteen-year-old Alex Gray wakes up one morning to discover he's not in his own bedroom. He goes downstairs to be greeted by a family he's never met before. And when he looks in the mirror, he doesn't recognise himself. How is it possible that Alex has become another boy - someone called Philip? And how have six months passed overnight?
Review date: 09.04.11
Age recommendation: 12+
War is approaching and a young boy is sent to live with his aunt in a wealthy household on the top of a mountain. A challenging and poignant story.
Review date: 02.09.23
Age recommendation: 11+
A thrilling adventure set in Wales with archery, adventure, time travel, romance and a strong female character.
Review date: 29.09.15
Age recommendation: 11+
Billy lives in a care home. He is considered trouble because no one can touch him. He does what he wants, and he is full of anger. But Billy's younger brother and sister live in the home with him. They have known nothing else, and Billy will do anything to protect them.
Age recommendation: 12+
A fascinating and charming portrayal of a girl with Aspergers struggling to come to terms with tragedy.
Review date: 23.01.12
Age recommendation: 12+
A stunning, compelling story with so many layers and facets.
Review date: 14.01.13
Age recommendation: 11+
A gripping gothic thriller with magic, ghosts and a coming-of-age, beautifully illustrated.
Review date: 07.09.23
Age recommendation: 11+
A ghost story with 'issues' set at a woodland holiday complex.
Review date: 11.02.12
Age recommendation: 12+
A summer on a remote Swedish island is wonderfully atmospheric in this coming-of-age novel.
Review date: 05.10.23
Age recommendation: 12+
A gripping and compelling drama touching on fostering and the criminal justice system, aimed at the early teen who is struggling with their reading.
Review date: 20.05.22
Age recommendation: 12+
A fabulous modern interpretation of the myth of Robin Hood.
Review date: 05.09.20
Age recommendation: 11+
Three boys living on a dumpsite make a discovery they have only dreamed about. But will it bring them a new and better life or destroy them? A stunning thriller.
Review date: 09.10.15
Age recommendation: 11+
When work experience goes out of control! A fantastic idea which has produced a gripping and ultimately uplifting thriller.
Review date: 06.10.15
Age recommendation: 11+
A nostalgic tale of three young women in 1896 returning to their very different lives after boarding school. Told in letters, with a modern slant.
Review date: 19.08.23
Age recommendation: 12+
Powerfully atmospheric of the American west in the late 1800s just before the Civil War. It's about ghosts and mystery, friendship, loyalty, courage and grief.
Review date: 16.01.23
Age recommendation: 11+
An exciting and thought-provoking ecological adventure set in the Arctic.
Review date: 30.12.22
Age recommendation: 11
James has just moved to the Lake District with his dad and his older sister, Jasmine. It is meant to be a fresh start for them all.
Age recommendation: 11+
We are introduced to Celia as she comes to realise that her life has been built on a lie.
Review date: 29.05.11
Age recommendation: 12+
Beautifully written adventure of a seriously ill 13-year-old girl - her coming of age as she faces death, with a twist.
Review date: 14.11.15
Age recommendation: 11+
