Jaz Santos vs the World is the first in a new series about a girl who gathers an unlikely group of friends together to make their own girls’ football team. This is an inclusive and empowering tale with a real-life feel. This timely and heart-warming story about teamwork, self-belief and following your passions in the face of life’s ups and downs is likely to score big with readers aged 8-11.

The Secrets of the Treasure Keepers is a wonderfully immersive story that takes the reader back to what life might have been like for one family at a particular moment in history. The story felt extra special as it is a rare example of fiction set in the Fens, near BooksForTopics HQ. I know that the author’s commitment to highlighting this area of the country will be warmly welcomed by schools both in the local area and also for those readers yet to discover the hauntingly beautiful geography of the Fens.

The story centres around the apparent discovery of some buried Roman treasure in the field of a struggling farming family. Ruth and her mum – a budding archaeology expert – visit the farm to discover more. What drives the story is the unfolding secrets and backstories of the various different main characters – all interesting and well-nuanced – making for an enjoyable mystery full of intrigue and due compassion for the desperation that can drive deceit.

I particularly enjoyed the well-drawn historical setting of post-war Britain. We see a lot of middle-grade stories set during the war, but the period immediately after the war had finished is just as interesting and much less widely considered in children’s books. How does a country get back on its feet after the devastation of the war? No stone is left unturned when it comes to incidental details that flesh out the time and place of the story’s setting. The country is still reeling from the war’s impact and the reader is given space to reflect on the difficulty this caused for different individuals – for example in terms of ongoing rationing, widespread poverty, the ‘make do and mend’ mentally, missing family members, the dawn of the NHS and the deeply-felt consequences of the war’s destruction on property, people and family relationships. A major theme of the story is embracing change and looking at ways to improve the future even during difficult times – a theme that is just as relevant today as it was in 1948. For me, this is the crux of what makes A.M. Howell’s writing so compelling; the stories feel so authentically and evocatively set in their time period while also being timeless in their themes.

Heartfelt and hopeful, this is a historical adventure not to be missed.

A gently unfolding detective story that delicately unpacks themes of food poverty, friendship and the importance of community spaces. Author Ewa Jozefkowicz says of the book, ‘The pandemic has had a huge impact on food insecurity, with as many as 2.3 million children now affected. So through my book, as well as telling a story, I wanted to highlight the importance of community and to show all readers that they shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help if they need it.’
This is a relatively quick read – but a deeply satisfying one – that will appeal to readers who enjoy true-to-life stories, a mystery to solve and gentle storytelling that explores real-world issues.

This thrilling steampunk adventure follows siblings Arthur and Maudie Brightstorm as they try to find out what happened to their explorer father. Arthur, who has a prosthetic iron right arm, is a great problem solver and book lover, while his sister is good at fixing things. When they learn about a race to South Polaris, where their father was lost, they win a place onboard the Aurora, a fantastic sky-ship. Maudie’s talent with tools see her appointed as second engineer. Arthur is hired as cook’s assistant. On board Arthur adapts to draining tasks, although his iron arm is heavy and can cause him pain, while also learning new skills – making marsh cakes and communicating with thought wolves! The adventure continues in the sequel Darkwhispers.

This story is set in 1922 around the time that Howard Carter famously excavated Tutankhamun’s tomb. Thirteen-year-old Lilian Kaye enjoys following the newspaper reports about Howard Carter’s progress. A mystery parcel raises lots of questions and soon after Lilian has an opportunity to join a voyage to Egypt. What follows is an exciting adventure that will take Lilian to the very heart of Howard Carter’s fascinating discoveries. Filled with historical intrigue and intelligently drawn characters, this is highly recommended for upper Ks2.

This is a wildly imaginative and highly unusual story (in the best of ways) brimming with wonder, magic, folklore and compassion. Marinka is a 12-year-old girl who lives with her grandmother, Baba Yaga. Together they live in a house with chicken legs and move around from place to place, fulfilling their role of ‘guardians of the gate’ by guiding the spirits of the deceased through the gateway between life and death. Before the spirits pass through the gate, Baba Yaga listens to their stories and celebrates their life with them. Marinka’s destiny appears to be already decided; she is to train to become a Yaga like her grandmother and this means that she is never allowed to go to school or make friends with the living. Increasingly Marinka realises that she does not want to live the life of a Yaga and begins to take big risks as she experiences a rising desire to make some real friends and sample a ‘normal’ existence. What follows is an emotive coming-of-age story that sees Marinka working to resolve the tensions between her own desires and the path she is expected to follow.

Sophie Anderson is a wonderful storyteller and has very skilfully crafted a compelling and believable magical world that is an enchanting amalgamation between traditional and modern. I really enjoyed how, through Marinka’s eyes, I found myself able to explore elements of a Slavic folk story in a fresh and relatable way, and how Anderson’s emotive narrative invites the reader to meet the characters and events with a large amount of compassion.

This is a magical and captivating narrative that dances its way through darkness and light, joy and grief and life and death and it is highly recommended for Years 5 and 6

This well-researched and highly readable novel takes its title from the name of the medal that honours the Arctic Convoys during World War II. The story, with its concluding Author’s Note and accompanying online teaching notes available from Tom Palmer’s website, provides an exciting and informative classroom resource for the teaching of WWII as a curriculum topic, besides being a book many children will choose for the sheer enjoyment of reading. Winner of the BooksForTopics Book of the Year Award for Best Curriculum Support.

This story is told in the form of letters, from Freddy and his parents and also some of the other characters. What the reader knows, but Freddy remains clueless about, is that his parents are not actually sprout farmers but secret agents on the tail of the mastermind criminal Dr Alpha Bett. This is the joke of the book, that Freddy never realises what is going on and yet somehow manages to save the day by accident. The book is delightfully doodled and illustrated by Jack Noel in much the same way as Freddy would have done and this adds to the joy of the letters and postcards he sends…

Twitch is in Year 7, where he is the victim of vicious bullying. Not surprisingly, he would prefer the company of birds to anyone at his school. His plan for the summer holidays, when he finally finishes the first year of secondary, is to spend his time bird watching and also train his pigeons to home. However, his plans are thwarted when a dangerous convict, in prison for murder, escapes. The police believe the escapee will be returning to the area where Twitch is planning to spend his summer- Aves Wood. There are also millions of pounds involved that have yet to be recovered. Twitch makes some unlikely allies and together they end up trying to track down the prisoner and find the lost millions. But with so much at stake, this becomes a highly hazardous pastime.

M G Leonard writes beautifully and knowledgeably about birds and bird-watching. As someone who has never been a bird watcher, I ended up going out with my family and looking for birds and we all got interested. I think this book would do the same for many children. The story is infused with a love of nature in general and birds in particular and it leaves a vivid impression.

Twitch himself is a very likeable hero and his ingenious problem solving is both clever and engaging. He is a fantastic role model, and I was overjoyed to discover he will feature in further books.

This is an exciting adventure, a mystery story and one that also deals with some difficult topics such as bullying and a parent in jail. It is also so full of interesting wildlife facts I felt I had learnt a lot by the end of it. It would also make an excellent read-aloud story that children would really enjoy for the suspense and great storytelling.

This is a multi-million selling series that has also been televised with Disney and is hugely popular among fans of action and adventure. Percy Jackson’s modern world is turned upside when he finds out he is descended from Greek gods. What follows is battles with monsters and epic quests in an action-packed series that merges Greek mythology with the modern world. There are also Teachers’ Notes available to download from the publisher.

The Bunny Vs Monkey series by Jamie Smart has become a popular favourite with children. The stories started as part of the Phoenix Comic and have now been made into a book series of their own. Teachers are seeing what a big hit these funny graphic novels have been in the classroom and the books have also seen success in bestseller lists and book award shortlists.

The stories follow the whacky tales of Bunny and his friends Weenie the Squirrel, Pig (the pig), Action Beaver and Skunky the Inventor, who all lived a peaceful life in the forest until Monkey’s rocket crash-landed and he decided to take over. What follows is a riot of chaotic adventures and mayhem that unfolds through a funny comic strip format.

Since the disappearance of her mother, Tilly has lived in a bookshop with her grandparents, where she has found comfort amongst the pages of her favourite books. When she discovers her special ability to wander in and out of books alongside her favourite characters, she realises this could hold the key to finding out what really happened to her mother. But she is unnerved by the appearance of the mysterious Enoch Chalk who turns up in the most unexpected of places, taking an unusual interest in Tilly and watching her very closely. Spellbinding and truly magical, the world of Pages & Co is enchanting for readers young and old.

This is a super-engaging story about an alien who gets to spend a month in the body of a domestic cat. We were totally charmed by this middle-grade novel by Carlie Sorosiak. A witty, moving and thought-provoking story about finding and claiming your place in the world. Animal lovers in Key Stage Two will no doubt fall in love with this other-worldly adventure.

The Dog That Saved the World (Cup) is a thoroughly enjoyable story of a dog and his family. Inspired by events of 1966, Phil Earle brings the legend of the Jules Rimet trophy theft up to date by placing his tale in a contemporary setting with contemporary problems. Being narrated by Pickles the dog, difficult – but real – issues of unemployment, single-parenting, poverty and homelessness are explored with an innocent honesty that makes them accessible and appropriate for younger readers. Despite the underlying struggles and heartaches, this is not a story of sadness, but it is a quick, positive read that is fun and uplifting.

After the ending of the story, there is an author’s note explaining the real-life inspiration behind the book. Fara Williams, England’s most capped women’s footballer, has shown that dreams can come true as she herself was homeless but never without hope because she had football in her life. Elsie is a reflection of Fara – full of hope, determination and undefeated by life’s challenges.

Printed on a dyslexia-friendly font on cream paper, the story is delightfully illustrated by Elisa Paganelli. The drawings are predominantly joyful. showing happy faces and the bond between a family who have lots of love even when they have little else.

A fun, super-readable story of football with much, much more besides.

A Victorian murder mystery that has plenty of twists and turns and is difficult to put down.

All Violet Veil has ever wanted is to be taken seriously and to become an apprentice in her family’s business, Veil and Sons’ Undertakers. Unfortunately, she is denied this opportunity simply because she is a girl. When there is a spate of killings, business appears to be good for Mr Veil. That is, until one rainy night when one of the dead bodies comes back to life! In the undertaker’s back room, Violet meets Oliver, a young boy who lives on the streets, and together they embark on an investigation to solve Oliver’s own ‘murder’. They are accompanied by Violet’s loyal greyhound, Bones, who has an affinity for the graveyard that lies next to the Veil’s house and business. In spite of her parents’ disapproval, plucky Violet vows to solve this mystery and Oliver is allowed to stay. When Violet’s father is later accused of these murders, Violet, Oliver and Bones must uncover the truth once and for all in a bid to save Mr Veil’s life.

This book has a strong female lead with a loveable sidekick. Violet’s headstrong nature and sense that justice must be done make her a character that you can’t help but root for. The story takes its readers along on the journey of the investigation and is nail-biting in places.

A must-read for lovers of detective stories, ghostly tales and historical fiction. There is a sense of dark adventure and foreboding throughout and this makes the spooky nature of the story very appealing. 

Ella on the Outside is a superbly honest debut from Cath Howe, with authentic characters and important themes of friendship, loyalty, self-acceptance and parental responsibility. For me this was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I’m convinced the characters will resonate strongly with lots of readers. As well as the themes of friendship and loyalty, the book also addresses issues of parental responsibility, childhood eczema, mental health and the impact of having an absent parent. This is a gripping and emotive read filled with heart and we recommend it for readers in upper KS2…

If you know Flying Eye publishing house’s output, you will know before you even see this book that ‘Amazon River’ is a beautiful object, that the art will be as thoughtful as the writing, the quality of paper as important as the factual information.
Reading this to a class as the launch to a topic on the Amazon/Rainforests will undoubtedly whet the children’s appetite to learn about this astonishing and awe-inspiring place. The introduction is amply matched by the end piece, ‘A river of the World’, which sums the book up perfectly, as well as acting as an excellent discussion starter on the interconnectedness of our planet…

Welcome to FACTopia!, a wonderland of crazily connected facts. Choose your own path through this hilarious world of 400 facts, all of which are verified by Encyclopaedia Britannica. Every fact in the book is connected to the next in an ingenious trail of information – making it a kind of ‘choose your own adventure’ of the fact world. From the attention-grabbing orange cover to the final recordbreaking endings, this book is a winner. It has an index, it has sources, it has picture credits, it has information about the author, illustrator and designer, it has a contents listing. But more, much more than these useful additions, it has facts, 400+ of them, presented so that readers can choose their own way through the book on the basis of what intrigues them most…

A favourite non-fiction pick from our 50 Recommended Reads for Year 5 booklist, this a suitable book for helping children aged 7-11 to learn about the science of bacteria, viruses and microbes. The book is packed with information, diagrams and photographs covering different areas of microbiology in a child-friendly way, including how germs behave, why microbes are important, how viral infections spread and how our bodies fight viruses.