Accelerated Reader – Year 5

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 – all told with appropriate warmth and humour. 

The narrative voice is hugely relatable and the theme of friendship is addressed with due recognition that sometimes there are no easy answers when it comes to human relationships, but that loyalty, integrity and time investment are important foundations on which good friendships are built. Cath Howe has set this story in an honest reflection of a world in which children and adults alike are flawed and struggle deeply with life’s ups and downs.

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 warmth.

Lenny Brown is a beautiful, emotionally uplifting and powerful story. It focuses on Lenny who, due to his mum changing jobs, has to move house and school. In the story, Lenny not only navigates the rollercoaster of change that comes with a new school and new friendships but tackles this as a child who only will speak to his mum and his dog, Rocky.

The book is so sensitively written. The characters draw you in and allow you to consider Lenny’s situation and how he decides to overcome his own challenges. It celebrates friendship and tolerance…and football.

It is a wonderful novel and would be perfect for a KS2 class reader. Many children will share a class with a child like Lenny or have to face their time at primary school with selective mutism. I am Lenny Brown recognises this group of children and opens the conversation about this condition.

This story was partially inspired by footballer Marcus Rashford’s own experiences growing up and is written with children’s author Alex Falase-Koya. Marcus remembers the breakfast clubs he attended growing up, and said “Breakfast Club guaranteed I had the best possible start to my day and welcomed me with open arms. It wasn’t just about food. It was about forming friendships, about togetherness, about escape. It was where some of my greatest memories were made.” This fiction book pays homage to the role breakfast club played in his upbringing.

In the story, Marcus attends Breakfast Club along with his football-loving friends. Since he lost his lucky football over the fence, his magic touch is gone and he’s lost his enthusiasm a bit. Everybody knows that he won’t get the football back because the other side of the fence is a no-go zone with a derelict, abandoned building. Before he knows it, Marcus ends up swept up on an adventure with the Breakfast Club Investigators involving a mysterious note, a strange creature and a deep dive into what really lurks beyond the fence.

This fun, pacey adventure full of twists and turns is a big hit with Key Stage 2.

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 down 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.

Every now and then you find a picture book that is so much more than just a book with pictures. This is one of those books, telling the true story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay through words and quite breathtaking illustrations. This book is complex enough for older children and deals with extreme poverty as well as the joy of music while the pictures, showing both light and shade, stay in the mind long after reading. The faces of the children linger; the contrasts of colour making everything vivid and snatching you into the book, giving the reader the tiniest glimpse of what life is like in one of the poorest slums on Earth. The problem is solved with the use of rubbish, turning something that is clearly blighting their lives into something of huge benefit. The reader is left with a sense of the enormous ingenuity that must have gone on to recreate the instruments the children needed to play. The very end of the book takes you into reality as the author explains the true story and there is even a photo of the children with their instruments.

This is a remarkable book because it has the scope to be used as the basis for so much different work in schools. The story alone is unusual, the illustrations show notable use of colour and shade. The topic of the book could be used in music or Geography, or recycling topics. I’d never heard of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay before, but this book has made me glad to learn that such a wonderful organisation exists.

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. 

This book is an action-packed sci-fi survival story where a young reader can step into the shoes of the central character, aptly named Luna.

When events take a turn for the worse, she is the only person left stranded on the moon’s surface. Tension builds as she faces challenges in harsh conditions, and with dwindling supplies, it is a race against time to somehow escape before night draws in. Despite her age, Lunar has many responsibilities while living on the moon with her father (a Moon Miner). She has undertaken intensive training, which comes in handy later in the book! A meteorite warning threatens the safety of the team, and in a rush to evacuate, Luna is separated from everyone. In a mission to reach the far side of the moon, she must use her scientific knowledge to solve a range of problems in the hope that she will be reunited with her father.

The gripping moments and dilemmas, including the risk of running out of oxygen, keep the reader on the edge of their seat as they take the journey with her. The quick-witted comments from Luna are a fun aspect, and many children, including reluctant Upper KS2 readers, will enjoy this humorous aspect of the book, particularly the mention of nappies and exploding eyeballs! Sci-fi enthusiasts and those interested in Earth and Space will enjoy the scientific details mentioned throughout.

A dragon-filled adventure and the first book in an exciting new series by Katie and Kevin Tsang, co-authors of the popular Sam Wu books.

12-year-old Billy Chan has been sent from his home in California – where he’d much rather be surfing – to a Chinese Summer Camp deep in the shadows of a mysterious mountain in China. In between learning Mandarin, martial arts and cooking, there are to be team challenges, the first of which takes Billy and his new friends (Charlotte, Ling Fei and Dylan) into an area that is out of bounds. Ling Fei loses her necklace and they are forced to return to the area. When his new friends disappear, Billy bravely enters the mountain to find them, but comes face to face with four dragons! As each of the children forms an unbreakable bond with a dragon, they discover that Ling Fei’s necklace is more than it appears to be and with the power it bestows, along with other magical pearls, the four small humans are tasked to save the whole dragon and human realms!

This was an amazing start to the Dragon Realm series and I was quickly hooked. Filled with legend, magic and, of course, dragons, this would sate any young fantasy lover’s reading appetite. There’s excitement around each corner – from magical objects to out-of-bounds adventuring. I also loved that each of the children was so different, but managed to form a loyal team, exemplifying how you don’t have to be friends with only people who are similar to you.

This is a beguiling start to a promising adventure series, filled with humour, warmth, action and magic.

Gabriel has never really felt like he fits in. Abandoned by his parents as a baby, he’s lived with his ‘grandma’ ever since but they have moved house so many times that nowhere really feels like home. Why have they moved house so many times? The answer is that Gabriel has a habit of getting into trouble. Wherever he goes things seem to disappear and he always gets the blame. Until one day, when he picks the pocket of the wrong person (or should that be the right person?) and finds himself enrolled at Crookhaven – a school specifically aimed at honing the skills required of crooks but only so they can use them to put the world right. His lessons include Deception and History of Crookery. He quickly makes friends and throws himself into lessons. But the biggest challenge of the year is the Break-in. The aim? To break into the headteacher’s office and steal something that won’t be missed. Can Gabriel pull it off? And can he do it alone? Also, who are his parents and why did they abandon him?

An exciting start to what promises to be a brilliant series following Gabriel through his years at Crookhaven. The plot is full of twists and turns and endearing characters. Just brilliant storytelling – I can’t wait to read the next one.

Fans of Katherine Rundell‘s previous books will have high hopes for this, and dare I say it may be her best yet.

Full of adventure, mythical creatures and character growth, it is perfect for a school library. The story follows a boy’s adventures when he discovers a cluster of magical islands on which all sorts of mythical creatures are really alive. He teams up with a local girl on a magical quest to save the islands.

The two main characters have a lot of grit, and their adventure would be appealing to a lot of readers. It is an emotional journey, but one I think children would enjoy.

The world-building is exceptional, with detailed descriptions of the different creatures and exciting descriptions of the places along the journey,  allowing you to picture the settings in your mind. This is the kind of book that feeds children’s imaginations with wonderful and exciting ideas in a way that only the best children’s stories can do.

A thoroughly enjoyable football-themed read set in 19th-century Sheffield. This book tells the story of Lijah –  a Romani boy living in a Traveller camp. Lijah enjoys collecting scrap with his dad and brother, travelling on the cart and listening to his dad’s stories by the fire.

Lijah reluctantly starts school and at first, he struggles with reading and faces prejudice when some of the other children call him ‘gypsy’ or ‘tramp’. However, he soon discovers a fascination for a new game called football and finds a way to join in with the other boys.

Back home, Lijah meets a local businessman called Jack Davis. Over time, Jack bonds with Lijah over his passion for football and tells him about a famous Romani player called Rab Howell. Can Lijah follow in his new hero’s footsteps while still staying true to his roots and keeping peace with his dad?

This quick and compelling read deals with big themes of heritage, family, changing times and prejudice in sport. The story provides an original new angle into the stream of football storybooks available, and it was interesting to consider the time when professional football was first becoming popular and the legacy of Sheffield in football history, as well as to learn about Rab Howell. Many young readers will relate to the difficulty Lijah encounters balancing cultural traditions with modern life, as well as the tensions between family expectations and following one’s passions.

This story is full of fantastical treasures to keep a reader enthralled: a villain in need of redemption, a mischievous girl and an insatiable bone-crunching beast.

Ebenezer Twitch is five hundred and eleven years old. He has reached this astounding age due to an elixir of youth provided to him by a magical beast, which lives on the top floor of his house. Ebenezer adopted the creature when it was tiny and was thrilled to find that it could magically vomit up any item he desired in exchange for food. As the beast grew larger, so did its demands for unusual dishes, until Ebenezer’s reliance on it to continue living caused him to sacrifice some of the world’s rarest (and subsequently extinct) creatures. Now, though, the beast wants to eat a child…

A laugh-out-loud tale with comic and sinister strands that Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket fans will love.

This well-researched and highly readable historical fiction book takes its title from the name of the medal that honours the Arctic Convoys during World War II and in recognition of the particularly harsh conditions they endured.

Tom Palmer has taken facts gathered from the Imperial War Museum, among other sources, to compose a gripping fictional story about three teenage Royal Navy recruits from Plymouth: Frank, Stephen and Joseph. Their resilience, fortitude and courage shine as brightly as the Arctic (North) Star against the surrounding darkness. Their very survival, both physical and mental, is threatened by constant attacks from German U-boats, submarines, planes and, most terrifying of all, the German battleship known as the Scharnhorst – not to mention freezing conditions, fierce storms, shattered dreams and rocky relationships. The life-and-death struggle is played out until the very last page.

This book, with its concluding Author’s Note together with the 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. A thoroughly recommended read, just like Tom Palmer’s other well-researched and highly readable novels.

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 that will appeal to fans of Cath Howe and Jacqueline Wilson.

When Jaz finds a leaflet advertising a girls’ football tournament, she seizes the opportunity to take back some control. Thinking carefully about how to sell the idea to her classmates, Jaz pours heart and soul into rallying a team of girls to prepare for the tournament. From fundraising to training, Jaz leaves no stone unturned – with her passionate hopes of proving that girls can be taken seriously in football matched only by her desire to get mum back.

With girls’ football growing more popular than ever, this is an empowering book with a dynamic and entertaining main character who shows what can happen when somebody leads the way in a new sporting initiative. 

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.

A beautifully heartfelt and moving story with strong environmental themes. This story highlights the topic of global warming, but also draws a picture of the wonderful connection that can develop between children and animals.

When April heads to a remote Arctic island with her father, who is there for scientific research, she’s not sure exactly what to expect. The trip to ‘Bear Island’ has the potential to be a very lonely trip – with endless summer Arctic nights, an isolated wilderness and, according to her father, no actual polar bears left on the island for April to spot despite its name.

Surprisingly, April encounters a real polar bear on the island when nobody else is around. Isolated from his family, the bear is starving and alone, with nobody to help him. Over time, a friendship develops and April becomes more determined than ever to save the bear. 

There’s something magical about this story – from the wonderfully evoked Arctic setting to the glorious friendship that develops between April and the bear. This is a powerful and important story that will stir the heart through its gently unfolding message that places hope in the hands of the young to make a difference in the planet’s future.

Here’s one for the booklovers! Pages & Co: Tilly and the Bookwanderers is a middle-grade adventure where classic children’s characters wander from the pages of their books out into a bookshop, where they lead 11-year-old Tilly back into their fictional worlds.

Tilly lives with her grandparents in their bookshop, ‘Pages & Co’. Tilly’s mum mysteriously disappeared when she was very small and she knows very little about her dad. Often lonely, Tilly finds solace among the pages of the wonderful books in the bookshop. One day, things take a thrilling turn when Anne of Green Gables appears in the shop, soon after followed by Alice in Wonderland. Tilly’s world is turned upside down when she realises that not only can characters from the books leave their stories and come into her world, but she can wander right into theirs too. Tilly is a bookwanderer!

Along with her best friend Oskar, Tilly embarks upon a bookwandering adventure beyond her wildest imagination. But among the sheer joy of visiting fictional worlds, questions begin to emerge about bookwandering. Is there a network of other bookwanderers like her? Why is the mysterious Enoch Chalk always loitering nearby? Can bookwandering help Tilly solve the mystery of what really happened to her mother all those years ago? Do her grandparents know more than they have let on about the world of bookwandering?

This is a clever story with a high appeal to booklovers. Readers with prior knowledge of the classic book characters will get the most out of this book, but this is by no means a prerequisite for enjoying the story with its convincing characterisation, creative world-building and enjoyable plot twists and turns.  A delightful story set to charm readers young and old.

We love a fairy tale with a twist and so eagerly welcomed the arrival of this new illustrated middle-grade series from poet Joseph Coelho and Freya Hartas, with this first instalment placing a deviously dark twist on the Rumpelstiltskin – told in verse.

Coelho’s treatment of the story – which adds a Frankenstein twist to a traditional tale – is as delightfully amusing as it is deliciously dark. After years of Disneyfication and a ‘softening up’ of well-known fairy tales for a generation who often find their stories served up with a little more happily-ever-after and a little less goriness, Coehlo’s series takes a direct step in the colder and creepier direction that you might expect from Roald Dahl’s fairy tales or the original Grimm stories.

There’s plenty to shock and also an enjoyable streak of dark humour and plenty of wit in both the author’s free verse and Freya Hartas’ stylishly expressive black and white illustrations.

This haunting story has earned its place as a true classic for Year 5.

The story is set in an alternative Victorian England, one where wolves roam freely around the land and are a dangerous threat to humans. Cousins Sylvia and Bonnie are being looked after by a new and highly unpleasant governess called Miss Slighcarp. With dangers at every turn, the girls have to pool their resources and keep their eyes wide open to escape to safety.

Truly exciting with tunnels and old houses and secret places, this classic story book is just as thrilling for today’s children as it was when first published decades ago.