Recommended children's booklists sorted by age or topic

Publisher: Barrington Stoke Ltd

Chapter bookDyslexia-friendly
dyslexia-friendly
Three friends, looking for a thrill on Halloween night, find something more terrifying than they could ever have imagined. Phil Hickes doesn’t hold back in his deliciously scary tale of a haunting in the woods of Oregon.
Spooky, Autumnal, chilling, mysterious and haunting.

When Jay discovers a talent for computing, will he pursue his newfound passion or follow the crowd? A heartwarming story from the multi-award winning author of Anisha the Accidental Detective.

Can you be true to yourself without losing your friends along the way? Jay is excited about a game-design project being worked on by the Computing Club at school. He wants to join in, but there’s a big problem.

Jay’s friends think Computing is only for nerds and they want him to join a new football team with them. Both activities happen at the same time, so Jay has to choose.

Can he find the courage to tell his friends how he really feels, and if he does, will it mean their friendship is over …?

Particularly suitable for readers aged 9+ with a reading age of 8.

Chapter bookDyslexia-friendly
dyslexia-friendly

Josh undertakes some unusual training methods to improve his technique in this fun football story, edited to a reading age of 6.5.

Josh is football mad – and so is his granddad, who used to be a league player. Josh is disappointed when he doesn’t do so well in matches at school, so his granddad comes up with some rather unorthodox training methods to help him. Will Josh make it all the way?

Chapter bookDyslexia-friendly
dyslexia-friendly

A boastful teen faces the consequences of showing off in this funny short school story, specially designed for seriously struggling and reluctant teen readers.

Troy loves to show off. He loves to boast about his money and his dad’s new car. Will Troy ever learn his lesson?

Chapter bookDyslexia-friendly
dyslexia-friendly

A day at the beach turns deadly in this gripping story, specially designed to engage seriously struggling and reluctant teen readers.

It was supposed to be a great day at the beach. Carla said she’d help Ben in the water. But now Carla has swum away – and Ben can’t swim!

Chapter bookDyslexia-friendly
dyslexia-friendly

Cousins Yasmin and Ruby have always been rivals, but both sides of the story are exposed in this cleverly composed clean-teen novella from Karen McCombie.

Ruby can’t stand her “perfect” cousin Yasmin. Yasmin is pretty, popular and has a gorgeous boyfriend Max. She’s set to get excellent grades in her GCSEs and her parents won’t stop going on about how brilliant she is.

Ruby always feel small and hopeless around Yasmin, and whenever she gets any attention, Yasmin tries to make sure the spotlight turns back to her.

Or that’s how Ruby feels anyway. But is there another side to the story?

Chapter bookDyslexia-friendly
dyslexia-friendly

A dramatic coach crash forces Hailey to re-examine her relationships with her fellow singing-club members in this gripping drama from queen of teen thrillers Sophie McKenzie.

A singing-club trip ends in disaster when the coach carrying the members spins out of control. Hailey is trapped at the back of the coach with her nemesis Bex, who’s taken the lead role in their latest performance, and handsome Kit, on whom Hailey has a massive crush.

As the coach hangs over the edge of a precipice and Kit escapes to find help, Hailey and Bex have to get over their initial judgements about each other and work together if they are to stand a chance of survival. Will they find a way to safety?

Chapter bookDyslexia-friendly
dyslexia-friendly

A powerful and heart-rending exploration of a teenager’s journey through grief, rage and getting caught in the criminal justice system from award-winning author Patrice Lawrence.

Winner of the 2023 Little Rebels Award and shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

Charlene is a demon knitter. It’s the only thing she enjoys and the only thing she believes she’s really good at.

So when her foster mum’s son destroys her latest creation, Charlene loses it and stabs him in the hand with her knitting needle. It damages a nerve and she gets sucked into the criminal justice system for assault.

Charlene’s not sorry and she’s never apologised to anyone in her life. But people keep telling her that if she says sorry, they’ll go easier on her. Can she bring herself to say it and not mean it when her freedom’s at stake?

Chapter bookDyslexia-friendly
resources-availabledyslexia-friendly

Carnegie Medal winner Tanya Landman delivers a terrifyingly enthralling and truly accessible retelling of Bram Stoker’s legendary Gothic horror novel.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a masterpiece of horror fiction in which he creates a nightmarish world of vampires, evil-doing and insanity.

A ship steered by a dead man…

A huge black dog springing from its deck…

A girl, sleepwalking towards disaster…

When rising young solicitor Jonathan Harker helps the mysterious and sinister Count Dracula purchase property in London he unleashes an evil that threatens to destroy the whole of humanity.

Chapter bookDyslexia-friendly
dyslexia-friendly

Bestselling YA author Melinda Salisbury exposes the dark underbelly of new technologies and online friendships in this gripping thriller.

Ruby Brookes and her best friend Deva have won free places at the Ash Tree Foundation Performing Arts Camp over the summer, but only if their school grades seriously improve. So when Deva suddenly starts getting high marks in all their subjects, leaving Ruby behind, she is confused and jealous.

Until she finds out Deva’s success is down to EchoStar, a new app that’s helping her get ahead.

Ruby is desperate to start using it too, but there is much more to EchoStar than she has imagined. Because EchoStar is always watching and listening.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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