The Train to Impossible Places by P. G. Bell
When Suzy hears a strange noise in the middle of the night, she creeps downstairs to find a train roaring through her house, but this is no ordinary train. This is the magical delivery express for the Union of Impossible Places.
Whisked on board by a troll-boy, Suzy's world is turned upside down when she's asked to deliver a cursed package to a fearsome sorceress and quite suddenly, Suzy realizes the fate of the Impossible Places is in her hands.
Brand New Boy by David Almond
"Mam, did you think George was,” I say, “a bit weird?”
“Weird? Yes, I suppose so but you kids are all a bit weird if you ask me and to tell the truth, it’d be weird if you weren’t.”
When a new boy joins the class, everyone thinks he’s a bit strange, but he’s brilliant at football and loves crisps, and that’s all that matters to Dan and Maxie. However, the truth about George is stranger than anyone could have imagined and more sinister, too. Can his new pals help him to become truly free?
The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo
A lyrical and moving tale of a young boy growing up in Africa, and his lifelong friendship with a white lion. “All my life I’ll think of you, I promise I will. I won’t ever forget you.”
Bertie rescues an orphaned white lion cub from the African veld. They are inseparable until Bertie is sent to boarding school far away in England and the lion is sold to a circus. Bertie swears that one day they will see one another again, but it is the butterfly lion which ensures that their friendship will never be forgotten.
Cosmic by Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Liam is too big for his boots. And his football strip. And his school blazer. But being super-sized height-wise has its advantages: he's the only eleven-year-old to ever ride the G-force-defying Cosmic rollercoaster – or to be offered the chance to drive a Porsche. Long-legged Liam makes a giant leap for boy-kind by competing with a group of adults for the chance to go into space. Is Liam the best boy for the job? Sometimes being big isn't all about being a grown-up.
The Land of Roar by Jenny McLachan
When Arthur and Rose were little, they were heroes in the Land of Roar, an imaginary world that they found by climbing through the folding bed in their grandad’s attic. Roar was filled with things they loved, dragons, mermaids, ninja wizards and adventure, as well as things that scared them (including a very creepy scarecrow)
Now the twins are eleven, Roar is just a memory but when they help Grandad clean out the attic, Arthur is horrified as Grandad is pulled into the folding bed and vanishes. Is he playing a joke? Or is Roar real?
The Legend of Podkin One Ear by Keiran Larwood
Podkin is the son of a warrior chieftain. He knows that one day it will be up to him to lead his warren and guard it in times of danger. But for now, he's quite happy to laze around annoying his older sister Paz, and playing with his baby brother Pook. Then Podkin's home is brutally attacked, and the young rabbits are forced to flee. The terrifying Gorm are on the rampage, and no one and nowhere is safe. With danger all around them, Podkin must protect his family, uncover his destiny, and attempt to defeat the most horrifying enemy rabbitkind has ever known.
The Highland Falcon Thief by M. G. Leonard
Harrison Beck and his Uncle Nat are enjoying the final journey of the Highland Falcon, Britain's most famous steam train. But when a precious jewel goes missing, Harrison and his new friend Lenny find themselves at the centre of the investigation. Can they solve the mystery and catch the culprit before they reach the end of the line?
Hear whispers in the dining car, find notes in the library, and unknown passengers among the luggage as you help Harrison to solve the mystery aboard one of the world's grandest trains.
The Great Chocoplot by Chris Callaghan
It's the end of chocolate forever! At least, until Jelly can solve the mystery of the great chocoplot ... Jelly and her family live in Chompton-on-de-Lyte, where everyone loves a Chocablocka bar or two, so when the end of chocolate is announced, she can't believe it.
Determined to investigate, Jelly and her gran follow a trail of clues to a posh chocolate shop and its owner, the pompous Garibaldi Chocolati. Gari's suspiciously smug, despite his failing business and yucky chocolate. Is it really the chocopocalypse, or is there a chocoplot afoot?
Planet Stan by Elaine Wickson
Sometimes the only way to make any sense of my life is to put it all into charts and diagrams, but even that just makes me realize how far away from normal my family is, especially my little brother Fred! I hope that you'll find some useful survival tips in this book, but if not, then at least it'll cheer you up to know your life is considerably less chaotic than mine!
Stan loves everything to do with space, along with a calming, ordered environment, pie charts, and Venn diagrams. His dinosaur-loving younger brother Fred is the opposite: chaotic, messy, prone to leaving snails under Stan's bed and ladybirds in his lunchbox. Surely they must have something in common?
The Girl who Stole an Elephant by Nizrana Farook
Chaya, a no-nonsense, outspoken hero, leads her friends and a gorgeous elephant on a noisy, fraught, joyous adventure through the jungle where revolution is stirring and leeches lurk. Will stealing the queen's jewels be the beginning or the end of everything for the intrepid gang?
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
James Henry Trotter lives with two ghastly hags. Aunt Sponge is enormously fat with a face that looks boiled and Aunt Spiker is bony and screeching. He is very lonely until one day something peculiar happens.
At the end of the garden a peach starts to grow and GROW AND GROW. Inside that peach are seven very unusual insects - all waiting to take James on a magical adventure. But where will they go in their GIANT PEACH, and what will happen to the horrible aunts if they stand in their way? There's only one way to find out.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
Four adventurous siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie, step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change and a great sacrifice.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book in C. S. Lewis’s classic fantasy series, which has been drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over sixty years. This is a stand-alone read.
Earth Shattering Events by Robin Jacobs
We humans take our domination of the planet for granted, but sometimes nature reminds us that this is an illusion. Tectonics rip open the earth, vast waves sweep away coastal towns, magma spews from volcanoes and hurricanes lay waste to entire countries.
This book explores nature at its most destructive. Clear, coherent explanations break down the science behind phenomena including hurricanes, tornadoes, avalanches, earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes, alongside fascinating facts about the biggest and the worst.
The Griffin Gate by Vashti Hardy
"Warden Griffin at your service. Can I ask if you've seen a monster in the area?" Grace's family are wardens of the Griffin Map, using its teleport technology to fight crime across Moreland. Although Grace is still too young, she longs to go on missions herself. After all, if her brother, Bren, can do it, why can't she? So when Grace finds herself alone with the map when a distress call comes in, she jumps at the chance to prove she's up to the task. But the map transports Grace to a remote village where nothing is quite as it seems. Has she taken on more than she can handle?
When the Mountains Roared by Jess Butterworth
When Ruby's dad uproots her from Australia to set up a hotel in the mountains of India, Ruby is devastated. Not only are they living in a run-down building in the middle of the wilderness surrounded by scorpions, bears and leopards, but Ruby is sure that India will never truly feel like home, not without her mum there. Ever since her mum died, Ruby has been afraid; of cars, of the dark, of going to sleep and never waking up.
But then the last remaining leopards of the mountain are threatened and everything changes. Ruby vows to do all she can to protect them, if she can only overcome her fears.
Starfell by Dominique Valente
Willow Moss, the youngest and least powerful sister in a family of witches, has a magical ability for finding lost things; like keys, or socks, or wooden teeth. Useful, but not exactly exciting.
Then the most powerful witch in the world of Starfell turns up at Willow’s door and asks for her help. A whole day, last Tuesday to be precise, has gone missing. Completely and, without it, the whole universe could unravel. Now Willow holds the fate of Starfell in her rather unremarkable hands. Can she save the day, by finding the lost one?
Flotsam by David Wiesner
A bright, science-minded boy goes to the beach equipped to collect and examine flotsam, anything floating that has been washed ashore. Bottles, lost toys, small objects of every description are among his usual finds. But there's no way he could have prepared for one particular discovery: a barnacle-encrusted underwater camera, with its own secrets to share and to keep.
The Dragon in the Library by Louie Stowell
Kit cannot stand reading.
She would much rather be outside, playing games and getting muddy, than stuck inside with a book. But when she is dragged along to the library one day by her two best friends, she makes an incredible discovery - and soon it is up to Kit and her friends to save the library and the world.