Younger Readers
No Breathing in Class, Michael Rosen
My children's absolute favourite poetry book by the brilliant Michael Rosen. We've read, rapped and sung his poems over and over through the years and they never ever fail to make us all smile. Poetry is a wonderful way for younger readers to get small bursts of reading pleasure.
Confident readers
Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
Sophie Hatter, a shy, unassuming hatmaker, who thinks everyone is cleverer and prettier than her, is turned into an old woman by a witch. In this new unflattering guise, she finds her feminine power and courage and sets about trying to break the witch's spell by entering the home of a wizard (feared by everyone within the kingdom) who just happens to live in an enchanted moving castle. Diana Wynne Jones' writing is clever, imaginative and stuffed full of humour. A modern classic for middle grade readers and above.
Young Adult
Where the World Ends, Geraldine McCaughrean
It is 1727 and a group of fowlers from St Kilda are rowed out to Warrior Stac - a gathering of rock rising up from the sea - so that they can bring home bird meat, oil and feathers. When no-one returns to collect them, they presume the worst. Has the world ended? Will their lives be confined to this barren, isolated place for evermore? Wild, beautiful writing, suffused with despair. The feeling of isolation and the utter dread can be overwhelming at times, but the energy that shines from characters like Quill eases the spirit.