One Of Us Is Next
by Karen McManus
One of Us is Next by Karen McManus is a fabulous thriller aimed at readers aged (approximately) 12-15. Set in an American high school, it's the sequel to One of Us is Lying, which you'll probably want to read first. On her website, McManus describes herself as an author of "twisty YA thrillers" and they certainly go down well with tweens and early teens. If you've got one who is a fan, fortunately McManus has another book coming out later this year (and already available for pre-order) called The Cousins.
Undercover Robot: My First Year As Human
by Bertie Fraser & David Edmonds
Undercover Robot is a very funny introduction to the ethics of artificial intelligence and of being a human being. Dave Edmonds, who recommended the best books on ethical problems for Five Books, and Bertie Fraser, founder of Storynory.com, do a brilliant job of bringing to life Dotty, who is trying her best to fit in as normal 12-year old girl, but can't help being weird. A children's book, yes, but quite fun to read as an adult too.
The Tower of Nero
by Rick Riordan
The Tower of Nero is the 5th book in Rick Riordan's Trials of Apollo series (which is itself the third series featuring Greek and Roman mythology by Rick Riordan). These series are unmissable for late tweens/teens, but if you haven't read any of the books yet, it's probably best to start off by reading The Lightning Thief.
Black and British: A Short, Essential History
by David Olusoga
Black and British: A Short, Essential History by historian David Olusoga is the children's book version of his book Black and British: A Forgotten History. Starting with the Romans, it goes through to the 20th century, highlighting an important part of history that was traditionally ignored. As Olusoga—now a Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester—writes in the opening lines of the book, "When I was at school there was no Black history."
Lark
by Anthony McGowan
***Winner of the 2020 Carnegie Medal***
Lark by Antony McGowan was the winner of the 2020 Carnegie Medal, the UK's most prestigious children's book prize. It's the fourth book about two brothers, Nicky and Kenny, but was described by the chair of the judges, Julia Hale, as a "standalone masterpiece". The book was published by Barrington Stoke, a publisher that focuses on kids with dyslexia or who find reading a bit tougher. More details are available here.
New Kid
by Jerry Craft
***Winner of the 2020 Newbery Medal***
New Kid by Jerry Craft is wonderful graphic novel about a Black kid who goes to a private school and feels out of place. It won the 2020 Newbery Medal, America's most prestigious prize for a children's book, but is relatable for kids anywhere.
“Genesis Begins Again, we would say, is for 12 years and up. This book is definitely hard-hitting. The book tells the story of a 13-year-old called Genesis, who deals with colorism, self-loathing and problems like her father’s gambling and alcoholism. It’s just a really, really powerful book that I think kids in this age range haven’t really seen before. It really opened up questions and we thought it was beautifully written.” Read more...
The Best Children’s Books: The 2020 Newbery Medal and Honor Winners
“Other Words for Home is a beautiful immigration story and it’s wonderfully written in free verse, which is very accessible to kids and is really becoming popular. The book explores themes of family and prejudice. We just felt that we hadn’t seen this story told in this way before, and it’s a very important story.” Read more...
The Best Children’s Books: The 2020 Newbery Medal and Honor Winners
“Christian McKay Heidicker really can forge a sentence like no one else. It’s about the language and how he put it all together. It’s horror for children that isn’t so horrific that it will keep you up at night.” Read more...
The Best Children’s Books: The 2020 Newbery Medal and Honor Winners
“It’s about the contributions that African Americans have made to America and celebrating and exploring those. The poetry is striking and it’s such a perfect partnership between Kadir Nelson’s illustrations and Kwame Alexander’s words. It’s just this beautiful love letter to America.” Read more...
The Best Children’s Books: The 2020 Newbery Medal and Honor Winners
“The Beast of Buckingham Palace is the latest and I was a bit reluctant to buy it, thinking that the formula might be wearing thin. But in this book the formula is, according to my kids, different. All Walliams’s other books are about daily life (in some sense). This one is set in the future, in 2120. There’s a king in power but anarchy and revolution rule. And yet, the characters are still funny. It’s one of his best” Read more...
“The Good Thieves is by Katherine Rundell which, according to my kids, is already enough of a recommendation: the book needs no further introduction. But if you need a bit more detail, it’s an adventure story and a lot happens in it. It’s about a girl who goes to New York to look after her grandfather. She tries to put together a band of kid robbers (including two from the circus) to help steal an emerald to get back her grandfather’s home that was stolen from him.” Read more...
“Set in the Netherlands during World War II, it’s about a young boy and the things he gets up to during the German occupation. Jan Terlouw, now in his 80s, based it partly on his own experiences, but the book has all the nice plot twists you expect from fiction. Also, as a children’s book written nearly half a century ago about a period of Dutch history that the country still struggles to come to terms with, I thought it might be a bit black-and-white: but it actually isn’t.” Read more...
” It’s about twins called Scarlet and Ivy who go to a school called Rookwood and solve mysteries. The plots are always really good, it’s well written and if you read one book you’ll always want to read the next.” Read more...
“First of all, the cover totally drew me in. Juana Martinez-Neal’s illustrations are always so warm and inviting and made me want to read it straight away. What I love about this book is that while it’s specifically a Native American family story, it really could be any family that is connecting and bonding over a tradition and over food. The text is brief and delightfully bubbles along, it’s poetic. Between the pictures and the words, you can imagine all the scrumptious food smells and the joy of the togetherness.” Read more...
“What I loved about Coyote Sunrise was, first of all, just her as a character. She’s so confident and outgoing and sassy and smart and she loves to read….In the book, you learn as you go along that her mother and two sisters have died in a car accident. That’s not in the story, but happens before. Since then, her and her dad have been living on a big, bright, yellow school bus, just driving around the United States from one campground to another. The dad is running from facing his fears.” Read more...
“At the beginning of Pie in the Sky, I wasn’t sure where it was going, but by the end I was sobbing. I realize that I’ve really picked some deep books here! It’s about two brothers. It never says exactly what country they’re from—I know the author was born in Indonesia, but grew up in Singapore—but they come to Australia. They don’t speak English, but they have to integrate. You learn that the reason they’ve come to Australia is because their parents had a wish for them to have a better life. But you know throughout that their papa is not there.” Read more...
” I love the simplicity of the illustrations, combined with the simplicity of the words—and yet this book also has a really profound effect on you. It reminds you that it’s okay to feel sad and that if you actually take the time to sit with your feelings, then you have the time to release them and set them free.” Read more...
“It’s a bit of a profound story and it gives an understanding of just what hard work and perseverance can actually achieve for you. Also, how a moment in time can maybe be disappointing, but could actually turn into a lifetime of enjoyment. So, in the case of Because, had one little girl never made it to the orchestra concert, she may not have had a lifetime of music, which becomes a deep passion for her.” Read more...
100 Things to Know About Numbers, Computers & Coding
Alex Frith (illustrated by Federico Mariani and Parko Polo)
“Computers are such a big part of our life and understanding a little bit about them is of benefit to everyone. But it can be quite a dry subject, ‘numbers, computing and coding’: even the title doesn’t sound very promising. But the book itself presents some fascinating facts. They’re quite mind-boggling, some of them. It’s amazing to look at.” Read more...
The Best Science Books for Kids: the 2019 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize
“Some parts of it are just fascinating. I was looking at the eyelash mites earlier, with this wonderful picture of the tails of the little mites sticking out of a follicle. As adults, we often don’t like to think about the slightly grosser side of things, but that’s life, it’s our life and it’s important to understand it. And the book has got wonderful, wonderful pictures.” Read more...
The Best Science Books for Kids: the 2019 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize
The Element in the Room: Investigating the Atomic Ingredients that Make Up Your Home
Mike Barfield (illustrated by Lauren Humphrey)
“This book tells a story about another thing that’s key in our world—the elements that make up matter and what their properties are—and presents them very well.” Read more...
The Best Science Books for Kids: the 2019 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize
Kid Scientists: True Tales of Childhood from Science Superstars
David Stabler (illustrated by Anoosha Syed)
“This book is a lovely idea because often you see these very famous scientists who’ve made some fantastic discovery. For a child, they might seem very remote: how on earth do you ever get to be like that? Telling the story of these famous scientists when they were children was fascinating. “ Read more...
The Best Science Books for Kids: the 2019 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize
Planetarium: Welcome to the Museum
Raman Prinja (illustrated by Chris Wormell)
***Planetarium: Welcome to the Museum by Raman Prinja and illustrated by Chris Wormell was chosen by thousands of children as their favourite science book of 2019.***
“The book allows for people to be drawn in who might come to the topic from an artistic interest. It overlaps with broader creative interests, perhaps, folks who might not have so obviously engaged in the topic if it was just presented as science.” Read more...
The Best Science Books for Kids: the 2019 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize
The Secret Commonwealth: The Book of Dust Volume 2
by Philip Pullman
The Secret Commonwealth is the second book in the long-awaited Book of Dust trilogy, written by Philip Pullman for children but in reality appealing to children and adults alike. It follows the spectacular success of His Dark Materials, the fantasy trilogy about Lyra Belacqua, a young girl from Oxford (where Pullman himself lives) and recommended multiple times on Five Books. The Book of Dust goes back in time to when Lyra is a baby. In the first book of the Book of Dust trilogy, La Belle Sauvage, we followed hero Malcolm and baby Lyra as they escape Oxford by canoe and we left them in London. What will happen next? We eagerly await the next installment.
This is a great series to read out loud at bedtime with children of ‘tween’ age. But like Harry Potter, there is no real age limit to enjoying them. If you haven’t read any of these Philip Pullman books yet, get ordering and get reading.
The Best Children’s Books: The 2020 Newbery Medal and Honor Winners, recommended by Krishna Grady
After reading hundreds of newly published books and asking children and adults alike for their input, the winners of the 2020 Newbery Medal and Honors have been chosen. Librarian and chair of the selection committee Krishna Grady introduces us to the best new children’s books that will surprise, delight and hold your kid’s attention—including the first graphic novel to ever win the award.
The Best Kids’ Books of 2019, recommended by Bianca Schulze
While not every book is for every child, for every child there is a book, says Bianca Schulze, editor and founder of The Children’s Book Review and the author of 101 Books To Read Before You Grow Up. She recommends her pick of the best kids’ books of 2019, all books that will make you ‘feel’ something.
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1
100 Things to Know About Numbers, Computers & Coding
Alex Frith (illustrated by Federico Mariani and Parko Polo) -
2
The Bacteria Book: The Big World of Really Tiny Microbes
by Steve Mould -
3
The Element in the Room: Investigating the Atomic Ingredients that Make Up Your Home
Mike Barfield (illustrated by Lauren Humphrey) -
4
Kid Scientists: True Tales of Childhood from Science Superstars
David Stabler (illustrated by Anoosha Syed) -
5
Planetarium: Welcome to the Museum
Raman Prinja (illustrated by Chris Wormell) -
6
Making With States of Matter
by Anna Claybourne
The Best Science Books for Kids: the 2019 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize, recommended by Sheila Rowan
The Best Science Books for Kids: the 2019 Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize, recommended by Sheila Rowan
If you’re looking for the best books to get kids excited about science, the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize is a great place to start. Physicist and astronomer Sheila Rowan, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the fabulous books that made this year’s shortlist.
