Summer Reading '15: Junior 8-12

The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine: A remarkable jewelled automata is stolen from a glamourous new store in Edwardian London. The investigation that follows involves resourceful heroines, plucky sidekicks, codes, keys and iced buns. Fans of the Wells & Wong series, Cat Royal and Knights Haddon will be dangerously entertained.

Magisterium: The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare: A collaboration between Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles) and Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments series), Magisterium is a new Potter-esque fantasy series that is already gripping readers across the globe.

Emily Sparkes and the Competition Calamity by Ruth Fitzgerald: The second Emily Sparkes book sees Emily's mum entered into the nation's Mum in a Million competition. Surely her eco-warrior allotment-loving mum will need some sort of makeover? The Emily Sparkes books are sweet and funny with a strong narrative voice that would appeal to fans of Jacqueline Wilson and they deserve plenty of attention in their own right. Full review here.

Lottery Boy by Michael Byrne: Bully has no one except his dog Jack, and every day they fight to survive. It seems there's no hope and no way out for him—until one day he finds a winning lottery ticket. Everything will change if only he can claim the prize; but he only has a few days left, and soon everyone wants the ticket. Who can he trust? Don't miss this; it's very good indeed. Full review here. 11+

First Class Murder by Robin Stevens: Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong take on their third case. These books are thrilling, addictive and packed with great characters—making Robin Stevens a kind of Agatha Christie for grisly schoolgirls and schoolboys.

A Year in the Life of a Total and Complete Genius by Stacey Matson: This hilarious story about a boy trying to win a story writing competition is brilliantly crafted and has quite a few mixed-media narrative tricks up its sleeve. This is more advanced than Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Tom Gates and could act as the next step for lovers of those books.