Pageturners: books you can't put down

Younger Fiction

Ball, Duncan, CoverSelby speaks
Selby is still valiantly trying to keep his gift of the gab a secret. After all, if his owners, the Trifles, find out that their pet pooch can talk, they might ask him to do chores like answer the telephone or do the shopping.
Beale, Fleur, Saving Mr. Spender
Sam loves Mr Spender because he's the best teacher in the world and always gives amazing homework. Then the Vision hits town and Mr Spender falls, literally, under her spell. Now his heart is broken and the Vision has cut off the town's electricity. Sam and the rest of his class have to work hard to save Mr Spender.
Beale, Fleur, Walking lightly
Millie is a girl of great resources but her interest in the outdoors and tramping has made it hard for her to make friends. However, when her class visits a Pacific Island and an earthquake strikes, it is Millie who saves the day.
Cowell, Cressida, How to ride a dragon’s storm
Hiccup has three months, five days and six hours to discover America, get back to Berk, save his father, battle Polarserpents, AND win the annual Inter-Tribal Friendly Swimming Race. Can he do it?
DiTerlizzi, Toni, CoverSpiderwick chronicles
When the Grace children go to stay at their Great Aunt Lucinda's worn Victorian house, they discover a field guide to fairies and other creatures and begin to have some unusual experiences.
French, Jackie, Lessons for a werewolf warrior
Boojum Bark is a werewolf — and a hero. He doesn’t really want to be, but it′s the only way he’ll save his mum. Now he has to go to Hero School to learn the right way to achieve hero status.
Friedman, Joe, Boobela and Worm
Boobela is a giant — a young, shy and rather lonely giant. Worm is a worm — wise and opinionated, but above all, he's a clever and loyal friend. They live in a world that's a lot like ours, but not quite.
Gardner, Sally, Boy who could fly
One day the Fat Fairy turns up at Thomas Top's house to grant him a birthday wish. Thomas can't think what to ask for, so he wishes he could fly. That's how Thomas goes from being just an ordinary boy to being the most popular boy in the school.
Smith, Alexander McCall, The joke machine
Jeffrey spends his Saturdays working in Mr Prendergast's junk shop. One day, while they are sorting things out, they uncover a mysterious machine. Jeffrey takes it home to see if he can make it work. It turns out to be a joke-producing machine, and an extremely funny one at that!
Strong, Jeremy, Hundred mile an hour dog series
Streaker is no ordinary dog, she's a rocket on four legs with a woof attached. Trevor has until the end of the holidays to train her or he will lose his bet with Charlie Smugg and something nasty will happen to him with frog spawn.
Wilson, Jacqueline, Double act
Ruby and Garnet are ten-year-old identical twins. They do everything together (well Ruby leads, and Garnet follows), especially since their mother died three years earlier. And they're very glad they've got each other when everything around them starts changing horribly.

Older Fiction

Boyce, Frank Cottrell, CoverCosmic
Liam is the only eleven-year-old to ever ride the G-force defying cosmic rollercoaster or 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?
Riordan, Rick, Percy Jackson series
Series of books about Percy Jackson, a normal boy who finds out he is a demigod, the son of Greek god, Perseus.  The series follows Percy and his demigod friends as they battle gods and monsters from Greek mythology that exist in modern day New York.
Morpurgo, Michael, Running wild
When ten-year-old Will's father dies in the Iraq war, his mother surprises him with a trip to Indonesia. But little could she have known what awaited them both there. The first Will knows that anything is wrong is when Oona, the elephant he is riding along the beach, begins to spook. Then, suddenly, she takes off into the jungle with Will on her back. And that's when Will sees the wave come crashing in.
Morpurgo, Michael, Alone on a wide, wide sea
How far would you go to find yourself? When orphaned Arthur Hobhouse is shipped to Australia after World War II, he loses his sister, his country and everything he knows. The coming years test him to his limits, as he endures mistreatment, neglect and forced labour in the Australian outback. But, Arthur is saved, again and again, by his love of the sea.
Haddon, Mark, Boom!
From the moment that Jim and his best friend Charlie bug the staffroom and overhear two of their teachers speaking to each other in a secret language, they know there's an adventure on its way. Perhaps they're spies. Perhaps they're aliens. Whatever it is, Jimbo and Charlie are determined to find out.
Hunt, Des, Frog whistle mine
Twelve-year-old Tony has travelled all around New Zealand with his nomadic mother, and desperately wants somewhere to belong. When they arrive in Charleston, a gold-mining ghost town, he is almost afraid to hope this might finally be the place. But things aren't as they seem, and he finds himself caught up in mysterious events.
Norcliffe, James, Loblolly boyCover
The loblolly boy has the gift of flight: he's invisible to most people, apart from a very few who are known as the Sensitives. The loblolly boy also has the power to Exchange: to swap identities with anyone willing to do so. The children who usually decide to Exchange with the loblolly boy are often escaping some miserable aspect of their lives: but they soon realize that the powers of flight and invisibility come at a cost.
Higgins, F. E., The eyeball collector
When his butterfly-collector father is swindled to within an inch of his life, a vengeful Hector leaves the city of Urbs Umida in pursuit of a fiendish villain with a glass eye. The trail leads to Withypitts Hall, a forbidding Gothic mansion as warped as its inhabitants and their secret schemes. Soon Hector finds himself embroiled in mysterious deeds more poisonous than his worst imaginings, but every twist and turn brings him closer to his revenge.
Funke, Cornelia, Inkheart
Mo, a gentle bookbinder with an extraordinary secret, and his daughter Meggie love books, yet he has not read aloud to her since her mother disappeared years ago. After a mysterious stranger visits them, Mo tells Meggie they must go into hiding. But why? And from whom?
Gardner, Sally, Red necklace
A thrillingly exciting, action-packed novel about a boy destined to be a hero of the French Revolution.  Historical with a touch of magic.
McCaughrean, Geraldine, The death-defying Pepper Roux
When Pepper Roux was born his aunt foretold that he would not live past 14. Throughout his childhood his parents haven't bothered with him much, knowing that his life would be short-lived. So when Pepper wakes up on his 14th birthday he knows this will be the day that he'll die. But as the day wears on Pepper finds himself still alive.
Falkner, Brian, Tomorrow code
A thrilling apocalyptic sci-fi adventure story involving a race against time to prevent a deadly viral contamination that threatens the end of all life on Earth.
Laird, Elizabeth, Witching hour
In seventeenth-century Scotland, everyone knows the devil is real. Everyone knows that witches exist. Everyone knows that saying the wrong thing can get you hanged… When fourteen-year-old Maggie's grandmother is accused of witchcraft, Maggie has to run for her life.
Higson, Charlie, Young Bond series
Series of spy novels featuring James Bond as a young teenage boy in school at Eton where he joins the secret risk-taking club called the Danger Society.
Wilson, Jacqueline, Little darlings
When the two girls meet in unlikely circumstances, they are surprised to find in each other something they've been missing all their lives.
Cassidy, Cathy, Ginger snaps
Gone are the days when Ginger was an outsider, always on the fringes of friendship. She's swapped puppy fat and pigtails for make-up and hair straighteners and never looked back. Ginger and Shannon are best mates, but when they befriend lonely Emily, everything changes. Are Ginger and Shannon drifting apart or can they stay best friends forever?
McKay, Hilary, Forever Rose
It's tough being the youngest — Rose is feeling lonely. The rest of her family are always so busy doing their own things that Rose comes home to a dark, quiet, empty house every day. At least Rose still has her friends at school. But school is no longer a peaceful place where Rose can daydream.

Don't forget

Gillian Cross Wolf, On the edge
Morris Gleitzman Any titles
Brian Jacques Redwall series
Paul Jennings Any titles
John Marsden Tomorrow, when the war began series
Terry Pratchett Discworld series, Johnny and the dead
Tim Winton Lockie Leonard titles