Age range:

10–12

Cover of Pride Reading Guide

Pride Reading Guide 2023

Supported by An Post, our Pride Reading Guide 2023 contains 200 LGBTQ+ inclusive stories for young readers aged 0–18.

Book Cover - Finding Bear

Finding Bear

Finding Bear, sequel to The Last Bear, drives a powerful message to young readers as climate change takes hold in the Arctic. April Wood returns to help her friend, Bear the polar bear, who is struggling to navigate this changing world.

Cover Reading Matters Reading Guide

Reading Matters reading guide

Published in September 2023, 'Reading Matters' sees the return of the 'best of the year' format to our annual reading guide. 

Book Cover - Impossible Creatures

Impossible Creatures

Mal is a young girl who lives on the Archipelago; she’s fiercely determined and loves nothing more than using her flying coat to soar high into the skies. Mal’s surroundings initially seem fairly ordinary until we find out that this magical land is home to many fantastical creatures, and something is happening that threatens their very existence …

The Day I Got Trapped in My Brain - book cover

The Day I Got Trapped in My Brain

Frankie Finkleton’s world is a very busy one. She’s a typical eleven-year-old with a loving family and lots going on at school. Frankie also has a sideline as a very secret investigator and from time to time goes on adventures to an imaginary world called Thoughtopolis with her younger brother Fred and her dog Blue.

Book Cover - In Between Worlds

In Between Worlds: Journey of the Famine Girls

‘When there is nothing to eat, it affects everything; that is how important food is’, reflects Maggie who, as a child of a Skibbereen farming family, witnesses first-hand the devastating consequences of the Irish famine in the 1840s.

Book Cover - The Stolen Songbird

The Stolen Songbird

Judith Eagle is well established as a writer of middle grade adventures with a classic feel, and fans will be delighted with her excellent fourth novel, The Stolen Songbird. The songbird of the title is a painting, one of a series of three whose theft is at the centre of this lively tale. Part heist, part family mystery, The Stolen Songbird bounds along with great verve, plenty of twists, but also a lot of heart and compassion.

Book Cover - Nowhere Island

Nowhere Island

Gil bolts for freedom on his way to another foster-placement. When his backpack is stolen, with his treasured photograph and his hag-stone, his pursuit of the thief brings him to an island dividing the motorway, and to the ramshackle home of three other runaways. Riley and Grayson escaped an abusive parent, and with Junk, the dog, steal supplies. They tell Gil about another inhabitant, already established. Pez ran away from a cult, bringing with her stolen seeds, experience of self-sufficiency, and a conviction that isolation and silence are safer than human company.

Book Cover - Skellig

Skellig

‘We caught our breath at our ability to do this thing, at the extraordinary lightness of our load. I closed my eyes for a moment. I imagined that this is a dream. I told myself that anything was possible in a dream.’

When Michael moves to an old house with an over-grown garden and a dilapidated garage, he makes a shocking a discovery. At first, he can’t believe his eyes, but soon his encounter with an incredible soul develops into a profound bond. With the help of his new neighbour, Mina, they join forces and a remarkable and moving adventure begins.

Book Cover - Kòku Àkànbi and the Heart of Midnight

Kòku Àkànbi and the Heart of Midnight

Maria Motúnráyo Adébísi’s debut novel is the first in a new and exhilarating fantasy series based on West African Mythology. When thirteen-year-old orphaned protagonist, Koku, accidentally unleashes an evil demon spirit during a school trip to the British Museum, his uncle sends him away for the summer. Tired of feeling unwanted, frustratingly misunderstood and of fighting his daily battle with sickle cell anaemia, Koku arrives to the home he doesn’t remember, Olori, feeling powerless.