Year 6

Here are a selection of fiction and non-fiction titles suitable for your 6 child to read either with an adult or independently for pleasure.

Fiction

Pig Heart BoyMalorie BlackmanYou're thirteen. All you want is a normal life. But most normal kids don't need heart transplants. So there's this doctor. He says there's a chance for you. But he also says it's experimental, controversial, and risky. And it's never been done before.

The 1,000-year-old BoyRoss WelfordAlfie Monk is like any other nearly teenage boy – except he’s 1,000 years old and can remember the last Viking invasion of England. Obviously, no one believes him. So when everything Alfie knows and loves is destroyed in a fire, and the modern world comes crashing in, Alfie embarks on a mission to find friendship, acceptance, and a different way to live which means finding a way to make sure he will eventually die.

Oliver TwistCharles DickensThe story of orphaned Oliver, who runs away from the workhouse only to be taken in by a den of thieves. Plunged into a dark criminal underworld of vivid and memorable characters - the arch-villain Fagin, the artful Dodger, the menacing Bill Sikes and kind-hearted Nancy - Oliver struggles to survive and find his real family. A rich, powerful look at London poverty from Charles Dickens.

Stormbreaker (Alex Rider Series)Anthony HorowitzIn the first book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, fourteen-year-old Alex is forcibly recruited into MI6. Armed with secret gadgets, he is sent to investigate Herod Sayle, a man who is offering state-of-the-art Stormbreaker computers to every school in the country. But the teenage spy soon finds himself in mortal danger.

The Girl with Space in Her HeartLara WilliamsonMabel has a suitcase full of worries – it turned up just after her dad disappeared and before her mum started dating Gavin. She worries about big things and little things and shoves them into her suitcase until it’s so full it might explode...

War HorseMichael MorpurgoIn the deadly chaos of the First World War, one horse witnesses the reality of battle from both sides of the trenches. Bombarded by artillery, with bullets knocking riders from his back, Joey tells a powerful story of the truest friendships surviving in terrible times. One horse has the seen the best and the worst of humanity. The power of war and the beauty of peace. This is his story.

Journey to Jo’burgBeverley NaidooA story of love, commitment and the flowering of the human spirit against the background of South Africa's apartheid. Frightened that their baby sister Dineo will die, thirteen-year-old Naledi and her younger brother Tiro run away from their grandmother to Johannesburg to find their mother, who works there as a maid. Their journey illustrates at every turn the grim realities of apartheid.

When Hitler Stole Pink RabbitJudith KerrSuppose your country began to change. Suppose that without your noticing, it became dangerous for some people to live in Germany any longer. Suppose you found, to your complete surprise, that your own father was one of those people.

The Star Outside My WindowOnjali RaufFollowing the disappearance of her mum, 10-year-old Aniyah suddenly finds herself living in foster care. With her life in disarray, she knows just one thing for sure: her mum isn't gone for ever. Because people with the brightest hearts never truly leave. They become stars. So when a new star is spotted acting strangely in the sky, Aniyah is sure it's her mum and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime…

Percy Jackson and the Lightning ThiefRick RiordanHalf boy. Half God. All Hero. Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God. I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. Now I spend my time battling monsters and generally trying to stay alive.

The London Eye MysterySiobhan Dowd11.32am. Ted and his sister Kat watch their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye. The pod rises from the ground, high above the city.12.02am. The pod lands and the doors open. Everyone exits - everyone but Salim.

Murder Most UnladylikeRobin StevensonAt Deepdean School for Girls, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong have set up their own detective agency. Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. To add to the mystery, when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve; they have to prove one happened in the first place.

UnstoppableDan FreedmanFourteen-year-old twins, Roxy and Kaine, have only one thing in common. They hate each other. Kaine is loud, brash and brilliant at football. Roxy is heading for tennis superstardom. When tragedy strikes, their worlds are ripped apart. Can they come together before it's too late?

A Darkness of DragonsS.A. PatrickPatch Brightwater is a boy in disgrace. Thrown in jail for playing a forbidden spell, he is no one's idea of a hero. But then he discovers a deadly truth - the evil Piper of Hamelyn is on the loose. With the help of Wren, a girl cursed to live as a rat, and Barver, a fire-breathing dracogriff, Patch must stop the Piper sparking the biggest battle of them all.

Treasure IslandRobert Louis StevensonA timeless tale of pirates, lost treasure maps, mutiny and derring-do which has appealed to generations of readers ever since Robert Louis Stevenson penned it in 1881 with the claim: 'If this don't fetch the kids, why, they have gone rotten since my day.'

Cloud BustingMalorie BlackmanDespite his Mum's insistence, Sam doesn't want to be friends with Davey, he thinks Davey's a first class, grade A, top of the dung heap moron. But one day Davey saves Sam's life and a bond is formed between them. Sam is still embarrassed to be seen with Davey, but little by little he has to admit, when it's just the two of them, Davey

is a lot of fun. But then something terrible happens to Davey…

The Eye of the WolfDaniel PennacThe wolf has lost nearly everything on his journey to the zoo, including an eye and his beloved pack. The boy too has lost much and seen many terrible things. They stand eye to eye on either side of the wolf's enclosure and, slowly, each makes his own extraordinary story known to the other.

InkheartCornelia FunkeMeggie loves stories, but her father, Mo, hasn't read to her since her mother disappeared. When a stranger knocks at their door, Mo is forced to reveal an extraordinary secret - when he reads aloud, words come alive, and dangerous characters step out of the pages. Suddenly Meggie is living the kind of adventure she has only read about in books, but this one will change her life for ever.

Eliza RoseLucy WorsleyEliza Rose Camperdowne is young and headstrong, but she knows her duty well. As the only daughter of a noble family, she must one day marry a man who is very grand and very rich. But Fate has other plans. When Eliza becomes a maid of honour, she's drawn into the thrilling, treacherous court of Henry the Eighth.

The Girl of Ink and StarsKiran Millwood HargraveForbidden to leave her island, Isabella dreams of the faraway lands her cartographer father once mapped. When her friend disappears, she volunteers to guide the search. The world beyond the walls is a monster-filled wasteland - and beneath the dry rivers and smoking mountains, a fire demon is stirring from its sleep. Isabella discovers the true end of her journey: to save the island itself.

Ghost BoysJewell Parker RhodesTwelve-year-old Jerome doesn't get into trouble. He goes to school. He does his homework. He takes care of his little sister. Then Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, watching his family trying to cope with his death, Jerome begins to notice other ghost boys. Each boy has a story and they all have something in common.

Transition to Year 7The Hunger GamesSuzanne CollinsTwelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called The Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed. When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her younger sister's place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence.

The Book ThiefMarkus ZusakBy her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed forever when she picks up a single object, abandoned in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, and this is her first act of book thievery. Soon she is stealing from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library . . . wherever there are books to be found.

Noughts and Crosses Malorie BlackmanSephy is a Cross - a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a nought - a 'colourless' member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. Against a background of prejudice, distrust and mounting terrorist violence, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum - a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger.

Northern Lights (His Dark Materials Trilogy)Philip PullmanLyra Belacqua and her animal daemon live half-wild and carefree among scholars of Jordan College, Oxford. The destiny that awaits her will take her to the frozen lands of the Arctic, where witch-clans reign and ice-bears fight. Her extraordinary journey will have immeasurable consequences far beyond her own world.

Eve of ManGiovanna & Tom FletcherAgainst all odds, she survived. The first girl born in fifty years. They called her Eve. Eve lives alone in the Tower under the strict gaze of the Mothers. She is prized and protected; she is the last girl on earth. Eve has always understood that the survival of the human race is in her hands. Now she's sixteen, and three males have been selected. Eve knows it's time to face her fate.

One of Us is LyingKaren McManusYale hopeful Bronwyn has never publicly broken a rule. Sports star Cooper only knows what he's doing in the baseball diamond. Bad boy Nate is one misstep away from a life of crime. Prom queen Addy is holding together the cracks in her perfect life. And outsider Simon, creator of the notorious gossip app at Bayview High, won't ever talk about any of them again. He dies 24 hours before he could post their deepest secrets online. All of them are suspects.

Silverfin (Young Bond Series)Charlie HigsonBefore the name became a legend. Before the boy became a man. Meet Bond. James Bond. There's something in the water at Loch Silverfin. Something deadly that must be kept secret... It's James Bond's first day at Eton, and he's already met his first enemy. This is the start of an adventure that will take him from the school playing fields to the remote shores of Loch Silverfin and a terrifying discovery.

Girl, MissingSophie McKenzieLauren is adopted but when she discovers she may have been snatched from her family as a baby, her whole life suddenly feels like a sham. Why will no one answer her questions? How can she find her biological parents? And could her adoptive parents really have been responsible for kidnapping her?

Non-Fiction

I Am MalalaMalala Yousafzai & Patricia McCormickRaised in a once-peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. So she fought for her right to be educated. And on 9 October 2012, she was shot point-blank on her way home from school. No one expected her to survive. Now, she is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Fantastic People who Dared to FailLuke ReynoldsDiscover the failures and mistakes made by some famous faces you might think have always been successes! From twelve publishers turning down J.K. Rowling, to James Dyson who created over five thousand prototypes before getting his innovative vacuum right, to Steven Spielberg who was rejected from film school only to become a world-renowned film director, these thirty-five "blunder wunders" achieved greatness because of their persistence, drive and passion.

The Diary of a Young GirlAnne FrankIn July 1942, thirteen-year-old Anne Frank and her family, fleeing the occupation, went into hiding in an Amsterdam warehouse. Over the next two years Anne vividly describes in her diary the frustrations of living in such close quarters, and her thoughts, feelings and longings as she grows up. Her diary ends abruptly when, in August 1944, they were all betrayed.

DK Children’s Books

National Geographic Kids