2010

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

By Rick Riordan

The gods of Olympus are alive in the 21st Century. They still fall in love with mortals and have children who might become great heroes, but most of these children meet horrible fates at the hands of monsters by the age of twelve. Only a few learn the truth of their identity and make it to Half Blood Hill, a Long Island summer camp dedicated to training young demigods. Such is the revelation that launches young Percy Jackson on a quest to help his real father, Poseidon, avert a war among the gods. With the help of Grover the satyr and Annabeth the daughter of Athena, Percy must journey across the United States to catch a thief who has stolen the original weapon of mass destruction - Zeus’ master bolt. Along the way, they face a host of mythological enemies determined to stop them. Most of all, Percy must come to terms with a father he has never known, and an Oracle that has warned him of betrayal by a friend.

2009

Goodnight Mister Tom

By Michelle Magorian

It is 1939 and Britain stands on the brink of the Second World War. Young Willie Beech is evacuated to a small country village where he is placed with Tom Oakley, a widower who has kept himself to himself ever since his wife died in childbirth many years before.

2008

Skulduggery Pleasant

By Derek Landy

Stephanie’s uncle Gordon wrote horror fiction. At least that’s what Stephanie thought – until he died and left her his estate. Then she discovered that though his books may have been horror, they weren’t exactly… well, fiction. Plunged into a terrifying world of vampires, evil villains and Hollow Men, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source: Skulduggery Pleasant, the wise-cracking skeleton of a dead magician. When all hell breaks loose it’s lucky for Stephanie that she’s not your average twelve-year-old girl – and it’s lucky for Skulduggery that he’s already dead. Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie and Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to save the world? One thing’s for sure: the bad guys won’t know what’s hit them.

2007

Wolf Brother

by Michelle Paver

Wolf Brother is an enthralling story of friendship, survival and betrayal. It carries you back thousands of years to the ancient darkness of the Forest: to a world steeped in natural magic and elemental terror: a world of wolves and aurochs, tree spirits and Hidden People; a world in which trusting a friend means risking your life…

2006

Eragon

by Christopher Paolini

One boy...One dragon...A world of adventure. When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and ha is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands...

2005

The Wind Singer

by William Nicholson

In the walled city state of Aramanth, exams are everything. When Kestrel Hath dares to rebel, the Chief Examiner humiliates her father and sentences the whole family to the harshest punishment. Desperate to save them, Kestrel learns the secret of the wind singer, and she and her twin brother, Bowman, set out on a terrifying journey to the true source of evil that grips Aramanth.

2004

The Doomspell

by Cliff McNish

In a blaze of light, rush of wind, and scrabble of claws, Rachel and Eric are ripped through the wall and hurtled on to another world. Like thousands of other children before them, they have been snatched away by the Witch. But this time the Witch has met her match. Rachel discovers that she has extraordinary gifts: she can transform herself into a feather, or fly on an owl's back, just as the Witch can. The Witch is excited - she has found someone she can use for her own evil purposes. But for the Witch's victims, Rachel is their only hope.

2003

The Divide

by Elizabeth Kay

Felix is not your usual hero. Though brave and intelligent, he suffers from a rare illness. His parents take him on the holiday of a lifetime to Costa Rica, where they visit the High Point where the waters that feed into the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans separate. There, Felix faints and something extraordinary happens. He wakes up in a back-to-front world where magic is real and humans are imaginary. Luckily, he's taken under the wing of Ironclaw, a maths-loving Brazzle, and a mischievous tangle-girl called Betony. Together they embark on the wildest adventure

2002

Holes

by Louis Sachar

Stanley Yelnat's family has a history of bad luck, so he isn't too surprised when a miscarriage of justice sends him to a boys' juvenile detention centre. At Camp Green Lake the boys must dig a hole a day, five feet deep, five feet across, in the dried up lake bed. The Warden claims the labour is character building, but it is a lie. Stanley must dig up the truth...