Great adventure books 9-12

Sky Hawk

Author: Gill Lewis

Interest level: 10+

Reading age: 10+

Powerful, evocative writing about landscape and the natural world

The Murderer’s Ape

Author: Jakob Wegelius Translator: Peter Graves

Interest level: 8+

Reading age: 10+

Sally Jones is an engineer and loyal friend to Captain Koskela. She’s also an ape. When Koskela is falsely accused of murder,…

The Wolf Wilder

Author: Katherine Rundell

Interest level:

Reading age:

When the murderous hostility of the Russian Army threatens her very existence, Feo is left with no option but to go on the run. Wh…

Hilda and the Troll

Author: Luke Pearson

Interest level: 6+

Reading age: 7+

Blue-haired explorer Hilda has an uncanny ability to find weird and wonderful adventures and befriend peculiar creatures.

Someone’s Been Messing with Reality

Author: John Hearne

Interest level: 9-11

Reading age: 9+

Martin thinks he might be an alien – and now he has to save the entire human race! Fast-paced and fresh, this is a funny, thrillin…

The Boy to Beat the Gods

Author: Ashley Thorpe

Interest level: 9-11

Reading age: 9+

With exciting and imaginative battle scenes, and an energetic narrative, this fun-packed fantasy adventure is inspired by aspects …

Wings: Flyboy

Author: Tom Palmer

Interest level: 7-14

Reading age: 7+

On the football field and off it, Jatinder always wants to excel, but he always takes the easy option instead of the risky one.

T…

Codebusters

Author: Dan Metcalf Illustrator: Gary Cherrington

Interest level: 7-10

Reading age: 7-9

This pacey illustrated chapter book for confident young readers highlights the importance of friendship and remaining true to your…

The Scarlet Files: Cat Burglar

Author: Tamsin Cooke

Interest level: 8-10

Reading age: 9+

Scarlet McCall is schoolgirl by day and a cat burglar by night. Her father has taught her to help him burgle houses and return art…

Scales and Scoundrels

Author: Author Sebastian Girner Illustrator: Galaad and Jeff Powell

Interest level: 10+

Reading age: 10-12

Luvander and her companions go on an expedition to find The Hall of Dreaming Teasures. Their journey is like a cross between India…

Beyond the Bright Sea

Author: Lauren Wolk

Interest level: 10-14

Reading age: 10+

A wonderful tale of trying to find your place within the world, Beyond The Bright Sea transports the reader to a luminous island o…

The Island at the End of Everything

Author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Interest level: 10-14

Reading age: 10+

Amihan lives on the secluded island of Culion with her sick mum, who has leprosy. But when the government decides the island must …

RailHead

Author: Philip Reeve

Interest level: 12+

Reading age: 8+

A sci-fi adventure about a petty thief who gets in way over his head when he's asked to infiltrate the Emperor's train.

Journey to the River Sea

Author: Eva Ibbotson

Interest level: 9+

Reading age: 10+

Orphan Maia is thrilled to learn she is to live with relatives in South America and cannot wait to experience the sights, sounds a…

The London Eye Mystery

Author: Siobhan Dowd

Interest level: 9+

Reading age: 9+

Ted likes the weather, he also likes statistics and routine but his life is thrown into disarray when his Aunt Gloria and cousin S…

The Kids Who Knew Too Little

Author: Gitty Daneshvari Illustrator: James Lancett

Interest level: 8-10

Reading age: 9+

When Jonathan's parents are framed and arrested by the CIA, he and his fellow spy Shelley will have to pull together to find the r…

The White Darkness

Author: Geraldine McCaughrean

Interest level: 12+

Reading age: 12+

Introspective 14-year-old Symone is obsessed with Antarctica but when her 'Uncle' Victor takes her to the land of ice, t…

Twister

Author: Juliette Forrest

Interest level: 10-12

Reading age: 10+

Twister's father has gone missing. Her mother is depressed, and people are accusing her father of starting a fatal fire. Even scho…

The Cradle of All Worlds

Author: Jeremy Lachlan

Interest level: 9-11

Reading age: 9+

Jane Doe appeared on the steps of the mysterious Manor with her sick father as a baby, and ever since the residents of Bluehaven h…

Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic

Author: Armand Baltazar

Interest level: 9-13

Reading age: 9+

The Time Collision changed everything. A cosmic cataclysm from beyond the stars has reshaped earth. Continents have shifted, timel…

My Brigadista Year

Author: Katherine Paterson

Interest level: 11-14

Reading age: 10+

Based on real events in post-revolutionary Cuba, this is the story of 13-year-old Lora who volunteers to spend a year in bandit co…

Gita: The Battle of the Worlds

Author: Sonal Sachdev Patel and Jemma Wayne-Kattan Illustrator: Soumitra Ranade

Interest level: 9-12

Reading age: 9-12

A captivating story, based around the Hindu epic Mahabharata, which explores the inner battle raging within Dev when his father di…

The Explorer

Author: Katherine Rundell Illustrator: Hannah Horn

Interest level: 10+

Reading age: 10+

Fred, Con, Lila and little Max’s plane is on the way to Manaus when it falls out of the sky. Now, lost in the Amazon rainforest, t…