The Bookbuzz books

The 2025 titles

We'll be announcing the books that have been selected for Bookbuzz 2025 on 1 May – so don't forget to check back then!

Our expert panel of school librarians and practising teachers have already met to start the exciting decision-making process.

They spend many hours reading longlisted books and gathering together to discuss and deliberate on which ones should be included – watch this video to get a flavour of the selection process:

Who chooses the books?

Bookbuzz books are chosen by an independent panel of experts. The panel includes school librarians, teachers and other children’s reading experts.

The panellists are chosen for their experience, knowledge and passion for getting children reading. Every panel is different, and panel members come from different parts of the country, from both rural and urban communities, and with differing experience, expertise and perspectives.

How do they choose the books?

Publishers are invited to recommend books for the programme – we receive over 300 books each year for Bookbuzz! BookTrust experts create a longlist from these submissions.

Each panellist then reads a selection of the longlist, up to twenty books each, and they have around eight weeks to do so – that’s a lot of reading for just two months!

Then we hold the selection meetings where the panel members meet with the team at BookTrust to discuss the books they’ve been reading. They explore what they liked, what they didn’t like, what they think students will love, and which books they recommend for the final Bookbuzz list.

It’s a lot of fun and there are some great debates, especially when different panellists have different opinions! Through these discussions and debates, the longlist is narrowed down to the titles that the panellists think are the best for the programme.

What do they look for?

The books are carefully chosen to offer a spectrum of different reading experiences and to ensure that there is something to suit all interests and reading levels, from keen readers to reluctant ones, and from advanced readers to those for whom reading is a real challenge.

BookTrust believes every child has the right to access books, so some Bookbuzz titles are chosen to offer something different, such as a dyslexia-friendly print, or non-fiction to dip in and out of, or a book with less text.

And of course, the selection panel looks for books that will be fun, exciting and engaging, that will support young people to build a reading for pleasure habit and become lifelong readers.  

"When choosing a Bookbuzz book I look first for a really great story that's going to engage the students and keep them hooked. Secondly for characters that are relatable and that I know students are going to want to root for as they're reading. And thirdly I look for a book that is really representative." - Head of English and 2024 panellist

"For me, I'm looking for 'that book'. I think we all remember them from being a child - that book that changed the way you saw the world, changed the way you saw yourself and that you remember 30 years later." - Librarian and 2024 panellist