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Needle

Patrice Lawrence, Andy Gellenberg

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Need help finding something to read? Why not browse our Top 100 books, as per the reviews left on the Teachers’ Reading Challenge website.
Remember to seek out texts that stretch you beyond your comfort zone, reflect children’s contemporary realities and encompass a wide range of genres. Good luck finding a brilliant book…

1

The Boy At the Back of the Class

Onjali Q. Rauf, Pippa Curnick

Average Rating: 5 stars

2

A Kind of Spark

Elle McNicoll

Average Rating: 5 stars

3

High-Rise Mystery

Sharma Jackson, Amanda Shodeko

Average Rating: 5 stars

4

Orphans of the Tide

Struan Murray, Manuel Sumberac

Average Rating: 5 stars

5

Can You See Me?

Libby Scott, Rebecca Westcott

Average Rating: 5 stars

6

Rooftoppers

Katherine Rundell

Average Rating: 5 stars

7

The Explorer

Katherine Rundell, Hannah Horn

Average Rating: 5 stars

8

Malamander

Thomas Taylor, George Ermos

Average Rating: 5 stars

9

The Wild Way Home

Sophie Kirtley

Average Rating: 5 stars

10

The House with Chicken Legs

Sophie Anderson, Melissa Castrillon (Illustrator), Elisa Paganelli

Average Rating: 5 stars

11

The Girl Who Stole an Elephant

Nizrana Farook

Average Rating: 5 stars

12

The Land of Roar (The Land of Roar series, Book 1)

Jenny McLachlan, Ben Mantle

Average Rating: 5 stars

13

The Girl who Speaks Bear

Sophie Anderson, Kathrin Honesta

Average Rating: 5 stars

14

Lark

Anthony McGowan, Nick Hayes

Average Rating: 5 stars

15

The Star Outside my Window

Onjali Q. Rauf

Average Rating: 5 stars

16

The Highland Falcon Thief

M. G. Leonard, Sam Sedgman, Elisa Paganelli, Jot Davies

Average Rating: 5 stars

17

The Strangeworlds Travel Agency: Book 1

L.D. Lapinski

Average Rating: 5 stars

18

The Nowhere Emporium

Ross MacKenzie

Average Rating: 5 stars

19

Wonder

R. J. Palacio

Average Rating: 5 stars

20

Crater Lake

Jennifer Killick

Average Rating: 5 stars

21

Varjak Paw

S. F. Said, Dave McKean

Average Rating: 4 stars

22

Cogheart

Peter Bunzl

Average Rating: 5 stars

23

Letters from the Lighthouse

Emma Carroll

Average Rating: 5 stars

24

The Boy Who Grew Dragons (The Boy Who Grew Dragons 1)

Andy Shepherd, Sara Ogilvie

Average Rating: 5 stars

25

Anisha, Accidental Detective

Serena Patel, Emma McCann

Average Rating: 5 stars

26

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow Book 1

Jessica Townsend

Average Rating: 5 stars

27

Brightstorm: A Sky-Ship Adventure

Vashti Hardy

Average Rating: 5 stars

28

Look Up!

Nathan Bryon, Dapo Adeola

Average Rating: 5 stars

29

Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth

Oliver Jeffers

Average Rating: 5 stars

30

Boy In The Tower

Polly Ho-Yen

Average Rating: 5 stars

31

No Ballet Shoes in Syria

Catherine Bruton

Average Rating: 5 stars

32

TrooFriend

Kirsty Applebaum

Average Rating: 5 stars

33

The Infinite

Patience Agbabi

Average Rating: 4 stars

34

The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates

Jenny Pearson, Rob Biddulph

Average Rating: 4 stars

35

Gargantis

Thomas Taylor, Thomas Taylor, George Ermos

Average Rating: 5 stars

36

Here in the Real World

Sara Pennypacker

Average Rating: 5 stars

37

The Girl of Ink & Stars

Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Average Rating: 4 stars

38

Ghost Boys

Jewell Parker Rhodes

Average Rating: 4 stars

39

The Five Realms: The Legend of Podkin One-Ear

Kieran Larwood, David Wyatt

Average Rating: 5 stars

40

The London Eye Mystery

Siobhan Dowd

Average Rating: 4 stars

41

Holes

Louis Sachar

Average Rating: 5 stars

42

A Pinch of Magic

Michelle Harrison

Average Rating: 5 stars

43

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

J.K. Rowling

Average Rating: 5 stars

44

The Nothing to See Here Hotel

Steven Butler, Steven Lenton

Average Rating: 4 stars

45

Who Let the Gods Out?

Maz Evans

Average Rating: 4 stars

46

The Middler

Kirsty Applebaum

Average Rating: 4 stars

47

A Monster Calls

Patrick Ness, Jim Kay

Average Rating: 4 stars

48

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Kate DiCamillo, Bagram Ibatoulline

Average Rating: 5 stars

49

Accidental Trouble Magnet: Book 1

Zanib Mian, Nasaya Mafaridik

Average Rating: 5 stars

50

Wonderscape

Jennifer Bell, Paddy Donnelly, Paddy Donnelly

Average Rating: 4 stars

51

Ruby's Worry

Tom Percival, Tom Percival

Average Rating: 5 stars

52

Darkwhispers: A Brightstorm Adventure

Vashti Hardy

Average Rating: 5 stars

53

Pax

Sara Pennypacker, Jon Klassen

Average Rating: 5 stars

54

Beetle Boy

M.G. Leonard

Average Rating: 5 stars

55

Secrets of a Sun King

Emma Carroll

Average Rating: 5 stars

56

The Firework-maker's Daughter

Philip Pullman

Average Rating: 4 stars

57

Zombierella: Fairytales Gone Bad

Joseph Coelho, Freya Hartas

Average Rating: 4 stars

58

Evernight

Ross MacKenzie

Average Rating: 5 stars

59

The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas

Average Rating: 5 stars

60

Noughts and Crosses

Malorie Blackman

Average Rating: 5 stars

61

The House of One Hundred Clocks

A.M. Howell

Average Rating: 5 stars

62

A Place Called Perfect

Helena Duggan

Average Rating: 5 stars

63

The Butterfly Lion

Michael Morpurgo, M.B.E., Christian Birmingham,

Average Rating: 4 stars

64

Sky Song

Abi Elphinstone

Average Rating: 5 stars

65

Race to the Frozen North: The Matthew Henson Story

Catherine Johnson, Katie Hickey

Average Rating: 5 stars

66

Holes

Louis Sachar,

Average Rating: 5 stars

67

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

J.K. Rowling

Average Rating: 5 stars

68

There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom

Louis Sachar

Average Rating: 4 stars

69

Skellig

David Almond

Average Rating: 4 stars

70

The Wolf Wilder

Katherine Rundell, Gelrev Ongbico

Average Rating: 5 stars

71

The Vanishing Trick

Jenni Spangler, Chris Mould

Average Rating: 5 stars

72

Floodland

Marcus Sedgwick

Average Rating: 4 stars

73

Rumblestar

Abi Elphinstone

Average Rating: 5 stars

74

Clockwork

Philip Pullman, Paul Bailey

Average Rating: 4 stars

75

A Sprinkle of Sorcery

Michelle Harrison

Average Rating: 5 stars

76

The Space We're In

Katya Balen, Laura Carlin

Average Rating: 5 stars

77

Time Travelling with a Hamster

Ross Welford

Average Rating: 4 stars

78

Oliver and the Seawigs

Philip Reeve, Sarah McIntyre

Average Rating: 4 stars

79

The Clockwork Crow

Catherine Fisher

Average Rating: 5 stars

80

The Skylarks' War

Hilary McKay

Average Rating: 5 stars

81

The Wild Robot

Peter Brown, Kate Atwater

Average Rating: 5 stars

82

The Train to Impossible Places

P.G. Bell, Flavia Sorrentino

Average Rating: 5 stars

83

Where The World Turns Wild

Nicola Penfold

Average Rating: 5 stars

84

The Proudest Blue

Ibtihaj Muhammad, Hatem Aly, S. K. Ali

Average Rating: 4 stars

85

Our Castle by the Sea

Lucy Strange

Average Rating: 5 stars

86

Lampie and the Children of the Sea

Annet Schaap

Average Rating: 5 stars

87

The Colour Monster

Anna Llenas

Average Rating: 5 stars

88

Boy 87

Ele Fountain

Average Rating: 5 stars

89

Do You Know Me?

Rebecca Westcott, Libby Scott

Average Rating: 5 stars

90

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Hunger Games Novel)

Suzanne Collins

Average Rating: 5 stars

91

The Last Wild Trilogy: The Last Wild: Book 1

Piers Torday

Average Rating: 5 stars

92

The Island at the End of Everything

Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Average Rating: 5 stars

93

Cloud Boy

Marcia Williams

Average Rating: 5 stars

94

El Deafo

Cece Bell

Average Rating: 5 stars

95

The Closest Thing to Flying

Gill Lewis

Average Rating: 4 stars

96

Running on the Roof of the World

Jess Butterworth, Rob Biddulph

Average Rating: 5 stars

97

Cloud Busting

Malorie Blackman

Average Rating: 4 stars

98

The Goldfish Boy

Lisa Thompson

Average Rating: 5 stars

99

The Secret Lake

Karen Inglis

Average Rating: 4 stars

100

Where the World Ends

Geraldine McCaughrean, Geraldine McCaughrean

Average Rating: 4 stars

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Full credits

The Teachers’ Reading Challenge is brought to you by The Reading Agency the Open University and HarperCollins

The Reading Agency is funded by Arts Council England

Illustrations: © Lizzie Everard 2020-22 © The Reading Agency 2025 read – The Reading Agency Ltd • Registered number: 3904882 (England & Wales)
Registered charity number: 1085443 (England & Wales)
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