Junior Reading Group Book Sets

At the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert's beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. He's soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man's land.

A story for adults about small boys, marooned on a coral island. At first it seems as though it is all going to be great fun; but the fun before long becomes furious and life on the island turns into a nightmare of panic and death. Staff Picks: Even studying this at school hasn’t put me off re-reading it. Great plot, scary and plausible. Picked by Clare

The night the Nazis come to take their mother away, three children escape in a terrifying scramble across the rooftops. Alone in the chaos of Warsaw, they have to learn to survive on their own.

It's six months after the tumultuous events on Brighton, and Wren Natsworthy and her father Tom have taken to the skies in their airship, the Jenny Haniver. Wren is enjoying life as an aviatrix but Tom is troubled by matters of the heart.

Charity Delafield has grown up with her fiercely strict father, in a vast, isolated house that she is forbidden to explore. She knows very little of the outside world - or of her own family's shadowy past. One day Charity stumbles upon the dark corridor that haunts her dreams, and suddenly she realises things aren't what they seem.

It's a dangerous life being the brother of the world's worst private detective: but Nick Diamond has survived, so far. However his survival instincts are about to be tested to the full: a school reunion on a remote island, a holiday to Paris, an investigation into the whereabouts of a man and the visit of a world famous singer.

Felix lives in a convent orphanage in Poland. He is convinced his parents are still alive and that they will one day come back to get him. When Nazi soldiers come to the orphanage Felix decides to escape and make his way home. The journey to find his parents is a long and difficult one, as Poland is occupied by the Nazis and a dangerous place for a Jewish boy. Felix manages to live and look after himself and another orphan, Zelda, with the help of...

All Hal had ever wanted was a dog. But a dog would damage the expensive carpets in Hal's glamorous home, and his rich, neglectful parents refuse to consider one. Then they discover Easy Pets, a convenient dog-rental agency. Terrier Fleck arrives on Hal's birthday, but when Hal discovers that his dog must be returned, he runs away.

When orphaned Laura Marlin moves from a children's home to live with her uncle in Cornwall, she longs for an exciting life just like the characters in her favourite detective novels. A real life adventure is on hand as she is deposited at her uncle's spooky house. Why does her uncle, Calvin Redfern, forbid her to go to Dead Man's Cove?

Charlie Bucket can't believe his luck when he finds a Golden Ticket and wins the chance of a lifetime: a magical day witnessing the miraculous creation of the most delectable eatables ever made.