Recommended reading books for primary & secondary aged children in the UK
Nicola Morgan writes fiction and non-fiction for young people, with a particular focus in her later work on teenage brains, mental health, stress, wellbeing, sleep, friendship and life online. She is a former teacher and former dyslexia specialist, and she has spoken in schools and at conferences around the world about issues affecting teenagers. Her work for teachers includes original resources connected with teenage wellbeing and learning.
Her non-fiction book Blame My Brain: The Amazing Teenage Brain Revealed examines teenage behaviour, emotions, sleep, social media and mental health, and the Walker Books edition was published on 2 May 2013. Blame My Brain was shortlisted for the Aventis Prize for Science Books Junior Prize in 2006. The Teenage Guide to Stress was published by Walker Books on 3 July 2014 and won the School Library Association Award 2015 in both the judges’ and readers’ categories.
Morgan’s fiction for young people includes Sleepwalking, which won the 2005 Scottish Arts Council Children’s Book of the Year Award. Her novel Wasted won the Scottish Children’s Book Award and was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. Other young people’s fiction titles include The Highwayman’s Footsteps, The Highwayman’s Curse and Deathwatch.
The Teenage Guide to Friends was published by Walker Books on 4 May 2017 and covers making friends, maintaining friendships, online friendships, cyber-bullying, toxic friendships, frenemies, empathy and personality types. Positively Teen: A Practical Guide to a More Positive, More Confident You was published by Poppy on 16 July 2019. The Awesome Power of Sleep: How Sleep Super-Charges Your Teenage Brain was published by Walker Books in 2021.
Books for teenage boys who don’t like reading with titles by Marcus Rashford, Randall Munroe, Marjane Satrapi, Caitlin Doughty, Juno Dawson, Tom Palmer, Deborah Meaden, Dean Atta, Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Malcolm Duffy, Nathanael Lessore.
Books for teens to read before they leave school including titles by Malala Yousafzai, Alice Oseman, Suzanne Collins, Philip Pullman, Jason Reynolds, Elizabeth Acevedo, Juno Dawson, Dean Atta, Patrice Lawrence, and George Orwell.
Our list of books to encourage children’s critical and creative thinking skills through reading. Featuring specifically selected fiction and nonfiction texts by authors including Oliver Jeffers, Alice James, Alex Frith, Petr Horáček, Hannah Peck, John Condon, Leo Timmers and The School of Life.
A selection of reading books to challenge and interest Year 8 pupils – aged 12-13 – in KS3 secondary schools. Authors include Michael Morpurgo and Anne Fine.
Here’s our selection of top new titles coming out in Summer 2021. These reading recommendations include picture books, early and middle-grade fiction; young adult novels and non-fiction.
The Awesome Power of Sleep is full of fascinating facts, hugely enjoyable to read and the science is presented in an entertaining way. A great resource for teenagers, secondary PSHE teachers and parents overseeing KS3, KS4 and KS5 home learning.
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