Recommended reading books for primary & secondary aged children in the UK
Lucas Maxwell is a school librarian and author. In October 2017, he was named the School Library Association’s School Librarian of the Year.
He won the UK Literacy Association’s Reading for Pleasure Champion Award in 2022. In 2024, he received a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to libraries and education.
Maxwell wrote Let’s Roll: A Guide to Setting up Tabletop Role-Playing Games in your School or Public Library, published by Facet Publishing on 9 February 2023.
He followed it with Roll for Adventure: Tabletop Roleplaying Adventures for Your School or Public Library, published by Facet Publishing on 21 August 2025.
In 2024, Maxwell won the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition. His debut YA novel, A Million Tiny Missiles All at Once (ISBN 9781917171397), is published by Chicken House on 9 April 2026.
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.
Season 1, Episode 41 of the School Reading List podcast. New book post, 30 great books for May 2026 and reading assessments vs the National Year of Reading.
Here’s our selection of top new titles coming out in Summer 2026. These reading recommendations include picture books, poetry, early and middle-grade fiction; young adult novels and non-fiction.
April 2026’s book club includes titles by Lanisha Butterfield, Elena Mannion, Erin Brown, Ruby Clyde, Rachel WD, David Solomons, Sophie Anderson, Ash Bond, Victor Kloss, Patrick Ness, A. B. Poranek, Lucas Maxwell & Stephen Daly.
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