Recommended reading books for primary & secondary aged children in the UK
Tamsin Winter is a UK children’s author whose fiction is aimed at readers aged 10–14. She studied English Literature and Creative Writing at university and worked for many years as a secondary-school English teacher.
Winter’s debut novel, Being Miss Nobody (Usborne, 2017), follows an eleven-year-old who starts an anonymous blog to speak up about bullying. Her second novel, Jemima Small Versus the Universe (Usborne, 2019), addresses body image and self-confidence. Subsequent titles include Girl (In Real Life) (Usborne, 2021), Bad Influence (Usborne, 2023) and I Dare You (Usborne, 2025).
Her work has received multiple awards and shortlistings from UK reading programmes. Being Miss Nobody won the Awesome Book Award and other regional prizes. Jemima Small Versus the Universe was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Bad Influence was selected as a YA Book of the Month by a national newspaper.
I Dare You was published in 2025.
Books for year 7 – our reading recommendation for 11 year olds at the start of secondary school in Year 7. There’s a selection of choices including classics, well-known authors, new titles, cult fiction and short stories. This recommended Year 7 reading list is aimed at all ability ranges.
Keep your teen reading over the summer holidays with books by Abiola Bello, Simon James Green, Cynthia Murphy, Oskar Kroon, Meredith Adamo, E Lockhart, Angeline Boulley, Tess Sharpe, John Schu and more.
I Dare You is a gripping, contemporary cautionary tale that today’s teens will find both thrilling and uncomfortably familiar. The story is a tense, escalating journey as Winter builds tension from the very first page.
Edgy stories for 11-14 year olds with titles by Kwame Alexander, Malorie Blackman, Hilary McKay, Jason Rohan, Ele Fountain, Christopher Edge, Catherine Bruton, Derek Landy, Simon James Green, Robert Muchamore, Anne Cassidy & more.
Summer reading challenge – A good reading challenge will not only promote reading and encourage reading for pleasure, but it will encourage a reading culture to spread like a virus throughout your school.
May 2025’s book club recommendations feature titles by Sally Gardner, Aoife Dooley, Frann Preston-Gannon, Lizzie Huxley-Jones, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Ravena Guron, Tamsin Winter, and Amie Jordan.
Season 1, Episode 11 of the School Reading List podcast. New book post, 30 great books for June 2023, adventure book picks and transitioning from picture books to short chapter books.
Here’s our selection of top new titles coming out in Summer 2023. These reading recommendations include picture books, early and middle-grade fiction; young adult novels and non-fiction.
Disclosure: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops, or Waterstones.com.
Keep up to date with our email newsletter and our latest social media posts about reading, children's books and literacy.
Our latest reading national curriculum year group recommended reading lists:
Picture books for the under 5s | Books for Reception | Books for Year 1 | Books for Year 2 | Books for Year 3 | Books for Year 4 | Books for Year 5 | Books for Year 6 | Books for Year 7 | Books for Year 8 | Books for Year 9 | Books for Year 10 | Books for Year 11
© 2026 School Reading List. All Rights Reserved | As an Amazon Associate schoolreadinglist.co.uk earns from qualifying purchases | Policies and Terms of Use