Girl: Missing by Sophie McKenzie

14 year-old Lauren has always known that she was adopted. But when a little research turns up the possibility that she was snatched from an American family as a toddler, she isn't sure her adoptive parents are telling the truth!

Follow Lauren and her friend Jam on their journey across America to find the truth about Lauren's past.

I recommend this book for girls aged 11+.

I am not Esther by Fleur Beale

Imagine being thrust into a world where you cannot read the newspaper, go on the internet, you have a different name, you cannot wear the clothes you want to, you cannot be yourself. This is what happens to Kirby when her Mum announces that she is travelling overseas and Kirby has to stay with family she has never met in a strict religious cult.

Will Kirby ever learn to accept her new life? Will she follow the strict religious rules? Will she keep out of trouble? Read and find out!

I recommend this book for girls aged 11+.

Billionaire Boy by David Walliams

Meet Joe Spud, the richest 12 year-old in the world. Joe has everything he could ever want:  his own formula one racing car, a thousand pairs of trainers, even an orangutan for a butler!

Yes, Joe has everything he wants, but does he have everything he needs?

I recommend this book for boys and girls aged 8+, who like funny stories.

 

The Person Controller by David Baddiel

Fred and Ellie are twins. They like the same things, especially video games, which they are really good at! They aren't very good at anything else though!

Then they meet the mystery man, who sends them a video-game controller unlike any other they had ever seen, and it doesn't control their usual games,

When the twins find out what it does control, it seems like the answer to all their problems. The key to their wildest dreams!

The Floods: Neighbours by Colin Thompson

Everybody needs good neighbours!
The Floods are not normal, they aren't like other families- for a start they're all witches and wizards. Nerlin and Mordonna's children look different too, furry, fuzzy, vampire-ish all except Betty. Betty is a normal, pretty little girl- but her attempts at magic never go the way she plans!

The next-door neighbours should have known better than to annoy a family of witches and wizards. But they did, and they're about to find out what the Floods do to bad neighbours!

I recommend this book for boys and girls aged 8+, who like funny, fantasy stories.

 

Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson

Maia, an orphan, cannot wait to reach her distant relatives a thousand miles up the Amazon. She imagines a loving family who she can share great adventures and memories with. Instead she finds two spiteful cousins, who think the jungle is their enemy and refuse to ever go outside.
But the wonders of the Amazon jungle make up for the horrible Carters. When Maia meets a mysterious boy living by the river shores, she begins a journey to the heart of a spectacular new world.

I recommend this book for girls aged 9+, who like adventure books.

Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng

Molly Moon, an orphan, abandoned in an old marshmallow box outside on the doorstep of Hardwick House. For ten years she has lived under the cruel rule of Miss Adderstone. But her life instantly changes overnight when she finds a mysterious book of hypnotism and discovers a new amazing talent- the power to make anyone do anything she wants them to do.

Read, as she escapes from Hardwick House, and flies off to New York in search of fame and fortune!

I recommend this book for boys and girls aged 9+ who like funny stories.

Hope in a Ballet Shoe by Michaela and Elaine DePrince

Orphaned by war. Saved by Ballet.
Born in Sierra Leone, Michaela DePrince loses her parents to war, famine and poverty. She is sent to an orphanage where she was beaten and starved. She sees her teacher murdered right infront of her, by rebels. All before she was five years old!

But there is still hope!

Michaela discovers a magazine showing a young woman dancing on the front cover. "One day" she thinks "I want to be this happy". Good news arrives, an American family wants to adopt her!

This is Michaela DePrince's true story!