Books for Younger Readers
Booked by Kwame Alexander
Twelve year old Nick is a football mad boy who absolutely hates books. In this story; football, family, love and friendship take centre stage as Nick tries to figure out how to navigate his parents’ break-up, stand up to bullies and impress the girl of his dreams. These challenges, which seem even harder than scoring a tie-breaking, game-winning goal, change his life, as well as his best friend’s.
If you enjoy this book then also read The Crossover and Rebound by the same author.
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
The First book of a trilogy followed by Forge and Ashes.
As the Revolutionary War begins, 13 Year old Isabel wages her own fight for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate, become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.
Little Soldier by Bernard Ashley
When Kaninda survives a brutal attack on his village in East Africa he joins the rebel army, where he is trained to carry weapons and use them.
But aid workers take him to London, to a new family and a comprehensive school. Clan and tribal conflicts are everywhere, and on the streets it is estate versus estate, urban tribe against urban tribe. All Kaninda wants it to get back to his own war and take revenge on his enemies. But together with Laura Rose, the daughter of his new family, he is drawn into a dangerous local conflict that is spiraling out of control.
Hacker by Malorie Blackman
Message: This is the system operator. Who is using this account? Please identify yourself ...When Vicky's father is arrested, accused of stealing over a million pounds from the bank where he works, she is determined to prove his innocence. But how? There is only one way, to attempt to break into the bank's computer files. Even if Vicky is the best hacker in the world, will she find the real thief before they find her?
If you enjoy this book try Pig Heart Boy, Robot Girl, Thief and Unheard Voices by Malorie Blackman.
Black Poppies by Stephen Bourne
In 1914 Britain was home to at least 10,000 black Britons, many of African and West Indian heritage. Most of them were discouraged from serving in the British Army when WW1 broke out but men managed to join all branches of the forces. By 1918 it is estimated that Britain’s black population had trebled to 30,000, as many black servicemen who had fought for Britain decided to make it their home. It was far from a happy ending though, as they and their families often came under attack from white ex-servicemen and civilians increasingly resentful of their presence. With first-hand accounts and original photographs, Black Poppies is the essential guide to the military and civilian wartime experiences of black men and women, from the trenches to the music halls. It is intended as a companion to Stephen Bourne’s previous books published by The History Press: Mother Country: Britain’s Black Community on the Home Front 1939–45 and The Motherland Calls: Britain’s Black Servicemen and Women 1939–45.
Warrior Boy by Virginia Clay
Ben is sure he will not be accepted by his estranged Maasai family, but when he arrives in Kenya, he finds there is a lot more at stake than his pride.
In a stunning adventure, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery as he sets out to claim his true place in the world.
Two Sisters: A Story of Freedom by Kareen Getton
Ruth and Anna are inseparable. Ruth has always known her half-sister isn't like her – her almost-white skin means she is allowed certain things that Ruth can only dream of. Anna wishes she could be braver, like her sister, Ruth. But she has had to live with the fact that the smallest mistake would land not only her in danger, but Ruth and their mother, too.
When Ruth and Anna are shipped off to Master John's home in London for their safety, it isn't the haven they imagined. Their differences force them apart – Anna is allowed to stay upstairs while Ruth is banished to the servants' quarters and is forced to work.
With whispers of freedom on the city's streets, will Anna find the courage to stand up for Ruth before it's too late?
High Rise Mystery by Sharna Jackson
The detective duo everyone is dying to meet! Summer in London is hot, the hottest on record, and there has been a murder in THE TRI: the high-rise home to resident know it alls, Nik and Norva. Who better to solve the case? Armed with curiosity, home turf knowledge and unlimited time, well, until the end of the summer holidays anyway.
The first whodunnit in a new mystery series by Sharna Jackson.
Race to the Frozen North by Catherine Johnson
Matthew Henson was simply an ordinary man. That was, until Commander Robert E. Peary entered his life, and offered him a chance at true adventure. Henson would become navigator, craftsman, translator, and right-hand man on a treacherous journey to the North Pole. Defying the odds and the many prejudices that faced him to become a true pioneer.
This is his incredible and often untold story.
Freedom by Catherine Johnson
An action packed and pacey story about a boy's experience of slavery in Britain. Nathaniel does not want to move to England with his master's family, leaving behind his mother and sister on the Jamaican plantation.
But then he remembers what his mother told him: once a slave sets foot on English soil, they are free. Perhaps he can earn his fortune and buy his family's freedom, too.
The Fastest Boy in the World by Elizabeth Laird
Eleven year old Solomon loves to run. The Ethiopian athletics team are his heroes and he dreams that one day he will be a gold medal winning athlete like them, in spite of his ragged shorts and bare feet. His grandfather takes Solomon to the capital and Solomon's joy increases when he realizes that the Ethiopian running team will be in the city that day. Maybe he will get a glimpse of Haile Gebrselassie or Derartu Tulu.
But when Solomon's grandfather collapses, Solomon knows that getting help from his village is up to him. It is a twenty mile run from the city to home, and grandfather's life hangs in the balance. Can the small bare-footed runner with the big heart do it?
The Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird
When Mamo's mother dies, he is abandoned in the shanties of Addis Ababa. Stolen by a child-trafficker and sold to a farmer, he is cruelly treated. Escaping back to the city, he meets another, very different runaway. Dani is rich, educated and fleeing his tyrannical father. Together they join a gang of homeless street boys who survive only by mutual bonds of trust and total dependence on each other.
Jupiter Williams by S I Martin
Jupiter is young, black and living at the African Academy in Clapham with other boys from wealthy Sierra Leonean families. His life is a mixture of privilege and dispossession as he copes with the cruelty of his teachers, the rivalries and tensions among his peers, a sense of duty towards his younger brother Robert and guilt over the death of another brother in Africa. Throughout, Jupiter strives to maintain his dignity, his Christian faith and pride in his roots.
But beyond the relative ease of Clapham lies another London, where poor black communities struggle for survival along the squalid reaches of the Thames. A world where Jupiter's education and background mean nothing and skin colour alone determines fate. Into this world his younger brother Robert vanishes and Jupiter is obliged to follow.
Slave Girl by Patricia C McKissack
The book is written in the form of a diary kept by Clotee, a young slave girl on a Virginia plantation in 1859. Clotee secretly teaches herself to read and write while fanning William, her owner's young son, during his lessons with his mother Miz Lilly. Clotee is then discovered by Mr Harms, the tutor, who is actually working to help slaves escape via the underground railroad.
When Clotee is given the opportunity to escape, she must decide whether to run away to freedom or stay behind to help other slaves escape. To everyone in the slave quarters, freedom is the greatest word in the world and they pray for freedom, or as they call it, heaven. But will it ever come?
Respect by Michaela Morgan
Tully and his brother do not have much. But they do have each other and Tully has an amazing talent. Football. But when the First World War begins, Tully must fight for respect on the battlefield not the pitch.
Based on the amazing true story of Walter Tull, a First World War hero and one of the first black British professional football players. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 8+
A Medal for Leroy by Michael Morpurgo
Inspired by the true story of Walter Tull, the first black officer in the British army.
Michael does not remember his father, an RAF pilot lost in the war. And his French mother, heartbroken and passionate, does not like to talk about her husband. But then Auntie Snowdrop gives Michael a medal, followed by a photograph, which begin to reveal a hidden history.
A story of love and loss. A story that will change everything – and reveal to Michael who he really is…
Journey to Jo'burg by Beverley Naidoo
This is the story of love, commitment and the flowering of the human spirit against the background of South Africa's apartheid. Frightened that their baby sister Dineo will die, thirteen year old Naledi and her younger brother Tiro run away from their grandmother to Johannesburg to find their mother, who works there as a maid. Their journey illustrates at every turn the grim realities of apartheid, the pass laws, bantustans, racism, the breakdown of family life. The opulence of the white Madam's house contrasts starkly with the reality that Naledi and Tiro face and that their baby sister is suffering from starvation, not an incurable disease.
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Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
When the bell rings and school is finished for the day, the walkers are finally set free. For ten blocks they have no one telling them what to do; they can talk about bogies, skateboards, plan dramatic escapes, make jokes, face bullies and hear about the school bus that fell from the sky.
In ten stories (one per block), find out what really happens on the walk home from school, when there are no parents or teachers to stop the fun! From hilarious escapades to brave challenges, join the walkers for one journey and many, many detours.
If you enjoyed this book then read Ghost also by Jason Reynolds
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
ALIVE - Twelve-year-old Jerome doesn't get into trouble. He goes to school. He does his homework. He takes care of his little sister.
Then Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat.
DEAD - As a ghost, watching his family trying to cope with his death, Jerome begins to notice other ghost boys.
Each boy has a story and they all have something in common. Bit by bit, Jerome begins to understand what really happened, not just to him, but to all of the ghost boys.
Yankee Girl by Mary Ann Rodman
It is 1964 and Alice has moved to Mississippi from Chicago with her family. Nicknamed Yankee Girl and taunted by the in crowd at school, Alice soon discovers the other new girl Valerie, one of the school's first black students has it much worse. Alice cannot stand the way Valerie is treated and yet she knows she will remain an outsider if she speaks up. It takes a horrible tragedy to finally give Alice the courage to stand up for what she believes.
Set in the Deep South in the 1960s, Yankee Girl is a powerful, resonant and relevant story about racism and doing the right thing.
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone
How to go on an unplanned Road Trip with your Grandma: - Grab a Suitcase: Prepacked from the big spring break trip
that got CANCELLED. - Fasten Your Seatbelt: G'ma's never conventional, so this trip won't be either. - Use the Green Book: G'ma's most treasured possession. It holds history, memories, and most importantly, the way home.
Set against the backdrop of the segregation history of the American South, take a road trip through America past and present with New York Times bestselling Nic Stone and an eleven-year-old boy who is about to discover that things aren't always what they seem - his G'ma included.
Piecing me Together by Renee Watson
Jade believes she must get out of her neighborhood if she is ever going to succeed. Her mother says she has to take every opportunity. She has. She accepted a scholarship to a mostly white private school and even Saturday morning test prep opportunities. But some opportunities feel more demeaning than helpful. Like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for "at-risk" girls. Except really it is for black girls from "bad" neighborhoods. But Jade does not need support and just because her mentor is black does not mean she understands Jade. Maybe there are some things Jade could show these successful women about the real world and finding ways to make a real difference.
Friendships, race, privilege, identity - this compelling and thoughtful story explores the issues young women face.
Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah
Leonard is shocked when he arrives with his mother in the port of Southampton. His father is a stranger to him, it’s cold and even the Jamaican food doesn’t taste the same as it did back home in Maroon Town. But his parents have brought him here to try to make a better life, so Leonard does his best not to complain, to make new friends, to do well at school – even when people hurt him with their words and with their fists.
How can a boy so far from home learn to enjoy his new life when so many things count against him?
N. Raddon - September 2023