Listmania!
My favourite children's/ teens books
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Penguin Popular Classics)Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Penguin Popular Classics) by Lewis Carroll
Buy new: £1.79 / Used from: £0.01
This is the first book I remember being read to me as a kid - you can't fault it
His Dark Materials Gift Set: "Northern Lights", "The Subtle Knife", "The Amber Spyglass": His Dark MaterialsHis Dark Materials Gift Set: "Northern Lights", "The Subtle Knife", "The Amber Spyglass": His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
Buy used from: £8.50
Kids books? Deep metaphors, stunning plot arc - essential
The Little PrinceThe Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Buy new: £6.49 / Used from: £3.44
'It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye'
HolesHoles by Louis Sachar
Buy new: £2.43 / Used from: £0.22
A book that exists on so many levels, not only fantastic for teaching at KS3 but every adult I've handed this to has been unable to put it down
Stone Cold (Puffin Teenage Fiction)Stone Cold (Puffin Teenage Fiction) by Robert Swindells
Buy new: £3.99 / Used from: £0.49
A children's book about a serial killer and a homeless boy? Again, a fantastic writer.
I am David (World Mammoth)I am David (World Mammoth) by Anne Holm
Buy new: £4.19 / Used from: £0.01
essential
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Puffin Fiction)Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Puffin Fiction) by Roald Dahl
Buy used from: £0.01
It was so difficult to pick just one, but this is every kids dream (well, of my generation anyway!)
The Changeover (Collins Modern Classics)The Changeover (Collins Modern Classics) by Margaret Mahy
Buy new: £2.67 / Used from: £2.45
A beautifully written and underrated book
The Chocolate War (Puffin Teenage Books)The Chocolate War (Puffin Teenage Books) by Robert Cormier
Buy new: £5.24 / Used from: £0.01
Robert Cormier gripped me as a teenager, and this book was read time and time again. Pity the film is so awful!
Dance on My Grave (Red Fox Young Adult Books)Dance on My Grave (Red Fox Young Adult Books) by Aidan Chambers
Buy used from: £0.01
Like Robert Cormier, Aiden Chambers is another writer who I've returned to as an adult. A daring theme. Stunning prose
Charlotte Sometimes (Red Fox Classics)Charlotte Sometimes (Red Fox Classics) by Penelope Farmer
Buy new: £1.14 / Used from: £0.23
I only picked up this book because of The Cure song, but it is a wonderful supernatural tale
The SupernaturalistThe Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer
Buy new: £2.36 / Used from: £0.01
The Matrix meets ... well ... who can say. A wonderfully futuristic book with environmental undertones
The Peppermint Pig (Puffin Books)The Peppermint Pig (Puffin Books) by Nina Bawden
Buy new: £1.04 / Used from: £0.01
Of course this has to be included!
The Wave (Puffin Teenage Fiction)The Wave (Puffin Teenage Fiction) by Morton Rhue
Buy new: £4.49 / Used from: £0.94
I loved this book so much that I once tried to write a screenplay for it!
I Never Loved Your Mind (Lions)I Never Loved Your Mind (Lions) by Paul Zindel
Buy used from: £0.01
So difficult to pick a Paul Zindel book - I chose this one because the title is the best title I've ever seen on a kid's book