We hear a lot about reluctant readers and if you Google the term "reluctant readers" you'll find a ton of tips on how to get kids reading and book recommendations to help them get started.
Yet in the last four years there have been three common queries that just come up again and again and again. And one of them is..."Help! My child (usually about 8 or 9), has read through the school library and I can't keep up. What can they read now, that is age-appropriate in content (ie no drugs/sex etc) but above their age in language/story complexity?"
That may sound like a parents' dream. I personally, with two children who can read well but don't necessarily LOVE reading, would love to have this issue. But I can see that this is as stressful as having a reluctant reader. They're suddenly delving into adult books or getting frustrated with what their peers may be reading and what their local library has to offer. It can quickly become an expensive problem to have.
I had one such query over the weekend and rather than just write my personal recommendations back, I decided to see which books our extremely well-read Toppsta community would suggest. These are their recommendations: