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Children's reading lists

17 must-have historical fiction books for kids

Doctor Who: 12 Doctors 12 Stories

A collection of stories adapted for young readers taking them to the heart of the Whoniverse! Doctor Who is the longest running sci-fi show in the world, and a flagship BBC property. First appearing on air in 1963, it follows the adventures of the Doctor, a Time Lord who travels through time and space, fighting alien monsters and saving the universe.

Twelve bestselling authors, twelve Doctors, twelve brilliant adventures in time and space for all Doctor Who fans! 
 
This collection features all twelve original Doctor Who eshort stories, covering each of the twelve Doctors and written by a selection of wonderful children's authors.

Charlie Higson (Author) Charlie Higson started writing when he was ten years old. After university he was a singer and painter and decorator before he started writing for television. He went on to create and star in the hugely successful comedy series The Fast Show. 
He is the author of the bestselling Young Bond books, and The End is the final book in his current horror series, The Enemy. 
Charlie doesn't do Facebook, but you can tweet him @monstroso. Alex Scarrow (Author) Alex Scarrow used to be a rock guitarist, then he became a graphic artist, then he decided to be a computer games designer. Finally, he grew up and became an author. He has written a number of successful thrillers and several screenplays, but it's YA fiction that has allowed him to really have fun with the ideas and concepts he was playing around with designing games. 
 
He lives in Norwich with his son, Jacob, his wife, Frances, and his Jack Russell, Max. Eoin Colfer (Author) Eoin Colfer is the megaselling author of the Artemis Fowl series, Half Moon Investigations, The Supernaturalist, Airman and The Legend of . . . books. His brilliant new series WARP is out now. Eoin lives with his family in Ireland. www.eoincolfer.com

Following on from the success of the 50th anniversary anthology, 11 Doctors 11 Stories, this highly-acclaimed collection of short Doctor Who stories contains all of the original eleven adventures plus an exciting new Twelfth Doctor story. 
 
Authors featured in this incredible collection are Eoin Colfer, Michael Scott, Marcus Sedgwick, Philip Reeve, Patrick Ness, Richelle Mead, Malorie Blackman, Alex Scarrow, Charlie Higson, Derek Landy, Neil Gaiman and Holly Black.

TimeRiders: The Infinity Cage (book 9)

Get ready for the incredible 9th book in Alex Scarrow's #1 bestselling time-travel adventure series. 
 
Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
The end is approaching for the TimeRiders. In a final effort to prevent time travel destroying history, Liam and Maddy jump forward to 2070 to confront the enigmatic Waldstein and prove once and for all if he is friend or foe. What they discover is more shocking than anyone could have imagined and soon the TimeRiders are on one final mission - back to Biblical times to save the whole of humanity... 
 
** Book nine in the bestselling TimeRiders series by Alex Scarrow. 
** Perfect for fans of Doctor Who and Indiana Jones 
** TimeRiders (Book 1) won the Red House Book Award older readers category, and was Penguin UK's first ever number one on the iBookstore. 
** www.time-riders.co.uk 
** Alex Scarrow is a World Book Day 2013 author with TimeRiders: The Nearly Girl on the WBD Movellas app.

Alex Scarrow used to be a rock guitarist, then he became a graphic artist, then he decided to be a computer games designer. Finally, he grew up and became an author. He has written a number of successful thrillers and several screenplays, but it's YA fiction that has allowed him to really have fun with the ideas and concepts he was playing around with designing games. Alex lives in Norwich.

Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
The end is approaching for the TimeRiders. In a final effort to prevent time travel destroying history, Liam and Maddy jump forward to 2070 to confront the enigmatic Waldstein and prove once and for all if he is friend or foe. What they discover is more shocking than anyone could have imagined and soon the TimeRiders are on one final mission - back to Biblical times to save the whole of humanity . . .

Eighth Doctor

Doctor Who: Spore

Eleven Doctors, eleven months, eleven stories: a year-long celebration of Doctor Who! The most exciting names in children's fiction each create their own unique adventure about the time-travelling Time Lord. 
In a small town in the Nevada desert, an alien pathogen has reduced the entire population to a seething mass of black slime. When the Eighth Doctor arrives, he realises this latest threat to humanity is horrifyingly familiar - it is a virus which almost annihilated his entire race, the Time Lords... 
Author Alex Scarrow puts his own unique spin on the Doctor's amazing adventures through time and space.

TimeRiders: The Mayan Prophecy (Book 8)

Get ready for TimeRiders: The Mayan Prophecy, the 8th book in Alex Scarrow's #1 bestselling time-travel adventure series. 
 
Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
When Maddy finally unlocks fragments of the secret that Becks has been holding on to, the TimeRiders start to piece together their true purpose. Racing through time to connect the clues, the team discover a Mayan tribe and an ancient relic provides a vital link to the past . . . and future. 
 
But not all the TimeRiders can cope with the discovery, and one threatens to bring them all down if they can act out their revenge . . . 
 
** Book eight in the bestselling TimeRiders series by Alex Scarrow. 
** Perfect for fans of Doctor Who and Indiana Jones 
** TimeRiders (Book 1) won the Red House Book Award older readers category 
** www.time-riders.co.uk 
** Alex Scarrow is a World Book Day 2013 author with TimeRiders: The Nearly Girl on the WBD Movellas app.

Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
When Maddy finally unlocks fragments of the secret that Becks has been holding on to, the TimeRiders start to piece together their true purpose. Racing through time to connect the clues, the team discover a Mayan tribe and an ancient relic provides a vital link to the past . . . and future. 
 
But not all the TimeRiders can cope with the discovery, and one threatens to bring them all down if they can act out their revenge . . .

TimeRiders: The Pirate Kings (Book 7)

Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. 
 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
Relocated to Victorian London, the TimeRiders joy-ride back to 1666 to witness the Great Fire of London. In the ensuing chaos, Liam and their newest recruit, Rashim, find themselves trapped between the fire and the Thames. They escape onboard a river boat, only to be confronted by an unscrupulous captain with his heart set on treasures of the high seas . . . 
 
Back in 1888, Maddy and the rest of the team are frantically trying to track them down. But with limited resources at their new base, can Liam and Rashim survive the bloodthirsty and barbaric age of piracy long enough to be rescued? 
 
** Book seven in the bestselling TimeRiders series by Alex Scarrow. 
** The Golden Age of Piracy get a time-travel makeover! 
** Perfect for fans of Doctor Who and Pirates of the Caribbean. 
** TimeRiders (Book 1) won the Red House Book Award older readers category, and was Penguin UK's first ever number one on the iBookstore. 
** www.time-riders.co.uk

Relocated to Victorian London, the TimeRiders joy-ride back to 1666 to witness the Great Fire of London. In the ensuing chaos, Liam and their newest recruit, Rashim, find themselves trapped between the fire and the Thames. They escape onboard a river boat, only to be confronted by an unscrupulous captain with his heart set on treasures of the high seas . . . 
 
Back in 1888, Maddy and the rest of the team are frantically trying to track them down. But with limited resources at their new base, can Liam and Rashim survive the bloodthirsty and barbaric age of piracy long enough to be rescued?

TimeRiders: City of Shadows (Book 6)

Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. 
 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
Hunted by cyborg assassins from the future, the TimeRiders must abandon New York and go on the run. They escape to Victorian London and the streets where Jack the Ripper roams. But, before they can establish their new base, they make their most shattering discovery yet - and it will change everything . . . 
 
** Book six in the bestselling TimeRiders series by Alex Scarrow. 
** Victorian London's Jack the Ripper get a time-travel makeover! 
** Perfect for fans of Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes. 
** TimeRiders (Book 1) won the Red House Book Award older readers category, and was Penguin UK's first ever number one on the iBookstore.

Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. 
 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
Hunted by cyborg assassins from the future, the TimeRiders must abandon New York and go on the run. They escape to Victorian London and the streets where Jack the Ripper roams. But, before they can establish their new base, they make their most shattering discovery yet - and it will change everything . . . 
 
** Book six in the bestselling TimeRiders series by Alex Scarrow. 
** Victorian London's Jack the Ripper get a time-travel makeover! 
** Perfect for fans of Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes. 
** TimeRiders (Book 1) won the Red House Book Award older readers category, and was Penguin UK's first ever number one on the iBookstore. 
** www.time-riders.co.uk

TimeRiders: Gates of Rome (Book 5)

Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. 
 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. 
Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
Project Exodus - a mission to transport 300 Americans from 2070 to 54AD to overthrow the Roman Empire - has gone catastrophically wrong. Half have arrived seventeen years earlier, during the reign of Caligula. 
 
Liam goes to investigate, but when Maddy and Sal attempt to flee a kill-squad sent to hunt down their field office, all of the TimeRiders become trapped in the Roman past. 
 
Armed with knowledge of the future, Caligula is now more powerful than ever. But with the office unmanned - and under threat - how will the TimeRiders make it back to 2001 and put history right? 
 
** Book five in the bestselling TimeRiders series by Alex Scarrow. 
** Ancient Rome gets a time-travel makeover! 
** TimeRiders (Book 1) won the Red House Book Award older readers category, and was Penguin UK's first ever number one on the iBookstore. 
** www.time-riders.co.uk

TimeRiders: The Eternal War (Book 4)

The Eternal War: the fourth book in Alex Scarrow's exciting TimeRiders series 
 
Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. 
Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, 'Take my hand . . .' 
 
 
A time wave has struck that alters the entire history of the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln has followed Liam into the present from 1831 - and now the world is in a dangerous state of limbo . . . 
If the TimeRiders can't return Lincoln to the past, the Civil War will never end. Can Maddy persuade two colonels on either side of no man's land to cease fire long enough to save the future? 
 
The TimeRiders series: 
 
TimeRiders; Day of the Predator; The Doomsday Code; The Eternal War; Gates of Rome; City of Shadows; The Pirate Kings 
 
Alex's thrillers for adults: 
 
A Thousand Suns; Last Light; october Skies; Afterlight; The Candle Man

Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. 
Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
A time wave has struck that alters the entire history of the American Civil War. Abraham Lincoln has followed Liam into the present from 1831 - and now the world is in a dangerous state of limbo . . . 
If the TimeRiders can't return Lincoln to the past, the Civil War will never end. Can Maddy persuade two colonels on either side of no man's land to cease fire long enough to save the future?

TimeRiders: The Doomsday Code (Book 3)

The Doomsday Code: the third book in Alex Scarrow's exciting TimeRiders series 
 
Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. 
Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, 'Take my hand . . .' 
 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. 
Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
In 1993 British computer hacker Adam Lewis finds his name in a coded manuscript that is almost one thousand years old. How did Adam's name get in there . . . and why? 
 
Confronted by Adam in 2001, the TimeRiders travel back to Sherwood Forest in 1193 to discover the origins of the ancient message. But when a strange hooded man appears interested in the same thing, they begin to wonder what terrible threat this cryptic link from the past holds for the future . . . 
 
The TimeRiders series: 
 
TimeRiders; Day of the Predator; The Doomsday Code; The Eternal War; Gates of Rome; City of Shadows; The Pirate Kings 
 
Alex's thrillers for adults: 
 
A Thousand Suns; Last Light; october Skies; Afterlight; The Candle Man

Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026. 
 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. 
Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
In 1993 British computer hacker Adam Lewis finds his name in a coded manuscript that is almost one thousand years old. How did Adam's name get in there . . . and why? 
 
Confronted by Adam in 2001, the TimeRiders travel back to Sherwood Forest in 1193 to discover the origins of the ancient message. But when a strange hooded man appears interested in the same thing, they begin to wonder what terrible threat this cryptic link from the past holds for the future . . .

TimeRiders: Day of the Predator (Book 2)

Day of the Predator: the second book in Alex Scarrow's exciting TimeRiders series 
 
Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. 
Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, 'Take my hand . . .' 
 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no-one knows exists. Its purpose - to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
When Maddy mistakenly opens a time window where and when she shouldn't have, Liam is marooned sixty-five million years ago in the hunting ground of a deadly - and until now - undiscovered species of predator. 
 
Can Liam make contact with Maddy and Sal before he's torn to pieces by dinosaurs - and without endangering history so much that the world is overtaken by a terrifying new reality? 
 
The TimeRiders series: 
 
TimeRiders; Day of the Predator; The Doomsday Code; The Eternal War; Gates of Rome; City of Shadows; The Pirate Kings 
 
Alex's thrillers for adults: 
 
A Thousand Suns; Last Light; october Skies; Afterlight; The Candle Man

Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. 
 
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no-one knows exists. Its purpose - to prevent time travel destroying history . . . 
 
When Maddy mistakenly opens a time window where and when she shouldn't have, Liam is marooned sixty-five million years ago in the hunting ground of a deadly - and until now - undiscovered species of predator. 
 
Can Liam make contact with Maddy and Sal before he's torn to pieces by dinosaurs - and without endangering history so much that the world is overtaken by a terrifying new reality?

TimeRiders (Book 1)

This is book one in Alex Scarrow's exciting science fiction TimeRiders series. 
 
Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. 
Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, 'Take my hand . . .' 
 
But Liam, Maddy and Sal aren't rescued. They are recruited by an agency that no one knows exists, with only one purpose - to fix broken history. Because time travel is here, and there are those who would go back in time and change the past. 
 
That's why the TimeRiders exist: to protect us. To stop time travel from destroying the world . . . 
 
The TimeRiders series: 
 
TimeRiders; Day of the Predator; The Doomsday Code; The Eternal War; Gates of Rome; City of Shadows; The Pirate Kings 
 
Alex's thrillers for adults: 
 
A Thousand Suns; Last Light; October Skies; Afterlight; The Candle Man

Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912. 
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. 
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. 
Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, 'Take my hand . . .' 
 
But Liam, Maddy and Sal aren't rescued. They are recruited by an agency that no one knows exists, with only one purpose - to fix broken history. Because time travel is here, and there are those who would go back in time and change the past. 
 
That's why the TimeRiders exist: to protect us. To stop time travel from destroying the world . . .

Naomi Alderman

Malorie Blackman

Neil Gaiman

Derek Landy

Charlie Higson

Alex Scarrow

Richelle Mead

Patrick Ness

Philip Reeve

Marcus Sedgwick

Michael Scott

Eoin Colfer

A new version of this much-loved anthology, with a brand-new story featuring the brand-new Thirteenth Doctor from literary sensation Naomi Alderman! 
 
Twelve wonderful tales of adventure, science, magic, monsters and time travel - featuring all twelve Doctors - are waiting for you in this very special Doctor Who book. 
 
And now they're joined by a very exciting, and very exclusive, new tale - written by Naomi Alderman, author of The Power - that will star the Thirteenth Doctor, as she battles to save the universe with her three close and trusted friends. 
 
Other authors featured are: Eoin Colfer, Michael Scott, Marcus Sedgwick, Philip Reeve, Patrick Ness, Richelle Mead, Malorie Blackman, Alex Scarrow, Charlie Higson, Derek Landy, Neil Gaiman, and Holly Black.

Alex Scarrow

Books by Alex Scarrow

Series by Alex Scarrow

Doctor Who Children's Collection52 Books

Doctor Who: 50th Anniversary Short Stories11 Books

TimeRiders9 Books

Articles featuring Alex Scarrow

17 must-have historical fiction books for kids

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