The Misfits Club
Kieran Crowley
Book summary
The group’s final summer adventure begins when Amelia joins them to investigate a spooky old house. Their unexpected discovery of stolen goods turns a quiet town into the setting for a mystery.
Explore
Type a book, author, topic, idea or reading experience.
Find a Book
Scan the ISBN, scan the front cover, or type what you know.
Combine filters when useful. Values show what a book addresses, not what it endorses.
Clear filtersRequests, popularity, awards and recommendations—not just age. A list is a starting point, not a suitability verdict.
Popular themes
Type to search the full theme index.
Fresh mix gives you a varied selection that stays steady while you browse, so returning from a guide does not reshuffle the page.
Kieran Crowley
The group’s final summer adventure begins when Amelia joins them to investigate a spooky old house. Their unexpected discovery of stolen goods turns a quiet town into the setting for a mystery.
L. K. Madigan
A family disagreement over surfing sits alongside a mermaid-and-magic mystery. Lena’s pursuit takes her towards dangerous waves, while her father’s refusal is tied to his past near-drowning.
Recommendations
Choose a route in, then open only the collection you want. 8 collections · 23 books.
Prize lists and recognised reading lists.
A selection of available Suitabook guides from this list.
2 booksKate DiCamillo
An orphan’s question about his sister’s fate leads to a fortune-teller’s startling prediction: an elephant will guide him to her. The novel follows the remarkable events that begin with this answer.
David Bruins
Ninja, Cowboy and Bear enjoy doing things together, but quarrel and compete over who is best. The rivalry brings resentment before they learn to be considerate of their differences. Instructions for a whole-body game are included.
Mackenzi Lee
Felicity aims to enter medical school despite institutional resistance to women in science. A journey funded by a mysterious young woman becomes a perilous quest, while Felicity also navigates an estranged friendship and a suitor’s proposal.
Dan Gemeinhart
A seriously ill boy sets off with his dog to pursue a mountain-climbing goal; his best friend faces a difficult question of loyalty. The story centres on illness, friendship and a risky runaway journey.
Aiden Beaverson
Linn is pushed into flight by demands to abandon her faith and marry. A mysterious arrow-shaped wound and a path through Maether draw her towards the lysefolk and a quest tied to the world's future.
Amy Goldman Koss
A clique friendship story about loyalty, belonging and the strain caused by one girl’s control over group membership. Each girl gets a say in the story.
Tracey Hecht
The forest’s animals are falling ill after the pomelos are poisoned. Three friends investigate, weighing Iris’s claim of moon monsters against the possibility of a more earthly explanation, and seek a cure.
Sara Holbrook
A family and friendship story set amid Cold War suspicion, centred on Marjorie's efforts to find her own voice and decide how to treat others.
Julia Donaldson
A dinosaur mother’s search for a safe nesting place leads from a world of predators to a modern farm, where keeping her hatchlings safe brings a rescue mission.
Mary Downing Hahn
This is a mystery driven by two friends’ different reactions: Parker is determined to prove Evans guilty, while Matt remains cautious. Their search takes them into an antique shop, where a tense encounter unfolds.
Vivien Alcock
Kate longs for the sister she never knew, and believes Emma’s return would solve her family’s problems. When a stranger claims to be Emma, she proves very different from Kate’s imagined sister.
Holly Black
Expect a dark faerie-court story driven by Jude’s effort to secure a place among people who despise humans. Politics and power take centre stage; romance is a subplot rather than the main focus.
Alan Gratz
Nine family episodes link baseball to changing lives in Brooklyn, from 1845 onwards. Expect a multigenerational story rather than a single player’s season, with moments of achievement and heartache.
Robert D. San Souci
The boy’s hope of helping his family gives his night in the haunted house a practical aim, alongside the challenge of facing a frightening ghost.
Kathleen Glasgow, Liz Lawson
This is a dual-protagonist mystery: Alice and her tutor Iris investigate what happened to Brooke, while Alice’s earlier disappearance remains unexplained. Their search involves a reward, a suspected boyfriend and clues from Christie’s mysteries.
Melody Carlson
Kim’s friend Natalie is pregnant and set to marry Ben, who does not love her. Meanwhile, Kim considers whether to reconnect with her birth mother and whether she and her father might take in her cousin Maya.
Cécile Gagnon
This retelling combines a Cinderella-like courtship with repeated rebirths and a violent final punishment. Its ending may prompt questions about whether revenge brings justice or simply extends the harm.
Dave McGrail
Readers navigate friendship tensions, a shared crush, discomfort about body hair and an invitation to join a popular group that comes with a price. Their decisions determine how their story unfolds.
Adam Sass
Connor is taken to an island camp intended to make him change after coming out. He plans to escape with other teenagers and expose the camp’s secrets.
Matthew Sullivan
A comic-sounding Christmas caper brings cousins together around a shared attempt to recover their presents.
Tom Veitch, Cam Kennedy
The renewed Empire’s assault on the Rebels unfolds alongside a threat to Han and Leia from Jabba’s heirs. Luke’s possible opposition adds a close personal uncertainty to the struggle.
Karen Laurence
The story follows the children as they learn about a family rift and try to uncover the past. The newly discovered aunt and cousin bring excitement, while their father’s silence leaves the reasons for the estrangement unresolved for the children.
Jenny O'Connor
A comic fantasy premise turns goblin expectations upside down: Matty’s parents want her to un-tidy and eat slug porridge, while her baby dragon’s goodness is a problem. Matty may seek help from the Forest Fairies.
Mark Forman
A classic quest premise drives Alex from an unusual shop encounter towards a dragon's lair. The adventure is framed around courage, fear, friendship and choices that may change his life.
Phyllis A. Whitney
Malinda arrives at her mother’s home and finds that its beauty masks family secrets. She remains to seek the truth, while facing frightening events and threats to her life and sanity.
Kathi Baron
This is a family story about Cassie’s love of violin, her father’s explosive moods and the effects of past violence. It follows her flight to a homeless shelter and her family’s struggle to repair relationships.
Shana Muldoon Zappa, Ahmet Zappa
Sage travels from Starland to Wishworld on a mission involving wishes, a deadline and the challenge of life on a new planet.
Sharon Creech
This is a story about siblings who have been moved between foster homes and an older couple who invite them into their lives. It centres on belonging, trust and the possibility of a loving home.
Mildred D. Taylor
Cassie’s family struggles to preserve their land and dignity amid racism in Depression-era Mississippi. The story also contains threats, mob violence and other serious harm.
Patrick Ness
This is a coming-of-age novel about a gay teenager navigating family expectations, work and love. A parallel supernatural thread follows a murdered girl and an otherworldly Queen, giving the story an eerie counterpoint.
L. L. Reynolds
Rafe’s move away from home and worry about his father lead into a fantasy adventure involving classmates, angels and other mythical beings. His search for a way back becomes tied to a threat to the heavens.
Gary Urey
The story centres on friendship under pressure and a powerful invention whose control could affect money, culture and politics.
Grace Dent
Shiraz’s unexpected exam success opens a route into higher-level classes. She weighs that opportunity against her mother’s doubts, her café job and the prospect of mixing with wealthier pupils.
Jerry Spinelli
The book offers several school-life storylines, including a student's wish to change his appearance, another student's plan concerning bullies, a mysterious valentine message and an invention nearing its reveal.
Therese Weiner
A first day at school turns difficult when Patcheeno is picked on for his breed. His teacher and big sister help him persist, and the story ends with the pups accepting him.
Brian Jacques
This is an animal fantasy adventure with a moral dilemma at its centre: Veil’s choices are shaped by the welcome he receives, the crime that leads to his exile and his connection to his father.
Sara Zarr
This novel brings a missing-child crisis into the same small-town setting as Samara’s strained family life and changing relationship with faith.
Melody Carlson
Maddie’s first trip abroad combines exploration of Northern Ireland with questions about Ryan’s family past. Her changing ideas about her future and developing friendship with Ryan run alongside the mystery.
Andrew Peterson
Three siblings discover they are heirs to a legendary kingdom and flee north. The route includes monsters, hostile people and a threatening factory, while tensions within the family add another challenge.
Wendy Orr
Nim's practical island skills and animal companions sit alongside a growing need to rely on friends when contact with her father stops.
Anna McQuinn
The boys share games and basketball interests, while Jamal’s family food, mealtime customs and occasional special clothes differ from Joseph’s. Their friendship is the story’s central focus.
Rosemary A. Chorzempa
This is a hands-on introduction to family-history research: readers fill in details about relatives, organise findings into charts and records, and explore family stories and customs.
Kristen Simmons
The story centres on three characters whose lives connect through a factory town shaped by scarcity and hardship. It brings together friendship, family ambition and resistance to the town’s rules.
Jacqueline A. Wolfe
Megan faces a move that means leaving her friends. She feels sad, but later finds positive aspects of living in a new place.
Laura Overdeck
Expect a book to work through together: its problems range across everyday and imaginative subjects, and the three difficulty groups offer different levels of challenge.
Tanita S. Davis
This is a family story about two sisters getting to know their unconventional grandmother through a shared journey and her recollections. Her earlier life includes leaving home as a teenager and military service during the Second World War.
Showing the first 48 results. Add another category or theme to narrow the selection.
Tae Keller
A friendship-centred story combines an ominous prophecy with wildfire danger. Its three young characters also face changing relationships, private worries and choices about how to respond to an uncertain future.
Matthew Swanson
This is a Moon-colony mystery about a boy seeking answers after his father fails to return from a mission officials deny ever happened.
A selection of available Suitabook guides from this list.
1 bookTia Fisher
This is a verse novel about difficult choices after a relationship takes a dark turn, with consent and control at its centre. Its playful language also gives weight to how characters relate and express identity.
Stages, reading confidence and moments when a particular kind of book may help.
A selection of available Suitabook guides from this list.
7 booksFrancesca Simon
This is a lively choice for a child who enjoys mischief, silly bodily humour and action. Its Viking setting, school episodes and group problem-solving provide variety, while the short, episodic structure can support shared reading or growing independence.
Cornelia Funke
Expect a lively rescue adventure centred on Molly’s courage and cleverness. The pirate setting, island peril and treasure chase offer momentum, while Molly’s role gives the story an assertive child protagonist.
Alex Milway
A warm, illustration-rich story about rebuilding a neglected hotel through practical work, creative problem-solving and cooperation. Its main tension comes from whether Anna and her team can meet an inspector’s challenge.
Thomas Flintham
A playful, high-energy quest turns familiar ideas upside down. Its central appeal is the combination of gaming-style adventure, colourful illustrations, unusual allies and a clear goal: return to the real world.
Dr Fuzz
A playful, illustrated story that uses rhyme and a small central character to explore dreams, fears and courage. Its chapter structure may support reading aloud in short sittings and revisiting key ideas together.
Eoin Colfer
A warm, humorous adventure about a determined young inventor, with imaginative technology, a strong female lead and a clear focus on why sleep matters.
Alex Milway
This is an outdoor adventure about a child investigating her grandmother’s disappearance, helping eagles in difficulty and discovering a stronger sense of belonging in the mountain community.
A selection of available Suitabook guides from this list.
1 bookMorris Gleitzman
This is an emotionally serious but often humorous story about a child trying to solve an illness he cannot control. Its interest lies in Colin’s urgency, bold schemes and changing understanding of help, responsibility and loss.
Subjects, worlds and interests to browse into.
A carefully curated collection of children’s books in which grief, bereavement or remembrance is central. Compare how each book handles loss, emotional intensity and continued connection before deciding what suits your child and family values.
5 booksBritta Teckentrup
Fox dies after a long life, and his friends share memories that help a tree grow. The story moves through grief, remembering and renewal, while keeping Fox’s influence alive in their community.
John Dougherty
This is a gentle, emotionally serious story about grief. Its imaginative central image—a hare-shaped absence—gives difficult feelings a visible form, while memories and friendship bring warmth without removing the sadness.
Judith Kerr
Mog dies, watches her family mourn, and helps a new kitten settle before moving on into the sun. The story combines grief with humour and a gentle, imaginative afterlife. It offers a way to talk about remembering a pet, death, mourning and continuing family life, while still potentially feeling upsetting.
Jayde Perkin
This is a direct, emotionally serious story about a child living through her mother’s death. It offers language for grief, shows that support can coexist with loneliness, and uses a familiar garment to represent continuing love and memory.
Kazumi Yumoto
A quiet story about losing someone important, carrying grief, and finding understanding. Bear’s friendship with the Wildcat offers companionship without demanding that he simply forget, while music and memory accompany his movement towards healing.
A curated collection of children’s books about setbacks, recovery, perseverance, courage and growth. Compare how each book handles difficulty before choosing what fits your child, timing and family values.
2 booksLinda Sue Park
A focused, dual-narrative historical novel about displacement, survival and access to water. Its language is spare, but the experiences include war, deaths and severe deprivation, balanced by perseverance and collective problem-solving.
A selection of available Suitabook guides from this list.
1 bookElena Mannion
A gentle nature story combines a small character’s change of circumstances with information about oak trees, seasons and the many species associated with them.
A selection of available Suitabook guides from this list.
4 booksKatie Cottle
A warm school-start story about friendship, self-expression and the pressure to seem interesting. Its central contrast is between Monty’s unwanted performance and Dot’s gradual willingness to be more open.
Emma Dodd
A gentle, affirming story pairs ocean exploration with a message about self-trust. Its distinctive promise is that following one’s own path does not cancel the security of a loving family relationship.
Paul Stewart
A gentle story about moving from a very small comfort zone into wider experiences. Mabel’s journey offers opportunities to discuss fear, curiosity, confidence, changing seasons and supporting someone who is hesitant.
This is a gentle, participatory read-aloud built around rhyme, repetition and counting. Its central pleasure is noticing both the individuality of babies and the shared features that connect them.
Eoin McLaughlin
This is a gentle story about staying emotionally connected when physical contact is not possible. It offers several concrete, non-touching ways to show affection, while keeping the reason and duration of separation unexplained.