What about :
Wolf Brother by
Michelle Paver - stone age boy with affinity for wolves has to fight off the forces of evil to save the world. It's beautifully told and meticulously researched, and you will fall in love with the wolf cub. There's also a really excellent audio of it read by Ian Mckellan.
Journey to the River Sea by
Eva Ibbotson A good storyline, set in England and the Amazon. Good description, but it doesn't spoil the pace of the story.
The Bride's Farewell by
Meg Rosoff was on this year's Carnegie shortlist, and all my year 7 reading group liked it the best (all girls) It's a good historical novel, with a strong heroine. I thought it was a bit like Hardy for children (without the overwhelming tragedy)
The Hunger Games is very good indeed and popular with my year 8s
Gone by
Suzanne Collins I could do with about 10 copies of this, impossible to keep on the shelf, and the sequels are also exciting. One day all the people over 16 have just gone - one in the middle of writing on the board. The kids have to work it out. Collins uses everything learned from
Lord of the Flies and its ilk shamelessly and well.
I'll try to think of some others (i'm a school librarian)
Hope you find one that suits
GG
