LibGuides: Books and Reading: Great Reads for Year 5

Humorous Fiction

Shoutykid: how Harry Riddles made a mega-amazing zombie movie by Simon Mayle
Call Number: HUM MAYL
Meet the funniest kid in fiction! Hi there, My name is Harry Riddles and I am ten years old which my mum says is too young to have problems but she is WRONG. My dad just lost his job, which means we might have to move house and I need money to make my mega-amazing zombie movie but there is NO WAY I will sell my X-box! I've written to the Queen, Harry Styles, and the people off Dragons' Den who might be able help but I don't know if they'll write back. If you have any bright ideas for making money I'd love to hear them and I can tell you how to get past level 6 on World of Zombies if you like.

My brother is a superhero by David Solomons
Call Number: HUM SOLO
ISBN: 9780857634795
Luke is a comic-mad eleven-year old who shares a treehouse with his geeky older brother, Zack. Luke' s only mistake is to go for a wee right at the wrong time. While he' s gone, an alien gives his undeserving, never-read-a-comic-in-his-life brother superpowers and then tells him to save the universe. Luke is massively annoyed about this, but when Zack is kidnapped by his arch-nemesis, Luke and his friends have only five days to find him and save the world..
Gangsta Granny by David Walliams
Call Number: HUM WALL
One of David Walliams' hilarious books. Our hero Ben is bored beyond belief after he is made to stay at his grandma's house. She's the boringest grandma ever: all she wants to do is to play Scrabble, and eat cabbage soup. But there are two things Ben doesn't know about his grandma. 1) She was once an international jewel thief. 2) All her life, she has been plotting to steal the crown jewels, and now she needs Ben's help...

The Turners by Mick Elliott
Call Number: HUM ELLI
Leo Lennox has an epic problem: it's his thirteenth birthday and he has just grown a tail. You'd think that growing a tail in the middle of the school library would be the worst thing that could happen to you, but Leo is about to discover that things can always get worse - and a whole lot weirder. Now, as he discovers an unthinkable family secret, Leo must team up with his infuriating older sister to escape snake-skinned henchmen, ancient shape-shifters and a whispering villain determined to feed him to a pack of genetically engineered killer pigs - all while trying to control his new shape-shifting powers.

Eric Vale: Epic Fail by Michael Gerard Bauer; Joe Bauer (Illustrator)
Ever had a STUPID nickname? A ROTTEN run of bad luck? A BEST friend who just looks on the BRIGHT side-even when the bright side looks BLACK? Well, Eric Vale's got all three, and they're pushing him towards the EPIC-EST of all EPIC FAILS!

My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up by Tristan Bancks
Call Number: HUM BANC
A nail-biting - no, make that toe-biting - thrill ride through one boy's life. Have you ever been kissed by a dog? Ever had to eat Vegemite off your sister's big toe? Have you had a job delivering teeth? Has a bloodthirsty magpie ever been out to get you? Ever woken up to discover that everything hovers? And have you eaten 67 hot dogs in ten minutes? I have. I'm Tom Weekly.

Thai-Riffic! by Oliver Phommavanh
Call Number: HUM PHOM
Albert (Lengy) Lengviriyakul, is fed up with being Thai. His parents own a Thai restaurant with the cheesy name of Thai-riffic! and Lengy is sick of being his father's curry guinea pig, longing to just eat pizza! At school he is a bit of a troublemaker, going to any lengths to hide his background. But when his best friend decides to become Thai for a day for a school project, Lengy stubbornly comes to the realisation that there may just be some pretty cool things about his culture.

Adventure Stories

The Billionaire's Curse by Richard Newsome
Call Number: ADV NEWS
Gerald Wilkins never considered himself a particularly exceptional thirteen-year-old. But that was before he inherited twenty billion pounds, a Caribbean island, a yacht, and three estates from a mysterious relative he never knew. But that's not all—because, as we discover, Gerald's great aunt was murdered. And now it's up to Gerald to find out who did it.
Countdown to Danger series by Jack Heath
You are strapped tightly into your seat on the bullet train. The mountain track is so steep, the aisle is a staircase. As the train accelerates at top speed, a passenger slips out of his seat and begins to fall to the back of the train. He will probably die. Do you unstrap yourself to save him, or do you stay in your seat? Countdown the minutes in Jack Heath’s terrifying story of your survival–or your demise! You decide. Read the story in real time! 30 minutes to survive, in 30 minutes* of reading time!

Great Series

Tales from Schwartzgarten series by Christopher William Hill

These are gruesomely funny tales! Meet Eugene, the lily-livered prince; Osbert, the avenge; the Woebegone twins; and Marius. For lovers of Lemony Snicket.

My Australian Story series by various authors. These stories bring history to life. Written in diary form, each one gives a unique insight into a major event in our history.

Do you dare? Another series giving readers a snapshot of our past.

You Choose is a series of interactive novels for the highly adventurous. Read if you dare! Mistakes will cost you dearly! Can you survive to the end?

Spirit Animals series

Separated by vat distances, Conor, Abeke, Mellin and Rollan have each summoned a beast of legend - a spirit animal. Now their fate is set. An ancient threat is rising once again, conquering whole cities with terrifying speed. The four young heroes and their animals must band together to find legendary talismans - before they fall into enemy hands.

Young Samurai series by Christopher Bradford

Shipwrecked on the shore of Japan, twelve-year-old Jack Fletcher is wounded and alone. His father and the entire crew have been slaughtered by ninja pirates. Jack’s last remaining possession is his father’s rudder, an invaluable book of maps and notes about the world’s uncharted oceans. Masamoto-sama, one of Japan’s greatest samurai, rescues Jack, adopts him, and sends him to samurai school, where Jack will be trained in the Way of the Warrior. Will it be enough to help Jack defeat Dragon Eye, the ruthless ninja who is intent on stealing the rudder at any cost?

Great Authors

These authors have written many books for young readers.

Check out the links below to find out more.

Tried and True

These authors or books are some of our most popular! Try them out and see what you think.

Click on the images to learn more about them.

Sports Stories

Specky Magee by Felice Arena
Call Number: SPO AREN
Simon Magee is twelve and mad about Aussie Rules. He's even got a nickname – 'Specky' – because he takes such spectacular marks. But his family hates footy… So why is there a baby photo of him dressed in footy gear? Determined to find out the truth, Specky uncovers more than he ever imagined.
Our Don Bradman: the diary of Victor McDonald by Peter Allen
Call Number: SPO ALLE
Victor McDonald is cricket mad. He plays for his school team and his dream is to meet his cricketing hero, Don Bradman. But Australia is in the grip of the Great Depression. Work isn’t easy to come by. Victor’s father has lost his job and the family is moving to Sydney. Despite the daily struggle of life in inner Sydney Victor not only sees Don Bradman in action, he even gets to meet him. With the England cricket team coming to Australia, Victor knows it’s going to be a great cricket season. But England has some nasty surprises in store. This will be one cricket season the Australians — and Victor — will never forget.
The Kaboom Kid series by David Warner
Call Number: SPO WARN
ISBN: 9781925310320
Book 1: Meet Little Davey Warner. He lives in Sandhill Flats with his mum and dad and his brother Steve and his stinky dog Max. Davey and his schoolmates are MAD for cricket. In this first book in the series, Davey and his friends have a big game coming up against Shimmer Bay, their arch rivals. They need to practise, but disaster strikes. Davey and his friends find out their new teacher is Mr Mudge, a strict grump who HATES cricket even more than he hates Year 6 boys, and thanks to bully Mo Clouter, they find themselves on detention. Which means no cricket.The boys are desperate. They're going to need to pull something special out of the bag to win against Shimmer Bay. Davey's mates have some ideas, one that could really get them into trouble, but it means getting around Mo, who seems to be everywhere they turn. But Davey has an idea that he thinks may just work. Will he pull it off in time for the game against Shimmer Bay?

Diary of a Sports Star series by Shamini Flint

Great reads about kids and sports. If you like Wimpy Kid, you'll like these! There are many sports in the series.

Other Times

The Five Ancestors series by Jeff Stone
Call Number: GEN STON
Over 350 years ago in China, five young warrior monks escaped a brutal attack on their temple. Each monk specialised in a different style of "animal" kung fu. As the young monks scrambled to stay one step ahead of their attackers, they spread the non-violent, philosophies as well as teaching specific fighting skills for defence. Their teachings are rumoured to be the foundation for many martial arts systems and for this reason these young monks are known as The Five Ancestors. In this first action-packed book of the series,
Storm Boy by Colin Thiele
Call Number: GEN THIE
Storm boy and his father live alone in a humpy among the sandhills between the Southern Ocean and the Coorong - a lonely, narrow waterway that runs parallel to a long stretch of the South Australian coast. Among the teeming birdlife of the Coorong, Storm Boy finds an injured young pelican whose life he saves. From then on, Storm boy and Mr Percival the pelican become inseparable friends and spend their days exploring the wave-beaten shore and the drifting sandhills. Mr Percival learns to help Storm Boy's father with his fishing and warn the other birdlife whenever poachers are coming, but his part in rescuing a shipwrecked crew leads to great changes in Storm Boy's life.
The Lot World Series: The Last Elephant by Justin D'Ath
Call Number: GEN DATH
Colt Lawless is on the run, suddenly famous, and more than a little superhuman. But can he save the last animals on earth? Twelve years from now, rat flu has wiped out almost every animal and bird on the planet. The creatures in Captain Noah's Lost World Circus are the last of their kind. But the Rat Cops are determined to shut down the circus, and Colt and his acrobat friend Birdy might be the only ones who can save it, starting with Lucy - the world's last elephant.
ANZAC Boys by Tony Bradman
Call Number: GEN BRAD
A gripping historical tale based on a tragic episode of World War One. Bert and his little brother Frank are orphans. Determined to stay together, tragedy strikes when they are transported out of the country to serve as cheap labour in the British colonies and end up separated; Bert to Australia and Frank to New Zealand. Years pass. As the Great War dawns in Europe, the ANZACs send their soldiers to storm Gallipoli, but can the battlefield also serve as a reunion for the two brothers?

Fantasy

The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
Call Number: FAN BOSC
This is the story of a secret, and also a secret story. This is the story of Cass and Max-Ernest, two friendless eleven-year-olds who come together to solve the age-old mystery surrounding a dead magician and the clues he left behind. The first in an addictive new series!

Darkmouth by Shane Hegarty
Call Number: FAN HEGA
THEY’RE COMING! Legends (also known as terrifying, human-eating monsters) have invaded the town of Darkmouth and aim to conquer the world. But don’t panic! The last remaining Legend Hunter - Finn - will protect us. Finn: twelve-years-old, loves animals, not a natural fighter, but tries really, really hard, and we all know good intentions are the best weapons against a hungry Minotaur, right? On second thoughts, panic. PANIC NOW!

The Keepers by Lian Tanner
Call Number: FAN TANN
In the city of Jewel, impatience is a sin and boldness is a crime and Goldie Roth is both impatient and bold. When she escapes the clutches of the Blessed Guardians to find haven at the Museum of Dunt, an unforgettable adventure begins that will unlock hidden mysteries, dark secrets and awaken dangerous enemies. The thrilling first book in The Keepers trilogy.

Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimmo
Call Number: FAN NIMM
This series tells the story of Charlie Bone and other magical descendants of the Red King and of the magical school, Bloor Academy, which they attend.