School Reading List podcast hosted by Tom Tolkien

Season 1: Episode 31

For transcripts, resources, show notes and contact details, see https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/podcasts/series-1-episode-31/

Part 1
Book post

• A Flash of Neon by Sophie Cameron
• Volcano by Claire Saxby & Jess Racklyeft
• I’m going to make a friend by Darren Chetty & Sandhya Prabhat
• The Man Who Loved Libraries by Andrew Larsen & Katty Maurey
• The Glass Heart by Sally Gardner
• Mummy Mayhem by Cat Weldon & Nene Lonergan
• The Squid Squad by Aoife Doole
• River Crest Rescue by Paul Ian Cross
• Tales of Scary Beasts by Susan Martineau
• Vivi Conway and the Lost Hero by Lizzie Huxley-Jones
• The Blockbusters! by Frank Cottrell-Boyce
• The Battle of Farrowfell by Ravena Guron
• I Dare You by Tamsin Winter
• All the Lost Souls by Amie Jordan

Rundown - top 30 children's and YA books to buy in June 2025

• Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian
• Carnival Queen by Donette Williams-Harry & Amelie-Anne Calmo
• Snarky Sharky by Bethan Clarke & Nikolas Ilic
• Choose Your Own Evolution by Jules Howard & Gordy Wright
• Words Can Fly by Donna Ashworth
• Greenwild: The Forest in the Sky by Pari Thomson
• The Shell Keepers by Truly Johnston
• Naeli and the Secret Song by Jasbinder Bilan
• Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel
• Don't Let Me Go by Kevin Christopher Snipes
• Rock Band: Music and Misfits by Leah Osakwe
• Inside Your Brain by Lucy Ann Unwin
• Nautical by Matt Ralphs & Dieter Braun
• A Field Guide to Summer by Gabby Dawnay & Dorien Brouwers
• The Lost Book of Undersea Adventure by Teddy Keen
• Augmented by Kenechi Udogu
• Space by Gaby Morgan
• Alyssa and the Enchanted Forest by Alexandra Sheppard
• I Hear The Trees by Zaro Weil
• Escape Room: Game Zero by Christopher Edge
• Nate Yu's Blast from the Past by Maisie Chan
• Kerfuffle Bird by Helen Docherty & Gwen Millward
• The Dawn of Adonis by Phil Earle
• Letters from Wonderland by Josie George
• Yelp! Yeti! Chaos in Kathmandu by Sneha Prahan
• My Enemy, My Friend by Elizabeth Laird
• Run Away With Me by J. L. Simmonds
• Wish You Were Her by Elle McNicoll
• A Box Full of Murders by Janice Hallett
• Netta Becker and the Timeline Crime by Jennifer Claessen

June 2025 books of the month

• Fiction: Skipshock by Caroline O'Donoghue
• Nonfiction: The Great Pollination Investigation by Deborah Hocking
• Picture book: Snarky Sharky by Bethan Clarke, illustrated by Nikolas Ilic

Part 2
Our football-themed books for children

New book pitches: The Fighting Spirit by Rob Keeley, Zee Zee The Humble Bee by Michael Obiora. Molly the Moo by Paul Simpson

Part 3
How reading between the ages of 11 and 16 can help teens get better jobs

Credits & licensing
3rd party sounds are licensed. Audit: https://bit.ly/3TFkwsl

Support the show