Best Books for Ages 9-12
Recommended middle-grade fiction for confident readers, ranked by real Amazon UK sales.
Every book here is independently recommended for this age group by BookTrust, LoveReading4Kids, or Penguin — then ranked by real, live Amazon UK sales. Click any cover to buy on Amazon.
Right now, the top pick for ages 9-12 is "The Seriously Epic Holiday of Lottie Brooks: The eighth hilarious diary in the bestselling series: 8".
The Seriously Epic Holiday of Lottie Brooks: The eighth hila...
The Majorly Awkward BFF Dramas of Lottie Brooks: The sixth h...
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Fight or Flight (Book 21): THE NEXT HI...
Lottie Brooks's Totally Disastrous School-Trip (Lottie Brook...
Lottie Brooks’s Essential Guide to Life: Write Your own Diar...
The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks: The first ...
The Catastrophic Friendship Fails of Lottie Brooks: The seco...
Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories 2: FROM T...
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Partypooper (Book 20): A side-splittin...
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Book 1)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess (Book 19): A laugh-out-loud s...
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway (Book 12): A hilarious fam...
Esme Pepper: A funny, heartbreaking and hopeful story from t...
Kiki and the New Magic: The enchanting sequel to the childre...
How to Train Your Dragon School: Doom of the Darkwing: Book ...
I Am Rebel: The award-winning must-read animal adventure tha...
The Detention Diaries: Worse than Jail: A hilarious, illustr...
Lottie Brooks vs The Ultra Mean Girls: The seventh hilarious...
African Queens: Incredible Stories of Africa's Legendary Wom...
The Adventures of Rap Kid: A hilarious, high-energy new seri...
Reek: A Times Children’s Book of the Week (Dyslexia-friendly...
The Line They Drew Through Us
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Roald Dahl Clothbound...
Boss of the Underworld: Shirley vs the Green Menace: Book 1
My Name Is Zayn (Kelpies)
The Boy with Big Decisions (an interactive story book)
Land of the Last Wildcat: The animal adventure hit of the ye...
Supa Nova
The Tale of the Nutcracker: The beloved children's Christmas...
Little Women
Cruise Ship Kid: Thief At Sea! - The funny, multi-award-winn...
Birdie: Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Writing 2026
FAQs
What are the best books for ages 9-12?
Based on real Amazon UK sales combined with recommendations from BookTrust, LoveReading4Kids and Penguin, the current top pick for ages 9-12 is "The Seriously Epic Holiday of Lottie Brooks: The eighth hilarious diary in the bestselling series: 8". See the full list below.
How is this list put together?
Every title is independently recommended for this age group by at least one of BookTrust's Great Books Guide, LoveReading4Kids, or Penguin's children's age guides, then ranked by real, live Amazon UK sales data — not just editorial opinion and not just raw sales, but both together.