Book picks similar to
Friday's Tunnel by John Verney


childrens
mystery
1001-children-s-books-you-must-read
young-adult

The Island on Bird Street


Uri Orlev - 1981
    During World War II a Jewish boy is left on his own for months in a ruined house in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he must learn all the tricks of survival under constantly life-threatening conditions.

The Wool-Pack


Cynthia Harnett - 1951
    Also published as The Merchant's Mark.In England in 1493, Nicholas, the son of a wealthy wool merchant, manages to unmask a plot designed to ruin his father's business.

The Peppermint Pig


Nina Bawden - 1975
    He'd cost Mother a shilling, but somehow his great naughtiness and cleverness kept Poll and Theo cheerful, even though it was one of the most difficult years of their lives.

The Coral Island


R.M. Ballantyne - 1857
    At first the island seems a paradise, with its plentiful foods and wealth of natural wonders. But then a party of cannibals arrives, and after that a pirate ship...what is to become of them?

A Traveller in Time


Alison Uttley - 1939
    A beloved time travel story that has endured for generations.

Minnow on the Say


Philippa Pearce - 1955
    With summer stretching endlessly before him, it seems too good to be true.Soon there is another boy--Adam, the Minnow's rightful owner. Adam wants his boat back...but something else, too: a trustworthy friend to help him find the long lost ancestral jewels that could save his family from financial disaster Can two boys find what history has kept an untouchable secret for hundreds of years? Or will they lose the race against time and against another treasure seeker lurking at the river's edge.

Pagan's Crusade


Catherine Jinks - 1992
    Down on his luck and kicked in the pants one too many times, sixteen-year-old Pagan Kidrouk arrives on the doorstep of the Templar Knights in medieval Jerusalem, looking for work as a squire. He's expecting only some protection from the seedier aspects of life on the street and a few square meals. Instead, Pagan finds himself hard at work for Lord Roland de Bram - an exciting life of polishing Lord Roland's armor, laundering his garments, and even training to fight by his side. But as the Infidel Saladin leads his army to Jerusalem, it becomes more and more difficult for Pagan and Lord Roland to discern what action to take or whom to trust. Neither Saladin's army nor the Christian Crusaders offer easy answers. Is a bloody battle for control of the Holy City inevitable?

Storm Boy


Colin Thiele - 1963
    After a pelican mother is shot, Storm Boy rescues the three chicks, and nurses them back to health. He names them Mr Proud, Mr Ponder and Mr Percival. After he releases them, his favourite, Mr Percival, returns. The story then concentrates on the conflict between his lifestyle and the externally imposed requirement for him to attend a school, and the fate of the pelican.

Grinny


Nicholas Fisk - 1973
    But why is she so strange? For a start, she just appeared, grinning, on the doorstep, as if from nowhere. Why have Mum and Dad never mentioned her before—after all, she is supposed to be Granny's sister, isn't she?Soon Tim and Beth start noticing more and more odd things about the great-aunt they've nicknamed 'Grinny.' And before long, they make a horrifying discovery. She isn't even human, she's as dangerous as a time-bomb and she has a fearful task to perform which involves them…

Nobody's Family Is Going to Change


Louise Fitzhugh - 1974
    They have been received by young readers, year after year, with excitement and love. The new Fitzhugh novel shares the vigorous sense of comedy and the unflinching fidelity to the real world that distinguished her earlier books. Many readers will feel, however, that Nobody's Family Is Going to Change is even finer than its predecessors. Willie, seven years old, wants to dance. Emma, his older sister, wants to be a lawyer. Is there something wrong with them? Or is there something wrong with their parents, whose dreams for their children, the ordinary dreams of New York's black middle class, have little to do with what the children want? For Willie won't stop dreaming of the day he will dance with his uncle Dipsey on Broadway, and Emma is determined that someday she will address a courtroom. In this novel, the work of a matchless storyteller , Emma finds an answer for children with families that will not change.

The Wind on the Moon


Eric Linklater - 1944
    Sighs Dinah, "I think that we are quite likely to be bad, however hard we try not to be," and her sister Dorinda adds helpfully, "Very often, when we think we are behaving well, some grown-up person says we are really quite bad. It's difficult to tell which is which." Sure enough, the mischievous sisters soon convince a judge that minds must be changed as often as socks, stage an escape from the local zoo (thanks to a witch's potion which turns them into kangaroos), and—in the company of a golden puma and silver falcon—set off to rescue their father from the tyrant of Bombardy. A tale of hilarity and great adventure, The Wind on the Moon is also a work of high seriousness; after all, "life without freedom," as the valiant puma makes clear, "is a poor, poor thing."

Ordinary Jack


Helen Cresswell - 1977
    Even his little sister can beat him at swimming. But Jack's uncle Parker has come up with a plan to make him and Zero shine: they'll pretend that Jack can tell the future! If only they could foresee what chaos the plan will cause.Helen Cresswell is the much-loved writer of over 40 children's books. She's the author of classics such as Lizzie Dripping as well as having adapted The Demon Headmaster for television. She has been runner-up for the Carnegie Medal four times.

The Haunting


Margaret Mahy - 1982
    An alternate cover for this isbn can be found here.After a shy and rather withdrawn eight-year-old begins receiving frightening supernatural images and messages, he learns about a family legacy which could be considered a curse or a rare gift.

Tarka the Otter


Henry Williamson - 1927
    Tarka the otter pursues an active life, sometimes playful and sometimes dangerous, in the Devonshire countryside.Tarka the Otter relates the adventures of a wild otter, his narrow escapes from Deadlock, the hound, and their final confrontation in the Torridge River

The Tower Treasure


Franklin W. Dixon - 1927
    This first one, "The Tower Mystery," introduced the action, mystery, and suspense themes. The boys continue to deliver thrills to this day.It all starts with the boys, Frank and Joe, on their motorcycles delivering important papers to a lawyer in Willowville for their father, Fenton Hardy. He's the well-known private investigator in Bayport. A reckless driver almost forces them over the embankment. It is not long before they find that their friend Chet's yellow jalopy has been stolen, possibly by the same red-haired driver! Stolen loot may be the issue. Later a dying criminal confesses that the loot has been stashed "in the tower" and the Hardy Boys make an astonishing discovery.