If you think about stories where young people travel in and out of a crazy alternate world, then the ones which will spring most readily to mind are the adventures of Alice. And one of the best things about this book is that Oskar isn't just some passive tag-along companion: he has opinions and ideas and takes a full part in proceedings despite his dyslexia. She gradually becomes friends with the boy across the road, and she draws him into the whole adventure too.

It's not just about going into books – there's the difficult challenge of getting out again unharmed.

But Tilly's power has consequences, and not everyone is happy about her newly-discovered abilities. Have you ever been so deeply involved in a story that you can almost imagine yourself right there in the book? Do you find yourself imagining what the characters would think if they saw your world? Well, Tilly no longer needs to think like that! Her favourite fictional characters wander into her bookshop at will, and before long she's joined them in their worlds, going to school with one, and enjoying (if that's the word!) a certain tea party with another. But still, her grandparents and Jack the chef are kind and caring, she loves nothing more than to curl up and read, and as the book progresses she finds a new best friend – a real one. Her mum went missing, she never knew her dad, and her best friend has joined a cooler group at school. To live above a bookshop – what could be better? Well, how about a bookshop with its own café, run by a brilliant chef who loves you to sample his cakes? Bliss! Of course, Tilly's life isn't perfect. Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books Summary: Book characters that come to life, heartless villains and all the crazy adventures people have ever imagined – a race-along thrill of a story.

Tilly and the book wanderers