Malory Towers is the series mums hand down.
There’s a decent chance you read Darrell Rivers wrestling that fiery temper of hers years before your child did. Now they’re the one begging for a trunk and a lacrosse stick.
Then they finish the lot, ask what’s next, and you hit the obvious problem. Enid Blyton isn’t writing any more of them.
So here are the books like Malory Towers I’d hand over next. Boarding schools, midnight feasts, friendship fallouts that get fixed, and a couple of clever swaps for when the classics run dry.
If you’re stocking up more widely for this age, my books for 9 year olds page is the place to rummage.
So who is this list for?
- The child who would pack a trunk for boarding school tomorrow if you let them.
- The one who reads the midnight feast chapters and immediately starts planning one.
- The reader who loves a school story where the naughtiness is wholesome and everyone comes right by the last chapter.
That’s the 8 to 11 year old these picks are for.
Start with the obvious one
The Twins at St Clare’s by Enid Blyton
The Twins at St Clare’s
Yes, it’s more Blyton, and yes, it’s exactly where I’d start. St Clare’s is the sister school in every way that matters.
Pat and Isabel O’Sullivan arrive at their new school determined to be somebodies and give everyone a few surprises. St Clare’s has other ideas, and the twins are the ones in for a shock.
Same dorms, same tricks, same trouble. When those run out too, The Naughtiest Girl in the School is the third Blyton school series, with spoilt Elizabeth Allen setting out to be the naughtiest pupil there’s ever been and finding out that being bad is harder than it looks.
Four more books like Malory Towers
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A Little Princess
The original boarding school story, and still one of the loveliest.
Sara Crewe has it all. A loving father, a fortune, and a place at the prestigious Miss Minchin’s Seminary for Young Ladies, where everyone treats her like a little princess. Sara stays kind and unspoiled through all of it, which turns out to matter enormously when her luck changes.
The language is more old-fashioned than Blyton’s, so it suits a confident reader. But the boarding school detail is glorious, and Sara is a heroine worth meeting.
The Worst Witch All at Sea by Jill Murphy
The Worst Witch All At Sea
Boarding school, but with broomsticks.
Mildred Hubble, the worst witch at Miss Cackle’s Academy, can’t bear to leave her beloved cat Tabby behind when the class goes to the seaside for a week. Smuggling him along lands her in deep water. Literally.
These sit a touch younger than Malory Towers, so they’re a snug fit for the 8 year old end, or as a comfort read for anyone. If they’re new to Mildred, start at The Worst Witch, and my books like The Worst Witch list carries this thread on.
Camp Confidential: Jenna’s Dilemma by Melissa J Morgan
Camp Confidential – Jenna’s Dilemma
Swap the trunk for a rucksack. American summer camp is boarding school’s holiday cousin, and Camp Lakeview has all the important ingredients. Bunks, secrets, new friendships, and nowhere to hide from any of it.
Jenna Bloom is a Lakeview legacy. She’s been coming to camp for three years, and so have her brothers. All of her brothers. That used to feel cool, and lately it really doesn’t, and Jenna is keeping a secret of her own.
Modern and chatty where Blyton is vintage, which makes it a good bridge for a child who wants the away-from-home fun in this-century clothes.
Hetty and the Battle of the Books by Anna James
Hetty and the Battle of the Books
A day school this time, but the gang-of-girls energy is pure Malory Towers.
The library is Hetty’s favourite place in school, especially since falling out with her best friends Ali, Mei and Rocket. Then the head teacher announces it’s closing. Not enough funds.
Hetty is absolutely not going to sit back and let that happen. But saving the library means winning her friends back first.
Short, warm and full of fight. For the bookish child, this one is a mirror.
Ready for boarding school with a mystery attached?
One more signpost before you go. If your child is at the older end and wants their boarding school with a proper detective plot, Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens is the modern classic. A 1930s school, a secret detective society, and genuinely twisty cases.
My books like Murder Most Unladylike list is the place to go once they’ve torn through those too.
A word for the grown-up rereading over their shoulder
If half the reason you searched this was your own trip down memory lane, no judgement. The joy of this particular series is that it’s a shared one now.
More school stories than a trunk could hold
Little Reads is a hand-picked library of 3,000+ books for children aged 5 to 11.
A free account gives you 100+ free books.
Full access is £7.99 a month after a 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime.
It’s a library, not a classroom, built for children who already love reading. If yours is mid-Malory and inhaling a book a week, they’ll feel right at home.