Richmal Crompton, Just William

This is just one of the William books, which never lose their appeal for me. William is the archetypal twelve year old boy. He usually means well, but the consequences are often disastrous, usually for other people. He and his band of Outlaws have hilarious adventures in spite of the best efforts of the adults around them to keep them in line. Richmal Crompton had a flair for adding a twist to the end of a tale, so the conclusions to the chapters are usually surprising and amusing (sometimes you can see the end coming a mile off, but by no means always). I would recommend these books to anyone, but particularly for unwilling teenage readers. The language can be quite complex, so not for the less confident reader.