What Are You Looking For?

Hannah faces disappointment over basketball selection alongside a friendship that is becoming more distant. Her effort to improve her game and confidence gives the story a sporting goal as well as a relationship question.

A playground visit begins with Maggi reluctant to join other children, and the no-dogs rule complicates the outing. Shared play—including a treasure hunt and pirate-ship building—leads to new friendships, while Milo remains important to Maggi.

The book moves through an alphabet of mythical and legendary creatures, bringing together familiar monsters, lesser-known figures and the origins of the Frankenstein story.

A magical-object theft sets up an adventure around lifeguards, helpfulness and an award. Rachel and Kirsty are involved as the fairies’ plans are disrupted.

Loula’s quest turns her wish for a sister into a playful recipe adventure with Gilbert. The story also brings in a hungry visitor after Loula has waited for her plan to work.

At its centre is Jamie’s effort to hide his sexuality and the experimental drug he hopes will change his attraction to boys. His choices also affect his connection with Celia and the people closest to him.

A relationship upset sends Sunny into a night-long adventure through London, where she meets people she did not expect to have things in common with.

Faith’s story centres on loss, difficult care at home, leaving, and seeking help through prayer. Her Christian faith is central to the way the story presents her hardship.

A science-fiction adventure brings questions of intelligence, settlement and who may claim a planet into contact with an experienced prospector’s work.

This fantasy adventure follows two young knights from village defence into a quest involving dragons, unseen enemies and a threat to the crown.

Jake’s move to New Zealand does not bring the better life his father hoped for: he is separated from his sister and faces harsh treatment on a farm.

This is a story of celebrity, relationships and gossip, centred on Amy’s choices after a blackmail threat. Her secrets and interference in other people’s lives bring social consequences into focus.

Ember wants a fresh start, but friendship pressures complicate her efforts to change. Her growing awareness of unusual perceptions is tied to reconnecting with God and a possible calling.

Expect a brisk assortment of historical material about death, rather than a single continuous story: burial customs, execution, murder weapons, poisons and epidemics all feature.

Katie’s friends each entrust her with a secret, and she finds keeping all four difficult. Their confidences include crushes and cheating on a maths test, bringing questions of trust into the Cupcake Club.

Karate is not the only pressure: Cole’s choices also affect how he gets along with his best friends.

Kailey’s love of the shoreline turns into a campaign when she learns that development could transform its tide pools. Her plan is an art protest, and she must try something unfamiliar to her.

A pregnancy follows Ellie and Josh’s sexual encounter. The story traces how they and their friends Caleb and Corinne respond, with each teenager’s perspective contributing to the unfolding situation.

Expect a space-camp adventure in which George and fellow campers face a cave rescue and a threat to their station. Friendship is an explicit theme alongside the action.

Opera brings costumes, music and backstage intrigue into this Nancy Drew mystery. The investigation centres on danger to two rival singers and a suspected attempt to ensure that only one becomes the star.

A science-fiction thriller about two teens caught between human institutions and aliens, alongside Reese’s unresolved feelings for her ex-girlfriend and David.

A paranormal story follows Alice between a small Australian town and a dreamscape built from its residents’ nightmares. Her twin’s school shooting and its aftermath shape Alice’s struggle with identity, guilt and belonging.

The book investigates Sasquatch claims through reported sightings, sounds, a video and interviews with specialists and witnesses. It introduces cryptozoology and the difficulty of establishing evidence for animals not recognised by mainstream science.

A fast-moving space adventure follows a captured outlaw forced into service by the power that destroyed her home. Ia’s escape plans become tangled with new friendships and questions of loyalty.

This is a collection of perspectives on identity theft, ranging from whether the danger is growing or exaggerated to risks involving health records, social media, biometrics and financial targets.

Beatrice, who prefers staying indoors and relies on online messaging, is sent to live with a grandmother she barely knows while her mother returns to rehab. Hoping to secure some peace, Beat tries to find her grandmother a husband. Her plans change as she spends time outdoors and meets Toffie. The story brings family circumstances, romance and an unfamiliar South African village into Beat’s summer.

Nina describes the practical change of having one home with her mother and another with her father, and living in each at different times.

A school invention project gives Charlie and Marv a challenge, and Lola may bring fresh ideas. The story centres on trying to make something new when the task proves harder than expected.

This is a speculative adventure about two people affected by a technology-linked pandemic, a search for Kestrella’s mother and the Gene Police’s interest in Johnny.

Davis’s summer brings together questions about identity, body image, changing friendships and family relationships. Opera, Brooklyn and his particular interests are part of his everyday world, while the story centres on seeing himself as more than a single label.

This character-led story brings together bereavement, adoption and pregnancy through two young women whose hopes and family circumstances differ.

Readers are introduced to story and script development, storyboarding, filming techniques and editing, with advice for using a camera or mobile phone.

Expect briskly comic fantasy built around a prickly heroine, a house whose doors disrupt ordinary space, and household tasks that become magical complications. Familiar characters from the Howl books also appear.

A family faces bereavement, a makeshift home and difficulty getting enough to eat. Alongside those hardships, the children find fun in nature and the family grows closer to its new home.

A rescue quest unfolds in a world where survivors fear outsiders because of the flu. Ceej and Tim encounter a group that deliberately spreads it, while Bella’s search for a portal adds a spiritual mystery to their journey.

A restless child turns a tyre swing into a launch point for imaginative journeys, then returns to earth and bedtime. The book also includes creative activities for children, parents and educators.

This is a romance set against conflict between African American and Somali students. Rodney and Jawahir’s relationship brings questions of loyalty and social division into the foreground.

Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare try to describe how much they love one another, discovering that love is not easy to measure. This illustrated story centres on affection between a parent and child, with hares and a bedtime setting.

Ansel's silence has grave consequences: an innocent man dies, and Ansel faces painful losses. The novel centres on the burden of a choice made under danger and on racism's dehumanising effects.

The book combines a fantastical bookshop setting with a high-stakes quest centred on a brother and sister trying to save their father and home.

A seasonal collection of twelve lullabies, paired with varied contemporary illustrations and an accompanying CD of musical settings and performances.

A lively morning routine in story form: readers move through yoga poses, with rhymes, playful imagery and a repeated focus on breathing. The book also offers instructions, affirmations and a guided visualisation.

A family-centred story about two teenagers who leave home for London: Jade is impulsive and angry, while shy Honey is unsure about going. The trip challenges their expectations and changes how Jade thinks about home.

The story centres on Daniel’s guilt and bereavement after a hunting accident kills his uncle. At home, his father’s drinking and temper add strain, while Daniel tries to find a way forward.

The children’s summer changes when a nearby fountain is prepared as a temporary home for goldfish. Neighbourhood children visit, while their grandfather’s memories connect the fountain’s earlier use with the present-day adventure.