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Lily’s care for Adam and her wish for independence run alongside her growing concern for Nori, a dolphin in captivity for treatment. The story brings family responsibility into tension with animal welfare and the question of release.

A family-and-basketball story: Billy is caught between his father’s expectations on court and the upheaval at home, while his brother Ben’s piano recital competes with the championship game.

A fast-moving adventure mixes cousinly competition and outdoor challenges with a science-fiction mystery about a meteorite—and what it may have brought with it.

A family under financial pressure is at the heart of this story. Jackson’s imaginary cat brings humour and companionship as he faces the possibility that his family’s housing troubles may return.

Huck and Jim travel down the Mississippi, encountering scams, feuding families and difficult moral choices. Huck’s comic, vernacular narration turns their adventure into a story about conscience, slavery and the gap between respectable behaviour and cruelty.

Expect a brisk puzzle adventure: children explore a new library, follow book-based clues and compete to find an escape route. The illustrations make the setting and visual puzzles part of the reading experience.

A magpie takes Splodge along with a shiny object, prompting Bug Belly and the other froglets to attempt a rescue. Their route brings dangers from owls and snakes; Bug Belly relies on an inventive plan and gadgets.

Billy’s bond with Kes gives him a focus and a chance to show knowledge and skill. Around that, the novel depicts a troubled household, school bullying and corporal punishment, against a background of limited opportunities for working-class children.

Jemmy has been made to take the prince’s beatings; when Prince Brat runs away, Jemmy is forced to go with him. Their flight turns into a ransom plot involving two highwaymen, and the boys have to cooperate.

Charlie’s letters follow his friendships and family relationships as he tries to understand his place between adolescence and adulthood. The story combines everyday coming-of-age concerns with difficult experiences that shape his perspective.

The fold-out layout offers a visual overview of natural history and human civilisations, with a timeline running alongside regional sections. Readers can also explore selected events through newspaper-style articles.

Ophelia is set a diamond-stealing challenge, while Oscar’s inventions and a rival cousin add complications. The caper combines a mystery-adventure plot with comic illustrations and frequent feline puns.

Owen and Hannah run a relationship-advice blog for local teenagers. Owen hopes it will bring Kamryn closer to him, but his plan uses fraudulent tactics, which lead to consequences.

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.

Expect a comic, surreal quest rather than a straightforward illness story: Cameron and his companions encounter fantastical figures and ideas while searching for a cure.

The story combines friendship and adjustment with practical details about Braille, cane use and working with a guide dog. Jimmy’s recovery of confidence and independence is central.

A comic animal adventure driven by clever schemes and escalating trouble. Mr Fox’s efforts to feed his family widen into a rescue for other hungry animals.

A fantasy premise turns an expected future upside down: Liz must find her place in an afterlife where people grow younger. Her adjustment brings grief and frustration alongside friendship, love and personal choices.

A murder accusation drives this family-centred story, with Dovey trying to clear her name while her sister’s future and her brother’s safety are caught up in the conflict.

A letter-by-letter European adventure pairs travel and tasks with Ginny’s growing sense of herself. Its tone includes humour, emotional muddle and a touch of romance.

A playful, romantic fantasy about finding courage to approach someone you like, told through both Zuzana’s and Mik’s perspectives and shaped by an elaborate treasure hunt.

A bleak but lyrical story about siblings navigating unstable care, homelessness and self-invention. Its poems bring attention to the dreams and difficulties of young people without secure homes.

Expect a grim, disorientating fairy tale rather than a reassuring adventure: Otto is often frightened and uncertain, while magic offers power without straightforward control.

This is a good fit to explore how siblings can see the same duties differently, within a richly established Clan world. Its continuing-arc structure means the book leaves some mysteries open.

A family story about Floss’s choice to live with her father, whose failing café brings financial strain and upheaval. School friendships add another thread, and the ending is open rather than fully settled.

A reflective story about leaving a familiar home, remembering what matters and finding a way to carry those memories into a new place.

A fantasy school adventure where a feared escaped prisoner casts a shadow over Harry’s year. Suspense, frightening magical beings and a time-travel plot sit alongside friendship and school life.

This is a spooky, folksy fantasy about two girls whose quarrel unleashes a graveyard full of angry ancestors. The story pairs that supernatural danger with questions of friendship, family history and finding a place to belong.

A brisk, illustrated introduction to Tudor rulers and their times, with ferret commentary and a separate view of ordinary people alongside the main historical story.

A playful, offbeat tale that pairs an unusual word sequence with colourful illustrations; its story may feel deliberately odd rather than neatly explained.

A lyrical fairy tale with atmospheric illustrations and a cinematic flow. Its central appeal is the developing bond between Maude and Tony.

A small gift links children and travellers across the Silk Road, with each person adding to its story. The journey offers a child-sized way into the route’s geography and the different communities along it.

This is a stark story about exploitation and a young person trying to find a way out. Its verse form also gives space to Angel’s reflections on words, identity and faith.

A historical novel in verse about Phoebe’s struggle towards freedom, told through several perspectives. Learning to read and write is central to how she begins to understand her circumstances and choices.

This is a sweeping fantasy about Zélie’s attempt to restore magic, pursued by the crown and complicated by her feelings for an enemy. Its imagined kingdom also carries themes of racial oppression and resistance.

A year of diary entries follows Clem through school and shifting relationships. The book explores attraction, rejected advances, family life and the uncertainty of coming out, in an informal voice.

This is a tense journey story centred on two cousins seeking a chance to make their own choices. Jaime’s drawing gives him a personal connection to home as the journey changes what it means to him.

The story pairs a friendship with a school-surveillance conflict: Max wants to help Fuzzy fit in, while the school’s digital system keeps penalising her. Robot learning and student assessment are part of the plot.

A lively, fact-rich introduction to women’s soccer, pairing match and player coverage with statistics and visual features. Its focus is on the sport’s history and the stories of its players.

A lively historical-fantasy mystery for readers interested in baseball: Joe and his father pursue an unresolved question about Babe Ruth while confronting the unusual possibilities and responsibilities of time travel.

A cross-generational mystery unfolds through Henni’s investigation and emails with Leo. Alongside puzzles and friendship, the book examines migration, prejudice, belonging and the pressure placed on people whose home is questioned.

This is an imaginative fantasy adventure about books, duty and power, combining library humour with danger and political intrigue. The story offers active quests, unusual allies and a continuing series arc rather than a fully closed world.

This is a light, episodic school fantasy in which magical animals appear from Ms Plum’s cupboard and become catalysts for pupils’ changing behaviour, confidence, friendships and worries.

A suspenseful family mystery follows Footer as she investigates what happened after a devastating fire. Her mother’s bipolar disorder and Footer’s uncertainty about her own perceptions make the investigation emotionally complicated.

A tense science-fiction quest follows three boys from a free community towards the Tripods’ city, amid remnants of an earlier civilisation, snowbound landscapes and a society shaped by conquest.

Expect a character-led fantasy adventure with romantic tension, shifting identities and a heroine negotiating personal freedom against obligations to her country. Its appeal lies in pursuit, hidden histories and gradual character change; the ending continues some series threads rather than resolving every larger question.