What Are You Looking For?

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 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.

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.

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.

This is an action-led animal fantasy about packs facing a looming threat. Lucky’s troubling visions, a traitor, divided loyalties and unexpected allies create a tense story about survival and trust.

This is a serious, character-led account of friendship tested by colonial injustice. It offers a personal route into Kenya’s history, showing how fear, racial privilege and silence can damage people across divided communities.

Expect a brisk fantasy quest built around danger, escape and puzzle-solving. The book spends substantial time in Noradz, where cleanliness is enforced harshly, before moving towards a frightening confrontation in the City of the Rats.

This is a compact Norse fantasy about an overlooked boy who responds to hardship with ingenuity rather than force. Its adventure introduces gods, giants and morally complicated mythology while leaving room to reflect on courage, loss and belonging.

A dark, imaginative adventure for readers who enjoy secret societies, mythological creatures and determined protagonists. Its strongest hooks are the hunter trials, the forest’s threats and Winnie’s effort to reclaim her family’s standing.

A suspenseful historical adventure combines a child-led mystery with Tutankhamun’s story. It offers friendship, family loyalty and questions about who has the right to remove cultural treasures, alongside period travel and Egyptian history.

This is an urgent science-fiction adventure with horror elements: invasive plants threaten communities, while three young people investigate why they are unaffected. Alongside survival, the opening gives attention to illness, self-image, friendship and family relationships.

A lively, irreverent introduction to pirate history, this book mixes historical information with jokes, illustrations and deliberately gruesome stories. Its central angle is corrective: pirates are presented as far less heroic than popular legends suggest.

A warm, idea-led adventure about friendship across a human–robot divide. Its central relationship invites readers to question inherited beliefs, while action and humour keep the story moving.

This offers a tense journey story alongside a close account of sibling care. Clem’s storytelling, memories and uncertain perspective add emotional depth, while the political setting invites reflection on belonging, surveillance, displacement and how families preserve hope under pressure.

A brisk historical mystery follows Lily and Tom from their travelling life into a more dangerous search involving a carved treasure, a new friendship and hidden family secrets. Its accessible prose and illustrations may suit readers who enjoy adventure but prefer shorter chapter books.

A strongly atmospheric horror adventure centred on a young carer who must recognise danger, face frightening experiences and reconnect her family after bereavement. Its emotional focus is grief and resilience as much as supernatural menace.

A richly imagined adventure about mapmaking, friendship and courage under authoritarian rule. Isabella must act when murder, imprisonment and a friend’s disappearance unsettle her island, leading her towards magic and danger in the Forbidden Territories.

A fast-moving rescue adventure about courage, loyalty and learning to trust. Wolves are central companions, while Feo’s journey brings danger, humour and a friendship that develops under pressure.

A tense boarding-school mystery about disappearance, grief and alliance-building. Its international, multi-ethnic and multi-religious cast includes positively portrayed queer characters, while Gothic atmosphere and several intertwined storylines create a more demanding emotional and structural experience.

This is an imaginative fantasy adventure about siblings entering a winter-bound world and taking part in its liberation. Its moral framework includes courage, sacrifice, repentance, forgiveness and explicitly Christian allegory.

This is a suspenseful clan drama about uncovering hidden wrongdoing while friendships and loyalties are tested. It combines investigation with battles, a forbidden relationship, grief and a change in leadership.

This is a fantasy adventure centred on secrets, magical creatures, competing factions and a dangerous mission. Its interest lies in uncovering artefacts and navigating uncertain alliances, especially around the sanctuary and Vanessa’s possible help.

A chaptered fantasy adventure about investigating a group that trades promises of protection for wealth. It combines suspense, political danger, action and questions about trust, leadership and the use of fear.

Expect a fast-moving fairy-tale adventure involving illness, magic, strange creatures, rival pursuers and travel through unsettling settings. Red’s fear, friendship with Goldie and changing understanding of others drive the story.

This is a historical adventure about secrecy, obligation and family pressure. Moose’s unusual home places him close to dangerous prisoners, while Capone’s unexplained intervention turns a family favour into a troubling personal demand.

A parent-preview choice for a teenager ready to discuss unequal relationships, grief and financial pressure.