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Expect a fantasy adventure centred on a riding competition, a lost magical helmet and help from two friends. Horses, fairies and goblins are part of its story world.

A real-life adventure about a runner and a stray dog whose companionship develops during an ultramarathon, followed by Leonard’s effort to bring Gobi home.

A collection of true childhood stories, written by children and adults recalling their own childhoods. They touch on friendship, choices and qualities including honesty, kindness, forgiveness and perseverance, with cartoon strips featuring the Souper Kids.

This is a story of upheaval and endurance, with Sara’s inventive inner life and kindness at its centre. Her changed circumstances bring loneliness, hunger and cold, alongside friendships and the possibility of renewed happiness.

The trip’s plans are thrown off when Maddie’s mother arrives. Alongside the New York outing and clothing quest, the story centres on strained friendships and Maddie’s behaviour towards her companions.

This is a wartime survival story about a young person taking responsibility for someone in danger, set against the upheaval of occupation. It combines perilous escape with human kindness and morally complicated choices.

Fishkill uses violence to intimidate other pupils and obtain food. A friendship with Duck-Duck and help from her mother create a possible alternative, while Fishkill’s mother’s return complicates that fragile arrangement.

Millie tries to gather food for Bear, who is hungry before his winter sleep. Her small size makes the task difficult, and the story follows her persistence in trying to help.

A reflective, illustrated story told in short conversations rather than continuous prose. Its appeal lies in pausing over the friends’ thoughts and the drawings, and returning to individual pages as well as reading from cover to cover.

A serious family story about finding belonging amid unstable housing, grief and caring responsibilities, with Cora’s tree-climbing and friendships offering threads of connection.

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

Sticky notes spread around the school, carrying both friendly and cutting messages.

This is a contemporary Alice-inspired story that mixes a hospital setting with dreamlike memories, friendship and an unsettled question about finding a way back.

This is a farm-set story about an unusual friendship: Peter sees more in Ninnyhammer than the village label suggests, while Ninnyhammer helps Peter’s family.

Expect a character-led fantasy mystery with two narrators, a homecoming and an investigation. Friendship and banter sit alongside questions of blackmail, suspicious fires and Michael’s unease about being useful.

A horse-centred story collection about friendship, with four separate adventures in a country-town setting.

The story centres on Ellie’s effort to find Colt a horse as their friendship changes. Her brother’s baseball difficulty and her parents’ commitments add pressures to the family situation.

A magical funfair adventure centres on Bobbi’s stolen magical object and Kirsty and Rachel’s attempt to help. The outline sets up a problem, but does not reveal its resolution.

This is an animal-character adventure that pairs challenges and friendship with reflection on helping others. It also includes love, loss, fear and loneliness.

A fairy-tale rescue quest centres on recovering a magical slipper and helping Cinderella return in time for a ball.

This is a friendship story about two friends adjusting to change while one faces an eating disorder and possible self-injury.

A treasure hunt, a friendship disagreement and an unexpected return of help shape this undersea adventure.

Four linked adventures follow the Cheetah Girls through an unexpected fashion trend, music-industry opportunities and preparations for a major concert. One storyline introduces Dorinda's newly discovered sister, who is white and coming to town.

A portal-fantasy adventure about three girls tasked with protecting magical animals, with friendship and the natural world among its stated themes.

The boys’ choice is not simply about money: they consider whether a possible way to meet personal needs could also send cocaine back into their neighbourhood.

This adventure novel centres on Johnny, Kaspar and Johnny’s new friendship with Lizziebeth, an American heiress.

This is a serious story about a teenager navigating disrupted care, mental-health difficulties and treatment. Tentative connections with other young people sit alongside a troubling crossing of therapeutic boundaries.

A branching adventure invites readers to make choices between a Paris trip and a space journey with talking pets. Its appeal is imaginative play and deciding which route to follow.

These poems offer a portrait of an important friendship: Blue shares time, conversation and everyday pleasures with Damon, while Damon works out who he is.

This fantasy follows Rage as she tries to protect two worlds from an endless winter linked to a powerful Stormlord and other people’s despair.

A school mystery adventure built around friendship, a scavenger hunt and a puzzle, with wordplay and geometry woven into the search.

A school-and-friendship story centred on Lucy’s place in her group, with her friends’ public exploits providing a contrast to her private fear.

A series of separate adventures centres on familiar animal friends and Christopher Robin, with episodes involving a house-building, a new arrival and a game.

This is a friendship story about two girls whose different circumstances shape how they approach making friends. Their meeting brings companionship and change into both their lives.

This is a fantasy adventure built around a music festival mishap and a search for a missing magic note. Its mix of friendship, fairies, music and make-up may appeal to readers who enjoy playful, magical problems.

Expect a collection of brief stories centred on two friends’ everyday activities and the ways they help one another. The emphasis appears to be companionship rather than a single continuous adventure.

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 magical sea-creature search drives the adventure: Kirsty and Rachel help Ally, while Echo guards a shell near an aquarium. Expect fairies, goblins and chapter-ending cliffhangers.

A linked-mystery adventure, with friendship and recovering money alongside a burglary investigation. Readers who enjoy clues and changing leads may find its several strands engaging.

An unexpected friendship begins between two young hospital patients who might not have connected in everyday life. Their relationship develops through small acts of communication across the room.

A warm, humorous friendship adventure follows Humphrey and Og through camp activities, cabin rivalry and unsettling surprises. It offers a small-animal viewpoint on nervousness, helping friends and adapting to unfamiliar experiences.

This is a socially engaged sports novel: football brings two North American teenagers into contact with marginalised local players, while different experiences of race, class and belonging become increasingly difficult to ignore.

A magical theatre rescue story combines an audition, missing talent, fairy helpers and goblin disruption. It may particularly appeal to children interested in performance, imaginative adventure and recurring fairy characters.

A family-and-school story about three sisters balancing wedding preparations, a romantic bet and an attempt to support a new pupil dealing with bereavement. It also offers Indian-British family and cultural context, with bhangra music central to one arrangement.

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 funny, energetic school story told largely through Ramona’s child-centred outlook. Her antics sit beside genuine fears and a strong wish to be noticed and understood, making the book suitable for discussing behaviour without reducing a child to a label.