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A family and friendship story set amid Cold War suspicion, centred on Marjorie's efforts to find her own voice and decide how to treat others.

The boy’s hope of helping his family gives his night in the haunted house a practical aim, alongside the challenge of facing a frightening ghost.

A classic quest premise drives Alex from an unusual shop encounter towards a dragon's lair. The adventure is framed around courage, fear, friendship and choices that may change his life.

Expect a character-led ghost story, with the supernatural mystery intertwined with bereavement, loneliness and the effort to belong in a new family.

A fantasy adventure combines monster battles and a perilous rescue with Cameron’s struggle against anxiety. Friendship, danger and the consequences of loss drive the journey.

This is a family-and-rodeo story about a boy drawn towards his father’s ambition while afraid of the danger involved. Jana and Layne’s younger sister help him confront that conflict.

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 friendship-led supernatural mystery turns into horror as Laine investigates Debbie’s death through the board. Expect a focus on eerie events and a threatening presence rather than a light account of friendship.

The mystery pairs seasonal spookiness with a more personal puzzle: how to judge coincidences when you are worried. Mary Anne’s friends are part of the investigation, not just bystanders.

Expect a fast-moving fantasy adventure built around a global monster attack, Charlie’s efforts to confront the Fifth, and the difficult demands placed on his friends.

Expect an action-led dystopian story that asks what happens when a society sorts people into fixed groups. Identity and belonging sit beneath the suspense; a romance is also part of the plot.

The story gives a child’s imaginative suspicions centre stage, turning an invitation to play into an elaborate monster adventure.

Expect a supernatural conflict tied to a possible family move, rather than a story centred only on the mansion’s history or the ski lodge.

This is a tense survival story centred on the bond between an isolated teenager and a stray dog, with a wider crisis putting their loyalty and trust under pressure.

A determined girl searches for her missing father in a forest associated with a deadly beast, in a magical Beauty and the Beast retelling.

This is a story of a vulnerable cat and two people she meets, with fear and hardship set against the possibility of trust and belonging.

A dark fantasy about belonging and survival, with magic woven into a village’s superstitions. Kate’s carving skill and unusual appearance make her a target, while a bargain offers escape at a personal cost.

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

Ana hopes to manage her problems like Ruby Redfort, her favourite fictional detective. A school spelling competition worries her, while her mischievous classmate Carlitos gets into trouble. Ana must face her fears and consider what it means not to leave a good friend aside.

A story of an unusual friendship and a boy questioning where he belongs, with a kidnapping that brings danger and uncertainty into his life.

This is a summer-camp story about rebuilding confidence after a frightening experience, alongside the challenge of making friends. Surfing and camp life provide the setting for Cassie's personal and social difficulties.

This is a dark horror story combining a young person’s pregnancy and guilt with an ominous family move and unsettling stories about violence.

A fantasy quest puts a timid sister in an unfamiliar role: seeking a cure while facing dangers she feels unready for. Sisterly devotion and the search for courage are central.

This is a magical-creature adventure built around a hidden sanctuary, family ties and rules that can be broken. Its central conflict grows from a threat to the refuge and Kendra’s need to face her fears.

This is a tense family story about life after a serious crime, with Dale’s fear about his own identity at its centre. The central question is whether he can separate himself from his brother’s actions.

A circus-loving boy joins his performer uncle for a summer of clown training; the strange, increasingly frightening circus holds a mystery connected to Clown Street.

A frightening mystery draws Alexis into investigating her sister’s unusual behaviour and unsettling changes in their house. Alongside supernatural danger, the story touches on family strain, school life and a budding relationship.

A tense story about wanting to belong while becoming wary of a group’s rules and its leader. Jack’s choice to challenge Duncan is presented as carrying a personal cost.

Scott is known at school for being afraid, while his best friend Amanda helps him face their younger sister’s frightening antics and trouble from neighbourhood children. At Halloween, they decide to spend time in a creepy old house said to be haunted, hoping to overcome their fears and perhaps get revenge. The outcome is unclear.

This historical fiction centres on an older brother's responsibility for a younger sibling, while religious conflict and a werewolf belief shape the danger around them.

A suspenseful family story follows Mei as she tries to do her tutoring job while becoming drawn into the Morisons’ troubles. Her fear of what may be happening at night adds a ghost-story element.

This is a horror mystery built around siblings trying to understand several disappearances and a murder, with suspicion extending to someone living in their home.

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.

This is a character-led story about a boy whose worries keep multiplying, and a new friendship that unsettles his routines. Family questions sit alongside the humour.

A relationship-led story about two boys with very different styles, whose summer work brings them together while each faces difficult private circumstances.

This fantasy centres on Frost, whose feared supernatural possession complicates her attempts to find safety and connection. Suspicion among the warriors and her feelings for two men add interpersonal tension.

A gentle poolside story about Peanut learning to enjoy water with friends' encouragement. Friendship and helpfulness are part of the book's stated focus.

This combines school-theatre rivalry with a creepy-house Christmas setting.

This is a supernatural mystery built around two friends trying to make sense of strange signs and unsettling changes among their schoolmates.

Expect an imaginative fantasy journey centred on a brother and sister. Alongside crystal landscapes, unusual characters and confrontations, the book explores family strain, inner fears, courage, forgiveness and finding a sense of home.

A lively paranormal story combines family rivalry, possible magical inheritance, romance and a heroine learning to accept herself. Its darker turns involve fear, coercion and physical threat, so the tone is not consistently light.

This is a fast-moving supernatural mystery built around codes, riddles and island secrets. It offers an emotionally involved teenage viewpoint, with investigation intertwined with isolation, family conflict and danger.

Expect a cat-centred adventure that combines fear, monsters, friendship and comic mischief.

A poetry collection about young people using classic and spoken-word forms to explore identity, relationships, belonging and social issues, with personal narratives connecting poems to lived experience.

This is a grief-centred thriller about vulnerability, belonging and coercive influence. Ruby’s attraction to Fox’s community develops gradually, shifting the atmosphere from apprehension towards horror as its rules and secrets become more troubling.

This is a horse-centred mystery-adventure about Hailey, her friend Elaine, and Freedom, a foal with unusual connections to the past. Suspense grows through a disappearance, a dangerous flood and a threatening adult figure.