What Are You Looking For?

Miu Lan can take many imagined forms but is unsure how to describe who they are. School brings difficult questions and trouble finding accepting friends; their mother’s love gives them comfort.

Shabanu’s betrothal and her sister’s impending marriage sit alongside her own dreams of freedom, making personal choice and family obligation central to the story.

Aurore’s protective upbringing gives way to a quest prompted by concern for her kingdom. Expect fairy-tale magic, a forbidden forest and a romance whose direction is less predictable than the familiar story.

A contemporary story about unreturned love, keeping secrets and Tretch’s effort to be more open about who he is. His bond with Matt and his supportive older brother sit alongside his difficulty talking with his parents.

This is a richly situated fairy-tale retelling centred on Charlotte’s determined efforts to keep the mill. It combines family relationships, village lore and a supernatural mystery.

This is a family-and-horses story about a child adjusting to a new home and wanting her abilities to be recognised. It also follows a filly’s journey towards a new home.

Piper is a lively cub who learns new skills with his mother’s encouragement. At night he dislikes the dark and being alone, wakes during the night, and seeks comfort in her bed.

A protective enchantment is failing, sending Tilja and her companions into a hostile Empire in search of the magician who made it. Tilja’s unexpected importance to the quest puts an ordinary girl at the centre of a fantasy adventure.

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.

Gurl’s new invisibility ability offers a way to act in a city where she has felt out of place. The story pairs her escape plan with mysteries about identity, family history and the city’s strange inhabitants.

This is a school-and-friendship story about a girl making music, zines and a place for herself while negotiating rules and fitting in.

A school-based competition turns Jennifer’s hopes of winning a college scholarship into a public contest. Her efforts to understand herself sit alongside rivalry, family friction and the prospect of a first kiss.

A lively animal adventure centres on Butter’s energetic dancing, the bears’ search for him, and their adjustment to his transformation and independent path.

This is a family-secrets story about a young person tracing her origins and Jewish heritage across a journey from Ontario to Germany.

The story follows Solomon’s efforts to find his own path while his family works towards independence. A cattle drive brings adventure and new sights, alongside tensions at home and the question of how Black settlers will be received.

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.

A fantasy adventure about a teenager learning where she comes from and what she can do, with friendship, betrayal and choices at its centre.

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.

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.

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.

This is an angsty first-love story about two teenagers seeking more freedom while facing difficult family circumstances. Their connection matters, but the ending is bittersweet rather than a straightforward romantic resolution.

Gabby turns to spoken-word poetry as a way to express herself while working to help save the community arts centre she loves.

You take Freya’s role in a quest to recover Thor’s lost hammer. Choices affect the story’s progress, so the reader helps shape the adventure rather than simply following a fixed path.

This is a multi-voiced Tudor court story: each queen has her own account, interspersed with Henry’s, and the women’s hopes and fears are central. The focus is personal experience rather than a broad account of everything happening at court.

Nic’s summer at a programme for gifted teenagers brings friendship, attraction and uncertainty when she and Battle become more than friends. The novel follows Nic as she makes sense of her feelings without needing to choose a fixed identity label.

This Tudor court mystery follows Lady Grace as she investigates a death after a ball, with help from Ellie and Masou.

Family bereavement and a father's repeated departure lead to Sugar and her mother losing their home. In Chicago, Sugar faces the difficulties of homelessness alongside her mother; a rescue dog, foster family and teacher offer support.

An adventure set among London’s dark places, where Birdie’s work as bait for monsters draws her into a mystery involving missing pickpockets, folklore and a more dangerous villain.

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 festive teen romance pairs a breakup with a family-run sequence of blind dates. Sophie’s returned ex complicates the matchmaking, while her large family supplies the holiday bustle.

Expect a strong shift in mood: early comedy and school antics give way to sustained conflict and tragic drama. The light opening does not represent the tone throughout.

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.

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 high-stakes story about sisters, secrecy and political power, centred on Frey’s struggle to protect Rafi while confronting a life shaped by someone else’s identity.

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 spin on Rapunzel, built around rhymes, mistaken hearing and increasingly unexpected objects. It may be especially enjoyable when shared aloud and compared with the familiar tale.

A coming-of-age story about the freedoms and practical burdens of teenagers living with little adult supervision, as April’s decisions bring consequences she must face.

Expect a fantasy adventure built around talking cats, a royal family and Haru’s attempt to get home.

A lively premise brings Greek-myth-inspired supernatural danger into modern Perth, with Sadie taking an active role rather than waiting to be rescued. The adventure may appeal to readers who enjoy action and mythological creatures.

Expect a mystery-driven adventure grounded in Ranofer’s aspiration to practise goldsmithing and his effort to expose his half-brother’s theft. The ancient Egyptian setting is described in substantial detail.

A school popularity story that centres a well-liked girl rather than an outsider, and follows her as she takes on a leadership role.

A gentle story about finding a way to express yourself when one approach feels difficult. Tapir’s discovery is drawing rather than writing, alongside his friends’ poems, story and song.

This is a comic story about two boys whose efforts to influence their parents’ relationship bring together family upheaval, a school event and the boys’ own changing relationship.

This is an island adventure centred on Nim’s resourcefulness, animal companions and an email friendship. The story also brings family separation and a developing sense of danger into the adventure.

This is a character-led romance about two teenagers challenging family expectations, with Carly’s efforts to reunite her family and Arden’s grief shaping their paths.

A supernatural time-slip story with two heroines in different centuries, drawing together around an old family home and a mysterious returning brother.