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The novel follows a friendship that begins with Natalie finding Tulip exciting, despite her lies and behaviour at school. Their invented games draw other people into the girls’ increasingly unsettling play.

Bod’s life among the graveyard’s ghosts and other supernatural residents gives him an unusual upbringing, while he faces dangers from both the living and the dead.

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 fast-moving mystery-adventure pairs a boy’s search for his missing father with unusual beetles, new friendships and a colourful villain. Expect comic characters, insect facts and bursts of action.

A dystopian survival adventure about Jen and Father, an AI who has cared for her since she was a baby. Their search for a new home brings danger, new connections and a difficult secret.

A child-centred fantasy adventure about friendship across very different ways of life, with a final episode that invites readers to decide what really happened.

Expect an intergenerational family story shaped by biblical parallels, with identity and love among its central concerns. Its tone is described as often brutal, so the emotional register may be intense.

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 fantasy caper built around a criminal boy’s plan to ransom a fairy, with high-tech opponents and a possible clash between species.

A lively visual story about making a home from mishaps. Its strongest pleasures are comic accidents, inventive machinery, expressive illustrations and the animals’ growing community.

A fast-moving historical crime novel with alternating viewpoints, moral uncertainty and romantic tension. Caitlin’s determination drives a search through sharply unequal New York, while William’s divided loyalties complicate ideas of justice and personal change.

This is an emotionally intense survival story about grief, anxiety and changing relationships. Its suspenseful wilderness episodes sit alongside Case’s uncertain understanding of his brother and the difficult process of living after loss.

A magical friendship story combines snowy adventures with questions about fear, loneliness, community and letting go. Tasha's bond with Alyana is central, while winter's persistence may affect other people around them.

This is a supernatural thriller about a transgender teen whose post-operative recovery is interrupted by a werewolf attack. Friendship, bodily change, prejudice and the pull of revenge sit alongside the horror premise.

This is a serious, emotionally charged story about a boy seeking acceptance and a grandmother carrying painful memories. Its Zimbabwean settings and two connected personal histories foreground prejudice, fear, guilt and forgiveness.

Expect a vivid underwater fantasy adventure led by a determined engineer, with a submarine expedition, imaginative creatures, perilous conditions and a group learning to trust one another.

A lively fantasy about an ordinary child entering an extraordinary school, balancing comic invention with peril, uncertainty and the discovery of friendship. Its invented gods and visual humour are central attractions.

A forceful historical adventure about enslaved people resisting plantation rule. Moa’s choice to join Tacky’s uprising brings friendship, courage and hope into direct conflict with coercion, danger and the possibility of death.

A playful friendship story about celebrating what makes someone unusual. Its comic dog, park setting, missing pets and rescue premise offer opportunities for shared laughter, anticipation and noticing how a difference can become a strength.

A lively story about a child whose entrepreneurial idea grows rapidly, testing friendships and responsibilities. It offers an engaging way to think about ambition, persistence and the consequences of taking risks.

A warm football adventure uses Pickles’s humorous viewpoint to explore a family trying to stay together while money problems and housing insecurity affect everyday life.

A fast-moving science-fiction adventure that places a thoughtful robot between fearful children, human survivors and hostile machines. Its strongest offering is a child-accessible route into questions about personhood, loyalty and moral choices during conflict.

This is a fast-moving survival adventure rooted in Welsh landscapes and folklore. Its emotional centre is a sibling group dealing with danger, responsibility and questions of belonging while trying to protect one another.

This is an emotionally tense story about two former friends facing grief and guilt after a tragedy. Its alternating viewpoints offer different perspectives on damaged trust, private struggles and the possibility of moving forward.

Expect an energetic rescue adventure moving between a rural industrial town and an imaginative jinn world. Nura’s loyalty, resourcefulness and courage drive the story, while friendship, family responsibility and resistance to exploitation shape its emotional centre.

This is a gentle story about staying emotionally connected when physical contact is not possible. It offers several concrete, non-touching ways to show affection, while keeping the reason and duration of separation unexplained.

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.

This is a myth-influenced fantasy adventure about friends mounting a rescue, confronting an ancient foe and relying on one another. Its emotional centre appears to be loyalty, belonging and the pressure of trying to save someone.

This is an energetic, emotionally serious story about being understood. Iris’s efforts to connect with Blue 55 combine Deaf experience, whale science, sound technology and a suspenseful journey.

This is a tender family-centred story about hair, care and pride. Its imaginative comparisons and references to hairstyles connect personal appearance with African-American identity and cultural history.

A coastal mystery combines shell collecting, friendship and bereavement with wartime and present-day danger. The story may suit a child who enjoys clues and adventure but benefits from space to discuss Alice’s loss.

This is a gothic historical mystery about a child displaced after a death, searching for the truth about her identity while supernatural events expose troubling family secrets.

This is a gentle family story built from sensory seaside memories and a repeated pebble ritual. Its emotional centre is the child’s continuing connection with Grandad after his circumstances change.

A lively, premise-led adventure about a young K-pop fan and her headteacher experiencing each other’s lives. Expect humour from their contrasting ages and personalities, alongside questions about friendship, family relationships, authority and seeing life from another person’s position.

This is a colourful, humorous graphic-novel adventure about Berry finding a companion, Terry causing havoc, and Berry trying to prevent his departure. It offers playful fantasy, energetic visual storytelling and a friendship-centred problem to follow.

A fast-moving futuristic spy thriller follows Augusta as she lives under a secret identity and confronts a violent hostage situation. Alongside action and humour, it explores family separation, responsibility after a fatal mistake, surveillance and the costs of technological progress.

This is an emotionally intense, socially engaged story of young people facing bereavement, family instability, discrimination and addiction. Its perspective shifts and layered histories invite sustained attention, while compassion, accountability, faith and hope remain important strands.

A fast-moving supernatural mystery about a teenager searching for her missing mother, then uncovering concealed family history and a strange inheritance. It offers suspense, folklore, friendship and a seaside setting, with the pace reportedly slowing after the opening.

This is a richly illustrated mermaid adventure about protecting a home from development. Its diary format, playful language and underwater world may invite shared reading, visual exploration and discussion.

This offers a school-start story about friendship and belonging, with a particular focus on how Pelly’s difference affects her relationships with Tangle and Eno.

This is a colourful, surreal graphic-fantasy adventure about belonging, friendship and trust. Its comic situations and unusual magical community sit alongside a possible trap, anxious feelings and a conflict that may slow the story’s momentum.

This is a war-and-refugee coming-of-age novel: Kateryno leaves Kharkiv with her mother and brother, settles with a British host family, and navigates separation, new relationships and the emotional aftermath of invasion.

This is a fast-moving historical adventure centred on a young protagonist navigating war, captivity and divided loyalties while trying to protect her family and home.

This is a richly layered historical coming-of-age novel about a book-loving girl negotiating family duty, education, friendship and romance while a murder’s consequences reach into her community.

Expect atmospheric Cornish tales where folklore, ghosts and magic meet farms, the sea and family life. The collection includes linked stories, including one about William, whose disability brings exclusion and cruelty from others.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys high-seas adventure, mermaids, treasure hunts, riddles and brisk action. The story also offers a character-led exploration of identity, friendship, prejudice and belonging.