What Are You Looking For?

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.

This verse novel follows a teenage artist through wrongful imprisonment and his effort to preserve his humanity and pursue the truth.

This is a Cambodian Cinderella retelling centred on Angkat’s endurance of family-caused wrongs and her effort to regain her rightful place.

The story follows CC as she considers her future, guided by an ancient book, alongside children from different backgrounds. Its historical notes may add context to the adventure.

This is a story about a reluctant ranch summer, a horse partnership and a discovery that gives Paley a reason to act bravely.

The story pairs an escape adventure with questions of identity and friendship: Arthur gains a name and a loyal companion after a life of harsh treatment. Its fantasy world includes animal-human groundlings and a ban on music.

This is a fantasy adventure centred on Lirael’s mission and emerging sense of destiny, with Prince Sameth also drawn into a threat to the Old Kingdom.

This is an adventure about a group of young heroes facing a puzzling search, alongside a story of friendships and romances reaching a turning point.

This is a fantasy journey shaped by Dakin’s three wishes: reaching a distant mountain, meeting a gargoyle and finding a prince. Her choices and encounters appear central.

This is an invasion-and-survival story driven by Sam’s resistance to the signal and the mystery of why a wound that should have killed him has not.

A lively mystery set around art, deception and relationships, with a bold young investigator at its centre. Alongside suspense, it explores artistic value, loyalty, jealousy and the difference between legal wrongdoing and deeper moral harm.

Expect a tense wartime adventure centred on a boy whose loyalty is unsettled by family revelations and encounters with Nazi brutality. Its main appeal is the combination of suspense, historical setting and moral awakening rather than light-hearted adventure.

A visually rich, unsettling adventure about children resisting monstrous forces, The Wrenchies combines action, loneliness, loyalty and artistic imagination. Its fragmented storytelling leaves some mysteries unresolved rather than explaining every element.

A gentle story about feeling worried by science, then using research, friendship and persistence to develop a science-fair project. Its central message links confidence with thoughtful choices and continued effort.

Expect a fast-moving, illustrated fantasy adventure in which Prince Alfred confronts danger beyond the palace while trying to save his mother and others. Humour sits alongside suspense, sadness, destruction and a noticeably darker atmosphere.

A brisk school mystery centres on Frank and Joe’s teamwork as they confront a secret team culture built around intimidation. Expect investigative momentum alongside uncomfortable scenes involving captivity, assault, threats and reputational manipulation.

This is a teen romance centred on attraction, friendship and the possibility of heartbreak, with a dramatic relationship at its core and social pressures around dating.

This is a varied speculative-fiction collection rather than one continuous story. Its appeal lies in imaginative settings, changing moods and morally pressured situations, but the individual stories may differ considerably in intensity and subject matter.

A caring grandmother confronts a strong storm while trying to protect animals and her grandchildren. The story’s appeal appears to lie in determined action, family care and a challenge presented through weather.

A reassuring story about losing a treasured comfort object, nighttime fears and becoming more understanding towards a younger sibling. Bella’s growing bravery is shown through a concrete family problem rather than through a lecture.

This is a fast-moving science-fiction fairy-tale reworking, centred on determined young characters facing divided loyalties, prejudice, identity and difficult choices about power. Its adventure is accompanied by graphic violence, frightening attackers, torture, deaths and some romantic and drinking-related content.

This is a coming-of-age journey about bereavement, uncertain family ties and making a fresh start. Kendall’s encounters with Evie, Miss Clare and Marcus broaden the story beyond her search for one relative.

A fast-moving mystery-adventure about children building a home together while uncovering secrets around a missing billionaire, a threatening uncle and a possibly real sword-wielding protector.

This is a fast-moving spy adventure centred on Cammie, Macey and their friends. Kidnapping attempts, presidential politics, school secrets and a developing relationship create a blend of danger, mystery and personal loyalties.

This is a participatory beach adventure rather than a detailed plot: children help Niko build, move through interactive elements and encounter a small anticipated setback while sharing the rhyming story.

Expect a lively rescue adventure centred on Molly’s courage and cleverness. The pirate setting, island peril and treasure chase offer momentum, while Molly’s role gives the story an assertive child protagonist.

This is a poignant historical family story about isolation, hardship and perseverance. Its emotional centre is Laura’s longing to help, belong and reunite her family, alongside compassion for a vulnerable turtle.

A spooky fantasy adventure about a girl who enters a dangerous forest to understand what happened to her sister, with the story’s central mystery challenging simple ideas of bravery and rescue.

This is a historical mystery about a child navigating wartime separation, an unwelcoming household and unanswered questions. Gardens, hothouses and a Suffolk estate provide a vivid setting for secrets, suspicion and friendship.

This is a historically grounded coming-of-age story about a girl pursuing football while working in wartime industry. It offers determination, teamwork and questions about who gets opportunities, alongside setbacks when social and institutional attitudes change.

A dark, fast-moving faerie adventure that combines monsters, romance and town danger with more reflective questions about self-invention, family secrets, community complicity and whether apparent gifts or beauty can conceal coercion.

A playful food-finding caper with expressive squirrels, jokes and a gentle visual style. Its central scheme involves altering fortune messages to influence people, creating opportunities to discuss cleverness, honesty and consequences without treating the antics as realistic guidance.

This is an energetic animal adventure about responsibility, deception and persistence. Marty’s first working day becomes hazardous after a prank, while friendship and comic illustrations help keep the story lively.

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.

An energetic adventure about clever siblings confronting secret tests, technological danger and a world-scale threat. Its strongest appeal is likely momentum: trials, gadgets, mystery and high stakes, alongside questions about responsibility and confronting fear.

This is a clue-led historical adventure about a young protagonist acting under pressure to help her imprisoned father. It offers travel, ancient objects, a companionable magpie and a mystery that links art and evidence.

A fast-moving Irish fantasy about protecting a magical world from destruction, combining folklore, adventure and danger. It offers an imaginative quest while bringing contemporary concerns, including bullying and climate change, into an ancient-myth setting.

This is a survival adventure that places a frightened, newly blind boy in prolonged dependence on Timothy. Its strongest material concerns trust, practical resilience and the painful unlearning of racial prejudice.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys classic mysteries, deduction and a slightly spooky atmosphere. Its strongest appeal is the Holmes-and-Watson partnership, carefully constructed investigation and influential detective-fiction pattern.

A lively, voice-led coming-of-age novel combining humour and friendship with family strain, social pressure and gang-related danger. Lemar’s art and relationships offer warmth, but the story also reaches a killing and difficult choices.

This is comic fantasy adventure about an underestimated boy whose intelligence, courage and loyalty matter more than physical strength. Its lively illustrations, eccentric names and slapstick tone may make the story especially inviting.

A tense wartime adventure about a young Muslim protagonist whose family and community face Nazi occupation. Safiyyah undertakes dangerous errands, while the mosque becomes a place of sanctuary for persecuted Jewish people.

This is a treasure-seeking pirate adventure built around movement, obstacles and comic shipboard details. The combination of stormy travel, rival pirates and visual detail may make it particularly suitable for shared looking and prediction.

This is a family-history story in which discovering wartime secrets changes how Liv understands her grandmother, loyalty and courage. It combines contemporary friendship worries with Jewish sisters’ separation, Resistance work, loss and rebuilding a life.

This is a verse novel about a teenager living with family secrecy and the effects of her mother’s mental illness. Its central movement is towards understanding, while school, friendship, romance and art remain part of Laura’s everyday world.