What Are You Looking For?

This is a compact, suspenseful story about a girl confronting the consequences of indifference. Its animal narrator makes a difficult conflict approachable, while the events invite careful thought about what one person can and cannot change.

This is a school story about the harm caused by judging people by appearance. It offers two viewpoints on being teased and also includes a child’s difficult home life.

Expect a warm, humorous story built around Lottie's plan to grow a giant pumpkin with her grandfather. Its comic elements sit alongside school bullying, family strain, bereavement, illness and Lottie's responsibilities at home.

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.

This is an emotionally direct school-and-family story about being misread, finding ways to communicate and learning to recognise a person beyond appearance or speech. Harriet’s perspective gives disability, irritation, humour and courage a central place.

This is a serious, emotionally intense story about forced movement, family separation and trying to belong in an unfamiliar country. Its unhappy ending may matter to readers who need preparation for difficult material.

Expect a warm adventure built around protecting a vulnerable creature. Charlie’s school troubles and family uncertainty sit alongside magical danger, while friendship and practical ingenuity help move the story forward.

This combines a fast-moving school-and-woods thriller with questions about ecological responsibility and engineered life. Its suspense is paired with empathy for children, adults and even people who behave harmfully.

A humorous, emotionally serious story about a boy facing bullying, family disruption and caring responsibilities, with a fantastical wish premise. It may offer reassurance while still presenting difficult circumstances that merit thoughtful discussion.

A thoughtful friendship story with a suspenseful edge, this novel explores how exclusion, secrets and personal circumstances can affect relationships. Its three narrators encourage empathy, though bullying and isolation may merit preparation or discussion.

A school-transition story about Frankie finding ways to join in, protect her privacy and build friendships through music, while facing sensory challenges and the return of a bully.

A story about facing prejudice while navigating family worries, friendship and uncertainty about identity. It combines painful school experiences with warmth, music, LGBTQ+ history and a hopeful sense of personal agency.

Expect energetic visual comedy rather than realism: a previously weak baby becomes superstrong after eating avocado and uses that strength in increasingly surprising situations.

This is a high-stakes school thriller centred on a student’s planned revenge with an explosive device. Its central appeal is likely suspense, while its subject matter invites reflection on bullying and changed identity.

This offers a poetic, character-led account of a young person facing anorexia and other mental-health difficulties, with attention to treatment, relationships, bullying and the possibility of accepting help.

A brisk environmental adventure about a reluctant visit becoming a relationship with a grandad, a local stream and its wildlife. Kyle’s growing responsibility gives the story an encouraging focus on courage, care and standing up for a place.

A school mystery gives Alex and David a route into an uneasy friendship. The story looks closely at how fear, peer pressure and self-protection shape choices, while using the Icarus idea to frame risk, hope and possible escape.

A family-change story told through Izzy’s worries about her father, school, friendships and shifting family roles. It offers a child-centred route into gender identity, loyalty and uncertainty, with conflict eventually moving towards greater understanding.

This is an emotionally intense contemporary teen novel about a fiercely angry, isolated girl whose connection with Nate opens a possibility of hope before serious harm tests that possibility.

A school-set story about bullying, friendship and second chances, viewed through Aria’s supernatural role. Its central tension asks readers to hold Caroline’s suffering alongside the possibility that Lily’s cruelty has a story behind it.