What Are You Looking For?

A pony-centred story about Jess’s riding holiday, her hopes of riding a favourite pony and the suspicion that follows a run of trail accidents.

Expect comic mishaps, wordplay and exaggerated solutions to ordinary problems, rather than a realistic account of family life.

This is a story about consequences and freedom: one girl regrets cheating and resents a strict punishment, while another’s rare day off takes a risky turn.

A comic fantasy mystery built around unusual weather, an imprisoned uncle and a determined group of friends.

A character-focused story about wanting recognition and facing a sibling’s departure. The pageant provides a lively setting for exploring rivalry, while the family storyline brings a more serious emotional thread.

An energetic race story where the excitement of competition is balanced by moments of empathy. Its strongest message is that a satisfying result can involve kindness, fair choices and sharing, not simply finishing first.

This is a school-set mystery with five clever outsiders at its centre.

This is a school-and-survival story about two people misreading each other. Its strongest material concerns how assumptions shape behaviour, while Mark’s growing attachment to the outdoors gives the book a reflective strand alongside its danger.

A sports mystery built around a strained friendship, team pressure and an investigation into threats and sabotage. The buried-treasure connection adds historical intrigue, while danger raises the stakes beyond the football pitch.

A buoyant, unusual adventure pairs a determined child with a loving guardian and a rooftop community. Its imaginative freedom sits alongside peril, precarious living, family uncertainty and moments of physical harm.

This is a time-travel adventure centred on friendship, fairness and an orphan’s vulnerability. Its historical setting and Christian-life framing may offer a lively starting point for discussing how stories represent justice and belonging.

A tense school story about belonging and the cost of acceptance. Jericho’s growing unease gives readers a close view of how group loyalty can compete with judgement, while the initiation exposes humiliation, coercion and danger.

This is a humorous but emotionally unsettled school-and-family story about coping when several losses and humiliations arrive together. Camille’s resilience is central, though the path towards it is described as difficult.

This is a fast-moving school-status story about rivalry, recognition and attempts to regain social advantage after a contested success. Its central interest is how the girls navigate competition within an elite social world.

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.

This is a friendship adventure combining pony-camp activities, a magical pony and a dilemma about whether a friend’s team may cheat. It appears suited to readers who enjoy everyday social problems alongside fantasy.

A sweeping fantasy sequel about friends divided by danger and prejudice, with witches, magic, political responsibility and a developing romance. It offers an immersive world, tense escapes and battles, while leaving parts of the journey open for a later book.

A lively school-election story about finding allies, challenging unfairness and turning strong feelings into action. Its campaign plot combines humour, friendship and political participation with a developing lesson about listening and working constructively with opponents.

A football-focused school story about friends responding to a playground ban by creating a secret club.

This is a high-stakes coming-of-age story about trying to become a K-pop star while navigating outsider status, friendship, romance and an industry that demands perfection. Its setting offers a close look at training culture and the pressures surrounding public success.

A visually rich introduction to detective fiction, offering a contained mystery, recurring animal friends and clues for readers to inspect. It combines suspense about a theft and suspected parents with humour, friendship and collaborative problem-solving.

This is a cricket-centred story about belonging and persistence. Kerry-Ann’s love of the game, family connection to Jamaica and grandfather’s history sit alongside a conflict over who is welcomed at the club.

Expect an imaginative factory adventure centred on five children, with comic fantasy, moral contrasts and a strong focus on Charlie’s honesty. The story also includes poverty, rule-breaking and punishments that may prompt differing reactions.

A lively Nigerian boarding-school adventure foregrounding friendship, cultural setting and fair access to education. Jummy’s new experiences offer both familiar school-story pleasures and a perspective shaped by different routines and expectations.

A gentle story about a child’s strong attachment to a treasured toy, the upset caused by losing it, and the difficulty of getting it back after it is bought at a fair.

A lively school-camp adventure centres on friendship, frightening folklore and a difficult peer relationship.

A familiar flood story is reframed through Mrs Noah’s quiet choices. It offers a warm, gently humorous read-aloud with striking artwork, while inviting attention to who gets to make decisions and whose actions are noticed.

A suspenseful fantasy about discovering identity and belonging, with a resourceful protagonist, dragon lore and a friendship shaped by loneliness. It offers emotional themes alongside danger, loss and a history of conflict between humans and dragons.

A playful family story turns everyday sharing into a mathematical puzzle. Equal portions are often manageable, but people, accidents and affection resist neat calculation, making fairness both a practical challenge and an emotional one.

This is comic fiction about Norm’s difficult day-to-day world: blame, family embarrassments, moving house, bodily jokes and a friend’s apparent changes.

A school mystery about a child under social pressure, with a new friendship helping him investigate an accusation. Humour sits alongside bullying, prejudice, moral choices and family conversations about religion and values.

This is a fast-moving dark fantasy about judgement, punishment and sibling loyalty. Its imaginative school setting supports comic invention, while death, hell-inspired imagery and frightening authority figures give the adventure a darker edge.

This is a mystery about a boy facing an unfair punishment and trying to understand a suspicious institution. The curse adds a generational dimension, while the buried secret gives Stanley a reason to question what he is told.

A historical adventure about loyalty and determined problem-solving, set in the Florida Keys in 1912 as Eddie investigates the accusation against his father.

This is a friendship story about settling into a new home, meeting an exciting neighbour and discovering that fun can become troubling when another person causes damage and blame.

This offers two strands of adventure: a cycling team confronting unequal equipment and a fantastical search for Fergus’s father. Family uncertainty sits alongside competition, friendship and danger, giving the story both everyday emotional concerns and imaginative complications.

A friendship-centred winter sports story about a new team that excludes Hannah, tests Brian’s loyalty and pressures Snowstream’s children to choose between friends and belonging.

A short children’s story about two neighbouring families, a hoped-for friendship, and disagreement over shared fruit.

A school-year story about Gabriela navigating friendship changes, hurtful attention towards her stutter, intimidating classmates and a potentially difficult election campaign.

This is a mystery about belonging, memory and fairness: a newcomer follows a disturbing clue, questions the story a community tells about Wil, and becomes involved in putting a past wrong into perspective.

This is a school-and-family story about loneliness, self-expression and belonging. Dennis's passion for fashion becomes publicly difficult when wearing a dress leads to expulsion, threatening both his friendships and his place in football.

Expect a fantastical adventure centred on a small child facing authority, isolation, and imprisonment, with family pressures and assistance from allies.

A promising discussion choice for a reader interested in fairness and resisting other people's expectations.

A discussion choice for a reader interested in friendship and unfairness, with care around debt and criminal choices.