What Are You Looking For?

The story centres on Hortense's studies, interests and uncertain prospects amid her family's changed circumstances after the French Revolution.

This is a survival-horror story about a search for a possible cure, with friends trying to rescue someone while facing a group with a destructive plan.

This is a wartime survival journey centred on two sisters, with Malini taking responsibility for Banni after they lose contact with their parents.

A warm-hearted adventure balances the sisters’ humour and imaginative games with their efforts to endure unjust treatment and help others.

This is a tense journey story centred on two cousins seeking a chance to make their own choices. Jaime’s drawing gives him a personal connection to home as the journey changes what it means to him.

A tense dystopian adventure about survival, loyalty and resistance after societal collapse. William’s attempt to find someone who has disappeared places personal devotion alongside questions about Terrafall’s authority and promises.

A determined young princess faces political danger while trying to protect her family and kingdom. Expect brisk fantasy adventure, humorous touches, action, inventive world-building and a child protagonist who takes responsibility in a crisis.

Expect a humorous, energetic child’s voice alongside genuine family uncertainty. Lucy tries to manage several summer problems, including a peer conflict and concern about whether her parents will divorce.

This is a historical horse story about two sisters seeking security while caring for an injured animal. Its emotional centre is Margret’s wish to keep both Flynn and a dependable home.

This is a grief-centred coming-of-age story told through letters, linking private mourning with school, friendship, family change and first love. Its reflective structure keeps Laurel’s inner life at the centre.

This is an emotionally intense character study about grief, family damage and attempts to understand harmful coping. Its strongest material appears to be Marcus’s reflection on self-harm and the forces shaping his behaviour.

This is a serious historical novel about Hiroshima’s bombing and its long aftermath for one family. Its movement between prose, poetry and haiku gives the story a distinctive shape, while the paper cranes connect grief, promises and hope.

This is an adventurous, emotionally charged fantasy combining dragons with Cold War intrigue. It follows danger, friendship, romance and hope while confronting racism, bereavement, political violence and the destructive consequences of power.

A warm, illustration-rich story about rebuilding a neglected hotel through practical work, creative problem-solving and cooperation. Its main tension comes from whether Anna and her team can meet an inspector’s challenge.

A fast-moving dystopian adventure combines a family search with uncertain alliances, a lottery camp and an environmental mystery. Its central pull is whether belonging means escaping Earth or helping protect it.

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.

This is an atmospheric fantasy quest in a desperate winter-bound world. Quill travels towards danger and discovery, while ancient mythology, supernatural beings and a threatened balance between light and dark shape the adventure.

This is a hopeful environmental story in which small actions become more effective through cooperation. Its imaginative ocean encounter gives practical choices—such as reducing plastic and reusing bottles—a narrative setting.

This is a serious, emotionally intense YA novel about three girls whose connection begins in a suicide pact and develops into mutual support. Its hopeful direction is accompanied by continuing struggle rather than an easy cure.

A tense, science-rich story combines South London settings, two connected teenage lives and an urgent attempt to prevent tragedy. It offers momentum alongside questions about whether circumstances, choices or both shape a person’s future.

Expect a fast-moving speculative story where environmental change, enhanced abilities and social ideas create pressure for Akaego and her friends. Its strongest promise is the combination of action, relationships and questions about how people respond to crisis.

This is a powerful but deeply distressing story about a child enduring abuse and isolation, with friendship providing moments of refuge. Its suspense comes from the gradual disclosure of what happened after.

A lively, twist-filled family adventure built around magic shows, vanished landmarks and a journey to Las Vegas. Middy’s practice contrasts with Nathan’s showmanship, giving the cousins different ways to face trouble and uncertainty.

A football-centred adventure that places Budi’s ambitions beside poverty, exploitative work and criminal pressure. Friendship and family support offer warmth, but the story also asks readers to confront limited choices and difficult social conditions.

This is a compact, serious story about two migrant workers pursuing work and a shared dream. Its strongest elements are loyalty, loneliness and the pressures placed on vulnerable people when hopes collide with harsh circumstances.

This is a dark, suspenseful revenge thriller centred on three girls’ bond, sexual violence, misogyny and the disturbing possibility that bear attacks are connected to their situation.

This is a quest fantasy about siblings facing separation, magical danger and inherited family trouble. Its appeal lies in Fairyland, nature-linked magic, riddles, storytelling and a movement from grief and hardship towards courage and hope.

Expect an imaginative treasure hunt in a world of vampirs and werwolves, driven by danger, mystery and changing trust. The book combines supernatural adventure with Tibor and Roza’s need to decide whom to believe.

This is a thoughtful story about a child carrying adult responsibilities who finds friendship, creativity and adventure while visiting Italy. An injured otter and the people Jakub meets help broaden his sense of who he is.

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 character-centred story about a bereaved young person trying to manage ordinary responsibilities while carrying several earlier losses and a turbulent inner life.

A playful nursery-rhyme sequel becomes a tale of ambition, financial collapse, crime, punishment and renewed hope. The illustrations invite close looking, while Spoon’s narration gives the adventure a distinctive, world-weary voice.

This is a fast-moving fantasy adventure about a dangerous supernatural challenge, a search across time, and magical self-discovery. It may particularly suit readers who enjoy continuing quests, strange places and ensemble characters.

A strange, claustrophobic survival story about people sharing an inescapable place, confronting missing memories and deciding whether a dangerous escape is worth attempting.

This is a high-stakes fantasy finale about survival during spreading environmental catastrophe, as characters oppose Ruin and try to preserve a future for their world. It combines large-scale conflict with questions of faith, responsibility and sacrifice.

This is a historical family-survival story about environmental disaster, migration and responsibility. Its child-authored letters and diary entries offer an intimate route into the Dust Bowl, with Earl’s search for work adding a practical family concern.

This is poetry with a historical conscience: the sea becomes a route through stories of migration, refuge, enslavement and loss. Its images may invite reflection, while the back matter adds context beyond the poems.

This is a character-led family story about a child making sense of adult failures without surrendering her own needs. Cooking, artistic ambition and friendship offer purposeful threads alongside uncertainty and emotional upheaval.

A colourful, imaginative fantasy finale about connection, courage and upheaval. It offers an intricate alternate world, escalating danger and emotional relationships, while its unusual language and many plot developments may reward close, patient reading.

A wartime family story about worry, practical help and growing food, with Teresa’s confidence tested by events she cannot control. Gardens connect everyday care with a wider conflict, while the ending appears emotionally serious.

This is a tense story about poverty, hope and a dangerous attempt to reach a promised better life. Manny must judge both physical risks and whether an older stranger is safe to trust.

This is a family-centred story about a young person confronting a parent’s substance addiction after military service. Its central tension lies between wanting recovery, preserving a close relationship and protecting Paige’s future plans.

This is a fantastical football story about hope after repeated disappointment, with a family of foxes facing an apparently impossible wish and a mysterious king seeking freedom.

A festive friendship adventure with serious pressures underneath: Mac hopes a shared holiday can repair her family, while the friends face a failing home, money worries, and danger connected with Shani.

This is a portal fantasy about a dissatisfied teenager whose encounter with an imaginative parallel world brings questions of destiny, self-belief and responsibility. Its central appeal is the contrast between Lev’s difficult life and Foo’s threatened wonder.