What Are You Looking For?

A parent-child resource that explains autism-related differences and offers ideas for communication, relationships, school and daily routines. It combines practical features with children’s stories and separate, more detailed material for parents.

The book sets Russell’s wish to escape school against Tansy’s effort to keep it open, using comic classroom mishaps along the way.

A fast-moving mystery follows Tandy as she investigates alongside her effort to clear her brother. Its suspense also comes from her fear that she may match the killer’s targets.

This is a family-and-school story about Gemma trying to make sense of strong, shifting emotions while several social situations unfold around her.

This combines a boarding-school story with ghosts, an old abbey and a mystery centred on a persistent supernatural evil. Fiona’s friendships and her efforts to confront the danger offer threads beyond the haunting.

A high-status schoolboy’s resentment towards his father’s new ward shifts into a desire to keep her close. A mistake separates them, while secrets and betrayal unsettle his family.

A reassuring story about starting school, separation from a beloved comfort object and discovering that independence can include support. Bear’s experience gives children permission to find a new situation hard without treating that difficulty as failure.

A character-led teen novel about using scientific curiosity to change everyday habits, while asking how body size, appearance and other people’s attention affect identity.

This is an emotionally engaging school story centred on a bright child whose thoughts are overlooked because she cannot communicate conventionally. It offers sustained attention to dignity, family advocacy, friendship and the consequences of assumptions.

This is a relationship-focused coming-of-age story about a student balancing boarding-school tensions, romantic uncertainty, writing ambitions and possible work in New York. It may suit readers interested in emotional decisions and changing friendships, though the conclusion is not fully established here.

This is a character-led story about a teenager balancing home rules, friendships, school, family loyalties and hopes for change. Kendra’s architectural sketches and private thoughts suggest a young person forming ambitions while adults’ decisions shape her circumstances.

A school-based story about a child whose concentration difficulties and wish to be loud create trouble, followed by a teacher’s more responsive approach and an opportunity for musical self-expression.

A warm, busy story about making something together when home and family security are under pressure. Its strongest appeal is the blend of theatre-making, farm life, friendship and practical determination.

A comic family-and-school story about a child navigating ambitious parents, a new school and competing ideas about attention. Its main appeal is the child’s perspective on adult expectations and the awkward question of whether independence can become neglect.

A warm school-start story about friendship, self-expression and the pressure to seem interesting. Its central contrast is between Monty’s unwanted performance and Dot’s gradual willingness to be more open.

A sharply relevant story about a young person whose private life has been turned into public content, offering humour and cringe alongside serious questions about consent, dignity and parental responsibility online.

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 fast-moving fantasy adventure combines fairy-tale reworking, coding, futuristic inventions and family emotion. Amber’s ordered life is disrupted by a rescue mission, while her father’s past adds a more serious strand.

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

A romance about two teenagers navigating disability, belonging and pressure: Ellie confronts ableism after leaving her Deaf school, while Jackson faces frightening bodily changes and demanding expectations. Their connection is presented alongside anger, uncertainty, compassion and questions of self-determination.

A character-led YA novel about Deaf identity, changing schools and deciding how far to trust new people. It offers a perspective on agency, communication and inclusion, alongside friendship and romance.

This is a school and family drama about a quiet teenager confronting public lies, persistent bullying and a frightening home atmosphere. It also follows her growing connections with Elijah, Aunt Polly and the mysterious ‘red pen’ correspondent.

A thoughtful school-transition story about the pull of popularity and the cost of trying to meet everyone’s expectations. Its strongest interest lies in Sabina’s changing friendships, family pressures and uncertainty about whether unusual abilities genuinely improve her life.

This is a school story about belonging, family pressure and finding confidence through drama. Daniel’s acting gives him a valued interest and supportive relationships, while his fear of ridicule creates secrecy and mounting complications.

A coming-of-age story about identity, belonging and disclosure, balancing painful social pressures with friendship, family love and romantic possibility. It offers a queer Mexican American protagonist whose choices are shaped by school, faith and immigration-related family separation.

This is a dark, psychologically charged supernatural horror story about a teenager whose ability to see the dead brings him into contact with a powerful, vengeful ghost. Identity and control appear central alongside fear.

This offers a lively, personal story about cultural and family pressures, school belonging and wanting independence. Humour sits alongside increasingly serious material, so the emotional experience may change notably as Jo grows older.

This is an illness-and-school story that gives Ross's anger a central role rather than presenting cancer only through hope or life lessons. Friendship, embarrassment, creativity and humour shape his efforts to retain an ordinary identity.

A choice-driven story about finding a voice when other people control the decisions. Fred’s move to a new school brings pressure, friendships and opportunities to pursue his art, while each reader’s choices shape a different route.

This is a comic coming-of-age diary in which Adrian interprets family upheaval, school problems and first love while presenting himself as unusually sensible and mature.

A warm, mystery-shaped family story in which Xanthe investigates Nani’s past with friends, alongside magical visions, archaeological clues and a rooftop garden. It links family care with history, migration, friendship and belonging.

This is a school-based story about a quiet pupil whose achievement brings unexpected visibility. Its central interest is the tension between being encouraged to speak up and retaining the right to be yourself.

This offers a warm, determined story about rebuilding ordinary life after major change, with humour, friendship and family alongside frustration, social hurt and physical setbacks. Its central challenge is adjustment, not simply achievement.

Expect a character-led science-fiction story built around rivalry, secrets and a gradually changing relationship. Its school setting includes debate and sparring, while family power, past harm and ethical questions appear to broaden the focus beyond romance.

This is a coming-of-age novel about self-understanding through music, style and relationships, with family history and recovery shaping Johnny’s unsettled new start. Its central questions leave room for identity to be explored rather than reduced to a simple label.

A tense young-adult thriller about abuse, betrayal and escape, with Oz writing letters to his dead father as he confronts an abusive home life and a dangerous institution.

A comic school story about Faith navigating Year Ten, friendship difficulties and a choir project involving boys.

A family-and-friendship story about feeling displaced, taking responsibility and trying to understand a younger sibling. Its immediate interest comes from the unexplained change in Stephanie’s behaviour and Kate’s reaction.

This is a coming-of-age romance shaped by gang involvement, school difficulty, secrecy and danger.

This is a school-life story with a media angle: Talia has a public voice while her mother publicly discusses family life, and Talia considers how to respond. The main interest lies in competing loyalties and self-definition.

A brisk teen crime story whose strongest element appears to be its four contrasting characters. The heist supplies suspense, while shifting viewpoints invite attention to motives, loyalties and changing views of one another.

This is a coming-of-age story about freedom, belonging and complicated attachment. Its central relationship places a young teenager and a married teacher in an emotionally charged situation, alongside difficult changes at home and school.

This is a supernatural school story about belonging, social status and consequences. Shelly’s wish creates a problem she must actively address, combining everyday change with a threatening magical bargain.

A comic vampire adventure about twins managing separate lives, school rules and mistaken identity. Expect playful fright imagery, a concert-related disguise, and confusion around Olivia’s efforts to dress like Ivy.