What Are You Looking For?

This is a fantasy road-trip sequel about life after saving the world: Simon, Baz and Penny face new danger while struggling with identity, relationships and the aftermath of earlier events.

A thoughtful fairy-tale adventure about a girl whose exceptional singing cannot protect her from shame, manipulation or unfair judgement. Its strongest thread is Aza’s movement towards belonging and self-worth, though beauty remains a powerful force in the story.

This is a supernatural friendship story about a young person who is uncomfortable with an unusual ability while helping a troubled spirit. Music, family relationships, self-acceptance and a neighbour’s abandoned house shape the situation.

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.

A warm, episodic coming-of-independence story: Kiki builds a life through useful work, new relationships and repeated problem-solving. Magic sits alongside ordinary concerns about fitting in, missing home, trusting others and discovering what she can do.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys high-seas adventure, mermaids, treasure hunts, riddles and brisk action. The story also offers a character-led exploration of identity, friendship, prejudice and belonging.

A frank, humorous YA novel about Rose’s difficult first sexual experience, a medical complication, relationship pressure and the shame surrounding bodies. It also follows friendship, online support and uncertainty about the future.

A body-positive coming-of-age novel about Willowdean’s attempt to reclaim confidence by entering a beauty pageant, while navigating attraction, friendship, family tensions and her community’s expectations.

This is a warm, mystery-led story about wanting to belong while pursuing an unusual ambition. Its seaside setting, humour, family secrets and theme of self-acceptance may particularly suit readers drawn to determined protagonists and magical possibilities.

This is an imaginative adventure combining friendship, mystery and a robot with a society changed by water scarcity. It also gives sustained attention to Auden’s experience of achromatopsia and his changing relationship with that difference.

This offers immersive folklore, a slow-building relationship and a heroine confronting shame about her magic. It may suit readers who enjoy gothic atmosphere, complex myth-making and emotionally difficult fantasy rather than a light fairy-tale retelling.

This is a character-led story about four lonely children becoming connected. Its emotional focus is stronger than its action, with distinct voices, friendship and courage developing alongside questions about fate and belonging.

A warm but potentially emotionally charged story about a neurodivergent teenager responding to unfairness, protecting her sister and challenging a culture in which bullying can be enabled by silence.

This is a school drama about the attraction and fragility of popularity. Its central mystery gives the story suspense while Rick’s changing response to Jake provides a route into questions about trust and identity.

This is a tense, relationship-centred legal account: Nate’s sworn statement revisits a close friendship that becomes physically intimate and ends in serious violence, while faith, family rules and self-acceptance complicate his testimony.

This is a coming-of-age story about sexuality, faith and belonging, placing Adam between parental rejection, pressure to change, attraction to Paul, and questions about what kind of relationships he wants.

This is a dark coming-of-age story about secrecy, belonging and self-acceptance, using an unusual undead condition to place ordinary teenage wishes beside danger, stigma and questions about who gets to define someone’s identity.