What Are You Looking For?

A family’s escape from an abusive father begins as an adventure for Jayni, who adopts the name Lola Rose. As money runs out, the family’s new life becomes harder to sustain.

This is a romance set against conflict between African American and Somali students. Rodney and Jawahir’s relationship brings questions of loyalty and social division into the foreground.

Expect a high-action fantasy about survival, loyalty and choosing what sort of person to become, rather than a romance-led story. Aina’s assassin role and the consequences of her choices are prominent.

Expect an action-led dystopian story that asks what happens when a society sorts people into fixed groups. Identity and belonging sit beneath the suspense; a romance is also part of the plot.

This is a sweeping fantasy about Zélie’s attempt to restore magic, pursued by the crown and complicated by her feelings for an enemy. Its imagined kingdom also carries themes of racial oppression and resistance.

A haunted-house mystery links Harper’s forgotten accidents and her brother’s unusual behaviour with spirits, while bringing Korean traditions and Jamaican cultural details into the story.

This is a deliberately dark, comic reworking of a high-school social drama: friendship trouble and irritation become motives for attempted and threatened killings. Its defining shift is from gossip and relationships towards slasher violence.

Dani’s diary follows her as she faces the aftermath of rape and a court case, adjusts to a new school, and draws on support from Reggie and people around her.

This is a coming-of-age road story in which a young man’s hopes for his future meet financial strain, a risky offer and complications during a long journey.

This paranormal novella centres on Emily’s transition from constrained family responsibilities into a supernatural life, with grief, romantic longing and a wish for vengeance shaping her situation.

A fast-moving historical time-travel adventure links haemophilia, gene therapy and the Romanovs’ fate through a journey between 1916 and 2010.

This is a relationship-focused story about two teenagers seeking change: Félix wants to turn his life around, while Frédérique wants to make choices for herself.

This is a relationship-led coming-of-age story with a serious gang-violence strand. Its central tension brings Misha’s attraction to Dwayne into conflict with her mother’s warning and Dwayne’s concealed life.

This is a relationship-centred story framed by domestic violence and alcoholism, rather than a light romance.

This is a high-stakes historical adventure about a teenager caught between hopes of wealth and the violence surrounding diamond mining. It offers sustained emotional intensity alongside questions about family, freedom, exploitation and recovery.

This is a high-stakes survival story about three teenagers fleeing danger, with friendship and hope providing emotional counterweights to fear, loss and an uncertain journey.

A lively fantasy adventure built around two very different twins: Myles plans and analyses, while Beckett acts instinctively and communicates unusually well with nonhuman beings. Their complementary strengths drive a chaotic struggle involving magical creatures, powerful technology and determined enemies.

This is an inventive, fast-moving apocalypse fantasy built around Vincent’s attempt to protect his family.

An adventurous survival story told through horses’ understanding of humans and the natural world. Its strongest material is the herd’s gradual cooperation, set against historical violence and repeated threats to life.

This is a dramatic series conclusion built around Ella and Reed’s relationship, a murder mystery, family secrets and threats involving the law. It combines romance, danger and teenage angst, with a quick-moving plot and a reportedly sudden resolution.

This offers a plot-led fantasy involving assassination, magic, royal duty, secrets and romance. Its central appeal is the partnership between an ambitious apprentice and a highly dangerous royal agent, while the volume leaves major messages unresolved.

This is a brisk historical adventure centred on Marcus’s fighting training and an undercover mission amid Roman gang conflict, with danger, weapons and political intrigue.

Choose this for supernatural intrigue, Korean folklore, a slow-developing romance and emotionally complicated family relationships. It combines action and mystery with characters who struggle with guilt, isolation, attachment and difficult choices.

A fast-moving fantasy conclusion combining mermaid-world politics, relationship uncertainty and rescue adventure. Its strongest appeal is likely the mixture of romance, invented societies and a new community whose apparent harmony may be tested.

A lively comic adventure that may make reading feel playful and social, especially through visual storytelling, absurd humour and drawing prompts. Its energetic action and deliberately rough language sit alongside kindness, loyalty and forgiveness.

A fast-moving fantasy adventure combines an unusual underground world with a serious rescue mission. Its strongest appeal is likely the combination of sibling care, loyal alliances, prophecy and difficult choices during conflict.

This is an unusual, structurally adventurous story about a refugee rebuilding his life while several other narratives unfold around him. It combines science fiction, historical material, dark humour and emotionally serious questions about survival and disclosure.

Expect a relationship-focused supernatural story in which Lindsay weighs a publicly declared mate against an intense attraction to someone else. Her decision is complicated by expectations from her family and community.

Choose this for a reader drawn to Greek mythology, modern fantasy and high-stakes competition, provided graphic violence and mature themes are not likely to overwhelm them.

A relationship-centred coming-of-age story about loyalty, reputation and self-trust, with romance and mystery around a past assault. It may suit discussion of how social approval can shape difficult personal choices.

This is a child-centred story of family violence, escape, and movement towards a peaceful future. Its central offer is understanding: it gives Starr’s experience a narrative shape while retaining hope.

A tense frontier survival adventure in which three children evade outlaws, endure severe hardship and discover treasure. It offers resourcefulness, loyalty and historical setting alongside frightening danger, bereavement and family separation.

This is a tense school-set story about coercion, belonging and escalating knife-related danger. Its focus is less on glamour than on how fear, loyalty and pressure can narrow a teenager’s choices.

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.

This is a politically charged war thriller that gives competing state and federal positions some strength while showing how quickly resistance, loyalty and justice become morally difficult.

This is a fast-moving spy adventure centred on Cammie, Macey and their friends. Kidnapping attempts, presidential politics, school secrets and a developing relationship create a blend of danger, mystery and personal loyalties.

This is a richly layered historical coming-of-age novel about a book-loving girl negotiating family duty, education, friendship and romance while a murder’s consequences reach into her community.

Expect a swashbuckling fantasy centred on a young woman trained to protect islands while facing a violent parent. Pirates, ships, political manoeuvring, romance and threatened loyalties shape the central conflict.

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.

An imaginative dream-world adventure about twins whose difficult relationship changes as they confront danger together. It combines mystery, magic and family revelations with a darker strand involving nightmares, bodily peril and control of thoughts.

This is a high-stakes historical pirate adventure centred on Kemosha’s determination to regain freedom and help people she loves. It offers action, survival, romance and a Black heroine confronting slavery and racial cruelty.

This is an emotionally serious but often humorous story about a child trying to solve an illness he cannot control. Its interest lies in Colin’s urgency, bold schemes and changing understanding of help, responsibility and loss.

Choose this for a high-stakes forbidden romance set against a vivid, drowned future London, especially if a Romeo and Juliet reworking appeals. Expect war, scarcity and a grim atmosphere alongside the central relationship.

A gripping island survival thriller combines puzzles, geocaching and competition with escalating horror. It offers capable friends, shifting loyalties and personal revelations, but includes graphic and disturbing material.

A high-stakes fantasy about two sisters whose loyalty is tested by liberation, empire, dragons and divine power. Expect complex political and family tensions alongside action, sacrifice and questions about who deserves protection.

This is a fast-moving fantasy adventure centred on a fierce, guarded heroine. Expect a dangerous rescue journey, strange creatures, corrupted magic and evolving friendships, alongside a serious exploration of loss, guilt and anger.