What Are You Looking For?

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 gentle family story centred on two male penguins who care for an egg and raise Tango. Its main emphasis is belonging, parenting and adoption, with wider questions about what makes a family.

This is an identity-and-belonging fantasy in which girls marked as impure are drawn into military training and conflict. It combines a supportive friendship group with questions about power, gender and social judgement.

This appears to be LGBTQIA+ fiction foregrounding, at least in one cited passage, the importance of safety, acceptance and belonging.

This is a gentle but emotionally direct way to talk about bereavement: grief can interfere with eating, sleeping and ordinary life, while changing in intensity rather than simply disappearing.

A fast-moving fantasy adventure about mermaids, Vikings, gods and a threatened ocean. Alongside magic and danger, it offers a clear route into conversations about environmental damage, leadership, friendship and how communities respond to conflict.

A thoughtful speculative story about whether a digital recreation can be treated as a person. Its emotional centre is Isla’s changing relationship with her returned sister, alongside family disagreement and the island community’s divided response.

A dark supernatural mystery combines witchcraft, ghosts, grief and romance. Viola’s investigation is supported by friendships and a search for justice, while the story also builds suspense through murder, dangerous spirits and unsettling deaths.

This is a brisk story about a child responding to a lost dog’s memory by inventing an invisible companion. Imagination, persistence, family decisions and an older neighbour’s good-humoured acceptance shape the action.

This is an emotionally serious coming-of-age story about three teenagers whose relationships are shaped by AIDS, queer identity, family, activism and prejudice. It offers historical context alongside romance, friendship and moments of community, hope and self-acceptance.

A gentle but serious rural story in which Spider’s connection with animals gives him purpose and belonging. It presents difference, kindness and courage through a character whose strengths are recognised by those who care for him.

Birdie offers a historical story about a child seeking belonging after leaving care, set against racism and suspicion. Her friendship with Mr Duke, a pit pony, provides an important strand of connection and care.

Panther compares himself with cats whose spots, stripes or mane make them appear distinctive, imitates those features, and is eventually encouraged to recognise his own qualities.