What Are You Looking For?

A warm, unusual story about an orphan girl and a gorilla forming a family, while facing official scrutiny and prejudice. Its humour and tenderness sit alongside uncertainty about belonging and justice.

This is a friendship-and-identity story in which a disrupted routine opens space for music, independence and new connections. Its interest lies less in high-stakes danger than in ordinary emotional change and finding a direction.

A warm, question-led story about how Barley Bear and his adoptive mother became a family. It introduces adoption-related ideas through cuddling, conversation and illustrations, rather than presenting a detailed account of every adoption experience.

This offers a gentle, imaginative way into questions about origins, adoption, belonging and family. Its woodland journey, animal encounters and illustrated fairytale atmosphere may invite close shared reading.

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.

A gentle adoption story centred on Mia’s questions about family resemblance and her mixed feelings. It can open discussion of belonging without requiring every part of a child’s own experience to match Mia’s.

This is a warm, repetitive story about noticing differences in appearance while recognising shared ways of living, feeling and connecting. Its central reassurance is that families can belong together without looking alike.

A gentle adoption story that acknowledges frightening beginnings, uncertainty about change and lingering sadness or anger, while offering comfort through foster carers, social-worker support and a loving adoptive family.

This is a warm, repetitive read about a child making sense of her family story. It offers an adoption narrative framed through loving recollection, with comic visual details alongside tender family moments.

A magical historical-fantasy adventure about identity, family and friendship, with mysteries uncovered through flashbacks. Expect spells, Fairyland, talking animals, shapeshifting and a curse rather than a realistic everyday setting.

A serious, emotionally charged story about a bereaved child facing prejudice, instability and threats to her bond with Joe. It may invite empathy, but its portrayal of rescue and belonging appears partly sentimentalised.

This is a character-led story about foster care, adoption, friendship and the effects of introducing an artificial intelligence into school life. Its tone combines humour with poignant circumstances and thought-provoking questions about human–AI relationships.

This is a relationship-led YA story where secrecy places friendship under pressure. Its central situation brings authority, loyalty and protection into conflict, while Eden’s family experiences and academic expectations add emotional and social layers.

This is a fast-moving mystery thriller about identity and family, combining Lauren’s search for her origins with puzzles, friendship and threats. Its central appeal is suspense, but the family questions give the adventure emotional weight.

This is a dark family mystery centred on five adopted teenagers shaped into prodigies by an intrusive educational system. Its strongest material concerns identity, pressure, sibling rivalry and solidarity after their father’s death.

A funny school-and-family story about disrupted routines, fostering and learning to cooperate when two boys must tackle a shared challenge.

This is a relationship-led school story about two girls discovering that friendship, family and identity may be more complicated than they expected. Choir gives them a shared space while contrasting homes and difficult news test how they support one another.

This is a lively historical mystery built around a disabled heroine, a group heist and strong friendship. It combines perilous secrets, inventive problem-solving and questions about how disabled children are treated, while keeping the adventure playful and suspenseful.