What Are You Looking For?

This is an action-led coming-of-age story about a troubled child entering an extraordinary spy-training organisation. It offers perseverance, teamwork and personal change alongside danger, bereavement, coercion and language some families may wish to discuss.

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.

A friendship-focused YA fantasy in which a varied group of young characters face dangerous, action-packed moments. Its emotional emphasis falls on empathy, trust and choosing to stand by one another rather than on graphic or gruesome detail.

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 gentle Chilean folktale about finding companionship, caring for someone who is not yours to keep, and living through separation. Its sea imagery and illustrations may invite close, unhurried attention.

A tense story about girls seeking safety and belonging under Sol’s control. As new relationships and demands unsettle the cabin, the book follows questions of loyalty, selfhood, survival and whether protection can become coercion.

This combines a fast-moving school-and-woods thriller with questions about ecological responsibility and engineered life. Its suspense is paired with empathy for children, adults and even people who behave harmfully.

This is a gentle beach adventure about a character whose plans repeatedly go wrong, then improve through friendship and a calming activity. Its central interest is recognising strong feelings and responding with compassion.

This is a wartime survival adventure combining danger, horses and displaced children. Its central appeal is resourceful young protagonists protecting vulnerable beings, while the historical setting brings serious questions about war, loss and responsibility.

This is an atmospheric historical mystery combining family upheaval, friendship, a much-loved rabbit and art theft. Its central puzzle offers adventure, while Caro’s changing circumstances create an emotional thread alongside the investigation.

A fast-moving historical fantasy that places a child and a growing phoenix inside the Great Fire of London. Maps, historical events and an imagined creature create an adventurous route through danger, trust and responsibility.

This is a serious, emotionally focused novel about returning home, confronting painful memories and imagining a future beyond harmful family dynamics. Flooding and climate danger provide an urgent backdrop, while romantic love adds another strand.

A humorous emotional story about a seahorse who feels furious and rejects attempts to help. Its pictures add information beyond the repeated insistence that nothing will improve, creating a gentle contrast between words, feelings and what others observe.

Expect energetic visual comedy rather than realism: a previously weak baby becomes superstrong after eating avocado and uses that strength in increasingly surprising situations.

This is an adventurous friendship story set around hiking, camping and outdoor survival. Its emotional centre is Vincent’s struggle with school, coordination and belonging, alongside classmates whose different circumstances affect how the group works together.

A compact, imaginative fantasy about a child’s anger and imaginative escape. Max’s journey towards and away from the Wild Things gives the book energetic movement, while his return home brings the story back to family.

This offers a straightforward survival thriller built around a countdown, extremist beliefs and attacks in a familiar city. Its strongest appeal is likely suspense and danger rather than deeply developed character exploration.

A whimsical, suspenseful fantasy about escaping ordinary life and confronting danger, with a bittersweet focus on childhood and growing up. Its imaginative appeal sits alongside language and attitudes that require historical distance.

Expect a series of self-contained, startling tales rather than one continuous plot. Children encounter odd powers, unusual creatures, bodily changes, animals in danger and emotionally difficult family situations, usually within a comic or bizarre framework.

A tense, emotionally serious survival story follows Ade through a collapsing city while his mother withdraws and neighbours become an unexpected support network. Its strongest offering is a child-centred exploration of vulnerability, responsibility and collective care.

This is a contemporary survival story about two children carrying adult worries, seeking trustworthy help and finding support in one another. Its central concerns include family instability, homelessness, friendship and the meaning of home.

Expect a brisk moral fantasy rather than a cosy animal adventure. The story turns outrage about hunting into comic, threatening reversal, asking readers to feel the consequences from the animals’ perspective.