What Are You Looking For?

A focused, dual-narrative historical novel about displacement, survival and access to water. Its language is spare, but the experiences include war, deaths and severe deprivation, balanced by perseverance and collective problem-solving.

A lively circus setting frames a story about a penguin choosing a different role. Poppy’s change from performer to organiser offers a reassuring alternative to following a family tradition.

This is an ocean adventure about attempting something others doubt, preparing carefully, coping with difficult conditions and discovering capability. It also brings ocean wildlife and pollution into the story through Lucy’s classmates.

A focused biography about curiosity, family support and persistence: Louis Braille loses his sight, encounters inadequate books and develops a six-dot system to make reading and writing more accessible by touch.

A fast-moving London quest places a blind heroine at the centre of a supernatural crisis. Its strongest offering is Ella’s practical experience of blindness, alongside friendship, family tensions, mythology and a high-stakes struggle against darkness.

Expect fast-moving fantasy adventure: Emily and her friends train, discover powers and attempt a dangerous rescue while war approaches. Family tensions and questions of trust sit alongside battles and emotional uncertainty.

A serious, emotionally concentrated verse novel about family knowledge, loss and self-definition. Its strongest appeal is likely for readers who welcome reflective relationship-centred fiction rather than spectacle or elaborate genre mechanics.

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.

A tense historical survival story centred on two sisters, with vivid attention to language, place and the aftermath of political collapse. It combines danger and emotional uncertainty with questions about belonging and self-determination.

A warm, busy story about making something together when home and family security are under pressure. Its strongest appeal is the blend of theatre-making, farm life, friendship and practical determination.

A warm, humorous adventure about a determined young inventor, with imaginative technology, a strong female lead and a clear focus on why sleep matters.

Follow Nathaniel from a Jamaican plantation to England, where his belief that English soil means freedom is tested. His hopes for escape and his family’s future drive the story.

A comic family-and-school story about a child navigating ambitious parents, a new school and competing ideas about attention. Its main appeal is the child’s perspective on adult expectations and the awkward question of whether independence can become neglect.

A warm, identity-focused picture book in which Alex considers what makes him himself. It offers a straightforward celebration of individuality, including preferences, feelings, physical characteristics and thoughts, alongside similarities with others.

This is a poignant historical family story about isolation, hardship and perseverance. Its emotional centre is Laura’s longing to help, belong and reunite her family, alongside compassion for a vulnerable turtle.

This is a fast-moving wartime escape story combining orphanhood, sibling loyalty and espionage. Its child characters repeatedly make difficult choices while trying to survive danger, loss and separation.

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 offers a contained lunar mystery with clues, suspects, suspense and humour. Its appeal lies in Dash’s investigation, the unusual space setting and the contrast between boredom, danger and intellectual challenge.

This is a focused contemporary family story about children’s privacy online. It offers a plot-led way to consider sharenting, consent and the consequences when a parent’s public identity depends on children’s visibility.

A dramatic fantasy romance about survival and self-determination, this book offers a Cinderella framework reshaped by court politics, deception, magic and peril. Yining’s search for her past and future sits alongside questions about whom to trust.

A sombre, imaginative story about sisters, a sleeping princess and a dreamworld shaped by inner struggles. Expect more emotional and psychological exploration than fast-moving adventure, with fairy-tale wonder alongside painful material.

A tense coming-of-age story follows Kadeen as football offers connection and purpose in a new home. Her secret involvement with the team is complicated by her aunt’s opposition and the need to avoid recognition.

A humorous, emotionally serious story about a boy facing bullying, family disruption and caring responsibilities, with a fantastical wish premise. It may offer reassurance while still presenting difficult circumstances that merit thoughtful discussion.

This is a sports-centred coming-of-age story about a transgender teenager balancing football, privacy, romance, family relationships, and the possibility of advocating for other trans young people.

A dark, atmospheric fantasy for readers who enjoy folklore, mystery and psychological unease. Alice’s search for her mother carries questions about trust, belonging and who has the right to shape a story.

This is a coming-of-age story about a Muslim teenager finding confidence and voice while facing social pressure, racism, family expectations and manipulation. Its serious subject matter is presented alongside humour, relationships and hope.

A contemporary YA romance about an art-loving teenager whose secret travel plans, difficult partnership and online attraction create competing pressures. Venice provides the setting for artistic work, cultural experiences and shifting romantic feelings.

A dark, atmospheric Dracula retelling centred on two sisters, captivity and resistance. Its strongest offering is the way female relationships, Traveller identity and collective courage reshape a familiar vampire story.

This is a tender, nature-centred story about a boy’s bond with a seal and his grandfather. Its strongest offering is emotional range: delight in the sea sits alongside physical danger, disappearance, the grandfather’s absence and the passage of generations.

A romance about two teenagers navigating disability, belonging and pressure: Ellie confronts ableism after leaving her Deaf school, while Jackson faces frightening bodily changes and demanding expectations. Their connection is presented alongside anger, uncertainty, compassion and questions of self-determination.

This is a slow-burning, atmospheric thriller for readers who enjoy uncertainty, dreamlike fantasy and family mysteries. Its strongest interest lies in how Shelby’s changing understanding of herself reshapes the story around her.

This is a school and family drama about a quiet teenager confronting public lies, persistent bullying and a frightening home atmosphere. It also follows her growing connections with Elijah, Aunt Polly and the mysterious ‘red pen’ correspondent.

This is a school story about belonging, family pressure and finding confidence through drama. Daniel’s acting gives him a valued interest and supportive relationships, while his fear of ridicule creates secrecy and mounting complications.

A clue-driven historical adventure centred on a determined violinist, with friendship and perseverance alongside bereavement, abandonment, deception and threats. Its journey spans India, the sea voyage and Victorian England.

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 concentrated, voice-led story in verse follows Xiomara as she negotiates identity, faith, family expectations and unwanted attention. Writing and spoken-word poetry give her a way to express experience and pursue greater agency.

A coming-of-age story about identity, belonging and disclosure, balancing painful social pressures with friendship, family love and romantic possibility. It offers a queer Mexican American protagonist whose choices are shaped by school, faith and immigration-related family separation.

A vivid, culturally rooted coming-of-age novel about Sheba discovering power, heritage and responsibility while facing a threatening parent. It offers imaginative magic, close family care, friendship and an intimate portrayal of hair as connected with identity and inner life.

This offers a lively, personal story about cultural and family pressures, school belonging and wanting independence. Humour sits alongside increasingly serious material, so the emotional experience may change notably as Jo grows older.

A historical adventure rooted in the early-20th-century Philippines, following Amihan and Mariposa as they respond to official policy and try to return to Culion. Its emotional centre is family love and friendship.

This is an emotionally attentive story about a child whose secluded woodland life is abruptly disrupted. It explores unfamiliar family relationships, different ways of experiencing the world, and the possibility of connection without requiring October to become someone else.

A vivid, music-centred coming-of-age story for readers interested in identity, friendship and emotional overload. Its energetic visual form may feel immersive, but the rapid, interrupted presentation can require sustained attention.

A seasonal collection follows Beti through birthday events, a journey to a waterfall, berry picking with Mam, a storm, and winter responsibilities. Friendship, family reassurance, practical problem-solving and living alongside nature shape the book’s gentle world.

This is a comic coming-of-age diary in which Adrian interprets family upheaval, school problems and first love while presenting himself as unusually sensible and mature.

This is a reflective historical fantasy combining medieval life with an Arthurian story seen through a magical stone. Its strongest appeal is Arthur’s search for identity, belonging and a future of his own.