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A visually led story about recovery after a frightening fall, with humour, expressive emotion and a clear movement from avoidance towards renewed possibility. Its ending offers hope, while leaving room to discuss different ways of coping.

This is a serious, emotionally layered coming-of-age novel about how family difficulties, social media and friendship choices shape Taylor’s life before and after catastrophe.

This is an imaginative, issue-led adventure about environmental collapse, inequality and resistance, balanced by family loyalty and hope. Its vivid language may invite close discussion as much as straightforward plot-following.

This is a survival adventure centred on resilience, resourcefulness, grief and connection with nature. Karana's growing self-sufficiency drives the story, while her isolation and the treatment of Indigenous characters add weight beyond the adventure.

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.

A lively fantasy mystery for readers who enjoy hidden worlds, supernatural beings, competition and surprises. Its emotional centre is Amari’s search for her brother and her movement from feeling like an outsider towards recognising her strengths.

This is an imaginative adventure combining friendship, mystery and a robot with a society changed by water scarcity. It also gives sustained attention to Auden’s experience of achromatopsia and his changing relationship with that difference.

This is a fast-moving, illustrated adventure about a vulnerable robot trying to recover its past and return to Beth. Friendship, fear, memory and the treatment of discarded things sit alongside danger and humour.

A whimsical quest combines magical characters, tongue-in-cheek humour and determined friendship with a strong longing for home. Its imaginative surface is interrupted by abrupt, casually narrated violence that may surprise readers expecting gentler fantasy.

This offers a warm, satisfying fairy tale with magical transformations, unusual characters and artwork rich in small visual details that create an intimate, familiar feel.

This is a historically grounded coming-of-age story about a girl pursuing football while working in wartime industry. It offers determination, teamwork and questions about who gets opportunities, alongside setbacks when social and institutional attitudes change.

A warm, focused story about family, Muslim identity and responding to unkindness. It offers a child’s-eye view of hijab through sisters whose pride and solidarity remain central when classmates make hurtful comments.

This offers immersive folklore, a slow-building relationship and a heroine confronting shame about her magic. It may suit readers who enjoy gothic atmosphere, complex myth-making and emotionally difficult fantasy rather than a light fairy-tale retelling.

This is a fantasy adventure combining K-pop performance culture, martial-arts action and supernatural danger. Its emotional centre is a friendship group learning to work together while facing fears that affect them and others.

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 fast-moving wartime escape story centred on protecting horses and people. Its strongest features are peril, courage and companionship, while the historical setting gives the adventure serious emotional weight.

Expect an energetic fantasy quest combining Caribbean-inspired folklore, spirits, gemstones and magical battles with a warm friendship story. The central characters face fear, grief, abandonment and morally difficult decisions while trying to protect their island.

A horror premise places Charity and her friends inside a frightening version of the attraction they work in. Expect slasher suspense, dark humour, romance, disappearances and graphic violence, alongside questions about survival and familiar genre roles.

A supernatural horror story rooted in a family homecoming, with queer romance and questions of belonging. It combines frightening events with explorations of Vietnamese American identity, colonialism and family history.

A dark, fast-moving supernatural adventure about a girl learning to manage dangerous spirit-related powers while uncovering mysteries around the Uncles, her family and the wider paranormal world.

This is an emotionally charged historical animal adventure: Delta uses courage and resourcefulness to search for separated friends while Pompeii faces catastrophe. It offers suspense, relationships and a window onto Roman life, including the unequal position of enslaved people.

A spooky, character-led mystery about protecting ghosts, confronting fear and forming connections. It offers queer representation, a disabled protagonist and a romance alongside supernatural danger, with Charlie’s personal growth central to the story.

A lively historical-fantasy mystery follows two young detectives through Parisian streets and sewers. Its strongest appeal is the blend of family questions, magical folklore, riddles, danger and a richly used city setting, with Zélie and Jules sharing the adventure.

A lively fantasy quest with a determined heroine, comic creatures and a school setting. Bronte’s pursuit of knighthood challenges traditional expectations while the story explores courage, responsibility and standing by others.

A child struggles with letters that jumble and seem to move. Reading feels overwhelming, but imaginative discovery and perseverance open possibilities: animals, a castle and a boat emerge from the letters.

A richly imagined adventure about mapmaking, friendship and courage under authoritarian rule. Isabella must act when murder, imprisonment and a friend’s disappearance unsettle her island, leading her towards magic and danger in the Forbidden Territories.

This offers a brisk supernatural mystery rooted in London, drama, museum history and identity. Its appeal lies in clues, red herrings and links between attacks across time, alongside Niamh’s new friendships and possible romance.

An imaginative, morally charged fantasy centred on Lyra, animal daemons and a rescue mission. Its adventure is accompanied by kidnapping, experimentation, bereavement and graphic violence, while bravery and protecting others are strongly emphasised.

This is a school drama about disability prejudice, bullying and self-worth. Billy and Mia’s friendship provides a counterpoint to classmates’ treatment of Billy and to a football hero who proves disappointing.

A high-stakes fantasy about two young people facing an oppressive society, dangerous magic and threats to their families. Its strongest focus is courage joined with cultural pride and resistance to injustice.

A magical adventure about a reluctant heroine whose new powers arrive alongside political danger. Its strongest offering is a culturally distinctive fantasy centred on Aya’s courage, relationships and growing responsibility.

A high-stakes myth-inspired adventure about rescuing a sister and confronting powerful gods. It offers determined protagonists, alliances between unusual characters, imaginative battles and a story shaped by African and Caribbean cultural and spiritual influences.

This is a journey of identity and connection, set against the Australian outback. It offers friendship, discovery and engagement with First Country history and culture, while the girl’s lost memory creates an uncertain starting point.

A thoughtful, atmospheric family mystery in which Kate’s investigation opens difficult questions about death, secrecy and belonging. Its suspense is closely tied to emotional upheaval rather than adventure alone, and the ending involves significant family change.

A tense wartime adventure about a young Muslim protagonist whose family and community face Nazi occupation. Safiyyah undertakes dangerous errands, while the mosque becomes a place of sanctuary for persecuted Jewish people.

A playful friendship story about two lonely characters whose misunderstanding develops into shared laughter and play. Its rhyming dialogue and expressive artwork suit a read-aloud experience.

Expect a lively, illustrated fantasy quest built around an underdog team. The story combines dungeon challenges, comic world-building and a friendship arc, while Kit’s impulsive decision creates the central problem.