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Choose this for a reader who enjoys high-seas adventure, mermaids, treasure hunts, riddles and brisk action. The story also offers a character-led exploration of identity, friendship, prejudice and belonging.

A candid, structured introduction to LGBTQ+ identities and experiences, combining explanation with practical guidance. Its strongest offering is breadth: it addresses identity, prejudice, coming out, relationships and sexual health in one supportive, conversational book.

This is an adventure-led historical novel centred on Deaf community, sign language and human dignity, while exploring how inherited prejudice shapes relationships between communities.

A puzzle-led mystery for readers who enjoy secrets, shifting timelines and an atmospheric setting. Marlowe’s self-deprecating humour and developing relationship with Akilah sit alongside family tragedy, present-day danger and questions about how the past shapes the present.

A sweeping fantasy sequel about friends divided by danger and prejudice, with witches, magic, political responsibility and a developing romance. It offers an immersive world, tense escapes and battles, while leaving parts of the journey open for a later book.

This is an action-led fantasy about a trans teen navigating a dangerous divine competition, with friendship and social inequality at its centre. Its imaginative mythology and representation may appeal, while the sacrifice premise and sustained peril make the emotional stakes substantial.

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.

Expect a large-scale space adventure with mythic elements, unusual worlds and questions about identity. The illustrations are an important part of the experience, adding atmosphere rather than simply depicting events.

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.

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 high-stakes coming-of-age story about trying to become a K-pop star while navigating outsider status, friendship, romance and an industry that demands perfection. Its setting offers a close look at training culture and the pressures surrounding public success.

This is a socially engaged coming-of-age story about belonging, prejudice and resistance. Its emotional centre is Zara’s effort to protect her family and future while remaining true to her identity and connected to people who support her.

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.

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 a Deaf teenager using graffiti and art to express herself while navigating exclusion, friendship and the expectations of hearing people.

This is a coming-of-age novel that combines personal stories with substantial exploration of Deaf culture, language and rights. It may suit readers interested in how identity, communication and community shape one another.

A lively monster-school adventure combines comic rule-breaking, inventive creatures and investigation. Eddie’s friendships become central as she learns more about herself and tries to protect others from danger.

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.

A thoughtful university coming-of-age story about discovering that romance is not the only way to understand love. Its central journey may offer recognition around asexual and aromantic identities, alongside humour, friendship and emotional uncertainty.

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 school-transition story about Frankie finding ways to join in, protect her privacy and build friendships through music, while facing sensory challenges and the return of a bully.

A story about facing prejudice while navigating family worries, friendship and uncertainty about identity. It combines painful school experiences with warmth, music, LGBTQ+ history and a hopeful sense of personal agency.

A lively school-and-family story about handling change, friendship and unfair treatment through humour and imagination. Omar’s Muslim identity is part of everyday life, not a separate lesson.

A richly imagined magical-school adventure that places friendship and belonging alongside prejudice, family reputation and mystery. Ella’s determination and growing relationships drive the story, while the fantasy world draws on varied cultures and customs.

This is a migration and coming-of-age story about Leonard, who leaves Jamaica for Britain and learns to live with separation, racism and questions of belonging. It also brings the Windrush generation’s history and later injustice into a personal story.

This is a tense contemporary story about a Muslim teenager responding to terror, Islamophobia and school bullying. Its central interest is how identity, friendship and collective action can challenge prejudice without making the surrounding hostility feel trivial.

This is an emotionally direct coming-of-age novel about friendship, group identity and social division. Its first-person voice invites closeness while leaving room to question how Ponyboy understands and presents the people around him.

A morally serious Gothic novel about creation, abandonment, responsibility and revenge, with opportunities to discuss scientific power and the treatment of outsiders alongside unsettling violence.

This is a character-led family and school story about two unlike teenagers learning to live together. It offers humour, emotional change and questions about status, difference and what makes relationships dependable.

A child’s perspective makes refugee experience, antisemitism and changing countries personal and discussable. Family solidarity and curiosity sit alongside historically grounded accounts of persecution and loss.

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 culturally rooted historical story about a boy finding confidence through football while negotiating family expectations and hostility at school. It offers a child’s perspective on belonging, tradition and personal freedom.

A tense, imaginative adventure follows Varjak from sheltered privilege into an unfamiliar city, where friendship, danger and dream-teaching reshape his understanding of himself and other cats.

This is a socially focused YA novel about racism, Muslim identity and belonging, balancing painful conflict with family, friendship, faith and Somali community. Its central movement is from enforced quietness towards speaking up.

A suspenseful fantasy about discovering identity and belonging, with a resourceful protagonist, dragon lore and a friendship shaped by loneliness. It offers emotional themes alongside danger, loss and a history of conflict between humans and dragons.