What Are You Looking For?

A lively fantasy about an ordinary child entering an extraordinary school, balancing comic invention with peril, uncertainty and the discovery of friendship. Its invented gods and visual humour are central attractions.

A lively story about a child whose entrepreneurial idea grows rapidly, testing friendships and responsibilities. It offers an engaging way to think about ambition, persistence and the consequences of taking risks.

A football-centred mystery with a young investigator, kidnapping and criminal danger.

This is an imaginative rescue adventure about two brothers whose shared dreams become dangerous. It follows Malky’s efforts to understand what has happened to Seb and to act despite fear, while family change and friendship shape his choices.

This is an imaginative animal adventure with a clear home-and-exploration shape, enriched by detailed wildlife imagery and factual material about a real rat and its rainforest habitat.

A lively making-focused non-fiction book combining ten home invention projects with stories and tips about Colin Furze’s larger creations. Its appeal is likely strongest for readers who enjoy building, experimenting and humorous contraptions.

A lively detective adventure centred on sisters, friendship and a tightly connected high-rise community. The mystery moves through clues, suspects and reversals, balancing comic sibling exchanges with the seriousness of murder and its effects.

A brisk supernatural football mystery with three friends, secret overnight exploration and mounting suspense. Its short chapters and cliff-hangers may suit readers who want an exciting story without a long, slow build.

A fast-moving survival adventure where four children must depend on one another in an unfamiliar rainforest. Alongside practical dangers, it explores courage, trust, fear, friendship and the difficult choices needed to keep going.

A lively guide for children who enjoy practical discovery, linking real expedition experiences with achievable activities close to home. Its emphasis is on learning by trying: outdoor skills, observation, planning and cooperation rather than simply reading about distant adventures.

Choose this for a high-stakes forbidden romance set against a vivid, drowned future London, especially if a Romeo and Juliet reworking appeals. Expect war, scarcity and a grim atmosphere alongside the central relationship.

This is a mystery adventure built around exploration, hidden places and a group of children acting together. Its strongest appeal is likely the remote coastal setting, animal companions and escalating danger.

A short, atmospheric seaside adventure that turns into a ghost story. Its strongest features are Cherry’s determined project, the mounting storm, the twist, and an emotional exploration of death and grief.

Expect a tense mystery built around four teenagers, a crash, a dead driver’s holdall, a million pounds and a gun.

This is a comic crime story about guilt, impulsive problem-solving and the complications of trying to make amends. Its appeal appears to lie in fast-moving mishaps, heist ideas and an adolescent protagonist.

This is a warm, mystery-led story about wanting to belong while pursuing an unusual ambition. Its seaside setting, humour, family secrets and theme of self-acceptance may particularly suit readers drawn to determined protagonists and magical possibilities.

A thoughtful introduction to ecological interdependence: sharks are presented as important predators, while human activity threatens them. The book combines hopeful conservation action with an unsettling imagined future without sharks.

This is a historical mystery about a child navigating wartime separation, an unwelcoming household and unanswered questions. Gardens, hothouses and a Suffolk estate provide a vivid setting for secrets, suspicion and friendship.

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 offers a football-centred adventure with a secret-agent twist: academy training and matches sit alongside investigation, gadgets and chases. Its central appeal is the tension between Ethan’s sporting ambition and concealed mission.

This is a fast-moving virtual-reality adventure with a capable but vulnerable protagonist, combining tournament gameplay with a mystery about a threatening player and technology’s real-world consequences.

Expect a dark, high-stakes science-fiction thriller built around an addictive game, moral pressure and unclear rules. It offers a substantial cast and unsettling set pieces, though the overall mythology may feel complicated and the resolution unsatisfying.

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 spooky social-media horror story about amateur ghost hunters pursuing missing vloggers into a dangerous house. Its distinctive video-diary presentation and page progress bar are intended to make the investigation feel immediate.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys solving an intricate murder puzzle alongside a determined young journalist. Expect a fast, suspenseful reading experience shaped by secrets, social tensions and repeated danger.

This is a fast, emotionally charged story about risk-taking and its aftermath. Rory’s experience opens space to think about peer pressure, friendship, blame, accountability and whether people can rebuild trust after serious harm.

This is an emotionally focused adventure about grief, family distance and a boy’s risky search for release. Its rainforest setting broadens the story towards environmental and human-rights concerns, while the expedition introduces danger and survival elements.

This is a contemporary friendship drama about the excitement and pressure surrounding viral fame. It offers a tense route into questions about risk, loyalty, honesty and whether online attention is worth personal costs.

This is an emotionally serious, discussion-rich story about a child facing a serious heart problem and a radical, risky proposed treatment. Its strongest offering is access to Cameron’s viewpoint while he weighs personal, family and social pressures.

An energetic historical adventure where two young performers move from local danger into espionage, using acting, observation and quick thinking while travelling between Cumberland and London.

A lively, voice-driven story about friendship, family pressure and a risky plan. Its humour and invented slang sit alongside shouting at home, money worries and the tension of deciding whether to join in.

Expect a historical mystery built around code-breaking, hidden intentions and a friendship under pressure. The central appeal is the combination of wartime stakes, puzzles, trust and a small amount of romance.

Expect a survival adventure driven by resourcefulness, solitude and danger. Its interest also lies in Crusoe’s changing relationship with fear and faith, alongside troubling material involving captivity, slavery and colonial power.

This is a character-led coming-of-age novel about identity, secrecy, family and finding community. Its emotional centre is Amir’s attempt to reconcile his Muslim family life, sexuality, fear and desire for freedom.

A poignant science-fiction novel about two teenage boys spending their final day together, balancing grief and danger with friendship, love, family ties and attempts to live deliberately.

Expect an imaginative fantasy built around ordinary household objects seen from a tiny family’s perspective. Its appeal lies in clever details, family relationships and the contrast between the Borrowers’ hidden life and the human world.

Expect an imaginative treasure hunt in a world of vampirs and werwolves, driven by danger, mystery and changing trust. The book combines supernatural adventure with Tibor and Roza’s need to decide whom to believe.

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.

Expect a fast-moving, imaginative adventure in which time travel connects family relationships, grief and responsibility. The story also makes room for humour, friendship and emotional growth, with Al facing both practical dangers and difficult choices.

This is a grief-centred fantasy in which imaginative play becomes a route into mystery and connection. Talking toys and humorous moments sit alongside bereavement, school loneliness and questions about whether the imagined world can be safely reached.

This is a wartime story about a child whose ordinary village life is disrupted by evacuation, military preparations and a missing cat. It combines danger, friendship and a later family connection across generations.

This is a brisk, fantastical adventure about determination, danger and becoming a firework-maker. Lila’s journey combines perilous tests, a family predicament and a spectacular public performance, with illustrations contributing to the imagined world.

This is a tense wartime story about an ordinary teenager taking increasingly dangerous steps to help others. Its strongest emphasis is on courage that exists alongside fear, rather than fearlessness.

A survival adventure built around two sisters, a forbidden rewilded landscape and the challenge of finding a route home. Its imagined future also brings together wildlife, environmental change and questions about human access to nature.

A compact, imaginative animal adventure about a rabbit pursuing a seafaring dream. Its appeal appears to lie in an unusual premise, movement towards a new life, and opportunities for gentle humour.