What Are You Looking For?

A good choice for shared reading about family history, friendship and how the past shapes present relationships. Its historical strand offers substantial discussion, while the school setting gives children an immediate way into questions about belonging and courage.

A tense supernatural adventure rooted in Jamaica, where friendship and investigation unfold alongside a young person’s struggle with grief, frightening visions and uncertainty about reality.

A strongly atmospheric horror adventure centred on a young carer who must recognise danger, face frightening experiences and reconnect her family after bereavement. Its emotional focus is grief and resilience as much as supernatural menace.

A fast-paced dystopian adventure about a gamer sent from a controlled, hyper-connected city into the older world beneath it. Its strongest offering is a clash between comfort and control, and between synthetic certainty and messy experience.

This is a clue-led historical adventure about a young protagonist acting under pressure to help her imprisoned father. It offers travel, ancient objects, a companionable magpie and a mystery that links art and evidence.

A warm but potentially poignant story about a boy, a dog and a strained parent-child relationship. Its central appeal is the bond between Rhys and Worthington, alongside questions about responsibility, honesty and adapting to change.

A wartime adventure about loyalty and protection: Ronnie is troubled by his brother’s secret work for dangerous people, while bombs fall on London and the boys face choices about whom to trust.

This is an imaginative family-and-adventure story about how feelings, books and language can shape relationships. Its fantasy premise sits alongside a contemporary refugee storyline, offering both playful invention and social questions.

This is an adventurous nature-centred novel about Orla’s investigation into a disease damaging plants and harming people. It combines magical plant knowledge, travel, friendship and questions about how people can work towards a common good.

A spirited magical adventure about a girl pursuing family answers, learning witchcraft and building friendships in Hedgely. Expect a picturesque but spooky setting, folklore-inspired creatures, exciting escapes and a heroine whose courage develops unevenly.

This is an adventurous, compassionate monster story about belonging, trust and moral judgement. Stitch’s openness meets Alice’s bitterness, while the journey tests how appearances shape people’s responses.

A contemporary family story that brings mystery, romance and social pressures together. Its emotional centre is the siblings’ struggle with grief, secrecy, anxiety, poverty and the possibility of finding joy and support.