What Are You Looking For?

Choose this for a reader who enjoys horses, richly imagined landscapes, folklore and a slowly tightening mystery. Its emotional centre is a complicated family whose love and resilience coexist with absence, suspicion and uncertainty.

This is a child-centred book about the hidden work of young carers, their fears and hopes, and the kindness that may surround them. It foregrounds empathy, family, friendship and community rather than providing a full plot outline.

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 story of sporting ambition and family inheritance, shaped by segregation and racial prejudice. Its verse form brings rhythm to Charley’s determination, while historical danger and a consequential choice give the narrative emotional weight.

This is a coming-of-age story about a boy navigating family disruption, curiosity and an unsettling local legend. Its appeal appears to lie in the meeting of everyday summer life with friendship, fear and magical possibility.

This is a contemporary YA story about the costs of being publicly visible: Almond’s online persona brings rewards, but family management, sponsor expectations and hostile online attention strain her sense of self and relationships.

This is a humorous contemporary story about first love, embarrassment and trying to change an uncertain situation. Its unusual musical intervention gives Marv’s school-based crush a playful, surreal element.

A focused, verse-written story about how a young person can be groomed into criminal exploitation, with an emphasis on the damage county lines causes to children and families.

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 richly imagined fantasy adventure about searching for a missing parent while navigating a hidden botanical world. It offers magical danger, family revelations, environmental stakes and questions about belonging.

The title alone cannot show what reading experience it offers.

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.

This is a cricket-centred story about belonging and persistence. Kerry-Ann’s love of the game, family connection to Jamaica and grandfather’s history sit alongside a conflict over who is welcomed at the club.

This is an emotionally intense historical romance about love across class and national divisions, set against famine and poverty. Its verse form may make the reading flow quickly while concentrating strong feelings.

A culturally specific fairy tale about wishes, exploitation, separation and return, with hair used as a map. Its repeated, oral-storytelling style and swirling illustrations give the retelling a vivid, dramatic shape.

This is a journey story set against an approaching global catastrophe, where searching for an estranged sister brings family bonds, loneliness and loss into focus.

This is a contemporary relationship-focused novel about former best friends reconnecting at eighteen. Expect friendship, romance and difficult personal circumstances, with Fin’s family relationships also part of the picture.

A warm but potentially emotionally charged story about a neurodivergent teenager responding to unfairness, protecting her sister and challenging a culture in which bullying can be enabled by silence.

This is a brisk mystery-adventure rooted in African mythology. Yomi and Kayode investigate Ninki Nanka’s disappearance through storms, secret meetings, legendary creatures and Beast Hunters, with their different temperaments contributing to the investigation.

This is a free-verse school story about friendship changing, family crisis and finding a way to express difficult feelings. Nate’s love of reading and writing becomes important as he faces anger, worry and transition.

This is an accessible introduction to the British Empire and its continuing influence, linking historical power with Britain’s culture, communities, prosperity and the personal stories of people connected to its past.

A gentle family story about preparing for and enjoying a grandmother’s visit from Tanzania. Lulu joins in practical preparations and shared pleasures, while the book highlights affection, cultural connection and relationships between generations.

This is a gentle family story about adapting to hearing loss without losing closeness. Jacki and her mother use sign language, while Jacki discovers that music can also be shared through vibration, movement and visual communication.

This is a magical mystery adventure about a child confronting a frightening prediction about her identity while investigating her father’s disappearance and rumours of a secretive organisation.

A relationship-focused coming-of-age story about queer identity, family and friendship. It offers several queer perspectives and a strong fandom element, while allowing characters to hurt one another, argue, forgive and change.

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.

Seed combines family difficulty and bullying with magical gardening, an unlikely adventure, friendship and dreams of escape. Its emotional material is presented alongside humour, wonder and suspense rather than as a purely realistic story.

This is a contemporary YA novel about students resisting school book bans. It combines activism and community conflict with Noor’s relocation, family strain, Muslim identity, friendship, grief and tentative romantic feelings.

This is a school-based story about a quiet pupil whose achievement brings unexpected visibility. Its central interest is the tension between being encouraged to speak up and retaining the right to be yourself.

Expect a humorous adventure shaped by Benji’s determination to help his uncle, alongside more tender material about his parents and the possibility of family 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 a thoughtful story about a child carrying adult responsibilities who finds friendship, creativity and adventure while visiting Italy. An injured otter and the people Jakub meets help broaden his sense of who he is.

This is a story-led introduction to donor conception, donor siblings and varied family structures, alongside friendship and self-acceptance.

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.

Choose this for a child who enjoys immersive fantasy quests, invented creatures, game-like challenges and a determined protagonist whose family and friendships matter as much as the adventure.

A tender coming-of-age story about coping with family change, mental ill-health and school upheaval. Magic, mystery and friendship give Phyll ways to explore belief, choice and the possibility of making a new beginning.

A spirited story about boxing, loyalty and making sense of difficult circumstances. Molly’s investigation brings mystery and emotional pressure together, while the verse-and-prose form gives her voice a distinctive, place-rooted rhythm.

This is an imaginative fantasy adventure about a child pursuing answers about her family in a magical plant world. It offers lively action, inventive world-building and clear conservation themes, while also introducing peril, hostility and loss.

A fast-moving magical quest gives Chompa a determined central role while opening discussion of Indian and South Asian folklore, colonial power and cultural loss. The journey spans India and London, with friendship and new skills supporting her search.

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 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 wartime mystery with a determined central character: Bonnie tries to understand why Mr Fisher is staying with her family and whether his presence signals a serious danger.