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This is a coming-of-age story about Nick's emerging romance with Bobby and the gap between his private self and a public image shaped by others.

Expect a brisk adventure alongside questions of identity and belonging. Henry’s bisexuality is presented without making it a personal flaw, while the society around him creates risks and consequences.

Expect a supernatural mystery with a strong historical strand, rather than a baseball-centred story. Boston history and events from different periods are woven into Tony’s investigation.

This is an intense, visually symbolic story about shame, identity and survival. Its painful experiences are balanced by friendship and a hopeful possibility of acceptance, without suggesting that every difficulty has been resolved.

A thoughtful fairy-tale adventure about a girl whose exceptional singing cannot protect her from shame, manipulation or unfair judgement. Its strongest thread is Aza’s movement towards belonging and self-worth, though beauty remains a powerful force in the story.

This is a serious verse novel about friendship under pressure. It offers a close view of BJ’s insecurity, the pull of social acceptance, and how rumours and prejudice can intensify a painful situation.

This is an emotionally engaging school story centred on a bright child whose thoughts are overlooked because she cannot communicate conventionally. It offers sustained attention to dignity, family advocacy, friendship and the consequences of assumptions.

This novel follows a mixed-heritage teenager negotiating family ties, cultural belonging and other people’s expectations. It offers a story about identity that places personal uncertainty alongside racial prejudice and changing relationships.

This is a serious, emotionally charged story about a boy seeking acceptance and a grandmother carrying painful memories. Its Zimbabwean settings and two connected personal histories foreground prejudice, fear, guilt and forgiveness.

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 warm, unusual story about an orphan girl and a gorilla forming a family, while facing official scrutiny and prejudice. Its humour and tenderness sit alongside uncertainty about belonging and justice.

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 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.

A dark, energetic mystery about an unusual group protecting overlooked children. Its strongest offering is a determined heroine, an ensemble built around difference and friendship, and a vividly grim historical setting.

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 warm, issue-rich coming-of-age romance about being seen honestly within family, faith and school life. Its humour and friendships sit alongside serious questions about racism, homophobia and cultural ownership.

A dark supernatural mystery combines witchcraft, ghosts, grief and romance. Viola’s investigation is supported by friendships and a search for justice, while the story also builds suspense through murder, dangerous spirits and unsettling deaths.

This offers an engrossing, multi-viewpoint dystopian adventure, with telepathy, wartime politics, secret identities and dramatic reversals. Its strongest appeal appears to be the combination of tense plotting and questions about belonging, tolerance and social control.

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 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 child-focused historical account of persecution, concealment and courage during the Holocaust. Its central contrast is between a community’s ridicule of Anton and his decision to protect Jewish neighbours at great personal risk.

This is a historical family story about fitting in, responding to school teasing and deciding whether to challenge unfair blame directed at Japanese-American friends. Its central interest lies in personal choices made amid wider wartime uncertainty.

This is a school-and-family story about loneliness, self-expression and belonging. Dennis's passion for fashion becomes publicly difficult when wearing a dress leads to expulsion, threatening both his friendships and his place in football.