What Are You Looking For?

A horse-centred story about wanting something that is not yours, acting rashly, and facing trouble. Alison’s path towards making things right also involves courage, healing and an unexpected test of endurance.

This is a wartime friendship story in which childhood play sits alongside an attempt to track down Nazi spies. Cory’s desire to be brave is tested by mistakes and hurtful choices.

Expect a tense wartime adventure centred on a boy whose loyalty is unsettled by family revelations and encounters with Nazi brutality. Its main appeal is the combination of suspense, historical setting and moral awakening rather than light-hearted adventure.

This is an adventurous animal-fantasy quest built around a threatened community, a stolen cultural object and young characters taking responsibility. Expect suspense, battles, pursuit and a strong contrast between courage, loyalty and ruthless ambition.

A vivid fantasy about discovering belonging, forming friendships and investigating a magical mystery. Its imaginative school setting and chapter-ending tension may draw readers onwards, but Harry’s neglect, bereavement and frightening final confrontation give the adventure a darker emotional edge.

This is a fast-moving fantasy quest about rescuing Gus, uncovering dangerous family secrets and navigating a frightening parallel world. Its emotional centre is Oksa’s determination to protect her friend while facing increasingly perilous trials.

This may offer a concise way into historical fiction about the Underground Railroad, with bravery and moral opposition at its centre.

This is a mission-driven seafaring adventure in which a crew pursues a former rival who has become a pirate and slave trader. Friendship, courage and restored honour shape the action.

This is a paranormal school adventure about discovering an extraordinary identity, navigating exclusion and questioning rules. It combines dragon lore, friendship, attraction, danger and a determined protagonist who resists simply going along with authority.

This is a contemporary school story about a girl working out where she belongs while friendships, racial identity and public events reshape her understanding of courage. It offers an emotionally grounded route into questions about rules, protest and standing up for values.

A fast-moving fantasy adventure combines an unusual underground world with a serious rescue mission. Its strongest appeal is likely the combination of sibling care, loyal alliances, prophecy and difficult choices during conflict.

A mystery-led magical-school adventure with a distinctive idea: Charlie can hear voices in photographs. Its strongest pull is uncovering hidden histories while deciding whom to trust inside an institution that feels secretive and controlling.

A sports-centred school story broadens into questions about trying unfamiliar activities and supporting a friend. Kyle’s basketball and theatre commitments provide the main conflict, while homophobic bullying is a significant social issue in the story.

Expect a comic adventure built around a very fearful mouse facing a series of jungle challenges. The story offers energetic danger, unusual situations and a central question about coping with fear.

This is a high-stakes fantasy sequel combining a love triangle with battles, prophecy and threats to whole populations. Its strongest appeal is likely the mixture of romance, magic, creatures and extreme peril.

This offers an imaginative quest built around dreams, magic, wizards and a threatened fantasy land. Miranda’s movement through distinct settings may appeal to readers who enjoy fairy-tale-inspired adventures and determined protagonists.

This is a wartime story about a child trying to understand occupation, separation and moral choice. Its strongest thread is Marit’s changing view of courage, loyalty and compassion amid danger.

This is a fantasy adventure about cats, competing Clans, prophecy and hidden motives.

A fast-moving fantasy about siblings protecting a rare book while confronting tyranny, imprisonment and loss. Expect mystery, magical adventure and moral decisions, alongside darker material involving death, torture and violence.

This is an imaginative, issue-led adventure about environmental collapse, inequality and resistance, balanced by family loyalty and hope. Its vivid language may invite close discussion as much as straightforward plot-following.

This is a quest fantasy that combines a family holiday setting with Arthurian legend, hidden clues and supernatural opposition. Its strongest appeal is likely the gradual shift from ordinary mystery towards mythic adventure.

This is an atmospheric fantasy quest in a desperate winter-bound world. Quill travels towards danger and discovery, while ancient mythology, supernatural beings and a threatened balance between light and dark shape the adventure.

This is an imaginative adventure combining friendship, mystery and a robot with a society changed by water scarcity. It also gives sustained attention to Auden’s experience of achromatopsia and his changing relationship with that difference.

A tense coming-of-age story follows Kadeen as football offers connection and purpose in a new home. Her secret involvement with the team is complicated by her aunt’s opposition and the need to avoid recognition.

A good fit for readers drawn to eerie fairy-tale retellings, magical quests, mysteries and determined protagonists. Its central journey carries genuine danger, while its romantic thread and unresolved ending may shape the reading experience.

Expect an energetic fantasy quest combining Caribbean-inspired folklore, spirits, gemstones and magical battles with a warm friendship story. The central characters face fear, grief, abandonment and morally difficult decisions while trying to protect their island.

This is a brisk gateway to interconnected Greek myths rather than a single narrowly focused war story. Its sweep includes the war’s background, the conflict itself and the difficult returns of several heroes.

This is a character-led story about four lonely children becoming connected. Its emotional focus is stronger than its action, with distinct voices, friendship and courage developing alongside questions about fate and belonging.

A brisk historical mystery follows Lily and Tom from their travelling life into a more dangerous search involving a carved treasure, a new friendship and hidden family secrets. Its accessible prose and illustrations may suit readers who enjoy adventure but prefer shorter chapter books.

This is an adventure about two young people from opposing populations whose friendship brings hidden injustice into view. Its imaginative giant-built city provides a route into questions about prejudice, power, exploitation and environmental responsibility.

This appears to offer an adventurous, imaginative tale centred on a frightening-sounding mystery and concern for a living creature. Its strongest known appeal is the contrast between alarming stories and Erin’s protective purpose.

This is a character-led school story about a young person who is often judged by her behaviour but wants to belong, make friends and change direction. Its central appeal is the possibility of second chances.

A lively, voice-led coming-of-age novel combining humour and friendship with family strain, social pressure and gang-related danger. Lemar’s art and relationships offer warmth, but the story also reaches a killing and difficult choices.

A school mystery gives Alex and David a route into an uneasy friendship. The story looks closely at how fear, peer pressure and self-protection shape choices, while using the Icarus idea to frame risk, hope and possible escape.

A fast-moving story about being misunderstood, facing an oppressive future and deciding whether individual actions can make a difference. It offers suspense, moral pressure and a strong focus on justice and responsibility.

Expect a tense survival mystery built around kidnapping, an isolated camp, family betrayal, shifting suspicion and deaths. Its emotional centre is Liv’s effort to retain her moral judgement when silence might feel safer.

A tense historical adventure about separated siblings and Jan, a young thief who joins them. Its strongest qualities are resourcefulness, loyalty and compassion, alongside a serious portrayal of children navigating war’s aftermath.

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.

Expect an adventurous, supernatural story in which George faces challenges while trying to help captured companions. Its altered London setting and continuing conflict raise questions about how power should be used.

This is a high-stakes fantasy continuation about Sophie and her allies confronting hidden history, dangerous enemies and choices that may require sacrifice. Friendship, family, courage and romantic uncertainty sit alongside magical peril.

A dark fantasy sequel about a new ruler facing betrayal, divided loyalties and approaching catastrophe. Its appeal lies in magical world-building, romance and mysteries, but it also contains graphic fantasy peril and mature relationship material.

This is an adventure about a peaceful little knight who must respond when three subjects are kidnapped. Books, flowers and chocolate cake sit alongside a dark forest, monsters and a vow to bring them home.

This is a fast-moving fantasy adventure about a vulnerable child, a remarkable instrument and adults who seek to exploit its power. Its central appeal is the tension between healing as a gift and healing as something others may exploit.

This is a playful introduction to emotional variety: a child may feel silly, brave, ready to try something new, or drawn to an unexpected choice such as pizza for breakfast. Its central invitation is to notice and discuss feelings.

This is a character-led family story about a child making sense of adult failures without surrendering her own needs. Cooking, artistic ambition and friendship offer purposeful threads alongside uncertainty and emotional upheaval.