Tinder
Sally Gardner
Book summary
Expect a grim, disorientating fairy tale rather than a reassuring adventure: Otto is often frightened and uncertain, while magic offers power without straightforward control.
Explore
Type a book, author, topic, idea or reading experience.
Find a Book
Scan the ISBN, scan the front cover, or type what you know.
Combine filters when useful. Values show what a book addresses, not what it endorses.
Clear filtersRequests, popularity, awards and recommendations—not just age. A list is a starting point, not a suitability verdict.
Popular themes
Type to search the full theme index.
Fresh mix gives you a varied selection that stays steady while you browse, so returning from a guide does not reshuffle the page.
Sally Gardner
Expect a grim, disorientating fairy tale rather than a reassuring adventure: Otto is often frightened and uncertain, while magic offers power without straightforward control.
Kate Brian
Secret spellcasting gives Eliza and her housemates a taste of freedom and power, but a spell’s deadly consequence changes the stakes. The book pairs boarding-school life and sisterhood with supernatural danger.
Joe Craig
A fast-moving premise combines a secretive organisation, a flight into hiding and a mystery tied to Jimmy’s new experiences. The book appears to centre on what he can prove and whom he can convince.
Caitlin Kittredge
This is a dark, imaginative continuation built around consequences, identity and dangerous attempts to repair a damaged world. It may suit readers who enjoy elaborate fantasy settings more than tightly focused character development.
Melissa De La Cruz
This offers a plot-led fantasy involving assassination, magic, royal duty, secrets and romance. Its central appeal is the partnership between an ambitious apprentice and a highly dangerous royal agent, while the volume leaves major messages unresolved.
Hillary Monahan
A dark, intense revenge fantasy about a teenager confronting sexual violence, seeking to save someone important to her and using magic that comes at a stated price. Expect horror, suspense and graphic imagery.
Marcus Emerson
A lively school adventure about refusing unwanted membership, facing social retaliation and protecting friendships, with election pressures, a threatened secret and continuing suspense. It may suit readers who enjoy fast-moving comedy alongside interpersonal conflict.
Anne Fine
A comic story about Tuffy’s decision to leave home after family members object to his troublesome behaviour, followed by an uncertain attempt to manage life elsewhere.
Eve Garnett
A warm, episodic family story in which each child encounters a different mishap or opportunity. It combines humour and adventure with working life, financial constraint and the affection holding a large family together.
Toni Gallagher
A playful magical mix-up turns a friendship-repair scheme into several unwanted romantic entanglements. The strongest hook is the comic question of whether feelings and relationships can be managed like a potion.
Cassandra Clare
This sequel combines supernatural adventure, nineteenth-century London, a love triangle and moral choices about loyalty. It offers determined female characters and selfless friendships, alongside mature romance, substance dependence and violent confrontations.
Kara A. Kennedy
A tense ghost story about recognising coercive control and reclaiming independence. Its supernatural premise makes the lingering effects of manipulation vivid, while Maya’s anxiety and fear keep the suspense emotionally close.
Frances Hardinge
This is an idea-rich mystery-fantasy about a girl pursuing knowledge and justice within restrictive Victorian expectations.
Lisa Williamson
This is a school story about belonging, family pressure and finding confidence through drama. Daniel’s acting gives him a valued interest and supportive relationships, while his fear of ridicule creates secrecy and mounting complications.
Helen Rutter
A choice-driven story about finding a voice when other people control the decisions. Fred’s move to a new school brings pressure, friendships and opportunities to pursue his art, while each reader’s choices shape a different route.
Helen Cresswell
This is a thoughtful, wistful fantasy about a child resisting change. Its strongest appeal may be the combination of village detail, imaginative uncertainty and emotional honesty, while its pace and melancholy mood may suit readers who enjoy reflective stories.
Stephanie Garber
A fairy-tale romance in which a promise made to an immortal power becomes increasingly dangerous. Evangeline must navigate heartbreak, enchanted beings and uncertain motives while seeking the happy ending she has always believed in.
Ellen Kushner
This is an interactive time-and-magic adventure: the reader’s decision about one box determines the route. Its strongest appeal is agency and replayability, rather than a single fixed plot.
Candy Harper
A comic school story about Faith navigating Year Ten, friendship difficulties and a choir project involving boys.
Caroline B. Cooney
A tense mistaken-identity mystery centred on Cathy, who is publicly identified as a missing relative. Family members and an FBI agent seek answers, while Cathy faces competing claims about who she is and whom she should trust.
Vera Strange
This is a supernatural school story about belonging, social status and consequences. Shelly’s wish creates a problem she must actively address, combining everyday change with a threatening magical bargain.
Lisa McMann
This is a dark supernatural mystery about a teenager whose unusual ability draws her into troubling events at school. Personal relationships, frightening dreams and discoveries about her future become increasingly difficult to manage.
Jessica Day George
This is a fantasy adventure about a girl navigating a dangerous bargain, family poverty and an object tied to her kingdom’s future. Its central appeal is the combination of dragons, moral choices and high-stakes consequences.
Diane Ganzer
This is an adventure about wanting freedom, facing consequences and trying to return home. Its central tension is between Ricky's desire to explore and the responsibilities others say he has.
Tom Sniegoski
A fast-moving identity thriller about a teenager uncovering a disturbing explanation for his supposed sleep disorder, then pursuing the organisation connected to his hidden life.
Angela V. Cook
A dark supernatural coming-of-age story about secrecy, family pressure and dangerous attraction. Allison must navigate social hostility and the aftermath of a sudden tragedy while deciding whether closeness with Ren risks his safety.
Tina Ferraro
This is a comic-sounding teenage story about ambition, parental expectations and a money-making scheme built around dating advice. Its central appeal is likely the tension between Kate’s confident plans and the possibility that her invented expertise may create trouble.
Amy Kathleen Ryan
This is a high-stakes science-fiction story about young people confronting attack, separation and competing expectations. Personal relationships matter alongside survival, leadership and the future of two space communities.