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A child-centred fantasy adventure about friendship across very different ways of life, with a final episode that invites readers to decide what really happened.

The story centres on an unlikely friendship that brings change to a child who has felt lonely. Hugo’s unusual interests and independent ways give the friendship a distinctive character.

A fantastical adventure pits three friends against a cereal company’s world-taking scheme, with goblin impersonators, faeries and a journey through a space-time rift. The friends aim to rescue the Queen and halt an invasion.

A lively-sounding fantasy pairs two very different heroines in a cosmic rescue mission, blending magic, adventure and a mathematical idea.

The story brings together two bears from contrasting snowy and mountain homes, focusing on their exploration and the friendship that grows when they meet.

A warm friendship story about two penfriends spending an energetic day together, with imaginative humour in the illustrations and a reassuring idea that closeness can survive separation.

A lively, fast-moving adventure blends slapstick humour with the playful fascination of miniature things. Its central appeal lies in the collision between an ordinary boy’s unusual power and consequences he cannot control, alongside friendship and school tensions.

This is a fast-moving flight narrative that combines danger, travel and comic mishaps. Its central perspective brings migration, residence in Germany and fear of deportation into an adventure about an unlikely friendship.

A playful school fantasy about two girls navigating secrets, appearance, friendship and belonging. Frankie’s visible difference and wish to live openly contrast with Melody’s uncertainty about whether changed looks affect how others treat her.

This offers a lively quest built around an inexperienced performer, an unusual travelling companion and a widening circle of allies. Humour, peril and court intrigue sit alongside questions of courage, usefulness and inherited expectations.

This is a character-led friendship story about two girls confronting assumptions shaped by place, money and family life. It offers gradual mutual understanding across sharply contrasting circumstances.

A friendship begins when two boys meet during a beach trip. The story makes room for difference, uncertainty and everyday kindness, alongside questions, frustrations and confusions.

This is an adventurous, emotionally charged fantasy combining dragons with Cold War intrigue. It follows danger, friendship, romance and hope while confronting racism, bereavement, political violence and the destructive consequences of power.

This is a warm celebration of cousins as friends and family, including relationships maintained across countries. It offers a bright, inclusive shared-reading experience centred on connection.

A friendship-focused YA fantasy in which a varied group of young characters face dangerous, action-packed moments. Its emotional emphasis falls on empathy, trust and choosing to stand by one another rather than on graphic or gruesome detail.

This is a warm but perilous time-slip adventure about a child coping with frightening family circumstances. Its emotional centre is the growing trust between two boys who must care for one another while trying to return home.

A character-led YA novel about a Muslim teenager negotiating prejudice, family background, self-protection and first love in post-9/11 America. Music and breakdancing provide important ways for Shirin to cope and express herself.

This is a gentle, emotionally serious story about grief. Its imaginative central image—a hare-shaped absence—gives difficult feelings a visible form, while memories and friendship bring warmth without removing the sadness.

Fox dies after a long life, and his friends share memories that help a tree grow. The story moves through grief, remembering and renewal, while keeping Fox’s influence alive in their community.

A fast-moving fantasy adventure about mermaids, Vikings, gods and a threatened ocean. Alongside magic and danger, it offers a clear route into conversations about environmental damage, leadership, friendship and how communities respond to conflict.

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 warm, idea-led adventure about friendship across a human–robot divide. Its central relationship invites readers to question inherited beliefs, while action and humour keep the story moving.

This is a character-led story about foster care, adoption, friendship and the effects of introducing an artificial intelligence into school life. Its tone combines humour with poignant circumstances and thought-provoking questions about human–AI relationships.

This is a comic robot adventure about Alfie and Eric’s friendship, with a serious emotional thread beneath the action.

A creepy, energetic adventure that combines frightening creatures and suspense with banter, humour and an emphasis on four unlike students learning to support one another.

This looks like a lively friendship adventure built around contrasting personalities, imaginative inventions and a sudden encounter with a threatening figure. Its strongest appeal may be the trio’s teamwork and playful world-building.

This is a socially engaged Manchester story about three Black teenagers whose lives become connected after a stabbing. Its central interest lies in contrasting viewpoints, unequal experiences and the friendships formed in the aftermath.

Expect an imaginative underwater adventure with a determined heroine, a strong sibling bond, unusual creatures and a richly developed river community. The story combines quest tension with questions about trust, belonging and changing long-held assumptions.

A warm, quietly observant set of linked stories about friendship across generations, loneliness after moving, and animals needing care. Its emotional force comes from vulnerability balanced by companionship and hopeful outcomes.

Expect an imaginative, creature-filled adventure centred on finding sanctuary. Friendship, loyalty, courage and environmental loss sit alongside danger, threatening creatures and occasional insulting language.

A fast-moving supernatural adventure places young characters in conflict with corrupt authority. Its strongest features are the shadowy coastline, escalating danger and clear moral stakes; its spiritual allegory is direct rather than subtle.

This is an adventure about survival and an unusual cross-generational friendship. Alongside practical danger, it gives substantial space to loneliness, care, learning and the ways a relationship can change someone’s view of the world.

This is an emotionally serious friendship story rather than a straightforward adventure. Its imagined kingdom, school conflicts and family pressures lead into an unsoftened account of bereavement.

A brisk, atmospheric whodunit offers clues to examine, several viewpoints to compare and a snowbound mansion full of secrets. Its emotional centre is the unexpected bond formed by three very different girls.

A myth-rich adventure that joins friendship, cultural detail and care for the natural world. Its imaginative journey gives children an active role in responding to environmental damage.

A vivid island adventure about two grieving girls whose hostility gradually becomes friendship. It combines mystery, ocean danger and village traditions with sustained attention to apology, forgiveness, cultural understanding and learning to live with loss.

Expect an imaginative fantasy built around ordinary household objects seen from a tiny family’s perspective. Its appeal lies in clever details, family relationships and the contrast between the Borrowers’ hidden life and the human world.

This is a contemporary survival story about two children carrying adult worries, seeking trustworthy help and finding support in one another. Its central concerns include family instability, homelessness, friendship and the meaning of home.

A lively historical mystery about two girls investigating danger at a theatre, with friendship at its centre. It also introduces Black history, family relationships and the slave trade through an adventure narrative.

A playful friendship story about two lonely characters whose misunderstanding develops into shared laughter and play. Its rhyming dialogue and expressive artwork suit a read-aloud experience.

This is an adventurous historical mystery built around Green Knowe’s layered past. Its strongest thread is the friendship between Susan and Jacob, alongside danger, hidden jewels, escape, fire and links between generations.

This is a school-set story about an unlikely friendship, grief and attempts to repair a damaged community. Its humour and sharp voice sit alongside family instability, social cruelty, substance-related trouble and questions about religious belief and personal responsibility.

This is an Arthurian fantasy adventure led by three young characters who must act while Camelot’s adults sleep. Expect magical trials, danger, humour and an emphasis on cooperation during a quest to protect the kingdom.

A playful fantasy adventure centres on friendship, magical mishaps and a heroine learning to manage a changing identity. Its appeal appears to come from comic characters, imaginative creatures and a purposeful journey.

Expect a light, comic fantasy about an athletic modern girl and a transported medieval princess negotiating family life, junior high and popularity. Its main appeal is the pair’s contrasting perspectives and developing friendship.