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This is a time-travel fantasy about a secret guardian group trying to protect history. Ethan's mentor and apprentice support him as danger grows and the past yields secrets.

A travel mystery follows Maddie’s first trip abroad and her search with Ryan for the truth about his father’s death. Their journey also prompts Maddie to consider what she wants from life.

Expect a high-stakes time-travel adventure in which recovering the right keys matters as much as deciding which people Kate can save.

A fast-moving mystery follows Tandy as she investigates alongside her effort to clear her brother. Its suspense also comes from her fear that she may match the killer’s targets.

This is a high-concept science-fantasy adventure, combining unusual abilities, a life-erasing invention and a race to discover Johnny’s past.

A cross-generational mystery unfolds through Henni’s investigation and emails with Leo. Alongside puzzles and friendship, the book examines migration, prejudice, belonging and the pressure placed on people whose home is questioned.

A dark Tudor fantasy finale centred on magic, danger and strained relationships.

This is a reflective recovery story about memory, identity and relationships. Olivia’s attempts to reconstruct her past bring questions about whether remembered experience, present feeling or other people’s accounts should define who she is.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys brisk fantasy quests, pirates, magic, monsters and loyal friendships. It is especially suited to someone willing to follow an ongoing series rather than expect every thread to settle at once.

A gentle introduction to Laika, space and the historical setting, combining a dog’s personal voice with factual material. Its bilingual presentation and illustrations may invite shared reading, while the real history gives the story emotional weight.

A spooky, folklore-rich mystery about returning to a ruined abbey and trying to repair an old wrong. Expect atmosphere, supernatural creatures, friendship and questions about preserving the past.

This is a Victorian-set steampunk mystery combining deduction, action, supernatural danger and an international dispute. The central partnership contrasts Mina’s reasoning with Evaline’s practical, vampire-slaying approach.

Expect a historical mystery driven by Verity Sparks’s unusual ability, investigative work and a secret in her past. The central tension comes from trying to uncover the truth while unknown forces work against her and her friends.

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.

This is a dark, suspenseful Viking voyage to Vinland, blending historical detail, mythology, magic and monsters. Peer and Hilde face deceptive adults, secrets and danger, while the story explores truth, responsibility, maturity, love, loss and longing.

This is a child-centred historical mystery about uncovering a town’s African-American past. It combines cemetery restoration, family stories, community reticence, and Raisin’s personal consequences after she sneaks out.

A supernatural adventure about a girl whose unusual experiences lead to questions about family history, parallel worlds and disrupted time. It offers mystery, lively characters and a blend of real-world and fantastical settings.

This is a fast-moving supernatural mystery about trust, responsibility and courage under pressure. Will must investigate his apparent involvement in the theft while confronting escalating threats to his community.

A fast-moving supernatural mystery about a teenager searching for her missing mother, then uncovering concealed family history and a strange inheritance. It offers suspense, folklore, friendship and a seaside setting, with the pace reportedly slowing after the opening.

This is a contained, high-pressure murder mystery with horror elements: an isolated theme park, a stalking mascot, successive deaths and a buried history that the protagonists must unravel.

Expect a visually led, imaginative space story rather than a reliable account of Laika’s life.

A lively, irreverent introduction to pirate history, this book mixes historical information with jokes, illustrations and deliberately gruesome stories. Its central angle is corrective: pirates are presented as far less heroic than popular legends suggest.

This is a structured historical introduction to slavery, combining broad chronology with accounts of enslaved people’s lives, journeys and escapes. Its contemporary coverage may help connect past systems with slavery that still exists.

A tense survival adventure places young people in a natural disaster and gives Dylan and Louie difficult practical and emotional problems to solve. Its strongest thread appears to be movement from suspicion towards cooperation.

A richly imagined fantasy combines Arthurian legend, secret societies and demons with Bree’s investigation into her mother’s death. Its strongest offering is a Black protagonist navigating grief, power and contested history alongside diverse allies and difficult questions about inherited authority.

This offers a suspenseful teen mystery centred on secrets, fear and investigation, alongside questions about popularity, friendship and family history. The central situation involves twins, unresolved crimes and threatening messages.

This is a brisk estate mystery built around literary-themed contests, investigation and shifting family secrets. Derin’s personal reasons for entering give the competition emotional weight, while hidden passages and mysterious notes sustain the puzzle.

A relationship story becomes a way to examine how inherited political, religious and family divisions shape young people’s choices. The book presents reconciliation as fragile, requiring listening, risk and engagement rather than simple agreement.

This is a richly illustrated journey through British myth and landscape, balancing magical stories with explanations of their historical and cultural context rather than presenting them as straightforward history.

A brisk historical adventure about a determined young performer entering London’s theatrical world, with family pressure, friendship and danger shaping his efforts to follow William Shakespeare. Its glossary and postscript can support interest in period language and the boundary between invented story and historical fact.

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.

Expect a highly atmospheric Christmas fantasy: cosy feasts and snow sit alongside wolves, criminals, magic, shifting time and pursuit. Its strongest appeal is the uneasy movement from delight into responsibility.

A thoughtful, atmospheric family mystery in which Kate’s investigation opens difficult questions about death, secrecy and belonging. Its suspense is closely tied to emotional upheaval rather than adventure alone, and the ending involves significant family change.

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 melodramatic family mystery centred on instant love, hidden histories, political violence and revenge. Multiple young characters pursue belonging, truth or retaliation amid powerful family interests and conflict.

This is a relationship-focused story about Jessie confronting the return of someone she loved, while he tries to rebuild his life. It offers emotionally intense romantic conflict rather than a straightforward happy-ending romance.

A family mystery and coming-of-age story set around a Cambodian funeral, offering an opening into heritage, migration, memory and the complicated ways families protect or withhold their past.

This is a tense superhero story about young people confronting inherited wrongdoing, dangerous adults and complicated friendships. It combines investigations and emotional conflict with perilous confrontations, including threats, coercion and graphic-sounding physical violence.

A fast-moving fantasy quest with magical danger, monstrous opponents and a continuing search for Jack’s father. The book appears to combine an imaginative world with a personal family mystery.

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 chaptered fantasy adventure about investigating a group that trades promises of protection for wealth. It combines suspense, political danger, action and questions about trust, leadership and the use of fear.

This is a historical mystery about ambition, family connections and compromised choices. Kit’s attempt to build an independent life becomes entangled with Nate’s demands, Billy’s absence and secrets reaching into the past.

Expect a suspense-led story about belonging, loyalty and secrets, moving between a boarding school and a town marked by witch-trial history. Its central tension involves Maddie’s choices around family and a powerful social clique.

This is a family mystery built through letters and remembered events. Its emotional centre is Lynnie’s attempt to understand her parents and grandparents without assuming that a troubled family past fixes her identity.

Expect a sea-going treasure adventure with strong emotional threads: Xiang seeks answers about her father and her mother’s respect, while Anh brings daring, uncertainty and a developing romantic connection.