What Are You Looking For?

A fantasy journey centres on finding a way home and deciding whom to trust. The bears’ different hopes and doubts give the group’s choices a personal as well as practical stake.

This is a speculative adventure about the dangers of suppressing imagination, while also asking whether stories and dreams can themselves become frightening or harmful.

This is a mystery shaped by Gwen’s music-school ambitions and her effort to find out what has happened to her grandfather. Robert joins her as a fellow auditioning student.

A tense dystopian adventure about survival, loyalty and resistance after societal collapse. William’s attempt to find someone who has disappeared places personal devotion alongside questions about Terrafall’s authority and promises.

This is a historical diary about a family trying to remain together amid Gold Rush hardship. It offers domestic perspective as well as danger, grief and ethical choices, with a generally bleak atmosphere and attention to friendship over sudden wealth.

This is a dual-perspective story about displacement, war, foster care, grief and connection. Dawn and Johar’s messages and calls offer a route towards hope, while their journeys expose sharply different forms of upheaval.

This is a historical horse story about two sisters seeking security while caring for an injured animal. Its emotional centre is Margret’s wish to keep both Flynn and a dependable home.

An emotionally serious adventure about belonging and uncovering the past. Arlo’s school project and interest in a shipwreck provide momentum, while supportive relationships and the possibility of recovery balance the secrecy, loss and uncertainty.

This is a serious, fast-moving story about living under unequal rules and trying to tell the truth when authority decides who is believed. Creative expression and close relationships provide its strongest sense of hope.

Expect a brisk historical adventure centred on bereavement, trust and belonging. Maggie’s errand expands into an international race, with shifting loyalties, danger and friendships providing momentum.

A lively, twist-filled family adventure built around magic shows, vanished landmarks and a journey to Las Vegas. Middy’s practice contrasts with Nathan’s showmanship, giving the cousins different ways to face trouble and uncertainty.

A suspenseful mystery about a child pursuing truth while separated from her family. Its science-fiction ideas sit alongside friendship, courage and self-discovery, with a hopeful emotional thread reported alongside danger and uncertainty.

Expect a brisk, spooky adventure led by a frightened but determined child. The book foregrounds mystery, supernatural danger and emotional bonds rather than realistic horror, with hope alongside its darker elements.

Expect an imaginative treasure hunt in a world of vampirs and werwolves, driven by danger, mystery and changing trust. The book combines supernatural adventure with Tibor and Roza’s need to decide whom to believe.

This is a fantastical animal adventure about longing, travel and uncertain friendships. Its mix of myth, magic and fairy tale may offer an imaginative journey, though the precise challenges and resolution are not known.

This is a fast-moving espionage adventure centred on Alex’s attempt to discover whether Jack is alive, while cryptic clues and SCORPIA create wider danger. Grief and loneliness sit alongside travel, pursuit and survival.

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.

A colourful, imaginative fantasy finale about connection, courage and upheaval. It offers an intricate alternate world, escalating danger and emotional relationships, while its unusual language and many plot developments may reward close, patient reading.

A tender-looking story about love, separation and learning to trust. Its magic is presented through Kate’s attempts to reunite with people she loves, with the emphasis ultimately falling on giving rather than getting.

This is a tense story about poverty, hope and a dangerous attempt to reach a promised better life. Manny must judge both physical risks and whether an older stranger is safe to trust.

A tender story about upheaval, belonging and hope, centred on Gregory’s move away from home. School, art and an unexpectedly direct friendship offer points of connection as he faces difficult parts of his past.

This is a high-stakes survival adventure built around six very different young people learning to depend on one another in extreme circumstances.

This is a stark survival story about poverty, deception and sexual exploitation, centred on Lakshmi’s endurance and friendships after she is taken from Nepal to India.