What Are You Looking For?

Shabanu’s betrothal and her sister’s impending marriage sit alongside her own dreams of freedom, making personal choice and family obligation central to the story.

This is a family-and-horses story about a child adjusting to a new home and wanting her abilities to be recognised. It also follows a filly’s journey towards a new home.

A lively animal adventure centres on Butter’s energetic dancing, the bears’ search for him, and their adjustment to his transformation and independent path.

The story follows Solomon’s efforts to find his own path while his family works towards independence. A cattle drive brings adventure and new sights, alongside tensions at home and the question of how Black settlers will be received.

This is an angsty first-love story about two teenagers seeking more freedom while facing difficult family circumstances. Their connection matters, but the ending is bittersweet rather than a straightforward romantic resolution.

A serious family story about finding belonging amid unstable housing, grief and caring responsibilities, with Cora’s tree-climbing and friendships offering threads of connection.

This is a character-led romance about two teenagers challenging family expectations, with Carly’s efforts to reunite her family and Arden’s grief shaping their paths.

A supernatural time-slip story with two heroines in different centuries, drawing together around an old family home and a mysterious returning brother.

A young protagonist faces a threat to animals in a family preserve while managing without his parents nearby. The story is framed as a mystery with a building sense of danger.

A hotel-dwelling mouse gets the chance to ride a toy motorcycle, turning his wish for excitement into an adventure involving a young guest.

An adventure about belonging and independent decision-making, with Wisp’s difficulty reading stars shaping both his relationships and his attempt to migrate.

A reflective story about Eveline facing a consequential choice, where family ties and the hope of a different life pull in opposing directions.

This is a family-and-work story built around a wealthy young woman being required to try low-wage jobs to access her inheritance. An intern is also brought into the arrangement.

A perilous group journey drives the story, with the bears pursuing an imagined refuge while facing dangers, divided directions and a lasting change to their travelling group.

A coming-of-age story about trying to build genuine friendships after relying on an invented social life, with college offering Caroline a chance to start over.

A journey story about independence, unfamiliar company and river travel, with Megan’s judgement central to how she meets uncertain situations.

This is a coming-of-age story centred on Joel’s private nighttime adventures and the changing bond with his father. Its appeal may lie in the mix of mystery, independence and family adjustment.

A magical village adventure sits alongside a story about siblings finding a more welcoming home. Expect mysteries and eccentric characters, with the children taking an active part in what happens.

This is a suspenseful mystery built around Charity’s restricted life, her unexplained condition and a dream that seems connected to a hidden part of the house.

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.

The story follows CC as she considers her future, guided by an ancient book, alongside children from different backgrounds. Its historical notes may add context to the adventure.

This is a family-centred ghost story about three sisters trying to make sense of loss while imagining lives beyond their home and neighbourhood.

A spirited family adventure combines inherited magic, sisters’ relationships and the social expectations placed on girls in Regency England.

This is a contemporary relationship story shaped by differences in family circumstances and by immigration enforcement. Alma and Evan each have ambitions to leave their town, but their relationship confronts them with difficult choices.

This is a contemporary thriller about craving adventure, taking a risk and discovering that a promising escape may be dangerous.

This is a fairy-tale journey shaped by a bargain, a family’s hopes and Rose’s search for the identity of a mysterious stranger.

This is a historical coming-of-age adventure built around two young people facing sharply different forms of upheaval, with martial-arts training and escape driving their separate journeys.

The book sets Russell’s wish to escape school against Tansy’s effort to keep it open, using comic classroom mishaps along the way.

This is a story about a young person confronting uncertainty over belonging and family security, alongside an urgent journey and a new friendship.

This is a mermaid story combining surfing, family life and magic, with Lena's encounter with the mermaid and her mirror at its centre.

This is a relationship-focused story about two teenagers seeking change: Félix wants to turn his life around, while Frédérique wants to make choices for herself.

This is a story about a young woman pushing back against the future her parents want for her. June's own ambitions include travel, university and writing.

This is a family-and-adventure story about teenage werewolf siblings balancing school and sibling relationships with a threat to the woods they secretly use.

A multi-character story about four girls navigating a week of personal complications, with comic disasters alongside family disagreement, disappointment and attempts to help.

At its heart, this is a story about a young adventurer reconsidering solitude and facing a test of courage while travelling with two horses.

The story pairs a magical transformation and a search for chocolate-making work with Aventurine’s changing sense of identity. Friendship and betrayal are part of her new life in the human city.

This blends magical sea creatures with a story about caring for an injured Aquicorn and deciding how a town should live alongside the sea. Family support and Lana's growing independence also matter.

A fantasy mystery about an independent-minded Alice, with photography setting the strange events in motion. It may suit readers drawn to a familiar Wonderland revisited through a new predicament.

This is a teenager-centred adventure involving an unusual ability and missing children, with Jess caught between social expectations and her own ambitions.

This is an emotionally focused story about a fatal skating accident, a heart transplant and two families changed by loss and survival. Its speculative connection between the girls sits alongside realistic tensions about grief, dependence, independence and parental expectations.

A reassuring story about starting school, separation from a beloved comfort object and discovering that independence can include support. Bear’s experience gives children permission to find a new situation hard without treating that difficulty as failure.

A realistic school-and-family story about a small triplet seeking greater independence, with friendship developing through a butterfly-garden project and factual butterfly material extending beyond the narrative.

This is a child-centred mystery adventure combining seaside exploration, hidden places, secrecy and a rescue involving a royal child. Its appeal appears to lie in teamwork, discovery and sustained pursuit, though the ending and the intensity of the danger are not described.

This is a young-adult story focused on Marisa’s family party, with social life, dating and driving forming part of its adolescent setting. Its distinctive angle is the meeting of Cuban family customs and an uptight neighbourhood.

This offers gothic fantasy, imaginative magic and a strong twin-sister relationship, with family secrets and romantic restrictions at its centre. The story also leaves the sisters facing an ancient curse, supernatural peril and difficult choices.