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Clara learns that the ballet’s beautiful account of the Four Realms may not be entirely true, and she is to change the dancers’ tale.

A fast fantasy adventure combines hidden power, darkness, a threatened city and family secrets. Its mixed comic-and-narrative form may make the story’s movement between panels, captions and dialogue especially important to follow.

Expect a character-led fantasy adventure with romantic tension, shifting identities and a heroine negotiating personal freedom against obligations to her country. Its appeal lies in pursuit, hidden histories and gradual character change; the ending continues some series threads rather than resolving every larger question.

This is a compact historical adventure centred on curiosity, travel and discovery. Michele’s encounters with visitors seeking beauty, adventure and something elusive create an inviting story about how an unusual arrival can open new possibilities.

This is a story about rebuilding sisterhood after family separation. Its magical identity swap creates comic complications while Jamie and Siri confront damaged relationships, changing ambitions and the challenge of becoming themselves.

This is a speculative survival adventure built around two sharply unequal worlds. Its appeal lies in the meeting of Hokk and Elia, mysteries about their societies, and a journey that gradually connects personal survival with wider conflict.

This is a character-led story about a teenager’s self-image and changing relationships, set alongside Cassie’s disability and her family’s circumstances. Its several viewpoints invite readers to consider how people’s inner lives may differ from what others can see.

This is an emotionally tense story about two former friends facing grief and guilt after a tragedy. Its alternating viewpoints offer different perspectives on damaged trust, private struggles and the possibility of moving forward.

Expect a suspenseful mystery built around unreliable perspectives, teenage status and the question of whether Tasha’s near-drowning was an accident. The investigation gradually exposes strained friendships and hidden motives.

A playful fairy-tale reversal with a wilful child, a dangerous woodland and an angry wolf. Its strongest use is as a shared read about choices, listening and how familiar stories can be turned around.

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.

Expect an imaginative fantasy built around a dangerous darkness, paired roles and a developing relationship. Its strongest focus appears to be how people resist restrictive expectations while learning to trust someone very different from themselves.

A tense, twist-led survival mystery for readers who enjoy competing viewpoints, dangerous games and uncertainty about whom to trust. Its strongest pull is the combination of personal desperation and escalating threat.

Expect a tense mystery built around four teenagers, a crash, a dead driver’s holdall, a million pounds and a gun.

A tense mystery centred on a missing teenager, changing friendships and a return intended to bring closure. Readers piece together clues alongside Millie through a layered account of secrets and uncertainty.

This is an emotionally candid memoir about depression, coming out and survival. It offers a first-person account of painful experiences alongside reflection on identity, social messages, relationships, memory and the gradual work of finding self-acceptance.

A thoughtful friendship story with a suspenseful edge, this novel explores how exclusion, secrets and personal circumstances can affect relationships. Its three narrators encourage empathy, though bullying and isolation may merit preparation or discussion.

A lively, mischievous retelling of a familiar fairy tale, told by the wolf himself. Its central pleasure is uncertainty: readers must weigh his explanations rather than simply accept the version they already know.

This offers a tense journey story alongside a close account of sibling care. Clem’s storytelling, memories and uncertain perspective add emotional depth, while the political setting invites reflection on belonging, surveillance, displacement and how families preserve hope under pressure.

A humorous but emotionally serious family story, using disguise and farce to approach divorce, custody, divided loyalties and children’s responses to adult conflict.

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.

This is an intimate survival story centred less on action than on two people’s changing relationship, private memories and the difficult work of rebuilding life after catastrophe.

A mystery driven by testimony: the diamond’s disappearance is reconstructed through several voices, so readers must compare accounts rather than follow one straightforward viewpoint.

A character-led coming-of-age story about an autistic teenager navigating friendship, secrecy, school life and disruption to routine. Its central appeal is Phoebe’s perspective and the changing demands placed on her relationships.

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 high-stakes fantasy finale about two queens whose choices, powers, and family ties may determine whether their world is saved or destroyed. It offers intricate perspectives, reversals, emotional conflict, and a sustained struggle over agency and redemption.

This is a relationship-centred summer story about returning to a meaningful family place while navigating grief, an old crush and a sister’s complicated history with the same boy. Kate’s ambitions and self-understanding also form part of the story.

This is an ensemble survival and mystery story about young people adapting to an evacuation camp, then investigating the threat behind it. Its changing forms invite attention to how different voices record events and make sense of uncertainty.

Expect a slow-building, twisty fantasy mystery centred on invisibility, secrecy and pursuit. Reuben’s adventure brings suspense, traps and danger, while friendship and trust become increasingly important to how he responds.

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.

This is a thoughtful coming-of-age science-fiction novel about questioning imposed categories and finding connection. Expect emotionally charged relationships, an atmosphere of suspicion, and language that may take time to settle into.

This is a coming-of-age story about being open with oneself and others. Its journey structure brings Bradley into contact with varied people while he explores friendship, attraction and belonging.

A brisk family mystery about a missing cousin, a London-wide clue trail and two siblings who must work together. Its strongest promise is investigation shaped by Ted’s unusual way of thinking.

This is a family-centred historical story about confinement, freedom and feared inherited illness. Its child narrators place responsibility, secrecy and uncertainty inside a household shaped by Sarah’s distress and Patrick Henry’s public reputation.