What Are You Looking For?

A reflective Christian story begins with a teacher looking back on her Sunday-school work as she prepares to leave. Three pupils, with differing characters and circumstances, are introduced.

Expect a gadget-led spy adventure in which young members of a secret organisation use science and technology to pursue a dangerous plot across several countries.

This offers an introductory route into earth science alongside a clear emphasis on caring for the planet. Its distinctive angle is linking knowledge of Earth with shared environmental responsibility.

A lively fantasy adventure combines school settings, friendship, humour, magic and imaginative creatures. Felix and Betony must use their wits across conflicts involving Rhino, a djinn and the Japegrins, while the story builds towards a threat affecting two worlds.

A character-led teen novel about using scientific curiosity to change everyday habits, while asking how body size, appearance and other people’s attention affect identity.

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 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.

A ghostly quest combines danger, memory and moral choices. Riley’s efforts to free her friends and other spirits give the story an emphasis on understanding rather than defeating pain by force.

This is an energetic international spy adventure built around public deception, scientific danger and a teenage protagonist under pressure. Its appeal lies in momentum and peril, while Alex’s darker, more pensive presentation adds a more serious note.

This is a high-action fantasy that combines a village threatened by shadow spirits with political marriage, demons, magical technology and a quest. Its strongest appeal is likely its spectacle and dramatic movement rather than sustained inner development.

This is a historical romance about a young woman whose commitment to women’s rights conflicts with family expectations and competing romantic attention. Its appeal lies in combining personal choices with a vividly positioned historical cause.

This offers a fast-moving blend of friendship, fantasy, science-fiction ideas and mystery: children investigate dangerous artefacts while a school science project, a missing ring and a legendary creature complicate their search.

A relationship-centred coming-of-age story about loyalty, reputation and self-trust, with romance and mystery around a past assault. It may suit discussion of how social approval can shape difficult personal choices.

A fast-moving continuation for readers who enjoy post-apocalyptic danger, guarded communities and protagonists trying to rescue people they love. Its strongest appeal appears to be sustained action and suspense rather than intricate new revelations.

Expect a playful extraterrestrial rescue adventure involving a missing spaceship, Area 51, legendary aliens and deep-freeze discovery.

A moody, child-focused biography of Mary Shelley that links imagination, reading, family influences, travel and scientific ideas with the creation of Frankenstein.

Its emotional centre is the search for a new meaning of home.

This is a substantial sea adventure combining invention, marine biology, pirates and underwater danger with grief and moral uncertainty. Fidelia is presented as knowledgeable and determined, while Merrick’s motives become more complicated as his history emerges.

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.

A practical rainy-day idea book with broad variety: children can try creative making, games, food preparation, science experiments, magic tricks, gardening and quiet play, choosing activities that suit the moment.

This is a dark, high-stakes adventure about survival after societal collapse, combining disease, dangerous travel, family loss, scientific hope and spiritual guidance. Its central tension joins scientific problem-solving with ancestral beliefs and the natural world.

Expect inventive comic mishaps, misunderstandings and an eccentric central character rather than a serious science story. The humour often comes from failed inventions and Branestawm’s difficulty with everyday social situations.

Expect a playful space adventure centred on a father and son, with absurd alien details, school embarrassment and moments of danger. Its emotional centre is the difficulty of recognising a parent’s love beneath embarrassing behaviour.

This is a fantasy adventure about a young witch who loves robots, enters the City seeking robotics education, and confronts a secret threatening the balance between magic and technology.

This is an idea-rich mystery-fantasy about a girl pursuing knowledge and justice within restrictive Victorian expectations.

A tense, science-rich story combines South London settings, two connected teenage lives and an urgent attempt to prevent tragedy. It offers momentum alongside questions about whether circumstances, choices or both shape a person’s future.

This offers a lively route into scientific curiosity: invention, robots and jokes are paired with explanations of antimatter, atoms, robotics and the scientific method. It may particularly engage readers who enjoy illustrated, idea-rich adventures.

This is an energetic introduction to rewilding that combines serious environmental information with cartoons, unusual natural examples and clearly explained scientific ideas. Its central message is hopeful: restoring nature could help both ecosystems and people.

Expect a brisk, high-stakes science-fiction adventure built from movie-like set pieces: secret hideouts, monsters, lost cities and missions. Its emotional centre is the friends’ changing reliance on friendship, loyalty, trust and teamwork.

A morally serious Gothic novel about creation, abandonment, responsibility and revenge, with opportunities to discuss scientific power and the treatment of outsiders alongside unsettling violence.

Expect an urgent science-fiction story built around two opposing viewpoints: Cillian’s discovery about his identity and Tess’s shaken commitment to a violent mission. Short chapters and cliff-hangers make the narrative strongly plot-driven.

A topic-led introduction to alternatives to fossil fuels, ranging from wave power and solar technologies to hydrogen, nuclear power and biofuels. It invites consideration of environmental concerns, safety and whether proposed solutions could work widely.

A dark, romantic retelling built around inherited identity, scientific experimentation and family secrets.

This is a high-stakes science-fiction thriller about searching, divided loyalties and responsibility after an epidemic. Parallel efforts to find Callie and confront Dr Cross bring the characters towards a dangerous reckoning.

A historically grounded story about fear, racial prejudice and divided loyalties, centred on Shad’s choice as his community responds to emancipation and economic insecurity.

A lively festive quest blends a child’s scientific scepticism with Santa mythology. Tracy’s curiosity drives the action, but her computer intrusion creates a serious problem that she must help put right.

This is a speculative romance about identity, reincarnated lives and a consequential choice. Its central tension combines scientific discovery with questions about destiny, attachment and whether personal relationships can carry world-changing consequences.

A child-focused introduction to global warming, combining scientific explanation with lively illustrations and practical discussion of how people might help. It may suit shared reading about climate change, especially when an adult can clarify what remains unexplained.

A grief-centred story about a child trying to understand a friend’s death and her own regret. Scientific facts, imagination and the natural world provide ways into Suzy’s feelings, while love and hope shape her search for self-forgiveness.

This is a lively, imaginative collection built around two very young superhero brothers. Expect repeated problem-solving adventures, comic absurdity and genre-hopping, with stories involving villains, magic, science fiction and literary or mythological ideas.

A choice for an adventure reader who actively enjoys dark machinery and combat; set it aside if bodily horror is something they want to avoid.