What Are You Looking For?

A picture-book biography about how Billie Holiday made a protest song her own, set against racial discrimination and the history of lynching.

A broad tour of India featuring photographs combines places, wildlife, history and culture with details about family life, food and the economy.

This is a comic story about two boys whose efforts to influence their parents’ relationship bring together family upheaval, a school event and the boys’ own changing relationship.

A broad introduction to the role of machines in daily life, the rise of factories and the shift towards computer-directed production.

This is a pony-camp story that brings together fitting in and the possible loss of a valued shared place. Brooke also turns to online friends for help.

A broad historical account links the 1918 armistice with later political and economic changes, while also asking how the war dead are remembered.

The book pairs a holiday linked to Analí’s birthplace with a story about friendship facing possible change. Both strands centre on the girls’ relationships and experiences.

Dani’s diary follows her as she faces the aftermath of rape and a court case, adjusts to a new school, and draws on support from Reggie and people around her.

This coming-of-age story introduces unusual abilities and uncertainty about G. J. 's control of herself.

This is a broad, illustrated account of youth and social change in 1960s America, moving across several movements rather than focusing on one person or campaign.

A speculative story about waking into an unfamiliar future, with a personal dilemma that connects Tegan’s own choices to questions about challenging injustice.

This is a broad historical overview, spanning early civilisations to political events in 2001, rather than a history of Peru’s most recent decades.

This is a story about adapting to sudden change and deciding whom to trust. Its teenage protagonist faces shifts in family circumstances, schooling and social life.

This is a focused historical account of women’s lives and work during wartime, with attention to varied roles rather than only the military story.

This is a friendship-and-reunion story spanning the girls’ shared childhood and their lives after wartime separation.

This is a history of cotton told through people whose lives were shaped by farming, slavery, sharecropping and textile mills. Personal voices and photographs sit alongside a broader account of American change.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys mysteries that keep changing shape, supernatural uncertainty, unusual friendships and playful humour. Its island setting, volcano journey and hidden secrets offer adventure without revealing the final explanation.

This is a light, episodic school fantasy in which magical animals appear from Ms Plum’s cupboard and become catalysts for pupils’ changing behaviour, confidence, friendships and worries.

A broad, practical reference for questions about growing up, combining bodily development with emotional wellbeing, relationships, safety and everyday skills. It appears intended to support either independent browsing or conversations between a young reader and a parent.

This is a fast-moving Tudor adventure centred on loyalty, injustice and a child’s effort to protect his father. It offers contrasting views of courtly wealth and London poverty, alongside historical detail about power and religious change.

A high-energy monster adventure with an unusual science-fiction premise. Expect multiple plot strands, London under threat, a genetically altered dinosaur, nanobots and fantastical elements, rather than a restrained or technically rigorous science-fiction story.

This offers a focused introduction to dynastic China by connecting rulers, peasants and other social groups with wider historical change.

A family-and-school story about three sisters balancing wedding preparations, a romantic bet and an attempt to support a new pupil dealing with bereavement. It also offers Indian-British family and cultural context, with bhangra music central to one arrangement.

This is a child-centred historical story about family work, community strain and changing social relationships. Its central challenge is how a small act of welcome might matter when prejudice and hardship affect a whole town.

A historical adventure about starting again after disaster, building friendships and trying to protect a new home from moving sand. Expect family upheaval, school conflict and an ending whose precise emotional shape is unclear.

This is a reflective family story about a child adjusting to a parent’s imprisonment, a confession that changes her understanding, and relatives whose lives have moved on. Its central interest is emotional change rather than action, with forgiveness presented as part of Glennis’s eventual development.

This is speculative young-adult fiction about a young woman and her male counterpart negotiating an unusual shared existence. It combines departure from a hometown where Jill faces public judgement with romance, sexual choices, family conflict and the practical question of how either identity can build an independent life.

This is an intense historical coming-of-age novel about Nora’s attempt to find a future while danger surrounds her home and neighbourhood. Its period detail, family conflict and social history offer substantial material for discussion.

This is a comic teen story about friendship, flirting, misunderstandings and the difficulty of managing a situation that keeps expanding. Jess’s plan involving Fred, together with Flora and the visiting French students, contributes to the complications.

Expect a football-centred childhood story rather than an account of Burglar Bill. Its unofficial team, friendships and setbacks provide comic energy, while the reflective voice gives the book a poignant, nostalgic dimension.

This is an ensemble teenage drama built around one formal dance: five girls bring different hopes, secrets and romantic complications, while the evening promises heartbreak, danger and life-changing surprises.

This is a character-led summer story about three au pairs whose work, friendships and romantic situations become intertwined. Eliza’s changed family circumstances add a social and financial dimension alongside the beach setting and wealthy-family culture.

This appears to offer a child-focused fiction setting around friendships, girls’ experiences and family or school life.

A grief-heavy supernatural romance with visible danger, strong momentum and a newly invented zombie mythology. The story emphasises emotional intensity, attraction and discovery more than sustained classic horror or subtle psychological realism.

This is a structured introduction to how popular music changes: genres are placed alongside social and cultural events, technology, artists and industry developments. Its broad sweep and case studies may help readers see music as part of wider history rather than as isolated songs or performers.

A fact-rich investigation of rubbish as a cultural, economic and environmental problem, combining statistics and history with vivid people and practical examples of communities reducing waste.

A light romantic coming-of-age story about two contrasting teenagers who influence one another while handling school expectations, new experiences and relationships with friends and family.

A fast-moving supernatural thriller about friendship, belonging and resisting pressure, with a frightening bodily transformation at its centre. The plot combines school conflict, investigation and action.

Expect a comic school adventure about friendship and fitting in, with a new pupil whose influence leads Zombie into trouble. The book also includes Minecraft-style monster humour, social embarrassment and references to school trouble.

This is a direct guide to everyday courtesy, framed around a young girl relearning manners.

A fast-moving historical fantasy about investigations, accusations and escape, set within medieval religious institutions and restrictive expectations for women. Its central interest lies in how characters interpret apparent evil, authority and difference.

A Gothic boarding-school mystery follows an angry, unsettled teenager into secrets, danger and shifting loyalties.

A brisk alien-adventure story places a group of friends in danger after mysterious lights appear above a reservoir. Alongside rescue and escape, it raises questions about pollution, technology, heroism and how people respond to the unknown.

This is a history-led tour of the White House, mixing anecdotes, personal recollections and practical details about occupants, workers, rooms, customs and change across two centuries.

This offers a tense continuation of Lena’s transformation from grief-stricken survivor to resistance fighter. Its appeal lies in suspense, action and complicated feelings, while its emotional weight comes from loss, deprivation, political control and the cost of opposing authority.