The Chalk Garden by Sally Anne Garland, Sunbird, £7.99
Emma wishes birds would visit the concrete garden she decorates with chalk flowers – but they aren’t tempted until she begins to tend a little patch of earth. A lush, joyful picture book, full of growth, colour and creativity.
You’re SO Amazing! by James and Lucy Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George, Faber, £7.99
Everyone stares at Joe and tells him he’s amazing. Even when he’s scratching his bottom, he feels like an unwilling celebrity. Only his friends can let him just be Joe. This warm, funny, uncompromising picture book challenges the idea of disability as automatically “inspirational”.
Ning and the Night Spirits by Adriena Fong, Flying Eye, £12.99
Ning hears fearsome tales of the night spirits – but what Ning fears most is talking to other people. When he meets a small, blue spirit who needs his help, however, he finds the courage to make human friends for the first time. A sweet, glowing picture-book story of loneliness and bravery.
Max & Chaffy – Welcome to Animal Island by Jamie Smart, David Fickling Books, £6.99
Kicking off a new comic series for readers of 5+, this candy-coloured interactive romp features a problem-solving girl and a cute, lost little creature called a Chaffy. Can you help Max find a whole heap of lost property – and figure out where Chaffy really belongs? Adorably addictive.
Lenny Lemmon and the Invincible Rat by Ben Davis, illustrated by James Lancett, Nosy Crow, £6.99
It’s Olden Days day at school and Lenny is looking forward to winning the interclass competition with the historical item he’s brought in: his invincible rat. After his rodent makes a break for it, can Lenny pull victory from the jaws of defeat? A hilarious, highly illustrated romp for readers of 6+.
Usborne Extreme Planet – The Deep by Laura Cowan, illustrated by Qu Lan, Usborne, £10.99
Seven-plus deep-sea explorers will plunge into this absorbing, beautifully illustrated flap-book with a frisson of delicious fear, encountering angler fish, eelpout and a sea cucumber called a Headless Chicken as they range through the Midnight Zone, the Forest of the Weird and the deepest place on Earth.
The Rage of the Sea Witch by Roland Chambers, Zephyr, £7.99
Billy Shaman is glum when his parents abandon him for the summer in the Charles Darwin museum. But when he finds an impossibly aged tortoise, and decides to restore an ancient necklace to its rightful owner, things become a great deal more exciting. A humorous, evocative journey through some fascinating discoveries of the past, ideal for readers of 7 or 8+.
Spellstone by Ross Montgomery, Walker, £7.99
No one notices ordinary Evie – until a strange man recruits her into a magical organisation called The Order of the Stone. Does Evie have the power to withstand a seemingly unbounded evil? A hugely absorbing, assured and well-written fantasy adventure for 9+, from an award-winning author.
The Stories Grandma Forgot (and How I Found Them) by Nadine Aisha Jassat, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat, Orion, £7.99
Nyla grew up with her mum and her grandma, because her dad died when she was little – or so she’s always been told. But now Grandma Farida, “time-travelling” in her mind as her memory weakens, insists she’s seen her lost son in the supermarket. When Nyla promises Grandma that she’ll find him and bring him home, she unravels a whole web of secrets in this eloquent, affecting verse novel for 9+.
The Wolf-Girl, the Greeks and the Gods by Tom Holland, illustrated by Jason Cockroft, Walker, £25
Expensive but entirely worth it, this spectacular retelling of the Persian invasion of Greece from the perspective of Golgo, a Spartan queen, marries a numinous sense of classical legend with satisfyingly grim accounts of Spartan training, warfare and sacrifice. Cockroft’s stark, bold, white-eyed illustrations amplify the sense of wonder rooted in strange reality as Golgo grows up to lead her people in the impossible task of resisting the Persian force. A tour de force for 9+ mythology and military history fans.
Friendship Never Ends by Alexandra Sheppard, Knights Of, £8.99
Inseparable friends Sunita, Gifty, May and Dawn are dismayed at the prospect of a summer spent apart, with no communication other than postcards. But as each attempts to reinvent herself as entrepreneur, artist, singer or sophisticate, they realise that learning more about their own deepest wishes will only strengthen their bond. A sweet, irrepressibly larky story of friendship and self-discovery for 11+.
How Far We’ve Come by Joyce Efia Harmer, Simon & Schuster, £14.99
Octavia Butler for a teen readership, Harmer’s debut novel follows Obah, an enslaved girl on a Barbados plantation, as she meets a white boy unlike any of the brutal ones she’s known – a boy who comes from the 21st century. When she decides to trust Jacob, and go with him to his own place and time, she discovers undreamt-of freedom, at an unbearable cost. Both hopeful and heartbreaking, this gripping book turns a searchlight on the changing faces of injustice through time.
Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley, Rock the Boat, £14.99
Forced to take up a museum internship to pay for car repairs, 16-year-old Ojibwe citizen Perry Firekeeper-Birch finds herself unexpectedly enthralled by what she learns on the job. When she discovers that a local university has been holding on to the bones of an ancestor called Warrior Girl, instead of returning them to her tribe, Perry and her fellow “Misfits” are determined to bring them home – even if that requires a heist. From the award-winning author of Firekeeper’s Daughter, this superb YA thriller interweaves compelling action with a sense of the Native Americans’ long fight for their own history.
Where the Light Goes by Sara Barnard, Walker, £8.99
When her sister takes her own life, Emmy is overwhelmed, not least because her beloved Beth was also Lizzie Beck, a famous and troubled singer. Emmy’s grief, her rage at those she feels let Beth down, and her attempts to cope with social media onslaughts while navigating her own complex feelings shape this wrenching, powerful novel for 14+, the talented Barnard’s best yet.
