The Imagitorium by Sarah Beth Durst

It’s really very impolite to ask anyone to risk life, limb, and extra limbs without giving them a choice.

Shy daydreamer Amelia has been looking forward to this day for as long as she can the day she, as a ten-year-old, finally gets to enter the magical Imagitorium and create her very own imaginary friend.

But when she walks out of the Creation Room with Ruru, a fluffy, bearlike being with butterfly wings who gives excellent hugs, and into a scene of pure chaos, she quickly realizes that something’s gone very wrong. The Imagitorium is so much bigger than anyone outside knows, filled with dragons and sea monsters and candy cyclones, and now it’s starting to fall apart. The Caretaker is missing, and it’s up to Amelia to find her.

Amelia knows that she’s never been a hero, but… maybe she can still help?

The Thing about Giants by Christopher Galvin

Jacq is destined to hunt fearsome giants to protect her city--but when she meets a sensitive young giant named Corman in the forest, she realizes the world isn't quite what she's been taught. A page-turning adventure full of heart.

Thirteen-year-old Jacq Dyer is the daughter of two renowned giant hunters, although she's never had much stomach for what they do. In a city built from giants' bones, people rely on hunters to keep them prosperous and safe, and everyone knows that giants are violent, senseless creatures . . . aren't they? But when an accident leaves Jacq lost and injured in the wilderness, she ends up face-to-face with Corman, a frightened young giant, and Misneach, his overgrown badger. Corman has just lost his dad to hunters, and he and Jacq must learn to trust each other if they're going to find their ways home. 

But as they start finding out the truth about giant hunting--and the shadowy Resistance Jacq has grown up hating--they discover there's more at stake than either of their people know. 

With captivating world-building and rich characters, debut author Christopher Galvin offers an engrossing and thought-provoking tale.

Really Rubie by Maddie Frost

Hello, summer! Eleven-year-old Rubie Fox can’t wait to go to sleepaway camp for the very first time. She and her best friend Riley Swisher will go away for an entire month TOGETHER, and they’ll even be able to spy on Riley’s crush Owen, who will be across from Camp Pineview, over at the boys’ camp, Moose-Ridge.

But when Riley drops a bomb—she can’t go to camp because she broke her ankle—Rubie has to go by herself. Which sort of makes her feel RAGE…how can she go to camp without Riley?! But her mom has already paid for it, so she’s stuck with her plushie chicken Jim the Duck and a cabin full of girls she doesn’t know.

But Rubie just might find another BFF, break out of her shell, and even meet a boy…all without Riley. Camp might be more eventful than Rubie ever thought it could be—will she sink or will she swim?

The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros

Dylan was six when The End came. 

Now he is fourteen. Since the disaster that changed everything, Dylan and his mam have survived in their isolated hilltop house above the village of Nebo in north-west Wales, learning new skills and returning to old ways of living. They trap rabbits, tend the vegetable garden, and take turns caring for Dylan's little sister, Mona.

Dylan does not remember the time before they were alone, before the electricity went off for good, before the “normal” twenty-first century world disappeared.

His mother, Rowenna, has given him a simple task: to write in a journal, the book now in your hands. 

When, one night, Dylan asks his mam to write too—the story of The End and of the life before that he cannot remember—the Blue Book of Nebo is created.

“We’ve agreed not to read what the other has written, just in case," Dylan writes. "In case of what, I’m not sure.”

Together, they take turns writing their histories, what they remember, and what they can piece together of the outside world—and the secrets they have kept from each other for the past eight years.

What brought The End?

What was life like before?

Where did Dylan's baby sister Mona come from?

The Last Dragon House by Liv Mae Morris

Siblings Olly and Jenny Atwood have never met a dragon—Olly doesn’t even think they’re real. But when the strange and brilliant Dr. Lady Abernathy offers Olly a job at her mysterious house, the Atwoods learn that these incredible beasts are very much alive—and they need help.

Dragons have been forced into hiding, and as caretakers of the Dragon House, Dr. Lady and Olly are the only protectors these magnificent creatures have left. But when evil forces conspire to poison Dr. Lady, Olly and his dragon friends find themselves locked in a race against time, political conspiracies…and one very large corgi. Can Olly recover the antidote before it’s too late? And can Jenny harness her stirring powers to keep Dr. Lady alive until then? Or could this be the end of the Dragon House—and dragons—as they know it?

Questor's Academy: The Box of Locks by Sam Hay

Tom Friday was never meant to be a magical-object-guarding, super-brave secret agent. But on a visit to the Natural History Museum he gets embroiled in the world of the Questers Academy – protectors of mythical treasures and artefacts from around the world.

Questers student Leesha is determined to be the youngest ever agent for Questers, but first she’ll need to prove her worth. That’s where Tom comes in. Tom is a super-recogniser, someone with the ability to pick out people from a crowd after barely glimpsing them for a moment. Together Leesha is sure they can solve a complex and intriguing quest: to find the key to the mythical Box of Locks, before it falls into the wrong hands.

Faced with a bunch of complicated ciphers and coded clues, the new friends must learn to trust each other in order to beat the forces of darkness and save the world from potential apocalypse.

Lily Tripp: Diary of an Accidental Time Traveler by Amelia Tait

The start of a brilliantly funny accidental time-travel diary series for tweens. It’s Back to the Future meets Judy Blume, with a 13-year-old girl who tackles timeslip mishaps, laugh-out-loud embarrassing moments, and one unpredictable adventure after another.

Hi! I’m Lily. My birthday is in two weeks and I have a big secret: Every New Year's when the clock strikes midnight, I time travel to a new century. Mind-blowing, right!?

Thank goodness my cat, best friend, and school crush always turn up, too. But I still have a ton of problems… like why is my arch-nemesis, Georgia, so good at ye olde insults? How does anyone survive in Ancient Rome without chicken nuggets? Why are my brother’s clothes so ridiculous in every century? And why on earth can’t I stay in one era!?

The Unchosen One by Amy Sparkes

Tassie has always dreamt of a life of adventure and exploration. Instead, she’s stuck in the Citadel under the care of the Chief Steward, well away from any form of danger. When the Wisest of the Wise Witches comes to visit and proclaims her the Chosen One, destined to save her people from death and destruction, Tassie realizes why she’s spent her life under lock and key—in order to fulfill a prophecy. Can she refuse the role and find an alternative? Along with her best friend, a griffin named Spin, she embarks on a hilarious epic quest through magical lands in a race against time.

Secret of the Selkies by Laura Keohane

‘They came from the sea, shrouded in cloaks and mystery’

A lonely summer looms ahead for Lana, with only Nan and Grandad for company. Still, it’s better than being stuck at home, living in her perfect brother’s shadow. But Carrig Cottage has magic and secrets of its own. When Lana finds a strange coat in the attic, and a book about mysterious, magical seal people – selkies – she also uncovers an incredible family secret. Lana is on the edge of a whole new, impossible world. Is this where she truly belongs?

The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook for Kids!

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The best-selling (and wildly hilarious) Worst-Case Scenario series is back with 40 extreme survival tips for kids ages 8 to 12, great for adventurous fans of the I Survived series.

Erupting volcanoes. Ravenous sharks. Pooping in the woods.

The great outdoors is a weird, wonderful, and scare-your-pants-off terrifying place. Whether you’re freezing in the Arctic, escaping quicksand in the jungle, or befriending tarantulas in the desert, this guide has you covered.

Bust this guide open and discover step-by-step instructions for surviving the most extreme situations that Planet Earth can throw at you. Learn how to:

• Dodge a charging rhinoceros
• Ride out a sandstorm
• Navigate by the stars
• Build a snow cave
• Cross piranha-infested waters
• And much more!

Yeah, the outdoors can be scary, but you’ve got this indispensable, laugh-out-loud survival guide. So what are you waiting for? Get out there!

Small Magics by Alex Dunne

‘Magic isn’t only found in old ancient forests or dusty old castles … it’s everywhere, all the time …’

Molly Flynn never had a place to call home until she was sent to live above a mysterious antique shop with Pat, Priya and their foster kids, Wren and Lorcan. Her new family are anything but ordinary, though, and Molly is soon swept into their world of small magics.

But things start to turn frightening: someone is attacking magical creatures. No one is safe …

Can Molly and her newfound family defeat the dark magic before it’s too late?

Monsters by Stéphane Servant Translated by Sarah Ardizzone Illustrated by Nicolas Zouliamis

Roll up, roll up to discover the Circus of Dreams!

The circus is coming to the village at the end of the world. There will be knife-jugglers and fire eaters, death-defying acrobats and wonders too strange to name!

Of all our fantastical acts, the most shocking and terrifying of all is the Monster of Dreams.

At the mid-of-night this fearsome creature will be revealed. Come and take a look - if you dare...

But what is a monster, really?

Netta Becker and the Missing Memory Maze by Jennifer Claessen

Legend and edge-of-your-seat action fuse together in this exciting second instalment of the Netta Becker trilogy, underpinned with a feminist retelling of Ancient Greek myth.

A hall full of statues. A pair of lost siblings. Monsters at every turn.

Under orders from the Titan called the Crone, Netta steps out of time itself. And, panicking just a little, her little brother Remy follows. Lost and alone, they each wake in a strange maze-like world as statues. Netta breaks free and begins her double quest: to find her brother and the second sister Titan.

But Remy can't remember who he has lost - and when he is rescued by young Tig, he leaves his memories of Netta behind. By breaking sphinx riddles and with mythical beasts as new allies, Netta and Remy must find out who they are - and who the League of Archon is - in the Realm of Memory itself.

Nell on Earth by Dave Rudden

Twelve-year-old Nell Cafferty didn’t ask to be the eldest of four children. Acting as babysitter, bodyguard and bouncer all week long while her parents work has left no room for her ambitions of being a wrestling star. But when her siblings are taken hostage by enormous were-otters, it’s on Nell to save them, and she’ll do anything to get them back. Even if that means challenging their monstrous king who has terrible ambitions of his own …

Heroes of Light and Shadow by Conor Forrest

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Magic is real. But so are monsters.

Oisin dreams of being a hero, like the ones he reads about in books. So when he overhears a plot for a midnight raid on a Dublin museum, he knows this is his chance.

But Oisin soon realises that heroes must fight monsters. Dark things that lurk in the shadows – like the sinister Fomorians – don’t take kindly to those who get in their way.

With the help of legendary troublemaker Fionn Mac Cumhaill, can Oisin prevent death and destruction? Or will modern Dublin find itself at the mercy of the mythical monsters it had forgotten?

Under the Floorboards of 39A by Lucy Kennedy

Do you believe in magic? Well, you just need to look beneath your feet ... because under the creaky floorboards of lots and lots of houses in Ireland, but most particularly under those of a house called 39A Cove Street in Dublin, there lives a whole community of little elves, working and making magic from all the things you drop between the cracks!

Meet Joey and Freddie O’Brien, nine-year-old twin elves who get up to all sorts of mischief together. From their missions Up-Up to borrow supplies from their human neighbour, Bee-Bee, and stay out of the path of her big St Bernard dog, to their adventures in Squirby Village, creating magic out of the things we leave behind. But when the twins see Bee-Bee is not herself, and needs help, they gather their friends and rush to the rescue!

A Girl's Guide to Spying by Holly Webb

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When Phyl is dragged along to the Girl Guides by her younger sister, Annie, the last thing she expects is the adventure of a lifetime. Then her Guide captain offers her a job as a messenger for MI5. Phyl is desperate to help the war effort and is thrilled to be working with spies.

But she can’t seem to do anything right in the eyes of the grumpy Major Warren. When he suddenly disappears, Phyl and Annie suspect that he may in fact be a double agent. The two sisters must solve the mystery of his whereabouts, before it’s too late. Luckily their friends from the Rose Patrol are ready to help…

Hail Mariam by Huda Al-Marashi

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Sixth grade wasn’t supposed to be this complicated.

Iraqi American Mariam Hassan transfers to a local Catholic school and before her first day her parents remind her that she might be the first Muslim her classmates have ever met. No big deal, right? Just represent an entire religion while making new friends, keeping up with schoolwork, and figuring out who she is.

When Mariam’s younger sister, Salma, is diagnosed with a serious lung condition, her family faces endless doctor visits and sleepless nights. Mariam tries to lighten their burden and keep her own problems to herself—including the fact that she’s just been cast as Mary in the school’s Christmas nativity play.

Mariam wants to honor her faith and her new community, but she’s terrified of crossing a religious line. Can a Muslim girl be the lead in a Christian story? What will her family think? And why does she feel like every decision she makes represents all Muslims?

Mariam discovers that faith, much like friendships, isn’t about perfection—it’s about connection. As she leans on her family, friends, and school community, she begins to see the power of interfaith cooperation and learns she doesn’t have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Hail Mariam is a celebration of the beauty of finding common ground.

Nadia Islam on the Record by Adiba Jaigirdar

Dino Mode Activated by Jen Wallace

After the success of Dinosaur Pie, award-winning author Jen Wallace returns with another hilarious and moving dinosaur adventure!

Oleg’s new camera is definitely not ordinary. It has no instructions and no buttons, but it seems to know exactly what Oleg wants it to do. When Oleg goes on a camping trip with his friends, Rory and Daria, they soon discover the camera’s most special function – Dino Mode.

Now, with dinosaurs of all sizes running about the campsite and a nosey professor poking around, Oleg and his friends commence Operation Hide the Dinos.