Format: Chapter book

Fake

Chapter book

In a digital world it’s hard to know what’s real.

Imagine a world where your only friends are virtual, and big tech companies control access to food, healthcare and leisure.

This is Jess’s world.

But when she turns fourteen, Jess can go to school with other children for the first time.

Most of them hate the ‘real’ world, but Jess begins to question whether the digital world is ‘perfect’ after all.

Back home, her sister Chloe’s life-saving medication is getting ever more expensive.

Determined to help, Jess risks everything by using skills forbidden in the cyber-world, only to stumble on something explosive.

Something that will turn her whole world upside down.

It’s up to Jess to figure out exactly what is real, and what is fake – Chloe’s survival depends on it.

There’s nothing thirteen-year-old Adam wants more than to become a successful YouTuber, but it has always seemed impossible. Then one day a mysterious pop-up ad calling itself Popularis Incrementum promises to make ALL HIS DREAMS COME TRUE. Suddenly a world of FAME, FORTUNE and FANCY TVs awaits!

All Adam has to do is gain one million followers in one year. And if he doesnt … ? GULP!

Featuring bold black-and-white illustrations from bestselling illustrator James Lancett.

The perfect summer holiday read for budding young YouTubers everywhere! Fans of David Baddiel, Greg James and Chris Smith and Noel Fitzpatrick’s Vetman will be spellbound.

This brilliant paperback edition features exclusive bonus material, including a Q+A with Adam – featuring interviewer Callum B!

And watch out for Adam’s second out-of-this-world adventure – Adam Destroys the Internet!

Til Death

Busayo Matuluko

Chapter book

The instant bestseller slick and addictive YA mystery thriller that celebrates the nuances and dramas of Nigerian family and culture, perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and Karen M. McManus.

Save the date . . . for a killer wedding!

True-crime-obsessed Lara Oyinlola is heading to Lagos for her favourite cousin, Dérin’s, wedding. It’s going to be a holiday filled with glitzy dress-fittings, glamorous parties and, of course, the star-studded event of the year.

But everything isn’t perfect in Dérin’s world. She’s been receiving anonymous threats telling her to cancel the wedding . . . or face dire consequences.

This is the moment Lara’s been waiting for: put her sleuthing knowledge to work and solve a real-life mystery. As Lara investigates, what she doesn’t expect to uncover is a web of secrets, malicious crimes, and near‑death encounters which promise to tear the family apart for good . . .

With sinister secrets, bitchy bridesmaids, annoying exes, and a gossip-loving amateur detective, this gripping mystery thriller from a standout debut author and award-nominated BookTokker will have readers hooked.

A Language of Dragons

S. F. Williamson

Chapter book

The most exciting debut of 2025 – an incredible fantasy Dark Academia, perfect for fans of Babel, Fourth Wing, and the Scholomance trilogy

EVERY FIRE STARTS WITH A SINGLE SPARK.

Welcome to Bletchley Park… with dragons.

London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.

With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ‘job’, she grabs it. Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort – if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die.

At first Viv believes that her challenge, of discovering the secrets of a hidden dragon language, is doable. But the more she learns, the more she realises that the bubble she’s grown up in isn’t as safe as she thought, and eventually Viv must decide: What war is she really fighting?

An epic, sweeping fantasy with an incredible Dark Academia setting, a clandestine, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance, and an unputdownable story, filled with twists and turns, betrayals and secret identities, A Language of Dragons is the unmissable debut of 2025, from an extraordinary new voice.

And the River Drags Her Down

Jihyun Yun

Chapter book

And the River Drags Her Down is a haunting, lyrical tale of grief, sisterhood and revenge that blends Gothic horror, mystery and Korean folklore, perfect for fans of She Is a Haunting, House of Hollow and CG Drews.

Soojin has always known the rules – never bring back anything larger than her palm from the dead, but that was before Mirae died.

Sister, I hear you. I feel your hands in the dirt, beckoning. I will answer your call – I’ll return.

When her older sister is found drowned in the river that cuts through their small, sleepy town, Soojin is beside herself with grief. Disregarding every rule, she uses her ancestral magic to bring Mirae back from the dead. At first, the sisters delight in their reunion, but Mirae soon grows tired of hiding from the world. She becomes restless and hungry…

As the town is rocked by a series of harrowing, unusual deaths, Soojin fears the sister she brought back to life isn’t the one she knew.

Gold Medal Mysteries: Racing for Revenge

Ellie Robinson

Chapter book

The sporting detectives return, racing around the world in the third instalment of the brilliant mystery adventure series from multi-gold-medal-winning Paralympian, Ellie Robinson.

After busting a gold medal thief in Tokyo and rescuing s kidnapped football player in Miami, Seb, Hannah and Maria are back, this time in France! They’re reunited for the Grand Euro Cycle, but someone has been sabotaging one of the teams.

Can the trio figure out who is disrupting the race, and avoid becoming the prime suspects themselves, before it is too late?

Another twisting, action-packed story, full of adventure and mystery, perfect for fans of THE BREAKFAST CLUB ADVENTURES by Marcus Rashford.

Advice from a 12-Year-Old Nobody

Helen Rutter & Julia Christians

Chapter book

12-year-old Vinnie is frustrated by the picture perfect life that his mum – a viral online life coach – is portraying to her readers in order to fit in with her “brand” when the reality couldn’t be further from the truth – their family seems to be falling apart. But more than that, Vinnie is struggling, and his mum is the one person who he used to be able to talk to about things, but she has become too busy answering the world’s problems to have time to deal with his problems, so he keeps them to himself.

One day, Vinnie stumbles across an old blog that his mum used to write before she became famous, and he notices that there are lots of unanswered questions from people asking for her advice – he decides that these people deserve responses and sets about replying himself. Much to his suprise, the public seem to like his responses and more and more messages come flooding in. Reading about other people’s problems makes Vinnie feel like he is not alone and he begins to realise that sharing your problems is better than holding them all on your own.

Typical of Helen Rutter, this book is an incredibly easy read – perfect for struggling or reluctant readers – which is full of laugh out loud humour but with a strong message at its heart.

Escape

Melania Badosa & Sophie McKenzie

Chapter book

Bernice has been looking forward to her school trip to the sea-life sanctuary and when a work-experience opportunity arises, she wants to find out as much as she can about all of the creatures to support her application.

Unfortunately, her friend Molly and Rylan, the boy that Molly likes, have no plans to take the trip so seriously and soon put all three of them in intense danger. Can Bernice save her friends and how will they explain their actions to Mr Willis?

This Barrington Stoke publication is a high level interest, accessible reader suitable for pupils age 10+. The accessible font, wider spacing and tinted pages make the text readable for all. The book covers themes of friendship, loyalty, responsibility and water-safety and allows for discussions around decision making and risk taking with pupils who are gaining their first steps of independence.

Nova

Charlotte Grange & Chris Bradford

Chapter book

When Max’s life-craft is pulled into a wormhole, he needs a whole galaxy of luck to return to safety … Chris Bradford crafts Interstellar for kids in this space-bending survival story.

Max Nova is headed to Mercury with his father, a space trucker, when their ship is suddenly diverted. They have a new urgent mission. An abnormal gravity reading has been detected near the sun.

There are fears that this could signal the start of a supernova! But what Max and his father discover is much more dangerous – and far stranger – than any supernova.

Flung to the outer reaches of the universe, Max must navigate a galaxy of dangers to find his way home before time runs out!

Particularly suitable for readers aged 9+ with a reading age of 7.

The Treasure Seekers

Cathy Faulkner

Chapter book

November 1918.
Stanley is convinced that the precious stained-glass window from the church, that Martha’s grandfather hid during the war, will save his village. But Martha refuses to help him search, wanting to keep her beloved grandfather’s secrets safe.

When Stanley’s mother gets ill too, Martha visits the village, and realises she must act to help. She begins her own treasure hunt, even as her father is also struggling with the aftermath of the Great War. As the people who are most important to them suffer, Martha and Stanley are desperate to find their lost treasure and restore the village’s fortunes before it’s too late.

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Format: Chapter book

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