Best Fiction for 5-12s:
The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani (HarperCollins Children's Books)
In this New York Times bestseller by scriptwriter Chainani (the film of which was snapped up in a seven figure deal by Universal Pictures), two kidnapped girls are the latest in a long list of children to be lost to a legendary fairy tale school.
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Darcy Burdock by Laura Dockrill (Random House Children's Books)
Ten year-old Darcy Burdock is one of life's noticers. Curious, smart-as-a-whip, funny and fiercely loyal, she sees the extraordinary in the everyday and the wonder in the world around her.
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Shiverton Hall by Emerald Fennell (Bloomsbury)
Shiverton Hall follows the fate of a boy unexpectedly accepted into a cursed school – a perhaps timely move, considering his the terrible experiences at his previous school.
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The Skull in the Wood by Sandra Greaves (Chicken House)
In Old Scratch Wood on Dartmoor, quarrelling cousins Matt and Tilda find a buried skull. And from that moment black things begin to happen. Birds and animals turn bad, and there are rumours of the return of an ancient curse known as the gabbleratchet. But what can Matt and Tilda do to stop it?
Read Sandra Greaves' top 10 ghost stories
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell (Faber and Faber)
Everyone thinks that Sophie is an orphan. True, there were no other recorded female survivors from the shipwreck which left baby Sophie floating in the English Channel in a cello case, but Sophie remembers seeing her mother wave for help. Her guardian tells her it is almost impossible that her mother is still alive, but that means still possible. You should never ignore a possible.
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Discover Katherine Rundell's top 10 descriptions of food in fiction
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The Last Wild by Piers Torday (Quercus)
This is a story about a boy named Kester. He is extraordinary, but he doesn't know it yet. All he knows, at this very moment, is that there's a flock of excited pigeons in his bedroom, they are talking to him, and his life will never be quite the same again. A captivating animal adventure destined to be loved by readers of all ages.
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Best Book for Teens:
The Bone Dragon by Alexia Casale (Faber and Faber)
This subtly unsettling novel is told from the viewpoint of a fourteen-year-old girl damaged by a past she can't talk about, in a hypnotic narrative that, while giving increasing insight, also becomes increasingly unreliable.
Read author Linda Buckley-Archer's review
Butter by Erin Lange (Faber and Faber)
Butter, written by news producer Erin Lange, sees a bullied overweight boy set out to eat himself live on the internet.
If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch (Indigo)
What happens in the woods, stays in the woods. Carey is keeping a terrible secret. If she tells, it could destroy her future. If she doesn't, will she ever be free?
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Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O'Porter (Hot Key Books)
The story of an unlikely friendship between two girls from dysfunctional families.
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Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys (Puffin)
It's 1950 and the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie Moraine wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.
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Geek Girl by Holly Smale (HarperCollins Children's Books)
Geek Girl is the witty fictionalised account of author and former model Holly Smale's clumsy attempt at making it in the modelling world.
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Best Picture Book:
Open Very Carefully by Nick Bromley and Nicola O'Byrne (Nosy Crow)
A snappy reworking of children's classic The Ugly Duckling.
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Harold Finds a Voice by Courtney Dicmas (Child's Play International)
A Parisian parrot seeks his own sound.
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Weasels by Elys Dolan (Nosy Crow)
Weasels plot world domination! There's always a new joke to find in the weasel-infested machines, maps and laboratories of this picture book marvel.
Weasels shortlisted for Roald Dahl Funny Prize
Penguin in Peril by Helen Hancocks (Templar)
Crafty cats kidnap a penguin.
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Time for Bed, Fred! by Yasmeen Ismail (Bloomsbury)
A dog does his best to evade bedtime.
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The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water by Gemma Merino (Macmillan Children's Books)
A confused crocodile discovers why he is different.
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