Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Amal is a 16-year-old Melbourne teen with all the usual obsessions about boys, chocolate and Cosmo magazine. She's also a Muslim, struggling to honour the Islamic faith in a society that doesn't understand it. And now she’s decided to commit to wearing a hijab, everyone around her seems to have questions.

Themes: Islam, hijab, coming of age, Australia, friendship

Secrets of the Henna Girl by Sufiya Ahmed

Zeba Khan is like any other sixteen-year-old girl: enjoying herself, waiting for exam results... and dreaming of the day she'll meet her one true love. Except her parents have other plans. In Pakistan for the summer, Zeba's future is threatened by an unthinkable - and forced - duty to protect her father's honour.

Themes: Islam, Pakistan, family, arranged marriage

The Marvelous Mirza Girls by Sheba Karim

To cure her post-senior year slump, made worse by the loss of her aunt Sonia, Noreen decides to follow her mom on a gap year trip to New Delhi, hoping India can lessen her grief and bring her voice back. In the world’s most polluted city, Noreen soon meets kind, handsome Kabir...

Themes: family, relationships, coming of age, India

To cure her post-senior year slump, made worse by the loss of her aunt Sonia, Noreen decides to follow her mom on a gap year trip to New Delhi, hoping India can lessen her grief and bring her voice back. In the world’s most polluted city, Noreen soon meets kind, handsome Kabir...

Themes: family, relationships, coming of age, India

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge

On the Island of Lady's Crave live 14-year-old urchins Hark and his best friend Jelt. They are scavengers: diving for relics of the gods, desperate for anything they can sell. But there is something dangerous in the deep waters of the undersea. When the waves try to claim Jelt, Hark will do anything to save him.

Themes: spirituality, scavengers, island, friendship, peril

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

X has secrets - her feelings for a boy in her bio class, and the notebook full of poems that she keeps under her bed. And a slam poetry club that will pull those secrets into the spotlight. Because in spite of a world that might not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to stay silent.

Themes: verse, identity, religion, family, relationships

Seed by Lisa Heathfield

Pearl has lived her whole life protected within the small community at Seed, where they worship Nature and idolise their leader, Papa S. When some outsiders arrive, everything changes. Pearl experiences feelings that she never knew existed and begins to realise that there is darkness at the heart of Seed.

Themes: cults, spirituality, peril, coming of age

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she is killed in a hit-and-run accident. It is a place very like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backwards from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again.

Themes: spirituality, paranormal, fantasy, grief

Out of the Blue by Sophie Cameron

When angels start falling from the sky, it seems like the world is ending. But for Jaya the world ended when her mother died, two weeks before the first angel fell. Jaya's father uproots the family to Edinburgh, intent on catching one alive. Then something extraordinary happens: a live angel lands right at Jaya’s feet.

Themes: angels, spirituality, family, grief, guilt

When angels start falling from the sky, it seems like the world is ending. But for Jaya the world ended when her mother died, two weeks before the first angel fell. Jaya's father uproots the family to Edinburgh, intent on catching one alive. Then something extraordinary happens: a live angel lands right at Jaya’s feet.

Themes: angels, spirituality, family, grief, guilt

Rose, Interrupted by Patrice Lawrence

Eighteen months ago, 17-year-old Rose and 13-year-old Rudder escaped a strict religious sect with their mum. They struggle to understand the outside world - no more rules, no more technology bans. But also no more friendship with the people they've known all their lives, no community and no certainty.

Themes: cults, coming of age, family, community, relationships

Killing Honour by Bali Rai

When Sat's sister, Jas, is married off into the Atwal family she changes, she's quiet and distant. But Sat's too busy with his own life; his girlfriend, his friends, football... Then Jas disappears. According to her new husband, she's run off with another man. Her family disown her, but Sat doesn’t believe this to be true.

Themes: honour killing, family, survival, thriller