The Street Where Santa Lives by Harriet Howe and Julia Christians, Little Tiger, £12.99
When an old man moves in on a busy street, only his little neighbour notices; with his white beard and round belly, she’s convinced he’s Santa. But when Santa falls ill, other neighbours must rally round to take care of him. Will he be better in time for Christmas? This sweet, funny, acutely observed picture book is a festive, joyous celebration of community.

I Am Wishing Every Minute for Christmas by Lauren Child, S&S, £12.99
Twenty-five years after their first appearance, this delightful, engaging new Charlie and Lola picture book is filled with Lola’s excited impatience as she and her big brother get everything ready for Christmas.

The House With the Little Red Door by Grace Easton, Thames & Hudson, £14.99
Olivia is lonely in her house; Mouse is lonely in his oak tree. When Mouse’s tree falls, Olivia does her best to find him a new home – but none of them is quite right, until she welcomes him into her own. A beautiful, touching picture book, featuring intricate lift-the-flap details and endearing characters.

Sketch by Jacques Goldstyn, translated by Helen Mixter, Greystone Kids, £12.99
Scribbly, lively Sketch has stood out since he was born, a creative firecracker who’s different from his orderly peers. Despite support from his parents and art teacher, he feels isolated, especially at high school – but when he meets other brilliant anomalies, he realises they’re essential to the world in this playful, original 6+ picture-book paean to inspiration and the unconventional.

The Tomorrow Tree: How Nature Creates New Life from Old by Maciej Michno and Danio Miserocchi, illustrated by Valentina Gottardi, Phaidon, £16.95
This involving, lyrical and informative nonfiction book investigates the second lives of fallen trees, providing shelter, nourishment and play for beetles, ants, mosses, lichen, lynxes and wolf cubs. With fascinating illustrations, it’s perfect for budding naturalists of 6+.

The Diary of Wiska Wildflower: The New School by Harriet Muncaster, Oxford, £7.99
When Wiska starts at Inkcap’s Academy, Cleobelle and Primrose seem friendly at first, but do they just want to exploit Wiska’s talents? This absorbing full-colour 6+ diary adventure features fairy-like Wisklings navigating change and friendship dilemmas in an addictive new series from the author of Isadora Moon.

Wild Journey by AM Dassu, illustrated by Joe Lillington, Zephyr, £12
Illustrated in striking black and orange, these stirring, evocative 7+ adventure stories – of getting lost in the desert, overcoming sibling jealousy, helping a wolf cub, starting a new school and more – are interconnected by the symbol of starling migrations.

Time Lions and the Chrono-Loop by Martin Seneviratne and Krystal Sutherland, Bonnier, £7.99
When genius 12-year-old twins Pearl and Patrick build a time machine, they fall foul of TIME (The Interdimensional Misconduct Enquiry) by upsetting the course of history – but their unique skill set is soon needed to undo greater chronological wrongs. Part Spy Kids, part Artemis Fowl, this fast-paced 9+ romp boasts sensitive, thoughtful character development.

Swanfall by Sophie Kirtley, Bloomsbury, £7.99
Pip loves the birds on the wetlands around his cottage, especially the Arctic swans that return every winter. This year, though, something is different, as Pip finds a strange book and hears mysterious whispers that lead him to new friends and the discovery of an ancient curse. This snowy, atmospheric revisiting of the Children of Lir is an utterly absorbing 8+ fantasy.

The Horse Dreamer by Holly Surplice, Chicken House, £12.99
Merryn’s family are suffering after the loss of Dad – but when a great storm leaves behind the makings of a driftwood and seaweed horse, Merryn finds a new friend, who helps her rediscover joy and healing. Tender and poignant, with dynamic blue-and-white illustrations, it’s a gorgeous, hopeful story for 9+.

Avalanche by Simon Fox, Nosy Crow, £7.99
Tom is annoyed to be stuck in a chalet on “holiday” with his mum – all she does is focus on her job as head of security for an eminent scientist. But when kidnappers trigger an avalanche trying to seize some deadly technology, it’s up to Tom and his new friend Emily to stop them in this high-octane action thriller, ideal for 9+ Robert Muchamore fans.

Ask Me Anything by Bethany Rutter, Hot Key, £8.99
As the agony aunt on her university magazine, Mary-Elizabeth’s relationship advice is spot-on; she just has a blind spot herself when it comes to Felix Balfour, superficially charming editor and indefensible posh-boy crush. Meanwhile, gruff, bossy Laurie, who works on the more prestigious sister newspaper, is nothing but a nuisance – until things start going wrong with Felix, and Laurie’s there to provide consolation in this warm, witty, sprightly YA romcom.

Roar by Manjeet Mann, Penguin, £9.99
When Rizu is uprooted from her privileged, gated suburban life in Delhi by an accusation of witchcraft, she runs away to join a group of vigilantes in pink saris, seeking justice for acts of misogynist violence no one else cares enough to challenge. But what will Rizu’s quest for vengeance cost her? A powerful, rage-filled 14+ verse novel by a Costa-winning author.

The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer, Faber, £8.99
Although she comes from a long line of witches, Mallory Fontaine is a fraud – her only magic is the ability to see ghosts, which she capitalises on as an “expert” on the murders of Count Bastien Saphir, AKA the notorious Monsieur Le Bleu. When a new murder happens, however, Mallory is swept up in the investigation, with potentially deadly consequences – and a developing attraction to the count’s descendant Armand in this sinister, richly romantic YA Bluebeard retelling.

Girls Who Play Dead by Joelle Wellington, HarperCollins, £8.99
When Kyla’s best friend, Erin, is murdered, her brother Mikky returns to their small town to support her. But as she spirals deeper into fury and secret-keeping, brother and sister are drawn deep into the dark mysteries of the town’s flagship beauty industry. A gripping, punchy YA thriller, ideal for fans of Holly Jackson.

The Butterfly House by Harry Woodgate, Andersen, £12.99
Miss Brown’s wild garden scares most people, but when Holly discovers her reclusive neighbour’s sadness, she decides to help turn the wilderness into a butterfly haven. A beautiful, moving picture book about the healing power of gardens and community.

The History of We by Nikkolas Smith, Rock the Boat, £8.99
Via rich, dynamic paintings and thoughtful pared-back text, Smith answers the question “What does the beginning look like?” with this powerful picture book, the shared story of humanity’s first ancestors in “the fertile cradle of Africa”.

The Ocean at Night by Isabelle Simler, translated by Michele Hutchison, Pushkin, £12.99
For 5+, this stunning nighttime picture book is layered with iridescent detail, from sharp-beaked gannets to parrotfish in protective mucus spheres. There’s simple text at the top for new readers and more complex information at the bottom.

Cabin Head and Tree Head by Scott Campbell, DK, £12
Best friends Cabin Head and Tree Head love having adventures together, from painting portraits to hide-and-seek. There’s no challenge they can’t weather, even a disastrous haircut, in this entrancingly surreal, child-friendly 5+ graphic novel.

Harriet Tubman, Force of Nature by Caroline Brewer, What on Earth Books, £14.99
A soaring verse biography of the heroic abolitionist with superb collaged illustrations, ideal for sharing with children of 7+.

Mystery Gamebooks: Werewolf Wood by Lan Cook, illustrated by Jared MacPherson, Usborne, £9.99
As you arrive at Grandma’s house in the woods, a sinister adventure awaits you in this taut, pleasantly chilling interactive 7+ gamebook.

Dead Yard: Seeds of Doom by PJ Killburn, illustrated by Markia Jenia, Little Tiger, £7.99
When Jermaine steals a patty at his great-uncle Carl’s Dead Yard remembrance service, he doesn’t realise eating it before midnight will stop his irate relative’s ghost passing on. Worse, the neighbourhood kids have started getting ill, reminding Jermaine of his great-gran’s spooky Jamaican stories. Can he figure out how to save his friends and set Carl’s spirit free? A funny-scary, atmospheric 8+ adventure laced with Caribbean folklore and tradition.

Small Wonder by Ross Montgomery, Walker, £7.99
Tick’s grandfather taught him everything about caring for himself, his little brother Leaf, and Pebble, their magnificent horse. Now enemies have invaded, Grandfather is no longer with them, and Tick must get himself and Leaf to safety in Kings’ Keep, surviving hunger, bandits and a deadly pursuer, in this thrilling, full-tilt adventure from the author of I Am Rebel.

The Girl Who Raced the World by Nat Harrison, Bonnier, £12.99
Losing her beloved mother, Maggie is left adrift in London with only a letter addressed to “Passepartout” for guidance. But Passepartout is employed by Mr Phileas Fogg, who has just accepted a wager to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days – and attempting to deliver the letter will precipitate Maggie into an impossible race against time. This warm-hearted, exciting 9+ debut revisits Jules Verne’s classic from a delightful new perspective.

The Last Bard by Maz Evans, Chicken House, £12.99
Clearing out his grandfather’s seaside flat isn’t exactly a relaxing holiday for Will Davenant. When he inherits his grandfather’s Complete Works of Shakespeare, however, he finds unexpected help inside – four lively Shakespearean characters, ready to help Will, his mum and his new friends take charge of their own stories. Funny, energetic and moving, this 9+ standalone from the author of Who Let the Gods Out? encourages hope and resilience, even in the toughest times.

Witchlore by Emma Hinds, Usborne, £8.99
Shapeshifter Orlando is shunned at Demdike College of Witchcraft; not only do they have no control over their shifts between male and female forms, but they were responsible for their girlfriend’s death. When charismatic new boy Bastian arrives, offering the dangerous possibility of a resurrection spell, Orlando is all too easy to persuade. But who is Bastian, and what are his hidden intentions? Witty, mordant and original, this queer urban YA fantasy will appeal to fans of Holly Black.

And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun, Rock the Boat, £9.99
Sisters Mirae and Soojin share an ancestral magic: the ability to bring creatures back from the dead, though they must never resurrect anything larger than a hand. When Mirae is found drowned, Soojin can’t help but break the rules. But as unexplained deaths sweep their small town, Soojin must ask: is the sister she resurrected the same as the one she lost? This unsettling, poetic YA horror is full of fury, grief, love and hard-won acceptance.

Gladiator, Goddess by Morgan H Owen, Simon & Schuster, £16.99
Pompeiian Gia dreams of being a fighter like her brothers, but there’s no such thing as a female gladiator – until Gia catches the eye of Claudia, the emperor’s daughter, and begins winning fights in the arena. As the girls’ feelings intensify, can they survive a conspiracy against the empire – and the destiny the goddesses have in store? A bold, bloody, riotous sapphic romantasy.

Thirst by Darren Simpson, Pushkin, £9.99
In the prosperous village of Maimsbury, everyone accepts that a farm animal drowned in the river buys a year’s prosperity. Until a Brim Year brings greater riches, and demands a greater sacrifice … This creepy, compelling YA folk horror boasts a transporting sense of ritual and place.

A Totally Big Umbrella by Sarah Crossan, illustrated by Rebecca Cobb, Walker, £12.99
Rain ruins all Tallulah’s favourite things until she finds a really huge umbrella – but it’s so big it holds her back. Could there be worse things than getting wet? Enchanting and imaginative, this gentle, playful picture book addresses an anxious child’s need to find control.

The Elephant and the Piano by Colette Hiller, illustrated by Nabila Adani, Magic Cat, £7.99
Short-tempered and destructive, Bonti the elephant is all alone – until the music of a piano reaches him. A luminous, touching picture book, based on a true story.

My Sister Is a Treasure by Tracy Darnton, illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail, Simon & Schuster, £7.99
A little girl ponders the different nicknames her family give her baby sister in this exuberant, joyous picture book celebration of sibling relationships.

On the Streets of Paris by Clémentine Beauvais and Seula Yi, Big Picture Press, £14.99
Lyrical, fascinating and gorgeously illustrated, this “poetic tour of Paris” for 6+ distils the French capital’s glamour, history and hidden secrets into brief, memorable verses.

Ivy and Bearlock Holmes: The Case of the Missing Flower by Kristyna Litten, Magic Cat, £9.99
Oh no! The rare Agave flower has been stolen from the Bearona botanic gardens; 5+ readers with an interest in detective stories and nature will enjoy helping Ivy and her grandpa solve the case in this absorbing, beautifully designed puzzle book.

Luna Grace: Girl from Outer Space by Julie Sykes, illustrated by Emily Jones, Piccadilly, £7.99
When Luna Grace’s family arrives on Earth from the planet Starbright, she’s keen to fit in – but her colour-changing hair and telekinetic powers make her stand out in this charming, colourfully illustrated new 5+ series about self-acceptance and managing emotions.

The Superhero’s First Aid Manual by Dr Punam Krishan, illustrated by Hannah Li, DK, £12.99
An invaluable resource for readers of 7+, this bright, calming, straightforwardly accessible guide details exactly what to do in accident and emergency situations.

The Unexplained: Ghosts by Adam Allsuch Boardman, Flying Eye, £10.99
Marrying bold graphic illustrations and intriguing pared-back text, this collection of hauntings from different countries, cultures and historical periods will enthral ghost enthusiasts of 8+.

The Unfamous Diaries of Daisy Brewster: The Frenemies by Jenny Valentine, illustrated by Hannah McCaffery, Simon & Schuster, £7.99
Daisy Brewster hopes to win a lead role in her drama club’s next production – but when her annoying cousin Maxxy, an actual TV star, pays an unexpected visit, will she crush all Daisy’s dreams? A witty, engaging diary-format story about family, ambition and the pitfalls of fame, ideal for 8+ fans of Dork Diaries.

Spirit Warriors by Ashley Thorpe, Usborne, £7.99
When Evie’s magical island home is ravaged by evil ghouls, her best friend Arthur’s soul is swapped into a cat’s body. Now Evie and Arthur must team up with apprentice shaman Cai to switch their bodies back – and prevent the evil Blackheart Man destroying the barrier between the living and the dead. A compulsively readable 9+ fantasy adventure, richly laced with Jamaican folklore and genuine terror.

Gloam by Jack Mackay, illustrated by Ben Joel Price, Rock the Boat, £7.99
Gwen’s used to looking after her younger siblings – so when they move to their grandmother’s old house after their mother’s death, she’s confident that they don’t need Esme Laverne, the new babysitter. But as Esme’s powers slowly reveal themselves, the children must face their own fears to have any hope of banishing the monstrous intruder … A superbly unsettling 9+ horror.

A Murder of Rogues by Joe Heap, illustrated by Max Marin, Scholastic, £8.99
In Regency England, Cascabel Gray wants more freedom than girls are allowed; disguising herself as a boy, she enrols at an Oxford college, intending to study medicine. But it’s not long until she receives a letter threatening exposure, and when her blackmailer is found dead, she swiftly becomes a murder suspect in this utterly absorbing YA novel, compellingly blending historical mystery and queer romance.

Bury Your Friends by Benjamin Dean, Simon & Schuster, £8.99
Graduating from the exclusive Woodthorn Academy, Noah and his friends arrive at the Black Stone estate expecting a spectacular party – only to discover that they’ve been locked in. They must now choose one of their number to evict every hour, sacrificing them to the murderer who’s controlling all the doors. Otherwise the killer will enter the building … This twisty, blackly comic YA thriller is both an addictively gory pageturner and a scathing look at “nepo baby” privilege.

Not Going to Plan by Tia Fisher, Hot Key, £8.99
Expelled from her previous school, Marnie finds herself sitting next to social pariah Zed, whose gifts for maths and physics might help her through her GCSEs while she coaches him in Spanish. But when Marnie has sex with a boy who lied to her about wearing a condom, can the thin beginnings of her friendship with Zed stand up to the fallout? Told from two perspectives, this poignant, powerful, often hilarious 14+ verse novel asks questions about respect, consent and how to hold it together when the plan falls apart.

Torchfire by Moira Buffini, Faber, £8.99
In a world divided by attitudes to songlight (or telepathy), tensions between the Aylish, who accept it, and the Brightlanders, who abominate it, have never been higher. Now the Teroans have entered the fray, telepaths (Torches) who hold ordinary humans in contempt. Who will win control of humanity’s future – those with songlight, or without? Buffini continues to enthral in the second volume of her hugely ambitious dystopian YA trilogy, interweaving multiple perspectives with effortless assurance and unforgettable impact.

The narrator of American nonfiction author Michael Clune’s first novel is the 15-year-old Nicholas, who lives with his father in a housing development so cheap and deracinated it inspires existential terror. It’s a place exposed to “the raw death of the endless future, which at night in the midwest in winter is sometimes bare inches above the roofs”. Just as frightening is Nicholas’s sense that “anything can come in”. One day in January, what comes into Nicholas is the god Pan – a possessing, deranging, life-threatening spirit. Or that, anyhow, is how Nicholas comes to interpret his increasingly disabling anxiety.

Pan is remarkable for the honesty of its treatment of both mental illness and adolescence. It shows more successfully than any other book I’ve read how these can be experienced as black magic – indeed, it allows that they might be black magic. Nicholas successfully prophesies trivial events (the wind rising, someone saying the word “diabetes”) and is haunted by a dead mouse’s squeak. Another boy finds a means of divination in a schlock fantasy novel. Even the pop anthem More Than a Feeling is a path to the uncanny; it’s a song with “a door in the middle of it … like the door on a UFO”. Nicholas becomes convinced that he is perpetually at risk of leaving his body – specifically, that his “looking/thinking could pour or leap out” of his head – and his friends, also being 15 years old, are ready to believe it, too. They are easy prey for Ian, a college-age man who sets himself up as a small-time cult leader among these high-school kids. Ian particularly targets Nicholas, telling him that only they are capable of real thoughts; the others in the group are “Hollows” who have “Solid Mind”, a deterministic mentality with no animating self. “The sound of words from a Hollow mouth,” says Ian, “contains an abyss.” Soon the group is staging rituals incorporating sex, drugs and animal sacrifice.

Meanwhile, Nicholas loses his ability to sleep and spirals toward psychosis. Clune is brilliant on the loss of control and exaggeration of terror that follows. Falling out of your face can be transcendence, but can also represent extinction. When Nicholas sees a black-and-white photograph of a group of long-dead priests, he reflects: “Now they’d all stepped out of their faces … The faces hung there like rows of empty sneakers in a shop window. The priests had stepped out.” At his hardware-store job, Nicholas sees the racks of garden tools and realises, “These are animals too … These are the husks, the waiting bodies, the body traps of animals.” He knows that if he stares at the hand spades and rotary tillers long enough, he can inhabit them; even household objects now have a door in the middle of them. Nicholas’s reality becomes fluid. Among his friends, he becomes the object of semi‑religious, semi-voyeuristic fascination. What is truly remarkable here is that the extravagance feels meticulously true to a certain state of altered consciousness. I doubt that anyone has had Nicholas’s exact experiences, or even ones that resemble them in obvious ways. Still, anyone who has experienced mental illness – and many who have just been 15 years old – will find even Clune’s most phantasmagoric pages uncannily familiar.

There are trade-offs to fiction that strives to be honest. Here, one is that the other characters never fully become people. They’re external experiences that inform the way Nicholas relates to his own mind, and it’s often very credible that they are “Hollows” with no real consciousness. This may be a truthful depiction of the isolation characteristic of extreme mental states. It also means the story is unrelentingly solipsistic. The plot centres on inner epiphanies. While these present themselves as life-saving answers, they all turn out to be brief respites, some evanescing so quickly that they’re forgotten seconds later. It’s no surprise that Sisyphus appears as a reference here. This is certainly true both of coping with mental illness and surviving adolescence. It also risks making the reader feel as if we’re going nowhere.

But this is not really to criticise the book: it’s just to say what it is and isn’t. A reader who approaches Pan expecting the usual rewards of a coming-of-age story will be sorely disappointed. It offers not answers but visions; not growth but lambent revelation; not closure but openings. “Good writing,” Nicholas tells us, is “the careful, painstaking replacement of each part of this world with a part that [looks] the same, but [is] deeper, more mysterious, richer.” This feels like a fair description of Clune’s own process, with the proviso that he is not replacing but supplementing; not substituting for reality, but adding to it. Nicholas ends his inner journey without arriving at the cure he has been pursuing. But when we close the book, we find ourselves in a larger world.

Pan by Michael Clune is published by Fern Press (£16.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

I’m Going to Make a Friend by Darren Chetty, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat, Little Tiger, £12.99
When a child moves home, it can be hard to meet potential new pals. Perhaps it’s best to make a friend from what’s to hand? This warm, witty picture book is perfect for prompting chats about friendship.

So Devin Wore a Skirt by Shireen Lalji and Lucy Fleming, Frances Lincoln, £7.99
Devin has nothing special to wear for his Nanabapa’s big birthday until he spots his sister’s shimmery blue skirt. At first he hides it under layers of disguise, but when he finally reveals the skirt, it’s Nanabapa who takes Devin for a twirl on the dancefloor in this gentle, adorable picture book about acceptance.

Our Pebbles by Jarvis, Walker, £12.99
A colourful, almost tangibly joyful picture book about a boy, his grandad and their days on the beach, painting pebbles to mark treasured memories.

Ava Spark: Hello, I’m Here! by Alex Field, illustrated by Joanna Bartel, New Frontier, £8.99
Ava uses a communication aid to speak, but her friends understand her brilliantly. When she is asked to look after the new Australian girl at school, it’s a big responsibility, but Ava pulls it off with panache in this sweet, inclusive story for 6+.

The Lucky House Detective Agency by Scarlett Li, illustrated by Sian James, Knights Of, £7.99
Felix loves solving mysteries with Isaac, his best friend. When Felix’s family takeaway business has a run of misfortune, the newly formed Lucky House Detective Agency is determined to figure out why in this gentle, highly illustrated 7+ crime caper.

Choose Your Own Evolution by Jules Howard and Gordy Wright, Nosy Crow, £14.99
This original, hugely engaging 7+ take on choose your own adventure books allows the reader to decide their own evolutionary journey, choosing legs, slime or backbones, land or sea, until they either become extinct, like megalodon, or reach the present day as a survivor, like chicken or woodlice. A thrilling blend of story and science.

The Lost Book of Undersea Adventure by Teddy Keen, Frances Lincoln, £14.99
The third instalment of the Unseen Adventurer’s journals – breathtakingly illustrated journeys into wild nature – features a quest for the Bajau sea nomads, an exploration of some of the world’s remotest, richest marine environments, and a dangerous battle with the unscrupulous people who despoil them. Heartbreaking and hopeful, this is a book to get rapturously lost in; a must for wildlife and adventure lovers of 8+.

Nate Yu’s Blast from the Past by Maisie Chan, Templar, £7.99
Moving to the big city is hard for Nate, especially fitting in at his new school – and his mums want him to embrace his heritage, but Nate can’t even speak Chinese. When he comes across a shell casing engraved with a dragon, he summons a ghost who needs Nate’s help as much as Nate needs his. A funny, heartfelt 8+ story about figuring out your place in the world.

Riverskin by Mike Edwards, Walker, £7.99
Tess lives beneath the River Tees, with her Aunt Peg and her terrifying Unkle Darkwater, but when Aunt Peg’s mind begins to slip, Tess must find safety elsewhere, making friends with “dry-folk” and discovering the truth of her origins as she does so. Written in a rich, sometimes challenging narrative voice, shaped by Teesside dialect and filled with punchy, poetic coinages, this atmospheric 9+ debut brings local legend into the everyday.

Heir of Storms by Lauryn Hamilton Murray, Penguin, £9.99
Born into a famous fire-wielding family, misfit Blaze almost drowned the world with the storm she raised at birth. Now she and her twin Flint must compete in the Choosing Rite, determining the next rulers of the Empire – could the throne, and a royal suitor, fall within Blaze’s reach? Satisfying world-building, high-stakes magical trials and slow-burn, twisty romance combine in this addictive YA romantasy.

Augmented by Kenechi Udogu, Faber, £8.99
In a climate-changed near-future London, 16-year-olds have their strongest talent artificially augmented, helping to ensure humanity’s continued survival. Gifted coder Akaego has recently transferred to a music academy – her voice makes plants grow faster, marking her out as a rare potential Mechsim – but the rebel Freestakers warn her that her powerful ability may be put to deadly use. Udogu’s debut is a believable, evocative and compelling teen eco-thriller.

The Sleepless by Jen Williams, First Ink, £16.99
Elver was saved from death by the bite of a god, but now her skin poisons anyone she touches; Artair shares his body with Lucian, a malign spirit who takes control while Artair sleeps. When Artair is sent on a mission that Elver is determined to thwart, the three of them are drawn into a web of deceitful alliances, furious gods and dangerous magic in this compulsively readable and original YA fantasy.

We Are Your Children by David Roberts, Two Hoots, £25
Bold, bright and instantly accessible, this illustrated history of LGBTQ+ activism in the US and UK is wide-ranging yet intimate. Detailing key moments, including the Stonewall uprising, the first Pride rally and the passing of Section 28, and sharing the stories of famous figures like Harvey Milk, Marsha P Johnson and Alan Turing alongside those of less well-known activists, it’s resplendent, tragic, essential reading for 14+.