In Broken Hearts and Zombie Parts by William Hussey (Usborne, £8.99) we meet Jesse Spark, unlucky in love, awaiting open heart surgery and, most importantly, trying to finish making his very own zombie movie. Both hilarious and touching, the book is unafraid to tackle all the big issues affecting teen boys, from body image and sexuality to dysfunctional family conventions and the meaning of friendship, and Hussey manages to present them all with a lightness and relatable accessibility. With instantly quotable dialogue, scenes that will make you laugh, cringe and cry and a story that never loses pace or its sense of fun, this is an absolute joy from start to finish.

From zombies to werewolves, SJ Wills’ Bite Risk (Simon & Schuster, £7.99) takes us on a thrilling adventure, with breathless action, sinister antagonists and families trying to navigate the frightening reality of an outbreak of full moon horror. When the adults of a small, seemingly ordinary town begin transforming into werewolves during the peak of the lunar cycle, it’s up to the young residents to confine their family members and keep everyone, including themselves, safe… but for how long? When “the turned” begin escaping, young Sel Archer and his friends are forced to find out who is setting the adults loose, and why. A spooky antidote to the typical summer read, Bite Risk moves at breakneck speed, piles on the chills and doesn’t shy away from some very grisly set pieces.

A summer reading menu wouldn’t be complete without a murder mystery, and Katie Cotugno’s Liar’s Beach (Penguin, £8.99) doesn’t disappoint. Taking inspiration from Agatha Christie’s debut The Mysterious Affair at Styles, it transports us to the wealth and privilege of Martha’s Vineyard, where a beachside holiday is about to take a twisty turn into scandal, suspense and, ultimately, murder. Michael Linden couldn’t feel more out of place among his affluent and entitled prep school friends, but when his roommate Jasper invites him along to his summer house for the end of the holiday season he becomes embroiled in a web of lies, deception and misdirection. Then in steps Michael’s childhood friend Holiday Proctor (our sassy teen Hercule Poirot), to unravel the mystery and expose what’s really going on. A poolside romp that will keep you guessing until the final pages.

As Long As We’re Together by Briana Peppins (Scholastic, £16.99) shows us that hope can often be found in the most unlikely places. Having lost her parents in a car accident, Novah is left with six siblings, trying to navigate grief, loss, social services and her own sexuality. Peppins takes us on an emotional rollercoaster ride as this family of siblings, under the care of Novah, try to remain “normal” in a world destined to throw complication after complication at them. A beautifully tender exploration of what it means to be a family.

Marrying espionage with international pop stardom, Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu (Penguin, £14.99) is a wild joyride of unlikely pairings and impossible missions. In a departure from her usual sci-fi/fantasy writing, Lu takes us deep into the worlds of both covert ops and pop music, with hilarious and action-packed consequences. Sydney Cossette, a 19-year-old spy, is teamed up with smarmy pop star Winter Young for a special, top secret mission: infiltrate a rich tycoon’s criminal empire and take him down from the inside. What could possibly go wrong? Cue witty quips, explosions and a perhaps even romance – Stars and Smoke is a fun, popcorn-munching teen adventure that you’ll struggle to put down.

Annaliese Avery’s The Immortal Games (Scholastic, £8.99) offers up a slice of explosive fantasy inspired by Greek mythology. To bring in the lunar eclipse, the Immortal Games are held by the Gods of Olympus, with humans selected as their “tokens” to compete for the ultimate prize. Seventeen-year-old Ara is desperate to be chosen, so she can exact revenge on the Gods for the death of her sister in a previous game, but her rage and desire for vengeance puts her own life at risk. Playfully weaving what we think we know about Greek mythology together with more than a few surprises (Hades, likeable?), Avery’s writing is brisk and captivating, guaranteed to thrill, shock and delight.

Liam McCallum is reading schools project manager at Scottish Book Trust

The Best Summer Reads for Young Adults