To begin with, everyone is embarrassed when Stargirl, formerly Susan, serenades pupils on their birthdays, gives out presents to everyone and fools about in her position as cheerleader. But the grudging acceptance she wins turns to hate when she commits the terrible crime of cheering on opposing football sides .Even stargirl-struck Leo, who narrates this story, eventually betrays her. After a climactic school dance, where this impossibly nice child briefly wins back friends, she disappears forever following a moment of cruel humiliation. This book has taken America by storm; readers here may feel more sceptical about a heroine so intent on wrong-footing others, even for the best of motives. But it is a good, involving story, and the fact that Sarah Ferguson is reported to have chosen it for her daughters at a bookshop signing in California should not stand against it.Ted van Lieshout’s Brothers (CollinsFlamingo, £4.99) has been excellently translated from the Dutch by Lance Salway.

A 14-year-old boy keeps a diary while he is dying of an incurable disease. The diary is taken over by his older brother, who adds his own annotations, including the fact that both boys have come to realise they are gay. So far, so glum, but this is no mere exercise in Northern European guilt. Like Aidan Chambers, the author talks directly to teenagers about matters that interest them, but which surrounding adults still find problematic.This novel is one of a brave new imprint featuring cutting-edge fiction for young adults. It would be a pity if books like this could not find a place in schools, for example during those discussions about citizenship deemed compulsory in the National Curriculum.

Much praised in Holland and Germany, this story is sensitively written, while never talking down to its readers.Terence Blacker is more often associated with writing for young children, but The Angel Factory (Macmillan, £9.99;) is a fine story for older readers, as persuasively paranoid as any teenager’s worst fantasies. Tom discovers not only that he is adopted but that the parents who took him in are not even human. They are from another planet, sent to earth to teach some sense to its inhabitants. But attempts to get Tom on board this scheme fail when he discovers that his best friend has always been one of Them.

The case for preferring erring humanity to peace-loving robots is well put: well-written and pacey, this is a story that just has to be finished.Catherine Fisher’s The Margrave (Red Fox, £3.99) is the fourth and last part of her superb Book of the Crow sequence. Each story can also be read on its own, with this one coming to a shattering climax. Raffi and his grim master Galen continue to rid the land of the evil Watchers, who are the henchmen of the Margrave, the fount of all wickedness But when Raffi meets this figure, he finds him sympathetic. Will getting rid of him really make everything better? Read on – you won’t regret it.Anne Fine, the new Children’s Laureate, gives her many fans something nice to be getting on with in Very Different (Puffin, £4.99), a collection of short stories. Familiar themes include the teenage boy who wins an embroidery contest to the agony of his macho father, and a range of typical Fine families, where everyone lives in a state of exasperated affection.

There is also a genuinely frightening ghost and, as always, plenty of extremely good jokes.. If asked to name a Muslim country, it’s unlikely that Hungary would be the first to spring to mind. Travellers’ Guide
Getting there: British Airways (0845 77 333 777, www.britishairways ) flies three times a day from Heathrow to Budapest, Malev (020-7439 0577, www.malev.hu) twice a day; Malev flies from Gatwick and Manchester. Getting around: Sarah Smith paid £184 for a week’s car hire, Holiday Autos (0870 400 4400).