Children's books: Difficult friends

Sixteen-year-old Prince Jared has barely ascended to the throne of Archenfield when his cousin Axel lays plans to usurp him. With the threat of war from neighbouring Paddenburg, Jared badly needs to make alliances, both at home and abroad. But will Jared or Axel secure the most support - and which of their "friends" can they trust?

A Conspiracy of Princes (Atom, £7.99) is the second in Justin Somper's Allies & Assassins series and cleverly combines grand fantasy (much hand-to-hand fighting; some slicing-off of body parts but no nasty faux Tolkien) with twisty political thriller, giving the feel of a Shakespearean history play. Age 11 up.

Family relationships and friendships are sensitively explored in Tangled Secrets by Anne-Marie Conway (Usborne, 6.99). Maddie was a chatterbox until, one day, her Gran had a stroke during their shopping expedition. Since then, Maddie has been unable to open up to anyone. Her mother's attention is focused on Maddie's disabled brother; her father is distracted by a mysterious "Sharon". Maddie's best friend - and worst enemy - are hiding something, too. But the tangled secrets are unravelled in a most surprising way. Age 11 up.

Being a teenager is hard enough without having a difficult best friend who is also a superhero, whose special powers are flying and generating fire, while your special powers are to take care of her homework and lie about the scorch marks on your duvet. She's thinking of calling herself Flamegirl.