The best young adult fiction this autumn

Sixteen-year-old Romy Silvers is the only surviving crew member on a spaceship tasked with colonising Earth II in Lauren James’s Loneliest Girl in the Universe (Walker Books, £7.99). Hurtling through space towards an uncertain future, completely alone, Romy is struggling to keep herself together. With a time-lapse of several years, meaningful communication with Earth is impossible, so when she starts to receive reports from a relief ship rapidly converging on hers, Romy allows herself to hope. As the second ship approaches, however, it becomes clear not everything is as it seems. This is a tense psychological thriller that will suck you into the claustrophobic interior of Romy’s ship and leave you gasping for air.