We may look different you and I,
sound different,
act different,
eat different food,
and live in different places
but when I look into your eyes, I see myself.

A comforting and lyrical book about friendship and ubuntu that celebrates both our differences and similarities.

Also available in isiZulu and Afrikaans.

Peet Rautenbach is Algoa Hoër se hoofseun: hoogs intelligent en met baie talent in musiek, kuns en redenaars. Daar word sewe A's van hom verwag. Daarby is Peet 'n toegewyde, voorbeeldige seun in die oë van sy pastoor-ouers. Maar Peet het 'n swakte: sy obsessie met die blonde onderwyseres Scarlett Rose Reynolds. Dit maak die deur oop vir talle aanslae op hom, en wat hom uiteindelik amper sy lewe kan kos.

From the break-out author of The Gravity of Us comes a heartfelt coming-of-age story about finding your chosen people. Perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli

Marty arrives in London with nothing but his oboe and some savings from his summer job, but he's excited to start his new life--where he's no longer the closeted, shy kid who slips under the radar and is free to explore his sexuality without his parents' disapproval.

From the outside, Marty's life looks like a perfect fantasy: in the span of a few weeks, he's made new friends, he's getting closer with his first ever boyfriend, and he's even traveling around Europe. But Marty knows he can't keep up the facade. He hasn't spoken to his parents since he arrived, he's tearing through his meager savings, his homesickness and anxiety are getting worse and worse, and he hasn't even come close to landing the job of his dreams. Will Marty be able to find a place that feels like home?

Alice doesn't believe in luck, Alice believes in love. Mostly that she's been in love with her best friend, Teddy, for the last three years. When she buys him a lottery ticket for his birthday and he wins 32 million dollars, they are thrown together with the world at their feet. Teddy decides that he will spend his money committing random acts of kindness, and who better to go on that adventure with him than Alice? In the process they get to know themselves and each other better than they ever have before, but money can't buy you love . . . Windfall is a tender and uplifting novel about love, luck, and big life changes, from Jennifer E. Smith.

Multi-award-winning author Brian Conaghan's first book for 10+ readers is a future classic brimming with humour and heart

Even though I found him living in a house made of cardboard, Bruce is a massive legend. FACT. So this mine and Bruce's story. You don't have to believe it happened, but it did. All of it.

Nobody at school can see past Lenny's size to the person within. So when lessons get too tough, Lenny always goes to his bench to think. At least there no one can see him. Then one day, midway through lobbing his empty can of Irn-Bru into the canal he's stopped by Bruce. Bruce lives in a cardboard home hidden away by the banks, and he doesn't approve of kids messing up his front lawn .

But a bumpy start soon gives way to an unexpected friendship - and an epic road trip - that will change both of them for life ...

A bag of chips. That's all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad's pleadings that he's stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad's every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the pavement?

There were witnesses: Quinn - a varsity basketball player and Rashad's classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan - and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his saviour could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team - half of whom are Rashad's best friends - start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before.

The thrilling, shocking and romantic sequel to the bestselling YA debut FLAWED is finally here. When we embrace all our flaws, that’s when we can finally become PERFECT…

Celestine North lives in a society that demands perfection. After she was branded Flawed by a morality court, Celestine's life has completely fractured – all her freedoms gone.

Since Judge Crevan has declared her the number one threat to the public, she has been a ghost, on the run with the complicated, powerfully attractive Carrick, the only person she can trust. But Celestine has a secret – one that could bring the entire Flawed system crumbling to the ground.

Judge Crevan is gaining the upper hand, and time is running out for Celestine. With tensions building, Celestine must make a choice: save only herself, or risk her life to save all the Flawed. And, most important of all, can she prove that to be human in itself is to be Flawed…?

Acclaimed and award-winning author Erin Entrada Kelly's Hello, Universe is a funny and poignant neighborhood story about unexpected friendships.

Told from four intertwining points of view--two boys and two girls--the novel celebrates bravery, being different, and finding your inner bayani (hero). "Readers will be instantly engrossed in this relatable neighborhood adventure and its eclectic cast of misfits."--Booklist

In one day, four lives weave together in unexpected ways. Virgil Salinas is shy and kindhearted and feels out of place in his crazy-about-sports family. Valencia Somerset, who is deaf, is smart, brave, and secretly lonely, and she loves everything about nature. Kaori Tanaka is a self-proclaimed psychic, whose little sister, Gen, is always following her around. And Chet Bullens wishes the weird kids would just stop being so different so he can concentrate on basketball.

They aren't friends, at least not until Chet pulls a prank that traps Virgil and his pet guinea pig at the bottom of a well. This disaster leads Kaori, Gen, and Valencia on an epic quest to find missing Virgil. Through luck, smarts, bravery, and a little help from the universe, a rescue is performed, a bully is put in his place, and friendship blooms.

The acclaimed author of Blackbird Fly and The Land of Forgotten Girls writes with an authentic, humorous, and irresistible tween voice that will appeal to fans of Thanhha Lai and Rita Williams-Garcia.

A humorous, story-based look at catching a tummy bug.

It’s the Great School Bake Sale today! Tom’s tummy feels a bit funny, but he can’t wait to gobble down some sweet treats. He takes a big bite of a piece of delicious chocolate cake and suddenly feels very sick… Oh no – Tom’s got a tummy bug!

Find out all about some common childhood illnesses in Get Better Soon, from how you catch them to the symptoms, treatment and when you’ll start feeling better. It also tells you how you can avoid getting ill in the first place. For readers aged 5 and up.

The author, Anita Ganeri, is an award-winning author of children’s books, with a particular interest in health and PSHE topics.

The consultant, Dr Kristina Routh, is a fully qualified medical doctor and specialist in public health.

Using the colours of the rainbow to beautifully illustrate different emotions, I’m going to be a BIG BROTHER, helps children understand the range of emotions they may feel when experiencing change to their family unit.

With brilliant rhythmic verse, fun, bright and distinctive illustrations - this is a firm favourite with children and parents alike!

• Psychologists recommend that the best way to introduce a new baby to an older sibling is by giving your older child a gift that’s from the baby such as a book or T-shirt that says big brother or big sister. So this is the perfect gift for parents to give to their children or family members/friends to bestow on them.
• This book taps into the psychological importance of children naming feelings as the first step in helping them learn to identify them. It allows parents to discuss their children’s feelings with them in a fun and colourful way.
• This book allows children to develop an emotional vocabulary so they can talk about their feelings & develop into mentally strong children. Children who understand and are able to verbalise their emotions and have the coping skills to deal with them will build the confidence that they can handle whatever life throws their way.
• In this book, the colours of the rainbow are used as a clever reference for children to identify their emotions with colours. Colour is important in reflecting and emphasizing the particular emotional states of a child as there is a colour feeling connection in preschool aged children.

In the fifth book in Karen Kingsbury and Tyler Russell’s beloved series about the Baxter children, when things don’t turn out according to plan, the siblings must stick together and remember who they are.

Things are changing in Bloomington for the Baxters. When Ashley’s teacher, Mr. Garrett, takes a month off work for the birth of his baby, the intimidating Ms. Stritch takes his place. Ashley tries but can’t seem to crack the new teacher’s tough exterior. Meanwhile, Brooke struggles when a popular girl excludes her at lunch, Erin adjusts to getting glasses, and when Kari is given a dance solo for the upcoming recital, she takes her success a little too seriously.

When Principal Bond announces a new Character Awards initiative, competition breaks out between siblings and friends, until the students forget the point of the awards. Through it all, the town prepares for a major blizzard that Luke worries will cancel his class’s field trip to see the Harlem Globetrotters.

With so many obstacles in their lives, the Baxter Children have the opportunity to remember what being Baxters really means.

Barbara Dee explores the subject of #MeToo for the middle grade audience in this heart-wrenching—and ultimately uplifting—novel about experiencing harassment and unwanted attention from classmates.

For seventh-grader Mila, it starts with some boys giving her an unwanted hug on the school blacktop. A few days later, at recess, one of the boys (and fellow trumpet player) Callum tells Mila it’s his birthday, and asks her for a “birthday hug.” He’s just being friendly, isn’t he? And how can she say no? But Callum’s hug lasts a few seconds too long, and feels…weird. According to her friend, Zara, Mila is being immature and overreacting. Doesn’t she know what flirting looks like?

But the boys don’t leave Mila alone. On the bus. In the halls. During band practice—the one place Mila could always escape.

It doesn’t feel like flirting—so what is it? Thanks to a chance meeting, Mila begins to find solace in a new place: karate class. Slowly, with the help of a fellow classmate, Mila learns how to stand her ground and how to respect others—and herself.

From the author of Everything I Know About You, Halfway Normal, and Star-Crossed comes this timely story of a middle school girl standing up and finding her voice.

Translated as "The Ghost's Treasure", this is the story of Sgegede who, with the help of a witchdoctor, digs up his late grandfather's buried treasure of Kruger rands.

He underhandedly converts them to cash with the help of some clever IT friends, but his family's sudden wealth raises eyebrows in the community, and Sgedede is consumed by a guilty conscience. His luck runs out when it emerges his grandfather might be involved in the murder of his new girlfriend's father.

Meanwhile some old "friends" turn up, also in search of the coins...

Uncle Kelly is a drag performer who lives with his nephew Eli. Eli is about to start school and he has a birthmark on his face that he is afraid he will be bullied about. Uncle Kelly helps Eli find his confidence and encourages him to love himself as he is.

Eli finds a creative way of owning his insecurity and with his new confidence makes friends and inspires other children to accept their peers, and to even express their own creativity.

A book that encourages love and acceptance and embraces otherness, What’s Wrong With Glitter is a rhyming book that is filled with bright illustrations.

Sometimes it only takes a stranger in a dark place... to say we have the right to be here, to make us warm in the coldest season.

In 2019, Neil Gaiman asked his Twitter followers: "What reminds you of warmth?" Over 1,000 responses later, Neil began to weave replies from across the world into a poem in aid of the UNHCR's winter appeal. It revealed our shared desire to feel safe, welcome and warm in a world that can often feel frightening and lonely.

Now publishing in hardback and illustrated by a group of artists from around the world, What You Need to Be Warm is an exploration of displacement and flight from conflict through the objects and memories that represent warmth. It is about our right to feel safe, whoever we are and wherever we are from. It is about holding out a hand to welcome those who find themselves far from home.

Featuring new, original illustrations from Chris Riddell, Benji Davies, Yuliya Gwilym, Nadine Kaadan, Daniel Egnéus, Pam Smy, Petr Horácek, Beth Suzanna, Bagram Ibatoulline, Marie-Alice Harel, Majid Adin and Richard Jones, with a thought-provoking cover from Oliver Jeffers.

Sales of every copy of this book will help support the work of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which helps forcibly displaced communities and stateless people across the world.

It's the night before Christmas and everyone is sick in bed. All except brave Madeline, who is up and about and feeling just fine. Taking care of eleven little girls and Miss Clavel is hard work, but Madeline finds help from a magical merchant peddling flying carpets door-to-door. Now the girls are going on a Christmas journey that will surely make them forget their sniffles and sneezes. Great for gift-giving and group sharing, Madeline's Christmas now joins the five other books about Madeline as a deluxe, full-sized paperback.

The beads jingle and jangle and sparkle. The girls giggle with glee! Mpumi and her friends discover magic in her hair and what begins as an ordinary school day in Joburg is suddenly full of adventure everywhere! Mpumi's Magic Beads is a delightful story about friendship, self-esteem, discovery and beautiful hair in the big city of Joburg. It follows the sudden adventures of Mpumi, Asante and Tshiamo as they see the world around them from new heights and realise all of the fun waiting to be discovered outside of their classroom. This story is a great read for the whole family, especially children aged between 5 - 10 years old.

From acclaimed author Phil Stamper (The Gravity of Us and As Far as You’ll Take Me) comes a poignant coming-of-age, contemporary middle grade debut novel about finding your place, using your voice, and the true meaning of pride. Perfect for fans of Rick by Alex Gino and The Best at It by Maulik Pancholy.

Jake is just starting to enjoy life as his school’s first openly gay kid. While his family and friends are accepting and supportive, the same can’t be said about everyone in their small town of Barton Springs, Ohio.

When Jake’s dad hangs a comically large pride flag in their front yard in an overblown show of love, the mayor begins to receive complaints. A few people are even concerned the flag will lead to something truly outlandish: a pride parade.

Except Jake doesn’t think that’s a ridiculous idea. Why can’t they hold a pride festival in Barton Springs? The problem is, Jake knows he’ll have to get approval from the town council, and the mayor won’t be on his side. And as Jake and his friends try to find a way to bring Pride to Barton Springs, it seems suspicious that the mayor’s son, Brett, suddenly wants to spend time with Jake.

But someone that cute couldn’t possibly be in league with his mayoral mother, could he?

A space-obsessed boy and his dog, Carl Sagan, take a journey toward family, love, hope, and awe in this funny and moving novel for fans of Counting by 7s, Walk Two Moons, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

11-year-old Alex Petroski loves space and rockets, his mom, his brother, and his dog Carl Sagan—named for his hero, the real-life astronomer. All he wants is to launch his golden iPod into space the way Carl Sagan (the man, not the dog) launched his Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. From Colorado to New Mexico, Las Vegas to L.A., Alex records a journey on his iPod to show other lifeforms what life on earth, his earth, is like. But his destination keeps changing. And the funny, lost, remarkable people he meets along the way can only partially prepare him for the secrets he’ll uncover—from the truth about his long-dead dad to the fact that, for a kid with a troubled mom and a mostly not-around brother, he has way more family than he ever knew.

Jack Cheng’s debut is full of joy, optimism, determination, and unbelievable heart. To read the first page is to fall in love with Alex and his view of our big, beautiful, complicated world. To read the last is to know he and his story will stay with you a long, long time.

This is a night for endings. A night for stuffing your copy of The Catcher in the Rye into your backpack and saying goodbye to your house where your dad spends every night drinking too much whiskey, reminiscing about his army days and beating the crap out of you and your brother. A night for checking the list of names of all the kids at school who have always irritated you and called you a freak and a weirdo. A night for paying tribute to all the cult movies and cult figures who gave you a voice when you were struggling to find your own. A night for prowling the dark street with their grave-cold pavements; meeting the clowns, phantoms, gargoyles and helpless ones who come crawling out of their hiding places at night. A night for discovering the dark thing inside you, getting to know him intimately, feeling him stretch his wings and ball his angry fists. This is the final night. Tomorrow I’m taking a gun to school.

Read the book behind the upcoming NETFLIX movie launching on 3rd March 2021, directed by and starring Amy Poehler.

When an unlikely teenager stands up to sexism in her high school she unwittingly starts a feminist revolution that shakes her whole town. It's time to fight like a girl! Perfect for fans of Holly Bourne.

Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with her high school teachers who think the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes, hallway harassment and gross comments from guys during class. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.

Viv's mum was a tough-as-nails, punk rock Riot Grrrl in the '90s, and now Viv takes a page from her mother's past and creates Moxie, a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She's just blowing off steam, but other girls respond and spread the Moxie message. As Viv forges friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, she realises that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.

TIME TO FIGHT LIKE A GIRL

A page-turning read with a feminist message, for anyone who has ever had to deal with #everydaysexism

A sprawling, evocative, and groundbreaking autobiographical novel told in the unforgettable and hilarious voice of a young Iranian refugee. It is a powerfully layered novel that poses the questions: Who owns the truth? Who speaks it? Who believes it?

“A patchwork story is the shame of the refugee,” Nayeri writes early in the novel. In an Oklahoman middle school, Khosrou (whom everyone calls Daniel) stands in front of a skeptical audience of classmates, telling the tales of his family’s history, stretching back years, decades, and centuries. At the core is Daniel’s story of how they became refugees—starting with his mother’s vocal embrace of Christianity in a country that made such a thing a capital offense, and continuing through their midnight flight from the secret police, bribing their way onto a plane-to-anywhere. Anywhere becomes the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy, and then finally asylum in the U.S.

Implementing a distinct literary style and challenging western narrative structures, Nayeri deftly weaves through stories of the long and beautiful history of his family in Iran, adding a richness of ancient tales and Persian folklore. Like Scheherazade of One Thousand and One Nights, Daniel spins a tale to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth.

A tale of heartbreak and resilience and urges readers to speak their truth and be heard.

Sonia and I have a lot in common. Our parents are divorced. Our dads are gay. We both love barbecue potato chips. But she is different from me in at least one way: you can't tell how she's feeling just by looking at her. At all.

When Bea's dad and his wonderful partner, Jesse, decide to marry, it looks as if Bea's biggest wish is coming true: she's finally (finally!) going to have a sister.

They're both ten. They're both in fifth grade. Though they've never met, Bea knows that she and Sonia will be perfect sisters. Just like sisters anywhere, Bea thinks. But as the wedding day approaches, Bea makes discoveries that lead her to a possibly disastrous choice.

Making a new family brings questions, surprises, and joy in this brilliant modern classic by Newbery Medalist Rebecca Stead.

Cover2Cover Books is delighted to announce the publication of an anthology of short stories written in isiXhosa, Akusayi Kuphind, by emerging author Sonwabiso Ngcowa.

The stories in Akusayi Kuphind are written in language that comes straight from the daily lives of young people from urban and rural communities all over South Africa. The characters respond to the kinds of challenges faced by many South African youth.

These include families where one of the parents had to work far from home; poverty; being a single parent; abuse of women and girls; bullying in schools and loss of self-esteem; arranged marriages; HIV and AIDS; as well as same sex relationships and the way they are looked at in the communities.

This book tackles the serious matter of child molestation and serves to inform and empower children. It highlights the warning signs of sexual abuse and teaches children how to react in such a situation. Kyla loves stories about fierce princess Arabia who can even fight dragons. But her older sister, Abby, don’t believe in fairy tales anymore. Abby says there is a dragon in their own home – one that fears nothing and no one. But who could it be?