Mickey has no cricket kit and his mom, a single parent, cannot afford a new one. He goes reluctantly to a charity shop where he buys a second-hand kit.

The charity shop owner suggests that the initials ‘JK’ on the bat mean that the bat belonged to Jacques Kallis. Mickey finds that he plays extraordinarily well with this bat and begins to believe that it is a ‘magic’ bat.

The coach wants to take Mickey to the district trials where he’ll be the youngest player. But disaster strikes when Mickey leaves his bat behind by mistake: he has to face playing without his magic bat.

MML 2017 Literature Award Winner.

I'm Dan Hope and deep inside my head I keep a list of things I want to come true.

For example, I want my sister, Ninja Grace, to go to university at the North Pole and only come back once a year.

I want to help Sherlock Holmes solve his most daring mystery yet. And if it could be a zombie mystery, all the more exciting.

I want my dog to stop eating the planets and throwing them up on the carpet.

And finally, the biggest dream of all, I want my dad to love me.

Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this unrequited-love story will appeal to fans of Jennifer Niven, John Green, and Jesse Andrews.

Seriously, how can you see a person nearly every day of your life and never think a thing of it, then all of a sudden, one day, it's different? You see that goofy grin a thousand times and just laugh. But goofy grin #1,001 nearly stops your heart?

Right. That sounds like a bad movie already.

Matt Wainwright is constantly sabotaged by the overdramatic movie director in his head. He can't tell his best friend, Tabby, how he really feels about her, he implodes on the JV basketball team, and the only place he feels normal is in Mr. Ellis's English class, discussing the greatest fa*t scenes in literature and writing poems about pis*ed-off candy-cane lumberjacks.

If this were a movie, everything would work out perfectly. Tabby would discover that Matt's madly in love with her, be overcome with emotion, and fall into his arms. Maybe in the rain.

But that's not how it works. Matt watches Tabby get swept away by senior basketball star and all-around great guy Liam Branson. Losing Tabby to Branson is bad enough, but screwing and losing her is even worse.

After a tragic accident, Matt finds himself left on the sidelines, on the verge of spiraling out of control and losing everything that matters to him. From debut author Jared Reck comes a fiercely funny and heart-wrenching novel about love, longing, and what happens when life as you know it changes in an instant.

A compelling and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who wants to die.

The New York Times bestseller is soon to be a major Netflix film starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith.

_____

'If you're looking for the next The Fault in Our Stars, this is it' - Guardian

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it's unclear who saves whom.

And when they pair up on a project to discover the 'natural wonders' of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It's only with Violet that Finch can be himself - a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who's not such a freak after all. And it's only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them.

But as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink. How far will Violet go to save the boy she has come to love?

An intense, gripping novel, perfect for fans of John Green, Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, Gayle Forman and Jenny Downham.

Selected as the launch title for the Zoella Book Club.

'This book is amazing - I couldn't put it down' - Zoe Sugg

'A searingly honest and heartbreakingly poignant tale about the power and beauty of love' - Heat

'Sparkling' - Entertainment Weekly

Hi, my name is Juliet Palante. I've been reading your book Raging Flower: Empowering Your Pussy by Empowering Your Mind. No lie, I started reading it so that I could make people uncomfortable on the subway.

But I'm writing to you now because this book of yours, this magical labia manifesto, has become my bible.

Juliet's head is spinning with questions.

Will her beautiful, chaotic Puerto Rican family still love her when they find out she's gay?
Will an internship with her favourite author help her understand what kind of feminist she wants to be?
And why won't her girlfriend return her calls?!

In a summer full of queer dance parties, a fling with a motorcycling librarian and intense explorations of sexuality and identity, Juliet's about to learn what it means to really come out - to the world, to her family, to herself.

Ella Black seems to live the life most other seventeen-year-olds would kill for. Until one day, telling her nothing, her parents whisk her off to Rio de Janeiro.

Determined to find out why, Ella takes her chance and searches through their things. And realises her life has been a lie. Her mother and father aren't hers at all. Unable to comprehend the truth, Ella runs away, to the one place they'll never think to look - the favelas.

But there she learns a terrible secret - the truth about her real parents and their past. And the truth about a mother, desperate for a daughter taken from her seventeen years ago . . .

Aster. Violet. Tansy. Mallow. Clementine.

Sold as children. Branded by cursed markings. Trapped in a life they never would have chosen.

When Aster's sister Clementine accidentally murders a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape and harrowing journey to find freedom, justice, and revenge - in a country that wants them to have none of those things. Pursued by the land's most vicious and powerful forces - both living and dead - their only hope lies in a bedtime story passed from one girl to another, a story that only the youngest or most desperate would ever believe.

It's going to take more than luck for them all to survive.

Content warnings: sexual assault, addiction, violence, references to rape and suicide.

The beloved, award-winning novel is now a major motion picture, Love, Simon, starring 13 Reasons Why's Katherine Langford and Everything, Everything's Nick Robinson.

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: If he doesn't play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone's business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he's been emailing with, will be jeopardized.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon's junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated.

Now change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he's pushed out-without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he's never met.

And don't miss Becky Albertalli's The Upside of Unrequited or Leah on the Offbeat!

Pete de Lange moet as tiener probeer oorleef in ’n klein Natalse dorpie gedurende die onstuimige tagtigerjare saam met sy nuutgevonde vriende: Petrus en Sarita. In ’n land wat bloei van rassekonflik is dit makliker gesê as gedaan. Pete en sy vriende het ’n wrede misdaad gesien en die skuldige is op hulle spoor. Sal reg en geregtigheid geskied in ’n land wat reeds polities verwronge is?

From the beloved author of Because of Mr. Terupt and its sequels comes The Perfect Score, a new middle-grade school story with a very special cast of unforgettable characters who discover that getting the perfect score--both on the test and in life--is perhaps not so perfect after all.

No one likes or wants to take the statewide assessment tests. Not the students in Mrs. Woods's sixth-grade class. Not even Mrs. Woods. It's not as if the kids don't already have things to worry about. . . .

Under pressure to be the top gymnast her mother expects her to be, RANDI starts to wonder what her destiny truly holds. Football-crazy GAVIN has always struggled with reading and feels as dumb as his high school-dropout father. TREVOR acts tough and mean, but as much as he hates school, he hates being home even more. SCOTT's got a big brain and an even bigger heart, especially when it comes to his grandfather, but his good intentions always backfire in spectacular ways. NATALIE, know-it-all and aspiring lawyer, loves to follow the rules--only this year, she's about to break them all.

The whole school is in a frenzy with test time approaching--kids, teachers, the administration. Everyone is anxious. When one of the kids has a big idea for acing the tests, they're all in. But things get ugly before they get better, and in the end, the real meaning of the perfect score surprises them all.

Last year, Molly Barlow did something terrible.

Then, her mother wrote a book about it.

And so everyone in their tiny hometown found out that Molly cheated on her childhood sweetheart, the love of her life, her best friend with his brother.

After spending senior year at a boarding school in the middle of nowhere, Molly now has ninety-nine days to endure back in her hometown before she can escape to college.

Ninety-nine days of being the most hated person in town.

Ninety-nine days to heal the hurt she's caused.

Ninety-nine days to figure out what she wants, and who she loves ...

99 Days will captivate fans of John Green and 100 Days of Summer

A boy tries to steer a safe path through the projects in Harlem in the wake of his brother's death in this outstanding debut novel that's been described as a "fast and furious read in which we meet some amazing people, people that stay with us" by Newbery Honor and National Book Award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson.

It's Christmas Eve in Harlem, but twelve-year-old Lolly Rachpaul and his mom aren't celebrating. They're still reeling from his older brother's death in a gang-related shooting just a few months earlier. Then Lolly's mother's girlfriend brings him a gift that will change everything: two enormous bags filled with Legos. Lolly's always loved Legos, and he prides himself on following the kit instructions exactly. Now, faced with a pile of building blocks and no instructions, Lolly must find his own way forward.

His path isn't clear--and the pressure to join a "crew," as his brother did, is always there. When Lolly and his friend are beaten up and robbed, joining a crew almost seems like the safe choice. But building a fantastical Lego city at the community center provides Lolly with an escape--and an unexpected bridge back to the world.

David Barclay Moore paints a powerful portrait of a boy teetering on the edge--of adolescence, of grief, of violence--and shows how Lolly's inventive spirit helps him build a life with firm foundations and open doors.

I don't entirely understand how anyone gets a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend. It just seems like the most impossible odds. A perfect alignment of feelings and circumstances . . .

Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love. No matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly is always careful. Better to be careful than be hurt.

But when Cassie gets a new girlfriend who comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick, everything changes. Will is funny, flirtatious and basically the perfect first boyfriend. There's only one problem: Molly's coworker, Reid, the awkward Tolkien superfan she could never fall for . . . right?

A heartwarming and hilarious story about growing up and learning to be comfortable in your own skin.

A brand new collection of stories that exhibit important values and virtues.

Each story is accompanied by beautiful illustrations with the focus on character building in the following areas:

• Attitude
• Believe
• Respect
• Forgive
• Letting Go

Here's the thing about being Inside. Ain't no one believes that they are.

Ele is kept captive in a small room by a man known as 'Him'. She has never been Outside but she knows it's there and she's determined to prove it.

When Ele eventually escapes, she is forced to question everything she has ever known.

An extraordinary and powerful debut in the style of ROOM by Emma Donoghue.

Inspired by the work of Thuli Madonsela.

The story is about a girl named Thuli who becomes a legend in her community. She lives with her brothers and one day they encourage her to steal. When she refuses, she is forced to walk home through the dark forest alone.

She finds a magical tree, the Tree of Truth, from which she takes a seed. The seed helps light her way out of the forest and Thuli is forced to confront her brothers and tell the truth.

The author of The Big F is back with another snappy, utterly relatable contemporary novel about loving yourself and forging your own path.

Savannah is dreading being home alone with her overbearing mother after her big sister―and best friend―goes off to college. But if she can just get through senior year, she'll be able to escape to college, too. What she doesn't count on is that her mother's obsession with weight has only grown deeper since her appearance on an extreme weight-loss show, and now Savvy's mom is pressuring her even harder to be constantly mindful of what she eats.

Between her mom's diet-helicoptering, missing her sister, and worrying about her collegiate future, Savvy has enough to worry about. And then she meets George, the cute new kid at school who has insecurities of his own. As Savvy and George grow closer, they help each other discover how to live in the moment and enjoy the here and now before it disappears.

To Be Honest is another sharp, witty novel from Maggie Ann Martin, about a spunky heroine who is dealing with very real issues―body image, parental pressure, loneliness, first love, and finding your way―with heart and humor.

This book is about a young orphaned boy, Rob, growing up with his grandparents. The story takes us through Rob’s family structure, his dreams and finally his unexpected fame.

Rob and the Soccer Ball Tale a motivational story and contains rich cultural aspects of the African continent. It also portrays themes of relations, sharing hope and faith.

Remy is an eleven-year-old, intelligent, but unhappy boy who lives in a beautiful coastal South African town. Self-conscious about his appearance, he is quite shorter than other children his age and has very small eyes, Remy lacks self-confidence and struggles with insecurities and anger issues.

Remy is often mocked by other children at school, particularly about his height, which exacerbates his sensitivity about his appearance. Unable to manage his feelings, he starts picking fights with anyone who makes fun of him making things worse. Not only are children starting to enjoy Remy’s frustration and anger, but his performance at school becomes affected as he loses interest in studies and his grades begin to drop. Things worsen for Remy when he starts middle school and Jayden, the cool, tall, athletic, popular kid, teases and bullies Remy making his life more difficult than ever.

In this tale of growth and self-discovery, the reader follows Remy’s journey and emotional struggle to self-acceptance. With the help of a wise owl that provides Remy with a new perspective, and his mother’s advice, reassurances, and knowledge and practice of yoga, which Remy incorporates into his own life, Remy comes to a new understanding of himself. Reflecting on her own life, author Mayuri Naidoo hopes that Remy: A Book About Believing in Yourself will impart basic principles and philosophies of yoga and other tools she cultivated as an adult but wishes she had been taught at Remy’s age.

“I’m dazed and confused, and messed up too, That’s all I know, it’s tough and it’s true."

You’re furious at the world. And your only weapon is a backpack full of words.

Gabriel is fifteen years old. Fifteen going on fifty, his mom used to tease. But after her death, he’s no longer sure where he is supposed to fit in. The psychologist wants Gabriel to talk about his feelings.

But how do you explain to her that it’s been easier to cope with anger than with tears these past few months?

How do you explain the fact that your so-called “mixed blood” makes you different than everyone else at school?

How do you explain that things between you and your dad have changed since he’s in a mental institution, learning to deal with his loss, while you have to find a way to go on with your life?

How do you explain the fact that, since the accident, you’ve tried cutting your wrists ... twice?

So, Gabriel loses himself in the world of performance poetry, where he learns to stick his hand deep inside his backpack of words and fling those words at an audience, like red-hot coals. Then he meets Sasha, who’s prettier than Snow White and knows a thing or two about poetry.

A truly South African story about a struggling father-and-son relationship and the healing power of words. Van der Vyver writes convincingly and engagingly about the world of performance poetry and Gabriel’s desperate attempts to make sense of life’s challenges after the death of his mom.

Hardloop. Dis al wat Spoekie ken. Van die aand dat Spoekie se pa hom en sy ma met 'n geweer in die straat afgejaag het, hardloop hy vir al die verkeerde redes. Vasgevang in 'n omgewing vol geweld en misdaad, sien Spoekie geen uitkomkans nie. Al wat hy doen is moeilikheid maak - en daarvan weghardloop. Tot die dag wat hy vir Coach ontmoet - Coach wat al Olimpiese medaljes gewen het en die natuurlike talent in Spoekie dadelik raaksien. Spoekie kan die beste atleet in die stad word. Maar gaan sy verlede hom inhaal, of gaan hy uiteindelik leer jy kan nie vir jouself weghardloop nie?

Hierdie boek deur die veelbekroonde Jason Reynolds is meesterlik deur André Trantraal in Kaapse Afrikaans vertaal vir 'n voorheen onontginde mark. Lesers sal hulself met hierdie karakters en konteks kan vereenselwig soos nog nooit tevore nie. Maar dis uiteindelik Spoekie self wat inderdaad by die leser bly spook - 'n karakter met so 'n komplekse en outentieke reis dat die leser vasgebind bly aan die verhaal lank nadat die boek klaar is.

Die boek takel die kwessie van kindermolestering en dien om kinders in te lig en te bemagtig. Die gevaartekens van molestering word uitgewys en riglyne gebied oor hoe om in so ’n situasie op te tree. Kevin is gek oor stories van die dapper prins van Arabia wat teen drake veg. Maar sy ouer sussie, Abby, glo nie meer in sprokies nie. Abby sê daar is ’n draak in hulle huis – een wat vir niks en niemand skrik nie. Maar wie kan dit wees? Gelukkig leer Kevin net wat om te doen om homself te beskerm. 

Sebastian of Basjan beskou homself as ’n ‘verloorder’ en die boelies in sy nuwe skool dink ook dat hy een is. Hy sukkel om by die stadslewe aan te pas nadat sy pa gesterf het. Hillbrow lyk skrikwekkend en vol misdaad ná ’n sorgvrye grootword op ’n plaas.

Sy voorkoms is ongewoon – blonde hare, blou oë, blas vel – en die boelies by sy nuwe skool gee hom die bynaam Blasjan. Hy pas nie by sy swart, wit of selfs bruin klasmaats in nie. Sy jong lewensverhaal volg ’n pad van verdrukking en beproewing en ’n stryd teen boelies en dwelmafhanklikes. Hy vind vertroosting in musiek deur kitaar te speel, ’n band te begin, en aan ’n talentkompetisie deel te neem. Hy ontdek selfs sy eerste liefde.

Uiteindelik styg Blasjan bo alles uit en hy word sterker, voel gelukkiger en kry heelwat meer selfvertroue.

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.

Charlotte van Katwijk guards herself like a secret. Kids are cruel, and she knows if they find out she's adopted, she'll be a bully's easy target.

When they are fourteen, Charlotte's best friend's mom commits suicide. It triggers in Charlotte a sense of urgency to find her birth mother before it's too late, and the answers to her burning questions are taken to the grave. Seven years later, a tormented Charlotte comes face to face with her past. Will discovering more about her biological parents, and the circumstances surrounding her relinquishment, be enough to lay her demons to rest?

Umbilicus is a coming-of-age story set in Durban during the dying days of apartheid. The tumultuous zeitgeist of the era mirrors the inner turmoil of an angst-ridden adolescent as she grapples to form an identity and find her place in the world.