It's February 1974 and working class families have been hit hard by the three-day week. The reduced power usage means less hours for people to work, and less money to get by on. Thirteen-year-old Jason feels the struggle keenly. Ever since his parents died, it's just been him and his older brother Richie. Richie is doing his best, but since he can't make ends meet he's been doing favours for the wrong people. Every day they fear they won't have enough and will have to be separated. One thing that helps distract Jason is the urban legend about a beast in the valleys. A wild cat that roams the forest, far up the river from their bridge. When Jason's friends learn of a reward for proof of The Beast's existence, they convince Jason this is the answer to his and Richie's money problems. Richie can get himself out of trouble before it's too late and the brothers can stay together. And so a quest begins ... Starting at the bridge of their village and following the river north, the four friends soon find themselves on a journey that will change each of them ... forever. With echoes of Stand By Me, this thrilling middle-grade adventure gives us the most exquisite characterisation and a page-turning plot with relatable themes, making this utterly timeless and one of the finest historical fiction stories in the market today.

Dit is die yskoue winter van 1944/1945. Die Tweede Wereldoorlog woed nog en Nederland ly onder die Duitse besetting. Die 15-jarige Michiel kan nie wag tot hy oud genoeg is om aan die ondergrondse versetsbeweging deel te neem nie. Wanneer Dirk, hulle bure se seun, hom vra om 'n brief af te lewer voel hy dat hy uiteindelik ernstig opgeneem word. Maar Dirk word gearresteer en die persoon aan wie hy die brief moet besorg, word deur die Duitsers doodgeskiet. Gaan Michiel die brief oopmaak en die verantwoordelikheid van die opdrag daarin aanvaar?

From the author of Nowhere Boy - called “a resistance novel for our times” by The New York Times - comes a brilliant middle-grade survival story that traces a harrowing family secret back to the Holodomor, a terrible famine that devastated Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s.

Thirteen-year-old Matthew is miserable. His journalist dad is stuck overseas indefinitely, and his mom has moved in his one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother to ride out the pandemic, adding to his stress and isolation.

But when Matthew finds a tattered black-and-white photo in his great-grandmother’s belongings, he discovers a clue to a hidden chapter of her past, one that will lead to a life-shattering family secret. Set in alternating timelines that connect the present-day to the 1930s and the US to the USSR, Katherine Marsh’s latest novel sheds fresh light on the Holodomor – the horrific famine that killed millions of Ukrainians, and which the Soviet government covered up for decades.

An incredibly timely, page-turning story of family, survival, and sacrifice, inspired by Marsh’s own family history, The Lost Year is perfect for fans of Ruta Sepetys' Between Shades of Gray and Alan Gratz's Refugee.

Mrs. Bird thought, as the Christmas music floated in upon her gentle sleep, that she had slipped into heaven with her new baby, and that angels were bidding them welcome. But the tiny bundle by her side stirred a little, though it was scarcely more than the ruffling of a feather; and she awoke, drew the baby closer, and listened to the voices outside brimming with joy:

"Carol, brothers, carol,
Carol joyfully,
Carol the good tidings,
Carol merrily "

"Why, my baby," whispered Mrs. Bird in soft surprise, "I had forgotten what day it was. You are a little Christmas child, and we will name you 'Carol' -- mother's little Christmas Carol "

Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923), author of such works as "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, " "Penelope's English Experiences, " and "A Village Stradivarius," was one of America's most popular writers of books for young people.

The third book in the personal and moving coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the First World War. Winter, 1916. Ellie is determined to leave tiny Endstone village and follow her dream of becoming a nurse. But leaving home and starting work in the city hospital also means leaving behind her first-love and childhood friend, Jack. They promise to make it work, but with Ellie's time swallowed up by the chaos of a wartime hospital, and with the charms of an exciting young foreign soldier to keep her company, do Ellie and Jack stand any chance of staying together as their lives move ever further apart?

This second book in the continuing story of Parthian brother and sister Larius and Kyra takes the reader to a place called Seres. Larius is once again caught up in court intrigue, and Kyra falls in love at last and marries. They are in another culture and must learn another language and ways that are strange and different from their own. Just when they think they are safe, their past comes back to haunt them. Will Larius and Kyra ever find peace? Will they be able to remain happily ever after in Seres? Or will their sanctuary be denied and their hopes and dreams destroyed? Read this captivating story set in first century AD ancient China and follow Larius and Kyra in their quest for sanctuary.

Dido is the only girl ever to have raced to victory at the Circus Maximus, Rome's greatest sporting arena. Now she and her beloved horse, Porcellus, are in hiding, and Emperor Caligula has put a price on their heads. Can she outwit the emperor and his bounty hunters? And will a shocking family secret stop her in her tracks, or spur her on to make a daring return, helped by a one-eyed mare with a heart as brave as her own? Horses, history, mystery, thrilling entertainment and sensational storytelling race neck and neck through the second pulse-pounding adventure in Annelise Gray's 9 + series set in Ancient Rome. 'I loved this adventure - full of brilliant horses, and a determined heroine following her dreams against all the odds. Looking forward to discovering what's in store for them next' Pippa Funnell, MBE, three-time Equestrian Olympic medalist