The days were filled with boating, fishing and exploring. The nights were bonfires and ghost stories, chase games, and night swimming. Parents usually gathered to mix drinks and play cards well into the night. That made it easier for us to play on the large lawn in front of Harman's cabins, usually until late in the cooled night when the dew started to gather and the stars seemed to be so large and bright you could jump and reach them. This is where we usually had bonfires and told ghost stories. Some of my early childhood crushes were sparked with young girls from far away places vacationing at the lake. Some barely knew my name and the rest I only knew as a passing friend and a face across a fire that mesmerized a young heart for a few days during the summer. Those nights and faces are a distant memory now, but will remain a part of me forever. Sometimes while talking with friends about my childhood, I describe how fun-filled mine were and most of it revolved around those special times.

Wag, an enterprising dog, is unique. He can talk. The family pet strives to keep his secret in a series of adventures with young twins Lucy and Tom during the summer in World War Two. It's Wag who discovers a German airman dangling by his parachute from a tree after his plane is shot down. And he helps recapture the flier following his escape. He and the twins make friends with two teenage French refugees - and later make a startling discovery. Wag comes face-to-face with Winston Churchill, Britain's wartime leader. Tense nights in the family air raid shelter. The drama of an unexploded bomb. Moments of comedy such as when Wag chases a cat into a prison during an outing. The year 1943 ends on a proud note when Wag is presented with a medal by the King in Buckingham Palace...for exposing a Nazi spy.

Discover an extraordinary tale of innocence, friendship and the horrors of war. 'Some things are just sitting there, minding their own business, waiting to be discovered. Like America. And other things are probably better off left alone' Nine-year-old Bruno has a lot of things on his mind. Who is the 'Fury'? Why did he make them leave their nice home in Berlin to go to 'Out-With' ? And who are all the sad people in striped pyjamas on the other side of the fence? The grown-ups won't explain so Bruno decides there is only one thing for it - he will have to explore this place alone. What he discovers is a new friend. A boy with the very same birthday. A boy in striped pyjamas. But why can't they ever play together? 'A small wonder of a book' Guardian BACKSTORY: Read an interview with the author JOHN BOYNE and learn all about the Second World War in Germany.

Lives hang in the balance in this gripping Revolutionary War adventure from a beloved Newbery Medalist.
In 1776, young Sophia Calderwood witnesses the execution of Nathan Hale in New York City, which is newly occupied by the British army. Sophia is horrified by the event and resolves to do all she can to help the American cause. Recruited as a spy, she becomes a maid in the home of General Clinton, the supreme commander of the British forces in America. Through her work she becomes aware that someone in the American army might be switching sides, and she uncovers a plot that will grievously damage the Americans if it succeeds. But the identity of the would-be traitor is so shocking that no one believes her, and so Sophia decides to stop the treacherous plot herself, at great personal peril: She s young, she s a girl, and she s running out of time. And if she fails, she s facing an execution of her own.
Master storyteller Avi shows exactly how personal politics can be in this nail-biting thriller (Publishers Weekly) that is rich in historical detail and rife with action.

My Story: Noor-un-Nissa Inayat Khan is the thrilling story of British-Indian World War Two heroine, Noor-un-Nissa Inayat Khan. It's 1940 and hundreds of families are being forced to flee Nazi-occupied France. Noor refuses to stand by while Nazi forces invade her home and terrorise her people, so she travels to England and signs up to join the war efforts, despite her mother's wishes. It isn't long before her talents are noticed and she is chosen by Winston Churchill to sneak back into France as an undercover agent. Noor returns home - but this time, as a secret agent... Can Noor keep her true identity hidden, report her findings back to London and help the Allies win the war? Perfect for any child wanting to learn more about history's untold stories Great background reading for Key Stage 2 & 3 My Story: exciting stories with reliable and accurate historical detail Experience history first-hand with My Story.

Run wild with Wolf Brother in a Stone Age world we all want to be a part of with million-copy-selling author, Michelle Paver. Danger, magic and non-stop adventure await Torak, Renn and Wolf in a devastating Dark Time that threatens everything they know. The Clans will be tested as never before, as they battle to find ways to survive and thrive in their beloved Forest. In the Dark Time of midwinter, disaster strikes the Forest. Chaos rules. Bears woken from their dens prowl the shadowy valleys. Desperate clans battle for survival. Only demons thrive. With their world in turmoil, Torak, Renn and Wolf are tested as never before. And as a new evil haunts the devastated land, Torak must risk his sanity, his life and even his souls to save everything he loves... Skin Taker carries you back to the Stone Age, drawing you deeper into the astonishing adventure which began with Wolf Brother and has captivated millions of readers.

The Black Stallion meets Tamora Pierce in this adventure-filled middle grade novel about a young stable girl who discovers a secret that endangers her beloved horse and threatens her future.Sonnia loves horses more than anything. She works at her family's struggling pony ride business but dreams of the beautiful steeds in the royal stables, especially Ricochet, who she's been slowly saving money to buy--even though she knows people from her impoverished neighborhood are rarely so lucky. Then Ricochet is moved to the racetrack across town, and Sonnia lands a job there. Now, she can see Ricochet every day and earn enough money to buy him in no time--all while helping her family with her new wages! She even joins the junior racing cadre to train to become a jockey. But then she uncovers their secret pastime: competing in the Night Ride, a dangerous and highly illegal race in the darkest hours before dawn. Every race puts the horses at risk. Sonnia wants to protect the horses she's grown to care for, but she's only a kid from the poor side of town--considered expendable, just like the horses. If she just keeps her head down, soon she can buy Ricochet and get him out of there--and keep supporting her family. But would she be able to live with herself?

With his older brother gone to fight in the Great War and his father prone to sudden rages, fourteen-year-old Stanley devotes himself to taking care of the family's greyhound and puppies. Until the morning Stanley wakes to find the puppies gone. Determined to find his brother, Stanley runs away to join an increasingly desperate army. Assigned to the experimental War Dog School, Stanley is given a problematic Great Dane named Bones to train. Against all odds, the pair excels, and Stanley is sent to France.
But in "Soldier Dog" by Sam Angus, the war in France is larger and more brutal than Stanley ever imagined. How can one young boy survive and find his brother with only a dog to help?

A Sequel to Swiss Family Robinson from the author of Heidi

The work known as the "Swiss Family Robinson" has long enjoyed a well-merited popularity, and has been perused by a multitude of readers, young and old, with profit as well as pleasure. A Swiss clergyman resolved to better his fortune by emigration. He embarked with his wife and four sons -- the latter ranging from eight to fifteen years of age -- for one of the newly-discovered islands in the Pacific Ocean. Along the coast of New Guinea they encountered a violent storm arose, and finally cast it a wreck upon an unknown coast. The present volume is virtually a continuation of this narrative. The careers of the four sons -- Frank, Ernest, Fritz, and Jack -- are taken up where the preceding chronicler left them off. . . .

More than anything, young Blaze wants to be a man of his Sinagua tribe. He dreams of being a great hunter and warrior. But his people of the Great Cliff are a peaceful farming tribe and believe that learning the skills of war will anger the gods and worsen the drought that already threatens all the peoples of the desert. And then, on his first great journey, Blazed discovers the great Hohokam people and their game of guayball, a brutal and exciting sport played by both boys and men. Drawn to that culture which respects fighters above all others, Blaze must decide where his true spirit lies. Enjoy the excitement, passion and danger of the final days of America's great cliff dwellings. In a world threatened by drought and war, one boy strives to grow up, and do the right thing for himself and his people.

In the fall of 1357, a Flemish weaver travels around the countryside in England, at the request of the king, seeking apprentices to learn his trade. During this time, however, many Englishmen prefer the easy wealth gained from war and pillaging to learning to work diligently with their hands. Along the way the weaver meets a prosperous wool merchant with two sons-big, strong, sixteen-year-old Roger and small, crippled, thirteen-year-old Tom. The merchant is eager to advance his elder son but the weaver feels drawn to the intelligence of young Tom who is seen only as a burden and a curse. When Roger suddenly disappears one evening, the weaver sees his opportunity to help Tom, but Tom's father is not at all sure he should agree to the weaver's startling plan. Through many unexpected events, Tom must learn how even a crippled boy can serve God and be a true help to his family and his country.