Nory Ryan's family has lived on Maidin Bay on the west coast of Ireland for generations, raising a pig and a few chickens, planting potatoes, getting by. Every year Nory's father goes away on a fishing boat and returns with the rent money for the English lord who owns their cottage and fields, the English lord bent upon forcing the Irish from their land so he can tumble the cottages and clear the fields for grazing. Times are never easy on Maidin Bay, but this year, a terrible blight attacks the potatoes. No crop means starvation. Twelve-year-old Nory must summon the courage and ingenuity to find food, to find hope, to find a way to help her family survive.


From the Hardcover edition.

The first marvellous murder-mystery in the bestselling Murder Most Unladylike series!

'Ripping good fun' The Times

'Plotting is what sets this book apart; this is about who was where at the time of the murder, and it's about finding the chink in the alibi' Telegraph

At Deapdean School for Girls, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong have set up their own detective agency. But they are struggling to find any real crimes to investigate...

(Unless you count the case of Lavinia's missing tie. Which they don't.)

Then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym.

To add to the mystery, when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared.

Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove one happened in the first place.

Determined to get to the bottom of the crime before the killer strikes again Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects and use all the cunning and intuition they can muster.

But will they succeed? And can their friendship stand the test?

'A skilful blend of golden era crime novel and boarding school romp . . . The novel works both as an affectionate satire and an effective murder mystery, and Stevens can go places Enid Blyton never dreamt of . . . Top class' Financial Times

From No. 1 bestselling children's author David Walliams comes his biggest and most epic adventure! Illustrated by the artistic genius Tony Ross. This is the story of a ten-year-old orphan and a 10,000-year-old mammoth... Read all about it! Read all about it! ICE MONSTER FOUND IN ARCTIC! When Elsie, an orphan on the streets of Victorian London, hears about the mysterious Ice Monster - a woolly mammoth found at the North Pole - she's determined to discover more... A chance encounter brings Elsie face to face with the creature, and sparks the adventure of a lifetime - from London to the heart of the Arctic! Heroes come in all different shapes and sizes in David Walliams' biggest and most epic adventure yet! Contains 5 CDs.

"Powerful storytelling and immersive art." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Vibrant writing and magical realism lift this story to one of triumph." --Publishers Weekly "Nolen's lively prose style recalls the richness of the oral tradition in this tale of triumphant courage and abiding hope." --The Horn Book "A moving choice for children's collections." --Booklist A Parents' Choice Silver Award Recipient In this inspiring story in the tradition of American black folktales, an enslaved brother and sister are inspired by a majestic and mysterious bird to escape to freedom in this dramatic and unforgettable picture book. There was nothing civil about that war. They should have called it what it was: a big, bad war. Brother and sister Millicent and John are slaves on Simon Plenty's plantation and have suffered one hurt and heartbreak after another. Their parents had told them old tales of how their ancestors had flown away to freedom just as free and easy as a bird. Millicent and John hold these stories in their hearts long after their parents are gone. "Maybe such a time will come for you," their parents said. Then one day a mysterious bird appears in their lives. The bird transforms them and gives them the courage to set their plan into motion and escape to freedom.

Adventure thriller set in Renaissance Italy starring Leonardo da Vinci as a young apprentice who witnesses a murder and becomes involved in a plot to take over the city. LEONARDO AND THE DEATH MACHINE is first and foremost a thriller, set against the background of Renaissance Italy. However, the Leonardo of the title is in fact Leonardo da Vinci. This is a totally fictional adventure, but it COULD have happened. When we first meet Leonardo we find him apprenticed to a successful artist in Florence. But although he yearns to be a great artist himself, he's rather disillusioned with his apprenticeship, which has made him more of an errand boy than an art student. Then, when an impromptu street football match ends in an arm injury for his friend Sandro (whom history will know as Botticelli), Leonardo leaps at the opportunity to help out the unfortunate painter who has been commissioned to paint a portrait for the rich Medici family. Little does our young hero know that soon he will be dragged into murder and intrigue, and will be fleeing for his life!

Alva rushes through the trees in the dead of night with her sniffer wolf, Fen. Being out alone when there's a kidnapper on the loose is reckless, but if she ever wants to be an investigator like her Uncle Magnus, she'll need to be first to the crime scene. But what Alva discovers raises more questions than it answers, drawing her into a dangerous search for truth, and for treasure.

To hell, then home again--one boy's story of the evacuation at Dunkirk during World War II "We're nearer hell than home now Charlie," the great man said, as we looked to the huge pillars of smoke, that spiraled above the beaches. We were there to save the soldiers; little did I know that soon I would need rescuing myself from the Demons of Dunkirk. Charlie's mother and father work at a Spitfire factory in the fishing port of Hamble. After a run-in with a brutal instructor on the naval training ship Mercury, the teenager finds himself on the run from the British navy. His father hooks him up with William--the Captain of a fishing boat called the White Feather. A few days later, the pair find themselves caught up in the most heroic retreat of World War II--the Dunkirk evacuation.

'[Selznick is] a postmodern hero of middle-grade children's fiction... Those who revel in puzzles, philosophical conundrums and musings on transience, time and grief will adore this challenging read' The Times 'The most perfect feat of storytelling' Scott Evans, The Reader Teacher 'It has touched me in a way I can't express... Breath-taking' Ceridwen Eccles, primary teacher and blogger at Teacher Glitter A ship. A garden. A library. In Kaleidoscope, the incomparable Brian Selznick presents the story of two people bound to each other through time and space, memory and dreams. At the centre of their relationship is a mystery about the nature of grief and love which will look different to each reader. Kaleidoscope is a feat of storytelling that illuminates how even the wildest tales can help us in the hardest times. Brian Selznick's first book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, was the winner of the esteemed Caldecott Medal, the first novel to do so, as the Caldecott Medal is for picture books Released as a live-action film Hugo in 2011, directed by Martin Scorsase and starring Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Sacha Baron Cohen, Richard Griffiths, Ray Winstone, and Christopher Lee. Brian Selznick's second book, Wonderstruck, was also made into a feature film, starring Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams

Nathan Hale tackles a topic fans have been asking about for years: World War II. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, officially bringing the United States into World War II. A new generation of pilots were recruited to fly bombing missions for the United States, and from that group, volunteers were requested for a dangerous secret assignment. For the first time in American history, Army bombers would be launched from an aircraft carrier. Once at sea, they were told their mission was a retaliation strike against targets in Tokyo. But on the day of the raid, a Japanese patrol boat spotted them and they had to launch early, with barely enough fuel to get them past their target. After the bombing, some pilots crashed, some were captured, and many ended up in mainland China and were carried to safety by Chinese villagers, being hunted by Japanese forces all the while. With tales of high-flying action and bravery, Raid of No Return is a story of heartbreak and survival during wartime.

A swashbuckling thriller, part three of THE HIGH SEAS ADVENTURES, set on the oceans at the turn of the nineteenth century - drama, horror, adventure... "There's pirates in the West Indies. Cannibals. They cook you alive. They shrink your head to the size of a walnut," says Mr Spencer to his son. These words will haunt sixteen-year-old John Spencer as he embarks on his first voyage to foreign lands. Carrying cargo destined for Jamaica, John and his Dragon crew set off from London for waters few of them have sailed before. When they come upon a lifeboat adrift at sea, some are wary of the sailor aboard. His name is Horn, and something about this imposing and mysterious sailor isn't right. He carries a chest full of clinking glass, and his story doesn't quite make sense. Still, John respects the stranger's awe-inspiring seamanship. With Horn on deck, both John and the ship's captain believe the Dragon is in the best of hands. But is Horn to be trusted? The answers become more and more complicated as the Dragon encounters a very real - and very dangerous - pirate ship. Now John starts to believe his father's warnings, especially after he becomes separated from his shipmates and is stranded on an island reputed to conceal buried treasure. A place teeming with buccaneers... Brimming with furious high-seas adventure, this companion to The Wreckers and The Smugglers concludes with a bloodcurdling tale of pirates - and a surprise ending...

Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the Terezin ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Freddy Hirsch asks Dita to take charge of the eight precious volumes the prisoners have managed to sneak past the guards, she agrees. And so Dita becomes the librarian of Auschwitz. Out of one of the darkest chapters of human history comes this extraordinary story of courage and hope.

A rip-roaring Roman mystery from Historical Association Young Quills Award-winning author Ally Sherrick. PRAISE FOR BLACK POWDER - WINNER OF THE HISTORIAL ASSOCIATION YOUNG QUILLS AWARD: ' ... a wonderfully explosive adventure set in the turbulent year of the gunpowder plot in Black Powder with impossibly divided loyalties.' JULIA GOLDING, AUTHOR OF THE DIAMOND OF DRURY LANE 'With its constant reversals and twists and turns, Tom's story is almost as complex as the pliot and counter-plot of the Gunpowder Treason itself ... The writing is lively and the pace never flags.' HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY Vita longs to write plays and poetry - but as a high-born girl in Roman Londinium, her fate is sealed: marriage and children. Then her father is murdered, her mother and brother disappear, and Vita flees from a shadowy enemy. Disguised as a slave at the gladiator's arena, she forges an unlikely bond with Brea, a native Briton gladiatrix - and her wolf. Together, they resolve to discover and bring the killer to justice before Vita's identity is revealed ... A rip-roaring adventure set in Roman London from the rising queen of middle-grade historical fiction, Ally Sherrick Vita, nicknamed 'Little Owl' by her father, is an unlikely hero - but when her father is murdered she has to uncover the truth, even if it means finding unlikely friends Themes of deceit, storytelling and fighting justice

Someone will take their final bow . . .

Fresh from their adventure in Hong Kong, Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells are off to the Rue Theatre in London to face an entirely new challenge: acting.

But the Detective Society is never far away from danger, and it's clear there's trouble afoot at the Rue.

Jealousy, threats and horrible pranks quickly spiral out of control - and then a body is found.

Now Hazel and Daisy must take centre stage and solve the crime . . . before the murderer strikes again.

In this Newbery Honor Book, a thirteen-year-old boy struggles to survive on his own in the wilderness of eighteenth-century Maine. When Matt's father leaves him on his own to guard their new cabin in the wilderness, Matt is scared but determined to be brave and prove that he can take care of himself. And things are going fine until a white stranger steals his gun, leaving Matt defenseless and unable to hunt for his food. Then Matt meets Attean, a Native boy from the Beaver tribe, and soon learns that people called the land around him home long before the white settlers ever arrived. As Attean teaches him more about his own culture, Matt must come to terms with what the changing frontier really means. Now with an introduction by critically acclaimed writer Joseph Bruchac about the historical context and the relationships between Native peoples and white settlers in the eighteenth century.

Ten-year-old Hà has only ever known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, and the warmth of her family and friends close by. But when the Vietnam War reaches the gates of her home, Hà and her family are forced to flee. The journey onboard a refugee ship bound for America is hard - but nothing can prepare Hà for the strangeness of the country that greets them on the other side. The language is impossible, the food is strange - and not all the locals are friendly. But amongst her struggles, Hà finds joy, friendship - and most of all, the power of hope, love and family.

It is 1799. John Spencer is fourteen when his father?s ship, the ill-fated Isle of Skye, is shipwrecked on the coast of Cornwall as she makes for her home port. John survives the disaster, but soon learns to his horror that the villagers are not rescuers but wreckers ? pirates who lure ships ashore in order to plunder their cargo? When John discovers that his father is alive but being held prisoner, he must try and rescue him ? without knowing who can be trusted to help.

Dorset, 1625: Alice knows she shouldn't be here. She has been careful, watchful, deceitful even, to get to this point. But now the time has come, her heart is pounding with the enormity of her plan ... Alice Edwards is on her own and fighting for all that she holds dear. In a time of deadly plague, hope lies in herbs and remedies. But sickness is not the only danger. Who is the mysterious child who has fallen under her care? And how can Alice tell friend from foe when the shadow of a murder is haunting her steps - and heartache awaits at every turn? A gripping and authentic debut from a new voice in historical drama

Sequel to Raider's Tide. The continuation of Beatrice and Robert's story, historical drama set in 16th Century border country. In Raider's Tide, Beatrice, a sixteen-year-old English girl, saves Robert - a - Scot from death. She has risked her own life, by helping the enemy but in turn is rescued by John, the local pastor. After nearly drowning, and with Robert gone, Beatrice finds it difficult to settle back into everyday life. She starts to learn healing with the Cockleshell Man but is too distraught to concentrate well. A quarrel with her father results in her leaving home to stay at the Parsonage out father's way. There, her relationship with John deepens and they become betrothed. Meanwhile several captured Scots are imprisoned in the infamous dungeons of Lancaster Castle. Robert is among them - he did not make it across the border. The prisoners are almost certain to be hanged after their trials at the Lent Assizes. Beatrice makes repeated attempts to free him, but nothing works and Robert is condemned to die. In desperation Beatrice plots with some travelling players to rescue Robert and in doing so, she jeopardises her relationship with John and narrowly escapes being thrown into jail herself. In saving Robert, Beatrice has become a fugitive from the law herself... and Scotland is the only place she can go.