"A beautiful, gentle, rhyming exploration of grief and mourning." - Joe Coelho, Waterstones Children's Laureate The Hare-Shaped Hole is a beautiful, touching, and poignant picture book which gently explores themes of grief and loss. Hertle and Bertle were always a pair, though one was a turtle and one was a hare. They were utterly buddies, and best friends forever and whenever you looked, you would find them together... until quite unexpectedly... the end came. When Hertle disappears for good, Bertle can only see a Hertle-shaped hole where his friend should be. He pleads with it, get angry with it, but the hole still won't bring his Hertle back. It seems like hope is lost... until Gerda the kindly bear finds him. She explains that he must fill the hole with his memories of Hertle. And slowly... Bertle begins to feel a little bit better. Powerful and moving text from children's author and poet John Dougherty is paired perfectly with warm illustrations from the wonderfully talented Thomas Docherty in a thoughtful and sensitive approach to this difficult topic. This moving picture book can be used as part of a gentle conversation about death and grief with children.

The bestselling TikTok sensation and instant New York Times Bestseller! Filled with a diverse cast of characters, the heartache of first love and loss, plus a touch of magic, Dustin Thao's You've Reached Sam will make an instant connection with anyone looking for a big emotional romance of a read. Seventeen-year-old Julie has her future all planned out: move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city, spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam's phone just to listen to his voicemail. And Sam picks up the phone . . . What would you do if you had a second chance at goodbye?

The story of an awful, universe-gone-mad-mistake, and one girl’s emotional battle for clarity and forgiveness

Tiger’s mother has always been her whole world, but now she’s sixteen her mother’s control over everything in her life is suffocating. Just when Tiger feels she can no longer bear the way her life is managed, the unimaginable happens and her mother dies. As she slowly begins to make a way for herself, Tiger creates a new kind of family, some related and some not, who will love her and travel forward with her.

This is how you make friends with the dark.

´n Aardbewing op ´n Vrystaatse myndorp laat 'n skoolgebou ineenstort en keer drie tieners onder die puin vas. Terwyl hulle suurstof en hulle hoop al minder word, beleef die leser die angswekkende situasie saam met hulle. Die vasgekeerde kinders ervaar engtevrees en angs vir die naderende dood, en opflikkerings van verbete hoop en selfs humor, totdat ´n reddingspan hulle dae later eers uitgrawe. Maar een van hulle oorleef dit nie . . .

Funny, emotional and uplifting picture book about separation and love, to help children understand their emotions. Everyone loves everyone in Tess's house, but when Tess has to leave for school for the very first time, she is worried that her family's love might not stretch that far. Mum explains that love is like a string, it connects people together even when they are far away. At school Tess notices that all the children have strings! Some are new, some are old, some stretch a long way, and some even stretch right up into the sky. But what happens when a string breaks? Love is the third in a trio of feel-good picture books from author Corrinne Averiss (Joy (2018), Hope (2019)) - a pure delight from start to finish. A wonderful story that subtly tackles difficult topics of death, grief, separation and overcoming anxiety.

Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy Legendborn offers the dark allure of City of Bones with a modern-day twist on a classic legend and a lot of Southern Black Girl Magic. An explosive fantasy debut that's perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, Leigh Bardugo, Sarah J. Maas and Cinderella is Dead!

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential programme for bright high-schoolers at UNC – Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape – until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts – and fails – to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets – and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down – or join the fight.

A thrilling Gothic tale from the author of Our Castle by the Sea, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. 'Told in deft and luminous language, The Ghost of Gosswater is storytelling at its very best.' Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of THE GIRL OF INK & STARS 'Family secrets, a ghost girl and a forbidding manor house that goes up in smoke ... You can't help rooting for Agatha in this spooky, addictive tale of friendship and family.' THE TIMES 'Eerie, shimmering, unputdownable' HILARY MCKAY, winner of the Costa Book Award The Lake District, 1899 The Earl is dead and cruel Cousin Clarence has inherited everything. Twelve-year-old Lady Agatha Asquith is cast out of Gosswater Hall to live in a tiny, tumbledown cottage with a stranger who claims to be her father. Aggie is determined to discover her real identity, but she is not alone on her quest for the truth. On the last day of the year, when the clock strikes midnight, a mysterious girl of light creeps through the crack in time; she will not rest until the dark, terrible secrets of the past have been revealed ... The third novel by acclaimed bestselling author Lucy Strange, author of The Secret of Nightingale Wood and Our Castle by the Sea A thrilling gothic adventure for young readers aged 9 and up - perfect for fans of Emma Carroll and Frances Hardinge Follows strong-willed heroine Agatha Gosswater as she untangles the dark mystery of her own past, with the backdrop of the eerie Gosswater Lake

'Do you feel safe?' A powerful novel exploring how teenagers can be swept up into county lines. For fans of PUNCHING THE AIR and SPLINTERS OF SUNSHINE. Erik's mum is juggling the challenge of two small babies, plus the recent death of her husband due to COVID-19. Both these factors affect teenage Erik too, struggling with homework as the babies continually cry or his mum needs help. When the difficulties at home affect Erik's behaviour at school and he gets in with the wrong crowd, Erik is tempted to earn some easy money. . . But this kind of money is never truly easy to earn and comes with a terrible cost. Written in verse, the thoroughly-researched narrative exploring how teenage boys can be drawn into county lines pulls the reader in from the very first page, as Erik makes some good - and some very bad - decisions...

Cemetery Boys is an LGBTQIA+ ghost story about magic, acceptance and what it means to be your true self. From the instant New York Times-bestelling author Aiden Thomas. Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him. In an attempt to prove himself a true brujo and gain his family's acceptance, Yadriel decides to summon his cousin's ghost and help him cross to the afterlife. But things get complicated when he accidentally summons the ghost of his high school's resident bad boy, Julian Diaz - and Julian won't go into death quietly. The two boys must work together if Yadriel is to move forward with his plan. But the more time Yadriel and Julian spend together, the harder it is to let each other go. 'A celebration of culture and identity that will captivate readers with its richly detailed world, earnest romance, and thrilling supernatural mystery' - Isabel Sterling, author of These Witches Don't Burn

I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once.

Despite the tumour-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis.

But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

With its spare, poignant text and irresistibly sweet illustrations, The Rabbit Listened is a tender meditation on loss. When something terrible happens, Taylor doesn't know where to turn. All the animals are sure they have the answer. The chicken wants to talk it out, but Taylor doesn't feel like chatting. The bear thinks Taylor should get angry, but that's not quite right either. One by one, the animals try to tell Taylor how to process this loss, and one by one they fail. Then the rabbit arrives. All the rabbit does is listen, which is just what Taylor needs. Whether read in the wake of tragedy or as a primer for comforting others, this is a deeply moving and unforgettable story sure to soothe heartache of all sizes.

How can we answer the many questions young children have about death? Looking for a meaningful way to explain to neighbourhood children the death of a five-year-old friend, Doris Stickney adapted the graceful fable about the waterbug that changed into a dragonfly. First published under the title "Death" in 'Colloquy' (December 1971), the story was revised and expanded in 1982 to become the current bestselling Waterbugs and Dragonflies. This edition features full-colour paintings by Gloria Ortiz Hernandez, an artist whose work has been exhibited in Europe, South America, and the USA. A native of Columbia, she currently lives and creates her work on a farm in Pennsylvania.

Readers of John Green, Sarah Dessen, and Laurie Halse Anderson will be touched by the emotional depth and realistic characters of Jennifer Castle's teen novel You Look Different in Real Life.

Justine charmed the nation in a documentary film featuring five kindergartners. Five years later, her edgy sense of humor made her the star of a second movie that caught up with the lives of the same five kids. Now Justine is sixteen, and another sequel is in the works. Justine isn't ready to have viewers examining her life again. She feels like a disappointment, not at all like the girl everyone fell in love with in the first two movies. But, ready or not, she and the other four teens will soon be in front of the cameras again.

Smart, fresh, and funny, You Look Different in Real Life is an affecting novel about life in an age where the lines between what's personal and what's public aren't always clear.