Daphne is unbearably sad and adrift. She feels the painful loss of her father acutely and seeks solace both in the security of her local library and the escape her phone screen provides by blocking out the world around her. As Daphne tries to make sense of what has happened she recalls memories of shared times and stories past, and in facing the darkness she finds a way back from the tangle of fear and confusion, to feel connected once more with her friends and family. The Girl Who Became a Tree sees Joseph Coelho deploy a wide variety of poetic forms with consummate skill in its narration of events. He seamlessly but searingly weaves together the ancient legend of Daphne, who was turned into a tree to avoid the attentions of the god Apollo, and a totally modern tale, mixing real-life and fantasy, in which a latter-day Daphne seeks her own freedom. This is a heart-stoppingly imaginative story told in poems, at times bleak and even tragic, which is layered, rich and ultimately a tour de force of poetic skill and energy.

The hilarious and deeply moving diary novel from bestselling author Alex Barclay - this might just be the funniest book ever to make you cry your eyes out. This is the diary of me, Ellery Brown, aged fifteen and a half. I'm supposed to use it to record my feelings about my mum, since she died. So why do I keep thinking about who my dad might be, instead . . . ? I have so much STUFF to think about - including a whole new life in Ireland. So why can I not stop thinking about my DAD? Especially because it is so weird to think about someone you don't know. Like, literally, I have NO IDEA who my dad is. My best friend Meg has narrowed it down to three authors my mum knew. (She was an author too.) But they're not just in different countries; they're on different CONTINENTS. Which means fake IDs, passports, plane tickets, and somehow getting away from my self-obsessed grandmother . . . One thing's for sure: this year is going to be INTERESTING.