A novel in two acts - told eighteen years apart - gives voice to both mother (Ayesha) and daughter (Mira) after an unplanned teen pregnancy led Ayesha to place Mira up for adoption. Coming to the US to study, Ayesha is swept up in a whirlwind romance with Suresh - an Indian boy who reminds her of home. Mere months away from starting university, she falls pregnant and finds herself alone. She makes the difficult decision to hide her pregnancy and put her daughter up for adoption, before returning to India. Years later, seventeen-year-old Mira Fuller-Jensen has had a comfortable childhood but has never felt quite like she fit in their majority white community. All she knows is that her mums adopted her when she was born and that her biological mother was a student who went back to India. When she comes across letters addressed to her from her birth mother, she sees a way to finally capture that feeling of belonging. Her mother writes that if Mira can forgive her for having to give her up, she should find a way to travel to India for her eighteenth birthday and meet her. Mira knows she'll always regret it if she doesn't go. But is she actually ready for what she will learn? Perfect for fans of Sabina Khan's other books Zara Hossain is Here and The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali Deals with relatable teen issues and portrays the intersection of teen pregnancy with Muslim and Indian culture Compelling dual perspectives - Ayesha is brave and loving, Mira is curious but lost and both make engaging narrators

Why do we find sexuality so, well ... scary?

Comedian and co-creator of the hit show Feel Good, Mae Martin, investigates in this hilarious and intelligent guide to 21st century sexuality. By narrating their own, often humiliating, adventures in sex, dating and identity, Mae demystifies everything from weird crushes and coming out, to the pros and cons of labels and the joys of sexual fluidity.

Mae's mission is to ensure that in a world that's full of things to worry about, who we choose to kiss should not be one of them. And when it comes to sexuality, Mae asks:

CAN EVERYONE PLEASE CALM DOWN?

A reassuring, fact-packed book for boys on what to expect when growing up. From Dr Emily MacDonagh, practising NHS doctor and OK! magazine's popular Health and Parenting Columnist. Dr Emily talks about the physical and emotional changes of puberty in a simple and friendly way. Topics include: When and why will your body start to change? How will you feel different and why? What's happening to the girls? Plus expert tips on healthy eating, positive body image, self-esteem, and lots more. With colourful illustrations and useful diagrams. Written in collaboration with a Consultant Pediatrician and School Nurse. Mother of two and step-mother to teenagers, Dr Emily lives with her husband Peter Andre and children in Surrey. Growing Up for Girls: Everything You Need to Know is also available.

A reassuring, fact-packed book for girls on what to expect when growing up. From Dr Emily MacDonagh, practising NHS doctor and OK! magazine's popular Health and Parenting Columnist. Dr Emily talks about the physical and emotional changes of puberty in a simple and friendly way. Topics include: When and why will your body start to change? How will you feel different and why? What's happening to the boys? Plus expert tips on healthy eating, positive body image, self-esteem, and lots more. With colourful illustrations and useful diagrams. Written in collaboration with a Consultant Paediatrician and School Nurse. Mother of two and step-mother to teenagers, Dr Emily lives with her husband Peter Andre and children in Surrey. Also in Dr Emily's 'Growing Up' series: Growing Up for Boys: Everything You Need to Know

'A fresh, lively story about friendship - Ade and Shanice are such real girls' Jacqueline Wilson The major new middle-grade series from the authors of Slay in Your Lane is here! A universal story of friendship, falling out and unforgettable characters that will resonate with all readers of 9 and up. Ade is about to start at a new school. She is NOT happy with her stepdad for making them move here. Shanice has been at the school for a year already. Since her mum died, she's been living with her dad and annoying older brother, spending most of her time outside school in her dad's hair salon. When Ade and Shanice meet in the salon, and spot each other's diaries, an instant friendship is formed, and they start to chat online... but offline is a whole other story! The Offline Diaries is a fresh, funny and contemporary story of friendship, told in the captivating voices of Ade and Shanice - two utterly unforgettable Year 8 girls who will seize the hearts and imaginations of readers everywhere.

'A delicious, evocative story' THE GUARDIAN

From the author of THE POET X comes a sumptuous prose novel, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas' On the Come Up, Justin Reynolds' Opposite of Always and Nicola Yoon

Ever since she got pregnant, seventeen-year-old Emoni's life has been about making the tough decisions - doing what has to be done for her young daughter and her grandmother. Keeping her head down at school, trying not to get caught up with new boy Malachi. The one place she can let everything go is in the kitchen, where she has magical hands - whipping up extraordinary food beloved by everyone.

Emoni wants to be a chef more than anything, but she knows it's pointless to pursue the impossible. There are rules she has to play by. And yet, once she starts cooking, and gets that fire on high, she sees that her drive to feed will feed her soul and dreams too. And anything is possible.

'With its judicious depth and brilliant blazes of writing that simmer, then nourish, With the Fire on High is literary soul food' New York Times

'Bittersweet perfection' Guardian, Best Books of the Year 'An engulfing historical novel' The Times, Best Books of the Year 'A festive classic in the making' Observer, Best Books of the Year Nominated for the Carnegie Medal Three years ago, Margot's life was turned upside down when her fiance, Harry, went missing in action on the Western Front. Worse, she was left with a devastating secret which threatened to ruin her life and destroy the reputation of her family. As a respectable vicar's daughter, Margot has had to guard that secret with great care ever since, no matter how much pain it causes her. Now it's Christmas 1919, and Margot's family is gathering back home in the vicarage for the first time since the end of the Great War. And miraculously Harry has returned, hoping to see Margot and rekindle their romance. Can Margot ever reveal the shocking truth to the only man she has ever loved?

A sensible, reassuring guide to sex and growing up, revised with the most up-to-date information. What do you want to know about sex? Information about sex is everywhere. But what you learn from TV, movies, the internet, and friends is not always a healthy or accurate view of sexuality. This book is the perfect antidote. Formatted into a series of short Q&As, it is a frank, informative and open way to learn about changing bodies, sex, relationships, puberty and more. Children can use the book to explore and answer questions for themselves, or it can be used as a helpful starting points for conversations between adults and their children. Now revised and updated for the UK, Joanna Cole's Asking About Sex & Growing Up is the perfect book to provide answers to questions about sex.

From the critically acclaimed author of Allegedly, Tiffany D. Jackson, comes a gripping new novel perfect for fans of E. Lockhart and Gillian Flynn about the mystery of one teenage girl’s disappearance and the traumatic effects of the truth.

Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried.

When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.

As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?

Adolescence is a time of growth, change, and confusion for young women. During this transition from childhood to adulthood, sex and gender roles become more important. Meanwhile, depictions of females from the hyper-sexualized girls of music videos to the chaste repression of Purity Balls send mixed messages to young women about their bodies and their sexuality. Over the last several decades, authors of young adult novels have been challenged to reflect this concern in their work and have responded with varying degrees of success. In Learning Curves: Body Image and Female Sexuality in Young Adult Literature, Beth Younger examines how cultural assumptions and social constraints are reinforced and complicated through common representations of young women. Each chapter analyzes a recurrent theme in the history of young adult literature, including issues of body image, pregnancy, abortion, lesbianism, and romance. By examining selected novels for their sexual content, situating them within their social and historical context, and analyzing their discursive qualities, the author reveals the multitude of complex ways that society depicts teenagers and their sexualities and offers a critique of patriarchal culture that gives value to the female experience."

In 1960, fourteen-year-old Laura meets French exchange student, Leon. Her life will never be the same again. Things start to change for Laura - first her moods, and then her body. Laura isn't prepared for what she learns next - and doesn't even know how it could have happened. Sent away to save her family from shame, Laura meets girls just like her, whose families have given up on them - and they become a family for each other at the most difficult time in all their lives. Not suitable for younger readers, discover the brand-new young adult read from one of Britain's favourite authors. A heartbreaking, compelling and timely story for older readers about teen pregnancy, family trouble and unlikely friendships, set in 1960. "Jacqueline Wilson understands the complex interpersonal relationships of teenagers so well and writes with an unparalleled realness and rawness. I loved this book. It was heartbreaking but warm, unflinching yet somehow cosy. Nobody writes like Jacqueline Wilson. Long may she reign! I couldn't get the characters out of my head." - Holly Bourne

Heartbreaking, life-affirming, brave and bold - Karen Gregory's debut is a completely different kind of love story.

'Is there anything that's concerning you?' Felicity says. 'College, home, boyfriends?' Though she's more or less smiling at this last one.

I don't smile. Instead, I feel my face go hot. Silence stretches as wide as an ocean.

When I look up, Felicity has this expression on her face like she's just seen Elvis. Slowly, she leans forward and in a gentle voice I've never heard her use before she says, 'Have you done a pregnancy test?'

When Hedda discovers she is pregnant, she doesn't believe she could ever look after a baby. The numbers just don't add up. She is young, and still in the grip of an eating disorder that controls every aspect of how she goes about her daily life. She's even given her eating disorder a name - Nia. But as the days tick by, Hedda comes to a decision: she and Nia will call a truce, just until the baby is born. 17 weeks, 119 days, 357 meals. She can do it, if she takes it one day at a time .

Heartbreaking and hopeful by turns, Karen Gregory's debut novel is a story of love, heartache and human resilience. And how the things that matter most can't be counted.

Fans of Lisa Williamson, Sara Barnard and Sarah Crossan will fall in love with Karen's writing.

This inclusive guide to how every family begins is an honest, cheerful tool for conversations between parents and their young ones. To make a baby you need one egg, one sperm, and one womb. But every family starts in its own special way. This book answers the "Where did I come from?" question no matter who the reader is and how their life began. From all different kinds of conception through pregnancy to the birth itself, this candid and cozy guide is just right for the first conversations that parents will have with their children about how babies are made.

From the critically acclaimed author of Allegedly, Tiffany D. Jackson, comes a gripping new novel perfect for fans of E. Lockhart and Gillian Flynn about the mystery of one teenage girl’s disappearance and the traumatic effects of the truth.

Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried.

When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.

As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?

Even from an early age, kids are curious about many things―including bodies and babies. Although it can be challenging to determine how much information to give them early on, young children can begin to develop a wonder and appreciation for God’s marvelous gift of sexuality by understanding the basics of pregnancy, birth, and growth.

Using age-appropriate language and illustrations, The Story of Me explains:

• The growth of a child inside a mother’s body
• How a mother gives birth
• How breastfeeding works
• How babies grow once they are born
• What makes girl and boy babies different
• Bodily autonomy and privacy

Framing everything within the larger story of God’s wonderful design, your child can begin to understand that God is the giver of good gifts, including the gift of our bodies.

Designed for children ages 3 to 5.

'A fresh, lively story about friendship - Ade and Shanice are such real girls' Jacqueline Wilson The major new middle-grade series from the authors of Slay in Your Lane is here! A universal story of friendship, falling out and unforgettable characters that will resonate with all readers of 9 and up. Ade is about to start at a new school. She is NOT happy with her stepdad for making them move here. Shanice has been at the school for a year already. Since her mum died, she's been living with her dad and annoying older brother, spending most of her time outside school in her dad's hair salon. When Ade and Shanice meet in the salon, and spot each other's diaries, an instant friendship is formed, and they start to chat online... but offline is a whole other story! The Offline Diaries is a fresh, funny and contemporary story of friendship, told in the captivating voices of Ade and Shanice - two utterly unforgettable Year 8 girls who will seize the hearts and imaginations of readers everywhere.