New term, new school - but India Jane isn't looking forward to being the new girl in Year Eleven when most of the friendships have already been established. At least there's best friend Erin's visit from Ireland to look forward to, and also Joe, the boy she met on holiday in Greece. She hopes he will become more than a friend, but then the path of true love never did run smooth ! Starting Over looks at friendship, with its expectations and disappointments, in Cathy Hopkins' wonderfully insightful style.

This is the third book in the 'Mates, Dates' series, which features Nesta, a confident and fearless girl with model looks, charisma and charm. Despite all this, Nesta feels out of her depth when she meets the wealthy Jason.

Lucy is trying to cope with teenage life. She is being pressured from all angles - teachers, parents and even her friends. Everyone else seems so sure of what they want to do, but Lucy has no idea. Somehow she has to find the answers.

Warm, wise and full of heart... I absolutely loved this book.' Lucy Diamond Mum always knows best... Hilarious and poignant perfect for fans of Judy Leigh and and Dawn French. Meet the daughters of Iris Parker. Dee; sensitive and big-hearted; Rose uptight and controlled and Fleur the reckless free spirit. At the reading of their mother's will, the three estranged women are aghast to discover that their inheritance comes with strings attached. If they are to inherit her wealth, they must spend a series of weekends together over the course of a year and carry out their mother's 'bucket list'. But one year doesn't seem like nearly enough time for them to move past the decades-old layers of squabbles and misunderstandings. Can they grow up for once and see that Iris' bucket list was about so much more than money...

"I have un grando dare for Becca and Cat, " said Squidge. "You know this competition for Pop Princess? Well, I dare you both to enter." He looked pointedly at me. "And I mean both of you. Auditions are next Saturday."
Becca missed the fun of the school production of Grease, and she has a reputation of being fickle and a dreamer. But the Pop Princess challenge makes her determined to try harder than she has ever tried before. She has the voice, but has she got the staying power?

""Get him and his big words," said Cat. "But I agree. Kiss. You must..." "Kiss the next boy who comes onto the beach," Squidge finished for her."

Becca's on a losing streak with boys and she's willing to resort to "anything" to have a little fun. So on a dare, she kisses the next guy she sees: Lal Lovering, who's on holiday in Cornwall and totally cute.

But when Becca realizes she's interested in more than just a holiday fling, she wonders if Lal can ever see through her rather overwhelming first impression. Between her own changing feelings and her parents' disintegrating marriage, Becca starts to see what sort of support a boyfriend can give...and just how important her friends can be.

"What is the most important thing in your life?" asked Nesta. "And you have to tell us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

"Easy," said TJ. "My mates. Yeah, my family and my dog, Mojo, too, but mainly my mates."

"Arrrr," chorused all the girls.

Big changes are coming for Cat: post-high school plans, a big move, and her dad is finally getting remarried. But despite having looked forward to the changes, now Cat's worried about letting go of her old life -- and saying goodbye to her home.

Cat's friends come to the rescue and organize a sleepover. While playing truth or dare, the friends promise to always be there for each other -- no matter what happens in their lives. And as plans for the move and the wedding take shape, Cat learns that the more things change, the more the important things stay the same.

"Do you think that room service will deliver chocolate?" asked Izzie, who was on her knees on the floor with her face in the minibar. "We're all out here."

"Yeah," said T. J. "Who needs boys when you can have chocolate?"

"Ah, but they come in handy when we haven't any," said Nesta. "Let's call the boys in their rooms. Maybe they haven't eaten their supplies."

A school trip to Florence seems like the perfect escape for Lucy. She wants time away from Tony, who is pressuring her to take their relationship further. In Italy she meets an American boy and thinks he might be the ideal way to get over Tony.

He seems to be the perfect gentleman, and Italy introduces Lucy to a world of culture and sophistication. Will she be able to move on from Tony? Or is it a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire?

"That William Lewis really thinks a lot of himself," I said. "He's such a smartarse."

"Hhmm,"said Lucy, grinning. "That's what he said about you too."

"He did? What a cheek! God, he annoys me. I really hate him."

Lucy, TJ, and Izzie exchanged knowing looks. "Yeah sure," said TJ. "You hate him."

Nesta's life is thrown into upheaval when she gets involved in charity work thinking that it might be a cool way to meet people (mainly boys). But as her eyes are opened to the plight of the world, she begins to want genuinely to get involved and help others.

On top of this, Nesta meets William, a boy who questions her motives. At times, she's convinced he hates her and the feeling is mutual. But Izzie, Lucy, and TJ think it is something more like love....

""I wonder what would have happened if I'd met you before Nesta," said Luke as he took my hand and looked deeply into my eyes. A bolt of electricity shot through me and I snatched my hand back as if it had been burnt. This can't be happening, I thought."

When Luke, the boy that Nesta has been dating, declares passionate love for T.J., she doesn't know what has hit her. She does her best to avoid him, but when the local schools are asked to work together on a project, Luke is chosen as the overall coordinator and T.J. has no choice but to report back to him on a regular basis. Misunderstandings and miscommunications threaten the girls' friendship and split them into two camps: Lucy and Nesta, Izzie and T.J. Will their friendship survive? And what will T.J.'s steady boyfriend, Steve, make of it all?

A turning point is exactly what Lucy Loverling does NOT want. Everything is changing around her, and suddenly she has to make all sorts of decisions. Everyone else knows who and what she wants to be except her. Izzie has become friends with the glamorous Nesta, and Lucy isn't certain she likes a threesome. Nesta and Izzie look sixteen, but Lucy, at fourteen, can still pass for a twelve-year-old.

But then one day Lucy sees the most wonderful boy crossing the street, and things do start to change -- in all areas of her life...

"Yeah but...," I started, "then I decided to confront what I thought was probably really bothering her. "Look, about Jonno. I didn't mean for anything to happen. He just kind of...""

After a game of truth or dare, Lia manages to gain the interest of the school heartthrob, and alienates "teen queen" Kaylie, who was after Jonno for herself. Kaylie and her friends then start a campaign of bullying against Lia -- the nasty, underhanded kind where rumors are spread, threats are sent, secrets are exposed, and confidence is underminded.

Soon Lia begins to question her whole life: who she is, why these girls have got it in for her, and who her "real" friends are....

"Hey listen guys. I need you to tell me something and I want you to be really really honest...." "Sounds serious," said Nesta. "It is. I want you to tell me, do you think I've put on weight?" Nesta, Lucy, and T J looked at each other. "No," said T J after a moment too long. "Not really. Well, we all did a little on the school trip. So no more than the rest of us."

Izzie has always been "curvy," but since Christmas she has gained eight pounds, and nothing seems to fit anymore. In an attempt to lose weight, Izzie tries everything: one diet after another, a punishing exercise program, and every bit of conflicting advice anyone can give her.

Her constant worrying about her weight causes her to lose her confidence, and she stops appreciating the things in her life that are special -- her supportive friends, the fact that she has been selected for a TV teen panel, and a cute boy at the TV studio who seems to like her just the way she is.

Dis seker die laaste sien van Ollie Axford, se ek. "Ek sou nie so seker wees nie, TJ," se Nesta. "Die kanse is goed dat hy jou sal probeer date." "Ek weet darem nie, hy lyk anyway vir my na 'n regte joller. Jy ken mos sy soort. Daai glinstering in sy oe vertrou ek nie." "'n Bietjie soos Luke?" vra Lucy. Vir TJ was dit 'n lang droogte, sonder 'n enkele ou op haar horison - en toe skielik is daar sommer twee gelyk! Net toe TJ besluit die hartebreker Ollie Axford is die regte ou vir haar, wil Luke de Biasi ewe skielik weer hul romanse laat vlam vat! TJ is verskeur tussen hulle, en sy voel soos 'n tweegesig. Maar sy hou op om haar oor ouens te verknies toe iemand na aan haar ernstig siek word. TJ moet haar kop skoon kry en sy het nou die ondersteuning van haar vriendinne - Lucy, Nesta en Izzie - dringend nodig!

'n Skooltoer na Florence bied Lucy 'n ideale wegkomkans. Sy moet 'n bietjie afstand kry van Tony wat die laaste tyd druk op haar plaas om hul verhouding verder te voer. In Italie ontmoet sy 'n baie gawe en ordentlike jong man op besoek aan Toskane. Net die regte ou om haar van Tony te genees, dink sy. In Italie maak Lucy ook kennis met 'n wereld van kultuur en verfyndheid. Kan sy haar losmaak van Tony en aangaan met haar lewe? Of sal sy maar net weer van die wal af in die sloot beland?

Toe Luke, die ou met wie Nesta uitgaan, sy vurige liefde teenoor TJ verklaar, weet sy nie wat haar getref het nie. Sy voel dalk dieselfde teenoor hom, maar hy is tog Nesta se ou! Sy probeer hom vermy, maar toe hul skole saamwerk aan 'n projek, word Luke as koördineerder gekies. TJ het geen ander keuse nie as om hom gereeld te sien. Misverstand en slegte kommunikasie bedreig die meisies se goeie betrekkinge en verdeel hulle in twee kampe: Lucy en Nesta teenoor Izzie en TJ. Sal hul vriendskap dit oorleef?

Another warm and uplifting book from the author of The Kicking the Bucket List 'Feelgood' Good Housekeeping Has their friendship stood the test of time? The Class of '72, Sara, Ally, Jo and Mitch were as close as sisters, then life intervened and the four friends lost touch. Now in her sixties, Sara has realized - late in the day - that those women were the best friends she'd ever had and is determined to get the gang back together. Ally is facing a huge turning point in her life and Jo, after years of being chief cook and bottle washer, needs to put herself first after a wake-up call. None of them know what happened to Mitch. The coolest and most enigmatic of the foursome doesn't want to be found and it seems that even after all these years, the women are still keeping a few secrets from each other...

Friendships are threatened when a boy that Nesta has been dating declares his passionate love for TJ. TJ doesn't know what's hit her and does her best to keep out of the way but then she and the boy are chosen to work on a newsletter for the local borough, so there's no avoiding him.