Category: New books

Being a teenager is hard enough, but it’s even harder in a world you’ve never known …

Eighteen months ago, 17-year-old Rose and 13-year-old Rudder escaped a strict religious sect with their mum. They are still trying to make sense of the world outside – no more rules about clothes and books, films and music, no more technology bans. But also no more friendship with the people they’ve known all their lives, no community and no certainty. It doesn’t help that their mum has to work all hours to pay rent on their cramped, smelly, one-bed flat above a kebab shop in Hackney.

While Rudder gorges on once-taboo Harry Potters and dances to Simon and Garfunkel and show tunes, Rose swaps the ankle skirts and uncut hair of the Woodford Pilgrims for Japanese-cute fairy dress and her new boyfriend, Kye. Kye, who she wants with all her being. But there’s loads of scary stuff about their new life that Rose and Rudder have no idea how to handle – it’s normal for girls to let their boyfriends take naked pictures of them, right?

When Rudder accidently sets a devastating chain of events into action, Rose must decide whether to sacrifice everything and go back to the life she hates, in order to save the people she loves.

A story about coming of age, slap-bang in the middle of a strange new world.

A wonderful collection of tales that range from creepy to silly to haunting. …Gammell’s drawings add just the right touch…” — John Scieszka, Entertinment Weekly “Read these if you dare.” — The New York Times The iconic anthology series of horror tales that’s soon to be a highly anticipated feature film! A classic collection of chillingly scary tales, collected and retold by Alvin Schwartz and featuring the original illustrations by lauded artist Steve Gammell. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark contains some of the most alarming tales of horror, dark revenge, and supernatural events of all time. Walking corpses, dancing bones, and narrow escapes from death-they’re all here in this chilling collection of ghost stories. Make sure you read these books with the light ON!

A powerful, unforgettable graphic novel from the world of Wonder, by globally bestselling and award-winning author R J Palacio.

*Now a New York Times bestseller*

To the millions of readers who fell in love with R J Palacio’s Wonder, Julian is best-known as Auggie Pullman’s classroom bully.

White Bird reveals a new side to Julian’s story, as Julian discovers the moving and powerful tale of his grandmother, who was hidden from the Nazis as a young Jewish girl in occupied France during the Second World War.

An unforgettable, unputdownable story about strength, courage and the power of kindness to change hearts, build bridges, and even save lives, from the globally bestselling author of Wonder.

Nobody visits Eerie-on-Sea in the winter. Especially not when darkness falls and the wind howls around Maw Rocks and the wreck of the battleship Leviathan, where even now some swear they have seen the unctuous Malamander creep…

Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, knows that returning lost things to their rightful owners is not easy – especially when the lost thing is not a thing at all, but a girl. No one knows what happened to Violet Parma’s parents twelve years ago, and when she engages Herbie to help her find them, the pair discover that their disappearance might have something to do with the legendary sea-monster, the Malamander. Eerie-on-Sea has always been a mysteriously chilling place, where strange stories seem to wash up. And it just got stranger…

Did you know that without the ‘lead’ in your pencil, there would be no life on Earth? Just about everything in the universe is made from only 92 elements – and from aluminium to zinc, many of them are hiding in your very own home!
Packed-full with beautiful and quirky illustrations by Lauren Humphrey and written by multi-talented Mike Barfield, this is a unique and novel introduction to the elements in the periodic table that will excite all young readers as they join Sherlock Ohms on his investigations to solve the mystery of how absolutely everything came to exist!

Freedom fighter, fugitive, celebrated prisoner, president: the hero of a nation. Nelson Mandela was called a terrorist, forced into hiding, captured, threatened with the death penalty and eventually thrown into prison for 27 years, but nothing could stop him from fighting to liberate his country from the infamous sytem of apartheid, which for so many years sought to separate people by race in South Africa.

A hero in the struggle, he never gave up. Even when he was a prisoner, he worked secretly with his comrades to undermine South Africa’s oppressive government.

This is the exciting, true story of a young herd-boy who grew up to become a lawyer, a figher for justice, South Africa’s first democratically elected president and the beloved grandfather of a nation.

Professional football is more demanding than ever. Top internationals reach speeds of 36km/hr, run 12km each match and play up to 60 games each season. Sports scientists are now key figures at every top club, applying cutting-edge techniques to boost fitness, accelerate recovery and forge lean, mean, winning machines.

This illuminating book uncovers the training and fuelling secrets of today’s greatest footballers, drawing on access to the world’s best clubs, including Barcelona, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and many more. Why does Cristiano Ronaldo have his own cryotherapy chamber? Why does Paul Pogba wear custom-made compression socks? Why does Sergio Agüero altitude-train when returning from injury? From virtual-reality units to the omnipresence of GPS vests, taking in brain-training, innovative gear and performance nutrition along the way, you’ll discover what it takes to reach the top of the game – and how to apply this knowledge to your own training.

Straw into Gold: Fairy Tales Re-Spun is a classic fairy tale collection to treasure. Featuring Hilary McKay’s imaginative retellings of key favourites, this ten-story collection includes the much-loved tales of Rapunzel, Cinderella, the Princess and the Pea, Rumpelstiltskin, the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the Swan Brothers, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Red Riding Hood, the Twelve Dancing Princesses and Hansel and Gretel.

This gorgeous gift book features black-and-white line and tone illustrations throughout from the talented Sarah Gibb.

The iconic struggle between good and evil in Return of the Jedi is thrillingly retold by New York Times bestseller Tom Angleberger.

‘It’s the Star Wars story with everything: Jabba, Boba, Wicket, Rebo, Salacious Crumb, Nien Numb, “It’s a trap”, Luke doing a flip and catching his lightsaber, speeder bikes, Yoda, Ghost Yoda, the Rancor, The Falcon, Wedge, Lando, Luke, Han, Chewie, C-3PO, R2 … But there’s also a second Death Star, the Emperor’s hideous evil smile, and Luke’s final confrontation with Darth Vader!

It’s a lot, but is it too much? Of course not! You and I, we LOVE Star Wars. So open this book and hang on. We’re about to make the jump to lightspeed!’

The first book in a spookily funny new series, where the living meets the dead and survival is a race against time. Perfect for fans of Skulduggery Pleasant and Who Let the Gods Out.

Welcome to the Embassy of the Dead. Leave your life at the door. (Thanks.)

When Jake opens a strange box containing a severed finger, he accidentally summons a grim reaper to drag him to the Eternal Void (yep, it’s as fatal as it sounds) and now he’s running for his life! But luckily Jake isn’t alone – he can see and speak to ghosts.

Jake and his deadly gang (well dead, at least) – Stiffkey the undertaker, hockey stick-wielding, Cora, and Zorro the ghost fox – have one mission: find the Embassy of the Dead and seek protection. But the Embassy has troubles of its own and may not be the safe haven Jake is hoping for . . .