Armed with a pair of purple rollerskates and a brain with as many connections as there are stars in the universe, eleven-year-old Sesame Seade is more than qualified to be Cambridge's number one self-made supersleuth. All she needs now is a mission. So when a student ballerina and aspiring journalist vanishes into thin air, some serious sleuthing begins. Very much against her parents' wishes, but with help from her friends Toby and Gemma and a conspiratorial duck, Sesame slips into the wings and solves the mystery of the missing dancer.
Illustrated throughout with hilarious artwork by Sarah Horne, this series features a smart and sassy heroine with a unique take on life. Also in the series: GARGOYLES GONE AWOL and SCAM ON THE CAM.
The truth is that jail is a place where you can still hold on to hope - hope you'll be bailed out, hope you'll be found innocent, hope you'll get a second chance.
Four teenagers, never destined to be friends - one rebel, one bully, one geek and one pariah, find themselves on the run from corrupt police officers in a stolen police car. How can you prove your innocence when the people who are supposed to protect you are the ones out to get you?
A beautiful, thrilling story of rebellion, and of friendship triumphing against all odds.
Kallisto loves her horses. She is an excellent horsewoman, as she has been taught all her equestrian skills by her nomad mother. One day she is returning from racing her horses when she sees from a mountain pass that the Chinese army is approaching her city - clearly planning to steal their horses! She races back home to find a deserted city and her favourite horse, Swan, taken by the Chinese, along with all the other horses. Kallisto is determined to get the horses back for her city, including her beloved Swan. She bravely approaches the Chinese general and challenges his best horseman to a duel of horsemanship and skill - if she wins, she will get Swan back. Kallisto loses (she is only 13!) but the general is so impressed by her audacity and bravery that he gives her Swan anyway, on condition that she sends him a foal every year. Set in Ferghana, Central Asia, in 102 BC, this is a thrilling tale that weaves in real events. The Chinese did invade and besiege towns to acquire the famed and beautiful Akhal-Teke horses - which led eventually to horses being traded for silk and the Silk Route being formed.
A fascinating taste of another culture and another time, couched in a richly descriptive and very pacy narrative.
A young girl has been murdered, her body displayed on the front lawn of her university campus. The killing is vicious - and terrifyingly familiar. Someone is copying the methods of one of the country's most infamous serial killers: Dean's father.
Back at the Naturals HQ, Cassie, Dean, Michael, Lia and Sloane are dealing with a new FBI agent - and Agent Sterling is determined to keep them out of trouble. But Dean knows too much about his father's crimes not to get involved, and his fellow Naturals won't let him face this alone.
But as the bodies mount up, the Naturals find themselves in a deadly dangerous race against time...
Brought to you by Penguin.
Shortlisted for Audiobook of the Year at the British Book Awards 2020.
Winner of Best Solo Narration at the New York Festival Radio Awards 2020
It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.
It is almost ten years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford's Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.
Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child . . .
The second volume of Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her daemon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed. Pulled along on his own journey too is Malcolm; once a boy with a boat and a mission to save a baby from the flood, now a man with a strong sense of duty and a desire to do what is right.
Theirs is a world at once familiar and extraordinary, and they must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost - a city haunted by daemons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.
The Secret Commonwealth is truly a book for our times; a powerful adventure and a thought-provoking look at what it is to understand yourself, to grow up and make sense of the world around you. This is storytelling at its very best from one of our greatest writers.
""Michael Sheen throws himself wholeheartedly into narrating this sequel to La Belle Sauvage and listeners will be rapt. For the ever-expanding international cast of characters, Sheen conjures a multitude of accents and delivers rapid-fire conversations between them. He's in step with the text at every turn; when situations become fraught or dangerous, Sheen ramps up the tension exquisitely. Thanks to Pullman's intricate storytelling and Sheen's propulsive narration, listeners will be on the edge of their seats right up to the cliff-hanger ending"" AudioFile
From the creator of the much-loved Mr Chicken Goes to Paris comes another madcap adventure - this time it's London and Mr Chicken wants to see all of it! Mr Chicken lands in London, checks in at the Savoy and grabs his friend to start seeing the sights. Showcasing famous London landmarks with his trademark humour and charming illustration.
A new threat faces the world of Erdas in this continuation of the
New York Times bestselling series.
Part engrossing book series, part action role-playing game - discover
your spirit animal and join the adventure.
The tiger is yours and you must come to take him. His jaw and chest are covered with fine jewels, rubies and emeralds . . . You must bring yourself to India and find this tiger.
Tom Trelawney discovers an incredible family secret. While serving as a soldier in India one of his ancestors stole and then hid a precious, jewel-encrusted tiger. The tiger is one of eight - all identical - that once surrounded the throne of a legendary sultan. Now a ruthless Indian billionaire is attempting to collect the full set - and only one is still missing . . .
With his roguish Uncle Harvey in tow, Tom sets off to find this family treasure. But they're not the only people looking for it . . .
What will two children do to win an island? From Costa-winning author of Voyage of the Sparrowhawk.
Skylar's old friends felt sorry for her but they were too afraid to talk to her.
Yakov's old friends were far away, blown across continents by war . . .
When Skylar meets Yakov she is still reeling from the news of her grandfather's stroke. Yakov is just desperate to go home. They recognise something in each other: a need for friendship, but something else fizzy beneath the surface. A refusal to accept what life has dealt them; a reckless desire to change things up for the better.
So when there's a competition to own nearby Golden Island, it's no surprise they want it.
But how can two children possibly win an island? And what will they risk to call it their own?
Exquisitely told, with compassion and empathy: an unmissable, life-affirming novel from the inimitable Natasha Farrant.
Natasha Farrant's book Voyage of the Sparrowhawk won the Costa Children's Book Award 2020.
""A unique whodunnit with more twists than an old beanstalk. Truly genius! I LOVED it."" SIBÉAL POUNDER, author of Wonka
THE BFG meets MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE in this giant-sized whodunnit with a witchy twist, from the author of the bestselling The Train to Impossible Places.
Trainee meadow witch Anwen is having a bad day - which gets much worse when a dead giant falls from the sky and destroys her village. But when she examines the body she discovers something interesting. This giant was murdered, which means a killer is on the loose!
Tasked with sending a message to the giant kingdom via beanstalk, Anwen and her nemesis, trainee sorceress Cerys, accidentally find themselves whipped up into the sky and deposited in the giants' royal palace - where the king is missing. Using their perfect spy-size and witchy skills, the girls must track down his killer. But how can you investigate a murder mystery when you risk being stepped on by your suspects?
