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Format: Chapter book

The Light Thieves

Chapter book

Clever, quirky and hugely imaginative, discover the eagerly anticipated new eco-adventure series from the bestselling author of A Place Called Perfect.

Who would you trust to save the world…a boy or a billionaire?

The earth has shifted on its axis and a mysterious dark mark has appeared on the sun – the whole world is in peril! But billionaire tech genius Howard Hansom has a plan…

When Grian’s sister goes missing he’s convinced she has run off to Hansom’s new city to help save the world. But when Grian and his two friends Jeffrey and Shelli track her there they find that nothing is quite as it seems.

Why is everything so secret? Where is the mysterious Area 13? What does Howard Hansom want with all the people he has enticed to live in his city?

The days are getting darker but what’s really happening to the sun?

Paper Boat, Paper Bird

Chapter book

A stunning new story from the bestselling, prize-winning David Almond, unfolding the magic of the everyday. Mina, from the unforgettable Skellig and My Name is Mina , journeys to Japan and discovers the wonders of the world around her.

Kyoto, Japan. Mina is on a bus. Everything is strange and beautiful.

Mina watches as a woman folds a piece of paper into an origami boat, then floats it over to her.

As Mina discovers the magic of origami, her eyes are opened to the wonders of the real city around her.

Unfold the magic of the everyday, on a journey with one of the world’s best-loved authors – with stunning illustrations from Kirsti Beautyman in black and orange throughout.

The Treekeepers

Chapter book

An epic tale of trees of power and a world under threat, from the author of the bestselling Five Realms series. Here come the roots of the Shadow Tree. Whatever they touch will never get free. Liska lives in Arborven, a city surrounding an extraordinary tree that gives all those living there special powers.

Mouse Heart

Chapter book

This atmospheric thriller, full of daring stunts and sinister villains, is perfect escapism for 9+ readers.

Mouse, a foundling, loves her pieced-together family at the Moth Theatre fiercely. When their leading man, Walter, is wrongly arrested for murder, Mouse swears she’ll free him. But another member of the cast has a secret identity – as a ruthless killer. As Mouse’s investigation leads her ever closer to their true, deadly nature, can she outwit them without losing everything she holds dear?

A masterfully told adventure from the acclaimed author of The Boy Who Flew and Murder in Midwinter, Mouse Heart is ideal for fans of Philip Pullman, Katherine Rundell and Philip Reeve.

Max Counts to a Million

Chapter book

This funny, poignant, uplifting story about lockdown celebrates how – sometimes – just keeping on going makes you a hero.

The Christmas Carrolls

Chapter book

Funny festive middle grade about the world’s most Christmassy family from the founder of Authorfy, perfect for 8+ readers and fans of Matt Haig, Ben Miller, Sibeal Pounder’s Tinsel , and the Nativity! films

Wish it could be Christmas every day? Well, for nine-year-old Holly Carroll and her family, it is! Living her merriest life in a house with year-round fairy lights and Christmas trees, a carol-singing toilet and a diva donkey who thinks he’s a reindeer, home-schooled Holly tries to spread cheer wherever she goes.

But when she goes to a new school with a singing Santa backpack and first day Christmas cards (during a heatwave in September!), she realises not everyone shares her enthusiasm for spreading cheer. In fact, when the neighbours try to remove the Carrolls from the street and Holly discovers a group of children that may not get a Christmas at all, her snowglobe world begins to crack. Is the world’s most Christmassy girl about to lose her Christmas spirit?

The Christmas Carrolls is a heartwarming, hilarious and inclusive tale about the power of spreading cheer, the magic of friendship and what really matters at this most wonderful time of the year.

The Ice Whisperers

Chapter book

A chilling magical adventure about two sisters born 40,000 years apart, perfect for fans of The House With Chicken Legs and The Wild Way Home.

When Bela’s mother dies, she is summoned to deepest Siberia to stay with an uncle she’s never met. Exploring his strange scientific workshop, she uncovers a secret she was never meant to find – a doorway that opens to an icy land, frozen in time and full of legends come to life.

But this frozen land is in danger, and it’s up to Bela to find a way to save it. To succeed, she must join forces with the impossible: a long-lost sister she never knew she had, born 40,000 years before…

Fledgling

Chapter book

A dark, gothic adventure set deep in a Bavarian forest, with angels and owls and magic and a boy who isn’t all that he seems to be…

A cherub is blown into Cassie Engel’s bedroom during a thunderstorm, triggering a series of terrifying events. Cassie must discover if its arrival was an accident or part of something more sinister.

With a self-obsessed opera singer for a mother, a strange taxidermist father, and a best friend who isn’t quite what he seems, Cassie is forced to unearth the secrets of her family’s past. As the dark forces gather around them, can Cassie protect all that she holds dear?

The fantastic debut novel from Lucy Hope, with cover illustration by Anna Shepeta.

Jummy at the River School

Chapter book

Jummy has won a place at the River School, the finest girls’ boarding school in Nigeria. Nothing can dampen her spirits, not even when she learns that her best friend Caro won’t be joining her.

By the Shine-Shine River, school is everything Jummy dreamt of, with friendly new girls, midnight feasts and sporting prizes – but when Caro suddenly arrives at the school to work, not to learn, Jummy must bring all her friends together to help.

From a fantastic new talent in middle-grade contemporary fiction, Sabine Adeyinka, based on her own experience of attending boarding school in Nigeria

A joyful, glorious collision of classic boarding-school story with vibrant 1990s Nigeria

Irrepressible Jummy investigates an intriguing mystery as her best friend from home turns up at the school

Einstein the Penguin

Chapter book

Perfect for all readers from 7 to 70, Einstein the Penguin introduces an unforgettable new character in a future-classic and fantastically funny debut for all the family to enjoy. Get ready to welcome the most extraordinary penguin into your own home…

When the Stewarts spend a sunny, frosty December day at London Zoo, they’re enchanted by one small penguin. At the delight of young Imogen and Arthur, Mrs Stewart insists the penguin “must come and stay with them whenever he likes.”

But not one Stewart expects the penguin to turn up at their door that evening, rucksack labelled “Einstein” on his back…

The family’s new feathered friend helps Arthur to come out of his shell and makes massive demands on Imogen’s amateur sleuthing. But together they must find out why Einstein came to them and they must keep away from the mysterious white-coat man.

And Einstein can’t stay forever, can he…?

From stunning new writing talent Iona Rangeley, and illustrated with wit and brio by the award-winning David Tazzyman, this is a book that will be treasured for years to come.

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Stone Girl Bone Girl

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