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Format: Chapter book

Chapter book

When Andy’s school announces a new no-uniform policy, her classmates are over the moon – but her heart sinks. All she wants is to dress like everyone else, but her mum’s the owner of a run-down kooky vintage boutique, so she’s bound to look – well – different. But when Andy finds a gorgeous bag full of designer goodies in the shop’s storeroom, everything changes. Can she learn to love vintage, and help transform her mum’s shop into something truly special?

Chapter book

Have you ever looked up and wondered what’s going on high up in the skies above your eyes? Take a journey up into the air, through the atmosphere, way out into space and back down to Earth in this richly illustrated concertina book.

Zoom past the technology that fills our skies, from helicopters, fighter jets, weather balloons, to satellites, hang-gliders and hot-air balloons. Discover the insects and animals that whizz through the skies, explore the layers of the atmosphere, and travel through the solar system and out to the galaxies far beyond. The follow up to The Street Beneath My Feet , which dug down to the center of the Earth, this expansive concertina book opens out to an impressive 2.5 metres , perfect for inquisitive young minds.

Begin your journey from the sidewalk of a busy city. Look up beyond the traffic lights, utility wires, and skyscrapers. Unfold the connected pages to reveal the incredible man-made sights that you would see 20 kilometres above (a weather balloon), 50 kilometres above (a rocket blasting a capsule into space), 100 kilometres above (a space plane and satellites), 400 kilometres above (the International Space Station), 380,000 kilometres above (the Moon) and through our Solar System.

Turn to the top of the other side to make your way beyond the Solar System to the hundreds of billions of galaxies filled with stars and planets we haven’t discovered yet. Then start your journey back down through the amazing natural wonders you would see 10,000 kilometres above (a comet), 85 kilometres above (meteoroids burning up as they enter Earth’s atmosphere), 11 kilometres above (a cumulonimbus cloud bringing thunder and lightning), 8 kilometres above (migrating storks), and down through the mountains, past trees, bats and butterflies to finally reach the ground again – this time in a grassy clearing of a forest, where you can imagine yourself lying on your back wondering at the thought of the whole universe above your head.

From jet trails to comets’ tails, enjoy amazing sights as you journey through the skies.

Chapter book

A magical middle grade book about family, friendship and finding out who you are, full of emotion and a secret fantasy world to discover. Perfect for 10 year olds and fans of Jacqueline Wilson, Ross Welford, Kiran Millwood-Hargrave and The House with Chicken Legs. From a rising star of children’s books.

This place is magic … but it’s not the sort of magic that comes from wands and spells …

Can piecing together the past help you change the present?

Safiya and her mum have never seen eye to eye. Her mum doesn’t understand Safiya’s love of gaming and Safiya doesn’t think they have anything in common. As Safiya struggles to fit in at school she wonders if her mum wishes she was more like her confident best friend Elle. But then her mum falls into a coma and, when Safiya waits by her bedside, she finds herself in a strange and magical world that looks a bit like one of her games. And there’s a rebellious teenage girl, with a secret, who looks suspiciously familiar …

Chapter book

Step into a magical world of enchanted forests, talking animals and wicked witches . . .

These six magical stories will thrill and enchant you. Watch Blackberry Blue rise from the bramble patch; follow Emeka the pathfinder on his mission to save a lost king; join Princess Desire as she gallops across the Milky Way on her jet-black horse.

These beautifully written and original stories will delight readers of all ages, and the stunning illustrations by Richard Collingridge will take your breath away.

Chapter book

Ryan Hart and her family live in Portland, Oregon, and her dad lost his job a while ago. He finally got a new one, but it pays less, and he’ll have to work nights. And so they’re selling the second car and moving to an (old) new house. The Harts are an everyfamily – a family with siblings who bicker, parents who don’t always get it right, but a family that loves. A family working hard to make it in tough economic times, a family with traditions and culture, a family that tries new things. This is a black family growing up in middle class America.

And Ryan is a girl who has much on her mind – school, family, friends, self-image – but who knows how to make sunshine out of setbacks. Packed with humour and heart alongside meaningful and thoughtful moments, Ryan Hart is the character everyone will want to be best friends with.

Chapter book

Secrets from the past are the keys to the future…if two children can find them. Bold adventure, timely themes and breath-taking writing from award-winning author, Sita Brahmachari.

Usha is devastated when her grandmother Kali Ma passes away. Then straight-talking Imtiaz arrives – her new adoptive sister – and the two girls clash instantly. They both feel lost. That is until Kali Ma’s ghost appears…with a task for them.

Immy’s and Usha’s home is full of history and secrets. Many years ago it was The House of the Ayahs – for those nannies who couldn’t return to their Indian homeland – and Kali Ma made a promise she couldn’t keep. She can’t pass on to the other side until the girls fulfil it.

Today, Usha and Immy’s over-worked parents run the house as a home for refugees, but eviction threatens. The precious documents that could save them are lost. As the house slowly fills up with ghosts, that only Usha and Imtiaz can see, the girls realise they have more to save than just one grandmother’s ghost.

With help from their new friend Cosmo, Usha and Immy must set off on a quest through London, accompanied by two bickering ghosts, working together to find a series of objects that shine a magical light on their family’s past and hold the clues to securing their future.

If they can set the secrets of generations free, will they be in time to save their home?

Chapter book

FIGHT CRIME, ACROSS TIME!

Leaplings, children born on the 29th of February, are very rare. Rarer still are Leaplings with The Gift – the ability to leap through time. Elle Bibi-Imbele Ifie has The Gift, but she’s never used it. Until now.

On her twelfth birthday, Elle and her best friend Big Ben travel to the Time Squad Centre in 2048. Elle has received a mysterious warning from the future. Other Leaplings are disappearing in time – and not everyone at the centre can be trusted.

Soon Elle’s adventure becomes more than a race through time. It’s a race against time. She must fight to save the world as she knows it – before it ceases to exist…

Chapter book

The second read-in-one-sitting mystery from the bestselling author of The Goldfish Boy, one of 2017’s biggest children’s books.

Nate and his mother are running away, hiding out in a tumbledown cottage in the middle of a forest.

When Mum heads off for provisions, and then doesn’t return, Nate is left alone and afraid, with the dark closing in all around him.

But comfort can come from the most unexpected of places – a mysterious girl trying to solve the clues of a treasure hunt and the reappearance of an old friend from his past.

Will Nate find the bravery needed to face the troubles of his present and ultimately illuminate the future?

A story of fear and hope, loneliness and friendship. A genuinely gasp-out-loud twist. A page-turning, twisty mystery with characters to root for.

Chapter book

A fast-paced, thought-provoking adventure story filled with friendship, war and the journey to find who we really are, from the author of The Monsters of Rookhaven.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018

NOMINATED FOR THE CILIP CARNEGIE AWARD 2019

Christopher is ‘Proper’: a real boy with a real soul, orphaned in a fire. He works for an engineer, a maker of the eccentric, loyal and totally individual mechanicals who are Christopher’s best friends.

But after a devastating accident, a secret is revealed and Christopher’s world is changed for ever … What follows is a remarkable adventure, as Christopher discovers who he really is, and what it means to be human.

A heartfelt tale of humanity, adventure and belonging, from the bestselling author of Pog and The Monsters of Rookhaven.

Pinocchio meets The Wizard of Oz with a hint of Northern Lights as a boy and his mechanical friends discover the truth about his past.

A thought-provoking and timely novel, with strong themes of friendship, war and what it really means to be human.

Chapter book

Darby loves summer on her family’s strawberry farm – but is the weather about to turn?

A UK nomination for IBBY’s List of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities 2019

Darby is twelve and has Down’s syndrome. Her favourite things are music, chocolate, and her big sister Kaydee. It’s nearly time for the annual chocolate hunt, the highlight of Darby’s year, but Kaydee has brought a friend home for the weekend. Suddenly both the chocolate hunt and her favourite person are in danger of slipping away… and to make things worse, the family’s strawberry farm is hit by a tornado.

When the storm clears, what will be left? And can Darby mend what’s been broken when nobody will listen to her?

A warm, thoughtful and empathetic novel from acclaimed author Jo Cotterill.

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