Young adults

‘Although sometimes I think that people like us are always alone in this world. Hidden away and stuck inside our Treacle Towns. Unequal and unrecognised.’ Con O’Neill, the protagonist of this novel reflects on life in his community, a so called ‘Treacle Town,’ where nobody can ever seem to leave, stuck in the roles imposed upon them by the people around them.

Trust no one is the rule to remember when reading this fast-paced adventure story. Rosalyn Quest wants to have mundane teenage experiences, like attending a gymnastics summer camp, and making friends. However, coming from a famous family of thieves, being normal is next to impossible. After her mother, a fellow famous thief, is kidnapped, Rosalyn is forced to do whatever it takes to get her back safely. Rosalyn enters into the Thieves' Gambit - a high stakes competition for young criminals - where the winner is granted one wish.

An unflinching feminist retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth, this is a complex story of love and duty, that challenges its readers. When Persephone runs away to the Underworld to escape an arranged marriage, the infamous ruler Hades is forced to give her refuge. Soon, a tentative friendship forms between them — one that ignites a chain of events that will alter the world entirely.

How do you come of age in a body that is old before its time? After a sudden onset and long adjustment period, Ven is answering that question day by day, living with the dynamic complications of chronic illness, and reckoning with the loss of her ability to dance. Luckily, she has other passions. Bossing her A level music group into peak performance, finding gorgeous second hand boots (all the better for bossing in), and the way the new boy’s hair falls just so …

In this engaging and inspirational story, a young teenage girl living in rural India defies the expectations of caste and custom to resist being sold into a sex trafficking ring. Heera’s family see no options. They are shunned by the village, they are in debt to criminals who are protected by the authorities, and this has always been the fate of girls from their class. Until the day Heera discovers Kung Fu. Through the mental and physical discipline of martial art, Heera learns to value herself physically and spiritually and brings about lasting change in her community.

Overemotional follows teenage Stephen as he deals with emotions that manifest as powers, often in a way he can’t quite control. When things with Stephen’s powers take a tragic turn, he flees to the bleak town of Grunsby-on-Sea.

Chiamaka and Devon are seniors in the exclusive Niveus High school, and they are both striving to be the best that they can be and get the college places they’re working so hard for. When someone starts posting their most intimate secrets online, they know that not only are their dreams going up in smoke, but their entire futures are jeopardised. Who or what is Aces, the mysterious persona behind these sinister messages, how can they know so much, and why have they targeted Chiamaka and Devon?