Thirza, an 11-year-old servant girl, works in the mansion of the disgraced former Lord High Magician, Lord Wurzic. When the lord’s young niece Cecily comes to stay, Thirza becomes her maid. Wurzic asks Thirza to befriend and look after Cecily, who is apparently dying – but all is not as it seems …
Erin, her parents, and her younger sister Lena go on a camping holiday in Wales. They’re going to visit their grandfather and see where their mother and deceased aunt grew up. When Erin meets Bess she is both fascinated and repelled by Bess’s abrasive manners but ends up going into the nearby forest with her. There, Erin discovers her love of birds and nature when a bird she names Fable befriends her.
Right from the first page, you know that something is not right in the village of Black Gables. Rosella and her father have moved to her mother’s home while her mother is in hospital. Sounds like a typical story, right? Wrong! This is a gothic tale with spooky ghouls and horrible happenings.
This book contains a story within a story. It opens and closes with Sasha, who works at a marine life sanctuary, who helps care for an injured and traumatized rescue, which turns out to be an intelligent and bedazzling seamaiden, who wants to be set free. She tells the tale of Merryn, who goes on a classic heroine's journey with a fresh-water twist. Because of all she experiences, Merryn matures and changes in many ways by the end of her tale. The epilogue reveals the connection between the two stories.
James isn’t coping with his parents’ breakup. He is deeply unhappy with how his life has changed, and longs for what he remembers as a perfect childhood with his mum and dad. Written in a way that’s clear and believable, many children might relate to the feeling that ‘things will never be the same’. The story shifts as James perceptions of his memories change. By the end, James doesn’t want to be stuck in the past – the present and future are more hopeful and interesting!
Molly and Bram are back for a second historical adventure with their gang of friends in Dublin. The short first chapter shows Bram’s life at a bit of a standstill. Not surprisingly, as soon as Molly arrives, the plot quickly moves forward. There’s plenty of hair-raising, exciting moments though only one adult is actually in peril.
Set in July 1936 aboard the Queen Mary cruise ship, Alice is having the experience of a lifetime even though she must defy her father to roam the ship … With her new friend, Sonny, Alice must unravel an urgent mystery when someone is attacked and soon learns that there’s more than one secret to be revealed too.
Finn and Tula Flint embark on a perilous and exhilarating adventure in search of their missing father, which leads to them, along with a group of friends, trying to save the world!
This dual-narrative story opens in the near future when endless heatwaves have become the norm in England. Polly and her family are coping as best they can. Polly and her brother, Joel, are sent to stay with their Aunt Jessie who lives by Truthwater Lake, a reservoir that was created when a valley was flooded. Meanwhile, in 1952, Nellie is living in a small village in the same valley and is obsessed with swimming. Through a bit of late-night magic and a swim in the lake, Polly becomes immersed in Nellie’s world, along with Lena, the Blackwells and the rest of the village.
Wales, 1890, and protagonist Wren is an inventor like her mother. She feels trapped by the rules of society and her domineering father. Alarming things are also happening to their rather odd home. Wren wants to fly away from it all. When her father threatens to send Wren to a school for wayward girls, she vows to find a way to escape her fate.
