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Maiquel is an ex-contract killer who's been a fugitive for ten years - ever since his girlfriend Erica ran off with his daughter, took up with an evangelical pastor and disappeared from his life. When his aunt dies, leaving him a house and a savings accou

Elspeth is sent to Sutrium, seat of the totalitarian Council that rules the Land, to seal an alliance between the secret Misfit community at Obernewtyn and rebel forces.She undertakes the journey reluctantly as she has another task at hand: to find a nd destroy the dormant weaponmachines. Her journey takes her far beyond the borders of the Land and into the heart of the desert region of Sador, where she soon discovers just how much help she needs to complete both her quests!

Newly arrived from Ghana with his mother and older sister, eleven-year-old Harrison Opoku lives on the ninth floor of a block of flats on a London housing estate. The second best runner in the whole of Year 7, Harri races through his new life in his personalised trainers - the Adidas stripes drawn on with marker pen - blissfully unaware of the very real threat all around him. With equal fascination for the local gang - the Dell Farm Crew - and the pigeon who visits his balcony, Harri absorbs the many strange elements of his new life in England: watching, listening, and learning the tricks of inner-city survival. But when a boy is knifed to death on the high street and a police appeal for witnesses draws only silence, Harri decides to start a murder investigation of his own. In doing so, he unwittingly endangers the fragile web his mother has spun around her family to try and keep them safe. A story of innocence and experience, hope and harsh reality, Pigeon Englishis a spellbinding por trayal of a boy balancing on the edge of manhood and of the forces around him that try to shape the way he falls.

A feral boy is captured and 'civilised' in the Languedoc region. A young woman is hired to look after a cloned dog that cost its owners $250,000. A widower in a self-satisfied suburb engulfs his loneliness in a sea of rats. A weary city GP is baffled by a

At the end of the nineteenth century China is rocked by humiliating foreign attacks and local rebellions. The only constant is the power wielded by one woman: the resilient, ever-resourceful Tzu Hsi, also known as Empress Orchid. Moving from the intimacy

When one of their number is kidnapped, Elspeth and the Misfits are forced to use their extraordinary mind powers to help the rebels in their struggle to overthrow the oppressive Council. But Elspeth has another problem to solve - she is still on her quest to destroy the Beforetime weaponmachines. To find a clue hidden deep in the past, Elspeth must travel the Dreamtrails, but her journeys are fraught with danger as she battles a terrifying winged beast intent on destroying her. Gradually Elspeth realises that her quest will take her back to Obernewytn, and it is here, in its past as well as its future, that the answers lie.

Intelligently written, well researched, and with more than a little sting in its tail, it will enthrall as much for its gossip (the feud with Jimmy Choo himself, the glamorous parties, the name-drops, the rehab) as for its insights into the workings of the fashion industry and the grisly imperatives of big business' TheTimes Summer Reads 'There is nothing sexier than a confident, intelligent woman. For the last decade, Lauren Goldstein Crowe and Sagra Maceira de Rosen have impressed the fashion and business worlds with their thoughtful critiques and analysis of the fashion industry. Together they make a formidable team' Tom Ford, former Creative Director of Gucci Group 'Chock full of juicy details about one of fashion's most successful luxu ry labels ... [this] is equal parts no-nonsense business savvy and glossy fashion world fabulousness' Glamour 'A fascinating yarn' Wall Street Journal.

Praise for Auslander: 'A heart racing thriller about courage, convictions and the construction of identity' The Bookseller 'Dowswell is one of the best new writers of historical fiction for children ... [Auslander] steps outside the victim culture of novels such as those by Morris Gleitzman and comes close to classics such as The Silver Sword. Admirers of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas should look at this novel as a model of imaginative sympathy' The Times 'Auslander is a superlative, at times a lmost agonisingly compelling, piece of historical fiction ... The climactic escape to freedom is pure muck-sweat tension' The Financial Times .

Despite being mostly known for his fantastical graphic novels and adult fiction, Neil Gaiman's first book for children is everything that you would expect from such a massive imagination as his. It's special and wonderful and very weird indeed. Descr ibed by some as the new Alice in Wonderland, Coraline is actually more bizarre than that, much more frightening and its modest length definitely adds to the book's undiluted potency. Shortly after moving into an old house with strange tenants above a nd below, Coraline discovers a big, carved, brown wooden door at the far corner of the drawing room. And it is locked. Curiosity runs riot in Coraline's mind and she unlocks the door to see what lies behind it. Disappointingly, it opens onto a brick wall. Days later, after exploring the rest of the house and garden, Coraline returns to the same mysterious door and opens it again. This time, however, there is a dark hallway in front of her. Stepping inside, the place beyond has an eerie familiari ty about it. The carpet and wallpaper are the same as in her flat. The picture hanging on the wall is the same. Almost. Strangest of all, her mum and dad are there too. Only they have buttons for eyes and seem more possessive than normal. It's a twis ted version of her world that is familiar, and yet sinister. And matters get even more surreal for Coraline when her "other" parents seem reluctant to let her leave. Her attempted escape from this nightmare alternative reality sees Coraline experienc e a chilling series of ever more bizarre encounters. Some are plainly odd, others disturbingly spooky and together they combine to form an immensely readable story. It's like all the best bits of the Goosebumps books condensed into 160 pages. A uniqu e reading experience guaranteed. (Ages 10 and over)--John McLay--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

`One of the most controversial books of 2011' --Guardian`If you think you are ambitious for your child, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother will make you think again ... Amy Chua's philosophy of child-rearing may be harsh and not for the fainthearted, bu t ask yourself this: is it really more cruel than the laissez-faire indifference and babysitting-by-TV which too often passes for parenting these days? Millions of failing British children could use a Tiger Mother in their tank' --Allison Pearson, Da ily Telegraph`Blissfully funny ... The book, for all its hilarious/hair-raising insights into how to raise terrifyingly over-accomplished children, strikes me as ultimately being not so much about parenting methods as about the immigrant experience, though the two are of course inextricably intertwined ... Chua remains a second-generation immigrant who wants the best for her children. It is not hard to understand if you know the milieu, and not hard either to feel a sneaking admiration for her' --India Knight, Sunday Times`Could it be that much of the laissez-faire parenting of the modern West uses the idea of enlightened liberality to give an intellectual justification for what is actually a form of laziness? ... If it's results you want, then the Chinese mother does indeed know best' --Dominic Lawson, Independent`Her tale is compelling in the same way as a good thriller' --Financial Times.

How is it possible to read Howard Jacobson and not lose oneself in admiration for the music of his language, the power of his characterisation and the penetration of his insight? ... The Finkler Question is further proof, if any was needed, of Jacobs on's mastery of humour' The Times Wonderful ... Jacobson is seriously on form' Evening Standard 'There are few writers who exhibit the same unawed respect for language or such a relentless commitment to re-examining even the most seemingly unobjectio nable of received wisdoms' Daily Telegraph 'Full of wit, warmth, intelligence, human feeling and understanding. It is also beautifully written with that sophisticated and near invisible skill of the authentic writer' Observer.

Zara and Nick are soul-mates - they're meant to be together for ever. But that's not quite how things have worked out. For starters, Nick is dead, and has been taken to Valhalla, a mystical resting place for warriors. If they can find the way there, Zara and her friends will try to get him back. But even if they do, Zara has turned pixie - and now she's Astley's queen! Meanwhile, more teenagers go missing as a group of evil pixies devastates the town of Bedford. An all-out war seems imminent and Zara and her friends need all the warriors they can find...

Praise for The Thornthwaite Inheritance: 'Beautifully simple comic ideas that children instantly love ... This is a book certain to make family holidays go with a bang' The Times Praise for Space Crime Conspiracy: 'A galactic read, funny, full of adv enture and excitement' TBK Mag

Grace Parkes has just had to do a terrible thing. Having given birth to an illegitimate child, she has travelled to the famed Brookwood Cemetery to place her small infant's body in a rich lady's coffin. Following the advice of a kindly midwife, this is the only way that Grace can think of to give something at least to the little baby who died at birth, and to avoid the ignominy of a pauper's grave. Distraught and weeping, Grace meets two people at the cemetery: Mrs Emmeline Unwin and Mr James So lent. These two characters will have a profound affect upon Grace's life. But Grace doesn't know that yet. For now, she has to suppress her grief and get on with the business of living: scraping together enough pennies selling watercress for rent and food; looking after her older sister, who is incapable of caring for herself; thwarting the manipulative and conscience-free Unwin family, who are as capable of running a lucrative funeral business as they are of defrauding a young woman of her fort une. A stunning evocation of life in Victorian London, with vivid and accurate depictions, ranging from the deprivation that the truly poor suffered to the unthinking luxuries enjoyed by the rich: all bound up with a pacy and thrilling plot, as Grace races to unravel the fraud about to be perpetrated against her and her sister.

Nineteen-year-old Joy Louie has run away from her home in 1950s America to start a new life in China. Idealistic and unafraid, she believes that Chairman Mao is on the side of the people, despite what her family keeps telling her. How can she trust t hem, when she has just learned that her parents have lied to her for her whole life, that her mother Pearl is really her aunt and that her real father is a famous artist who has been living in China all these years? Joy arrives in Green Dragon Villag e, where families live in crowded, windowless huts and eke out a meagre existence from the red soil. And where a handsome young comrade catches her eye...Meanwhile, Pearl returns to China to bring her daughter home - if she can. For Mao has launched his Great Leap Forward, and each passing season brings ever greater hardship to cities and rural communes alike. Joy must rely on her skill as a painter and Pearl must use her contacts from her decadent childhood in 1930s Shanghai to find a way to sa fety, and a chance of joy for them both. Haunting, passionate and heartbreakingly real, this is the unforgettable new novel by the internationally acclaimed Lisa See.

Lily is the daughter of a humble farmer, and to her family she is just another expensive mouth to feed. Then the local matchmaker delivers startling news: if Lily's feet are bound properly, they will be flawless. In nineteenth-century China, where a woman's eligibility is judged by the shape and size of her feet, this is extraordinary good luck. Lily now has the power to make a good marriage and change the fortunes of her family. To prepare for her new life, she must undergo the agonies of footb inding, learn nu shu, the famed secret women's writing, and make a very special friend, Snow Flower. But a bitter reversal of fortune is about to change everything.