Soldier Bear

Based on a real series of events that happened during World War II, Soldier Bear tells the story of an orphaned bear cub adopted by a group of Polish soldiers in Iran. The soldiers raise the bear and eventually enlist him as a soldier to ensure that he stays with the company. He travels with them from Iran to Italy, and then on to Scotland. Voytek’s mischief gets him into trouble along with way, but he also provides some unexpected encouragement for the soldiers amidst the reality of war: Voytek learns to carry bombs for the company, saves the camp from a spy, and keeps them constantly entertained with his antics.

The Parade

Here are seven Ananse stories from Ghana pulsating with mischievous animals, a touch of moral message and, peeping out wickedly above them all, Ananse the trickster spider. The original title story, The Parade, telling why Ananse became a trickster in the first place, is a worthy opener to six traditional stories including the favourites Ananse and the Sky God and Ananse and the Hat of Beans. For centuries, Ananse stories have been used in Ghana and the Caribbean to entertain children and teach them good behaviour – and with their vibrant sense of fun and cunning, these stories are sure to have enduring appeal.

The Rabbit Girl

What is the secret of Mallie’s picture? The mystery unfolds as evacuees Tony and Alice escape the terrors of London’s Blitz for the Lake District, where they befriend a fascinating and fearless old lady.

The Ghosts of Gribblesea Pier

Aurelie Bonhoffen, who has grown up in the circus, discovers a remarkable family secret on her twelfth birthday that may help in dealing with a sinister man who wants to take over her family’s pier.

The Midnight Palace

In the heart of Calcutta lurks a dark mystery. Set in Calcutta in the 1930s, the book begins on a dark night when an English lieutenant fights to save newborn twins Ben and Sheere from an unthinkable threat. Despite monsoon-force rains and terrible danger lurking around every street corner, the young lieutenant manages to get them to safety, but not without losing his own life. Years later, on the eve of Ben and Sheere’s sixteenth birthday, the mysterious threat reenters their lives. This time, it may be impossible to escape. With the help of their brave friends, the twins will have to take a stand against the terror that watches them in the shadows of the night and face the most frightening creature in the history of the City of Palaces.

I Am Different! Can You Find Me?

This clever picture book presents sixteen visual puzzles. On every page, readers must pick out the one item that is different from the rest–a different color, a different shape, reversed from left to right, or just asleep when others are awake. The phrase “Can you find me?” is shown in a different language on every page.

An Elephant in the Garden

Lizzie and Karl’s mother is a zoo keeper; the family has become attached to an orphaned elephant named Marlene, who will be destroyed as a precautionary measure so she and the other animals don’t run wild should the zoo be hit by bombs. The family persuades the zoo director to let Marlene stay in their garden instead. When the city is bombed, the family flees with thousands of others, but how can they walk the same route when they have an elephant in tow, and keep themselves safe? Along the way, they meet Peter, a Canadian navigator who risks his own capture to save the family. As Michael Morpurgo writes in an author’s note, An Elephant in the Garden is inspired by historical truths, and by his admiration for elephants, “the noblest and wisest and most sensitive of all creatures.” Here is a story that brings together an unlikely group of survivors whose faith in kindness and love proves the best weapon of all.

Flyaway

If they saved the swan together, could she then save her friend?In a heartbeat, in a wingbeat, it happens. Isla’s father falls. They’re racing across the fields, following the swans flying in to winter at the lake like they do every year, when something goes wrong. And before she can even catch her breath, they’re in the back of an ambulance, she’s holding his hand.At the hospital, upset and scared, Isla meets Harry. Unlike the boys at school, he doesn’t laugh when she tells him about her love of birds. He listens. But what is he doing there?As Isla struggles with her father’s frailty and the new feelings she has for Harry, she’s determined to help the only way she knows how. Outside the hospital windows, Isla watches a lone whooper swan struggling to fly. If only she could save the lost bird, would that somehow heal her dad, and cure Harry, and make everything good again?

Iboy

Sixteen-year-old Tom Harvey was an ordinary Londoner until an attack that caused fragments of an iPhone to be embedded in his brain, giving him incredible knowledge and power, but using that power against the gang that attacked him and a friend could have deadly consequences.

A Web of Air

In Mayda, a post-apocalyptic city off the coast of Portugal, a brilliant young engineer and a mysterious recluse race to build a flying machine, unaware that powerful enemies will kill to possess–or destroy–their new technology.