Crow Girl by Kate Cann.
Lily is an outsider. Girls bully her, boys don’t know she’s alive. She begins to hide her troubles at the nearby Wakeless Woods. But she is not alone. The crows are there. Watching. When she finds the crows, she finds herself – and a burning need to show everyone at school the new Lily. Will this Halloween be a night to remember?
The Snake Stone by Berlie Doherty.
James’s parents are proud of his talent and determination – he’s in training for the Junior National Diving Championship. For James, diving is everything. Until he looks at the snake-stone and is drawn into thinking about his birth mother, and where she might be. He knows that to work out his future, he needs to make sense of his past. Embarking on a quest to find out who he really is, James sets off on a journey which brings him back to his true home.
Big Mouth & Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates.
Matt Donaghy has always been a Big Mouth. But it’s never got him into trouble – until one day when two detectives escort him out of class for questioning. The charge? Matt has been accused of threatening to blow up Rocky River High School. Ursula Riggs has always been an Ugly Girl. She has not time for petty high-school stuff like friends and dating. Ursula is content with minding her own business. And doesn’t even know Matt Donaghy. But Ursula knows injustice when she sees it and is not afraid to speak out…
Catwalk Crazy by Kelly McKain.
Lucy Jessica Hartley here with some massively fabulous news! My life is about to become interesting with a capital ‘I’ and exciting with a capital ‘E’. That’s because I’m putting on a charity fashion show! It’s going to be ultra glamtastic, plus it will help me achieve my life’s ambition of being a real, actual fashion designer. Oh, and even fabber, my secret crush is one of the male models! Shhh!
Secret of the Sirens by Julia Golding.
Mythical creatures still exist. You don’t believe it? That’s because for centuries they have been protected by a hidden society. Now the society is in danger. Kullervo a powerful and evil force, is gathering an army of creatures determined to destroy it, and then wipe out humanity. Connie has always been able to communicate with animals, but does she also have the ability to stop Kullervo and his allies, the Sirens? And if she opens her mind to such dark forces, will she be strong enough to resist their call?
The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson.
Annika lives as a servant at a grand house in Vienna, a glittering city famous for its great emperor and the exquisite white horses of the Imperial Riding School. Her life there would be perfect but for the mystery of her real mother. For, as a newborn baby, Annika was found in a church, and no one knows where she came from. But every day her mind swirls with dreams of a beautiful mother finally arriving to claim her. Then Annika finds out the astonishing truth about her past and is swept on an adventure of extraordinary discovery and unexpected danger…
Kiss by Jacqueline Wilson.
Sylvie and Carl have been friends since they were tiny children. They’ve always played together, eaten meals with each other’s families, called each other boyfriend and girlfriend… and deep down, Sylvie has believed they will end up married to each other. They even have a magical fantasy world that belongs to them alone – as does the Glass Hut where it’s all created, at the bottom of Carl’s garden. But as they become teenagers, things change. They go to different schools and have different friends. Sylvie wishes she could spend all her time with Carl. But Carl has a new friend, Paul, which is taking all his attention. Carl seems much less happy to be called Sylvie’s boyfriend and in a game of spin the bottle he avoids kissing her. Sylvie can tell his feelings have changed and that her plans for the future may be affected. But can she guess at the true reason behind it all?
A Spoonful of Jam by Michelle Magorian.
Summer 1947 – the second year of world peace. Elsie is still fighting a war. Against a vicious bully. Against the indifference of her father. Against being the scholarship pupil at the girl’s grammar school. But Elise fights back… In this rich and dramatic story of repertory theatre and family life, Michelle Magorian’s warmth, sense of humour and gift for understanding both the vulnerability and strength of her character are unsurpassed.
Teacher’s Dead by Benjamin Zephaniah.
My name is Jackson Jones. I stood and watched a teacher die. For the first time in my life real shock… My whole body actually went numb. They say the brain is like a computer – well, my computer crashed. A teacher’s dead, murdered by two of his students in front of the school. In front of Jackson. But Mr Joseph was a good man. People liked him. Respected him. How could those boys stab him and jog away like nothing had happened? Without any sense of having done something wrong? Unable to process what he has seen, Jackson begins his own investigation into the murder. Everyone knows who did it, but has Jackson uncovers more about the boys, he becomes convinced of the need for people to understand why.
Blood Sinister by Celia Rees.
Ellen is pale and drawn, bloodless…her illness a mystery. But the bizarre history she reads in the old leather bound diary won’t let her rest. Could it’s story, so strangely tangled up with her own life, be reaching out to claim her, bleed her dry…?
