A master storyteller sympathetically in touch with real children & their interests has created characters who are accepted as friends by children everywhere not to mention plots which are eminently plausible & unexpected.' SUNDAY TIMES in an article listing Swallows & Amazons among '99 Best Books for Children. ...

Swallows & Amazons for ever!' The Walker children
- also known as Captain John Mate Susan Able-Seaman Titty & Ship's Boy Roger
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Moshen & his wife Zunaira met at the university & once looked forward to a happy & prosperous life together. But Moshems dream of becoming a diplomat halted by the war with Russia dies with the ascendancy of the Taliban. Zunaira formerly a lawyer who worked for womens rights can no longer even appear on the streets of Kabul without a veil over her face. It is only in their own home that they can be themselves. One day unable to resist Moshens pleas Zunaira dons her burqa & goes to market with him. The outing turns into a nightmare. Atiq a veteran of the Russian war is now a part-time jailer who watches over those condemned to death. The darkness of the prison & the wretchedness of his job have seeped into his soul. His home offers little respite from his rage & misery; his wife Musarrat is suffering from an illness no doctor can cure & even the most furvent prayers cannot alleviate. As Atiq begins to lose all faith in his own ability to survive the arbitary demands & extreme cruelties of the Taliban he is drawn to Zanaira now in prison awaiting public execution. In a final act of defiance Musarrat conceives a plan that will allow her husband to live & hope again... Already a best seller in France The Swallows of Kabul" brilliantly exposes the differences between religiosity & dangerous religious extremism. Written in spare exquisite prose it is an unforgettable portrait of life under a fascist theocracy." ...

The second action-packed quest in an exciting new six book character-led series for 7+ girls who love fantasy adventure & high-kicking heroines! This time Sophie has to call upon all her strength & skills to defeat her most gruesome foe yet...THE SWAMP BOGGLES! Very few people ever enter the Shadow Woods for these woods are like no others. Hidden deep within them is the Gateway to the Shadow Realm
- a dark & chaotic world where all kinds of gruesome creatures live... On her tenth birthday tomboy Sophie learns she is the Guardian of the magical gateway & that her destiny is to protect the human world from the goblins trolls & evil sprites that inhabit the Shadow Woods. Together with her brave best friend & loyal sidekick Sam Sophie must find a way to stop an invasion of disgusting slime-filled stinky Swamp Boggles from causing mayhem in her town & it'll take all of Sophie's Guardian magic powers to defeat it!
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The first collection of the new acclaimed SWAMP THING series from the superstar team of writer SCOTT SNYDER & artist YANICK PAQUETTE!
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In the Florida Everglades gator-park Swamplandia! is in trouble. Its star performer the great beauty & champion alligator-wrestler Hilola Bigtree has succumbed to cancer & Ava her resourceful but terrified 13-year-old daughter is left in charge with her two siblings. But Avas sister has embarked on a romantic relationship with a ghost her brother has defected to a rival theme park & her father is AWOL. & then a mysterious figure called Bird Man guides Ava into a perilous part of the swamp called the Underworld promsing he can save both her sister & the park... Swamplandia! was longlisted for the 2011 Orange Prize & shortlisted for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize. ...

Of more than 8 000 bird species the swan is surely one of the most easily recognised. Airborne the swan is a majestic sight: with its long slender neck outstretched it glides gracefully with slow strong wing-beats. Its large webbed feet & short legs which make it awkward on land propel it serenely & effortlessly through water. Swan" is a comprehensive natural & cultural history of this most dignified of birds. Peter Young relates the natural history of the swan: its elegant exterior concealing a lightweight frame; details of extinct species & the differences between the 8 surviving species; its power & endurance; its formation flying which conserves energy & allows long-haul flights to be made at speed; its habitat & feeding habits. He also explores the extensive cultural history of the swan from its frequent portrayal in painting sculpture porcelain & furniture; to its use in heraldry; the Greek myth of Leda & the Swan; & Hans Christian Andersen's " The Ugly Duckling" & " Swan Lake". The book goes on to examine the uses & abuses of swans; questions of conservation; of the swan as food; & its widespread use in logos & br&-names. Informed yet accessible wide-ranging yet detailed " Swan" will appeal to the wide audience interested in this graceful & beautiful bird." ...

Romance & adventure combine in a breathtaking reworking of a classic fairy tale. Darkness has fallen across a kingdom far far away. The queen is dead
- killed in the forest by a terrifying beast
- & her daughter Alexandra suspects that the new woman in her fathers life is more than she seems. Exiled & betrayed Alexandra must face magic murder & the loss of all she holds dear in a desperate struggle against evil. This is a reissue of an enchanting adventure with a bewitchingly brave clever heroine making for strong girl appeal; & global sales of over 20 000 copies of first edition. It is supported by a major marketing & press campaign including author events & dedicated online activity. It is inspired by the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Wild Swans". It was longlisted for the Branford Boase Award & chosen as a USBBY Outstanding International Book."

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After the devastating events recounted in THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN Dave Robicheaux & his ex-partner in Homicide Clete Purcel head for the mountains & trout streams of Montana for some much-needed healing. However while Montana might seem an unspoilt paradise peopled by men & women from an earlier more innocent time in American history Dave & Clete soon find that there are plenty of serpents in the garden too. The deaths of a couple of hikers suggest a perverted serial killer may be at work while an escaped jailbird & his former tormentor are locked in a savage dance of revenge that is ultimately connected to the fortunes of a wealthy oil family hiding a terrible secret.. . ...

When an opera company gathers in Oxford for the first post-war production of Wagners Die Meistersinger its happiness is soon soured by the discovery that the unpleasant Edwin Shorthouse will be singing a leading role. Nearly everyone involved has reason to loathe Shorthouse but who amongst them has the fiendish ingenuity to kill him in his own locked dressing room? In the course of this entertaining adventure eccentric Oxford don Gervase Fen has to unravel two murders cope with the unpredictability of the artistic temperament & attempt to encourage the course of true love. ...