Tales from India

Bali Rai's first novel for young adults (Un)Arranged Marriage, created a huge amount of interest and won many awards, including the Angus Book Award and the Leicester Book of the Year. It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Branford Boase first novel award. Rani and Sukh and The Whisper were both shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize. Bali is also the author of the hugely popular Soccer Squad series for younger readers. 
Bali was born in Leicester where he still lives, writing full-time and visiting schools to talk about his books. You can visit him at www.balirai.co.uk

Rediscover the Puffin Classics collection and bring the best-loved classics to a new generation - including this magical edition of Tales from India. 
 
A collection of 20 stories from India's rich folklore heritage. From wicked magicians to wise old priests, charming princes and beautiful princesses, to greedy tigers and wily jackals, these magical tales are full of adventure and trickery, and infused with deeper messages about morality, life and the world around us. 
 
Founded on the work of folklorist Joseph Jacob, and from tales from India's Mughul period, award-winning author Bali Rai's lively retellings are a delight for readers of all ages.

Abridged Edition

Penguin Readers Level 5: (Un)arranged Marriage (ELT Graded Reader)

Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online. 
 
Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. 
 
The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary. 
 
(Un)arranged Marriage, a Level 5 Reader, is B1 in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing present perfect continuous, past perfect, reported speech and second conditional. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly. 
 
Manny lives in England with his strict Punjabi parents who are very traditional and want him to have an arranged marriage. There's just one problem: Manny definitely doesn't want an arranged marriage. With the help of his best friend, Ade, Manny makes a plan... 
 
Visit the Penguin Readers website 
Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys.

Bali Rai's first novel for young adults, (un)arranged marriage, created a huge amount of interest and won many awards, including the Angus Book Award and the Leicester Book of the Year. It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Branford Boase first novel award. Rani and Sukh and The Whisper were both shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize. Bali is also the author of the hugely popular Soccer Squad series for younger readers. 
Bali was born in Leicester where he still lives, writing full-time and visiting schools to talk about his books. You can visit him at www.balirai.co.uk

With carefully adapted text, new illustrations, language practise activities and additional online resources, the Penguin Readers series introduces language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content. Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction. 
 
(Un)arranged Marriage, a Level 5 Reader, is B1 in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to four clauses, introducing present perfect continuous, past perfect, reported speech and second conditional. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly. 
 
Manny lives in England with his strict Punjabi parents who are very traditional and want him to have an arranged marriage. There's just one problem: Manny definitely doesn't want an arranged marriage. With the help of his best friend, Ade, Manny makes a plan...

Doctor Who: Rebellion on Treasure Island

*Alien pirates, and sea-faring friends abound in this incredible Treasure Island and Doctor Who crossover.* 
 
'Who was that?' asked Clara. 'And what are pieces of eight?' 
The Doctor smiled. 'Robert Louis Stevenson. I did tell you.' 
 
Summoned to 1700s Plymouth, the Doctor and Clara must investigate a mysterious thievery from the Crown of King George. 
 
Their travels take them to a remote island - but as the secrets of the theft are unearthed, the Doctor discovers something far more sinister. The spectre of a terrible intellect is afoot. 
 
Thankfully, the Doctor and Clara won't be alone. A pirate called Long John Silver, a runaway called Janey Hawkins, and professor called River Song, are all along for the ride.

Bali Rai (Author) 
Bali Rai's first novel for young adults (Un)Arranged Marriage, created a huge amount of interest and won many awards, including the Angus Book Award and the Leicester Book of the Year. It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Branford Boase first novel award. Rani and Sukh and The Whisper were both shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize. Bali is also the author of the hugely popular Soccer Squad series for younger readers. 
Bali was born in Leicester where he still lives, writing full-time and visiting schools to talk about his books. You can visit him at www.balirai.co.uk 
 
Doctor Who (Author) 
Doctor Who is the longest running sci-fi show in the world, and a flagship BBC property. First appearing on air in 1963, it follows the adventures of the Doctor, a Time Lord who travels through time and space, fighting alien monsters and saving the universe.

'Who was that?' asked Clara. 'And what are pieces of eight?' 
The Doctor smiled. 'Robert Louis Stevenson. I did tell you.' 
 
Summoned to 1700s Plymouth, the Doctor and Clara must investigate a mysterious thievery from the Crown of King George. 
 
Their travels take them to a remote island - but as the secrets of the theft are unearthed, the Doctor discovers something far more sinister. The spectre of a terrible intellect is afoot. 
 
Thankfully, the Doctor and Clara won't be alone. A pirate called Long John Silver, a runaway called Janey Hawkins, and professor called River Song, are all along for the ride.

(Un)arranged Marriage

Reissued in Penguin's ORIGINALS series of powerful teenage fiction. 
 
MANNY WANTS TO BE A FOOTBALLER. OR A POP STAR. OR WRITE A BESTSELLER. HE DOESN'T WANT TO GET MARRIED... 
 
'Harry and Ranjit were waiting for me - waiting to take me to Derby, to a wedding. My wedding. A wedding that I hadn't asked for, that I didn't want. To a girl who I didn't know... If they had bothered to open their eyes, they would have seen me: seventeen, angry, upset but determined - determined to do my own thing, to choose my own path in life...' 
 
Set partly in the UK and partly in the Punjab region of India, this is a fresh, bitingly perceptive and totally up-to-the-minute look at one young man's fight to free himself from family expectations and to be himself, free to dance to his own tune.

This is a highly readable debut from Bali Rai that teenagers of any culture will identify with.

MANNY WANTS TO BE A FOOTBALLER. OR A POP STAR. OR WRITE A BESTSELLER. HE DOESN'T WANT TO GET MARRIED... 
 
'Harry and Ranjit were waiting for me - waiting to take me to Derby, to a wedding. My wedding. A wedding that I hadn't asked for, that I didn't want. To a girl who I didn't know... If they had bothered to open their eyes, they would have seen me: seventeen, angry, upset but determined - determined to do my own thing, to choose my own path in life...' 
 
Set partly in the UK and partly in the Punjab region of India, this is a fresh, bitingly perceptive and totally up-to-the-minute look at one young man's fight to free himself from family expectations and to be himself, free to dance to his own tune.

The Angel Collector

A dark, edge-of-your-seat thriller that will keep you guessing until the last page!

A tense and demanding thrillerthe that has authenticity and emotional truth and better still, the courage to approach difficult issues head-on

It's eight months since Sophie went missing from a music festival in the summer after her GCSEs. The police search has lead nowhere and Jit, Sophie's best friend and soulmate, is going slowly crazy not knowing what's happened to her. He has to DO something. So he starts on a search that will take him all over Britain, following the clues he finds after tracking down the people Sophie met at the festival. 
 
Eventually the search takes Jit to Scotland and the remote farmhouse that's home to a racist cult. Surely he's close to finding the answers. . . but then everything falls into place and the horrific and unimaginable truth comes to light . . .

Web of Darkness

A dark thriller about online stalking and obsession from the master of gritty teen stories, Bali Rai.

Bali Rai has now written eight young adult novels for Random House Children's Books. His first, (un)arranged marriage, created a huge amount of interest and won many awards including the Angus Book Award and the Leicester Book of the Year. It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Brandford Boase first novel award. Rani and Sukh and The Whisper were both shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize. Bali also writes the hugly popular Soccer Squad series for younger readers. 
 
He was born in Leicester, where he still lives, writing full-time and visiting schools to talk about his books. www.balirai.co.uk

When the incredibly attractive Benedict befriends Lily online, she is thrilled. He is so much more mature than boys her age and he seems to know exactly how she's feeling. She finds herself opening up to him, telling him things she wouldn't tell anybody else. 
 
And she needs someone to confide in more than ever before as a spate of apparent suicides rocks her school - and her group of friends. 
 
But is Benedict the kind, charming person that he seemed to be initially? Lily soon realises that now, with half our lives spent online, you can be found - even if you try to hide . . .

Bali Rai

Jack Heath

Paul Magrs

Brought to you by Puffin. 
 
The second audio collection in the Doctor Who: Puffin Classics series featuring four adventures. 
 
Alien pirates, and sea-faring friends abound in this incredible Treasure Island and Doctor Who crossover. 
 
'Who was that?' asked Clara. 'And what are pieces of eight?' 
 
The Doctor smiled. 'Robert Louis Stevenson. I did tell you.' 
 
Summoned to 1700s Plymouth, the Doctor and Clara must investigate a mysterious thievery from the Crown of King George. 
 
Their travels take them to a remote island - but as the secrets of the theft are unearthed, the Doctor discovers something far more sinister. The spectre of a terrible intellect is afoot. 
 
Thankfully, the Doctor and Clara won't be alone. A pirate called Long John Silver, a runaway called Janey Hawkins, and professor called River Song, are all along for the ride. 
 
Embark on a strange and enchanting adventure with old friends and familiar foes in this glorious crossover of Doctor Who and Alice in Wonderland. 
 
The Doctor and his companions visit the dreaming spires of peaceful Oxford, hoping for a brief respite from their travels. 
 
But when Lewis Carroll appears at a garden party and their fellow guests transform into animals, they realise that everything is not as it seems . . . 
 
An unknown cosmic foe has trapped them in a twisted version of Alice’s Wonderland. Separated from the Tardis and from each other, their only hope of escape lies in cryptic clues teased by fan-favourite characters from Carroll’s classic tale. 
 
He tidied his hair, smoothed down his vest, and extended a hand. ‘Perhaps we can begin anew,’ he said. ‘Dr V. Frankenstein, at your service.’ 
 
When an unsettling folk tale leads the Ninth Doctor and Rose to a remote village in Wales, they get more than they bargained for. 
 
A scientist has taken it upon himself to create new life – imitating Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a book that has sent shock waves around the country. 
 
But, much like his fictional counterpart, this doctor is playing god, and with forces beyond his understanding. As the Doctor and Rose attempt to put the brakes on the experiment before it gets out of control, a sinister supernatural presence reveals itself . . . 
 
A vampire is on the loose! 
 
On what they hope is going to be a holiday, the Doctor and his companions arrive in a quiet, unassuming seaside town called Whitby. 
 
The terrible significance of the place evades them, until they happen upon a theatre production that captivates their attention . . . 
 
Dracula! 
 
Suddenly, murders are occurring left, right and centre, each victim with trademark puncture wounds on their neck. Ian is soon missing, and a town shrouded in myth and legend is beginning to live up to its name. 
 
Clearly there is a Dracula at large. But the TARDIS team quickly realise: you can never trust a vampire . . . 
 
BBC, DOCTOR WHO and TARDIS (word marks and devices) are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence. BBC logo © BBC 1996. DOCTOR WHO logo © BBC 1973. Licensed by BBC Studios. 
 
©2023 Bali Rai, 2024 Paul Magrs, 2025 Jack Heath, Paul Magrs (P) 2025 Penguin Audio

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