Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Siobhan Dowd

After Shell's mother dies, her obsessively religious father descends into alcoholic mourning and Shell is left to care for her younger brother and sister. Her only release from the harshness of everyday life comes from her budding spiritual friendship with a naive young priest, and most importantly, her developing relationship with childhood friend, Declan, charming, eloquent and persuasive. But when Declan suddenly leaves Ireland to seek his fortune in America, Shell finds herself pregnant and the centre of a scandal that rocks the small community in which she lives, with repercussions across the whole country. The lives of those immediately around her will never be the same again.

A Swift Pure Cry

Markus Zusak

Rube never loved any of them. He never cared about any of them. He just wanted each one because she was next, and why not take the next thing if it was better than the last? Needless to say, Rube and I aren't too much alike when it comes to women. 
 
Cameron and Ruben have always been loyal brothers, but that loyalty is about to be tested to the limit when Cam falls for Octavia - Rube's latest girlfriend. Will he get the girl? Will his love for her tear their brotherly bond apart? And would Octavia ever go for a guy like him anyway?

Getting the Girl

My name’s Cameron Wolfe. I have a little bit of sense. I don’t have much sense. My older brother Ruben gets me into plenty of trouble. I get Rube into as much trouble as he gets me into. I have a family, yes, that doesn’t really function without tomato sauce. That’s me. 
 
Cameron and Ruben Wolfe are brothers. They spend most of their time throwing one-handed boxing matches (they only have the one pair of gloves) and plotting to rob the local dentists. But what Cameron really wants is to meet a girl – a real girl, not like the ones in the lingerie magazines. But who could ever love an underdog like Cameron Wolfe?

The Underdog

Alan Durant

Cheap tabloid headlines scream the brutal facts at 17-year-old Robert Harrison: his parents have been shot dead in the sitting room of their suburban home. Robert's initial shock and anger is soon replaced by a growing sence of a conspiracy to protect him from the truth. So he decides to investigate the murder himself and the secrets he uncovers about his parents lead him to the brink of sanity and put his life in danger . . .

Blood

Linda Newbery

Flightsend is Charlie's new home, whether she likes it or not. Her mother sees it as an end to all that's gone so tragically wrong, but for Charlie it's the end of her family, not to mention her social life. 
 
They had been a proper family. Mum, Sean and Charlie, with a new baby sister on the way. But the baby died before she was born and everything changed. Gradually, her mother pushed Sean away, before resigning from her job and selling the house, forcing Sean to find somewhere else to live. 
 
Although Charlie believes her mother is making a terrible mistake, she can only offer support - but who will support Charlie, with Sean cut out of their lives? She's certain that the move to a ramshackle cottage, miles from anywhere, can only make things worse. 
 
She couldn't be more wrong. This first summer at Flightsend proves to be a turning point for them both. For Charlie's mum there's a new business and the fresh start that she knew she needed. And for Charlie there's a new job, new friends, a newly discovered talent for art and new feelings for two very different men. It's a summer of beginnings, not ends; a summer that Charlie will never forget.

Flightsend

I say, 'Don't lose your heart, Rube.' And very clearly, without moving, my brother answers me. He says, 'I'm not tryin' to lose it, Cam. I'm tryin' to find it.' 
 
The Wolfe brothers know how to fight. They've been fighting all their lives. Now there's something more at stake than just winning. 
 
A powerful, poignant novel from the author of the international bestseller, The Book Thief.

Fighting Ruben Wolfe

Kate Thompson

I could hear Dennis talking to my ma. 'She was little,' he said. 'Little like me. But old. Older than you.' Those words gave me a cold shock. I could see Dennis imagining fairies, but old ones? 
 
When Bobby's mother moves the family into a rented house in the country, a neighbour tells him that a child was once murdered there. Bobby doesn't care. All he wants is to get back to Dublin and to resume his wild life there, stealing from the crowded shopping streets and racing stolen cars at night. But getting his old life back doesn't turn out to be so easy, and the longer he spends in the old cottage, the more convinced he becomes that something very strange is going on there. Was there really a murder? And if so, was it the one he has been told about?

Creature of the Night

Memories of Mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. She hates her foster family with their too-nice ways and their false sympathy. And she hates her life, her stupid school and the way everyone is always on at her. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blonde locks she feels transformed. She's not Holly any more, she's Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the super-sharp talk. She's older, more confident - the kind of girl who can walk right out of her humdrum life, hitch to Ireland and find her mum. The kind of girl who can face the world head on. 
 
So begins a bittersweet, and sometimes hilarious journey as Solace swaggers and Holly tiptoes across England and through memory, discovering her true self, and unlocking the secrets of her past. Holly's story will leave a lasting impression on all who travel with her.

Solace of the Road

When Samuel Godwin, a young and naive art tutor, accepts a job with the Farrow family at Fourwinds, their majestic home, little does he expect to come across such a web of secrets and lies. His two tutees are as different as chalk and cheese - the beautiful younger sister Marianne, full of flightiness and nervous imagination, and Juliana, controlled and sad. With their governess, Charlotte Agnew, Samuel begins to uncover slowly the horrifying truth behind Juliana's sadness and Marianne's emotional fragility. Their discoveries change their perception of life at Fourwinds for ever and none of their lives will ever be the same again. 
 
With her usual brilliance and ease, Linda Newbery has written a haunting and faultlessly plotted novel with characters that leap of the page and stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.

Set in Stone

K M Peyton

When Josie is evacuated to her aunt and uncle's farm in Essex, she meets and falls in love with seventeen year old Jumbo, a happy-go-lucky optimistic young man who doesn't let his disability interrupt a life full of fun. Their relationship takes off, despite the difficulties of the war, which interrupts their idyll from time to time with stories of tragedy and death. 
 
But when Josie meets Chris, Jumbo's heroic fighter pilot brother, she experiences feelings that are out of control and dangerous; is this what real love feels like? She is torn between the two young men - one who is steady and loving, the other wayward and challenging. Yet it may not be her choice to make, as the German attack on England becomes more and more dangerous... 
 
Set against the backdrop of the second world war, where people diced with life and death every day, this is a wonderfully moving story of love, passion and tragedy.

Blue Skies and Gunfire

Trevor Colgan

Luke is fed up. Just as his football team has made it to the semi-finals of the All Ireland Schoolboys' League, his mother has decided to move him to Dun Laoghaire. For her it means a new job - perhaps a new man. But for Luke it means the loss of his footballing dream and struggling to fit into a new school. Whom can he trust? Cecilia whose bullying boyfriend wants to beat him to a pulp? Ella the quiet Man City Fan he sits next to? And will he be able to create a half-decent football team in Dun Laoghaire?

The Stretford Enders

Tabitha Suzuma

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. 
He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. 
And now they have fallen in love. 
 
But . . . 
They are brother and sister. 
 
Forbidden will take you on an extraordinary emotional journey. Passionate and shocking, this is a book you will remember long after you have put it down.

Forbidden

Digging for peat in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds the body of a child, and it looks like she's been murdered. As Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him - his brother on hunger-strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his parents arguing over the Troubles, and him in it up to the neck, blackmailed into acting as courier to God knows what, a little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls. 
 
Bog Child is an astonishing novel exploring the sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.

Bog Child

Life as a student is good for Flynn. As one of the top pianists at the Royal College of Music, he has been put forward for an important concert, the opportunity of a lifetime.But beneath the surface, things are changing. On a good day he feels full of energy and life, but on a bad day being alive is worse than being dead. Sometimes he wants to compose and practise all night, at other times he can't get out of bed. His flatmate Harry tries to understand but is increasingly confused by Flynn's erratic mood swings. His friend Jennah tries to help, but Flynn finds it difficult to be around her as he struggles to control his feelings and behaviour. With the pressure of the forthcoming concert and the growing concern of his family and friends, emotions come to a head. Sometimes things can only get worse before they get better.

A Note Of Madness

Keith Gray

In 1699 William Milmullen took his six pupils to the lakeside but only he returned after a creature rose up from the water and devoured the six boys right before his eyes. The whole town was shocked and terrified by the tragedy. Many were now too frightened to go out on the lake to fish, and the town's economy was under threat. William Milmullen recovered from the shock of what he'd seen. He named the creature 'The Mourn', and declared himself 'Mourner'. He took upon himself the responsibility to appease the creature by feeding livestock into the lake and vowed his family would forever be responsible for the safety of the town, and that every Milmullen son would take the mantle of Mourner at the age of 16. 
 
This novel is set in the present day, and nobody believes in monsters anymore. These days the town is somewhat embarrassed about its monster stories and to many the Milmullen family is a bit of a joke. The family, however, have held onto their duty, believing that if they forsake the creature it will rise from the lake again. Tim Milmullen turns 16 in a week's time. On his birthday he will become the 13th Mourner. But Tim doesn't know if he wants the role. For one thing all the kids at school tease him, calling his father crazy, saying Old William back in 1699 killed the schoolboys himself and made up the story. And Tim's biggest problem is that he doesn't know if he believes in the legend or not. How can he dedicate his whole life to something he has never seen?

The Fearful

Raven is a deeply disturbed teenager, who, after witnessing the death of his mother, is placed in foster care. The Russells do their best to earn his trust, but only little Ella manages to get through to him. 
Meanwhile, at school, bullies are making his life a living hell. An unexpected companion comes in the form of Lotte, a classmate bored by her 'ordinary' friends. Together, they track down Raven's mum's killer, with the goal of exposing him to the police. But their carefully crafted plan goes dangerously wrong and suddenly nothing is as it seems. Everything is falling apart and, ultimately, there is only one, final way out.

From Where I Stand

Jenny Downham

When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her, his world begins to fall apart. 
 
When Ellie's brother is charged with the offence, her world begins to unravel. 
 
When Mikey and Ellie meet, their worlds collide. 
 
A brave and unflinching novel from the bestselling author of Before I Die, about first love, loyalty, betrayal and truth.

You Against Me

Anthony McGowan

Anthony McGowan is the Carnegie Medal 2020 winning author of Lark. 
Sent to Hell for typical teenage misdemeanours, Conor is surprised to find that it's not all pitchforks and leaping flames. But an eternity in a fusty cave full of philosophy books and obscure classical music is actually worse. 
Then Conor realizes that his personal version of Hell might be someone else's idea of Heaven - and vice versa. He sets out on a filthy, funny and forbidden journey to search for his opposite number, accompanied by his repulsive pet dog, a depressed cross-dressing Viking and a stumpy devil called Clarence. What he sees is disgusting and what he discovers is shocking, but oddly enough Conor learns a hell of a lot about life - now that he's dead!

Hellbent

Clara has been left a widow, pregnant with another man's child, and it seems as if things could not get worse. But soon her pretty and reckless youngest sister, Ellen, is harshly sentenced to deportation to the newly-discovered land of Australia, alongside many other convicts. And back in Norfolk, Clara becomes the victim of blackmail that puts her in the clutches of the wicked Nat Grover in more ways than one . . . Will her pure love for Prosper Mayes ever survive? 
 
Spanning from the gritty county of Norfolk to the wilds of Australia in the early nineteenth century, the Garlands face huge obstacles in their struggle to survive as a family. Yet, they remain as inimitable and courageous as ever.

Greater Gains

Gareth Thompson

Glenn Jackson is thirteen and has moved with his father from Burnley to Torbeck in the Lake District. His Mum has not come with them and Glenn's father is avoiding Glenn's questions. From the moment Glenn meets Laura, quiet and overshadowed by her vindictive adoptive sister, he is bewitched. 
 
Harlequin is a seven-foot eighteen-year-old living rough in an abandoned shack, disguising himself behind clown's make-up and an old felt hat and hiding in terror whenever the fighter jets have practice runs over Torbeck. When Harlequin rescues Glenn from falling into the old slate mine the two form an unusual friendship and Glenn comes closer to discovering the secret that Harlequin is running away from.

The Great Harlequin Grim

At seventeen, Matheo Walsh is Britain’s most promising diving champion. He is wealthy, popular - and there's Lola, the girlfriend of his dreams. 
 
But then there was that weekend. A weekend he cannot bring himself to remember. All he knows is that what happened has changed him. 
 
Mathéo is faced with the most devastating choice of his life. Keep his secret, and put those closest to him in terrible danger. Or confess, and lose Lola for ever . . .

Hurt

Set just after the Napoleonic wars, Small Gains is the story of Clara, a true heroine who struggles to keep her head above water in a time of poverty and prejudice. Nat, the cruel but incredibly attractive son of the local rich family, turns Clara and her family's lives upside down, both in the world of racing and in the flushes of first love. And with the threat of tuberculosis hanging over them all, Clara faces up to her extraordinary life and loves with certainty and passion.

Small Gains

Catherine Fisher

Rob's sister Chloe lies in a coma after a riding accident, trapped in a forest of dreams between life and death. But when a dark druid shape-shifts his way into Rob's life, despair turns to hope. Because the druid knows the way through the Unworld, where he claims Chloe is imprisoned. Could the ominous black ring of timbers slowly emerging from a secret archaeological dig hold the key to rescuing her? And will Chloe want to be rescued from a world where the landscapes of story merge and blur, and she has the chance to be Queen? Catherine Fisher's new novel combines a fascinating exploration of Celtic myth with a modern quest for understanding. Where is the land of the imagination? And if we found our way would we ever want to come back?

Darkhenge

SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY EDITION with exclusive extra behind-the-scenes material from the author 
 
It is 1939. In Nazi Germany, the country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier - and will become busier still. 
 
By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed forever when she picks up a single object, abandoned in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, and this is her first act of book thievery. So begins Liesel's love affair with books and words, and soon she is stealing from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library . . . wherever there are books to be found. 
 
But these are dangerous times, and when Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, nothing will ever be the same again. 
 
In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time. 
 
Now a major film from Twentieth-Century Fox starring Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson.

The Book Thief

Film Tie-in Enhanced Edition

Aidan Chambers

Karl, aged seventeen, is hopelessly in love. But the object of his affections, Firella, demands proof, and poses him a series of questions regarding his attitude to the many sides of love. But Karl is dyslexic, and convinced that if Firella finds out, she will think he is stupid, and unworthy of her, and leave him. 
So Karl asks a local writer to help him construct his replies - and an unlikely, but extremely touching, friendship develops between the two men. They both come to learn a great deal about about life from a very different perspective, and when an act of violence shatters their calm, they find their respective appraisal of life shifting in profound ways.

Dying to Know You

Following the success of The Shell House, Linda Newbery again demonstrates her brilliance at weaving thought-provoking subjects into a wholly satisfying and sensitively drawn novel. 
 
Hilly's German grandmother, HeidiGran, comes to live with her family after she gets Alzheimer's disease; but as her mind becomes more muddled, secrets from her memories of life during the Second World War start to emerge. 
 
Why does HeidiGran keep talking about a girl called Rachel? And why does she make racist remarks about Hilly's friend, Reuben? As Hilly struggles to cope with revelations about her family's past, she encounters racism and prejudice for herself when a friend becomes the victim of a mindless attack. She also falls in love for the first time. 
 
This is a wonderfully evocative novel exploring the recurring prejudices that affect every generation.

Sisterland

From the ruins of an ancient abbey, British archaeologists unearth the skull of a young monk. Using the very latest technology, Liam's dad must attempt to put the flesh back on the bone and give life back to the skull. What did the young man look like? 
 
But as his dad works, Liam finds himself submitting to an irresistible force. As he looks into the cavities where eyes had once been, he hears a voice calling out across the centuries - "Foul deeds. Murder. The Black Arts." 
 
Who was this young monk and how did he die? The questions keep coming as Liam is drawn into a centuries-old mystery, embarking on a journey that will force him and his father to confront their own recent loss.

Flesh And Bones

Chloe Rayban

Justine Duval has modest goals in life: to attain celebrity status, earn stacks of cash, be drop dead gorgeous and find pure, unadulterated love. Simple. By achieving her ambitions of fame, money, beauty and a bloke, Justine will cunningly evade ever becoming Grown-Up-and-Past-It. And a bizarre meeting with her future self - ten years older and ten years wiser - gives Justine the chance to really get to grips with her ultimate destiny...in more ways than one.

Wild Child

Jonathan Meredith's life is a disaster, all because of a Greek holiday and Iris, the girl who has brought his world - parents, education, society - tumbling down. So Jonathan seeks refuge with Peter, his jockey friend with ambitions to win the National. Jonathan's life quickly becomes focused on the race, and chances of a very challenging horse . . .

The Last Ditch

Fox Benwell

And these are they. My final moments. They say a warrior must always be mindful of death, but I never imagined that it would find me like this . . . 
 
Japanese teenager Sora is diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Lonely and isolated, Sora turns to the ancient wisdom of the samurai for guidance and comfort. But he also finds hope in the present; through the internet he finds friends that see him, not just his illness. This is a story of friendship and acceptance, and testing strength in an uncertain future.

The Last Leaves Falling

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