Michael Symmons Roberts’s fourth book of poetry, Corpus, was the winner of the 2004 Whitbread Poetry Award, and was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize, the Forward Prize, and the Griffin International Prize. His sixth collection, Drysalter, was the winner of both the Forward Prize and the Costa Poetry Prize in 2013. He collaborated with Paul Farley on Edgelands (Cape/Vintage) and will do so again in The Deaths of the Poets (Cape, 2017). He has also worked many times with the composer James MacMillan. He has published two novels, and is Professor of Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Michael Symmons Roberts

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John van de Ruit

Spud Milton (practically a man in most areas) is hoping for a smooth ride as he returns to boarding school as a senior. But instead he finds his vindictive arch-enemy is back to taunt him and a garrulous new boy has taken residence in his dorm, along with the regular inmates and misfits he calls friends. Spud's world has never felt more uncertain as he attempts to master Shakespeare, girls, religion and the meaning of life. 
 
Once again, armed only with his wits and his diary, Spud invites us on a hilarious journey deep into the sublime and ridiculous world of being a teenager.

Spud - Learning to Fly

Sue Townsend

At thirteen years old, Adrian Mole has more than his fair share of problems - spots, ill-health, parents threatening to divorce, rejection of his poetry and much more - all recorded with brilliant humour in his diary.

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾

Saundra Mitchell

Matthew Sklar

Chad Beguelin

Bob Martin

The novel of the laugh-out-loud high school musical coming to Netflix in December 2020, directed by Ryan Murphy and starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington, Andrew Rannells, James Corden and Ariana DeBose. 
 
 
They just wanted to dance. They didn't mean to start a revolution... 
 
 
Emma knows better than anyone that Edgewater, Indiana, is not a great place to be gay. But she's had enough of high school homophobia and really wants to take her girlfriend - the popular, closeted It Girl Alyssa- to prom. How big a deal could that really be? 
 
But when their classmates find out, the backlash exceeds Emma's worst nightmares. 
 
Meanwhile, in Manhattan, Barry and Dee Dee are Broadway stars of yesteryear. When their new show bombs, they need some good publicity - fast. So when they happen to hear about Emma's plight, they decide to step in and create a prom for everyone. 
 
Suddenly, Edgewater is the centre of a national news story. As the drama queens of New York take over the sleepy town, chaos ensues and the glare of the spotlight is brighter than anyone could have guessed. 
 
But all Emma and Alyssa want is to dance together. Is that too much to ask? 
 
The perfect read for fans of Mean Girls, Dear Evan Hansen and Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda!

The Prom

Beth Reekles

Elle Evans seems to have finally tamed hotter-than-hot bad boy Noah Flynn, but now they're facing a new challenge. Noah's 3,000 miles away at Harvard, which means they're officially a long-distance couple - and it's tough. After all, there's only so much texts and calls can satisfy - and when Elle sees a post which suggests Noah's getting friendly with another girl, she's devastated. 
 
On top of that, it's hard to ignore the new boy at school. He's gentle, sweet, cute - and definitely interested in Elle. 
 
With her heart on the line, what's a girl to do? 
 
Join Elle, Noah, Lee and all your favourite Kissing Booth characters for another amazing romantic story that's sure to have you swooning . . .

The Kissing Booth 2: Going the Distance

Nick Hornby

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Nick Hornby's hilarious coming-of-age novel Slam, read by Nicholas Hoult, star of the films About a Boy and Warm Bodies, as well as Channel 4's Skins. 
 
'There was this time when everything seemed to have come together. And so obviously it was time to go and screw it all up.' 
 
Sam is sixteen and a skater. Just so there are no terrible misunderstandings: skating = skateboarding. There's no ice. Life is ticking along nicely for Sam; his Mum's got rid of her rubbish boyfriend, he's thinking about college and he's met someone. Alicia. 
 
Then a little accident happens. One with big consequences for someone just finding his way in life. Sam can't run (let alone skate) away from this one. He's a boy facing a man's problems and the question is - has he got what it takes to confront them? 
 
Slam, from the acclaimed author of About a Boy and High Fidelity is a teenage novel about a boy who has to grow up in big, big hurry. It is The Catcher in the Rye for the 21st century. 
 
'Very funny...very real' Daily Telegraph 
 
'Hornby gets his point across with the subtlety and skill of a born novelist who always deserves to be read' Independent 
 
'A moving read for anyone' Elle 
 
Nick Hornby has captivated readers and achieved widespread critical acclaim for his comic, well-observed adult novels About a Boy, A Long Way Down, Juliet, Naked, How to be Good and High Fidelity. His three works of non-fiction, 31 Songs (shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award), Fever Pitch (winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award) and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree are also available from Penguin.

Slam

Cara Stout

Just like Romeo, he’s falling for Juliet. 
 
Juliet Ripley doesn’t believe in love. She’s witnessed more than her fair share of tragic endings and has sworn off the cursed thing for good. But when Beeloved, the dating app her overbearing mum runs, needs a PR boost, she agrees to help create a reality dating show. 
 
Garrick Walton keeps love at arm’s length but when asked to take part in the dating series as the shows Knight in Shining Armour he can’t say no. Flirting is his forte and the theme park his family runs could use some good press after the charity fraud fiasco. 
 
Except it’s not the contestants that have caught his eyes, it’s the brutally honest producer, Juliet, he’s really drawn to. 
 
The more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to deny their feelings. 
 
Will they risk it all for their own happily-ever-after?? 
 
A Knight Before Christmas is a fluffy, cosy, happily-ever-after YA rom-com novel set at Fairytale Gardens a small-town theme park.

A Knight Before Christmas

Eyes on the prize, not the prince. 
 
After setting fire to her last summer job – literally – Imogen Rogers needs a change. 
 
So, when her best friend Divya, hooks her up with a gig at Fairytale Gardens to expose their dodgy dealings, she grabs the opportunity with both hands! 
 
Too bad it means working with Tristian Walton – the owner’s son – who is as grumpy as he is handsome. 
 
Imogen is cast as the Princess to Tristan's Prince Charming and unsurprisingly, as they kiss in character, sparks begin to fly. 
 
As she gets closer to uncovering the truth about the park, she’s faced with a difficult choice: 
expose the scandal or protect the one place – and person – she’s ever wanted to fight for?

Enchanted To Meet You

Meg Rosoff

In the beginning there was Bob. 
And Bob created the heavens and the earth 
 
and the beasts of the field 
and the creatures of the sea, 
and twenty-five million other species 
including lots and lots of gorgeous girls. 
And all of this, he created in just six days. 
Six days! 
 
Congratulations, Bob! 
No wonder Earth is such a mess. 
 
Imagine that God is a typical teenage boy. He is lazy, careless, self-obsessed, sex-mad - and about to meet Lucy, the most beautiful girl on earth. 
Unfortunately, whenever Bob falls in love, disaster follows. 
 
Let us pray that Bob does not fall in love with Lucy.

There Is No Dog

Shay Bravo

A witty and urgent #ownvoices romance, perfect for fans of The Sun is Also a Star and To All the Boys I've Loved Before. 
 
Soledad 'Sol' Gutierrez is struggling to keep her life together after her mother's deportation. 
 
Juggling schoolwork, a part time job and the pressure of her family slowly falling apart, she still decides to join The History Club at her college - an easy way to make her resume look good. Or so she thinks. 
 
When she's asked to steal a fork from the oldest house in her village as an 'initiation' into the club, it should have been straightforward - it's empty house and she's given the key. 
 
But Sol didn't account for Ethan Winston, who saw everything that happened in his grandparents' house and catches her red-handed. 
 
Soon, she finds herself embroiled in a number of madcap adventures that ultimately change the course of her life forever.

Historically Inaccurate

It's 1990. Apartheid is crumbling, Nelson Mandela has just been released from prison and thirteen-year-old Spud Milton is about to start his first year at an elite boys-only boarding school. Cursed with embarrassingly dysfunctional parents, a nutty granny and a dormitory full of strange characters, Spud has his hands full trying to adapt to his new home. With only his wits and his diary, he takes readers on a rowdy boarding school romp full of illegal midnight swims, catastrophic cricket matches, ghostbusting escapades, girls and disastrous holidays. 
 
South African comedian John van de Ruit invites the reader into the mind of a young boy whose eyes are being opened to love, friendship and complete insanity!

Spud

'If I turn out to be mentally deranged in adult life, it will be all my mother's fault.' 
 
Adrian Mole continues to struggle valiantly against the slings and arrows of growing up and his own family's attempts to scar him for life in this second volume of his secret diary.

The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole

Pauline McLynn

I'm Jenny Q. 
How do you do? 
 
I am officially a middle child since the baby bro arrived. But it's OK because he is the best little bundle ever. Even my big brother's group Ten Guitars are well into the lil dude. That includes the gorgeous Stevie Lee Bolton with his looks that just mesmerise me! 
 
And now my bro's asked me to handle their fan mail - I'll be secretary to the hottest boyband in Dublin! Will Stevie Lee FINALLY notice me? 
 
But in between babies, boys and crazy band fans, will I have enough time to help Dad or look after exhausted Mum before everything becomes UNRAVELLED! 
 
She's funny, frank and a surprisingly good knitter, meet Jenny Q in the hilarious series from Father Ted and Shameless star Pauline McLynn.

Jenny Q, Unravelled!

'Dare I say it... for the first time in my life I feel like I'm on a bit of a roll.' 
 
Spud Milton is in his final year at boarding school. Now a prefect and on the cusp of adulthood, he thinks this may be his best year yet. But soon his life is as chaotic as ever as he wages a battle for his room, directs a play in which the actors refuse to learn their lines and (most terrifyingly of all) attempts to find a date for the matric dance. 
 
For the last time, armed once again with his wits and his diary, Spud invites us to share the agonies, the victories and the sheer absurdities of growing up.

Spud: Exit, Pursued by a Bear

Every year Elle Evans spends a perfect summer at Lee and Noah's beach house - there's sea, sun, and plenty of flirting. 
 
Elle can't wait to hit the beach again - but this year, things are a little different. 
 
Elle and hotter-than-hot Noah are now officially dating - it's amazing, and Elle's never been happier. But Noah's leaving for Harvard at the end of the summer - and what will happen to them then? 
 
Elle and Lee have always been BFFs - and no one knows her better. But with Lee's new girlfriend Rachel coming along this summer, can everything stay the same? 
 
Elle's determined to have one last perfect summer with her two favourite boys - before she kisses goodbye to the beach house forever . . .

The Beach House

A Kissing Booth Story

Everyone knows it's TOUGH having a long-distance relationship - especially when your boyfriend is as sizzlingly hot as Noah Flynn. Elle's thrilled her bad-boy-turned good has made it into Harvard, but being stuck back in California isn't much fun without him. So there's only one thing for it . . . a road trip to visit! 
 
And what could be better than packing up your best buddy's convertible, heading out on Route 66, and looking for fun and adventure along the way? Maybe only the person waiting for you at the other end . . .

The Kissing Booth: Road Trip!

World Book Day 2020

Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Be on the brink of Lily B's world with her third and fantastically funny diary! 
 
Lily Blennerhasset is VERY excited. She is on a school trip with her classmates to Paris (nay, Pareee) - a city of sophistication and culture. Here is real material for a future famous novelist such as herself. Lily is convinced that, years hence, readers will peruse her diary entries and Paris will Literally Spring to Life before them. The pages themselves will smell lightly of dijon mustard and baguettes... But when Lily gets 'Separated From The Group' (breaking her mother's biggest commandment) she embarks on adventure involving tourist traps, accidental consumption of cow tongue and a WHOLE different take on Pareee...

Lily B on the Brink of Paris

Roald Dahl

Quentin Blake

A collection of irreverant rhymes featuring characters from fairy tales, fables and nursery rhymes - as you've never seen them before! From the tortoise and the hare and Hansel and Gretel to Ali Baba and The Emperor's New Clothes, these traditional stories will never seem the same again once you have had a taste of Roald Dahl's hilarious verse and Quentin Blake's suitably lively illustrations. 
 
An inventive collection for older children and adults alike, Rhyme Stew bubbles over with Roald Dahl's extraordinary humour and imagination.

Rhyme Stew

Flynn Meaney

The day they gave me the St Mary's rulebook, I ripped it up. 
In a world of curfews, uniforms and traditions, Alex is a lone, loud voice for female equality. So when she decides to stage the ground-breaking feminist play The Vagina Monologues she has one thing on her mind - getting expelled. But as Alex's campaign kicks in, she realises that just maybe she can make a change at St Mary's. To do that, she's going to need a little help... 
Hilarious, bold, sparky and surprising, this is the funniest book you'll read all year. A must-read for fans of Holly Bourne, Derry Girls and Sex Education.

Bad Habits

Oscar Wilde

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. 
 
The Canterville Ghost, a Level 1 Reader, is A1 in the CEFR framework. Short sentences contain a maximum of two clauses, introducing the past simple tense and some simple modals, adverbs and gerunds. Illustrations support the text throughout, and many titles at this level are graphic novels. 
 
An American family buy Canterville Hall - a house with a ghost. But the ghost is not happy because it cannot frighten the family.

Penguin Readers Level 1: The Canterville Ghost (ELT Graded Reader)

Abridged Edition

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. 
 
The Secret Life of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾, a Level 3 Reader, is A2 in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to three clauses, introducing first conditional, past continuous and present perfect simple for general experience. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear on most pages. 
 
Adrian Mole is a 13-year-old boy. Adrian writes a diary about his school, his family and, of course, love. "There's a new girl in our class . . . I think I might love her. I am 13 ¾ years old, so I'm old enough for love!"

Penguin Readers Level 3: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ (ELT Graded Reader)

Elizabeth Seibert

Rule Number 1: Leave no Bro behind 
 
What happens when you have to choose between love and friendship? 
 
It's not something Nick Maguire has ever had to worry about. 
 
He'd never betray his best friends, Carter and Austin, by breaking 'The Bro Code', and he knows they'd never do the same. They've got each others backs. 
 
That is until Carter's sister, Eliza, returns from Australia. Unfortunately Eliza is, basically, incredible, and poor Nick almost immediately falls head over heels. 
 
The two begin to form a bond that just crackles with electricity . . . and spells a whole lot of trouble. 
 
Nick is about to find out that codes are made to be broken.

The Bro Code

Yassmin Abdel-Magied

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. 
 
You Must Be Layla, a Level 4 Reader, is A2+ in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to three clauses, introducing more complex uses of present perfect simple, passives, phrasal verbs and simple relative clauses. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly. 
 
Layla is a 13-year old Muslim girl. She has just moved to one of the best schools in Brisbane. Layla is clever and funny, and loves making things, but some of the students are not kind to her. How can Layla show that she is a good student and make friends?

Penguin Readers Level 4: You Must Be Layla (ELT Graded Reader)

Adriana Mather

When it’s your job to break-up bad relationships, there’s only one rule. DON’T fall in love. 
 
Best friends August and Valentine have an unusual summer job. They are hired by parents to break up bad high school relationships. 
 
Valentine (the brains of the operation) believes that they’re making the world a little better, steering relationships off a cliff so the kids can someday find true love. 
 
August doesn’t believe in soul mates. In fact, he thinks the idea of falling head over heels is ridiculous. That is until he meets the one girl who changes everything – Ella. 
 
The only problem is, she’s their new case. So of course, everything he’s told her is a lie…even his name. 
 
Can August and Valentine pull this break up off, without breaking their own hearts?

The Break Up Artists

Rebecca Elliott

I feel a thought forming in my head like a fart brewing in my stomach. And my thought fart is... I'm gonna start a YouTube channel! 
 
We have a plan. Hopefully nothing will randomly decide to mess with that plan like, oh I dunno, MY COMPLETE BUM HOLE OF A DAD COMING BACK AND FILLING OUR LIVES WITH CHAOS. 
 
You know Haylah Swinton - she's big, bold and funnier than a cat in a onesie playing the bagpipes. She's been busy proving she's as a kick-butt comedian, she's got herself a fab boyfriend called Dylan, the best girl crew in the world totally have her back, her little brother isn't driving her totally nuts, and did she mention she has a boyfriend called Dylan? 
 
But this proving-she's-funny thing is kind of tough sometimes. And come to think of it, Dylan isn't acting particularly boyfriend-y at the moment. Plus her pathetic excuse for a dad has decided to turn up and make everything confusing. And as if real life wasn't complicated enough, when Haylah sets up her own comedy YouTube channel, she finds out that online life can be a whole other can of trolls...

Pretty Rude

'There was this time when everything seemed to have come together. And so obviously it was time to go and screw it all up.' 
 
Sam is sixteen and a skater. Just so there are no terrible misunderstandings: skating = skateboarding. There's no ice. Life is ticking along nicely for Sam: his mum's got rid of her rubbish boyfriend, he's thinking about college and he's met someone. Alicia. 
 
Then a little accident happens. One with big consequences for someone just finding his way in life. Sam can't run (let alone skate) away from this one. He's a boy facing a man's problems and the question is - has he got what it takes to confront them?

I think our loving Mum and Dad 
Are plotting some rather bad. 
 
 
This beautiful edition of Rhyme Stew, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official archive material from the Roald Dahl Museum and is perfect for Dahl fans old and new. 
 
So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found on every page and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers . . . 
 
The Roald Dahl Classic Collection reinstates the versions of Dahl’s books that were published before the 2022 Puffin editions, aimed at newly independent young readers.

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