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Jill Paton Walsh

A PLAGUE - A VILLAGE - A LOCKDOWN 
 
1665, Eyam, Derbyshire. 
'Here I have set down all that I know of the Plague' 
 
It is 1665 and Mall Percival is a shepherd girl living in a Derbyshire village. She tends her flock, spends time with her best friend and teaches her young suitor to read. But one day a parcel of patterns, meant for a new dress for the pastor's wife, wings its way from London. 
 
The parcel carries an infection that spreads with horrifying speed. Herbal teas and open windows are the only defence against the sickness. Yet the villagers make a brave and selfless decision: to isolate themselves from the rest of the country. It is a lockdown that saves the neighbouring towns, but at heart-breaking cost to Mall's world. 
 
Based on the true events of the village of Eyam, this is the story of a courageous sacrifice that saved Derbyshire and beyond from a deadly virus. 
 
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WHITBREAD PRIZE* 
 
'A pocket masterpiece' Guardian 
 
Readers love A Parcel of Patterns 
 
'I couldn't put it down' 
 
'Brought me to tears too many times to count' 
 
'If you think social distancing is hard in the Coronavirus pandemic, read this wonderful novel based on the true story of the village of Eyam'

A Parcel of Patterns

Charles Dickens

'Hold your noise! Keep still, you little devil, or I'll cut your throat!' 
 
Little orphan Pip scarcely imagines how a terrifying encounter with a convict on the lonely marshes will later transform his life. Pip is more troubled by his visits to strange old Miss Havisham - her decaying wedding dress and the house full of memories - and the beautiful girl Estella who makes him ashamed of his country manners and coarse hands. A blacksmith's apprentice could never hope to win Estella, but then, young Pip's future might not turn out quite as expected... 
 
Includes exclusive material: In ‘The Backstory’ you can learn about Victorian convicts and the alternative ending to Great Expectations! 
 
Vintage Children’s Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Great Expectations

Salman Rushdie

**ONE OF THE BBC'S 100 GREATEST CHILDREN'S BOOKS OF ALL TIME** 
 
Haroun: What's the use of stories that aren't even true? 
 
I asked that question and the Unthinkable Thing happened: my father can't tell stories anymore. That means no more laughter in the city of Alifbay and now the place stinks of sadness. So it's up to me to put things right. If the water genie Iff can take me on the Hoopoe bird Butt all the way to Gup City then maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to persuade the Grand Comptroller to give my father his Story Water supply back. Trouble is, that is strictly forbidden, one hundred percent banned, no way Jose territory... 
 
Luka: What do sea monsters eat? 
 
The Old Man of the River of Time: Fish and Ships. Why was six afraid of seven? 
 
Luka: Because seven eight nine. 
 
Luckily, my father is the Riddle King and taught me everything I know. But the stakes are high in this riddle battle, couldn't be higher in fact! To save my father from Un-Life, I've got to beat the Old Man and steal the Fire of Life that burns at the top of the Mountain of Knowledge. Only problem is that nobody in the entire recorded history of the World of Magic has ever successfully stolen the Fire of Life... 
 
Includes exclusive material: In the Backstory you can read an interview with the author and solve some fiendish riddles! 
 
Vintage Children's Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Haroun and Luka

A double edition of Haroun and the Sea of Stories and Luka and the Fire of Life

John Boyne

Discover an extraordinary tale of innocence, friendship and the horrors of war. 
 
'Some things are just sitting there, minding their own business, waiting to be discovered. Like America. And other things are probably better off left alone' 
 
 Nine-year-old Bruno has a lot of things on his mind. Who is the 'Fury'? Why did he make them leave their nice home in Berlin to go to 'Out-With' ? And who are all the sad people in striped pyjamas on the other side of the fence? The grown-ups won't explain so Bruno decides there is only one thing for it - he will have to explore this place alone. What he discovers is a new friend. A boy with the very same birthday. A boy in striped pyjamas. But why can't they ever play together? 
 
‘A small wonder of a book’ Guardian 
 
 BACKSTORY: Read an interview with the author JOHN BOYNE and learn all about the Second World War in Germany.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Harper Lee

'Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a Mockingbird.' 
 
 Atticus Finch gives this advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of this classic novel - a black man charged with attacking a white girl. Through the eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Lee explores the issues of race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s with compassion and humour. She also creates one of the great heroes of literature in their father, whose lone struggle for justice pricks the conscience of a town steeped in prejudice and hypocrisy. 
This edition of one of the world’s best-loved books features the original text. 
 
 **One of the BBC’s 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**

To Kill a Mockingbird

Christine Nostlinger

'The story I'm going to tell is true. It happened to me. It is a tale of Gunpowdertown’ 
 
Life for Cristal has been upside down for a long time. She can’t even remember a time before the war began. Before potatoes for every meal and bombs raining down from the sky. Before being forced to shelter in the dark, damp cellars. Then one day, Cristal’s home is turned into a pile of rubble and dust five metres high. 
 
But a chance offer saves her family. They move to the safety of a wealthy suburb, camping out amongst the chandeliers and family portraits of someone else’s house. That is until the dreaded Russians roll into Vienna and move in too… 
 
Includes exclusive material: In the Backstory you can test your knowledge of the book, and learn more about the Second World War 
 
 Vintage Children’s Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Fly Away Home

Malorie Blackman

Laura Barrett

Malorie Blackman retells 'Bluebeard'. A Fairy Tale Revolution is here to remix and revive our favourite stories. These twists on familiar tales make the perfect Christmas gift. 
 
'Please don't even try to get down to the basement. Just leave it alone - okay? Otherwise you'll ruin things for both of us...' 
 
Nia has met the man she wants to marry. Marcus is kind, clever and handsome, with a beard so dark it is nearly blue-black. Nia demands a single promise from him - that Marcus will never enter her study in the basement, her private space. 
 
But when Marcus's curiosity begins to mount Nia feels more and more uneasy. Will he betray her? Can he accept that no means no? Can a woman ever have a room of her own?

Blueblood

A Fairy Tale Revolution

Enter the magical world of Susan Cooper. Perfect for fans of His Dark Materials. 
 
It's Christmas-time in the Stanton family house: presents, carol singing, good cheer. But for eleven-year-old Will Stanton, something sinister has begun, inching round his subconscious, shouting silent warnings he can't decipher. Then on Midwinter Day, Will wakes up to a different world: silent, covered in snow and ancient forest, a world of another time. A world where evil lurks. 
 
Because Will is not the ordinary boy he always thought he was. He is the last of the Old Ones and the power to vanquish the evil magic of the Dark lies within him. 
 
Includes exclusive material: In the Backstory you can read an interview with the author and discover the ancient beliefs that inspired the story.

The Dark is Rising

Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Against the grey sky the towering tents are striped black and white. A sign hanging upon iron gates reads: 
 
Opens at Nightfall 
Closes at Dawn 
 
As dusk shifts to twilight, tiny lights begin to flicker all over the tents, as though the whole circus is covered in fireflies. When the tents are aglow, sparkling against the night sky, the sign lights up: 
 
Le Cirque des Rêves 
The Circus of Dreams 
 
The gates shudder and unlock, seemingly by their own volition. 
They swing outward, inviting the crowd inside. 
 
Now the circus is open. 
Now you may enter. 
 
Discover this amazing fantasy read with a different kind of magic. 
 
The Starless Sea, the second novel from the author of the The Night Circus, is available for pre-order now.

The Night Circus

Margaret Atwood

** THE SUNDAY TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER ** 
 
Discover the dystopian novel that started a phenomenon before you read the Booker Prize-winning sequel The Testaments 
 
NOW AN AWARD-WINNING TV SERIES STARRING ELISABETH MOSS 
 
Offred is a Handmaid in The Republic of Gilead, a religious totalitarian state in what was formerly known as the United States. She is placed in the household of The Commander, Fred Waterford – her assigned name, Offred, means ‘of Fred’. She has only one function: to breed. If Offred refuses to enter into sexual servitude to repopulate a devastated world, she will be hanged. Yet even a repressive state cannot eradicate hope and desire. As she recalls her pre-revolution life in flashbacks, Offred must navigate through the terrifying landscape of torture and persecution in the present day, and between two men upon which her future hangs. 
 
Masterfully conceived and executed, this haunting vision of the future places Margaret Atwood at the forefront of dystopian fiction. 
 
‘A fantastic, chilling story. And so powerfully feminist’ Bernadine Evaristo, author of GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER 
 
‘This novel seems ever more vital in the present day’ Observer 
 
Includes exclusive content: In The 'Backstory' you can read Margaret Atwood's account of how she came to write this landmark dystopian novel.

The Handmaid's Tale

William Shakespeare

‘Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom’ 
 
Sonnets are for romantics, starry-eyed lovers and ardent hearts. And Shakespeare’s sonnets are the best ever written. 
 
But this is why they are also for cynics, for star-crossed lovers and for those who know the anguish of unrequited love. 
 
Some of them are written to a young man, some of them to a woman. And although the poems are full of mystery – why did Shakespeare write them, what was his sexuality? – each one speaks to us from across the centuries of love, hate and the intensity of being alive. 
 
Includes exclusive content: In the 'Backstory' you can find a short, handy, funny guide to everything you might want to know about Shakespeare and his sonnets. 
 
‘This is a crazy, all-consuming, feverish and sweaty love; love, in all its uncut, full-strength intensity; an adolescent love’ Don Paterson, Guardian

Sonnets

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