Books
Nowhere Island
Hidden at the intersection of a busy motorway, behind the trees and undergrowth, is an island, full of secrets.
Four runaways - five, including Junk the dog - are hiding out here. Wild, silent Pez who has escaped from a mysterious cult, criminal mastermind Riley, his gentle brother Grayson, and orphaned Gil with his lucky pebble and a head full of dreams.
They're searching for safety, a better way of life. But just when they think they've found it, they witness something that puts them in deadly danger...
The Time Traveller and the Tiger
Elsie is not looking forward to the long summer holiday with her creaky, old Uncle John. But then the unimaginable happens. Time unravels and Elsie tumbles back to 1940s India to meet her Uncle John as a young boy on a tiger hunt. Can Elsie stop him from doing what he's already told her is a wrong he can never right?
The Time Traveller and the Tiger is a multi-layered novel for 9-12 year-olds, rich in adventure, mystery, historical and conservation themes.
The Girl Who Thought Her Mother Was a Mermaid
Even though she's terrified of the sea, a girl who believes her mum might have been a mermaid runs away to the ocean to solve the mystery of who she really is.
Stella is the odd one out. She sleepwalks, is terrified of water, yet obsessed by the ocean. Her mum who died when Stella was eight remains the biggest mystery of all. Who was she and why did she give Stella a necklace called 'the word of the sea' before she died? Nobody can give her any answers. Her father is consumed by grief and her grandmother's memories are fading with dementia.
When Stella's only friend in the world, Cam, moves house, Stella runs away. She's determined to find out who her mum was and who she is too. She ends up in the Crystal Cove, a run-down aquarium with a mermaid show. There she meets Pearl who reveals disturbing secrets. It's only by facing her fear of the ocean that Stella will truly uncover the truth.
This is an exquisitely imagined story about a girl on an adventure above and below the waves.
The Secret Life of Daisy Fitzjohn
Daisy Fitzjohn knows there are two worlds: the outside world and the world of her home, a secluded mansion called Brightwood Hall. But only Brightwood is real for Daisy--she’s never once set foot outside its grounds. Daisy and her mother have everything they need within Brightwood’s magnificent, half-ruined walls, including Daisy’s best friends: a talking rat named Tar and the ghost of a long-ago explorer who calls herself Frank.
When Daisy’s mother leaves one morning, a peculiar visitor, James Gritting, arrives on the estate, claiming to be a distant cousin. But as the days tick by and Daisy’s mother doesn’t return, Gritting becomes more and more menacing. He wants Brightwood for himself, and he will do anything to get it.
The One Safe Place
Those who enter the Gabriel H. Penn Home for Childhood only get to leave one way...
In the near future the gap between rich and poor has become insurmountable. Life as a street child in the big city is only made bearable by who, and what, you know. And by the rumour circulating of a haven for children, a place of true safety. This rumour appears to be nothing more than a fairy-tale until Devin, and his new friend Kit, meet someone who promises to take them there. But when Devin and Kit arrive they begin to understand the real price of safety...