Control Freak

by Henrietta Bond

How do you hold it all together when you’re leaving care, falling in love and your little brother’s gone missing?

Seventeen-year old Holly Richards is tough, practical and determined and has her whole future carefully mapped out. So for her, leaving foster care to move into her own flat should be no problem. But what Holly hasn’t bargained for are the problems that an out of control brother, a too-good-to-be-true boyfriend and a lovestruck best friend can create. All Holly’s perfectly laid plans start to go pear-shaped and she finds herself pushed to the limits. Does she have the nerve to stay in control?

Half Brother

by Kenneth Oppel

Ben Tomlin has been an only child for 13 years, so when his research-scientist parents bring home a baby chimp to raise as a human child, his life is turned upside-down. Teaching a baby chimp how to understand language is not his idea of fun, especially when he's trying to settle in at his new school.

But it isn't long before Zan's infectious personality endears him to everyone and he becomes a real member of the family. But just what will happen when he grows up and the experiment comes to an end? Ben must take dramatic steps, and the repercussions ricochet through home and community with devastating results.

Kill all Enemies

by Melvin Burgess

Billie is a fighter. Even her own mum doesn't want her at home. Rob is a bully who has been thrown out of two schools so far. Chris just won't work and his stubborn refusal is driving his teachers and parents nuts. All three of them are in the process of getting excluded. They're all going to meet up - and they're all going to try to find answers to their problems in their own inimitable ways ...

Passion

by Lauren Kate

PASSION is the third novel in the bestselling FALLEN series. Before Luce and Daniel met at Sword & Cross they had already lived many lives. And so Luce, desperate to unlock the curse that condemns their love, must revisit her past incarnations in order to understand her fate. Each century, each life, holds a different clue. But Daniel is chasing her throughout the centuries before she has a chance to rewrite history.

How many deaths can one true love endure?

And can Luce and Daniel unlock their past in order to change their future?

Texas Gothic

by Rosemary Clement Moore

Amy Goodnight’s family are far from normal. She comes from a long line of witches, and grew up surrounded by benevolent spirits and kitchen spells. All fairly harmless, but Amy can’t wait to get to college and escape the “family business”.

But things take a darker turn when she and her sister Phin spend the summer looking after Aunt Hyacinth’s ranch. Amy is visited by a midnight spectre who is clearly trying to send her a message. It seems that the discovery of an old grave on a neighbour’s land has been the catalyst for an apparent ghost uprising.

Aided by local friends and Ben, the handsome cowboy who just can’t take his eyes off Amy, the sisters investigate. And they soon find that there’s something strange and dangerous going on, deep in the heart of Texas...

Velvet

by Mary Hooper

Velvet is a laundress in a Victorian steam laundry. With both her mother and father dead, she is an orphan and has to rely upon her own wits to make a living. The laundry is scalding, back-breaking work and Velvet is desperate to create a better life for herself. Then Velvet is noticed by Madame Savoya, a famed medium, who asks Velvet to come to work for her. Velvet is dazzled at first by the young yet beautifully dressed and bejewelled Madame. But soon Velvet realises that Madame Savoya is not all that she says she is, and Velvet’s very life is in danger . . .

You Against Me

by Jenny Downham

If someone hurts your sister and you’re any kind of man, you seek revenge, right? If your brother’s accused of a terrible crime but says he didn’t do it, you defend him, don’t you? 

Mikey and Ellie come from two very different worlds, one lives in a high rise block of flats, the other in a luxurious house with a garden behind a security gate. 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 they meet, their two worlds collide. Each is forced to choose where their loyalties lie – and to decide whether blood ties are stronger than all-consuming teenage love. Mikey’s sister needs his support, and his family needs him to keep them on track; Ellie and her brother both need their parents’ help but can their parents be loyal to both of their children?

Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon

by Jonathan Stroud

In The Ring of Solomon we find everyone’s favourite quick-witted djinni serving at the court of King Solomon in 950 BC Jerusalem, where he is causing his customary chaos, even at the tender young age of 2,000. He soon finds himself employed in an impossible task, helping a dangerous female assassin on a mission from the Queen of Sheba - kill an untouchable king and steal his all powerful magic ring...? Easy! The comic relief is perfectly timed, the dialogue sharp and snappy and the fiendishly clever plot perfectly handled with Jonathan’s trademark flair, humour and command of language. Filled with thrills, chills and a twisting finale, not only will original fans be delighted to see The Ring of Solomon, but a new generation of fans will be hooked this year.