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Life of Pi
Martel, Yann
After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific.The crew of the surviving vessel consists of a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger and Pi - a 16-year-old Indian boy.The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary pieces of literary fiction of recent years. Yann Martel's Life of Pi is a transformative novel, a dazzling work of imagination that will delight and astound readers in equal measure. It is a triumph of storytelling and a tale that will, as one character puts it, make you believe in God.
18x11cm, 401 pages.
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Girl With a Pearl Earring
Chevalier, Tracy
Using the famous painting by Vermeer as an inspiration, A Girl With a Pearl Earring is a brilliant historical novel about the corruption of innocence, Griet, the young daughter of a tilemaker in seventeeth century Holland, obtains her first job as a servant in Vermeer's household. Tracy Chevalier shows us through Griet's eyes, the complicated family, the society of the small town of Delft, and life with an obsessive genius. Griet loves being drawn into his artistic life and leaving her former drudgery, but the cost to her own survival may be high ... 20x13cm, 248 pages.
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The Other Boleyn Girl
Gregory, Philippa
Rich in the details and color of the times, this novel weaves historical fact and the irresistible elements of sex, scandal, and thwarted love into a powerful, compulsively engaging novel about the two Boleyn sisters and their relationship with Henry VIII. 20x13cm, 664 pages.
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A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
Lewycka, Marina
“An amusing, astonishing debut . . . about how a family learns to let go of the past and live and love in the present.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
With this wise, tender, and deeply funny novel, Marina Lewycka takes her place alongside Zadie Smith and Monica Ali as a writer who can capture the unchanging verities of family. When an elderly and newly widowed Ukrainian immigrant announces his intention to remarry, his daughters must set aside their longtime feud to thwart him. For their father’s intended is a voluptuous old-country gold digger with a proclivity for green satin underwear and an appetite for the good life of the West. As the hostilities mount and family secrets spill out, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian combines sex, bitchiness, wit, and genuine warmth in its celebration of the pleasure of growing old disgracefully.
“A charming comedy of eros... A ride that, despite the bumps and curves in the road, never feels anything less than jaunty.” —Los Angeles Times “Lewycka is a writer with a fundamentally optimistic vision of the future and a healthy curiosity about the past.” —Chicago Tribune “Charming, poignantly funny.” —The Washington Post Book World. 20x13cm, 294 pages.
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Teacher Man
McCourt, Frank
Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize -- winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then came 'Tis, his glorious account of his early years in New York.
Now, here at last, is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises he faces in public high schools around New York City. His methods anything but conventional, McCourt creates a lasting impact on his students through imaginative assignments (he instructs one class to write "An Excuse Note from Adam or Eve to God"), singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients as lyrics), and field trips (imagine taking twenty-nine rowdy girls to a movie in Times Square!).
McCourt struggles to find his way in the classroom and spends his evenings drinking with writers and dreaming of one day putting his own story to paper. Teacher Man shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents. McCourt's rocky marriage, his failed attempt to get a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin, and his repeated firings due to his propensity to talk back to his superiors ironically lead him to New York's most prestigious school, Stuyvesant High School, where he finally finds a place and a voice. "Doggedness," he says, is "not as glamorous as ambition or talent or intellect or charm, but still the one thing that got me through the days and nights."
For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in Teacher Man the journey to redemption -- and literary fame -- is an exhilarating adventure. 23x15cm, 257 pages.
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Pompeii
Harris, Robert
The story of the final hours of the Roman city destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD.
A young engineer, Marcus Attilius, is called in to investigate an unexplained failure of the great aqueduct which provides fresh water for Pompeii and eight neighbouring towns around the bay - it is one of the greatest feats of the empire.
Marcus Attilius's career depends on solving the problem with the Aqua Agusta before public unrest breaks out. The failing springs are not his only concern however. Equally disturbing is the sudden disappearance of his predecessor as well as shady goings on at the house of Ampliatus, a freed slave and Pompeii's biggest self-made millionaire.
Attilius - decent, practical, incorruptible - promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. But as he heads out towards Vesuvius he is about to discover there are forces which even the world's only superpower can't control.
'Gripping, topical and dauntingly intelligent.'
Sunday Times. 18x11 cm, 397 pages.
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My Ear at His Heart
Kureishi, Hanif
Hanif Kureishi offers a remarkable insight into the birth of a writer - himself - through this memoir that conjures up a family story of how he found his own literary calling from the ashes of his father's failed attempts in the past. The wellspring of the memoir is Kureishi's discovery of an abandoned manuscript that recounts his father's childhood in Bombay as the world turns upside down and India splits in two along religious lines: thus a family that had lived in India for generations now had to accept a Pakistani identity. And so begins a journey which takes Kureishi through his father's privileged childhood by the sea in Bombay to his adult life hidden away in the suburbs of Bromley - his days spent as a minor functionary in the Pakistan embassy in London, his nights writing prose, hopeful of one day receiving literary recognition... 22x14cm, illustrated, 198 pages.
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Born on a Blue Day
Tammet, Daniel
Born on a Blue Day is a journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today - guided by its owner himself. Daniel Tammet sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head. He can learn to speak new languages fluently, from scratch, in a week. In 2004, he memorized and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that gives him almost unimaginable mental powers, much like those portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man. Daniel has a compulsive need for order and routine - he eats the same precise amount of cereal for breakfast every morning and cannot leave the house without counting the number of items of clothing he's wearing. When he gets stressed or is unhappy, he closes his eyes and counts. But in one crucial way Daniel is not at all like the Rain Man: he is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life. He has emerged from the "other side" of autism with the ability to function successfully - he is even able to explain what is happening inside his head. 24x16cm, 225 pages.
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Infidel
Ali, Ayaan Hirsi
In this profoundly affecting memoir, the internationally renowned political superstar and intrepid activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia to her intellectual awakening in the Netherlands, to her life under armed guard in the West. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is one of today's most admired and controversial political figures. She burst into international headlines following the 2004 murder by an Islamist of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, who was left in an Amsterdam street with a letter pinned to his chest that promised that Hirsi Ali, the screenwriter on Van Gogh's film Submission, would be killed next. Eagerly awaited, Infidel shows the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished — and sometimes reviled — champion of free speech, and gives the absorbing back story to how she developed her beliefs, iron will, and her extraordinary determination to fight injustice done in the name of religion and change the world for the better. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female circumcision, brutal beatings, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four countries under dictatorships. She escaped from a forced marriage and in 1992 sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she fought for the rights of Muslim women and the reform of Islam, earning her the enmity of reactionary Islamists and craven politicians. Under constant threat, she refuses to be silenced. Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright, curious, dutiful little girl evolves into a pioneering freedom fighter, a woman who has put her life on the line to work for women's rights and an enlightened Islam and as a result has won numerous humanitarian awards.
24x16cm, illustrated, 353 pages.
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The Fiery Cross - The Ku Klux Klan in America
Wade, Wyn Craig
Few groups in our history are as fascinating and mysterious as the Ku Klux Klan. Its story is one of violence, political manipulation and intrigue, absurdity, and mesmerizing organizational and propaganda skills. Through shrewd political tactics and powerful leadership, the Klan has often been a potent force, as it encouraged Americans to protect themselves from those they find "unacceptable." Its actions have made it one of the most feared groups in America.
In The Fiery Cross , Wyn Craig Wade traces the Klan from its beginnings after the Civil War as a social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, to the present. Wade provides us with the history of the group, which has gone through a number of declines and renaissances over the last hundred years. We follow the Klan's resurgence in 1915 after D.W. Griffith's epic film The Birth of a Nation depicted Klan members as heroic saviors of the old Southern society, to the swearing in of President Warren G. Harding as a Klansman in the Green Room, and from the Klan's championing of white supremacy as a response to the Civil Rights movement in the 60s, to their present day activities, aligning themselves with a variety of neo-fascist and right-wing groups in the American West. Finally, Wade provides us with an assessment of the Klan's future.
The Fiery Cross provides an exhaustive analysis and perspective on this dark shadow of American society. It is long overdue. 23x16cm, illustrated, 526 pages.
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American Life: A Social History
Macmillan
Social history can be described as a chronicle of the fabric of ordinary existence - sometimes minute and subtle, occasionally rapid and momentous. American Life features articles about family, home, everyday life, popular thought, and recreation. Table of Contents:
ADOLESCENCE: Chesapeake Migrants - Young Women in Slavery - Adolescent Morality
AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSIC: A Variety of Instruments - African American Secular Music - Gospel Performance -
James Brown and Aretha Franklin.
AMUSEMENT AND THEME PARKS: The Roller Coaster and Carousel.
CHILDHOOD AND CHILDREN: Native American Children - Nineteenth Century Schools - John B. Watson.
THE CITY: The Public Health Movement - City Government - Chart: Population of Leading U.S. Cities .
CLOTHING AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT: Eighteenth Century Hairstyles - Female Attractiveness in the Nineteenth Century -
The Cultivation of Beauty.
COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE: The Sun Building - The 1893 Columbian Exposition - The Evolution of the Shopping Mall.
COMMUNICATIONS
AND INFORMATION PROCESSING.
CONCERT MUSIC: Early Twentieth Century Concert music - The Birth of "Bebop".
COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC: Minnie Pearl - Nashville.
COURTSHIP, MARRIAGE, SEPERATION, AND DIVORCE: Bundling - The "New" Morality - "No-Fault" divorce.
DEATH: Death of Children - The Mortality Gap - Funeral Practices in the Twentieth Century.
FILM: Nickelodeons - The Birth of a Nation - The Depression - Inquisition and Blacklist.
FOLK SONG AND FOLK MUSIC: Broadsides - Governmental Institutions and Folk Song Study.
FOODWAYS: Thomas Jefferson - Food Reformers - Scientific Housekeeping.
FRATERNAL ORGANISATIONS: Fraternalism as Entertainment.
THE FRONTIER: The First Americans - Whiskey Rebellion.
HEALTH CARE: Public Medical lnstitutions in the Nineteenth Century.
HOUSING: "Hall Parlor" Houses - Climate and Housing Design - The First Suburbs.
HUMOR AND COMEDY: Joel Chandler Harris - H. L. Mencken.
JOURNALISM: Broadsides and Magazines - The Ethnic Press - The Rural Press - Censorship of the Press.
LANDSCAPES: The Forest Primeval.
MANNERS AND ETIQUETTE: Rank and Status in the New World - The Laws of Etiquette - Women in the Workplace.
NATIONAL PARKS AND PRESERVATION: Ecological Perspectives.
NIGHTLIFE: Dance Halls, Cabarets, and Nightclubs.
OLD AGE: Improvements in Longevity - Old Age and the Law.
PARADES, HOLIDAYS, AND PUBLIC RITUALS: Mother's Day and Other Holidays - "Harlem Is Also a Paradise Ground".
THE PLANTATION: "King Cotton".
POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT BEFORE CIVIL WAR: Puritan Entertainments in the Eighteenth Century - Entertainments in Rural
Communities.
POPULAR LITERATURE: The Age of Cheap Fiction - Popular Trash - The Paperback Revolution.
POPULAR MUSIC BEFORE 1950: A Joyful Noise vs. an "Odd Noise".
PRINT AND PUBLISHING: Literacy in the Colonies - The Cause of "Useful Knowledge" - African -American Literacy -
Ethnic Publishing in the Nineteenth Century - "The Best Reading".
PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE: County Courthouse.
RADIO: The Distance Fiend - The Voice of America - Radio and Rock 'n' Roll.
ROCK MUSIC: Rock and Roll - The Mirror of Society - Punk Rock - Contemporary Rock and the
African American Express.
SEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND MORALITY: Sex and Reproduction - Native American Sexual Customs -
Free Love - Pornography and Prostitution - The Fight for Reproductive Freedom - The Stonewall Riot.
SPORTS THROUGH THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: Morton vs. Bradford - The Birth of Baseball -
The 'Y' Movement.
SPORTS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY: Modern Sports - Collegiate and Professional Football.
THE SUBURBS: The Birth of the Suburb - Origins of Suburban Government - A Postsuburban Era?
TELEVISION: Sponsors - Television and Politics - Television News in the 1960s.
THEATER AND MUSICAL THEATER: Pamphlet Plays - John Howard Payne - The Shuberts, Belasco, and the Fiskes -
The Living Newspaper.
TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY: The Way West.
TRAVEL AND VACATIONS: Summer Camps - National Tourism - International Tourism.
URBAN CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS: Literature and Enlightement - History and Science - Art in the Twentieth Century.
URBAN PARKS: The People's Park.
VILLAGE AND TOWN: The Pioneer Village - The Facade of the Small Town.
WOMAN'S ORGANIZATIONS: The Women's Christian Temperance Union. 29x23 cm, illustrated, 642 pages.
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Guantanamo
Rose, David
Camp Delta at Guantánamo Bay is the most controversial prison in the world.
The 600 detainees in Cuba have been held in a legal black hole. Are they 'the hardest of the hard-core' Al Qaeda terrorists, ruthless men 'involved in a plot to kill thousands of ordinary Americans', as the Bush administration has maintained? And has their continued imprisonment really been a necessary weapon in the war against terror, preventing further murders and providing an invaluable trove of intelligence?
In pursuit of the answers, David Rose has visited the camp and interviewed guards, officials and medical staff, as well as the prison commander. In a detailed investigation of the claims of the British detainees released early in 2004, he describes a suffocating atmosphere of isolation, harrassment, Kafkaesque accusation and physical brutality. Through this series of compelling and disturbing insights into the operations at Guantánamo - and set in the context of centuries of civilized thought about the treatment of prisoners - we come to understand that the first thing to go in the War on Terror will be human rights. 20x13cm, 168 pages.
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| OUR CHOICE IN CLEARANCE SALE |
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| OUR CHOICE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING & TEACHING |
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Oxford Dictionary of Slang
Ayto, John
Here, John Ayto has brought together over 10,000 slang words and phrases common to 20th-century English, to provide a comprehensive and highly engaging guide to the most outspoken corner of our language. Unlike most such dictionaries, this volume is organized thematically, with slang words
gathered under such headings as "the body and its functions" or "sustenance and intoxication." Within each section, the words are listed chronologically, starting with the century's earliest words and phrases and progressing right through to the present day, thus illuminating the development of
slang and colloquial language over the last hundred years. Word origins and other interesting features of usage are given wherever possible, as are illustrative quotations from a wide range of authors. A comprehensive A-Z index lists all words included in the dictionary, so you can find a particular
word quickly. From "five-finger discount" to "forty-rod whiskey," this is an authoritative and up-to-date record of slang throughout the English-speaking world. 20x13cm, 480 pages.
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Oxford Dictionary of Idioms
Siefring, Judith
The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms is the most comprehensive and up-to-date dictionary of idioms available. It covers both long-established idioms and phrases, and recent arrivals. It tells us, for example, that 'run amok' was first introduced into English in the 16th century from the Malay word amuk meaning 'in a homicidal frenzy', while 'off the cuff' refers to the rather messy practice, common in the days of starched shirt cuffs, of writing last-minute notes on one's shirt cuff before speaking in public. More recent coinages include 'jump the shark' (referring to a film or TV show that has had events added to it merely for novelty rather than for quality) and 'give someone the hairy eyeball' (staring angrily at someone through partially closed eyes). These and many more idioms are defined, explained, and put into context. The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms is based on the resources of Oxford's unique language research programme; each entry has been meticulously researched by the Oxford Dictionary department, with many new findings being incorporated for the new edition. Several hundred new idioms have been added together with many new examples of use; in addition the text has been redesigned, presenting idioms alphabetically by key word and including special new origin and background notes. Lastly, a new thematic index groups together idioms and phrases which have a common theme, such as jealousy and envy, strength, age, and death. The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms is an essential reference tool for students and teachers of English, both at university level and for English as a second language, as well as for anyone interested in the more colourful side of the English language and its history. 20x13cm, 340 pages.
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Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner's English Dictionary with CD-ROM
Sinclair, John
Now in an attractive two-colour layout, the fourth edition of the Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary offers learners of English detailed coverage of today’s language. Containing hundreds of new words and thousands of definitions written in simple, natural English, this dictionary is exceptionally easy to use and understand. The examples, which have all been taken from the Bank of English, have been revised and updated for this edition, and are invaluable in providing context for words and phrases. Grammatical information and additional information on synonyms, pragmatics and frequency is shown in the Extra Column, making it easy to find and use. New to the fourth edition of the Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary is the identification of thousands of set grammatical structures, particularly useful to learners of English. In addition, the new edition includes useful illustrations covering a range of topics, and Access to English – a unique supplement containing hundreds of practical phrases helping with important structures in areas such as essay-writing, presentations, report-writing and job applications. The Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary provides invaluable and detailed guidance on the English language, and is the complete reference tool for learners of English. The CD-Rom is PC and Mac compatible and contains: • Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary • 5 million Wordbank of authentic text samples (written & spoken), with high quality audio pronunciations for headwords, phrases, derived words and inflected forms. 24x16cm, 1744 pages and CD-ROM.
Latest Print 2005.
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Practical English Usage
Swan, Michael
This is a major reference guide for intermediate and advanced students of English and their teachers. It contains short clear articles on the grammatical problems which cause difficulty. It also deals with selected points of vocabulary, idiom, style, pronunciation, spelling and the main differences between British and American usage. Each entry contains an explanation of a problem, examples of correct usage, and, when useful, examples of typical mistakes. Special features of this book include: simple and practical presentation; alphabetical arrangement of numbered entries; detailed index and cross-reference system; distinction between formal and informal usage. Over 600 concise articles, arranged in alphabetical order, explain and illustrate points of grammar, usage, vocabulary, idiom, style and pronunciation. 23x16 cm, 658 pages. Sixteenth impression 2003.
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The Ghosts of Izieu (Book & Audiocassette)
Watson, James
This pack contains the book and one cassette.
Book & Audiocassette in Easy English: Pre-Intermediate Level (1200 words). The Audiocassette includes the complete text as printed in the book, excluding the Activities pages.
The Ghosts of Izieu is a classic ghost story set in modern France.
Elise is a young English girl on holiday in France, with her father and stepmother. Elise resents her father's new wife and is bored in the hot, dusty French village. Her father is keen for her to share his interest, in local history She, however, is reluctant, until she becomes a part of it herself. She begins to see the ghosts of children who seem to be from another time. She meets the mysterious Stefan who appears strangely afraid of something in the town.
When she seeks refuge from the summer heat in the cold village church, she is hurled back in time and meets a group of Jewish refugee children, who are in hiding from the Gestapo. The children call her 'Eloise'. She realises that she must leave the children in order to return to her own time and regain her own identity. The village's war memorial reveals to her, upon her return, the horrible fate with which the children met. The experience makes her reassess her relationship with her father and stepmother, and she determines to try harder to make it succeed. She is also able to appreciate fully the importance of remembering those who died in the Holocaust. Background and Themes:
The Ghosts of Izieu combines the two themes of the Holocaust and the supernatural. The ghosts in question are of a group of Jewish children persecuted in the 1940's. At the heart of the story is the moral message that it is important to remember the Holocaust, so that it will not be repeated. The young girl at the centre of the story becomes more aware of this as the plot develops. Her father's stories about the horrors of the deportations and concentration camps seem very abstract until she meets the ghosts and shares their terror. On a broader level the story is a reminder of how intolerance and racism can eventually lead to atrocities, such as the murder of the children in the book. 20x13cm, illustrated in full colour, 42 pages &
Audiocassette.
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A Practical English Grammar
Thomson, A. J., Martinet, A.V.
A classic intermediate grammar for foreign learners. This new edition has been revised and updated and is now even more informative and easier to use. 22x14cm, 383 pages.
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| OUR CHOICE IN YOUNG ADULT NOVELS |
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Far From The Madding Crowd
Hardy, Thomas
Book in Easy English - Intermediate - 1650 headwords. Bathsheba Everdene is a beautiful young woman. Three men say they love her but she marries the wrong one. This tragic story takes place in the beautiful countryside of the south of England. One of a series designed as an introduction to literature. It is graded into six levels, and each book contains an introduction and exercises. It is designed for students of English as a foreign or as a second language, and for reluctant readers. 20x13 cm, illustrated, 60 pages.
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Bronte's Story: Tears, Trials and Triumphs: A Personal Battle with Anorexia
Cullis, Bronte
"There was a time, at age fifteen, when I didn't think I would be alive to see my eighteenth birthday. I'm now twenty-five and I've defied the odds.
Bronte Cullis was the Melbourne teenager whose battle with anorexia captured the hearts of Australians in a series of stories and documentaries by Ray Martin for the Nine Network.
On television, we watched in awe this girl who refused to eat. Years of tears and family frustrations followed. As Jan, Bronte's mother, said at the time: "Bronte doesn't have anorexia, our whole family has anorexia."
Bronte's parents were desperate. They knew their daughter was about to die unless they did something drastic. They mortgaged the family home, sold what they could and sent Bronte to the Montreux Clinic, an unconventional eating disorder clinic half a world away in Canada. It was Bronte's last chance at survival…
Bronte has kept diaries from the day she became sick with anorexia. This is her story. 20x13 cm, illustrated, 276 pages.
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Kim: Empty Inside (The Diary of an Anonymous Teenager)
Sparks, Beatrice (Editor of "Go Ask Alice")
When Kim can't handle things, she eats. Then she purges. Sometimes she fasts. She knows she isn't as thin as the other girls on her gymnastics team, and she's worried that now, away from home for the first time as a college freshman, she won't be able to live up to expectations - especially her own. Eating is the one thing she can control - or can she? 17x10cm, 165 pages.
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A Child Called "It"
Pelzer, Dave
The life-enhancing true story of a young boy's struggle to free himself from his abusive mother and find a family to love him.
Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother, a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games - games that left one of her three sons nearly dead. She no longer considered Dave a son, but a slave; no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and smelly, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dog's bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. But throughout Dave kept alive dreams of finding a family to love him. This book covers the early years of his life and is an affecting an inspirational book of the horrors of child abuse and the steadfast determination of one child to survive. 'Dave Pelzer conveys brilliantly how his own determination allowed him to keep alive his dream of one day find a family who would be proud to call him their son. Truly touching, and emotionally shocking. 18x11cm,128 pages.
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Witch Child
Rees, Celia
So begins the journal kept by a 14-year-old girl in the 1650s, which lay hidden for centuries
in a quilt until finally falling loose when the quilt is cleaned. Mary sees her grandmother, the
woman who brought her up, executed as a witch and she knows that the healing skills and
abilities that saw her grandmother condemned may well be her own undoing. So she runs
away and joins a group of pilgrims travelling to the New World. But when Mary eventually
arrives in Massachusetts, she once again becomes the target of superstition. Can she avoid
her grandmother’s fate? And if she runs again, where can she go? This moving book deals
with the exciting life of one teenage girl in the 17th century, vividly describing a period of time
in which a woman was never too young to be a threat and never too old to be someone’s
property. 'Celia Rees is one of the most skilled storytellers around' — The Bookseller. 20x13 cm, 234 pages.
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Thura's Diary
Al-Windawi, Thura
What would it really be like to live through the bombing of Baghdad? This poignant diary is a first-hand account of a family in a city living under attack. Written by 19-year-old Thura al-Windawi, it describes the chaos and destruction around her. Her younger sister Sama, who is seven, "keeps drawing guns...before she drew ladies in dresses". She describes a handsome American soldier: "he's got beautiful sunglasses...but I think he's probably a monster". Thura must also face the death of her childhood friend, Freday, killed during the bombing: "I feel shocked, like part of me is dying, too". 20x13cm, illustrated, 144 pages.
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Inventing Elliot
Gardner, Graham
After being bullied mercilessly, Elliot is determined to reinvent himself when he moves house with Mum and Dad and goes to a new school. He is going to be so cool that no one will touch him. He's going to stand out just enough not to get noticed. But he is too successful, and he does get noticed by the Guardians. They are a mysterious group of three who manipulate others and run the school with a reign of terror. They invite Elliot to become one of them. He faces an agonising decision, whether to use this new found power or risk standing up for himself and facing the consequences. ---192 pages --- Graham Gardner is 26, the second of ten children. He has worked as a bookseller, waiter, civil servant and research officer and has recently completed his Ph D at the Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences at the University of Wales. He is also a keen musician, playing rock and classical piano. He lives at the family home in the Malvern Hills.
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She Said Yes - The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall
Bernall, Misty
In this bestseller that grabbed national media attention, the mother of a Columbine High School student speaks with honesty as she describes how her once-troubled daughter, Cassie, found God and straightened out her life, and professed her faith before she was killed in the school shooting. Contains a new Introduction by the author and an Afterword by Michael W. Smith.
17x11cm, illustrated, 163 pages.
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Go Ask Alice - Book of Answers
n.a.
What's the best way to minimize a hangover? Is it normal to have sex without experiencing an orgasm? How can you tell if a friend of yours is suffering from an eating disorder? Does smoking pot have long-term consequences? Does Seasonal Affective Disorder really exist? These are the questions people are asking ... and until now, there's been no reliable book that has provided sensible, honest, and comforting answers specifically for this audience. The Go Ask Alice Book of Answers is a groundbreaking guide that mines the best material from the eponymous award-winning Web site. From sex and relationships to alcohol and drugs to fitness and nutrition, this comprehensive handbook is the first of its kind to provide much-needed information for young adults who cannot get reliable or anonymous information from conventional channels. 345 pages
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Small Steps
Sachar, Louis
A brilliant companion volume to mega bestseller "HOLES".
Armpit and X-Ray are living in Austin, Texas. It is three years since they left the confines of Camp Green Lake Detention Centre and Armpit is taking small steps to turn his life around. He is working for a landscape gardener because he is good at digging holes, he is going to school and he is enjoying his first proper romance, but is he going to be able to stay out of trouble when there is so much building up against him?
In this brilliantly plotted and exciting novel, Armpit is joined by many vibrant new characters, and is learning what it takes to stay on course, and that doing the right thing is never the wrong choice. 20x14cm, 257 pages.
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Living at the Edge of the World: How I Survived in the Tunnels of Grand Central Station
Bolnick, Jamie Pastor
When Tina S. meets April, a teenage runaway, she thinks she's found her best friend. She leaves behind her dysfunctional family to join April in the tunnels of New York's Grand Central Station amidst the homeless and drug addicted. Soon she's bingeing on crack - just like April - and stealing, scamming, and panhandling to support her habit and to survive on the streets. Tina tells the story of her four years in the strange netherworld of Grand Central Station: her descent into crack addiction, being raped in the tunnels, her several arrests and jail terms, and her grief and guilt over the death of April. Finally faced with the reality that she might not make it through one more day, Tina takes her first difficult steps toward a normal life. 23x15 cm, 283 pages.
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Missing Persons Case 1: The Rose Queen
Rabb, M.E.
First in an exciting new detective series about two sisters who are on the run. Meet Sam and Sophie Shattenberg, two sisters from New York who are trying to create new lives for themselves in a tiny town. They've changed their names, dyed their hair and taken up a new hobby - solving missing persons cases. At the same time they're working hard to make sure that they stay missing themselves - in this case, 16-year-old Noelle McBride is missing, and the Chief of Police seems to think that Sophie might be the culprit! 20x13cm, 208 pages.
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Refugee Boy
Zephaniah, Benjamin
Alem's father is Ethiopian but his mother is Eritrean.
When these countries go to war, his parents are seen as traitors by both sides. Arriving in London
as a refugee, Alem wakes up next morning to discover his father has returned to Africa to try and
help end the civil war. Entirely on his own, Alem is sent to a children's home, but when this proves
too tough he is placed with foster parents and starts attending school. He then learns that his mother
has been killed and that he may be expelled from Britain because of problems with his application to
seek asylum. But at least Alem is reunited with his father, over in Britain again. When local people bear
that father and son may be deported they put on a Freedom Dance to raise funds tor their appeal.Things
seem to be going well, but more troubles are on the way. Much of this novel is taken up with the actual
details of what currently happens to people seeking asylum in Britain. Alem's view of Britain as an outsider
is always fascinating and sometimes even comic. The other asylum seekers he meets all have their own,
frequently tragic stories to tell, but althought the book is often unavoidably sad, it is still in many ways a
feel-good story. Alem is the sort of positive character who brings out the best in others as well as in himself.
To read this novel is to become better informed about a controversial topic where there are no easy answers.
20x13 cm, 224 pages.
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Gangsta Rap
Zephaniah, Benjamin
Ray has trouble at home and trouble at school. It's the last straw for everyone when Ray and his friends Prem and Tyrone are permanently suspended. But they know what they want, more than most, perhaps. Their headmaster decides to give them a second chance, a chance to live their dream of forming a rap group. Through a specialized social program, the boys are taught the business of the music industry, what it takes to record an album, and how to lay down a track. Within weeks they have become the Positive Negatives, and within a few months they have signed a record deal and are on their way to the top. But their dream soon becomes a nightmare as violence escalates around them. Suddenly, not only their careers but their very lives are at stake. The Positive Negatives are determined to prove that you don't need to be a gangster to be a great rapper. 20x13cm, 332 pages.
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| OUR CHOICE IN CHILDREN'S AND EDUCATIONAL |
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Little Red Riding Hood
Grimm, Jacob
This is the story of a little girl, her grandmother and a wolf. When Little Red Riding Hood goes to visit her grandmother in her cottage in the woods, she is surprised to find that her grandmother has changed - she has a long nose and very sharp teeth. 18x12cm, illustrated, 32 pages.
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I Can Learn Rhyming Reading (36 Flashcards)
Morgan Nicola
These bright, robust flashcards are great for building literacy and numeracy skills at home, supporting Early Years and National Curriculum Key Stage 1 programmes of study in schools.
With a sheet of stickers and gold stars to build confidence and making learning fun. 13x9cm.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Whole Story)
Wilde, Oscar
A novel that has fascinated readers for over a century, The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde's story of a fashionable young man who attains eternal youth while only his portrait grows old, hidden away in a locked room. Despite the young man's disintegration into a life of crime, his face never reflects the moral decay. Instead, the portrait records every deed by turning his once handsome features into a hideous mask.
With Tony Ross's splendid illustrations and extended captions unique to the Whole Story, The Picture of Dorian Gray provides background information that modern readers could otherwise access only through a broad range of supplemental research-from biographical profiles of Oscar Wilde and his contemporaries to depictions of London's art world in the late nineteenth century. This distinctive approach places The Picture of Dorian Gray, first published in 1891, within the context of its era, bringing it vividly to life. THE READER
BECOMES AN EXPLORER-FICTION BECOMES DISCOVERY.
The world's best-loved stories brought to life in the full context of their eras: The Whole Story series, with its unique documentary approach, makes the classics accessible to new generations of readers-as well as to audiences wanting to reread, rediscover, and newly appreciate these enduringly popular stories.
Complete, unabridged text as originally published.
Generously annotated with hundreds of extended captions: lively, succinct explanations of history, geography, popular culture, social customs, the animal world, architecture, literature, and science.
Lavishly illustrated in color and black and white, featuring line drawings, maps, photographs, diagrams, and paintings, many of which date from when the story was written.
24x18cm, illstrated, 270 pages.
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Plants (Interfact Series) & CD-Rom
Two-can
Book in easy English - intermediate. The book and disk that work together - combines all the values of high-quality illustrated books with the dramatic interactivity of imaginative multimedia.
Multimedia disk containing up to 15 hours of activities, games and on-screen adverntures presented as fully interactive features
48-page book with detailed facts, stunning photographs, illustrations and a glossary and index. Spiralbound, 22x18 cm,
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Ladybird
The fairytale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs features an evil witch and a handsome prince. 18x12cm, illustrated, 32 pages.
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Architecture (Annotated Guides)
Stevenson, Neil
Architecture takes a refreshing new approach to understanding significant building styles. Detailed annotations to the spectacular illustrations provide intriguing insights into the worlds most important structures - offering a deeper understanding of historical landmarks in architecture.
The designs of the times
Architecture looks at every important innovation in the development of architecture over the past 3,500 years. Detailed annotations highlight the important features that distinguish 50 celebrated architectural masterpieces from around the world, from the Temple of Amun, Karnak, and the Taj Mahal, to the Empire State Building and the Sydney Opera House.
Clarity and insight
The unique visual approach of Architecture is complemented by authoritative text explaining the essential technical and theoretical knowledge that underpins the construction of all buildings. The book's generous size and superb reproduction allow recurrent architectural themes and influences, and all the important structural features, to be revealed in great detail. Particular areas of interest, such as biographical information on the architect, are prominently featured.
Architecture is an accessible and comprehensive guide that unlocks the secret language of buildings. 36x27 cm !!!, illustrated, 112 pages.
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The Ladybird Illustrated Thesaurus
Summers, Della
Ladybird reference books use easy-to-follow information and colourful illustrations to make learning fun. This book teaches children to find alternative words, with some 2000 entries in total. 18x11cm, illustrated in full colour, 190 pages.
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Votes for Women
Hollyer, Belinda
Using the alternating perspectives of two key players, Sylvia Pankhurst and Herbert Asquith, Belinda Hollyer brings this vividly to life through the passions and conflicts of real historical figures. It is a gripping story of a remarkable triumph of courage and determination over strenuous, often violent, opposition. The story begins before the First World War with the militant years of hunger strikes, force-feeding, and the cat-and-mouse tactics of the suffragette leaders.... 20x13 cm, illustrated, 160 pages.
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The Koala Brothers: Ned's Scary Night
Ladybird
A board book shaped like Ned's caravan. When Ned hears some noises outside during the night he is very scared and doesn't know what could be making them! Luckily the Koala Brothers are on hand to help . . . 25x19cm, 12 pages.
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Tornadoes: And Other Dramatic Weather Systems
Allaby, Michael
Intermediate Level: The power, the mystery, and the fury of tornadoes are explored in this guide that delves into the formation of dangerous storms and wild weather. Full-color illustrations. 20x13 cm, 96 pages.
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Rumpelstiltskin
Grimm, Jacob
Once upon a time, there was a miller who was forever telling stories. He would boast about his daughter to anyone who would listen and each story became more and more extravagant. His neighbours just laughed, but one day the king was in town and he didn't laugh. He took the miller very seriously. 18x12cm, illustrated, 32 pages.
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