Anita and me, by Meera Syal
Meena is 10 years old and growing up. She wants to eat fish and chips and have a boyfriend. Funny and thought-provoking. Contains adult themes.
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Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl is a brilliant criminal mastermind. But even he doesn't know what he's taken on when he kidnaps a fairy. These aren't the fairies of bedtime stories& they are armed and dangerous.
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Before I die, by Jenny Downham
Contains adult themes.
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Before I fall, by Lauren Oliver
Sam Kingston is killed in a car crash, but instead of seeing a tunnel of light, she wakes up in her own bed, on the morning of the same day. Forced to live through the same events, she struggles to alter the outcome, but wakes up again on the day of the crash. What follows is the story of a girl who comes of age in a matter of days.
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Bridget Jones's diary, by Helen Fielding
Meet Bridget Jones - a 30-something singleton who is certain she would have all the answers if she could lose 7 lbs, stop smoking and find Inner Poise. Contains adult themes.
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Diving in, by Kate Cann
Coll thinks the boy she sees swimming every Thursday night is completely gorgeous - and then he asks her out. Art is strong and powerful, and he's also quite pushy. Just what is Coll getting into?
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Dreaming of Amelia, by Jaclyn Moriarty
When the beautiful, talented and mysterious Riley and Amelia transfer to elete private school Ashbury High for their final year, the school becomes obsessed with them. Told through a series of blogs, essays and minutes (!), we hear many versions of many truths - but what is the secret they are hiding?
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Flour babies, by Anne Fine
Simon's class are each given a bag of flour to care for as if it is a real baby. Not so easy - the flour babies are checked regularly, and spies in the community make sure babysitting is taken seriously.
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Hellbent, by Anthony McGowan
Ignominiously run over by an ice cream van, Conor is sent Down There, although he thinks he's committed no worse crime than winding up his sister and teasing the fat kid at school. How can he escape his fate?
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Hitler's canary, by Sandi Toksvig
Based on true-life events during the Second World War, this novel is a funny and gripping account of a childhood spent under occupation and a daring rescue.
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Holes, by Louis Sachar
This is a modern classic - it is a fable; a myth; a quest and a school story (even if the school is a penal institute) and just a really great tale.
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Hoot, by Carl Hiaasen
Roy Eberhardt is recently, and unhappily, arrived in Florida. Roy's family moves a lot so he's used to the new-kid drill - and to bullies like Dana Matherson. And anyway, it's because of Dana that Roy gets to see the mysterious running boy.
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I know what you did last Wednesday, by Anthony Horowitz
It's a dangerous life being the youngest brother of the world's worst private detective, but Nick Diamond has survived...so far. An invitation to a remote island gives Nick a bad feeling, and then fellow guests start dying.
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I was a teenage worrier, by Ros Asquith
The diary of a 15-year-old - a brilliantly funny ALPHABET OF TEENAGE WORRY.
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Indigo Blue, by Cathy Cassidy
Indie's mum loves the colour blue. So much so that she named her children Indigo and Misty - shades of blue, special colours, magical colours. Indie loves her mum. But blue isn't always a happy colour - and there's a lot of sad stuff in her mum's life.
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It's a girl thing, by Grace Dent
This novel follows three teenage friends, Ronnie, Claude and Fleur, who are the irrepressible LBD - Les Bambinos Dangereuse. When their headmaster cancels the school's annual summer fete, they decide to replace it with their own music festival.
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Killing God, by Kevin Brooks
Two years ago Dawn's father disappeared, her life fell apart, and it's all God's Fault. It all started when her dad found God, but it didn't end there. Her mum fell apart, leaving Dawn to be the grown up. Now she's 15 and doesn't fit in - which is fine with her, except the popular girls have suddenly started paying her attention, and a van keeps driving past her house.....
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Man and boy, by Tony Parsons
Harry Silver has it all. A successful job in TV, a gorgeous wife, a lovely child. And, in one moment of madness, he chucks it all away. Contains adult themes.
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Marley & me, by John Grogan
Meet Marley, a yellow furball of a puppy who quickly grows into a large, rowdy Labrador retriever. Marley is always getting into trouble, whether he is stealing underwear or crashing through doors. But those who know and love Marley accept him as a dog like no other. He brings joy to his family and teaches them what really matters in life.
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Once, by Morris Gleitzman
Not for the faint hearted, this is the first in a trilogy that will have you laughing and crying - sometimes at the same time. Yes, it's another holocaust story. But if you only ever read one, make it this one. Felix spends almost 4 years in an orphanage, convinced his Jewish Bookseller parents are still alive, and coming back for him. When Nazi soldiers come to burn the nuns' books, Felix escapes from the orphanage to find and save his parents. His perilous journey through Nazi occupied Poland finds him befriending orphan Zelda, and coming into the care of the kindly Barney. All three of these books are very slim, but they really pack a punch.
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Ostrich boys, by Keith Gray
Fast-paced and moving. Kenny, Sim and Blake embark on a remarkable journey when they steal the ashes of their best friend Ross to take them to the tiny hamlet of Ross in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Contains adult themes.
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Playing dead, by Tim Bowler
A boy at the end of his tether and on the run has only his wits and a knife to save himself. This is the first book in a thrilling new series for teenagers.
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Pride and prejudice, by Jane Austen
In early nineteenth-century England, a spirited young woman copes with the suit of a snobbish gentleman, as well as the romantic entanglements of her four sisters. Contains adult themes.
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Ribblestrop, by Andy Mulligan
A dilapidated school with the most unpromising of pupils and eccentric of teachers, led by an educational maverick, must unravel the mystery of what is going on in its secret cellars if it is to avoid complete ruin. Hilarious!
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Shadowmagic, by John Lenahan
A hilarious fantasy adventure - and a wonderful story of courage, friendship and destiny.
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Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy
Meet the great Skulduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective, powerful magician, master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course). Oh yeah. And dead.
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Sophie Pitt-Turnbull discovers America, by Dyan Sheldon
Sophie thinks she knows it all. When she goes to the States to spend the summer in Brooklyn with an old friend of her mother's, her idea of the world (as brought up in a middle-class family in Putney) is turned on its head.
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Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
From her first moment at Merryweather High, Melinda Sordino knows she's an outcast. She retreats into her own world to escape the lies and hypocrisies of high shool. But there is a terrible incident from her past which just won't go away.
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The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud
A young magician's apprentice, Nathaniel, secretly summons the irascible 5000-year-old djinni, Bartimaeus, to do his bidding. The task for Bartimaeus is not an easy one - he must steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand
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The Cardturner, by Louis Sachar
Alton knows his summer will suck from the minute his girlfriend dumps him for his best friend, but spending it helping his blind uncle play cards (because his mother hopes to inherit millions from the near-death relative) really isn't going to help. It is impossible not to warm to Alton, or his crabby uncle, and before long you'll be hooked on the decades old mystery and romance that pulls this novel along.
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The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett
On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle, a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There's an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, and of course 'the edge' of the planet.
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The Crow Road, by Iain Banks
It was the day my grandmother exploded" begins this extraordinary novel of death, sex, drink, God and illegal substances. Contains adult themes.
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The ant colony, by Jenny Valentine
Number 33 Georgiana Street houses many people and yet seems home to none. Life there is a kind of ordered chaos. Like ants, they scurry about their business, crossing paths, following their own tracks, no questions asked. But it doesn't take much to upset the balance. Dig deep enough and you'll find that everyone has something to hide.
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The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, by Mark Haddon
Christopher has Asperger's, and needs order to protect himself from the bewilderment of life and people. Join him on his quest to find the dog's killer, and discover life through his eyes. Stark, funny and enlightening. Some adult content.
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The fire within, by Chris D'Lacey
The Pennykettle's new lodger David is very friendly, he gets on really well with cats, children, squirrels and dragons, particularly Gadzooks, a magical pottery dragon.
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The graveyard book, by Neil Gaiman
A modern ghost story - funny, charming and eerie.
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The illustrated mum, by Jacqueline Wilson
Covered from head to foot with glorious tattoos, Marigold is the brightest, most beautiful mother in the world - Dolphin thinks. Her older sister, Star, isn't so sure any more - why can't mum just be normal?
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The machine gunners, by Robert Westall
"Some bright kid's got a gun and 2000 rounds of live ammo". Chas McGill has the second-best collection of war souvenirs in Garmouth, and he desperately wants it to be the best.
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The pig scrolls, by Paul Shipton
Gryllus is a pig. Well, not strictly speaking a pig. He's a man who got turned into a pig, When Odysseus's crew (you remember Odysseus - big bloke, hero, all round clever clogs) got turned into pigs by Circe, Gryllus never got turned back.
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The princess diaries, by Meg Cabot
Mia becomes heir to the Genovian throne - apparently she really is a princess. Mia begins taking princess lessons and has to be followed everywhere by a bodyguard. But if you think she's moving to Genovia, think again!
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The secret dreamworld of a shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella
From the outside, it looks as if Rebecca Bloomwood has everything. She's a financial journalist, confident, single and happily living in Fulham. A début novel of love, credit cards and spending sprees - the ultimate retail therapy. Contains adult themes.
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The sisterhood of the travelling pants, by Ann Brashares
From Baja California to Greece, from film-making to football - as Carmen, Tibby, Lena and Bridget endure their first summer apart they are secure in the knowledge that their friendship is constant - and the symbol of it is only a parcel-delivery away.
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Three ways to snog an alien, by Graham Joyce
Druce's new girlfriend is hot, but what's with the weird behaviour, freaky parents and the super-human intelligence? And was that really a forked tongue he saw or did he imagine it?
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Two weeks with the queen, by Morris Gleitzman
'I need to see the Queen about my sick brother.' Sent from Australia to stay with his aunt in London because his brother has cancer, Colin is sure that the Queen will be able to make things better. An amazing story about a truly heartbreaking situation. Contains adult themes.
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