Independent Readers (10-15yrs)

Tiffany Aching, a hag from a long line of hags, is trying out her witchy talents again as she is plunged into yet another adventure when she leaves home and is apprenticed to a " real" witch. This time, will the thievin', fightin' and drinkin' skills of the Nac Mac Feegle -- the Wee Free Men -- be of use, or must Tiffany rely on her own abilities? This is the third novel in the junior Discworld...

Dear Reader, Unless you are a slug, a sea anemone, or mildew, you probably prefer not to be damp. You might also prefer not to read this book, in which the Baudelaire siblings encounter an unpleasant amount of dampness as they descend into the depths of despair, underwater. In fact, the horrors they encounter are too numerous to list, and you wouldn't want me even to mention the worst of it,...

Violet, Klaus and sunny Baudelaire are intelligent and resourceful children. For these unfortunate siblings school turns out to be another miserable episode in their unlucky lives. They face strict punishments, dripping fungus, comprehensive exams, smelly sneakers and the metric system.

Imagine tales so terrible that as many as fifty million innocents have been ruined by them - tales so indelibly horrid that the New York Times bestseller list has been unable to rid itself of them for seven years. Now imagine if this scourge suddenly became available in a shameful new edition so sensational, so irresistible, so riddled with lurid new pictures that even a common urchin would wish...

Everybody loves a carnival! Who can fail to delight in the colourful people, the unworldly spectacle, the fabulous freaks? A carnival is a place for good family fun - as long as one has a family, that is. For the Baudelaire orphans, their time at the carnival turns out to be yet another episode in a now unbearable series of unfortunate events. In fact, in this appalling ninth instalment in Lemony...

Dear Reader, You are presumably looking at the back of this book, or the end of the end. The end of the end is the best place to begin the end, because if you read the end from the beginning of the beginning of the end to the end of the end of the end, you will arrive at the end of the end of your rope. This book is the last in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and even if you braved the previous...

Within the chapters of this story, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire encounter a darkened staircase, a red herring, some friends in a dire situation, three mysterious initials, a liar with an evil scheme, a secret passageway, and parsley soda.

From the tradition of classic tales for children, in which terrible things always seem to befall orphans, comes this exquisitely dark comedy that is both literary and irreverent, hilarious and deftly crafted. The latest installment in Lemony Snicket's uproariously unhappy series may just be the worst yet.

Lemony Snicket returns with the last book before the last book of his bestselling Series of Unfortunate Events. Scream and run away before the secrets of the series are revealed! Very little is known about Lemony Snicket and A Series of Unfortunate Events. What we do know is contained in the following brief list: The books have inexplicably sold millions and millions of copies worldwide People in...

Dear Reader, If you have picked up this book with the hope of finding a simple and cheery tale. I'm afraid you have picked up the wrong book altogether. The story may seem cheery at first, when the Baudelaire children spend time in the company of some interesting reptiles and a giddy uncle, but don't be fooled. If you know anything at all about the unlucky Baudelaire children, you already know...

Like bad smells, uninvited weekend guests or very old eggs, there are some things that ought to be avoided. Snicket's saga about the charming, intelligent, and grossly unlucky Baudelaire orphans continues to alarm its distressed and suspicious fans the world over. The 10th book in this outrageous publishing effort features more than the usual dose of distressing details, such as snow gnats, an...

"Dear Reader, " You have undoubtedly picked up this book by mistake, so please put it down. Nobody in their right mind would read this particular book about the lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire on purpose, because each dismal moment of their stay in the village of V.F.D. has been faithfully and dreadfully recorded in these pages. I can think of no single reason why anyone would want...

Dear Reader, If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted, but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and the one you are holding may be the worst of them...

Emerson Watts is on the run: from school, from her family and from herself. She's reeling from the shock that Nikki, the girl whose body her brain was forced to inhabit, is still alive. And she's furious. Manipulative Brandon plans to use Em to discover a secret that will ensure his success, whilst Christopher is out for revenge, fuelled by his jealousy. With everyone around her playing a...

Alice Newcombe, trapped and unhappy on her uncle's farm, finds her life transformed when royalist soldiers are billeted there during the Civil War. Suddenly her days are filled with excitement - and love for one young soldier, Robin. When the regiment moves on, Alice persuades Robin to take her with him, and she joins the other army women on the baggage train. The road ahead is long and hard -...

Brilliantly funny, teenage angst author Louise Rennison's first book about the confessions of crazy but lovable Georgia Nicolson. Now repackaged in a gorgeous new paperback and looking even fatter than ever. Louise is an international best-selling author and her books can't fail to make you laugh out loud. There are six things very wrong with my life: I have one of those under-the-skin spots that...

It’s the FINAL instalment of Georgia's fab and hilarious diary! Does Georgia escape the cakeshop of luuurve? Can there be more heartbreaknosity in store? Will the Sex God pop up again unexpectedly (oo-er)! And what about the supreme accidental snogmaster Dave the Laugh? Will she FINALLY choose her only one and only? So many boys, so little time…

Growing up is never easy! Life isn't easy for Margaret. She's moved away from her childhood home, she's starting a new school, finding new friends - and she's convinced she's not normal. For a start she hasn't got a clue whether she wants to be Jewish like her father or Christian like her mother. Everyone else seems really sure of who they are. And, worst of all, she's a 'late developer'. She...

Following the colossal battle against the Empire's warriors, Eragon and Saphira narrowly escaped with their lives. But more awaits the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by promises he may not be able to keep, including his oath to cousin Roran to help rescue his beloved Katrina. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes, Eragon must make choices that take him across the...

Don Schmidt knows his name has changed from Stanley, and he believes he had a sister and she died of scarlet fever when she was fifteen, but these and other details of Don's life don't quite add up. Don's family lives on a chicken farm in Horse Island, where his mother would prefer not to be. At school Don is known as 'new kid' even though he hasn't been new for years. And when Don becomes a true...

The story of the notorious vampire Count Dracula, lord of the undead, who rises from his coffin at night to suck the blood of the living is, undoubtedly, the stuff of nightmares. A lunatic asylum, a bleak Transylvanian castle, an ancient cemetery...these are the dark backgrounds to the even darker deeds portrayed in this most bloodcurdling of tales.

Darkness falls...Despair abounds...Evil reigns...Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now, Eragon must travel to Ellesmera, land of the elves, for further training in magic and swordsmanship, the vital skills of the Dragon Rider. It is the journey of a lifetime, filled with...

Ruby Yarrow is a 14 year old who lives in a busy, loving, chaotic family with her mum, stepdad, brother and two little stepbrothers. Ruby feels a bit like a doormat - she has to help out in the family a lot while her brother doesn't. He wins lots of prizes at school and she has a learning difficulty and needs a reader/writer to help her in exams. Ruby's surname Yarrow is at the end of the...

It's December 1936 when the first polio cases are suspected. Soon a polio epidemic is sweeping the country. Schools are closed, swimming pools and movie theatres banned to children, and travel restricted - but the epidemic is still spreading. Tom is the best runner in his school - but you can't outrun polio. Your family can't hide from it. And nobody knows where it will strike next.

When Eragon finds a polished stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic and...

What if the person you were meant to be with could never be yours? 17-year-old Lucinda falls in love with a gorgeous, intelligent boy, Daniel, at her new school, the grim, foreboding Sword & Cross ...only to find out that Daniel is a fallen angel, and that they have spent lifetimes finding and losing one another as good & evil forces plot to keep them apart. Some angels are destined to fall...

The author of the best-selling and critically beloved "Mortal Engines" quartet has written a stunning prequel. "Fever Crumb" is set a generation before the events of Mortal Engines, when cities are just beginning to devour each other. Is the mystery of Fever, adopted daughter of Dr. Crumb, the key to the secret that lies at the heart of London?

Rayne is still enjoying life at remote Morton's Keep, an escape from the city life she hated so much. But there are hints of something creepy and out of kilter still in the house, especially when a mysterious new housekeeper takes over. Then - suddenly and shockingly - a violent murder occurs on the outskirts of Marcle Lees, and Rayne's life is turned upside down all over again...

Caitlin and David have much in common. They're the same age, they go to the same school, they're both in the school play. And each of them is watching their family fall apart.

Young Willie Beech is evacuated to the country as Britain stands on the brink of WW2. A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley - but his new-found happiness is shattered by a summons from his mother back in London...This is the winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Award.

Gool is the sequel to ' Salt'. Sixteen years have passed since Pearl from Company and Hari from Blood Burrow defeated the tyrant Ottmar. Now their children, Xantee and Lo, face an even more dangerous foe. Hari lies dangerously ill with a fragment of a strange creature wrapped around his throat, draining his life. The beast is called gool, meaning Unbelonger. It is one of many, destroying the...

Stanley is not surprised when a miscarriage of justice sends him to Camp Green Lake Juvenile Detention Centre. Nor surprised when he is told that his daily labour is to dig a hole, 5 foot wide and 5 foot deep, and report anything he finds in it.

Brilliantly funny, teenage angst author Louise Rennison's second book about the confessions of crazy but lovable Georgia Nicolson. Now repackaged in a gorgeous new paperback and looking even fatter than ever. Louise is an international best-selling author and her books can't fail to make you laugh out loud. What is the matter with my life? Why is it so deeply unfab? It's a day and a half now...

In the year 2499, a strange new city has risen, hot and dusty, dotted with half-built pyramids and ruled over by a dark army. Beneath it all, forgotten statues of ancient gods lie waiting to wreak their power on an unsuspecting world. One boy will stand up and become a hero.

Brilliantly funny, Louise Rennison's fabby third book on the confessions of crazy but lovable Georgia Nicolson. Now in gorgey new paperback and guaranteed to have the nation laughing their knickers off! Jas said, "Well, what happened?" And I said, "Well, it was beyond marvy. We talked and snogged and then he made me a sandwich and we snogged and then he played me a record and then...

Prequel to Lucky for Some. Meet Lacey Turner again, at a younger age. Remember how Lacey had a passion for dancing in Lucky for Some? This book tells how she developed that passion. Lacey is firmly ensconced in her world. Her best friend Vanessa lives across the road and they do everything together. They both attend dance lessons too. When a new girl, Belinda, comes to school, Lacey is keen to be...

Sound the Cosmic Horn! Georgia Nicolson's bestselling 8th book of confessions is now available in paperback! The original Sex God has re-landed, Masimo the Italian Stallion wants to be her boyfriend, and Dave the Laugh is still a regular snoggee. How will Georgia cope juggling all three boys of her dreams? Have her days on the rack of love really gone for good? Or will this just lead to...

Tom and Hester have been thrown together. Truly-thrown out of a city on wheels that's left them stranded and starving in the middle of nowhere while it hares off after its prey. Hester is desperate for revenge, and Tom is only desperate to get back on board his beloved London. This is a stunning literary debut from Philip Reeve. A novel that defies easy categorisation, it is a gripping adventure...

With her mother in a coma and her father hellbent on destroying the world, Clary Fray is dragged deeper into New York City's terrifying underworld of werewolves, demons and the mysterious Shadowhunters. Discovering the truth about her past was only the beginning. Now the fate of the world rests on Clary's shoulders, but can she master her new-found powers and control her feelings for a boy who...

Sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is an ordinary teenager, who likes hanging out in Brooklyn with her friends. But everything changes the night she witnesses a murder, committed by a group of teens armed with medieval weaponry. The murderous group are Shadowhunters, secret warriors dedicated to driving demons out of this dimension and back into their own. Drawn inexorably into a terrifying world, Clary...

With two of the Mortal Instruments now in Valentine's hands, the world of the Shadowhunters teeters on the brink of civil war. Jace and the Lightwoods are recalled to Idris, the Shadowhunters' remote and hidden home country, where a search has begun for the last of the Instruments, the Mortal Glass. Clary finds herself caught up in the chaos as the delicate social order of the Nephilim begins to...

It is Dargaville, in the mid 1920s. Through her diary, eleven-year-old Ivana Ivanovich introduces us to her Dalmatian community. Ivana's life revolves around the local convent school, Saturday matinées, and the boarding house she calls home. Novel based around the authors personal experiences, includes photographs and factual information. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.

The diary of Lillian Glenmore who is sent with her sister Joyce to live with their parental grandparents on a diary farm when their mother becomes concerned about Lillian's health and the chance that Joyce could be manpowered into a war job. Neither girl is keen to go. Then at the end of February 1943 5,000 American troops arrive. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.

I choose to start my story at a distant time. A time before I knew it was possible to take the words from my mouth and draw them in marks on paper. My story begins on the day when my world changed forever. I was very young, but the memory of that day is as enduring as greenstone. I write it now so that when my mouth can no longer utter the words, the paper will keep them for my children's...

It is 1968 when Debbie's grandmother gives her a copy of her forefather's old sea journal. She finds it fascinating and very different from her own diary of school life and troubles with friends. One day, sick in bed, she thinks her long-dead relative is trying to tell her something. And then she boards the ferry Wahine for a voyage to Wellington. Suggested level: primary, intermediate.

A junior fiction title in the established My Story series. In the 1970s the NZ government established a fund to allow the establishment of ohu, a commune-based farming co-operative. Starshine (previously known as Estelle) is whisked off against her wishes to live with her mother in the Aquarius ohu. Commune living is very different - it definitely has its bad points but there are good points too,...

The diary of fourteen year-old Amy McDonald who lives in the harsh environment of the Milford Road Public Works Camp, along with her mother and seven year old brother, Bruce. Her father has been employed as workshop supervisor on the dangerous project of building the Milford Road and Homer Tunnel, cutting through the Southern Alps. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.

Sam is 14 when he signs on as a cabin boy aboard a vessel bound for Sydney. The barque Dundonald founders and sinks off Disappointment Island in the southern ocean. Fifteen survivors endure a harsh winter on this remote island until their rescue in late November. 6 March 2007 marks 100 years since the wreck of the Dundonald, and this incredible story of survival. Although Sam is a fictional...

New Zealand is at war when Silvey starts her diary but for Silvey this is just a backdrop to the main issues of her world - the closure of her school and the arrival of Chinese-American soldiers. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.

Napler in the 1930s was a time of going without. The story starts on the 25th of June, 1930 - a sad day in the Bourke household - the funeral of Katie's father. This Catholic family must now survive with earnings from the older siblings and the washing Katie's mother takes in. When older brother Tom returns home, after a long absence, it is a help - but with him come other troubles. Katie records...