Hodder & Stoughton Tales Out of School Phinn Gervase

After an eventful start to his first ever teaching post in the sleepy village of Risingdale, Tom Dwyer is hoping for a bit of calm. Nursing a broken heart after a romantic disappointment, he just wants to keep his head down and get on with his job • But it is not to be. A beautiful London artist sets tongues wagging when she moves into the village, and her precocious yet frail son is in Tom's class. On top of that, his colleague's malicious ex-husband is back, determined to create mischief, and a tragedy on one of the winding country roads sends the village reeling. And all this alongside a class of children who still seem to know more about farming than fractions • With its colourful mix of characters both old and new and its many laugh-out-loud moments, Tales Out of School is a warm, humorous portrayal of life in a small Yorkshire village

Love is in the air in the little village of Barton-in-the-Dale. Anyone can see that Ashley Underwood and Emmet O'Malley are made for each other. They've just got to admit it to themselves . . . But as the saying goes, the course of true love never did run smooth • While romance blossoms on one side of the village, an angry young boy struggles to believe in love. But when tragedy strikes, he learns that comfort and care can come from the most unexpected of places • Meanwhile, head teacher Elisabeth Stirling faces a new challenge for the start of the school year. An eccentric teacher joins the staff, and there's also a worrying case of potential negligence to answer. In the village too, a puritanical new vicar stirs up trouble. But as always, mixed in with the drama there's plenty of gossip, laughter, friendship - and love - in Barton-in-the-Dale

'It's a small village is Barton-in-the-Dale, Mrs Stirling,' said the shopkeeper. 'You ought to know that by now. Nothing can be kept secret for too long. News travels fast.' • In the little village of Barton-in-the-Dale, long-hidden secrets are bubbling to the surface. Ashley Underwood and Emmet O'Malley are set to tie the knot, when a revelation from the handsome Irishman's past returns to haunt him. The town's resident nosey-parker discovers some juicy gossip about the primary school's dishy new staff-member, and head teacher Elisabeth Stirling has a very special secret of her own • As the wedding day draws closer, brewing secrets threaten to boil over. But along with the skeletons tumbling out of the closet comes plenty of laughter, drama, friendship and love

"The day is long, the world is wide, you're young and free." • One hot summer morning, Davie steps boldly out of his front door. The world he enters is very familiar - the little Tyneside town that has always been his home - but as the day passes, it becomes ever more mysterious • A boy has been killed, and Davie thinks he might know who is responsible. He turns away from the gossip and excitement and sets off roaming towards the sunlit hills above the town • As the day goes on, the real and the imaginary start to merge, and Davie knows that neither he nor his world will ever be the same again • This an outstanding novel full of warmth and light, from a multi-award-winning author. David Almond says: 'I guess it embodies my constant astonishment at being alive in this beautiful, weird, extraordinary world

The second book in the delightful Barton-in-the-Dale series which began with The Little Village School • Elisabeth Devine certainly rocked the boat when she arrived in Barton-in-the-Dale to take over as head teacher of the little primary school. Now it's a new term, and after winning over the wary locals, she can finally settle in to her role. Or so she thinks • For the school is hit by a brand-new bombshell: it's to be merged with its arch rival, and Elisabeth has to fight for the headship with Urebank's ruthless and calculating headmaster. She has her work cut out for her • But add in some gossip and a helping of scandal, not to mention various newcomers bringing good things and bad to Barton, and that's not the only trouble that's brewing in the village

Meet fairies, witches and giants in this selection of 30 magical short stories by the world's best-loved storyteller. Perfect for children aged 5 and up! • From to goblin games to never-ending wishes, there's mischief afoot in these fun-filled short stories by Enid Blyton! Who will be on the receiving end of a trick, and who will win out with a treat? • Ideal for younger children being read to and for newly confident readers to enjoy independently, each story stands alone and is the perfect length for reading at bedtime or in the classroom • Enid Blyton remains one of Britain's favourite children's authors and her bumper short story collections are the perfect way to introduce her work to a new generation of readers

A full-colour short story from the enchanted world of the Faraway Tree in a perfect format for new readers. Discover the magic! • The Land of Silly School is where Dame Snap teaches naughty elves, pixies and fairies. But Joe, Beth, Frannie, Connie soon discover that the lessons are very silly indeed! How will they escape strict Dame Snap?

The second novel in Jean M. Auel's magnificent epic of life 25,000 years ago when two kinds of human beings, Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon, shared the earth • Forced to leave the Clan and her young son, Ayla sets out alone to travel the frigid steppes until she finds the valley of horses. Unable to find people like herself, the Cro-Magnons, she settles there and seeks friendship elsewhere. First she adopts a young filly, then a wounded lion cub • But far to the west, two young Cro-Magnon brothers have begun a journey. One of them is Jondalar, whose destiny is bound inextricably with Ayla's • Jean Auel's imaginative reconstruction of pre-historic life, rich in detail of language, culture, myth and ritual, has become a set text in schools and colleges around the world

So many of us believe that we are free to shape our own destiny. But what if free will doesn't exist? What if our lives are largely predetermined, hardwired in our brains and our choices over what we eat, who we fall in love with, even what we believe are not real choices at all? • Neuroscience is challenging everything we think we know about ourselves, revealing how we make decisions and form our own reality, unaware of the role of our unconscious minds. Did you know, for example, that • - You can carry anxieties and phobias across generations of your family? • - Your genes and pleasure and reward receptors in your brain will determine how much you eat? • - We can sniff out ideal partners with genes that give our offspring the best chance of survival? • Leading neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow draws vividly from everyday life and other experts in their field to show the extraordinary potential, as well as dangers, which come with being able to predict our likely futures and looking at how we can alter what's in store for us

Flavia Albia is the adopted daughter of a famous investigating family. In defiance of tradition, she lives alone on the colourful Aventine Hill, and battles out a solo career in a male-dominated world. As a woman and an outsider, Albia has special insight into the best, and worst, of life in ancient Rome • A female client dies in mysterious circumstances. Albia investigates and discovers there have been many other strange deaths all over the city, yet she is warned off by the authorities. The vigils are incompetent. The local magistrate is otherwise engaged, organising the Games of Ceres, notorious for its ancient fox-burning ritual. Even Albia herself is preoccupied with a new love affair: Andronicus, an attractive archivist, offers all that a love-starved young widow can want, even though she knows better than to take him home to meet the parents

Жизнь близняшек Патриции и Изабель О’Салливан в школе-интернате Сент-Клэр никогда не бывает скучной! • Да, девочки уже в пятом классе, и шестой не за горами, но они ещё не слишком взрослые для шалостей, веселья и проказ. И потом, рядом с ними столько всего интересного! Например, француженка Антуанетта, которую местные порядки иногда смущают, как и её сестру Клодин • В школе Сент-Клэр всегда царит озорство! • Энид Блайтон, всемирно известная детская писательница и автор цикла «Знаменитая пятёрка», написала шесть повестей цикла «Школа Сент-Клэр» • «Привидения в школе Сент-Клэр» – шестая книга оригинального цикла и восьмая в хронологическом порядке. В настоящее издание вошёл оригинальный текст повести • По данному циклу книг для детей был снят аниме-сериал «Mischievous Twins: The Tales of St

Who would you be, if you hadn’t turned out to be the person you are now? • Dawn is a death doula, and spends her life helping people make the final transition peacefully • But when the plane she’s on plummets, she finds herself thinking not of the perfect life she has, but the life she was forced to abandon fifteen years ago – when she left behind a career in Egyptology, and a man she loved • Against the odds, she survives, and the airline offers her a ticket to wherever she needs to get to – but the answer to that question suddenly seems uncertain • As the path of her life forks in two very different directions, Dawn must confront questions she’s never truly asked: What does a well-lived life look like? What do we leave behind when we go? And do we make our choices, or do our choices make us? • Two possible futures