Book picks similar to
Billy Button, Telegram Boy by Sally Nicholls


27th-cbi-book-of-the-year
3-twinkling-stars
fiction
foreign

Piglet Meets a Heffalump


A.A. Milne - 1990
    Ernest Shepard's beloved illustrations accompany each story and will delight the countless fans-young and old-of the Most Favorite Bear of All.

A Rosie Life In Italy 2: What Have We Done?


Rosie Meleady - 2021
    Well, that is what Rosie did.Buying the house was an accident. She only went out for bananas.Rosie embarks on renovating her 22 room ‘new’ home in Italy with a non-negotiable move-in date of Christmas Eve.Surrounded by a cast of interesting characters, the Irish woman learns the Italian way of life and house renovating in the country she wants to call home. But when the project manager goes AWOL, non-Italian speaking Rosie has no option but to take control with the help of a translation app.With no heating, windows disappearing, mystery holes in the garden, water flooding down the stairs, a pandemic destroyed business and with a move-in date that seems more laughable than doable, Rosie begins to question if she was crazy to follow through on her fabulous midlife crisis dream of renovating a villa in Italy.

The Kiddush Ladies


Susan Sofayov - 2016
     Naomi—whose husband left her for a man, crushing her small amount of self-confidence—is stuck with a dead-end job and a big house in a neighborhood filled with couples. She hates the loneliness of weekends and the empty side of the king-size bed. Miriam, an only child of parents who were also only children, struggles with the fact that she has no blood relatives besides her children. She recognizes that it’s siblings who connect the past, the present, and the future, and the closest thing she has to sisters are Becky and Naomi. Then a dusty discovery delivers a potentially lethal blow to their friendship. While two of the women fight to save the relationship, one desires nothing more than its demise.

The Pranksters Club: The Wimpy Kid Takeover


J.C. Foster - 2014
    And how can that get any worse for this Wimpy Kid? By finding out that you’re getting the meanest teacher in the school this year AND she just moved down the street.Leave it up to Connor, Max and Milo to turn the miserable first week of school into the biggest and most exciting party ever. All while avoiding the bully squad, outsmarting Molly, the teacher’s pet and staying one step ahead of Mr. Mooger, the principal.But everything is not as it seems and the three soon find out that they haven’t been the only one’s pulling pranks.Join Connor, Max and Milo on their new adventures in middle school, watch them out smart the bullies and stay one step ahead of the teachers. This illustrated book is a humorous and fun ride through middle school, never knowing what's just around the corner or under your seat. Connor's Diary of the Wimpy Kids in his prankster's club will keep you guessing and laughing out loud.Also Available: The Pranksters' Club: Ripped - Book 2 of the Series

Panther


Chhimi Tenduf-La - 2015
    Legs like toothpicks, body and face all ribs and cheekbones. And that hair. Come on, what is it? Like friggin' barbed wire. I see you with a hand-me-down cracked bat creaming a leather ball, in a sock, hanging from the branch of a mango tree.' Being accepted into an elite international school on a cricket scholarship doesn't mean your life is going to change. Except it does, because hunky Indika - I for Indika, I for Incredible - takes you under his wing, drags you to posh restaurants and shows you pictures from glossy magazines of women who ... well, never mind, that's not the point. The point is: if your best friend snogs your girlfriend, can he still be Incredible? Was he ever? But don't sweat the small stuff. There are cricket matches to win, examinations to pass, a horrifying past to forget, a sinister schoolmaster to avoid ... and, of course, a first kiss to finally experience. Prabu's life is never going to be the same again. Funny, diamond-sharp and unapologetic, Panther is a novel about that familiar, fractured passage to adulthood that can make us magnificent if it does not kill us.

Alex Sparrow and the Really Big Stink


Jennifer Killick - 2017
    He is also a human lie-detector. Working with Jess, who can communicate with animals, they must find out why their friends – and enemies – are all changing into polite and well behaved pupils. And exactly who is behind it all.Alex Sparrow and the Really Big Stink is a funny, mid-grade novel full of farts, jokes and superhero references. Oh, and a rather clever goldfish called Bob. In a world where kids’ flaws and peculiarities are being erased out of existence, Alex and Jess must rely on what makes them different to save the day.

The Jeera Packer


Prashant Yadav - 2016
    One shot, one man. Right man, wrong man. But that was thirty years ago. I shot people through their heads then. I pack jeera in a basement now.This is me and here is my story.He was the best sharpshooter in the state. A true bullet artist. But he gave it all up to lead a happy, normal, stable life . . . with his loving wife and dear son. And that proved to be his undoing. Resonant and deeply affecting, The Jeera Packer is the gripping tale of a man who after three decades of playing the happy family man returns to his profession of old for one final work—to shoot the chief minister.Convinced that this is his raison d'etre, will he manage to pull off this one last act, as his concluding hat tip to the man he could have been? Will he be able to brush away the jeera dust and rediscover himself? Or has the middle-aged family man already throttled the sharpshooter in him?

A Place in Time


Carole Lehr Johnson - 2021
    Her hectic life as a gourmet chef and a string of failed relationships has left her disheartened. She longs for a simpler time of manor houses, nobility, and the romance of courtship, for history to come alive. But she never expected to be thrust into the past with her friends while in the rural village of Stanton Wake.In 1666, Lord Marcus DeGrey desires to live a quiet life at the newly renovated country manor that he inherited in ruin. He longs to raise his young daughter away from the London society that threatens to devour him and the secrets he must protect.But life in the seventeenth century is perilous in an era rife with plague, political unrest after civil war, and a looming disaster. The women struggle as servants, their modern-day independence colliding with propriety and romance. When their attempts to return home fail, they must seek to discover God’s purpose for sending them through time.

Short or tall doesn't matter at all: A story about being different and what's important in life (Mindful Mia #1)


Asaf Rozanes - 2018
     Every child goes through struggles to fit in or find their place in a world that is often confusing and sometimes cruel.  In this insightful and inspiring book, children will learn what is really important in life: Kindness Acceptance Learning to be themselves  This lesson is universal and applies to both children and parents alike.

Cherry the Cake Fairy


Daisy Meadows - 2005
    Jack Frost isn't happy as it is also his 500th birthday and no-one has remembered. He sets out to steal each of the fairies' bags which hold key ingredients to the magical party. Rachel and Kirsty must help each fairy.

The Vanishing


Gabrielle Lord - 2017
    One cold case. Two amateur investigators. Only 48 hours to solve the crime ...Jazz's best friend Anika has been kidnapped! She can't call the cops, so Jazz forges a shaky truce with her brilliant nemesis, Phoenix, to help her investigate. Together, they uncover clues and crime scene evidence. Sneaking into a forensic lab, they test DNA, fingerprints and more, to piece the clues together. The results are shocking. Could it really lead to a twenty-year-old murder case? In a race against time, Jazz and Phoenix only have 48 HOURS to collect the evidence, profile the kidnapper and find their schoolmate's location, or Anika will die. The clock is ticking ...

Dockyard Dog


Lyle Garford - 2016
    Upon recovering he meets Captain Horatio Nelson, newly appointed to command of the Northern Leeward Islands squadron and the Royal Navy Dockyard at English Harbour in Antigua. Nelson's primary task is stamping out rampant American smuggling activity. But to succeed, Nelson needs information.Lieutenant Ross serves as a spy for Nelson against the smugglers, but they aren't his only foe. French and American spies supporting the smugglers are playing for far higher stakes, sowing the seeds of violent unrest. Lieutenant Ross is soon in the midst of desperate action and working with a beautiful slave woman to gain information as he struggles to stop to their plot.Dockyard Dog is the first novel in the Evan Ross series. Fans of Julian Stockwin, Dewey Lambdin, and Alexander Kent will enjoy reading this series.

Better Off Undead


James Preller - 2017
    He's returned from the dead (after a bad bike accident, no helmet), yet not a lot has changed. He's always been an outcast. But it's not just being a zombie that makes Adrian feel different. He notices the world has changed, too: bees are vanishing, forest fires are burning, super-flus are spreading. The holographic advertisements in the night sky assure people that all is well. Adrian and his friends - a beekeeping boy, a mysterious new girl, and a seventh-grade sleuth - aren't so sure.When they discover a birdlike drone has been spying on Adrian, the clues lead two powerful corporate moguls. What do they really want?

Tovi the Penguin Goes Away for Christmas


Janina Rossiter - 2014
    They're very excited! But will Santa find them? Let's find out... Tovi books are designed in a simple animated way to give young readers the impression of watching a short film where Tovi and his friends play out their adventures. The books are aimed at children aged 2-6, who hopefully will join Tovi in his mini-adventures, and learn something about life and the world around them.As the lovable characters in these books share a whole range of experiences, they learn about sharing, about helping each other, and most important, they learn the value of friendship. You'll be surprised what an exciting time little penguins can have!Come and like us on Facebook. You will find updates about new books and free downloads.https://www.facebook.com/ToviThePenguin

Arabel's Raven


Joan Aiken - 1972
    In Arabel's Raven, Mr Jones, while driving his taxi, notices something bedraggled in the road. He stops and discovers an injured raven. He takes it home and his four-year-old daughter Arabel falls in love at first sight. 'His name is Mortimer,' she announces and Mortimer has found a home. A series of thefts and a robber quarrel are only two of the dramas in this delightful tale in which Mortimer and Arabel find their ways straight to the reader's heart.This story was originally published in the collection, Tales of Arabel's Raven.