A team of contemporary fiction scholars from both sides of the Atlantic has been assembled to provide a thorough and readable analysis of each of the novels in question. The books in the series will all follow the same structure:a biography of the novelist, including other works, influences, and, in some cases, an interview; a full-length study of the novel, drawing out the most important themes and ideas; a summary of how the novel was received upon publication; a summary of how the novel has performed since publication, including film or TV adaptations, literary prizes, etc.; a wide range of suggestions for further reading, including websites and discussion forums; and a list of questions for reading groups to discuss.

    political system.

    She knows the upcoming semester at school is going to be great with her best friend Delia at her side. Then Delia dumps her for a new girl with more money, and Adele is forced to share a room with Lottie, the school pariah, who doesn't pray and defies teachers' orders. But as they share a copy of Jane Eyre, Lottie's gruff exterior and honesty grow on Adele, and Lottie learns to be a little sweeter. Together, they take on bullies and protect each other from the vindictive and prejudiced teachers. Then a boy goes missing on campus and Adele and Lottie must rely on each other to solve the mystery and maybe learn the true meaning of friendship.

    

    But Sara is much missed - and most acutely by best friend Ermengarde, who laments that 'nothing is the same as it was before'. But life must go on at Miss Minchin's as new friendships are made, rivalries continued, lessons learned and, most importantly, fairytale endings are had.

    Then In Then - Morris Gleitzman's heartbreaking children's novel set during the Nazi occupation of Poland during the Second World War - Jewish orphan Felix and his best friend Zelda have been captured and are on the way to a concentration camp, unless they manage to escape . Now Now is the third shocking, funny and heartbreaking book in Morris Gleitzman's Second World War series. Sometimes facing the past is the bravest act of all... ONCE I didn't know about my grandfather Felix's scary childhood. After After is the fourth shocking, funny and heartbreaking book in Morris Gleitzman's Second World War series. After The Nazis took my parents I was scared After They killed my best friend I was angry After They ruined my thirteenth birthday I was determined to get to the forest, to join forces with Gabriek and Yuli, to be a family, to defeat the Nazis after all Haunting . . . dangerous and desperate, but also full of courage and hope' Soon The Second World War has officially ended, but the streets are still a battleground - for food, for shelter, for protection . . . Felix is in hiding to stay safe, but finds he has been left holding the baby - literally. An orphaned infant has been left in his care and he will do everything he can to protect the child, in the way a few incredible people did for him during the Holocaust. This powerfully moving addition to Morris Gleitzman's bestselling series about Felix and Zelda takes place in 1945, following the story told in After. This intensely affecting story will move readers of all ages.

    When the movie was released in 1939 by MGM, few could have foreseen that it would retain such enduring appeal. Yet over 60 years on, a third generation is being raised on Dorothy's adventures with the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Munchkins. This full version of the original screenplay is for families, schools and children's drama groups to enjoy.

    But when she was summoned to help out at Red Cliffs - a haven for poverty-stricken children from the cities - by her godfather Samuel she also found her own second chance within its walls. Now she will do anything to help the mischievous, loveable children there. Especially Monday whose continued silence tears at her heart.But with Samuel's health failing and his grasping nephew Christian eager to inherit, Red Cliffs is under threat. Sarah needs to fight - the children need her, and surprisingly she find she needs them. Will she be able to save the school and protect the little girl she's come to love so much, the one she's named Monday's Child?Monday's Child is the first in the Red Cliff Ragged School series, soon to be followed by Orphans and Angels. Praise for Linda Finlay 'Warm and atmospheric, you can practically taste the sea breeze' The Express'Take time out for a page-turner about family mysteries and betrayal' Take-a-Break'A compelling saga . . . with a surprising and emotional ending which weaves together the storylines in a most satisfying way. Strongly recommended and a great read on a Cornish holiday' cjbrownecrimewriter.com'A captivating and emotional novel about a strong woman struggling to find her own way in the world when others wish to see her fail' Winstone Books

    The Civil War is leaving its bloody trail across the nation as Peter Wake, born and bred in the snowy North, joins the U.S. Navy as a volunteer officer and arrives in steamy Florida for duty with the East Gulf Blockading Squadron. The idealistic Wake has handled boats before, but he's new to the politics and illicit liaisons that war creates among men. Assigned to the Rosalie, a tiny, armed sloop, Captain Wake commands a group of seasoned seamen on a series of voyages to seek and arrest Confederate blockade-runners and sympathizers, from Florida's coastal waters through to near the remote out-islands of the Bahamas. Wake risks his reputation when he falls in love with Linda Donahue, whose father is a Confederate zealot, and steals away to spend precious hours with her at her Key West home. Their love is tested as Wake must make the ugly decisions of war in a beautiful, tropical paradisedecisions that will take Peter Wake right up to the edge of honor.

    John's books already knows how her stories come alive, and this account of her own life is no exception. Her powers of description make the story leap from the page and the reader is transported to far off places and times; and the people and the things she describes can almost be touched, smelled and seen. Patricia was not just a gifted story-teller, though; she was also a deeply committed follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose spiritual journey began when she was only six years old. 'My name is Patricia, ' she prayed, 'and if You are really calling me I want to come and be Yours. ' Out of that small beginning there issued a river of life and light and blessing that went on increasing right up to the end of her life. Although she always thought of herself as 'an ordinary sort of girl', her life was extraordinary because of her supreme love for Jesus Christ. The life portrayed here is not that of the self-conscious saint, concerned only with her own saintliness. On the contrary these pages offer us an inside view of someone utterly human, prone to mistakes and failures like the rest of us, yet suffused with the love of God and a contagious joy and peace that was like the bubbling up of a perpetual fountain.

    When she returns in 1945, she finds a country and a family she neither understands nor likes, and vice versa.

    Her story is dramatically and cleverly linked with the present as her heirs search for her will. The will can only be found through a trail of literary clues from classic children's books.

    Prequel to When Patty Went to College book.Jean Webster (pseudonym for Alice Jane Chandler Webster) was born July 24, 1876 and died June 11, 1916. She was an American writer and author of many books including Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy.

    Its framework is the confrontation, military and ideological, between two great powers that dominated the world during these years. It is a story of crises and conflict on a global scale: from the Berlin Blockade and the Cuban Missile Crisis, to the tanks in the streets of Warsaw, Budapest and Prague, to spies, student riots and encounters in space.In Cold War, Jeremy Isaacs and Taylor Downing record epic history through the detail of individual human experience: the recollections not only of statesmen whose decisions led to these momentous events, but also of the ordinary men and women whose lives were bound up in these years of conflict. Cold War is the first comprehensive history for the general reader to benefit from the recent opening of Soviet, East European and Chinese archives as well as formerly classified American documents. In a driving narrative that it both gripping and informative, the true story of the Cold War can at last be told.

    Patty Hirst was no great scholar, but she was the "nicest girl" at Morton Priory, and a gifted artist as well.