Next to Alice

Next to Alice

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

A change in classroom seating arrangements challenges old habits and leads to a new friendship in this funny new school story from award-winning author Anne Fine.At first Ben doesn't want to sit next to Alice in the classroom. She's scary and tells him off for his squiggly drawing and poor handwriting. She even points out his bad table manners. But when Ben starts to take Alice's advice, he realises that she might have a point and discovers that sitting next to her isn't so bad after all.
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Notso Hotso

Notso Hotso

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

It's a dog's life for Anthony. Not only is he lacking the respect he deserves from the neighbourhood dogs and cats, but suddenly all he can do is scratch, scratch, scratch. And now bits of him are dropping off - yeuch! Just when Anthony thinks things can't get any worse, he finds himself on the vet's table. What she has in mind is about to destroy the tiny shred of street cred he has left...
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Crummy Mummy and Me

Crummy Mummy and Me

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

'I don't think my mum's fit to be a parent, really I don't.'How would you feel if your mother had royal-blue hair and wore lavender fishnet tights? But Minna's whole family (including her mum's punk boyfriend, Crusher Maggot) is a bit unusual. Being the only sensible one is not easy for Minna...
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Saving Miss Mirabelle

Saving Miss Mirabelle

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

Lancelot's lovely teacher, Miss Mirabelle, is in big trouble. She's told a giant whopper and unless she can come up with a brilliant plan, she's going to look very, very silly. Can Lancelot help this damsel in distress?
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The Killer Cat Runs Away

The Killer Cat Runs Away

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

Tuffy doesn't feel wanted at home any more. His owners just don't appreciate him. So what if he broke the new TV? Got fur on all Dad's clean clothes? Ate Tinkerbell the kitten's special kitten-food? All accidents! But they're making such a fuss! So Tuffy decides to make a break for it. He bids farewell to the gang - Snowball, Tiger and Bella - and runs away. But starting a new life isn't easy, and soon Tuffy starts to wonder if he's made a terrible mistake . . .
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The Killer Cat Strikes Back

The Killer Cat Strikes Back

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

"Okay, okay. So stick my head in a holly bush . . ."Tuffy, the Killer Cat, knows what he likes. And he isn't loving the 'art' that Ellie's mum brings home from her new class! So what's a cat to do . . .Mischief and mayhem rule in Anne Fine's brilliant new story, with hilarious illustrations by Steve Cox throughout. Perfect for developing readers aged 5–7.
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How To Write Really Badly

How To Write Really Badly

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

Chester Howard can see Joe's project 'How to Write Neatly' can only be a disaster. Joe makes a terrible mess of his work, jumbling letters and numbers up together. But a project called 'How to Write Really Badly' - now there's something Joe can do better than anyone else. And Chester is about to find there's a lot more to Joe than he expected . . .
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The Diary of a Killer Cat

The Diary of a Killer Cat

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

Everyone loves the wickedly dry sense of humour of The Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine. Okay, Okay. So hang me. I killed the bird. For pity's sake, I'm a cat.Poor Ellie is horrified when Tuffy drags a dead bird into the house. Then a mouse. But Tuffy can't understand what all the fuss is about. Who on earth will be the next victim to arrive through the cat-flap? Can soft-hearted Ellie manage to get her beloved pet to change his wild, wild ways before he ends up in even deeper trouble?The hilarious antics of Tuffy and his family as told by the killer cat himself. 'Anne Fine knows how to make readers laugh' GuardianAnne Fine has written numerous highly acclaimed and prize-winning books for children and adults. The Tulip Touch won the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award; Goggle-Eyes won the Guardian Children's Fiction Award and the Carnegie...
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Raking the Ashes

Raking the Ashes

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

Lovers, colleagues, family -- Tilly has always been brilliant at pushing people in and out of her life exactly as it suits her. Then along comes Geoffrey, gentle, compassionate, generous to a fault, with his miserable little children and his manipulative ex-wife.Tilly's own expertise in the arts of deception and avoidance should be enough to make sure she's always one step ahead of Geoffrey's disastrous, crumbling family. But time and again she finds herself staying, brought down by their cowardly backsliding and their barefaced lies.How has she managed to stay so long in a relationship she knows perfectly well has to be doomed? More importantly, how can Tilly plan her permanent escape?
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All Bones and Lies

All Bones and Lies

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

Colin is in many ways an ideal citizen. He holds down a responsible job for the council. He visits his aged mother Nora, shops for her, cooks for her, and listens to her grumbles. He also keeps in touch with his sister Dilys, long estranged from her mother, in a vain attempt to maintain family ties. But neither Dilys, Norah nor Colin's colleagues know about his other - much more secret - life that involves a garden shed, a circus acrobat, a much adored three-year-old charmer, and a certain Mr Haksar's increasingly disquieting penchant for squabbling with his neighbours.What Colin doesn't know is that, thanks to a house insurance policy incorrectly filled in by his mother, his two lives are set to collide, and there is nothing he can do to stop them. With her customary wit and perception, subtle yet razor sharp in her powers of observation, Anne Fine has produced another tour de force. Her portrait of the complex dynamics of family relationships is as lucid as it...
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Fly in the Ointment

Fly in the Ointment

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

Guilt is in the eye of the beholder ...When her cold and indifferent husband vanishes, so does Lois's old life. Now she is ready to take her chances again. There's only one fly in the ointment: Janie-Gay, ex-partner of the son Lois lost to drugs, and spiteful mother of the small, neglected child she can't get out of her mind.Caring's not something one can lay aside, and Lois is soon tangled in webs of deceit. Worse, she is on a collision course with a remorseless society that claims to support and protect. Now, more than ever, she could use the skills of her once frozen heart...
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The Return of the Killer Cat

The Return of the Killer Cat

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

'Okay, okay. So slap my teensy little paws. I messed up - big time.' Tuffy can't wait for Ellie and the family to go away on holiday. He and the gang plan to ignore the grumpy new cat-sitter, and run wild all night. But could that furry bundle, suddenly flying through the air, put a stop to all the fun?
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Charm School

Charm School

Anne Fine

Anne Fine

I am NOT going to Charm School...' But Bonny has no choice. Forced to spend a day at Charm School while her mother is on a course, Bonny makes some surprising and hilarious discoveries. Can Bonny cope with listening to Mrs Opalene's Helpful Handy Hits (like 'how to bleach your elbows'!)? And what about the other girls - the awful, self-obsessed little princesses who really want to win the 'Glistering Tiara' and are prepared to do almost anything to get it? After Bonny's day there, Charm School will never be the same again...
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