Edward is four years old when he is locked away with his mother by her abusive, alcoholic partner, Harris. By the time an elderly neighbour spots his pale face peering through a crack in the boarded-up window and raises the alarm, he is seven. Rescue comes, but lasting damage has been done. Sent to live with a kindly foster family, and then adopted, Edward struggles to adapt to normal life. Even as a teenager it's still clear to his new family and schoolmates there's something odd about him. Then one fateful day, Edward catches a glimpse of himself in a photograph. What he sees shocks him to the core - a vision of Harris. Was this monster his father all along? And does that mean that, deep down, another Harris is waiting to break out? Every step of progress Edward has made swiftly begins to unravel, and he has to decide whether his blood will determine his future.;Locked away by his mother's monster of a boyfriend, Edward is...

When Rupert's parents go to Great Uncle Perry's funeral, Rupert spends the day with his Great Aunt Ada, along with his unruly puppy, Roly. Great Aunt Ada is determined to teach Rupert some manners. Rupert thinks the day is going to be awful until hemeets Gordon, a very rude parrot. Gorden is even worse than Great Aunt Ada, and he bosses Rupert and Roly so much that they tidy the whole house. They are relieved to get back home, but they do remember their manners!

Jennifer has a diary and Iolanthe doesn't. But Iolanthe does have a vivid imagination and a gift for writing stories. When she sees empty pages in Jennifer's diary, she can't help herself - they're clearly waiting for tales much more exciting than her friend's records of shop visits and weather. Iolanthe is so taken with the diary that soon sharing it is not enough and, eventually, she finds something to swop with Jennifer for it - extra stories to be available to order whenever Jennifer needs them.

'I adore stories in which people have weird dreams, and strange things happen. But that's in books. Real life is supposed to be real, and I like my world to be solid around me...'Mel is the class bookworm. She prefers books to people and doesn't want -- or need - friends. She certainly doesn't want to be first-week minder for new girl, Imogen. And Imogen is odd. Slowly, Mel discovers that Imogen has a special talent - a family 'gift' that Mel thinks is more like a curse. And that's when she realizes that stories can happen in real life, too. For only she can stop Imogen's private horror story -- stop the bad dreams...

'I hate Frozen Billy - his painted, staring wooden eyes, the way his eyelids click when Uncle Len pulls a string, his long thin legs and his bright red wooden mouth...'Clarrie and Will live with their Uncle Len - a brilliant ventriloquist in the nearby music hall. But though Len loves his act almost as much as he loves his beer, Top Billing is out of his grasp until Will thinks up a way to double the drama with a new act and some extraordinary new patter that he and Frozen Billy can share on stage.It's a grand idea, hatched in hope and excitement. But, to Clarrie's horror, soon it begins to turn terribly sour...Anne Fine's novel combines her trademark humour, engaging characters and flawless prose to produce a spooky adventure set in the late-Victorian world of the music hall.

So go on, ask me. 'Dear, dear Tuffy. Why was your Christmas so horrible?'Well. I couldn't climb the tree. I couldn't touch the dangly decorations.And Ellie made me part of her sing-along Christmas performance. Horrible, horrible, horrible!But I showed them. I was Tuffy the Acting Cat, superstar. How was I supposed to know things would get so . . . messy?