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We're so fortunate to hear about new books BEFORE they're published and are delighted to present our top picks coming next year. They are so HOT OFF THE PRESS that some of them don't even have their final covers yet but we're delighted to share what we know, so you can feast your eyes and plan your 2021 reading!
Imagine you were asked the same question again and again throughout your life . . . Imagine if it was a question that didn't bring about the happiest of memories . . . This is the experience of one-legged Joe, a child who just wants to have fun in the playground . . . Constantly seen first for his disability, Joe is fed up of only ever being asked about his leg. All he wants to do is play Pirates. But as usual, one after the other, all the children ask him the same question they always ask, "What happened to you?" Understandably Joe gets increasingly cross! Until finally the penny drops and the children realise that it's a question Joe just doesn't want to answer . . . and that Joe is playing a rather good game . . . one that they can join in with if they can stop fixating on his missing leg . . . Because children are children, after all.
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Prepare to be inspired with this fantastically great new series for young readers. In this first book, read the true stories of amazing scientists and discover things that are out of this world. Women have been responsible for many of the world's most groundbreaking scientific discoveries. Kate Pankhurst, descendent of Emmeline Pankhurst, tells the stories of some incredible female scientists whose hard work and persistence changed our understanding of science, and transformed people's ideas of what women can do. As a child Mae Jemison imagined herself reaching for the stars and that's exactly what she did: she became the first African-American woman to go into space. When Elizabeth Blackwell was told women weren't allowed to be doctors, she didn't take no for an answer. Tu Youyou spent months on a remote island during the Vietnam War to try and invent a treatment for malaria - and she did it. Including comic strips, family trees, maps and more, Fantastically Great Women Scientists and Their Stories is a celebration of women who made some of the world's most important scientific breakthroughs. Women featured: Mae Jemison, Marie Curie, Elizabeth Blackwell, Janaki Ammal, Caroline Herschel, Katia Krafft, Tu Youyou and Rosalind Franklin.
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A laugh-out-loud, record-smashing adventure packed with heart, humour and a whole lot of kumquats, from JENNY PEARSON, the breakout talent of 2020, illustrated by Erica Salcedo. Lucy is a fixer of broken things. But there's one thing she can't fix and that's her unhappy mum. Until she comes up with an INCREDIBLE plan. Along with her best friend, Sandesh, Lucy is going to SMASH a world record. Because she's convinced that starry Paul Castellini - Record Smashers TV host and all-time crooner - is the answer to her mum's problems. But breaking a world RECORD when watermelons, kumquats, two baddies and a 30 cm shatter-resistant school ruler are involved isn't quite as easy as Lucy thought. Can she learn that sometimes happiness doesn't come with a plan? "A big-hearted comic journey about friendship, family and a miraculously well-timed seagull." David Solomons on The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates "The must-read of the summer." Sunday Express on The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates
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What if you could befriend a cloud? What weather would you choose? What if the weather matched itself to your mood, whether you wanted it to, or not? 11-year-old Stella has returned home to Shetland to spend the summer with her Grandpa, but it's nothing like she remembers. Grandpa is lost in his grief for Gran, the island is bleak and Stella feels trapped, until she encounters an old woman, Tamar, who can spin rainbows and call hurricanes. With the help of Nimbus, a feisty young storm cloud, Stella begins to learn the craft of weather weaving. But when her cloud brain-fogs Grandpa and The Haken (a sea witch) starts to close in, she realises that magic comes with big responsibilities. It will take all her heart and courage to face the coming storm... THE WEATHER WEAVER is essentially a Moana tale for Shetland; a coming of age story, intertwined with island myths and hidden magic. At its heart, the novel tackles the following themes: independence, the meaning of home, and the fallibility of grown-ups.
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Boys and girls everywhere have been finding their awesome and daring to be themselves thanks to bestselling author Matthew Syed . Now he's created an interactive journal full of life hacks, challenges and activities to give kids the confidence to come up with their own plan of action to be themselves, live happy and think differently.
Whether thinking about what's truly important to you, seeing your differences as ultimately your greatest strengths , working out how to speak up for yourself or keeping anxiety at bay with breathing exercises, readers will love the brilliant activities in the Dare to Be You Journal. This is the perfect toolkit for anyone who wants to discover their own unique qualities and fearlessly step into the world.
The rainbow-filled, JOYOUS debut from a hugely exciting new talent. Perfect for 9+ readers and fans of Lisa Thompson, Stewart Foster and Onjali Rauf's bestselling THE BOY AT THE BACK OF THE CLASS.
My name's Archie Albright, and I know two things for certain:
1. My mum and dad kind of hate each other, and they're not doing a great job of pretending that they don't anymore.
2. They're both keeping a secret from me, but I can't figure out what.
Things aren't going great for Archie Albright. His dad's acting weird, his mum too, and he all he wants is for everything to go back to normal, to three months before when his parents were happy and still lived together. When Archie sees a colourful, crumpled flyer fall out of Dad's pocket, he thinks he may have found the answer. Only problem? The answer might just lie at the end of the rainbow, an adventure away.
Together with his best friends, Bell and Seb, Archie sets off on a heartwarming and unforgettable journey to try and fix his family, even if he has to break a few rules to do it...
Skulduggery, Valkyrie and Omen return in the 14th and penultimate novel in the internationally bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series - and their most epic test yet...
In a matter of days, the world will change.
Billions of lives will be wiped away in a final, desperate search for the Child of the Faceless Ones - she who is destined to bring about the return of humankind's ancient overlords.
To prevent this, Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain have one last - terrible - option: the assassination of Damocles Creed. With protests stirring in the magical city of Roarhaven, with riots and revolutions on the horizon, Valkyrie must decide who she wants to be: the hero who risks everything for a noble ideal, or the killer who sacrifices her own soul for the fate of humanity.
The decision must be made, and time is running out.
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Tear up the rule book. Find your own lane. You are only in competition with yourself.
Marcus Rashford MBE is recognised worldwide for his journey both on-and-off the pitch - but how did a boy from the South of Manchester become not only an International footballer but also one of the leading activist voices in the UK? In this inspiring, positive and practical guide, Marcus gives YOU the tools you need to reach your full potential and will show you that your possibilities really can be endless.
In You Are A Champion: Unlock Your Potential, Find Your Voice and Be the BEST You Can Be , Marcus Rashford MBE draws on stories from his own life to show you that success is all about the mindset. You'll find out how positive thinking can change your life, build mental resilience, learn how to navigate adversity and discover the unstoppable power of your own voice. You already have the tools you need to achieve your dreams; you just might not know it yet.
Full of practical advice and engaging illustrations and infographics, this is the empowering and life changing first children's book from Marcus Rashford MBE, written in collaboration with journalist Carl Anka and performance psychologist Katie Warriner.
From international phenomenon Angie Thomas comes a hard-hitting return to Garden Heights with the story of Maverick Carter, Starr's father, set seventeen years before the events of the award-winning The Hate U Give .
With his King Lord dad in prison and his mom working two jobs, seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter helps the only way he knows how: slinging drugs. Life's not perfect, but he's got everything under control. Until he finds out he's a father...
Suddenly it's not so easy to deal drugs and finish school with a baby dependent on him for everything. So when he's offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. But when King Lord blood runs through your veins, you don't get to just walk away.
