January 1 Dear Leo, I love beginnings. If I were in charge of calendars, every day would be January 1st. And what better way to celebrate this New Year's Day than to begin writing a letter to my once (and future?) boyfriend. Stargirl has moved and left everything behind: Arizona, high school, enchanted desert places - and Leo. He is all she can think about. But over the following year Star ...

Ten stabs to the heart. Ten tales to poke and jab - at your darkest fears, your secret desires. Margo Lanagan's electrifying short stories take place in worlds not quite our own and yet each one illuminates what it is to be human. they are stories of yearning for more, and learning to live with what you have. Stories that show the imprint love leaves on us all. For anyone who likes to be s ...

Emmy said "We'll just love this baby, okay?" but then Emmy went away. Matt had loved Emmy, with her freckled, luminous body; he had loved the way she hadn't given a damn for anything, the way she had climbed on the roof of the church tower and kissed and kissed him. The way she had fallen into the river just to know what it felt like. He had loved the way she'd said to he ...

Synopsis: Jonah Wish has a complicated life. He is one of four young experts working for criminal mastermind Nathaniel Coldhardt. If that wasn’t difficult enough, he has to keep his relationship with one of his fellow Talents a secret and deal with the boss’s pathological secrecy. When a rival gang of teenage criminals put in an appearance, it may just be too much for the te ...

After the death of her baby Rose, Charlie’s mum yearns for a fresh start and when she discovers Flightsend she sees it as the answer to their troubles. Although Charlie wants to offer support she finds it hard to see how ostracising her mum’s ex-boyfriend Sean will help. Is this the right way to get over their loss? A new start may be what they all need. The first summer in Flights ...

Synopsis: This book is part of a series of “Why” books which offer insight into problems of the 20th Century which may be of interest to young people. It offers a no nonsense approach and allows the reader to make up their own mind as to whether this is really an answerable question.

Review: Quite a lofty title was my first impression! Most adults really don&rs ...

Synopsis: A cruel count drives his servant to death in pursuit of a futile passion. A struggling author tries to escape from his desire to lampoon the real world. A dead killer finds a way to strike again. A house holds memories of thwarted passion. A suburban scholar turns to the dark arts to protect his daughter from adolescence. A student in need of cash agrees to protect a corpse fr ...

]“If people like you and me try to get to know each other the future might have a chance of turning out some other colour than the red of spilt blood and the black of hate.”(p. 33)

This translation of Valerie Zenatti’s short French novel is a fascinating exploration of life on the two sides of the West Bank. Through the eyes of her young adult protagonists, th ...

Synopsis: “Warning: A story you won’t be able to forget – no matter how hard you try.”

Review: It is difficult to review this book without giving away the ending, as the plot itself is fairly straightforward. It is the way in which it’s told that makes it such a mesmerising read. Ivy Spirco narrates the story of her youth; a twisted, blackly co ...

Synopsis: Immigration is one of a series of books reflecting on the changes in Britain since the Second World War. It considers the reasons and implications of immigration.

Though the whole series of books focuses on the post Second World War era, the story quite rightly begins with the migration of Saxons to England in 410. There follows sections on immigration from different ar ...