AS THE FAMILY LAY SLEEPING, SOLDIERS KICKED DOWN THE DOOR OF THE HOUSE, WAVING THEIR RIFLES...

Life is dangerous for Alem. His father is Ethiopian, his mother Eritrean. Their countries are at war, and Alem is welcome in neither place. 

So Alem is excited to spend a holiday in London with his father - until he wakes up to fine him gone. 

What seems like a betrayal is in fact an act of love, but now Alem is alone in a strange country, and he must forge his own path...

THERE ARE 4 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT BEN:

1) HE'S 12 YEARS OLD

2) HE'S THE NEW KID AT SCHOOL

3) HIS SPECIAL NUMBER IS 4

4) HE HAS A BULLY IN HIS BRAIN

Sometimes Ben's brain makes him count to 4 to stop bad things happening. Sometimes it tells him to avoid certain colours. Mostly it makes the smallest things feel impossible. And with a new school, a moody big brother, and a mum and dad who are falling apart, Ben feels more out of control than ever.

Then he meets April, and Ben no longer feels alone. But when his new friend needs help, can Ben break his rules and be brave? 

'You don't know what I did,' he says.

'But I have to tell you.

Somebody younger has to know.'

Mizuki is worried about her grandfather. He is clearly troubled by something, something that is draining life and laughter from him. Gently Mizuki encourages him to reveal a secret that he has kept to himself for many years, of a promise that he made and was never able to keep. Might Mizuki be able to help, even after all this time?

Moving from contemporary Japan to Hiroshima in August 1945, the day the nuclear bomb was so devastatingly dropped on the city, this is an unforgettable novel with hope at its heart.

Life is tough and cheerless for Billy Casper, a troubled teenager growing up in the small Yorkshire mining town of Barnsley. Treated as a failure at school, and unhappy at home, Billy discovers a new passion in life when he finds Kes, a kestrel hawk. Billy identifies with her silent strength and she inspires in him the trust and love that nothing else can, discovering through her the passion missing from his life. Barry Hines’s acclaimed novel continues to reach new generations of teenagers and adults with its powerful story of survival in a tough, joyless world.