The Last Bard by Maz Evans

While clearing out his late grandfather’s flat, Will Davenant discovers a surprising copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare. When he opens the book, a group of characters tumble out: the murderous Lady Macbeth, Juliet without Romeo, a mumbling skull, and a fairy called Puck. Will is the last descendant of the legendary bard, William Shakespeare, and he’s accidentally summoned them to help with some neighbourly troubles. Comedy, tragedy, history: Will’s world has it all . . .

•Superstar author Maz Evans is back with a new standalone story, packed with her trademark humour and heart and told with empathy and poignancy.
•Introduces readers to some of Shakespeare’s best-loved characters in a comic, accessible way.
•Over half a million copies of Maz’s books sold in the UK alone!

The Horse Dreamer

The horse arrives in the storm, when Merryn needs him most, following the loss of her father. Sorrel is a dreamlike creature, seemingly made from the woods and the sea. Perhaps she wished him into existence.

He becomes her friend and confidant. Throughout the summer and autumn, they ride and play, but as Christmas approaches, it will require all of Merryn’s newfound strength to help her mum and her sisters heal too.

Mission: Monster Mind

Jurassic Park meets Wimpy Kid in the third installment of the lively and action-packed Mission: Microraptor series!

Junior agents Finn, Milo and Tasi are dispatched to Scotland, along with young hacker Ether and Arty the microraptor, to recover stolen technology that could plunge the world into chaos.

It’s their most nail-biting mission yet – even before they wake a monster from the deep . . .

• Super-cool, accessible, fun – a fresh voice in middle-grade fiction.
• Themes of environment, technology and villainous mind-control.

PRAISE FOR THE SERIES:

‘short, sharp, hilarious and ultra readable.’ PIERS TORDAY

‘Fast, funny and fabulous.’ MAZ EVANS

Naeli & the Secret Song

From the author of the 2019 Costa Award-winning Asha & the Spirit Bird comes a stunning new historical adventure ...

Naeli longs to know her English father, who abandoned her when she was little.

All she has is his name – and his precious violin. Her chance comes when a ticket to England arrives mysteriously.

Leaving behind her beloved India, Naeli embarks on an adventure that will take her from the streets of Victorian London to the wilds of Northumberland to discover the truth of her musical inheritance.

• Themes of grief and identity, wrapped in a gothic musical mystery. 
• Perfect for readers age 8+. 

PRAISE FOR JASBINDER BILAN:

‘A light-filled, huge-hearted delight’ KATHERINE RUNDELL

‘Atmospheric, dreamy, charged with wonder and menace, loss, sorrow and delight’ TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

LOVE ON SIGHT

A modern dual narrative Romeo-and-Juliet story, perfect for fans of Danielle Jawando and Candice Carty-Williams. 

Sabrina has her life planned out – she’s going to pass her A levels and go to university. But then she meets Jalaal, a boy trapped on the wrong path, desperate for a way out.

An English Jamaican girl and a Somali Muslim boy being together isn’t straightforward, with cultural expectations, disapproving family and religious differences to overcome.

But is that the struggle you face when you fall in love on sight?

• The outstanding debut novel from the Lime New Storyteller 2023 award winner, Asli Jensen.
• An uplifting contemporary YA romance, which draws on the author’s experience of growing up in inner-city London.
• Explores themes of family, culture, friendship, redemption, class, faith and different forms of love in a fresh and authentic style, which will resonate universally.

LIVIA IN ROME

A sun-drenched clean teen romance in a vibrant destination setting.

Sixteen-year-old Scottish Italian Livia feels like an outsider, spending the summer in her grandmother’s bar in Rome.

Smug local boy Giulio works there too, and quickly becomes Livia’s nemesis.

She is not going to be the cliché foreign girl who has a summer romance. But as Livia navigates family drama, new-found friendships and . . . Giulio, she starts to see the city – and herself – in a new light.

• Perfect for fans of Love and Gelato, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Anna and the French Kiss.
• Scottish Italian author, Bruna De Luca, draws on her own experiences of growing up as a third culture ‘Scotalian’ kid.

The Binding Spell

A debut atmospheric fantasy, think dark academia meets Mexican Gothic.

Morgan hopes her nightmares are behind her. Meeting Joe Harper helps. His secrets seem as tangled as hers and their time together is magic.

But Morgan's bad dreams return when her archaeologist father begins work at a local burial site. With every relic he unearths, a creeping horror emerges – a spell that binds them all . . .

• The debut novel from the Times/Chicken House 2023 award winner, historian and professor Marisa Linton.
• A stand-alone YA contemporary fantasy novel with folk horror elements, set in a creepy rural village. 
• Spells, legends, druids and all things supernatural. 

Scream of the Whistle

New middle-grade paranormal adventure from 2024 Branford Boase-longlisted author of The Witchstone Ghosts, Emily Randall-Jones.

Ruby is miserable. Her parents have split up, and now she’s stuck in a creepy village. At night, she decides to escape and follow the ancient train track home.

Her journey has barely begun when she hears the eerie scream of a whistle – and an old steam train appears out of the darkness . . .

Is Ruby ready for the ghost ride of her life?

• Packed full of spooky ghosts, child-friendly horror, time-travelling steam trains and ancient English mythology.
• The Witchstone Ghosts was the 2021 winner of the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition and The Times Children’s Book of the Week. 

 

PRAISE FOR THE WITCHSTONE GHOSTS:

‘It’s exciting and original, warm and funny and gothic’ KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE

‘A twisting, churning, tide-turning adventure!’ LUCY STRANGE

‘Pace and plot twists a-plenty … an ideal read for young, independent readers who may be bored of witches of the cackling, cauldron kind this Halloween and are ready for witches who can summon up storms instead.’ THE TIMES, CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE WEEK

The Shell Keepers

An enchanting and sunny seaside adventure, for ages 8+.

When Corrine picks up a shell on the beach, she doesn’t expect to see a tiny girl inside it.

Kauri lives below the sand and sea, travelling with her family on the tides. But now their miniature world is in danger, and they need a shell keeper to keep them safe . . .

• A cosy middle-grade debut from Truly Johnston, winner of the Bath Children’s Novel Award 2022.
• A heart-warming tale about a family of miniature people cast adrift in the human world.
• Shades of The Borrowers in a coastal seaside setting.
• Themes of belonging, identity, environment and activism, wrapped up in a sunny adventure and treasure hunt.

Aliya and the Shop of Second Chances

A sparkling and magical story, for fans of Nura and the Immortal Palace and The Kingdom Over the Sea!

Aliya is looking forward to the Infinite City’s time-travelling flying carpet race.

But when her fellow locksmiths vanish on the course and the power source for time travel is left unguarded, she must turn to the past to save her world from Dorian Darke and his shapeshifting shop of darkness.

• The third and final instalment in this stunning middle-Eastern inspired series.
• Aliya to the Infinite City was shortlisted for the Times/Chicken House Children’s Competition 2021.
• Set in a parallel Egypt, Aliya and the Shop of Second Chances is packed full of adventure, with a focus on teamwork and friendship.

 

PRAISE FOR ALIYA TO THE INFINITE CITY:
‘An epic adventure packed with richness and history and a brilliant new magical school’ ZOHRA NABI, AUTHOR OF THE KINGDOM OVER THE SEA

A Better Nightmare

A dark and spectacular contemporary fantasy, packed with adventure. 

Emily Emmerson has the Grimm. A disease nobody wants.

Removed to a facility, she becomes property of the state, a pale shadow of her former self. Here she meets a boy, Emir, who tells her she’s not sick – she’s just different. Only by dreaming, he says, can they break out of the world that’s keeping them imprisoned.

And perhaps make a better future . . .

• A story of friendship and a group of teens fighting for their right to exist.
• Full of heart-racing twists and turns.
• Beautiful Creatures meets Sarah J. Maas.

All the Lost Souls by Amie Jordan

A razor-sharp YA crime romantasy, perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, with a touch of Rivers of London. 

Sage and Oren are sent to investigate rising tensions between witches and werewolves in the Jura Mountains.

After dealing with murder, this case feels tame – punishment for their undeniable connection.

But neither expects to find evidence of worse: traces of old magic, tortured lost souls and a deadly fog that kills everything it touches.

• The perfect sequel to All the Hidden Monsters, set in both in Downside (the magical city existing beneath Manchester) and the French mountains. 
• Think addictive slow-burn romance, twisty crime and heart-warming friendships. 

 

PRAISE FOR ALL THE HIDDEN MONSTERS:

‘This is the most wonderful debut novel. Anyone who’s enjoyed series like Ghosts or Being Human will absolutely love this . . .’ BBC 4 FRONT ROW

‘I adored this book! It was the perfect blend of a twisty mystery, found family and inventive world building. Think Legends and Lattes with murder.’ AMY MCCAW, AUTHOR OF MINA AND THE UNDEAD

The Hive

A thrillingly original YA murder mystery, perfect for fans of The Inheritance Games and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.

Justice is merciless in The Hive, a monarchy of tomorrow, where young bodyguard Feldspar awaits execution, guilty of being alive when her charge is dead.

The girl has one defender – Niko, a royal maverick. Together they have three days to prove the impossible.

Three days to question everything Feldspar knows about the world that raised her and discover who the real murderer is . . .

• A dystopian story featuring a dangerous future monarchy and a richly imagined world based on the society of bees.
• With themes of ecology, science, politics and class hierarchy.

School of Doom

Eddie can eat a wheelie bin as easily as a cheeseburger – a talent that gets her sent to the School of Doom with its motto: Be the Worst.

Now Eddie may be beastly, but she’s not evil. When her new friends are plunged into danger, can she be the Best of the Worst and save them?

• The hilarious debut middle-grade adventure from Sarah Harrison, winner of the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition 2022.
• Explores themes of friendship and belonging.
• A unique monster-filled twist to a classic school adventure.
• Perfect for fans of The Beast and the Bethany.

Rebel Heart

A rip-roaring historical adventure from bestselling author Ally Sherrick.

England, 1645.

Merriweather Pryce is the daughter of a nobleman fighting for King Charles I in a war that divides the country. When her home is besieged by Cromwell’s army, Merri sets out to get help.

But in a land full of enemy soldiers, turncoats, and spies, who can she really trust?

• Another beautifully written life-and-death quest, packed with history and adventure from bestselling author of Black Powder. 
• Set during the English Civil War before the pivotal Battle of Naseby.
• Explores themes of family, loyalty, friendship and courage.
• Think Rosemary Sutcliff, Geoffrey Trease and Leon Garfield made modern.

Island of Influencers

Funny, dramatic and sometimes dark, this thrilling YA novel is perfect for those who love a Black Mirror twist.

Harper wants to be an influencer. Badly. She’ll do anything to be like her famous Tubeify-star cousin, Bellee.

When Bellee is the latest victim in a string of influencer kidnappings, Harper discovers the kidnappings are fake – ‘victims’ are put on an island for a new reality show.

Island of Influencers pits the greatest internet talents against each other, and Harper is added at the last minute. With the constant pressure of a live audience judging their every move, it’s not long before cracks begin to appear in the influencers’ shiny veneers . . .

• The thrilling contemporary debut from Guppy Open Submission shortlistee T. M. Turner.
• A Hunger Games concept exploring the negatives and positives of internet culture and idol worship.
• Highly relatable for a YA market. Love them or loathe them, influencers are at the forefront of many young people’s internet experiences.

The Wilderness of Girls

While hiking, Rhi discovers four young women living wild and guarded by wolves.
The girls tell her that they are lost princesses raised by a man called Mother.

Shocked, Rhi takes them to hospital, all the while haunted by memories of her family trauma. Surely, the girls have been abducted, misled or abused? Yet she can see a bond between them that blurs fantasy and reality.

As media hysteria surrounding the young women grows, Rhi comes to a decision that will change all of their lives forever.

• An unflinching and ambitious novel by debut author Madeline Claire Franklin, an outstanding new talent.
• Perfect for fans of The Hazel Wood.
• A gripping exploration of trauma and the pressures placed on young women in a modern society.

PRAISE FOR THE WILDERNESS OF GIRLS:

‘A compelling, thoughtful, and original debut.’ KIRKUS

‘Tender and raw, this debut isn’t afraid to dig into the agonizing interior lives of teen girls, the ways our world tries to break them, and the bonds they create to survive it.’ BOOKLIST

 

Mission: Manta Ray

Jurrasic Park meets Wimpy Kid, packed with humour, supsense and adventure!

Finn, Milo, and new girl, Tasi – together with Arty, the microraptor – are sent to investigate deep-sea disturbances.

Soon they are plunged into danger when their research ship is torpedoed by a vast submersible shaped like a manta ray.

Once again, the junior agents are face to face with an enemy that has bottomless ambition . . .

• The second in the all-action adventure series from Philip Kavvadias – with added environmental themes.
• Features brilliantly charming illustrations from Euan Cook throughout.

 

PRAISE FOR MISSION: MICRORAPTOR:

‘Fast, funny and fabulous.’ MAZ EVANS

‘It’s funny and fast-paced with more twists and turns than a microraptor in flight.’ MO O’HARA

The Zombie Project

The action-packed and horrorful zombie adventure from debut author Alice Nuttall, with an original environmental twist . . .

In a world without bees, death-flies are needed to grow food. But death-flies need bodies – lots of them. And bodies mean zombies.
Merian understands this, but others are afraid. Can one girl prove that zombies are the future?

• The action-packed debut novel of MSLexia Children’s and YA 2023 winner, Alice Nuttall.
• An original idea that turns the usual zombie story on its head – save the zombies, don’t kill them!
• With environmental themes packaged alongside age-appropriate horror and scares.

 

PRAISE FOR THE ZOMBIE PROJECT:

‘It’s really sparky – an original idea and an original talent. I liked the environmental message too’ CRESSIDA COWELL

The Notwitches