One of the all-time classics of children's literature, a feel-good book full of enthusiasm and exuberance, and a perfect family read"There is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it."When Pollyanna Whittier's father dies she is sent to live with her Aunt Polly in Vermont. A clash of personalities ensues as Pollyanna's sunny disposition sits ill with her aunt's need for quiet, her passion for...

A travesty. A violation. An ecstasy. A disappointment. An instant. A lie. A theft. A rite of passage. Whatever you call it, there's only one first time.A.S. King, Melvin Burgess, Keith Gray, Patrick Ness, Anne Fine, Sophie McKenzie, Bali Rai, Jenny Valentine, Mary Hooper, and Andrew Smith. Some of today's leading international YA authors contributed to this hard-hitting collection of original short stories: some funny, some moving, some haunting, but all revolving around the same su...

Lydia, Christopher and Natalie are used to domestic turmoil. Their parents' divorce has not made family life any easier in either home. The children bounce to and fro between their volatile mother, Miranda, and Daniel, their out-of-work actor father. Then Miranda advertises for a cleaning lady who will supervise the children after school - and Daniel gets the job, disguised as Madame Doubtfire. This is a bittersweet, touching and extremely funny book.

Everyone loves the wickedly dry sense of humour of The Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine.Okay, Okay. So hang me. I killed the bird. For pity's sake, I'm a cat.Poor Ellie is horrified when Tuffy drags a dead bird into the house. Then a mouse. But Tuffy can't understand what all the fuss is about.Who on earth will be the next victim to arrive through the cat-flap? Can soft-hearted Ellie manage to get her beloved pet to change his wild, wild ...

Everyone loves the wickedly dry sense of humour of The Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine.Okay, Okay. So hang me. I killed the bird. For pity's sake, I'm a cat.Poor Ellie is horrified when Tuffy drags a dead bird into the house. Then a mouse. But Tuffy can't understand what all the fuss is about.Who on earth will be the next victim to arrive through the cat-flap? Can soft-hearted Ellie manage to get her beloved pet to change his wild, wild ...

How stupid do you have to be to fall out of a top floor window?Or was Stolly trying something else - up on cloud nine, even then?Stolly has always been so alive, so inspiring, taking risks, hiding nothing, notorious for being the school's most imaginative liar (or fantatist, as he calls it). But now he's lying in a hospital bed and Ian, his best friend who's as close as a brother, is watching, waiting and remembering . . .A characteristically funny, moving, li...

Flour Babies by Anne Fine, won the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Book Award in 1992. When the annual school science fair comes round, Mr Cartwright's class don't get to work on the Soap Factory, the Maggot Farm or the Exploding Custard Tins. To their intense disgust they get the Flour Babies - sweet little six-pound bags of flour that must be cared for at all times.Funny and poignant, Flour Babies is a brilliant depiction of secondary school life.

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 n...

The King is at his wit's end; twelve daughters and every morning their shoes are torn to ribbons! Nobody can tell him why, so he promises that whoever uncovers their secret will inherit his kingdom. The reward is huge - but the price of failure is their head. Who will risk it all for a dance with the princesses?This story is a magic bean. It may not look much like a bean, but I can promise you that it is. For if you plant it in a young mind, it will grow into a love of sto...

The portrait of a beautiful girl with tumbling red hair takes on sinister undertones in this unnerving tale from much-loved, multi-award-winning author Anne Fine.Jess’s mum is furious when she discovers a muddy, football-shaped splodge on her bedroom wall and sends Jess on a mission to find something to cover it up. Luckily, Jess manages to bag a bargain in her local charity shop: a beautiful portrait of a girl with tumbling red hair in a frame exactly the right si...

'Okay, okay. So slap my teensy little paws. I messed up - big time.'Tuffy can't wait for Ellie and the family to go away on holiday. He and the gang plan to ignore the grumpy new cat-sitter, and run wild all night. But could that furry bundle, suddenly flying through the air, put a stop to all the fun?