Jason has had enough of his parents' arguments. He's running away to stay with his brother in Liverpool. On the train journey he meets a 'runner' called Jam, who lives on the monster Intercity trains and stations. His carefree and adventurous life sounds so exciting that Jason begins to think he might join Jam. Then Jason discovers Jam's secret.

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...

'It's not really kidnapping, is it? He'd have to be alive for it to be proper kidnapping.'Kenny, Sim and Blake are about to embark on a remarkable journey of friendship. Stealing the urn containing the ashes of their best friend Ross, they set out from Cleethorpes on the east coast to travel the 261 miles to the tiny hamlet of Ross in Dumfries and Galloway. After a depressing and dispiriting funeral they feel taking Ross to Ross will be a fitting memorial for a 15 year-old boy who ...

Ross is dead, and Blake, Sim, and Kenny are furious. To make it right, they steal Ross’s ashes and set out from their home on the English coast for the tiny village of Ross in southern Scotland, a place their friend had always wanted to go. What follows is an unforgettable journey with illegal train rides, bungee jumping, girls, and high-speed police chases—all with Ross’s ashes along for the ride. As events spin wildly out of control, the three friends must take their heads out of the san...

Derwent Drive was known as the Speed Creep. A continual chain of Dashes into Blind. We'd all heard the story about the Creeper who dropped Blind into a garden, only to discover he was standing in a dog pound. It was also the longest creep; twenty-five houses all in a row, no bends, no kinks. And no Creeper had ever done the lot. But Jamie and I reckoned we could do it. Jamie was the best Creeper around. He was the best Buddie you could have. And he was mine. Ever heard about 'creeping' bef...

Critically acclaimed author Keith Gray masterfully grapples with the difficult dynamics of a tumultuous family environment in this compelling and bittersweet tale.When Ben sees a monstrous gargoyle creeping across the midnight rooftops, he’s desperate to tell someone. But Ben feels alone in his new home and is finding it hard fitting in at his new school.Ben’s dad doesn’t believe him. He’s always angry. He says Ben needs to act his age, stand up to the scho...

In 1699 William Milmullen took his six pupils to the lakeside but only he returned after a creature rose up from the water and devoured the six boys right before his eyes. The whole town was shocked and terrified by the tragedy. Many were now too frightened to go out on the lake to fish, and the town's economy was under threat. William Milmullen recovered from the shock of what he'd seen. He named the creature 'The Mourn', and declared himself 'Mourner'. He took upon himself the responsibi...

Can friendships survive as Denny relives the good times and rewrites the bad in this comic and compelling tale from award-winning author Keith Gray?It’s the end of the summer and Denny is having to move away with his mum now that she’s found a good job, but he’s not planning on leaving quietly. He’s made a list of scores to settle and wrongs to right before he goes. He asks his best friend, Jake, to help.Jake is absolutely gutted that Denny is leaving and w...

The complicated nuances of teenage friendship are captured perfectly in this story of summer adventure and exploration by award-winning author Keith Gray.Marshall feels the need to escape because things are so tough at home. Rory is just happy it’s the first day of the summer holidays. While out on their bikes they stumble across a long-forgotten underground bunker at the edge of the woods. This is the den, and going down inside will stretch their friendship to its limits. There wi...

Heralding his outstanding return to young adult fiction, Keith Gray captures the subtle agonies of teen life in this compelling, bittersweet tale of rivalry and friendship.In this compelling story of teenage rivalry and friendship, award-winning author Keith Gray captures the subtle agonies and reality of life growing up in a small town.Sully is the best climber in the village. He can scale the Twisted Sister’s tangled branches and clamber up Double Trunker with ease. But w...

Brook High is a great grey concrete ants' nest of a school. John Malarkey is the new kid, thrown in at the deep end of Year 11. He's the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time.Through what at first appears to be a random meeting, he helps a girl called Mary Chase out of a tricky situation, but is subsequently accused of stealing report cards to sell to students so they can write their own bogus reports. He quickly realises it was all a set-up, and that he's been used to ...

'I know a place you can go'. It's a secret place hidden among the run-down buildings of the derelict dockyards.A community of young people have gathered in an old warehouse to get away from a world they don't fit in to. Through separate but interweaving narratives Warehouse tells the stories of three of the community's members. There's Robbie who is running away from his violent older brother, Frank, and needs some space to realise that the beatings are not his fault. Amy, who's su...