Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Literature & Fiction

When Ludlow Fitch's parents cruelly betray him, he steals away to the country. He arrives in a remote village, where he meets the tall and limping figure of Joe Zabbidou - a pawnbroker with a difference. For Joe trades secrets, not goods. Employed as Joe's assistant, Ludlow records the villagers' fiendish confessions in an ancient leather-bound volume: The Black Book of Secrets. There's the gravedigger who has been resurrecting bodies; the butcher who made a mouse-meat pie; the wizened bookseller who went to murderous lengths to get her hands on a priceless tome.

A year after their underground adventure, Hugo, Alex and Julie are ready for another–this time underwater. At a scuba-diving camp in Croatia, the three friends search for a legendary Roman shipwreck and an emperor’s lost crown. Standing in their way is a ruthless businessman, his terrifying bodyguard and Hugo’s fear of swimming in the unpredictable sea. But sometimes the greatest rewards lie just outside your comfort zone …

For Hugo, the world can be too loud and bright. He likes the quiet. He likes the dark. And he loves maps. When Hugo learns that there’s a whole other world under Paris, a network of tunnels, quarries and catacombs mapped beneath his feet, he sets off on an adventure. Navigating secret passages, narrowly escaping robbers and returning to old friends, Hugo discovers more than just buried treasure.

Billy, who lives in the town of Stony Brook, is having a miserable summer. Firstly, she's having a fight with her best friend, Dev. Secondly, it looks like her mums might have to sell their antique shop. And thirdly and perhaps worst of all, her goldfish Hepzibah has died (she killed it). But when Billy happens across some unusual spectacles through which she can not only see but hear ghosts–things take a spectral turn.

A boy lives in a remote, snow-bound village with his elderly grandmother. Their traditional way of life is threatened by the changing snow and ice: it melts faster every year. When the sea-ice collapses while he is out hunting, he only just escapes with his life and is left stranded in the Arctic tundra. Meanwhile a girl is trying to adapt to another new school. Her father promises his new job at an oil company will mean they never have to move again, but not long after he starts, his behaviour becomes odd and secretive.

He couldn’t stop thinking there was someone out there among the waves, crying for help and disappearing under the black water. Three children are spending their summer on a wild Scottish island. Fraser is desperate for adventure; Hayley is fed up; Dunny spends his days staring out to sea. But everything changes with the discovery of two bodies on the beach: a whale and a man. Fraser and Hayley see a mystery-adventure to be solved, but Dunny is inconsolable.

1666. When 11-year-old bookish Gil finds a strange ‘heaven stone' by the Thames, he never thought it would hatch. Or that so soon after the Great Plague, a small fire in London would become a deadly inferno. Soon Gil, his phoenix, and his spiky friend Jennet must cross the burning city, avoid a terrifying mob, and find a place where they can all be safe.

Shakespeare, the ginger tabby, otherwise known as Agent 009, never officially signed up to protect the Cook children, but in world-famous Spy Dog's absence, he is most definitely the best pet for the job. Shakespeare has some very big (and furry) boots to fill. And with a dangerous criminal on the loose nearby to where the Cooks are camping, he may need all nine lives to do it!

School bully Jake Hunter receives a mysterious email inviting him to join a scheme for world domination. With unlimited power and wealth at his fingertips, how can he resist? But to get it, he has to become an arch-criminal, entangled in a plan that threatens the planet. And that could just be a step too far.

Surfing the net during a lightning storm has amazing consequences for a group of teenage friends. Superhero powers are theirs at the click of a mouse! Trouble is, they don't know what the powers will be until they try them out. But super powers carry super responsibilities. When a weather-altering, world-conquering supervillain kidnaps their mum, they have to decide: save her or save the world!

Malice Morbid Malign isn't like the rest of her family. But when her younger sister, Antipathy-Rose, finds a sphere of solid amber in one of the forbidden swag rooms at Malignant House, and bites right through it, she unwittingly unleashes a world of trouble. Trapped within the amber sphere is Maniacal Malign’s time-stopping pocket watch. Maniacal Malign had been in exile for several centuries, but the moment Antipathy-Rose’s gnashers crack the amber, he is summoned back to monstrous action. Malice, Uncle Vex and Seth find themselves on a time-sensitive mission.

Ajay's wish has come true—he's a news reporter at last. He and his friends Saif, Vinod, Yasmin and Jai even have their own newspaper: The Mumbai Sun. But money is tight—and they need a big story. So when Ajay sees a cash prize for a competition to be the first to find a meteor that has crashed to Earth in India, their very own space-race to Jaipur is on.

Kidnapped and drugged, Ash wakes up on a remote tropical island. His mum - a genetic scientist - has been imprisoned and infected with a deadly virus. He sets out to cross the jungle to find out and rescue his mother. Soon he realises he's quicker and sharper than before. But there's something else.... Why are the animals watching him, and how can he use the jungle to his advantage?

Alice Tonks is eager to make friends at boarding school, but she's always found it hard to fit in. Then she discovers she is a switcher and can talk to animals. As she starts to explore her newfound abilities, to her horror she learns that creatures are going missing. Only Alice holds the key to solving the mystery, but she'll need to harness her full powers first. And to do that she'll need a bit of help from her new friends—animal and human alike.

The time has come for young Tibben to take the test to become the new Potions Master. But he's going to need some help along the way, and the Emerald Dragon might well have to lend a hand...or a wing! The Magic Faraway Tree meets Worst Witch - a magical young fiction series, perfect for first-time listeners.

On the school ski trip, Mouse knows certain classmates can't wait to see her fall flat on her face. Meanwhile, Jack looks forward to danger and girls but hasn't a clue about either. That's until French teen sensation Roland arrives in the resort - who Jack's a dead ringer for. When Roland persuades Jack to be his stand-in for a day, Jack, in disguise, declares his feelings for Mouse. But what happens when he's no longer a pop star? Will it be music and magic on the slopes?

Willem has Asperger’s Syndrome and two main aims in life: to fly and to make at least two friends of his own age. As he stands on the edge of a wall, Sasha gives him a wink. Might she become his friend? As he flies through the air he wishes he could fly and escape. Instead he comes crashing down and breaks his ankle. Sasha is determined to put things right.

Summer, 1941. When a German plane is shot down over the woods, Peter rushes to the crash site to find something exciting to keep. But what he finds instead is someone: a young and injured German airman. The enemy. Here. And in trouble. Suddenly, helping him seems like the right thing to do.

Princess Ellie is pony-mad! She'd much rather be riding or helping out at the royal stables than having boring waving lessons. But someone is spying on her... and when Sundance, one of her beloved ponies, goes missing, Ellie is sure that the mysterious girl in the woods is to blame. Can she solve the mystery and rescue Sundance before it's too late?

From the Waterstones Book Prize shortlisted author of A Boy Called Hope and The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair. Mabel has a suitcase full of worries - it turned up just after her dad disappeared and before her mum started dating Gavin. She worries about big things and little things and shoves them into her suitcase until it’s so full it might explode....