Showing results by publisher "Penguin Audio" in Difficult Situations

You're waiting for the postman - he's bringing your A-level results. University, a career as a journalist - a glittering future lies ahead. But when the doorbell rings, it's your old girlfriend and she's carrying a baby. Your baby. You're happy to look after it, just for an hour or two. But then she doesn't come back - and your future suddenly looks very different.

Natalie's world has turned upside down. She's lost her mum, and her brother is descending further and further into anger and violence with a far-right gang who march the streets of Dover. Sammy has fled his home and family in Eritrea for the chance of a new life in Europe. Every step he takes is a step into the unknown - into a strange country and a hidden future. A twist of fate brings these two teens from opposite sides of the channel together, but will their journey end in hope or despair?

Lori Palmer is the new girl at Bay Water High, where students prize glossy hair, beach bodies and school spirit above all else. She misses her old school - where her talent as an artist carried more weight than she does - and longs for her old family life, before her parents got divorced and her mom reinvented herself. Lori decides that the only way to survive the rest of the year is to blend into the background. But her plans go awry when she discovers that the most popular (and hottest) guy at Bay Water High, Jake, is a volunteer at her brother's school.

Nobody said saving the world would be easy. Until now, Max and the flock have lived a lonely existence: hunted down, tortured and pushed to the fringe of society; always on the run they have never been able to live a normal life. But things are changing. The flock have finally found acceptance for their unusual skills. Together, they have taken on new challenges and used their extraordinary powers to fight for the greater good on a global scale.

Juliet believes girls like her - girls with arthritis - don't get their own love stories. She exists at the edges of her friends' social lives, skipping parties to play online chess under a pseudonym with strangers around the world. There, she isn't just 'the girl with crutches'. Ronan is the new kid: good looking, smart, a bad boy plagued by guilt over what happened to his brother Ciaran. Chesslife is his escape.

You were my first. Not just sex, although that was part of it, but the first to look past everything else into me. Some of the names and places have been changed, but the story is true. It's all here because one day this will be the past and I don't want to forget what I went through, what I thought, what I felt, who I was. I don't want to forget you. But most of all, I don't want to forget me.

Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and - lately - concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an accident, a drunk driving conviction and a jail sentence, Sydney is cast adrift, searching for her place in the family and the world. When everyone else is so worried about Peyton, is she the only one concerned about the victim of the accident?

Six years ago, vicious creatures began to crawl out of the dark crevices of the world, and with it Sascia’s fascination with the darkness was born. Now eighteen, that fascination has become an obsession, and while exploring an area known for its connection to the Darkworld, Sascia sees a person climb out of the darkness. But Nugau is no ordinary person, they’re a genderfluid elf prince with one mission . . . to kill Sascia.

Thirty-four years have passed since Sephy Hadley - a Cross - first met Callum McGregor - a nought. Their love was forbidden, powerful - and deadly. Life is seemingly very different now for noughts and Crosses - including for Sephy and Callum's families. But old wounds from the past are hard to heal, and when you're playing a game as dangerous as they are, it won't be long before someone gets caught in the crossfire.

When Cerys’ best friend and secret crush Jake moves to a new college, she realises she’s running out of time to take their relationship from platonic to romantic. She’ll do anything to get out of Jake’s friendzone, even if that means diving into the huge fantasy fandom he loves so much. But when Jake introduces Cerys to his shiny new friend Max, who goes to all the conventions and loves a costume, she realises she’ll need to do a lot more to grab Jake’s attention than just read a few fanfics.

It is 20 years in 2021 since Malorie Blackman's groundbreaking series began with Noughts & Crosses, which charted the deeply forbidden romance between Sephy (a Cross) and Callum (a nought) - a love affair which had repercussions for their families for generations. Endgame, the breathtaking conclusion to the series, influenced by the unprecedented global events of recent years, is full of twists and turns and emotions, with its incredible characters reaching a dramatic conclusions to their stories.

Sephy is a Cross, a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a Nought, a 'colourless' member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood. But that's as far as it can go. Until the first steps are taken towards more social equality and a limited number of Noughts are allowed into Crosses schools.

Moa is 14. The only life he has ever known is toiling on the Frontier sugar cane plantation for endless hot days, fearing the vicious whips of the overseers. Then one night he learns of an uprising, led by the charismatic Tacky. Moa is to be a cane warrior and fight for the freedom of all the enslaved people in the nearby plantations. But before they can escape, Moa and his friend Keverton must face their first great task: to kill their overseer, Misser Donaldson. Time is ticking, and the day of the uprising approaches....

Last year, Ollie Morcombe was a star pupil, popular and a gifted musician. Then, after the accident, everything changed. Now he's an outcast, a prime target of the school bullies who have made his life a living hell. Today - the last day of the school year - he's brought those bullies a gift. A homemade pipe bomb. What has driven a model student to plan an unspeakable revenge? And with the clock ticking down to home time, what can anybody do to stop him?

I am restless, my feet need to fly. Amber is trapped - by her father's rules, by his expectations, by her own fears. Now she's ready to fight - for her mother, for her sister, for herself. Freedom always comes at a price.

With her mentor, Dr Esso, by her side, eighteen-year-old Rhia is determined to make her mark on the hallowed halls of Oxford University – and put the Upper World behind her. But that’s all easier said than done when in her first week she overhears talk of the world ending. And when an invite drops under her door to a secret and exclusive society called the Ravens, Rhia must decide whether she’ll join the cult-like group to unearth the truth. Can the Ravens provide answers about earth's impending doom? Or will joining the group open Pandora’s box? Rhia is about to find out . . .

You know Haylah Swinton - she's big, bold and funnier than a cat in a onesie playing the bagpipes. She's been busy proving she's as a kick-butt comedian, she's got herself a fab boyfriend called Dylan, the best girl crew in the world totally have her back, her little brother isn't driving her totally nuts, and did she mention she has a boyfriend called Dylan? Yes, that Dylan. But this proving-she's-funny thing is kind of tough sometimes. And come to think of it, Dylan isn't acting particularly boyfriendly at the moment.

Haylah Swinton is fairly confident she's brilliant at being a girl. She's an ace best friend, a loving daughter and an incredibly patient sister to her four-year-old total nutter of a brother, Noah. But she has a secret. She wants to be a stand-up comedian, but she's pretty sure girls like her - big girls, girls who don't get all the boys, girls who a lot of people don't see - don't belong onstage.

How can I hold myself together, when everything around me is falling apart? Neena's always been a good girl - great grades, parent-approved friends and absolutely no boyfriends. But ever since her brother Akash left her, she's been slowly falling apart - and uncovering a new version of herself who is altogether more dangerous. As her wild behaviour spirals more and more out of control, Neena's grip on her sanity begins to weaken too.

A smart, funny, sex-positive YA perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Rainbow Rowell, this is a heartwarming look at the particular challenges of adolescence, written as only a teen could. Simone is HIV-positive - and positive HIV won't define her. She also knows that celibacy is - technically - the best way to stay safe. Enter Miles Austin: intelligent, funny and way too sexy for Simone to resist. But her classmates don't know that she's HIV-positive - and what is the truth worth in the hands of the wrong person?