Showing results by narrator "Charlie Sanderson" in All Categories

Young reporter-in-training Kate and her mouse-accomplice Rupert are on board a train, to visit Kate's mum in the Arctic. But as soon as the train departs, mysterious things start happening. A packet of ginger nuts goes missing. A collection of gymnastics trophies are stolen. And some ancient scrolls disappear. Fellow passenger Madame Maude seems the most likely culprit, until a surprising—and delicious—twist turns the whole investigation on its head.

London, 1951: Clem Fatale, the youngest crook in the city, is on a mission to find her dad. Jimmy Fatale, notorious jewel thief and leader of the Spider Gang, has gone missing and with him the greatest prize in London: the Fool’s Canary. Nothing, and nobody, will stop Clem from finding them.

1979. Jackie Chadwick is 17 and living in a supported bedsit. She’s still close to her foster parents and friends with (aka unofficial minder for) Amanda, their irresponsible daughter, but she’s enjoying her independence – until a fire leaves her temporarily homeless. Jackie’s dad, widower and recovering alcoholic Dave, has just been released from prison and sees this as his chance to make amends. He offers her his spare room – but can their relationship survive him going back on the booze, his gin – loving lady friend and her errant son?

Violet is a seamstress with big dreams of designing her own wedding gowns and opening her own bridal shop. But things fall apart when she finds Philip, her boyfriend, in a compromising position with one of her colleagues. Violet decides it is time to go back home to her eccentric mother and particular father. And after wallowing, Violet decides to re-evaluate her life, put the past behind her, and search for happiness. She meets with old friends and builds an unlikely friendship with a group of zany women from her mother's Zumba class.

Lily took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to pass out from her now-galloping heart. She was thirty-three years old and way beyond having issues seeing an ex. Even the ex. She was going to just ignore Matt and enjoy her best friend’s wedding. Lily is fine. Really, truly, she’s ok. She might have to attend her best friend’s wedding with the ex-boyfriend she never got over, on a gorgeous Greek island that’s so small it’s impossible to avoid him, but she is determined to be friendly. And Matt, too, is completely and utterly fine.

Oh no! The zoo is going to close! And all of the animals will be sent back to where they came from. Lin the Bad Panda is happy about the idea of being returned to the panda sanctuary from where she came. She can't wait to be reunited with her beloved brother, Face-Like-A-Bag-Of-Potatoes. But Lin is definitely NOT happy about being separated from her new-found zoo family. Surely all the animals should be kept together?

When a mysterious figure called the Hood, a thief in disguise, starts stealing from prominent socialites, Royal Police officer Rhosyn itches to catch him. His uncanny ability to slip through her fingers presents an irresistible challenge, and she can’t help but obsess over who hides beneath the mask. Unfortunately, her hands are already full with the meteoric rise of a new gang called the Foxes, as well as an unexpected flirtation with an infuriatingly handsome circus owner, Mr. Ansel Blakely.

Fierce Fragile Hearts is the stunning companion novel to Sara Barnard's YA bestseller Beautiful Broken Things. It is about leaving the past behind, the friends who form your future, and learning to find love, in all its forms. Two years after a downward spiral took her as low as you can possibly go, Suzanne is starting again. Again. She's back in Brighton, the only place she felt she belonged, back with her best friends Caddy and Rosie. But they're about to leave for university.

This is a must-listen for Christmas and animal lovers. A play on the Christmas classic 'A Christmas Carol', meet Ben, The Chatchits and Marley the cat on this festive adventure.

When Skylar and best friend Dana accept a ride in Nana's new tuktuk, they don't expect to travel through time—nor to accidentally kidnap Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh King Tut and turn him into a K-pop sensation! Soon Skylar and Dana are on a whirlwind race through time to put things right before they change history for ever.

In the kingdom of Galaxandria, Princess Celeste Starwing is in BIG trouble. After one bratty incident too many, her father decides she needs to learn a lesson – and so she’s packed off to the Intergalactic Post Office, and given a mission to whip it into shape. Otherwise it’s goodbye to being a princess forever – gulp! But Celeste and her new assistant, Podge, soon find they’re up against a more than just towering piles of unsent letters. Mysterious portal magic known as wurms are putting them out of business – and it looks like the wurms are more sinister than anyone could know.

I have a gardener's inherent belief in the natural order of things. Soft-petalled flowers that go to seed. The resolute passage of the seasons. Swallows that fly thousands of miles to follow the eternal summer. Children who don't die before their parents. A community in shock. When eighteen-year-old Rosie Anderson disappears, the idyllic village where she lived will never be the same again.

Elvira Carr is 27 and neuro-atypical. Her father - whom she suspects was in the secret service - has passed away and, after several Unfortunate Incidents growing up, she now spends most of her time at home with her overbearing mother. But when her mother has a stroke, Elvira is suddenly forced to look after herself or risk ending up in sheltered accommodation. Armed with her Seven Rules, which she puts together after online research, Elvira hopes to learn how to navigate a world that's full of people she doesn't understand.

I was brave. She was reckless. We were trouble. Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns 16 Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie - confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives - beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious - and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne's past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be.

Tinder, Hinge, Bumble – thirty-something journalist Saffie has tried them all but now she's wondering whether it's time to throw in the towel and give up on love for good – and she's not alone... Saffie's boss Tamara has been single since her divorce four years ago, but at forty-five, running her own magazine and with three kids at home, she doesn't feel she has the time, energy or confidence to go through the dating mill again. Meanwhile, Saffie's best friend Milo has just been dumped – again. A hopeless romantic with terrible taste in men, this is his fourth break-up in six months.

February, 1929. The Regent Hotel in Birmingham is a place of deception and glamour. Behind its six-storeyed façade, guests sip absinthe cocktails on velvet banquettes, while the hotel's red-jacketed staff scurry through its lavish corridors to ensure the finest service is always at hand. In the early evening, a psychoanalyst checks in under a pseudonym: Nora Dickinson. Nora is young, diligent and ambitious. Though she doesn't see herself as a liar, she is travelling with an agenda.

Nina has the most magical job in the world, matching customers with their perfect Christmas tree. Working at Christmas Tree Farm is always fun and full of laughter but the weight of past tragedy bears down on her. Her admirer is a great distraction, but is he the right man for her? Holly is just trying to be a normal teenager, having to deal with the mean girls in her class. But then the most handsome boy at school takes an interest in her. Have all her Christmases come at once?

No witch is excited about gloomy magic-free November apart from young hag Clemmie who is relieved to finally be done with October's magical mess. But if there's no more magic, then where are all the armour-clad knights coming from? When even their enemy coven, the Morgans, don't have any answers, the Merlyns are on the run. Neither the Morgan or Merlyn covens want to burn so they will have to work together to solve the mystery of where the witch-hunting knights and the all-engulfing flames are coming from. Will Clemmie be able to find her voice in time to save her family?

Talking to your teenager shouldn't be hard, but sometimes it's the most difficult thing in the world. Healthy, open, non-judgemental conversations with young people can be - literally - life-saving. From minor matters (tidiness, homework, sleep) to big and important ones (relationships, mental ill health, drugs and alcohol), teenagers and their parents often struggle to talk to each other. A well-timed conversation, a listening ear, a non-judgemental and receptive attitude - all these can make an enormous and lasting impact on how safely and happily a teenager navigates this crucial stage.

Harper can't wait for her second year of Spectacular training, where a song can send you on a rollercoaster, a dance can lift you into the air, and you can send notes to your friends via a mechanical dragon.