Harry Potter, along with his friends, Ron and Hermione, is about to start his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry can't wait to get back to school after the summer holidays. (Who wouldn't if they lived with the Dursleys?) But when Harry gets to Hogwarts, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school. The texts of the Harry Potter adult editions are identical to that of the standard editions; only the jacket illustrations vary.

Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there are spells to be learnt and Divination lessons (sigh) to be attended. Harry is expecting these: however, other quite unexpected events are already on the march ... The texts of the Harry Potter adult editions are identical to that of the standard editions; only the jacket illustrations vary.

When a letter arrives for unhappy but ordinary Harry Potter, a decade-old secret is revealed to him that apparently he's the last to know. His parents were wizards, killed by a Dark Lord's curse when Harry was just a baby, and which he somehow survived. Escaping his hideous Muggle guardians for Hogwarts, a wizarding school brimming with ghosts and enchantments, Harry stumbles upon a sinister adventure when he finds a three-headed dog guarding a room on the third floor. Then he hears of a missing stone with astonishing powers which could be valuable, dangerous, or both.

Dinah and her sister Lisa are growing up in 1950s South Africa, where racial laws are tightening. They are two little girls from a dissenting liberal family. Big sister Lisa is strong and sensible, while Dinah is weedy and arty. At school, the sadistic Mrs Vaughan-Jones is providing instruction in mental arithmetic and racial prejudice. And then there's the puzzle of lunch break.

The final curtain is closing on the Second World War, and Hana, a nurse, stays behind in an abandoned Italian villa to tend to her only remaining patient. Rescued by Bedouins from a burning plane, he is English, anonymous, damaged beyond recognition and haunted by his memories of passion and betrayal. The only clue Hana has to his past is the one thing he clung on to through the fire — a copy of The Histories by Herodotus, covered with hand-written notes describing a painful and ultimately tragic love affair.

«In this enigmatic, surreal, wonderfully entertaining tale, three mysterious figures set out from Willowdale, travelling by handcar. On the way to nowhere in particular they pass a number of odd characters and observe a series of baffling phenomena, from a house burning down in a field to a palatial mansion perched precariously on a bluff. At once deeply vexing and utterly hilarious, darkly mysterious and amusingly absurd, «The Willowdale Handcar» is vintage Edward Gorey.»

A beautifully illustrated edition of Lewis Carroll's nonsense verse: most people are familiar with the verse from Alice through the Looking-Glass, for example The Walrus and the Carpenter, and also other classics such as You are Old, Father William and The Jabberwocky. These are of course all included, alongside some lesser-known poems that are a delight to discover, including The Three Badgers, The Mad Gardener's Song, and The White Knight's Ballad. Fantastically detailed, jewel-like illustrations complement the delights of this most nonsensical verse. The perfect companion to Bisky Bats and Pussy Cats — the Nonsense Verse of Edward Lear.

Vladimir is a young Russian-American immigrant whose capitalist dreams and desire for a girlfriend lead him off the straight and narrow into uncharted territory. From the dreary confines of New York City's Emma Lazarus Immigrant Absorption Society to the hip frontier wilderness of Prava — the Eastern European Paris of the nineties, whose grand and glorious beauty is marred only by the shadow of the looming statue of Stalin's foot — The Russian Debutante's Handbook is a hilarious, extravagant, yet uncannily true to life adventure.

When Moose Flanagan and his family move home, yet again, and become residents of the famous prison island Alcatraz, things get interesting. First of all, they share the island with a few other families and a lot of pretty heavy-duty criminals including Al Capone. And secondly, Moose's sister is starting a new school, which everyone hopes will help her become more integrated with those around her. When Moose comes up with some pretty cunning money-making schemes based on his famous co-residents, he does not count on his sister becoming inadvertently involved. This is a charming, funny and utterly enchanting book that skillfully and delicately weaves a humorous tale with some important issues.

Coraline is not the kind of girl to be put off by a sign of danger read in some tea leaves or indeed a message sent to her by some very talented mice! No, she is the kind of girl who faces a challenge with bravery, intelligence and a lot of determination. Which is just as well because she is going to need all those skills, and more, in this wonderful, spooky tale of a girl caught on the wrong side of a door, with counterfeit parents who have buttons for eyes and who clearly do not intend to set her free. Read it if you dare!

An essential reference source for anyone who regularly encounters scientific or technological nomenclature, this dictionary features accurate, up-to-date, and detailed entries for readers from a range of scientific backgrounds. Each definition is written in jargon-free English and is ideal for those less familiar with scientific terms and native and nonnative English speakers alike. This first edition contains 17,000 entries, each with a part of speech, note on grammar, encyclopedic commentary, and example sentence to show how the term is used in context. Quotations from magazines and newspapers illustrate real-life usage of key words, and additional features include highlighted differences between British and American usage and phonetic pronunciation for all entries.

The Gossip Girl series is the ultimate in glamour and cool — set in New York's glamorous Upper East Side the narrative follows the thrills and spills (with Jimmy Choo shoes and shopping at Barneys mixed in along the way) of its richest and most beautiful teenage residents. Gossip Girl is the ultimate in sophistication, scandal and luxury — in fact if Carrie Bradshaw of Sex and the City had a younger sister, there is no doubt she would be 'gossip girl'!

The Gossip Girl series is the ultimate in glamour and cool — set in New York's glamorous Upper East Side the narrative follows the thrills and spills (with Jimmy Choo shoes and shopping at Barneys mixed in along the way) of its richest and most beautiful teenage residents: in this second novel, this is the time they are interviewing for college (Ivy League only, naturally). Gossip Girl is the ultimate in sophistication, scandal and luxury — in fact if Carrie Bradshaw of Sex and the City had a younger sister, there is no doubt she would be 'gossip girl'!

It’s Christmas and Blair and Serena are best friends again and up to their old tricks — partying hard and breaking hearts from Park Avenue to the Caribbean. Blair’s mother and Cyrus are having their honeymoon in Salt Key. And when school finishes, Blair, Serena, Aaron and company head down to blow off steam after their exams, and in between Pina Coladas, Blair and Serena plot revenge on super-jerk Chuck Bass. Then it is back to NYC for Serena’s New Year’s Eve party, during which Nate and Blair need to sort out their relationship, and Serena may or not be revealed to be the secret fling of Hollywood’s hottest young leading man…

«1978: Lower East Side, New York. Fifteen-year-old Finn Earl's mother, Liz, is a thirty-two year-old masseuse with a taste for cocaine. When Liz's habit forces them to flee the city, they find protection under the wing of one of her clients, ageing billionaire Mr Osborne. In Vlyvalle, a golden playground for the super-rich, Finn discovers a people who are stranger, more savage, and more secretive than any tribe in National Geographic. Offered a new life and new friends amongst the decadent and beautiful denizens of Osborne's empire, Finn falls in love and grows up fast. He's living a twisted approximation of the American dream — and for a moment everything he wants is there for the taking. But in America, social-climbing is a blood sport. Even on what should be the happiest night of Finn's life, on an island in the middle of a private lake, naked and high with Maya, Osborne's bewitching granddaughter, someone is watching him from the depths of the forest and laughing. This is a modern coming-of-age novel in the tradition of «Huckleberry Finn», and a portrait of America as vivid and strange as «The Great Gatsby, Fierce People» marks the emergence of a dazzling new talent.»

'You know what they say about GIs and English girls'knickers', ran the wartime joke, 'One Yank and they're off.' When Gloria met Ron, he was an American pilot who thought nothing of getting hit by shrapnel in the cockpit. She was working in a munitions factory in Bristol during the Blitz, but still found time to grab what she wanted. Ciggies. Sex. American soldiers. But war has an effect on people. Gloria did all sorts of things she wouldn't normally do — evil things, some of them — because she might be dead tomorrow. Or someone might. Now, fifty years on, it's payback time. In her old folks' home, Gloria is forced to remember the real truth about her and Ron, and confront the secret at the heart of her dramatic home front story. In a gripping, vibrant evocation of wartime Britain, Liz Jensen explores the dark impulses of women whose war crimes are committed on the home front, in the name of sex, survival, greed, and love.

«The sequel to «Witch Child», this title reveals what happens to Mary Newbury, who has disappeared into the forest. Alison finds out from Agnes Hearnethat Agnes is a descendent of Mary's and has a special skill which allowsher to be in touch with Mary in the spirit world.»

A little fox is in a big bad mood, and is worried that its mother won't love it forever. In this beautiful and lyrical picture book, we see a clever and resourceful mother prove to her child that a parents love is limitless — no matter what! In this reassuring and warm picture book, the hugely talented Debi Gliori manages to treat the familiar subject of childhood worries in a very fresh, original and inventive way.

This fully revised edition of this reference explains thousands of terms such as DVD, RealAudio, and streaming video. The dictionary explains acronyms used in desktop and Internet-based multimedia, as well as terms used in the fields of CD-ROM production, video, game, image, animation and graphics, and the Internet. The dictionary provides clear, concise definitions in an encyclopedic style-without grammar or linguistic detail.

At the age of 72, Lily Roberts becomes a national celebrity when she writes her spiritual memoirs. Her children, Alan and Clary, are disturbed by Lily's intimate revelations about her married life. Ten years on, Lily comes to live with Alan, and the bitterness threatens to upset their lives.