What if you woke up tomorrow and everything had changed? Money is worthless. Your friends are gone. Armer robbers roam the streets. No one is safe. For Matt and his little brother, Taco, that nightmare is a reality. Their only hope of survival is to escape through the Channel Tunnel. But danger waits on the other side... Stay or go. What would you do?

Tad and Cissie are on the run with Khush the elephant. Clammy-fingered, steely-eyed Hannibal Jackson will do anything to capture the animal. Maybe even kill... Staying ahead means being faster and smarter-but how do you hide an elephant? Especially one with a mind of its own.

'This play we're doing, it's not true, is it? I mean, there never was a Sweeney Todd who killed people?' Jackus never wanted to be in the school play, but he didn't have much choice. Now he sees that what's unfolding on-stage is more than just acting, more than just pretend. Strange things are happening. Terrifying things. Ghostly footprints. Unexplained whispering. The touch of a cold hand in the shadows... What has been woken by the play's dark words? Can Jackus stop it, or are the actors doomed to play out the tragedy to the bitter end?

When Ashley climbs up and graffiti tags a wall in the middle of the night, she has no idea how serious the consequences will be. Someone sees her, someone dangerous. Now Ashley is being watched... and followed. Then the notes start arriving, becoming progressively more sinister. When the threats turn deadly, Ashley realizes she can't confront the stalker alone and seeks the help of local gang leader Eddie Beale. But Eddie's help doesn't come for free-he expects something in return. Ashley has to decide how far she's willing to go-and what she's prepared to risk-to unmask her stalker.

Dinah, Lloyd and Harvey thought the Demon Headmaster was gone for good, so when they move back to their old house everything seems safe at first. Then strange things start to happen. Libraries are closing down, the internet keeps crashing, and telephones refuse to work. When people start to wear matching badges with a grabbing green hand, and begin speaking robotically, Dinah and the boys know they need to find out what's going on. Their search leads them to the Hyperbrain, a fantastic new computer invention that accesses the human brain to compile its data. But why has its inventor started to act so strangely, and who is the mysterious controller at the Artificial Intelligence Unit? It sounds like it could be the Demon Headmaster. But surely that's impossible... isn't it?

Club Purple is the place to be. What makes it so fantastic is the mysterious DJ Pardoman, who keeps his face hidden behind an ever-changing electronic mask. When a competition is announced to unmask him, everyone wants to know who's behind it. To win, entrants have to find out as much as possible about DJ Pardoman. Of course, Dinah, Lloyd, Harvey and the other SPLAT (Society for the Protection of our Lives Against Them) members want to try their hand at winning. During their research, Dinah makes a discovery on the internet-something she can't even tell the rest of SPLAT about. But when she goes off to investigate alone, she doesn't realize that she's being lured into a trap... set by the Demon Headmaster! Can SPLAT foil his evil plans once more? Or will the Headmaster succeed in using Dinah in his mission to control the country?

John Cox is dead, killed in an explosion while at work. His younger sister Hayley can't believe he's gone. Determined to see the place of his death, she flies to Moscow with John's fiancee, Annie-but the site they're shown isn't where John died. Suddenly it seems that there's more to his death than a tragic accident. Using a tracking system to locate John's mobile phone, Hayley and Annie find the real site of the explosion... but they are completely at the mercy of John's former Russian boss and his English speaking son, who have taken them there. Upon recovering the phone, it's clear that John is still alive. Meanwhile, in the Siberian forest, John is being nursed back from the brink of death by a village woman. As he slowly recovers he begins to piece together the truth: he's at the heart of a dangerous power struggle between two brothers who are desperate to silence him-for good.

Things at school have been looking up for Dinah, Harvey and Lloyd since their defeat of the villainous Demon Headmaster. The pupils are acting normally, and their new headmaster seems perfectly ordinary. Then the arrival of a new computer game, Octopus Dare, with its competition to find the Junior Computer Brain of the Year, sends ripples of excitement through the school. Only Harvey and his friend Ingrid refuse to get involved. Because ever since the game arrived all the other pupils-even Lloyd and Dinah-have become obsessed with it. Suddenly everyone is competing to win, but it's clever Dinah who makes it to the final. And though she is fixated with the game, she doesn't like the way it makes her feel... it's almost as if she's being hypnotized. Too late Dinah realizes that she's being used to access the private computer files of the Prime Minister-the daring new target of none other than the Demon Headmaster!

When Dinah is fostered by the Hunters she thinks her biggest problem will be fitting in with her foster-brothers, Lloyd and Harvey. However, once she starts at her new school it's clear that there's more to worry about. All the children, apart from a handful including Lloyd and Harvey, are too well-behaved-robotic almost-and oddly keen to please the creepy headmaster. The three children set out to discover the nature of his influence over everyone... but then Dinah finds herself saying and doing things she has no power over. Soon they uncover the headmaster's wicked plan. Controlling the school is just a practice run. He has set his sights on dominating the entire nation! The children must foil him before he succeeds... but with Dinah under his spell they've got a challenge on their hands.

Dinah, Lloyd and Harvey hoped they'd seen the last of the Demon Headmaster when they moved to a new village. However, almost immediately, they can tell something's not right about the place. There's a loud buzzing noise coming from the biogenetic research centre, and a creeper that grows extraordinarily fast. Why are the security guards so scary? And why does everybody in the village use exactly the same words to describe the research centre? Dinah becomes even more suspicious when someone pretending to be a doctor comes to their house, and manages to trick them into giving DNA samples... With the help of their new friend, Simon, the children investigate and find a way into the building. Inside, they discover a huge egg. Hatching from it is the result of an experiment conducted using Dinah's DNA-an experiment that is the work of the Demon Headmaster. This time, he's determined that no one will stand in the way of his plans!

Hunky Parker is the new craze. His drooling, dribbling pig face is everywhere: on T-shirts and badges, and there are even horrible pig-trotter trainers and pig-swill yogurts in the shops. But it's when the Hunky TV shows air nationally that the trouble really begins. Suddenly, people are going crazy for Hunky goods... and when the shops have sold out, dangerous rioting starts. Dinah and her friends are suspicious. Is it really just a trend, or is something more sinister afoot? Watching a Hunky video provides a valuable clue. Dinah and the rest of SPLAT set off in search of the real Hunky Parker. But someone is blocking them at every turn-someone who wants to keep the identity of Hunky Parker a secret... Someone who plans to control the entire nation! 'Gillian Cross's novels should be prescribed for all cases of reading reluctance among eight-to ten-year-olds. The Revenge of the Demon Headmaster has the same sort of appeal as 'Famous Five' or 'Secret Seven' novels.'

Cassy lives with her granny, until the night that she hears strange footsteps coming into their flat. The next morning, she is packed off to her mum's — a squat in London that her beautiful, simple mother shares with a couple of actors. Cassy does her best to throw herself into her mother's life, even agreeing to take part in their travelling show called 'Wolf'. But she can't ever get rid of the feeling that something is following her, and something bad is going to happen. Her fear grows as time passes, until Cassy knows she must face up to her past: who her father is, why he left and where he has gone. What she doesn't know is that some questions are better left unanswered...

Collins Big Cat is a guided reading series for ages 4-9 edited by Cliff Moon. Top children's authors and illustrators have created fiction and non-fiction books that your children will love to read, banded to help you choose the right book for every child. Practical teaching notes are included at the back of each book. Brother Aelred loved singing and looking after the pigs. But it was his secret weapon that stopped the Vikings getting the treasure!

At the end of The Dark Ground, Robert finally managed to escape from the tiny underground world in which he had found himself trapped. He needed Lorn's help to do it, and he had to leave her behind. Now, back in his own world and his own size again, he realises that Lorn will die if she has to spend the winter underground. To rescue her, he has to do two things: entrust his friend Tom with the incredible story of what happened to him, and find the 'real' Lorn above ground. Using all of their ingenuity, Tom and Rob finally track down the girl for whom they are searching. Her name is Hope, and she's been locked in a pit by her misguided parents. She is filthy, backwards, and completely dependent on others. How can she help Lorn? Getting Hope out of her prison will take more courage and patience than the boys feel they have. And then they still have to rescue Lorn. Time is ticking away. With each passing second, Lorn feels inexplicably called by a strange force drawing her into the dangerous tunnels of her underground world while, above ground, Tom and Rob begin the desperate battle to save her.

Charlie is always trying to find unusual things to capture on camera and takes a chance photograph in the dark of something swimming in the river. He thinks he knows what it was, but no one believes him. When the photo's displayed at school, new boy Peter seems fascinated. It seems bizarre. But Peter's weird? When he looks at people in a particular way, odd things seem to happen. As Peter becomes an outsider Charlie gets involved, worried that Peter's being bullied. Soon Charlie finds himself unravelling a mystery that's too strange to imagine one that becomes a matter of life and death.

Tug wakes up in an unfamiliar place with people he doesn't recognize and is uncertain about his own identity. Meanwhile, Jinny knows that something strange is happening in the house and decides she must unravel the mystery herself in order to save the boy. She decides on a dangerous course of action to set Tug free, but will she be in time to save him? BLGillian Cross is a critically-acclaimed and well-known author who has won may awards including the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Children's Novel Award, and the Smarties Prize.

William and his brother are desperate to have a tree house in the grand old tree at the bottom of the garden. Their father has to go away, but is determined that the tree house should be built. So every month he sends a parcel home to the boys — a parcel containing things they'll need for the tree house. But will their father be home in time for Christmas — in time to join them in the tree house to eat the chestnuts that are growing there... Gillian Cross has won many major awards including the Carnegie Medal, the Smartis Prize, and the Whitbread Award.

For years Paula and her father have dreamed and talked about trying to find the lost city of Atahualpa. And now, without warning, Paula is taken out of school and finds her dream come true. Together with her parents and Finn, the photographer, she travels to South America to begin the journey. But as they descend towards the jungle Paula senses that all is not quite as it should be. Why is her father so moody and impatient? And why does he insist that the expedition is being shadowed by sinister enemies? Paula realizes that her loyalty to her father is not enough — she must discover for herself what the truth is about the journey she is making.

Whan Janis Finch storms out of a family row, it starts a chain of events which transforms her whole life. For it's in the motorway cafe, minutes later, that she meets the unknown rock band, Kelp, who talk her into coming to their gig that night. Janis goes along for the ride and finds herself increasingly provoked by Christie, Kelp's arrogant lead singer. He pushes her into singing with them, and winds her up into a fever of rage, awe, and attraction. So when Chrisite asks her to join the band, Janis feels powerless to refuse — and her life explodes.

The coming of the railway is the most spectacular and exciting thing Jem has ever seen. But not everyone is so enthusiastic. People don't like change, and they certainly don't like the rough gangs of navvies hanging around. But for Jem and his sister, Kate, there's nothing they can do — they're caught up in the middle of the hatred and uneasiness that is surrounding the village. Can they dissolve the tension before it erupts into violence?