Fifteen-year-old Laurence Roach just wants a normal life, but it's not easy when your mum is a depressed alcoholic, and your six-year-old brother thinks he's a dog. When Mum fails to come home one night, Laurence tells nobody, terrified he and his brother will be taken into care if anyone finds out. Instead, he attempts to keep up the pretence that Mum is still around: dressing up in her clothes to trick the neighbours and spinning an increasingly complicated tangle of lies. After two weeks on their own, running out of food and money, and with suspicious adults closing in, Laurence finally discovers what happened to his mother. And that's when the trouble really starts... A compelling thriller filled with some hilarious and surreal moments. Fifteen Days Without a Head is a tender, honest story about family, forgiveness and hope.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. She longs for the freedom to make her own choices, but when she breaks the 'no flying' rule, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki, a descendant of dragons whose greatest defence is her secret ability to shift into human form. And her rare ability to breathe fire makes her desirable, and important, to the survival of the draki. Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. There she meets gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: he and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slipping away, and if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

Set in Georgian England, fifteen-year-old Sophia is trapped by the limitations of living in a man's world. Forced by her father to give up everything she loves, Sophia is ordered to make a new life in Bath. By day, she is trapped in the social whirl of balls and masquerades. By night, she secretly swaps her ball gowns for breeches, and turns to highway robbery to get her revenge... When one man begins to take a keen interest in her, Sophia must keep her distance, or risk unmasking her secret life.

Crystal Brook has always been the dud Savant in her family; paranormal powers just aren't her thing. Dropping out of school with a clutch of 'E' grades and no future, she lives in the shadow of her high-flying sister Diamond. On a trip to Denver, a chance encounter with the dashing Benedict brothers leaves Diamond head over heels in love and engaged to be married. Crystal, on the other hand, is unimpressed by their charms... in fact no boy can annoy her as much as Xav Benedict! Back in Venice, their families assemble for Diamond's wedding and a powerful enemy seizes the opportunity to attack. Crystal and Xav must join forces to save their loved-ones, unlocking a secret that, until now, has lain deeply buried...

When Callum and his friends find Iona on Callum's farm they try to chase her back into the village. But Iona runs from them up into the hills. It is late and dark and snow lies in the mountain gullies. Worried for Iona's safety, Callum follows to find her shivering with cold but refusing to leave. She is guarding a secret hidden in the forest above the dark waters of the loch. So they make a deal. Iona shares the secret and in return Callum allows her back onto the farm. They form a deep bond of friendship and make a promise to keep their secret safe. It is a promise that will change Callum's world forever... She turned her head, and fixed me with her brilliant yellow eyes. She looked right into me. And suddenly I knew then, in that one moment, I was as much part of her world as she was of mine. Soar above the clouds in this enthralling tale of friendship, loyalty, and hope.

What do you do when your soulmate turns out to be a thief? Steal her, of course. Phoenix was raised within the Community, a gang of thieves with paranormal powers, under the control of a harsh master known as the Seer. The notion that there's a soulmate out there for every person with a paranormal gift is mere myth in Phoenix's world. That is until the Seer gives Phoenix the details of her next target, Yves Benedict. He's more than just her next victim, he is her destiny. To be together, Phoenix must break away from the Community but resistance against the Seer puts them both in mortal danger. Phoenix has never trusted anyone before, now it's time to trust Yves with her life.

First Experiences with Biff, Chip & Kipper introduce your child to new situations through entertaining and sensitively written stories. Each story is packed with facts and humour, making them perfect for reading together. In this story Biff, Chip and Kipper are very excited about going on a plane. Join them on their adventure!

Sara Crewe is a very rich little girl. She first comes to England when she is seven, and her father takes her to Miss Minchin's school in London. Then he goes back to his work in India. Sara is very sad at first, but she soon makes friends at school. But on her eleventh birthday, something terrible happens, and now Sara has no family, no home, and not a penny in the world...

In this Very Short Introduction Kenneth Morgan provides a wide-ranging and thematic introduction to modern Australia. He examines the main features of its history, geography, and culture since the beginning of the white settlement in New South Wales in 1788. Drawing attention to the distinctive features of Australian life he places contemporary developments in a historical perspective, highlighting the importance of Australia's indigenous culture and making connections between Australia and the wider word. Balancing the successful growth of Australian institutions and democratic traditions, he considers the struggles that occurred in the making of modern Australia.

At Home With English is a fun activity workbook for children, aged 5-7 years, to do at home. Using different themes and a variety of tasks such as filling in missing letters, copying, matching rhyming words, making lists, and reordering sentences children learn about vowels, different word endings and beginnings, blending letters together, and how to build sentences. The full colour illustrations encourage using a pencil in a controlled way and improve hand-eye coordination. The illustrated step-by-step activities are simple enough for children to work through on their own, or equally perfect to do together with an adult giving encouragement. Useful tips support adults so that they can encourage learning gently — plus there are more than enough funky stickers to reward your child as they complete each activity! This book is ideal to build confidence in writing at primary school.

At Home With Letter Forms is full of learning activities for young children to do at home. Children, from 3 years old, learn to write letters with confidence. The book uses a variety of fun tasks such as tracing, colouring, and join-the-dot activities to develop hand-eye coordination, promote recognition of vowels, and encourage children to form different letter shapes. The fun illustrations encourage using a pencil in a controlled way. Useful tips support adults so that they can encourage learning gently — plus there are more than enough funky stickers to reward your child as they complete each activity! This book is ideal to build confidence in writing for a child's first years at school.

At Home With Maths is a fun activity workbook for children, aged 5-7 years, to do at home. Each double page is devoted to a different maths topic and, using a variety of tasks such as drawing, tracing, filling in missing numbers, children will learn about patterns, shapes, adding, subtracting, measuring, money, diagrams, and time. Each page is divided into a Warm Up task devoted to number work, a Learn About task to teach a particular concept, and Now Try These tasks to give a practical application. The colour illustrated step-by-step activities are simple enough for children to work through on their own, or equally perfect to do together with an adult giving encouragement. Useful tips support adults so that they can encourage learning gently — plus there are more than enough funky stickers to reward your child as they complete each double page spread! This book is ideal to build confidence in maths at primary school.

At Home With Numbers is full of learning activities for young children to do at home. Children, from 3 years old, will learn to recognize and understand the numbers 1 to 5 through drawing, colouring, and matching activities. The book uses a variety of fun tasks to get children counting and sequencing, identifying sets of particular quantities, understanding the terms 'more' and 'less' and doing some basic addition and subtraction. The fun illustrations encourage using a pencil in a controlled way and improve hand-eye coordination. Useful tips support adults so that they can encourage learning gently — plus there are more than enough funky stickers to reward your child as they complete each activity! This book is ideal to build confidence in numeracy for a child's first years at school.

At Home With Pattern and Shape is full of learning activities for young children to do at home. Children from 3 years old, will begin to understand patterns, shapes, and sizes. The book uses a variety of fun tasks such as colouring and matching activities to develop visual discrimination, three-dimensional awareness, try simple measuring as well as to start using the right vocabulary. The fun illustrations encourage using a pencil in a controlled way and improve hand-eye coordination. Useful tips support adults so that they can encourage learning gently — plus there are more than enough funky stickers to reward your child as they complete each activity! This book is ideal to build confidence in pattern and shape, and size recognition for a child's first years at school.

At Home With ABC is full of learning activities for young children to do at home. Children, from 3 years old, can practice saying and writing the alphabet, from a to z. Each page gives a letter and asks the child to trace it and write it independently. The fun illustrations encourage using a pencil in a controlled way which develops pencil grip and improves letter formation. The activities encourage children to learn alphabetical order, to recognize lower case letters, and to know the names of each letter and its sound. Useful tips support adults so that they can encourage learning gently — plus there are more than enough funky stickers to reward your child as they complete each activity! This book is ideal to build confidence in literacy for a child's first years at school.

A fresh new look for the Oxford Junior Dictionary which features thousands of words and phrases in alphabetical order, in a clear and accessible design. Each entry contains simple, easy-to-read numbered meanings, word classes, and age-appropriate example sentences. These are taken from well-known children's authors, such as Dick King-Smith, Jacqueline Wilson, and Roald Dahl. They show the words actually in use to reinforce meaning, and inspire children to use language more effectively, making them more independent in their reading and writing. Tinted panels provide extra language information on overused words, words belonging to the same family, and key language topics (such as connectives or apostrophes). This is powered by the Oxford Children's Corpus, a unique electronic database of millions of words of writing for children. Extra material carefully levelled for this age includes information on spelling success, punctuation, simple grammar, key overused words (with alternatives) as well as word origins, prefixes and suffixes. Navigation is easy with the guidewords, and the full alphabet on every page with a dark blue tab on the letter of the page. For free additional word games, puzzles, and activities, go online to the www.oxforddictionaries.com/schools website.

Often overshadowed by his major novels, Fitzgerald's short stories demonstrate the same originality and inventive range, as he chronicles with wry and astute observation the temper of the hedonistic 1920s. Here is the only critical edition of Tales of the Jazz Age available in paperback as first published. It was Fitzgerald's second collection of stories, and it contains some of the best of his short fiction, including May Day and The Diamond as Big as the Ritz, two of his greatest, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, recently adapted into a full-length movie. The collection also highlights Fitzgerald's ability to work in a variety of forms--parody, a one-act play, fantasy — with unrivalled versatility. Fitzgerald scholar Jackson R. Bryer provides an in-depth appreciation of the stories and examines the making of the volume and its reception. The volume also includes an up-to-date bibliography, a chronology of the author's life and work, and explanatory notes identifying contemporary references and allusions.