Julian is an octopus
by Felix Bruzzone
A boy becomes an octopus overnight and must learn how to deal with it.
A boy becomes an octopus overnight and must learn how to deal with it.
Ghadi is a young teenager of Lebanese origin, living in Brussels. Like so many Lebanese emigrants, Ghadi’s family comes to Lebanon during the summer holidays. Ghadi spends his summer with his cousin and friends in the family’s mountain house, among whom Rawan, the daughter of his grand-parent’s neighbors. Ghadi and Rawan are very close friends, and at the end of summer, when each of them goes their separate ways, they stay in touch via e-mail. The novel is built on their correspondence. From the moment the plane lands, Ghadi misses Lebanon and his friends, dreaming of the next summer. He has many friends at school, but he is also bullied by an older boy. Rawan, with her sense of humor and creativity is quite popular among her friends, and that year decides to run for the elections of the students’ representatives. Tensions at home are nevertheless more and more palpable, as Rawan’s father regularly comes home in a very bad temper. Rawan is convinced that her parents are on the verge of divorce. Having overheard a phone conversation, she also believes that her father has a lover. This situation is distressing, and Rawan has trouble concentrating at school. She feels lonely, and her anxiety pushes her away even from her closest friends. Meanwhile, in Brussels, Ghadi gets mixed up in drugs, unwillingly, and falls under the power of the boy who’s been bullying him. Each on their own, Rawan and Ghadi will find ways out of their problems, and will learn and grow from their experiences, while their friendship strengthens. With this novel for young adolescents (13 year olds), the two authors tackle issues that are central in the lives of young teens all over the world. The relationship to family members, to friends and classmates, drugs and violence, unemployment, racism, exile, identity and roots, are all issues that are touched upon in the novel.
Oscar is a very pretty peacock with beautiful feathers, yet he is never arrogant. Meanwhile, Willy, a brown cockerel is jealous of Oscar's feathers and always bullies Oscar. One day, Willy is stuck in a bush. No animal wants to help him, except a certain beautiful peacock.
My daddy has a secret. His secret was in the form of little men, locked in a box in the middle of a dark room. Sometimes, the little men disturb my father, until Father has to run away. I want to help Father, I'm going to. But how?
Barry got an assignment from his teacher to visit a jpb that he's interested in. He always been enamoured by his uncle's unique occupation, which is a coffeeshop owner. Barry also wants to have a coffeeshop! So, Barry visits his uncle's café in hope to learn more about coffee and what it takes to be a barista. So many things to learn!
In the footsteps of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series comes Andy Woodage's debut novel and our entrance into his bio-engineered fantasy world. The After-Time Chronicles: One Small Spark is a young-adult fantasy novel of good, evil, genetically engineered creatures, romance, blood, and the search for belonging. Imagine a world without oil, where metals are only available if they can be salvaged or recycled. Imagine if coal was running out. It’s a world where armies no longer build metal monsters, but biological horrors. A world where genetic engineering has become the art of war. This is 12-year-old Jothan’s world. Orphaned by a terrible accident, he dreams of leaving his uneventful life with his grandparents on the family’s griffin farm. However, when a catastrophic attack wipes out every homestead in The Zoological Zone, his world is turned upside down. He finds himself thrust into a story larger than he ever dreamed, embarking on a rough journey with a mysteriously appearing warrior to the fabled ‘Temple of Elohim’. Accompanied by his best friend, the griffin Gozell, Jothan sets off across a land ravaged by poverty and wild creatures. Battling his way across the dangerous landscape, his eyes are opened to an empire in the grip of war and unrest... with the ever increasing weight of his role in events to come. Will they make it to the Temple? Will they be welcomed when they arrive? Can Jothan unravel the secrets that seem to control the lives of everyone he meets, including his mysterious saviour?
Al is an unusual elephant born with the ability to change into different things, including turning into human. His magic tricks helps save other elephants from poachers.
Alice is a young girl who out of curiosity, follows a tourist car and eventually gets lost. She lives in the forest on her own until she is found by kind gorillas.
On her ninth birthday, a lonely orphan named Bella gets a visit from a giraffe. The giraffe later takes her to Giraffe Land to meet the queen. While in Giraffe Land, Bella breaks the spell of of a witch who had planned on destroying Giraffe Land.
Everything is lost. Lena’s enemies have taken over the invisible city and launched a witch hunt for time travellers. Together with Bobbie, Lena takes refuge in the future and tries desperately to find other rebels. The near future is already very different compared to her present life: in 2031 climate change is undeniable and people pay by using implanted memory chips, which is frightening enough. Then her chronometer picks up a faint signal – from Dante. Lena can hardly wait to see him again. But can she be sure the signal is genuine? Things take a dark turn when she is visited by a group of time tourists; in a distant future, time travel is big business. But no one seems to care about the chaos and damage this kind of tourism can cause – or even that it could destroy humanity itself. For Lena, everything is on the line: the existence of the invisible city, the fate of humanity’s forgotten stories – and even her love for Dante. 12+ years The finale of this enthralling fantasy trilogy. English sample translation available!
The hottest summer of the century. Four houses lost among the wheat fields. The big ones are locked in the house. Six children, on their bicycles, venture into the burning and abandoned countryside. In the middle of that sea of ears hides a frightening secret, a secret that will change forever the life of one of them, Michele, a 9-year-old boy. The story is set in the torrid summer of 1978, in the countryside of an unidentified southern Italy, but evoked with rare descriptive force. In this landscape dominated by the contrast between the blinding light of the sun and the darkness of the night, Ammaniti alternates, with wise narrative moments, comedy, the world of children's relationships, the language and the burlesque wisdom of children, their tenacity, the strength of friendship and the drama of betrayal. And at the same time he sketches an unforgettable display of adult characters. A novel of self-discovery through the most extreme risk and the need to face it, Io non ho paura becomes a poignant farewell to the age of play and amazement, to the magical energy that makes us fight monsters. And it insinuates itself under the skin of all of us, like a light stab in the chest.
What a disaster! Kwiatkowski’s favourite milk tastes of mango and caramel. Who could have interfered with the milk cartons from the supermarket? Clearly there is something fishy going on here. Especially as the manager of the supermarket can only come up with the flimsiest of excuses. A famous private detective will certainly not allow himself to be fobbed off like this! And so very soon Kwiatkowski finds himself entangled in a mysterious case which requires all his great skills…
Private detective Kwiatkowski never fails to solve a case! A trip to Athens? Kwiatkowski can hardly believe his luck when Olga, an old friend, sends him an invitation. But no sooner has he arrived in Greece than he finds himself caught up in a very tricky case: a greenhorn detective named Hercules needs his help to expose the handiwork of two unscrupulous fraudsters. It is a matter of honour that even during his holidays Kwiatkowski must use his superskills. Soon the two detectives are on the move among the ancient temple walls in their search to solve the mystery of the goddess Athene’s nose…
Become an explorer! Go with Lias on an exciting mission and solve the puzzles that will lead you to your goal. Eventually you must decide: how will the adventure continue? 3 paths – 3 adventures – which of them is for YOU? Join Lias, Mojo and Cookie on a mission to the Himalayas: together they must find out what has happened to Lias’s father. He disappeared six months ago and the only thing he left behind was his expedition diary, which is full of strange clues and puzzles. The reader will be able to move onto the next stage only if you can decipher them. A great adventure awaits you! And you decide In the end, you must decide: How should the adventure continue for you and the Explorer Team? Hunt with Lias through the forgotten world. Go with Tashi to discover the eternal ice or follow Cookie and Mojo through fire and lava. You will have to choose which of the Explorers you want to accompany on the next adventure.
This intrepid hamster plunges into every adventure with full cheeks! Humboldt is a detective, adventurer and – a hamster. His size doesn’t stop him from helping the people of Villy Village out of all sorts of fixes whenever he’s not helping his owner Babs and her daughter Elli in the post office. No problem is too big for him! Only his owner’s money worries leave him flummoxed. But then Babs and Elli win the lottery and are over the moon – until they receive an anonymous postcard. Humboldt’s life is suddenly in dire straits because the unknown blackmailer wants Babs and Elli’s lottery ticket – or he’s going to hurt Humboldt. When the police refuses to get to the bottom of the case, Humboldt decides to take matters into his own paws. He’s keen to put a stop to this lottery villain’s antics! HAMSTER HUMBOLDT. SMALL AND STEADY WINS THE RACE is a detective and adventure story full of animal-entertainment for girls and boys aged 8+.
A girl torn between two brothers. Regardless of which one she falls in love with it will be disastrous for the other. Christopher and Adrian have sworn that no girl will ever come between them again, because there is a sleeping monster inside Adrian, just waiting to hurt his brother. But then Jessa comes to High Moor Grange… Jessa would do anything to find her sister Alice, who has been registered as missing for five years. High Moor Grange is the first clue she has been given after all this time – but apart from a ruin shrouded in mist, all she finds there are the owners of this dilapidated manor house. Jessa suspects that they both know more about Alice’s disappearance than they admit. Christopher wants nothing more than to be rid of her, and constantly gets on her nerves with his arrogance – and even his warm-hearted brother Adrian seems to be harbouring some secrets. Jessica knows that she ought to stay away from the twin brothers, because instead of finding answers at High Moor Grange, she finds herself in danger of losing her heart in a battle against a 200-year-old curse. Dark, irresistible and deeply romantic – a modern Beauty and the Beast story by the queen of emotions!
The Dark Castle family receives an invitation to a party at Highhorror Castle. Lilo and Miss Rüdiger are immediately eager to go. And of course Luisa should go with them. But humans are strictly forbidden to set foot in Castle Highhorror. “Who cares?”, say Lilo and Luisa, and at first everything seems fine: Luisa gets in as a perfect witch. But then the girls learn about a protective magic spell which covers the whole of the castle: unauthorized beings will be turned for ever into stone… Only a secret book of magic spells can save Luisa now!
Flora is very excited: together with her magic owl Goldwing, she is to be part of a new team. The owl rulers of the Magical Kingdom have summoned them to Featherland, a hidden place in a mysterious monastery. There they meet the snowy owl Nordis, the spectacled owl Claro and, of course, Jona, who always tries to compete with Flora. How will they ever manage to make a team? It’s not long before they are given their first job: during the night of the next full moon they must help one another to awaken the magic of Featherland – and this proves to be more difficult than expected. Because suddenly Claro disappears from the face of the earth. And without him, no magic can ever succeed…
Hooray! I’m really happy that I’ve got a brilliant best friend like Cheyenne. I can simply tell her anything and everything, and the two of us have wonderful adventures together. Best of all, though, is that we have no secrets from one another. But it’s better if nobody else gets to know about them – especially the silly Lamb girls. Have you also got a brilliant best friend like Cheyenne? If you have, you can both write down or draw all your secrets, adventures and even wishes or jokes here. This is a book that’s only for you!