Anthea Bell

Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.

The circumstances of Monsieur Gallet's death all seem fake: the name the deceased was travelling under and his presumed profession and, more worryingly, his family's grief. Their haughtiness seems to hide ambiguous feelings about the hapless man. In this haunting story, Maigret discovers the appalling truth and the real crime hidden behind the surface of lies.

"The #1 bestselling international phenomenon that asks, If you won the lottery, would you trade your life for the life of your dreams? Jocelyne lives in a small town in France where she runs a fabric shop, has been married to the same man for twenty-one years, and has raised two children. She is beginning to wonder what happened to all those dreams she had when she was seventeen. Could her life have been different? Then she wins the lottery-and suddenly...

Sixteen-year-old Gwyneth discovers that she, rather than her well-prepared cousin, carries a time-travel gene, and soon she is journeying with Gideon, who shares the gift, through historical London trying to discover whom they can trust.

"That is a monstrous big duckling." a puzzled mother duck says when the last of her chicks hatches out of his odd-shaped egg. "Can he be a turkey chick? Well, we shall soon find out." From that day on, everyone knows that this duckling is different. Teased for his awkward appearance by even his own brothers and sisters, he steals away, friendless, marching on bravely through obstacles at every turn. The seasons change, and so does the duckling,...

A grieving widow and professional mortician discovers there was more to the hit-and-run accident that took her husband's life than she originally thought, and vows to find out and get revenge on those responsible.