Child Marriage

Being the new kid at school is hard, but Sophie has a secret weapon: her vivid imagination and her oversized, trusted Big Book of Monsters, an encyclopedia of myths and legends from all over the world. Sophie is convinced she is a monster because of the monster mark on her face. At least that's what she calls it. The doctors call it a blood tumor, and it covers almost half of her face. The Big Book of Monsters gives Sophie the idea that there might be a cure for her monster mark.

Timmy is in Key West, Florida, ostensibly for the honeymoon of his mother and Doorman Dave...if they even got married, which Timmy doubts. Unfortunately for Timmy, crime doesn't take a vacation. And because Total has fled to Cuba seeking political asylum, Timmy must rely on a new partner for help: Doorman Dave's nephew, Emilio. And as if things couldn't get more hectic, Timmy's pants have been stolen by a six-toed cat.

February 1948. Ruth has been whisked off to the lonely Rook Farm to investigate the discovery of long-buried treasure with her mother. But at the farmhouse, she finds secrets lurk around every corner. Joe, the farmer's son, is hiding something about the treasure, while land girl Audrey watches their every move. But before Ruth can find out more, the treasure is stolen. With a storm coming, Ruth must race to uncover the secrets of the treasure keepers before all their lives are changed forever.

Since the publication of Running on Empty: Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect, many thousands of people have learned that invisible Childhood Emotional Neglect, or CEN, has been weighing on them their entire lives, and are now in the process of recovery. Running on Empty No More: Transform Your Relationships will offer even more solutions for the effects of CEN on people's lives: how to talk about CEN, and heal it, in relationships with partners, parents, and children.

Who's the fairest of them all? Young women from every settlement in the land are being handpicked to enter The Pageant, a contest reminiscent of Miss Universe from the old days. Gwyneth West's social-climbing mother wants her to compete, but Gwyn isn't so sure....The Pageant is government-sponsored. If you're lucky enough to be chosen, participation is mandatory. Aggressive competition is allowed, even encouraged. And then there's the prize...Dallas Black, otherwise known as The Dark Prince, will propose to the winner.

Susan Forward draws on real-life voices and stories of both women and men struggling to free themselves from the frustrating, hurtful, and infuriating relationships with their toxic in-laws. Dr. Forward offers you highly effective communication and behavioral techniques for getting through to partners who won't or can't stand up to their parents. Next, she lays out accessible and practical ways to reclaim you marriage from your in-laws. She shows you what to say, what to do, and what limits to set. If you follow these strategies, you will find some peace in your relationship with them.

Floss's parents are divorced, and she divides up her week, spending five days with her mum, her new step-dad and her baby half-brother. The other two days Floss spends with her dad, helping him to run his greasy spoon cafe. But their simple arrangement is thrown into disarray when Floss's mum decides to move to Australia. Making the difficult decision to stay at home, Floss moves in permanently with her dad and they muddle along happily together, surviving on chip butties and enjoying visits to the local funfair.

Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.

Ten-year-old Tracy was taken into care a while ago, and now she lives in a Children's Home. She doesn't know exactly where her mum lives, but she used to have long, pretend phone calls with her. Tracy's had two foster families, but things just didn't work. She allows us to share her hopes for the future in this touching and often very funny tale.

When my parents split up they didn't know what to do with me ... My family always lived at Mulberry Cottage. Mum, Dad, me – and Radish, my Sylvanian rabbit. But now Mum lives with Bill the Baboon and his three kids. Dad lives with Carrie and her twins. And where do I live? I live out of a suitcase. One week with Mum's new family, one week with Dad's. It's as easy as A B C. That's what everyone says. But all I want is to go home – back to Mulberry Cottage...

Em adores her funny, glamorous dad – who cares if he's not her real father? He's wonderful to her, and to her little brother Maxie and sister Vita. True to form at Christmas, Dad gives them fantastic presents, including a real emerald ring for his little Princess Em.Unfortunately he's got another surprise in store – he's leaving them. Will Dad's well-meaning but chaotic attempts to keep seeing Em and the other children help the family come to terms with this new crisis?

The third novel in the phenomenally successful Tracy Beaker series, read by Dani Harmer, star of the acclaimed TV series. Tracy Beaker is back . . . and she's just desperate for a role in her school play. They're performing A Christmas Carol and for one extremely worrying moment, the irrepressible Tracy thinks she might not even get to play one of the unnamed street urchins. But then she is cast in the main role. Can she manage to act grumpy, difficult and sulky enough to play Ebeneezer Scrooge?

Lauren, Jack, Ruby and Billy live by the seaside with their mum and dad. But their parents are always arguing, and then their dad moves out. Lauren and Jack decide they have to get them together again. And so begins Operation Eiffel Tower... in which the four children try to raise money to give their mum and dad a treat in an attempt to make them happier.

April knows she was abandoned in a rubbish bin as a newborn baby, fourteen years ago. Now she's happily settled with her foster mother, Marion – but there's a part of April that's desperate to know where she really came from, and who she really is. If only she could remember her real mother – or even find her ...

I'm Tracy Beaker, the Great Inventor of Extremely Outrageous Dares – and I dare YOU not to say this is the most brilliant story ever! I've bought a big fat purple notebook for writing down all my mega-manic ultra-scary stories in. But especially for my own story. Of how my foster-mum, Cam, has turned out to be a real meanie. No designer clothes, when I really need them. A pokey flat, and a horrible new school. No wonder I keep bunking off ... Still, it will have to do until my real mum comes and gets me. And until then, no-one is going to be better at the Dare Game than me!

Best-selling author of Too Long a Stranger and Julia's Last Hope, Janette Oke is loved for her inspirational novels. In Once Upon a Summer, Oke weaves the tender tale of 12-year-old, Joshua, who has been raised by his 18-year-old aunt and their grandparents. He has grown accustomed to their close-knit family, but that is all about to change when Joshua's aunt considers marriage. Johnny Heller touchingly narrates the trials of faith this family must face.

Twelve-year-old Ben is a shy, quiet kid. His life isn’t perfect, but he feels at home in his New York City apartment. Then his dad takes a job in London, and everything changes. His parents separate, and Ben’s mom moves them back to her hometown of Austin, Texas. Ben’s simple life is suddenly complicated. He misses his apartment, his best friend, Jake, and his dad.

What if your favorite characters came to life? Billy’s spending the summer in a lakeside cabin that belongs to the mysterious Dr. Libris. But something strange is going on. Besides the security cameras everywhere, there’s Dr. Libris’s private bookcase. Whenever Billy opens the books inside, he can hear sounds coming from the island in the middle of the lake. The clash of swords. The twang of arrows. Sometimes he can even feel the ground shaking. It’s almost as if the stories he’s reading are coming to life! But that’s impossible...isn’t it?

Cosmo’s family is falling apart. And it’s up to Cosmo to keep them together. He knows exactly what to do. There’s only one problem. Cosmo is a golden retriever.

Becoming a parent, once the expected outcome of adulthood, is increasingly viewed as a potential threat to the most basic goals and aspirations of modern life. We seek self-fulfillment; we want to liberate women to find meaning and self-worth outside the home; and we wish to protect the planet from the ravages of climate change. Weighing the pros and cons of having children, millennials and zoomers are finding it increasingly difficult to judge in its favor. With lucid argument and passionate prose, Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman offer the guidance necessary to move beyond uncertainty.