New Releases by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Suddenly the Prime Minister is repeating all of Ted''s great ideas like Monday''s off for everyone ... there''s definitely something fishy going on! A hilarious comedy caper from award-winning author Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

A Bible Study book for individuals or groups, which explores how the Bible today can help us better to understand themes of forgiveness. Why should we forgive? What if the subject of our forgiveness is underserving? What is Jesus'' scandal of grace? What difference will being able to forgive make to our lives? Forgiveness is part of the all new series, How the Bible can Help us Understand. These short books are aimed at ordinary people committed in their faith and wanting to live Christianly, but not brought up in a Bible-studying tradition. They prompt intelligent thought, reflection and guidance on issues that really matter to people, using illustrations from life and popular culture as well as studies of Bible passages. They are not ''The Bible has all the answers'', but ''How can the Bible contribute to my understanding?''.

How are great turning points in history experienced by individuals? As Britain pulls away from Europe great British writers come together to give voice to their innermost feelings. These writers include novelists, writers of books for children, of comic books, humourists, historians, biographers, nature writers, film writers, travel writers, writers young and old and from an extraordinary range of backgrounds. Most are famous perhaps because they have won the Booker or other literary prizes, written bestsellers, changed the face of popular culture or sold millions of records. Others are not yet household names but write with depth of insight and feeling. There is some extraordinary writing in this book. Some of these pieces are expressions of love of particular places in Europe. Some are true stories, some nostalgic, some hopeful. Some are cries of pain. There are hilarious pieces. There are cries of pain and regret. Some pieces are quietly devastating. All are passionate. Conceived as a love letter to Europe, this book may also help reawaken love for Britain. It shows the unique richness and diversity of British cultures, a multitude of voices in harmony. Contributors include: Hugh Aldersey-Williams, Philip Ardagh, Jake Arnott, Patricia Atkinson, Paul Atterbury, Richard Beard, Mary Beard, Don Boyd, Melvyn Bragg, Gyles Brandreth, Kathleen Burke, James Buxton, Philip Carr, Brian Catling, Shami Chakrabarti, Chris Cleave, Mark Cocker, Peter Conradi , Heather Cooper, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Roger Crowley, David Crystal, William Dalrymple, Lindsey Davies, Margaret Drabble, Mark Ellen, Richard Evans, Michel Faber, Sebastian Faulks, Ranulph Fiennes, Robert Fox, James Fox, Neil Gaiman, Evelyn Glennie, James Hanning, Nick Hayes, Alan Hollinghurst, Gabby Hutchinson-Crouch, Will Hutton, Robert Irwin, Holly Johnson , Liane Jones, Ruth Jones, Sam Jordison, Kapka Kassabova, AL Kennedy, Hermione Lee, Prue Leith, Patrick Lenox, Roger Lewis, David Lindo, Penelope Lively, Beth Lync, Richard Mabey, Sue MacGregor, Ian Martin, Frank McDonough, Jonathan Meades, Andrew Miller, Deborah Moggach, Ben Moor, Alan Moore, Paul Morley, Jackie Morris, Charles Nicholl, Richard Overy, Chris Riddell, Adam Roberts, Tony Robinson, Lee Rourke, Sophie Sabbage, Marcus Sedgwick, Richard Shirreff, Paul Stanford, Isy Suttie, Sandi Toksvig, Colin Tudge, Ed Vulliamy, Anna Whitelock, Kate Williams, Michael Wood, Louisa Young

Vom Loser zum Mädchenschwarm wider Willen Eigentlich ist George ein ganz normaler Junge. Mädchen interessieren ihn nicht – na ja, vielleicht bis auf Daniella. Und in der Regel interessieren sich Mädchen auch nicht für ihn. Na ja, vielleicht bis auf Daniella. Doch dann bekommt er zu seinem Geburtstag ein ungewöhnliches Geschenk von seinem Großvater und plötzlich kann er sich vor Aufmerksamkeit und Liebesbekundungen kaum noch retten. Was ist bloß passiert? Wie wird er all die Mädchen wieder los? Und warum interessiert sich ausgerechnet Daniella nicht mehr für ihn?

Deux trois gouttes de lotion et votre vie bascule... du jour au lendemain ! Georges n’est pas un élève populaire. Au contraire. C’est un solitaire, dont la grande passion est de jouer à des jeux de rôles avec un autre garçon qui n’est même pas son ami. Mais le jour où le grand-père de Georges lui offre une vieille lotion toute moisie, sa vie change. Soudain, toutes les filles du collège semblent s’intéresser à lui... ce qui n’a pas que des avantages !

A one-of-a-kind story of heart, humor, and finding one’s place in the universe. Prez knows that the best way to keep track of things is to make a list. That''s important when you have a grandfather who is constantly forgetting. And it''s even more important when your grandfather can''t care for you anymore and you have to go live with a foster family out in the country. Prez is still learning to fit in at his new home when he answers the door to meet Sputnik—a kid who is more than a little strange. First, he can hear what Prez is thinking. Second, he looks like a dog to everyone except Prez. Third, he can manipulate the laws of space and time. Sputnik, it turns out is an alien, and he''s got a mission that requires Prez''s help: the Earth has been marked for destruction, and the only way they can stop it is to come up with ten reasons why the planet should be saved. Thus begins one of the most fun and eventful summers of Prez''s life, as he and Sputnik set out on a journey to compile the most important list Prez has ever made—and discover just what makes our world so remarkable.

Two brothers, Damian and Anthony, accidentally find themselves caught up in a train robbery during Britain''s countdown to join the Euro. Out of nowhere a bag full of money falls right in from of Damian''s feet and the brothers become extremely wealthy. They can buy everything they ever wanted. However, there is only one problem; they only have seventeen days to spend all the money before it becomes worthless. Meanwhile, the crooks who stole the money in the first place are closing in.

George is a self-confessed social reject who spends more time with his Warhammer figures than actual people - but when he''s given a bottle of aftershave called ''Desirable'', women can''t resist him How will he cope with his new-found popularity? And what will happen if the magic wears off?

Oh oh! Das Wunderauto Tschitti hat seinen Chronomaten aktiviert und die Familie Tooting landet kurzerhand im finstersten Kreidezeitalter, wo Klein-Harry fast von einem hungrigen Tyrannosaurus Rex verspeist wird. Und auch in der Eiszeit ist es nicht besonders gemütlich, dafür geht es im New York der 20er Jahre umso lustiger zu. Doch vielleicht hätte Klein-Harry doch nicht das Dinosaurierei mitnehmen sollen ...

''Et vroum, la voilà qui redémarre : une lecture chitty chitty chouette!'' (DLire)

Two refugee brothers from Mongolia are determined to fit in with their Liverpool schoolmates, but bring so much of Mongolia to Bootle that their new friend and guide, Julie, is hard-pressed to know truth from fantasy.

A baby blown out of an upstairs window by a WWII bomb lives to hear others tell the tale… A woman embarks on a long-term obsession with a city landmark, abandoning her lover for the Liver… A bricklayer working on the foundations of a never-built cathedral becomes its evangelist, its full splendour soaring only in his mind… Bringing together fiction from some of the city’s most celebrated writers, The Book of Liverpool traces the unique contours that decades of social and economic change can impress on a city. Set against key historical moments from the Second World War to the Capital of Culture year, these stories question what ‘belonging’ and ‘home’ mean in the Liverpudlian context, from the regenerated city centre to satellite suburbs, from the sparring cathedrals to the no-go concrete housing estates. Liverpool emerges in these short stories as a city in constant flux: haunted by ghosts, buoyed up by myths, and shifting with an ebb and flow like the Mersey itself. "A literary gem that will share a niche in my library with M.R. James and E. F. Benson..." - Metapsychology online Read review. "Words thrive here, carried on the saline breeze of the Mersey and twisted round agile tongues into sentences as resilient as the sandstone blocks in the Town Hall walls..." - The Liverpool Daily Post, 11 Jul 08 Read review.

We know Stanislaw Lem, whether or not we consciously know that we do. He may only be recognised in the West as the author of the twice-filmed novel, Solaris, but the influence of his other work is legion. From computer games (The Sims was inspired by one of his short stories), to films (the red and blue pills of The Matrix owe much to his Futurological Congress); from the space comedies of Red Dwarf to the metaphysical satires of Douglas Adams... the presence of this masterly Polish writer can be traced far and wide. Nor was his genius confined to fiction. Lem''s essays and pseudo-essays borne out of the military industrial tensions of the Cold War have outlived their original context and speak to the most current developments in virtual reality, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence. To celebrate his name, as well as his vision, this anthology brings together writers, critics and scientists who continue to grapple with his concerns. British and Polish novelists join screenwriters, poets, computer engineers, and artists, to celebrate and explore Lem''s legacy through short stories and essays - two literary forms that, as Lem knew well, can blend together to create something altogether new. As one of the barriers to Lem''s fame was language, this book also features specially commissioned translations: three stories never to have appeared in English before. Lem was always ahead of us. It''s time we caught up.

''Highly engaging and fascinating... this thought-provoking collection reminded me why I used to like science fiction so much... Eventually, one hopes, science fiction will regain its rightful place - as once again stranger than science.'' - The Guardian, 20 Dec 09. ''All hit, no miss... thought-provoking at worst, and stunning at best... shows that science can inspire anyone and everyone.'' – New Scientist, 5 Dec 09. ''Inspiring'' – THE, 19 Nov 09. ''A diamond of compression.'' – Financial Times, 20 Dec 09. When It Changed is an attempt to put authors and scientists back in touch with each other, to re-introduce research ideas with literary concerns, and to re-forge the alloy that once made SF great. Composed collaboratively – through a series of visits and conversations between leading authors and practicing scientists – it offers fictionalised glimpses into the far corners of current research fields, be they in nanotechnology, invertebrate physiology, particle physics, or software archaeology. From Planck''s Length (the smallest indivisible distance) to Plankton (potential saviours of the Earth''s ecosystem), from virtual encounters between Witgenstein and Turing, to future civilisations torn asunder by different readings of the Standard Model, together these stories represent a literary ''experiment'' in the true sense of the word, and endeavour to isolate a whole new strain of the SF bug. * * Featuring Sara Maitland''s ''Moss Witch'' - Runner Up in the BBC National Short Story Prize 2009.* *

** Winner of the 2008 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Anthology** In 1919 Sigmund Freud published an essay that delved deep into the tradition of horror writing and claimed to understand one of its darkest tricks. Like a mad scientist, he performed literary vivisection on a still-breathing body of work, exploring its inner anatomy, and pulling out mysterious organs for classification. His aim: to present to the world a complete theory of ‘das unheimliche’, the uncanny. In the spirit of this great experiment, 14 leading authors have here been challenged to write fresh fictional interpretations of what the uncanny might mean in the 21st century, to update Freud’s famous checklist of what gives us the creeps, and to give the hulking canon of uncanny fiction a shot in the arm, a shock to the neck-bolts... ''It’s not too great a stretch to see Comma as the literary equivalent of Factory Records.'' - The Herald, 2 Dec. ''Delightful and disturbing'' - The Independent on Sunday, 14 Dec. ''A masterclass in understated creepiness... a deliciously macabre collection that the old Austrian might well have enjoyed.'' - Book of the Week, Time Out, 12 Jan. ''If we need the uncanny – and I suspect we do – then we also need it updating... laudable.'' - Book of the Week, The Independent, 2 Jan. ''A bold idea.'' - The Guardian, 3 Jan.

Where does fear lurk in 21st century life? In a technological age hard-wired to keep information flowing and the unknown at bay, what irrationalities still linger for horror writers to tap into? This anthology - the first in a new series from Comma - offers 15 very different responses to the question. From ancient curses kept alive in internet chat-rooms to malevolent children''s TV characters acquiring lives of their own, Phobic shines a torch into the unlit areas of the modern subconscious and suggests the more we know, the more we realise how worried we really should be.

The Tootings plan to go home, but they accidentally send themselves back to the Jurassic Age, and after being chased by a T-rex they head to Prohibition-era New York where Chitty enters a race to the lost city of El Dorado and back again.

Die berührende Geschichte einer Freundschaft zwischen zwei Kulturen Julie soll sich ein bisschen um den Neuen in ihrer Klasse kümmern: Dschingis, ein Flüchtlingskind aus der Mongolei. Schließlich hat er keine Ahnung, wie man Fußball spielt, was man zum Schwimmen mitnimmt, und dass man nicht den ganzen Tag in einem Fellmantel herumläuft. Dafür weiß Julie bald alles über die Mongolei, dass dort Riesenblumenbäume wachsen, dass man Adlern dort eine Mütze aufsetzt, um sie zu beruhigen, und wie warm ein Fellmantel ist. Doch dann, eines Nachts, werden Dschingis und seine Familie abgeholt ... Warum nur wird der gar nicht mehr so fremde Junge wieder weggeschickt, obwohl sich Europa für ihn immer mehr nach Zuhause anfühlt? Wieso soll er seine gerade gewonnenen Freundschaften direkt schon wieder aufgeben? Sensibel, humorvoll und voller Fantasie bereitet "Der unvergessene Mantel" komplizierte Themen wie Abschiebung für junge Leser*innen ab 10 Jahren auf. Zu Recht erhielt Autor Frank Cottrell Boyce dafür zahlreiche Auszeichnungen, unter anderem den Guardian Award und den Deutschen Jugendliteraturpreis. Neben dem einfühlsamen Schreibstil begeistert das Buch auch mit einer Vielzahl von Polaroidfotos, die die Geschichte noch greifbarer machen. Ein in jeder Hinsicht bereicherndes Leseerlebnis!