New Releases by Margaret Mahy

A novel written for young adults by a New Zealander.

Delphinium spends her tenth birthday aboard a traveling space circus, fighting against the dark forces who are bent on stamping out fun.

The relationship between Tracey Fortune and her brother Jackson is temporarily strained by Tracey''s desire to be a bridesmaid in her cousin''s wedding and by the mysterious messages that Jackson begins to receive.

Tessa Fortune and her cousins want to raise one hundred dollars for the New Zealand National Telethon.

As the only Bancroft in a family of Fortunes, Lolly has always felt left out of her Fortune cousins'' exclusive gang but when her parents separate Lolly discovers a new inner strength and aspects of kinship that go beyond names.

The seven brothers are precursors to the modern comic book super heroes that are so popular. Each has an unusual skill. The first has remarkable hearing. The second can see over vast distances. The third has unusual strength. The fourth has bones of iron. The fifth has legs that can grow as long and thick as tree trunks. The sixth brother can never be too hot. The seventh brother can cry such large tears that they can drown an entire village. Much effort goes into keeping him happy. The key to the story is that they look alike. The Seven Chinese Brothers is for children who are past the time when they are easily frightened because they take everything very literally (because the brothers face death at the hands of the Chinese emperor in this story). Through great imagination in employing their remarkable talents, teamwork, and an indomitable spirit, the brothers survive the wrath of the emperor. This is the hero story of look-alike brothers who each possess a special physical ability. This rendition has a full-bodied elegance. Cada uno de estos siete hermanos tiene una habilidad especial. El primero tiene un excelente oido. El segundo puede ver sin importar la distancia. El tercero posee una fuerza inusual. El cuarto tiene huesos de hierro. El quinto tiene piernas que pueden crecer tan largas y fuertes como el tronco de un arbol. El sexto hermano no es sensible al calor. El septimo hermano puede llorar lagrimas tan grandes que pueden inundar pueblos enteros. Con una gran imaginacion, sus increibles talentos, su fraternalidad y su espiritu indomable, los hermanos tienen que enfrentarse a la colera del emperador.

Tris and Winola find the underrunners, a vast network of tunnels, the ideal place to escape their unhappy lives and act out their fantasies, but the tunnels become a dangerous place when invaded by an unseen stranger.

A collection of short stories by the noted New Zealand author, including "The Giant''s Bath", "The Pumpkins of Witch Ginger", and "The Devil and the Corner Grocer".

After living like a gypsy in Australia all of his life, Pete tries to adjust to living in a permanent place -- his father''s New Zealand hometown where Pete must pass a test to belong to his cousins'' exclusive gang.

In the first of these two short stories, Bassington, a rich little boy who has never had a birthday, decides to steal one from Mrs. Herringbone and Joanna Joy. In the second story, headmistress Tatiana Taffeta seeks an affluent farmer''s hand in marriage.

A fiddle provides more effective protection than a gun; a wobbly table gets fixed; a giant''s daughter saves the day when school is flooded; the residents of Number 10 Timber Lane form a band, using kitchen utensils as instruments, as well as two short poems. Suggested level: junior, primary.

Relates the tangled events that lead the students of the Unexpected School on Hurricane Peak to foil the wicked Sir Quincey and his accomplices and to solve several mysteries.

A high-spirited story about two tyrannical robots who wreak havoc in two very different families.

A guinea pig is in search of his favorite food: grass.

Jake Raven, expecting to dislike her new stepsister and stepbrother, ends up helping them protect an alien from another dimension as he flees from mysterious pursuers with the ability to alter time.

Seventeen kings and forty-two elephants romp with a variety of jungle animals during their journey through a wild, wet night. Suggested level: junior, primary.

Designed to introduce children to a wide range of social activities and relationships as well as general life skills.

The first story concerns and impossibly wealthy small boy who has everything but birthdays. He sets out to steal some, to the wrath of his victims, for each of whom the stolen birthday had special importance. In the second story the headmistress of a select school marries for money with unfortunate results.

A witch''s pill is supposed to cure Robert of the hippopotami who follow him home from school--but there is one disadvantage to the treatment.