New Releases by Mark Haddon

In any 24 hours there might be sleeping, eating, kids, parents, friends, lovers, work, school, travel, deadlines, emails, phone calls, Facebook, Twitter, the news, the TV, Playstation, music, movies, sport, responsibilities, passions, desires, dreams. Why should you stop what you''re doing and read a book? People have always needed stories. We need literature - novels, poetry - because we need to make sense of our lives, test our depths, understand our joys and discover what humans are capable of. Great books can provide companionship when we are lonely or peacefulness in the midst of an overcrowded daily life. Reading provides a unique kind of pleasure and no-one should live without it. In the ten essays in this book some of our finest authors and passionate advocates from the worlds of science, publishing, technology and social enterprise tell us about the experience of reading, why access to books should never be taken forgranted, how reading transforms our brains, and how literature can save lives. In any 24 hours there are so many demands on your time and attention - make books one of them. Carmen Callil Tim Parks Nicholas Carr Michael Rosen Jane Davis Zadie Smith Mark Haddon Jeanette Winterson Blake Morrison Dr Maryanne Wolf & Dr Mirit Barzillai

Una novela que no se parece a ninguna otra. Nominada por los estadounidenses como una de las 100 mejores novelas en la serie de PBS The Great American Read. Elogiada con entusiasmo por autores consagrados como Oliver Sacks e Ian McEwan y ganadora del Premio Whitbread y el Premio de la Commonwealth al Mejor Primer Libro, ha merecido la aprobación masiva de los lectores en todos los países donde se ha publicado. Su protagonista, Christopher Boone, es uno de los más originales que han surgido en el panorama de la narrativa internacional en los últimos años, y está destinado a convertirse en un héroe literario universal de la talla de Oliver Twist y Holden Caulfield. A sus quince años, Christopher conoce las capitales de todos los países del mundo, puede explicar la teoría de la relatividad y recitar los números primos hasta el 7.507, pero le cuesta relacionarse con otros seres humanos, Christopher es autista. Le gustan las listas, los esquemas y la verdad, pero odia el amarillo, el marrón y el contacto físico. Si bien nunca ha ido solo más allá de la tienda de la esquina, la noche que el perro de una vecina aparece atravesado por un horcón, Christopher decide iniciar la búsqueda del culpable. Emulando a su admirado Sherlock Holmes -el modelo de detective obsesionado con el análisis de los hechos-, sus pesquisas lo llevarán a cuestionar el sentido común de los adultos que lo rodean y a desvelar algunos secretos familiares que pondrán patas arriba su ordenado y seguro mundo. Reseñas: «Conmovedora, verosímil y muy divertida.» -Oliver Sacks «Soberbia. Mark Haddon escribe con sabiduría y sentido del humor.» -Ian McEwan «No pierdan la oportunidad de mirar el mundo a través de sus ojos.» -El Periódico «Reflexiones de una belleza y una profundidad inusuales.» -Babelia «Páginas llenas de ternura.» -El Cultural «Un libro apasionante.» -Blanco y Negro Cultural «Excepcional. Al mirar a través de los ojos de Christopher, vemos el mundo con mayor claridad y nos comprendemos mejor a nosotros mismos. ¿Qué más se puede pedir a un libro?» -The Sunday Telegraph ENGLISH DESCRIPTION A bestselling modern classic—both poignant and funny—about a boy with autism who sets out to solve the murder of a neighbor''s dog and discovers unexpected truths about himself and the world. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Christopher''s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

An explosive, highly charged, and hilarious middle-grade adventure from Mark Haddon, acclaimed author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. From the moment that Jim and his best friend, Charlie, bug the staff room and overhear two of their teachers speaking to each other in a secret language, they know there''s an adventure on its way. But what does "spudvetch" actually mean, and why do Mr. Kidd''s eyes flicker with fluorescent blue light when Charlie says it to him? Perhaps Kidd and Pearce are bank robbers talking in code. Perhaps they''re spies. Perhaps they are aliens. Whatever it is, Jimbo and Charlie are determined to find out. There really is an adventure on its way. A nuclear-powered, one-hundred-ton adventure with reclining seats and a buffet car. And as it gathers speed and begins to spin out of control, it can only end one way . . . with a BOOM!

Christopher Boone ist fünfzehn Jahre, drei Monate und zwei Tage alt. Er kennt alle Länder und deren Hauptstädte sowie sämtliche Primzahlen bis 7507. Er liebt die Farbe Rot, hasst hingegen Gelb und Braun. Unordnung, Überraschungen und fremde Menschen versetzen ihn in Panik, denn Christopher leidet an einer leichten Form von Autismus. Als aber der Pudel in Nachbars Garten mit einer Mistgabel umgebracht wird, beginnt Christopher, aus seiner fest gefügten, kleinen Welt auszubrechen: Mutig stellt er den schändlichen Verbrecher und erfährt außerdem, was es heißt, in der Welt der Erwachsenen zu leben ...

Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor''s dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.

La storia di una famiglia comune che fa di tutto per rendersi unica e conferma l''eccezionale talento di Mark Haddon nel raccontare i risvolti tragicomici della nostra vita.

Els mestres d''en Jim i en Charlie amaguen alguna cosa molt misteriosa. Quan els nois sorprenen dos professors parlant una llengua secreta d''amagat intueixen que una aventura és a punt de començar. Què deu significar aquella paraula estranya que els enigmàtics mestres han repetit amb entusiasme? Spudvetch... Sigui com sigui, en Jim i en Charlie voldran arribar fins al final i descobrir quina una n''està passant. Una aventura explosiva de l''autor d''El curiós incident del gos a mitjanit! Traducció d''Anna Mauri.

From the phenomenally bestselling author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time comes Mark Haddon’s first collection of poems. The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea reveals a poet of great versatility and formal talent. All the gifts so admired in Haddon’s prose are in strong evidence here—the humanity, the dark humour, and the uncanny ventriloquism—but Haddon is also a writer of considerable seriousness, lyric power, and surreal invention. This book will consolidate his reputation as one of the most imaginative writers in contemporary literature.

George Hall is an unobtrusive man. A little distant, perhaps, a little cautious, not quite at ease with the emotional demands of fatherhood or of manly bonhomie. “The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely.” Some things in life can’t be ignored, however: his tempestuous daughter Katie’s deeply inappropriate boyfriend Ray, for instance, or the sudden appearance of a red circular rash on his hip. At 57, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden and enjoying the freedom to be alone when he wants. But then he runs into a spot of bother. That red circular rash on his hip: George convinces himself it’s skin cancer. And the deeply inappropriate Ray? Katie announces he will become her second husband. The planning for these frowned-upon nuptials proves a great inconvenience to George’s wife, Jean, who is carrying on a late-life affair with her husband’s ex-colleague. The Halls do not approve of Ray, for vague reasons summed up by their son Jamie’s observation that Ray has “strangler’s hands.” Jamie himself has his own problems — his tidy and pleasant life comes apart when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to Katie’s wedding. And Katie, a woman whose ferocious temper once led to the maiming of a carjacker, can’t decide if she loves Ray, or loves the wonderful way he has with her son Jacob. Unnoticed in the uproar, George quietly begins to go mad. The way these damaged people fall apart — and come together — as a family is the true subject of Haddon’s hilarious and disturbing portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely. A Spot of Bother is Mark Haddon’s unforgettable follow-up to the internationally beloved bestseller The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Once again, Haddon proves a master of a story at once hilarious, poignant, dark, and profoundly human. Here the madness — literally — of family life proves rich comic fodder for Haddon’s crackling prose and bittersweet insights into misdirected love.

Als een man na zijn pensionering hoort dat zijn dochter voor de tweede keer gaat trouwen met een man uit de arbeidersklasse, stort zijn wereld in.

" Eigentlich ist bei den Halls, einer typischen Vorstadtfamilie, alles in bester Ordnung: Die Tochter will zum zweiten Mal heiraten, der Sohn ist schwul und meistens allein, die Mutter geht fremd, und das Familienoberhaupt droht unmittelbar nach Antritt der Rente verrückt zu werden - dies aber auf die sanftmütigste Art der Welt. Als George Hall in der Kabine eines Kaufhauses einen schwarzen Anzug anprobiert, entdeckt er einen dunklen Fleck an seiner Hüfte. Sein erster Gedanke: Krebs. Sein zweiter: Wie bringe ich mich am besten um? Er erleidet einen Blackout, den er vor seiner Familie geheim zu halten versucht. Seine Tochter Katie hat da ein ganz anderes Naturell: Mit immer neuen Lebensentwürfen hält sie die Familie in Atem. Jetzt kündigt sie an, dass sie ein zweites Mal heiraten wird. Als das misstrauisch beäugte Paar bei George und seiner Frau seine Aufwartung macht, erwischt es den Familienvater zum zweiten Mal: Mitten in einer Unterhaltung bekommt er keine Luft mehr, und die Worte zerfallen ihm zu sinnlosen Geräuschkaskaden. Wenig später erwischt er auch noch seine Frau beim Seitensprung. Aber George ist nicht der einzige Hall, der leidet. Sohn Jamie hat endlich mal einen festen Freund, weiss aber nicht, ob er diesen auf die Hochzeit seiner Schwester mitnehmen soll. Er zögert so lange, bis der Geliebte Reissaus nimmt. Was umso absurder ist, als jetzt auch noch Katies Trauung ins Wasser zu fallen droht ... Aus der Perspektive seiner vier schillernden Hauptfiguren entfaltet Mark Haddon ein ebenso komisches wie abgründiges Drama über jene menschliche Institution, die am verlässlichsten Katastrophen produziert und daher für den Fortbestand unserer Gattung unentbehrlich ist: die Zwei-Kinder-Standardfamilie mit Vorstadthaus und Garten. " "Meisterhaft" " (The Independent) lauscht Haddon dem ganz gewöhnlichen Familienwahnsinn ungewöhnliche Töne ab und schürt die Spannung seiner Geschichte wie in einem Kriminalroman. "

Narrated by a 15-year-old autistic savant obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, this dazzling novel weaves together an old-fashioned mystery, a contemporary coming-of-age story, and a fascinating excursion into a mind incapable of processing emotions.

Qui a tué Wellington, le grand caniche noir de Mme Shears, la voisine ? Christopher Boone, " quinze ans, trois mois et deux jours ", décide de mener l''enquête. Christopher aime les listes, les plans, la vérité. Il comprend les mathématiques et la théorie de la relativité. Mais Christopher ne s''est jamais aventuré plus loin que le bout de la rue. Il ne supporte pas qu''on le touche, et trouve les autres êtres humains... déconcertants. Quand son père lui demande d''arrêter ses investigations, Christopher refuse d''obéir. Au risque de bouleverser le délicat équilibre de l''univers qu''il s''est construit...

Criado entre professores especializados e pais que definitivamente não sabem lidar com suas necessidades especiais, Christopher Boone tem 15 anos e sofre do mal de Asperger''s, uma forma de autismo. Adora listas, padrões e verdades absolutas. Odeia amarelo e marrom e, acima de tudo, odeia ser tocado por alguém. Christopher nunca foi muito além de seu próprio mundo, não consegue mentir nem entende metáforas ou piadas. É também incapaz de interpretar a mais simples expressão facial de qualquer pessoa. Um dia, Christopher encontra o cachorro da vizinha morto no jardim, é acusado do assassinato e preso. Depois de uma noite na cadeia, decide descobrir quem matou Wellington, o cachorro, e escreve um livro, relatando suas investigações.

On a rainy day at the seaside, Joe sets out on a magical journey on the Ocean Star Express.

First published 1994. Thanks to Agent Z, Ben escapes from a holiday in hell with mad Aunt Gwen and Uncle Roger

A man remembers his boyhood fascination with the moon and the night mankind first bounced through the dust in the Sea of Tranquillity.

Pools winner and total wazzock, Dennis Sidebottom has moved next door to Ben bringing his squeaky-clean kids with him. The Crane Grove Crew Ben, Barney and Jenks soon find themselves on the Sidebottom blacklist. Accused of being troublemakers and a bad influence, they decide to shake up the Sidebottom universe with the help of Agent Z, a meteorite and a stolen penguin. It''s Agent Z''s finest hour! From the Trade Paperback edition.

Day-dreamer Ben finds himself involved in real action when he meets Agent Z. Suggested level: intermediate.

Titch Johnson wants to be a special and a champion. But all he''s good at is balancing a fork on the end of his nose. 8 yrs+.

The titles in this series of puzzle books aim to keep children amused for hours. Each book contains a range of different puzzles including spot-the-difference, anagrams, crosswords and more.