New Releases by Michelle Magorian

Super sporty tale with a strong message of self-belief and a lovely inter-generational friendship at its heart, from the award-winning author of Goodnight Mister Tom. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 7+ Ben knows he''s taking on a lot, offering to do the first hundred lengths of the swimathon himself, but he''s desperate to impress Jack and Harry. But as he swims - and swims - Jack realises that his ''friends'' aren''t going to show. Now he either has to forfeit or swim another hundred lengths! But support and encouragement come from an unlikely quarter and Ben pushes his way to victory. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 7+

The holiday was supposed to give them a break, a chance to get away and heal after the loss of the baby. But Hannah''s parents are still listless and distracted, and her toddler brother doesn''t understand what''s going on. And worst of all, something feels wrong in Hannah''s room. Her mum and dad don''t understand what she''s trying to tell them, so one stormy night Hannah sneaks out to find someone who can tell her the truth about the Front Room ...

A rich and dramatic story of a young girl who manages to overcome many obstacles in her attempts to lead a normal life after World War II The war is over, but Elsie is still fighting her own battles. She''s bullied because she''s the only scholarship pupil at the grammar school, and she has an awkward relationship with her father as he struggles to assume a normal life after fighting in the war. But when she begins working at the local theater, Elsie discovers she can escape . . . A Spoonful of Jam is the second of The Hollis Family books, following Cuckoo in the Nest.

Charming story of a boy trying to get to grips with his new sibling and all the changes to the family.

After World War II, Henry misses his father who died a war hero, but learns to cope with his loss when he discovers an old film camera and unravels the mystery behind its contents.

Seventeen-year-old Rose is looking forward to a summer of freedom with her sister Diana. But the war has turned everything upside down and she finds herself battling with first love, prejudice and duty. Uncovering an extraordinary love story from another war, Rose discovers a secret that will change everything.

Originally published: London: Methuen Children''s, 1994.

12-year-old Josie attends a finishing-style stage school where she is firmly told she has no acting ability. Fortunately she finds herself cast by a boy in an American comedy - but mistaken for the star she is kidnapped and imprisoned in a dockside warehouse. Managing to escape, she and a fellow runaway take refuge in the Theatre Royal, Stratford. They are offered work by the legendary Joan Littlewood, founder of the Theatre Workshop Company. Much to Josie''s surprise this leads to a role in a Saturday-morning film. However, the kidnappers haven''t given up yeat and they are on Josie''s trail.

Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child. Tom tucked a blanket round him, drew up a chair by the fire and watched Willie fall asleep. The tales he had heard about evacuees didn''t seem to fit Willie. ''Ungrateful'' and ''wild'' were the adjectives he had heard used, or just plain ''homesick''. He was quite unprepared for this timid, sickly little specimen. Britain, 1940. With World War Two raging all around, young children are being sent from their homes in the city to the countryside for safety. When eight-year-old Willie Beech first arrives on Tom Oakley''s doorstep, neither are quite sure what to make of each another. Brought up in terrible poverty, Willie is terribly shy, and totally unprepared for village life - but the gruff-but-gentle ''Mister Tom'' quickly takes him under his wing. Neither he nor Willie could ever have predicted the journey they will go on together - nor the unbreakable bond that will be formed. Winner of the Guardian Children''s Fiction Award, and rightly hailed as a true classic of children''s literature, Goodnight Mister Tom is a beautifully told, deeply moving story about the power of friendship, kindness, hope - and love. ''Everyone''s idea of a smash-hit novel: full-blown characters to love and hate, moments of grief and joy, and a marvellous story that knows just how to grab the emotions'' - Guardian

What would you rather, parents whose dreams are bigger than yours, or parents who have no dreams for you at all? How would you cope in a small boat with eight angry people giving you a bellyful of flack? Who''d you prefer to have as a friend, an old wrinkly who''s there for you or a couple of mates who make you feel small? Ages 10+.

Every Saturday Steven watches his sister at her ballet class - jumping and dancing - and he longs to join in. But his mother says that real boys don''t dance; they play games like basketball. However, there''s one skill that you need for both ballet and basketball - and, fortunately for Steven, it''s the thing that he loves doing best Michelle Magorian says her inspiration for Jump came from the comments people used to make about her eldest son when he was still in nappies, saying I was surprised to hear people talking about all the boyish activities he would take part in when he was older and thought, ''What if my son preferred dance to rugby?''

A seventeen-year-old girl in 1940''s England spends an unchaperoned summer at a cottage in a seaside village, where a series of diaries by the cottage''s most recent inhabitant, together with some intense personal experiences, open up her life to reveal her true wants and priorities.

Having attended day care with his sister, Eric wonders who will look after him there, now that his sister is old enough to go to school.

London is poised on the brink of World War 11. Timid, scrawny Willie Beech -- the abused child of a single mother -- is evacuated to the English countryside. At first, he is terrified of everything, of the country sounds and sights, even of Mr. Tom, the gruff, kindly old man who has taken him in. But gradually Willie forgets the hate and despair of his past. He learns to love a world he never knew existed, a world of friendship and affection in which harsh words and daily beatings have no place. Then a telegram comes. Willie must return to his mother in London. When weeks pass by with no word from Willie, Mr. Tom sets out for London to look for the young boy he has come to love as a son.

Sent to America from England at age seven to escape war-torn England, Rusty returns five years later to go to a strict English boarding school and renew her relationship with her family, who now seem like strangers to her.