New Releases by Peter Dickinson

"A lovely smooth read."—The Washington Post "A witty, affectionately nostalgic masterpiece."—The Columbus Dispatch "As absorbingly readable, as well-written as anything Peter Dickinson has written."—The Times Literary Supplement Praise for Peter Dickinson''s mysteries: "The works of British Mystery Writer Peter Dickinson are like caviar—an acquired taste that can easily lead to addiction. Dickinson . . . does not make much of the process of detection, nor does he specialize in suspense. Instead, he neatly packs his books with such old-fashioned virtues as mood, character, and research."—Time "Dickinson (author of engagingly offbeat thrillers and children''s books) does splendidly here with atmosphere, with the eccentric supporting characters, with the occasionally bizarre comic touches."—Kirkus Reviews In 1926 the British government was worried about revolution. Two million people are about to go on strike and class warfare is about to erupt. Tom Hankey is caught between his love for Judy, a bright young thing, and Kate, a fireball agitator. Brought home from Oxford by his father, Tom volunteers to drive a train in the General Strike. When the train is ambushed, Tom is thrust into the darkest and most threatening regions of English politics. Gritty yet sparkling and full of unexpected turnarounds, A Summer in the Twenties resonates and captivates. Peter Dickinson has twice received the Crime Writers'' Association''s Gold Dagger. His novels include Death of a Unicorn, The Poison Oracle, and many more. He lives in England and is married to the novelist Robin McKinley.

"I think Peter Dickinson is hands down the best stylist as a writer and the most interesting storyteller in my genre." —Sara Paretsky, author of Breakdown Praise for The Poison Oracle: "I have no idea if any of this talk and ac-tion is authentic, and I don''t care. Either way it''s marvellous."—Rex Stout "Intelligent, elegantly written . . . a thoroughly enjoyable read."—Sunday Times Praise for Peter Dickinson''s mysteries: "He is the true original, a superb writer who revitalises the traditions of the mystery genre . . . incapable of writing a trite or inelegant sentence . . . a mas-ter."—P. D. James "Consummate storytelling skill."—Peter Lovesey Take a medieval Arab kingdom, add a ruler who wants to update the kingdom''s educational facilities, include an English research psycholinguist (an Oxford classmate of the ruler) invited to pursue his work on animal communication, and then add a touch of chaos in Dinah, a chimpanzee who has begun to learn to form coherent sentences with plastic symbols. When a murder is committed in the oil-rich marshes, Dinah is the only witness, and Morris has to go into the marshes to dis-cover the truth. The Poison Oracle is a novel of its time that exposes in the everyday language people use humanity''s thinking and unthinking cruelties to one another and to the animals with whom we share this earth. Peter Dickinson has twice received the Crime Writers'' Association''s Gold Dagger. His novels include Death of a Unicorn, A Summer in the Twenties, and many more. He lives in England and is married to the novelist Robin McKinley.

On the lonian island of Hyos, where James Pibble has been sent to protect millionaire Thanassi Thanatos, it is difficult to know what is true. Is there really a lizard that will poison you if it drowns in your milk? Is the man from the Home Office there to kill? Or to save? Or just to play cricket with the local boys under local rules? Why does the grubby English girl live in a hut in a vineyard? She has a mysterious past, true. But then so has everyone else, and most of them have mysterious presents as well . . .

In these collection, you will find stories that range from the mythic to contemporary fantasy to science fiction. You will find a troll, gryphons, a beloved dog, the Land of the Dead, an owl, a minotaur, and a very alien Cat. Earth and Air is the third and final book in a trilogy of shared collections connected by the four classical elements. It follows previous volumes Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits and Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits, written by both Peter Dickinson and Robin McKinley. Ridiki is Steff’s beloved dog, named after Eurydice, whom the poet Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead. When, like her namesake, Ridiki is bitten by a snake and dies, Steff decides that he too should journey to the Underworld to ask the King of the Land of the Dead for his dog back. Mari is the seventh child of a family in which troll blood still runs. When her husband goes missing in a Scottish loch, she must draw upon the power of her blood to rescue him. Sophie, a young girl, fashions a witch’s broomstick out of an ash sapling, and gets more than she bargained for. An escaped slave, Varro, must kill a gryphon, in order to survive. A boy named Yanni allies himself with an owl and a goddess in order to fight an ancient evil. A group of mind-bonded space travelers must face an unknown threat and solve the murder of a companion before time runs out. All of these stories are about, in one way or another, the contrary and magical pull of two elements, Earth and Air. Each story showcases the manifold talents of a master storyteller and craftsman who has twice won the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award, as well as the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. A Junior Library Guild Selection "These unusual, memorable tales from a much-admired writer should appeal both to teens and Dickinson’s adult fans."—Publishers Weekly "Strange, sometimes beautiful tales."—Kirkus Reviews Praise for Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits World Fantasy Award finalist "There is plenty here to excite, enthrall, and move even the pickiest readers."—School Library Journal "... a collection of enchanting tales."—Publishers Weekly Praise for Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits "This collection of beautifully crafted tales will find a warm welcome."—School Library Journal "Dickinson’s offerings are notable for their sophisticated magical thinking and subtlety of expression."—The Horn Book "Dickinson’s stories are told with a storyteller’s cadence."—Booklist “This collection ... offers something for every fantasy fan.”—Library Media Connection Praise for Peter Dickinson''s children''s books: "One of the real masters of children''s literature."—Philip Pullman "Peter Dickinson is a national treasure."—The Guardian "Magnificent. Peter Dickinson is the past-master story-teller of our day."—The Times Literary Supplement Peter Dickinson is the author of over fifty books including Eva, Emma Tupper''s Dairy, and the Michael L. Printz Honor Book The Ropemaker. He has twice received the Crime Writers'' Association''s Gold Dagger as well as the Guardian Award and Whitbread Prize. He lives in England and is married to the novelist Robin McKinley.

Chuck is a whippet. A very nervous whippet, who''s scared of absolutely everything: paper bags, pigeons, supermarket trolleys, cats (even the little fluffy ones). Some people say Chuck''s a wimpet, not a whippet, and Mum keeps pretending she''s going to give Chuck away, but Danielle loves her scaredy-cat whippet and knows that there''s more to Chuck than meets the eye... Seven funny, charming and totally whippet-friendly stories from Peter Dickinson, the winner of several major awards for his books for young readers - and the owner of three whippets!

Master storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson, the team behind Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits, collaborate again to create five captivating tales incorporating the element of fire. In McKinley?s ?First Flight,? a boy and his pet foogit unexpectedly take a dangerous ride on a dragon, and her ?Hellhound? stars a mysterious dog as a key player in an eerie graveyard showdown. Dickinson introduces a young man who must defeat the creature threatening his clan in ?Fireworm,? a slave who saves his village with a fiery magic spell in ?Salamander Man,? and a girl whose new friend, the guardian of a mystical bird, is much older than he appears in ?Phoenix.? With time periods ranging from prehistoric to present day, and settings as varied as a graveyard, a medieval marketplace and a dragon academy, these stories are sure to intrigue and delight the authors? longtime fans and newcomers alike.

Alfredo, a choir boy in 18th-century Italy, loses his family in a fire, and his mysterious Uncle Giorgio spirits him away to their ancestral home below a volcano. There he learns that Uncle Giorgio is the Master of the Mountain; he can control the volcano. He is also an alchemist, able to make gold from the tears of the fiery salamander he captured from the heart of the mountain. Alfredo is his heir, the next Master; and as Alfredo learns the history of his family and its power, he begins to suspect that his uncle is actually a fearsome sorcerer.

While seeking the Ropemaker to restore the ancient magic that will protect their valley, Saranja, Maja, and Ribek must outwit twenty-four of the empire''s most powerful and evil magicians.

THIRTEEN-YEAR OLD EVA wakes up in the hospital unable to remember anything since the picnic on the beach. Her mother leans over the bed and begins to explain. A traffic accident, a long coma . . . But there is something, Eva senses, that she’s not being told. There is a price she must pay to be alive at all. What have they done, with their amazing medical techniques, to save her?

Tilja has grown up in the peaceful Valley, which is protected from the fearsome Empire by an enchanted forest. But the forest’s power has begun to fade and the Valley is in danger. Tilja is the youngest of four brave souls who venture into the Empire together to find the mysterious magician who can save the Valley. And much to her amazement, Tilja gradually learns that only she, an ordinary girl with no magical powers, has the ability to protect her group and their quest from the Empire’s sorcerers.

Examines the history and theory of films adapted from Canadian literature through the lens of gender studies. This study offers readings of works by well-known Canadian authors such as Margaret Atwood, Marie-Claire Blais, and Michael Ondaatje, and by important Canadian filmmakers such as Mireille Dansereau, Claude Jutra, and Bruce McDonald.

What magical beings inhabit earth''s waters? Some are as almost-familiar as the mer-people; some as strange as the thing glimpsed only as a golden eye in a pool at the edge of Damar''s Great Desert Kalarsham, where the mad god Geljdreth rules; or as majestic as the unknowable, immense Kraken, dark beyond the darkness of the deepest ocean, who will one day rise and rule the world. These six tales from the remarkable storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson transform the simple element of water into something very powerful indeed.

Grandad is the most important person in Gavin''s life. But he is suddenly struck down by a massive stroke and is paralysed. The doctors are not optimistic. Gavin begins a desperate emotional journey, against all the odds, to bring his grandfather back to life.

From the author of "Skeleton-In-Waiting" and "The Yellow Room Conspiracy. On her deathbed, an old woman rakes through the years of her life to attempt to learn the truth about a precious possession--one with a dangerous history--so she can die in the manner she has chosen.

When cut off from their kin and lost in the desert 200,000 years ago, Suth and five other orphans struggle to survive and to find their way to safety.

After she and Suth rescue four small children following an attack on Good Place about 200,000 years ago, Noli heeds the warnings of Moonhawk and leads the group to safety.

An unusual suspense story set on an island in the Hebrides where a fanatical sect, led by a ninety-two-year-old scientist, have decided to build the eternal city

A retelling of 32 Old Testament narratives.

Originally published in three separate volumes, this breathtaking epic fantasy from an award-winning author explores the relationship between man and machine. The moment the seal of an ancient tomb in Wales is accidentally broken, the Changes begin, and a brave few must struggle to put an end to the wellspring of chaos.

At a future time in England when anyone knowledgeable about machines is severely punished as a witch, four children dare to aid in the escape of a "witch" left for dead.

After the mysterious Changes begin, twelve-year-old Nicola finds herself abandoned and wandering in an England where everyone has suddenly developed a horror and hatred of machines.

A Greek slave, his dancing bear, and an old holy man journey from Byzantium to rescue the slave''s young mistress from the Huns.

In a bungled attempt to kidnap an ambassador''s son, four revolutionaries make hostages of a hundred children rehearsing an opera.

Celtic and medieval fantasy.

Dragons aren''t real ... or are they? This carefully constructed and beautifully illustrated case for the existence of dragons will convince even the skeptics.

People of the future recreate the Middle Ages by destroying machines and by subjecting anyone found with a machine or a knowledge of mechanics to severe punishment or death.