Based on a true story of blowing a a cowshed in the 1970s, told in rhyming verse from a child's perspective by Jennifer and illustrated by her sister Margery, just as they remember it. Suggested level: junior.

Say thank you to your sister for me. His parting words cause sixteen year old Ruth to flee to Australia in shame and fear, telling her mother, it's just a year mum, then I'll be home. But even there her secret drives her to the isolation of the outback. Seven years later the death of her mother brings Ruth home to England. Now she must confront her sister, Alexis. But there are darker secrets that threaten to tear apart the family she thought she knew and Alexis' betrayals are not over. Sometimes you can't keep running. In a world of lies and betrayal by the people she loved, is Ruth strong enough?

Foxmask is the second book of a fantasy duet from Juliet Marillier, weaving history and folklore into a saga of adventure, romance, and magic. The Norseman Eyvind, a fierce and loyal Wolfskin, came to a new land on top of the world to find his destiny. With his priestess bride Nessa he saved the land and weathered the treachery that was caused by Eyvind's blood-sworn friend Somerled. After much pain and sorrow the two lovers have managed to create a society where the Norse warriors and the gentle folks of the Orkney Isles live and thrive in contentment at last. A decade and more has passed since the devastating events of the creation of the settlement and Eyvind and Nessa have watched their children grow and thrive in peace. But not all on the islands are content or at peace. Thorvald, the young son of Margaret, widow of the slain king and Eyvind's war leader, has always felt apart and at odds with all he knows. He learns upon his coming to manhood that he is not his father's son but that of the love that Margaret bore for the hated Somerled and that Somerled was not killed for his treachery but sent on a boat, adrift with little more than a knife and skein of water, doomed to the god's will. Thorvald is determined to find a boat and cast off to the West in a desperate bid to find a father he never knew...and to find out if he is made of the same stuff as the heinous traitor. The tragedy of this scheme would be horrific enough...if it were not for the fact that Creidhe, the winsome daughter of Eyvind and Nessa has loved Thorvald since birth and unbeknownst to him conspires to go along on this most perilous of quests. What happens to them on their journey of discovery will ultimately change the lives of all they know and love...and will doom (or redeem) an entire people. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

This book although full of stories taken from a childhood spent in the country and family life in the city is really about the frustrations and triumphs that are part of the human experience. These true stories will make you laugh one minute and cry the next as you read the scenarios taken from the interaction among people, animals, and the weather. They are all stitched together with lessons taken from God's Word. You'll enjoy fascinating stories from farm life in the fifties; lessons learned and rites of passage; snapshots of a country family; praise for the Creator; lessons about marriage and divorce; fun with children and grandchildren; a testimony from a lifelong relationship with God.

Claude has an intuitive faith in something splendid and feels at odds with his contemporaries. The war offers him the opportunity to forget his farm and his marriage of compromise; he enlists and discovers that he has lacked. But while war demands altruism, its essence is destructive

It's summer in the '70s and an idea is hatched to go eel hunting on the Manawatu River. With home-made spears, under the cloak of darkness, the intrepid eelers set off. But everything does not go according to plan. The river is darker and deeper than expected, the eels are slippery and determined not to be caught , and a gruesome discovery is made. Based on a true story. Includes factual notes about eels, and eel conservation.

British agent Joe Wilderness returns in “Lawton’s ongoing recreation of Cold War chicanery . . . one of the great pleasures of modern spy fiction” (Mick Herron, award-winning author of the Slough House series). It’s London, the swinging sixties, and by all rights, MI6 spy Joe Wilderness should be having as good a time as James Bond. But alas, his postings are more grim than glamorous. In the wake of an embarrassing disaster for MI6 in a divided Berlin, Wilderness is reprimanded with a posting to remote northern Finland under the guise of a cultural exchange program to promote Britain abroad. Bored by his work, with nothing to spy on, Wilderness strikes a deal with his old KGB pal Kostya to smuggle vodka into the USSR. But there is something fishy about why Kostya has suddenly turned up in Finland—and MI6 intelligence from London points to a connection with cobalt mining in the region, a critical component in the casing of the atomic bomb. Wilderness’s posting is getting more interesting by the minute, but more dangerous too. Moving from the no-man’s-land of Cold War Finland to the wild days of the Prague Spring, and populated by old friends—including Inspector Troy—and old enemies alike, Hammer to Fall is a gripping tale of deception and skullduggery, of art and politics—a page-turning story of the always-riveting life of the British spy. “Lawton scores another hit.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A jaw-dropping finale that will leave readers palpitating for more.” —Booklist (starred review) “A terrific thriller: fun, satisfying, and humane.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)