Up and up the wind drew him. Haoyou looked about him and saw the wholeworld beneath him. And it was his. The Great Miao, master of the Jade Circus, offers Haoyou the amazing chance to escape his family's poverty -- by becoming a kite rider. Strapped onto a beautiful scarlet-and-gold kite, Haoyou is sent into the sky, earning money, freedom, and unexpected fame. Miao even plans for Haoyou to perform before Kublai Khan himself. From Carnegie Medalist Geraldine McCaughrean comes a dazzling story of adventure, betrayal, family, and sacrifice set in the dramatic world of thirteenth-century China.

Afghanistan, 1975: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what will happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.

Traces the unlikely friendship of a wealthy Afghan youth and a servant's son in a tale that spans the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy through the atrocities of the present day.

War has broken out in the Middle East and all foreigners are fleeing. Instead of escaping with his neighbors, Adam sneaks off to save his dog, which has been left behind. Lost in the desert, Adam meets Walid, an abused camel boy who is on the run. Together they struggle to survive the elements and elude the revengeful master from whom Walid has fled. Cultural and language barriers are wide, but with ingenuity and determination the two boys bridge their differences, helping each other to survive and learn what true friendship is.

It's 1893 and for Cissy and her family, a new life beckons on the prairies of Oklahoma. Along with other settlers, they travel to Florence - a town yet to be built - and prepare for business alongside the Red Rock Railroad track. But the railroad company has other ideas. It wants to buy the land for itself - and when the settlers refuse to sell, the railroad boss swears his trains will never stop in Florence again. Without the train, there is no way the town can survive. So Cissy, her friends, family, and neighbours resolve to stop that train, come what may - by fair means or foul...

Eleven-year-old Phelim and his companions, a Maiden, a Fool, and a strange black Horse, journey to the Stoor Worm's lair to destroy the long-forgotten Worm and its Hatchlings, who have been roused from their slumber by the sounds of war.