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Rock Hollow
‘It was a large heavy silver and ancient-looking key. It was the sort of key that opened a treasure chest or unlocked doors to secret chambers.’There is nothing exciting about young Victoria Plant’s life. But this is all about to change with the finding of an old key. The key unlocks the door to a secret and supernatural world. Victoria encounters the wicked Count De Ville and his faithful black cat; they are as old as the hills and transcend time to bring about the end of what still remains of the Rock Hollow clan. Can Victoria help to defeat the dastardly army of fiends before it is too late?Bittersweet and thought-provoking Rock Hollow is set in 1976 on the high moorlands that surround the small Yorkshire village of Riddleshaw. The book follows the awakening of differences, experienced by a young autistic girl. Victoria’s journey is enlightening, sometimes sad and more than often amusing.
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The Butterfly Will Always Float
It’s a wet and windy night in the city of Mumbai. Away from all the glitz and glamour in the commercial capital is a hellish life on the streets; of begging and cringing with no self-respect. It is the Mumbai of the hard-working poor, and the Mumbai of the aspiring migrant, with his fierce drive for survival and self-improvement, the Mumbai of small enterprise, the Mumbai of cottage industries, the Mumbai of poor yet strong women, running entire households on the strength of their income from making papads. Every morning, these women put food on the table, braid their daughters’ hair, and send them to schools. They have hope for the future but this is the Mumbai of dreams.On a wet wintry night in November in a dark old gym on the corner of a poor shantytown in Mumbai. The sign on the window reads, “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym. Champions are made here.” Over the door hangs an old sign blowing in the wind reading Mangal’s gym. Inside a 12-year-old boy sweeps the floor after an end to the day’s proceedings. The Butterfly Will Always Float tells the tale of twelve-year-old Johnny, growing up in the slums of Mumbai whose father left when he was a kid and mother is a drug addict. He is overweight and has a speech impairment making it difficult for him to communicate with others. By day he attends the local municipality school in one of the most deprived areas in Mumbai and by night he is a helping hand at Mangal’s gym.Johnny; a loner is bullied at school and at home, has no friends and is fearful for his future. He spends most of his time at the gym with Mangal a.k.a Baba and a poster of his hero Muhammad Ali. Each day Johnny wishes the bullying would stop and prays that someone would see his pain and reach out a helping hand. But nothing happens and Johnny continues to be bullied at school with no one to turn to, he thinks about ending his life. It's believed that children have the strongest connection to god and he makes a final wish. Little does Johnny know his prayer is about to be answered. One night as Johnny is cleaning up at the gym, he has a chance encounter with a ghost; the ghost of Muhammad Ali and his life is changed forever. Ali and other boxing legends such as Rocky Marciano and Joe Louis inhabit Mangals’s gym to help Johnny with competing at the under-16 amateur boxing competition against Boss, the head of the gang of bullies, and some local gangsters.The Butterfly Will Always Float tells a story of how a 12-year-old innocent boy befriends a spirit of one of the icons of the 20th century discovering inner resources of strength and courage to overcome his insecurities.A magical tale that will leave you moist-eyed.“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”– Muhammad Ali
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The Power Of Rhyme
Lee knew the answer to his dad’s medical condition was somehow connected to the bedtime stories he had read to him. Now he and Lyndsay had made it back safely from the deserted island with the help of Mother Nature and one of the trade winds they were on the brink of solving the mystery. All they have to do is return to the moon and outwit Titch, the troublesome witch, with the help of Mervin the Magic Moose and Desmond the Duck.
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The Last Survivor
The astonishing tale of Spottedfur the Wildfire Cat begins with Survivor Clan, Windwarrior, Ricky, Saphi, and Freya.
Adventure through a world where conch horns blow, there is no time for speeches, and the armies of Windwarrior and Survivor Clan start silently forward. Take a stand alongside them as dawn rises on a new world, where heroic friendship and action-packed tragedy break through to a new beginning...
‘Suddenly, a horn rang out over the treetops. It was a distress signal from Survivor Camp! They were in trouble...’
‘We must fight...Who will stand?’ For a moment, silence, then a lone voice called, ‘I will stand...’
‘Spottedfur heard a soft tapping. She looked over to the window, and there perched a blue jay, its beak tapping, tapping, tapping against the window frame. Spottedfur smiled...’
‘Violence is rarely the answer,’ he would say, ‘but when it is it, my sweet little cat, fight with everything you have...’
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Gobby
Sam feels like he’s always in the shadows. While his peers excel in academics, sports, or charm, he struggles to find his place. To make matters worse, his seemingly clueless younger brother, Gobby, is a hidden prodigy, excelling in almost everything. As if navigating the treacherous waters of adolescence wasn’t hard enough, Sam grapples with his parents’ crumbling marriage and the sting of his crush pairing up with his best friend.
But life has a way of teaching lessons when least expected. Through an unforeseen accident, Sam learns that growing up isn’t just about age – it’s about maturity, understanding, and perspective. Dive into Sam’s journey as he discovers that sometimes, the most significant growth happens in the mind and heart.