New Releases by Anne Fine

Miranda Hilliard and her husband Daniel are divorced, but he doesn't see their children very often. One day Madame Doubtfire comes to work for Miranda as a nanny, but she seems to behave much more like a man than a woman. "Penguin Readers" is a series of simplified novels, film novelizations and original titles that introduce students at all levels to the pleasures of reading in English. Originally designed for teaching English as a foreign language, the series' combination of high interest level and low reading age makes it suitable for both English-speaking teenagers with limited reading skills and students of English as a second language. Many titles in the series also provide access to the pre-20th century literature strands of the National Curriculum English Orders. "Penguin Readers" are graded at seven levels of difficulty, from "Easystarts" with a 200-word vocabulary, to Level 6 (Advanced) with a 3000-word vocabulary. In addition, titles fall into one of three sub-categories: "Contemporary", "Classics" or "Originals". At the end of each book there is a section of enjoyable exercises focusing on vocabulary building, comprehension, discussion and writing. Some titles in the series are available with an accompanying audio cassette, or in a book and cassette pack. Additionally, selected titles have free accompanying "Penguin Readers Factsheets" which provide stimulating exercise material for students, as well as suggestions for teachers on how to exploit the Readers in class.

Nobody wants Tulip in their gang. She skives off school, cheeks the teachers, and makes herself unpopular with her classmates by telling the most awful lies. None of this matters to Natalie. Natalie finds Tulip exciting, and at first she doesn't care that other people are so upset and unnerved by Tulip's bizarre games like Stinking Mackerel and Road of Bones. It's funny to watch their reactions, and there's always the delicious fear that the two girls might be caught. But as the games become increasingly sinister and dangerous, Natalie realizes that Tulip is going too far. Much too far.

When his class of underachievers is assigned to spend three torturous weeks taking care of their own "babies" in the form of bags of flour, Simon makes amazing discoveries about himself while coming to terms with his long-absent father.

Kitty Killin is not only a good storyteller, but also the World's Greatest Expert when it comes to mothers having new and unwanted boyfriends. Particularly when there's a danger they might turn into new and unwanted stepfathers...

Poor Ellie is horrified when Tuffy drags a dead bird into the house. Then a mouse. But Tuffy can't understand what all the fuss is about.Who on earth will be the next victim to arrive through the cat-flap? Can soft-hearted Ellie manage to get her beloved pet to change his wild, wild ways before he ends up in even deeper trouble?The hilarious antics of Tuffy and his family are told by the killer cat himself.