New Releases by Lynne Reid Banks

Nine-year-old Alice must write about herself for a school assignment, and in doing so, she sorts out her feelings about her somewhat prickly single mother, the father she has never met, her flamboyant paternal grandmother and the rest of her sometimes confusing life.

Lynn Reid Banks''s second book about her centi-hero weaves real facts about centipedes, scorpions, dung beetles, tarantulas, and other exotic creatures into the fabric of a fast-paced adventure that hums with humor.

Ella loves her school uniform, which includes a yellow T-shirt for gym. But hers is no ordinary T-shirt. It seems to have a plan of its own that keeps getting Ella into trouble. What does the magic T-shirt want, and how far will it go to get it?Lynne Reid Banks, author of The Indian in the Cupboard, gives us another of her tales of real magic, fun andyoung adventure!

The Fairy Queen strictly forbids fairies from using their magic power on humans. But after Tiki accidentally meets Jan, a woman who is desperate for a baby daughter, she finds it impossible to resist fulfilling her wish. Now up against the dark and vicious power of evil, this fairy rebel must face the Queen’s fury with frightening and possibly fatal results.

Harry the Poisonous Centipede is now quite brave, but nothing can prepare him for this next adventure! He and best friend George are lost in a new and even scarier no-top world. Far from home, across the no-end puddle, they must negotiate a strange treeless cold desert, a Nest of Hoo-Mins, lots of noise-hurt and terrifying hairy-yowlers!

It''s been over a year since Omri discovered in The Indian in the Cupboard that, with the turn of a key, he could magically bring to life the three-inch-high Indian figure he placed inside his cupboard. Omri and his Indian, Little Bear, create a fantastic world together until one day, Omri realizes the terrible consequences if Little Bear ever got trapped in his "giant" world. Reluctantly, Omri sends the Indian back through the cupboard, giving his mother the magic key to wear around her neck so that he will never be tempted to bring Little Bear back to life. But one year later, full of exciting news, Omri gives way to temptation when he finds that his mother has left the magic key lying on the bathroom sink. A whole new series of adventures awaits Omri as he discovers that his Indian has been critically wounded during the French and Indian Wars and desperately needs Omri''s help. Now, helplessly caught between his own life and his cupboard life of war and death, Omri must act decisively if he is to save Little Bear and his village from being completely destroyed. What began as a harmless game has tumed into a horrible nightmare, a nightmare in which Omri is irrevocably involved, and from which he may never escape.

Polly and Jake are very different characters from two very different places. When Polly takes an aeroplane to Africa to see Jake, she doesn’t know how different it will be from her cold, icy homeland in the arctic. With words by acclaimed author Lynne Reid Banks (The Indian in the Cupboard), this enchanting tale takes the readers across the continents to lands of hot plains, freezing lakes and plenty of adventure!

As his adventures with Little Bear continue, Omri travels from the French and Indian wars to the present, and then back to the Old West at the tum-of-the-century.

Two tigers. One city. Two very different lives. A compelling story about friendship, brotherhood and battling against the odds.

In the fourth book in Bank''s acclaimed INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD saga, Omri and his family move to an old farmhouse, where he finds an ancient notebook that reveals a family secret-and the mysterious origins of his magical cupboard.

Fourteen-year-old Lesley is upset when her parents abandon their comfortable life in Canada for a kibbutz in Israel prior to the 1967 war. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

During the 1943 German occupation of Denmark, 10-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her family take great risks to give shelter to Annemarie''s best friend, a Jewish girl named Ellen Rosen. Ellen assumes the identity of Annemarie''s sister, but the Nazis are suspicious of this dark-haired girl in a family of blondes. As the Nazis move closer to discovering Ellen''s true identity, Annemarie must find the courage to go on a dangerous mission that will help Ellen escape from Denmark.

The attack came suddenly and without warning, as twoyoung teenagers walked casually through the streets of Jerusalem, When it was over, one lay dead, the other mysteriously spared, yet left to face the horrendous choices and consequences thatresulted from being the sole witness. In this gripping sequel to One More River, Lynne Reid Bankscaptures the spirit and complex passions of present-day Israelthrough the powerful voices of a new generation as they join theunrelenting struggle against the consequences of decades of war.

The Kings Foolish Wish King Midas loved gold so much he wished everything he touched would turn to gold. But what a terrible curse it became when his wish was granted and everything he touched -- his food, his dog. . . and his beloved daughter -- instantly changed into cold and lifeless matallic objects. Lynne Reid Banks has re-created the ever-popular legend of King Midas into an exciting story that brings to life the reality of having greedy and thoughtless wishes come true.

For use in schools and libraries only. Omri acts decisively to save his Indian friend, Little Bear, and his village from destruction in the French and Indian War but becomes trapped between the worlds of fantasy and reality.

This is a book about a search- the search of an idea for its rightful home. Writing for her three teenage sons, Lynne Reid Banks traces the history of a fundamental idea- that of Jewishness- which has outlived all the world''s attempts to deprive it of its roots in nationhood. With sympathy and insight, she tells the story of the survival of a people who retained their identity for thousands of years while scattered throughout the world.--Jacket flap.

Based on the lives of Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell Brontë.

Jane decides she doesn''t want to be a burden to anyone - least of all to her lover, Toby. She has exchanged the L-shaped room of the earlier novel for a remote country cottage where, solitary but not yet lonely, she nurses her baby son. Dottie, an old friend, raring to start a business to help her own bid for independence, erupts into Jane''s idyll and brings her back to real, challenging life.

Lynne Reid Banks'' Children at the Gate is a literary masterpiece from the author of The L-Shaped Room. Perfect for fans of Ali Smith, Jeanette Winterson and Deborah Levy. Children at the Gate is a heart-breaking story of love, loss, Jewish identity and prejudice in a country on the brink of war.