New Releases by Marcus Sedgwick

Early Readers are stepping stones from picture books to reading books. A blue Early Reader is perfect for sharing and reading together. A red Early Reader is the next step on your reading journey. Cudweed comes face to face with Roman soldiers, dinosaurs and Vikings in this funny, quirky story, perfect for beginner readers, from the bestselling Raven Mysteries team, Marcus Sedgwick and Pete Williamson.

Elf Girl and Raven Boy have survived Monster Mountains and arrived on the shores of Scream Sea. Kidnapped by Scrim, pirate captain of the Naughty Porpoise, they''re held prisoner below decks as the ship sets sail. But Captain Scrim and his crew are even more interested in mermaids than in bird boys and pointy-eared girls, and when they capture one they throw the pirate party of a lifetime. Our daring duo, plus Rat and mermaid Molo, escape and go their separate ways, but not before Molo has given Raven Boy a tiny shell on a silver chain and told him to call on her for help. They continue their search for the Goblin King with adventures on a desert island, an ''invisible'' spell, encounters with an even worse pirate called Blackblood on the stormy high seas, and then below the waves with the many scary beasts and monsters that roam the deep. No one said saving the world was easy!

Eleven Doctors, eleven months, eleven stories: a year-long celebration of Doctor Who! The most exciting names in children''s fiction each create their own unique adventure about the time-travelling Time Lord. The Third Doctor and Jo Grant are trying to track down the magical spear of Odin when they find themselves caught up in a vicious battle between two Viking tribes. But one of the Vikings is even more dangerous than he appears to be. Can the Doctor stop the spear getting into the wrong hands before it''s too late?

Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined—this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice. An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood? From award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick comes a book about passion and preservation and ultimately an exploration of the bounds of love. This title has Common Core connections. A Publishers Weekly Best Children''s Book of 2013 A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of 2013

Framed for a murder she did not commit, the innocent and beautiful Christie has no other choice but to run for her life. Set in a near-future Britain, this title tracks a young girl''s journey from the flooded landmarks of London to the vast, scorched and abandoned hills of the north.

Early Readers are stepping stones from picture books to reading books. A blue Early Reader is perfect for sharing and reading together. A red Early Reader is the next step on your reading journey. Cudweed encounters aliens and a time machine in this funny, quirky story, perfect for beginner readers, from the bestselling Raven Mysteries team, award-winning and multi-award-nominated author Marcus Sedgwick and illustrator Pete Williamson. With short, accessible chapters with full-colour illustrations on every page, these stories are perfect for bridging the gap from picture books to fiction.

Join the wonderfully weird Otherhand family and their faithful guardian, Edgar the raven, and discover the dark secrets of Castle Otherhand. A trip to the circus has far-reaching consequences for the Otherhands when Fellah goes missing. Before long the Castle is plagued by a duck, a suspect fortune teller, and several cartloads of lethal cabbages. The family is preoccupied: Valevine is busy inventing a cabbage-counting machine; Minty is waiting to hear the secrets of the universe; and Solstice has discovered that Cudweed is concealing three hundred and forty-two rabbits in his bedroom. When chaos strikes and thieves infiltrate the Castle, it falls to Edgar to extract his family from a very fluffy predicament. Dedicated website on Raven Mysteries: www.ravenmysteries.co.uk

Early Readers are stepping stones from picture books to reading books. A blue Early Reader is perfect for sharing and reading together. A red Early Reader is the next step on your reading journey. Cudweed''s birthday is coming up, and, like all small boys, he has big ideas and many lists about the presents he''d really like. Preparations for the party are in full swing at Otherhand Castle and the excitement is mounting. Sadly though for Cudweed, his parents, Lord and Lady Otherhand are definitely not keen on him adding to his collection of pets. Will he be disappointed, or will he get his heart''s desire: a small but noisy monkey? And if he does get what he wants, will it be by fair means or foul?

Join the wonderfully weird Otherhand family and their faithful guardian, Edgar the raven, and discover the dark secrets of Castle Otherhand. In the sixth of the Raven Mysteries, all manner of disaster descends on Castle Otherhand; weirdness abounds, the family are on the verge of being thrown out of their own home, and there''s still no sign of the fabled treasure of the Otherhand. Worse still, there''s no sign of Edgar, either. So will it be diamonds or doom for the Otherhands?

What with Pumpkin Hunting, a full moon and a vampire party, the scene is set for some ghoulish Halloween happenings in the fourth quirky mystery by BLUE PETER AWARD-winning team Marcus Sedgwick and Pete Williamson.

Gasp! A horrible, hairy, howling new school teacher arrives at Castle Otherhand and Solstice and Cudweed are at his mercy in the third of Marcus Sedgwick''s quirky mysteries, winner of the Blue Peter Most Fun Story With Pictures Award 2011.

Solstice and Edgar, the sulky raven, go ghost-hunting, and pit their wits against the obnoxious Captain Spookini, in the second quirky mystery by Blue Peter award-winning team Marcus Sedgwick and Pete Williamson.

In the bitter cold of an unrelenting winter Tomas and his son, Peter, arrive in the inhospitable village of Chust and settle there as woodcutters. When a band of gypsies comes to the village Peter''s drab existence is turned upside down. He is infatuated by the beautiful gypsy princess, Sofia, intoxicated by their love of life and drawn into their deadly quest. For these travellers are Vampire Slayers and Chust is a dying community - where the dead come back to wreak revenge on the living. Years on from My Swordhand is Singing and Peter is still on the trail of the Shadow Queen. His search leads him to Venice, a city whose beauty disguises many ugly secrets. The Shadow Queen is there, gathering strength, recruiting a new army of the Undead for a final confrontation. Hers is the kiss of death.

An eerie, modern gothic thriller about what awaits us after death - angels or the devil . . . A fast-paced, dark, sinister and powerful novel, shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2011 and longlisted for the Guardian Children''s Fiction Prize 2010. It''s summer. Taken from the buzz of London, her friends and what she thinks is the start of a promising romance, Rebecca is an unwilling visitor to Winterfold. Ferelith already lives in Winterfold - it''s a place that doesn''t like to let you go, and she knows it inside out: the beach, the crumbling cliff paths, the village streets, the woods, the deserted churches and ruined graveyards, year by year being swallowed by the sea. Against their better judgement, Rebecca and Ferelith become friends, and during that long, hot, claustrophobic summer they discover more about each other - and about Winterfold - than either could have wanted. Frightening secrets are uncovered that would have been best long forgotten. Interwoven with Rebecca and Ferelith''s stories is that of the seventeenth century Rector and Dr Barrieux, master of Winterfold Hall, whose bizarre and bloody experiments into the after-life might make angels weep, and the devil crow . . .

A present-day boy, a seventeenth-century girl, an ancient crone: for a single moment, their lives are fused by fire. A tense, brilliant and eerie novel, nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award. The fire was a family tragedy that Jamie can''t forget, even in his dreams. And now there is something terrifying happening to him in Crownhill, the village where he''s been sent to get over his problems. Something to do with an evil old witch who gets into his nightmares, and a frightened girl, the victim of a long-ago witch hunt, whose presence lingers on . . . As the dark secrets of Crownhill are revealed, Jamie has to confront his worst fears in order to free himself from the horrors of the past.

This is a tense, psychological drama set in the snowy wilderness of the Arctic Circle, where a boy confronts a stranger come to take revenge on his dead father.

Edgar the Raven, guardian of Otherhand Castle rules the roost in this six book series of quirky tales of mystery, with a touch of goth-froth, by Blue Peter award-winning team Marcus Sedgwick and Pete Williamson.

It¿s Christmas Eve, but the weather is warm and the grass still green. Before falling asleep, a boy makes a wish: for a snowstorm like the one in his swirling snow globe. Soon something magical begins to happen. First one flake falls from the cloudless sky, then more and more and more -- but it¿s no ordinary snowstorm! Full of superbly surrealistic full-color illustrations, this enchanting picture book features translucent pages that draw the reader into the magic of a seemingly impossible wish come true.

Years in from ''My Swordhand Is Singing'', Peter is still on the trail of the Shadow Queen. His search leads him to Venice, a citywhose beauty disguises many ugly secrets, Marko & Sorrel meet there for the first time.