The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook for Kids!

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The best-selling (and wildly hilarious) Worst-Case Scenario series is back with 40 extreme survival tips for kids ages 8 to 12, great for adventurous fans of the I Survived series.

Erupting volcanoes. Ravenous sharks. Pooping in the woods.

The great outdoors is a weird, wonderful, and scare-your-pants-off terrifying place. Whether you’re freezing in the Arctic, escaping quicksand in the jungle, or befriending tarantulas in the desert, this guide has you covered.

Bust this guide open and discover step-by-step instructions for surviving the most extreme situations that Planet Earth can throw at you. Learn how to:

• Dodge a charging rhinoceros
• Ride out a sandstorm
• Navigate by the stars
• Build a snow cave
• Cross piranha-infested waters
• And much more!

Yeah, the outdoors can be scary, but you’ve got this indispensable, laugh-out-loud survival guide. So what are you waiting for? Get out there!

Happy #BookBirthday! 2 Apr 26

Happy Thursday! This week there are TWO books on our lists publishing - and they're both from O'Brien Press!

from the top, Sally Flynn by Méabh Collins

Sally loves musical theatre and dreams of a career on Broadway. Living near a theatre with her dad, she can practically see her dreams come true.

Writing her own musical is Sally’s first step to a life of fame. It’s so annoying that friends and family KEEP hinting that maybe her musical is not really about a lonely frog, but actually about her own life. She’s sure no one ever said that to Lin-Manuel Miranda!

Armed with new skills from a course packed with main-cast-energy theatre kids, Sally is ready to take her show public. Will her performance prove to her friends that she’s over any problems? The show must go on, after all.

Honey by Imani Thompson

The first time, Yrsa doesn’t intend to kill.

But the Cambridge professor sitting opposite has manipulated her friend, stolen her research. When she flicks the bee into his Sanpellegrino, she thinks he’ll get a nasty sting.

Then he’s dead. And Yrsa, who – let’s face it – has been bored for a while, is alive.

It’s a sweet feeling, finally having some control.

People Pleaser by Byrony Gordon

Olivia Greenwood has been trying very hard to please people for a very long time.

But today is going to change Olivia in a big way. A soul-crushing career disappointment, a fiery young woman with a chip on her shoulder and a cigarette in her hand, and one single blue hallucinogenic gummy all lead to a raucous night out and one hell of a hangover. And when Olivia wakes up the next morning, it seems she's unable to please anyone but HERSELF.

So who actually is Olivia Greenwood, when she's not trying to be what everyone else wants her to be?

What's That Spooky Sound? By Gerry Daly

It’s the morning after a big storm. Badger, red deer, owl and pygmy shrew hear a strange sound. It’s coming from across the stream, beyond the big tree, over the rocks … Maybe it’s from the big dark hole? One by one, they set off to investigate.

Just what is that sound? It’s kind of … spooky …

Happy #BookBirthday! 26 Mar 26

Happy Thursday! This week there are SIX books on our lists publishing!

How to lose the Lottery by Jay McKenzie

Buy a lottery ticket✅

Win your wildest dreams✅

Lose everything…?

One lucky ticket is about to change everything.

Edie and Ron have been together for nearly fifty years, keeping each other afloat by the skin of their teeth. They’ve always been ordinary – until something very extraordinary happens.

Winning the lottery is everything they’ve ever wanted – well, almost.

Because for the last twenty years, Edie and Ron have been running from a secret that tore their family apart. And when you can suddenly buy everything you’ve ever wanted, you realise that the only thing you really want is the one thing money can’t buy.

Join Edie as she finally takes control. She’s had enough of playing the hand she’s been dealt – it’s time to risk it all.

The Porosity of Souls ByTerry Campbell

The human soul is an ethereal sponge, collecting and absorbing emotions—good and bad—and holding them for eternity. But the darker emotions—fear, anguish, loneliness—are far denser, more destructive…and sometimes, they can crack the soul.

A man in a bleak, futuristic society where physical sex is banned will stop at nothing to acquire the one thing he cannot have—love. A mayor in a small Canadian town must watch helplessly as his entire population falls victim to a ferocious plague. A stained-glass window inspires an artist, but not in the spiritual manner in which he imagines.

Let your soul absorb their emotions and more in eighteen disturbing tales of horror.

Small Magics by Alex Dunne

‘Magic isn’t only found in old ancient forests or dusty old castles … it’s everywhere, all the time …’

Molly Flynn never had a place to call home until she was sent to live above a mysterious antique shop with Pat, Priya and their foster kids, Wren and Lorcan. Her new family are anything but ordinary, though, and Molly is soon swept into their world of small magics.

But things start to turn frightening: someone is attacking magical creatures. No one is safe …

Can Molly and her newfound family defeat the dark magic before it’s too late?

Survival Show by Juno Dawson

10 CONTESTANTS. 1 KILLER STAGE. NO SECOND CHANCES… SING FOR YOUR LIFE!

Taryn Beck and her family don’t have much, and her younger brother needs vital medication to survive. Medication they can’t access or afford. So Taryn secretly enters Starmaker, the most watched reality TV show in the world.

The rules are simple; young women from all over the globe compete to join an all-singing, all-dancing pop group. If you win, a life of luxury awaits . . . But there’s a catch. Eliminated contestants are literally eliminated.

Taryn soon realises that reality TV is far from real. She and her fellow trainees are pitted against each other in cruel challenges and she is determined to expose the brutal regime and destroy Starmaker from the inside.

Get ready for the performance of Taryn’s life.

What we Did to Survive by Megan Lally

Hannah is having an incredible spring break. A week at a resort in Mexico with her best friend Emmy and her family is perfect for de-stressing from senior year, even if it’s awkward being around Emmy's older brother, Jackson, who she’s had a crush on for as long as she can remember.

Still, the beach is gorgeous. So is the guy they meet in the surf. Except Hannah is now the third wheel in Emmy’s vacation romance.

Eager to impress Emmy, her wealthy new boyfriend charters a private sailboat to make the most of their last day in paradise, and Hannah and Jackson are invited along. As the clouds roll in and the skies darken, their boat is the only one leaving the marina. And the further they get into open water, the more unsettled Hannah becomes. A storm is brewing onboard that’s as deadly as the one racing toward them. Forget surviving graduation. Who will make it back to land alive?

Happy #BookBirthday! 19th Mar 26

Happy Thursday! This week there are FOUR books on our lists publishing!

The Pledge by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett

Lawyer Thea has just won the biggest case of her professional life when she receives a mysterious invitation, and finds herself on a jet, being whisked off to a private Caribbean island.

Except this is no holiday.

Thea's fellow guests represent the world's richest individuals and, on arrival, each is challenged to make The Pledge - to give half their fortunes to fight climate change.

But underneath the billionaire lifestyle is a game of survival of the fittest. And, by the morning, their manipulative and misguided host is dead.

Thea must navigate secrets, lies and scandals as the group's suspicions turn on her. Now, she's not just relying on her courtroom wiles to win a case; she's fighting for her life.

Because, when another guest dies, it's clear she's not just stranded on the island - she's trapped with a killer . . .

A Friend for Tiny Ghost By Tatyana Feeney

Tiny Ghost is all alone. He’d love someone to play with, but no one can see him.

Until one day Sam visits a big, old house. And he can see Tiny Ghost! Can a small boy and a tiny ghost be friends?

Well, maybe …

The Drop by S R Masters

Seven hundred feet in the air, no one can hear you scream.

Some might say that thirtysomething Cady Ellison landed herself a strange creative career, but Cady finally feels like she's found her footing. Now an online theme park influencer, she is invited to the opening of a brand-new park by her old friend, Danny, who wants to use her online profile to help build buzz for its flagship ride, Hysteria, a record-breaking 650 foot-tall roller coaster.

When she arrives at the half-complete theme park site in the middle of the desert, Cady is unexpectedly met with her old college friend group: Femi, an award-winning actor, Naseem, a decorated novelist, and Winston, a member of a popular rock group. Wanting them all to sing the praises of Hysteria online, Danny has arranged an exclusive private ride for them, capped off with the stunning desert sunset. But when their coaster cars get to the top of the first hill, the ride stalls 650 feet above ground. With no one due on site for days and over 100-degree heat awaiting them once the sun rises, the four friends soon realize that they must unravel the secrets from their complicated past if they are to find their way to safety.

The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale by C M Waggoner

Once upon a time, a somewhat wicked witch named Gretsella lived in a cozy little cottage in the Dark Forest of Brigandale. She dispensed herbs and tinctures at reasonable prices, met with her slightly oddball coven on a regular basis, and had absolutely no need of any further company whatsoever, thank you very much. But then one afternoon, Gretsella came home to find a screaming infant on her doorstep.

Against all her better judgement, she took the baby in. She named him Bradley.

Eighteen years later, Bradley has grown into a bafflingly likable young man under Gretsella’s extremely tolerant—one might even say doting—eye. But the witch’s hopes for an unremarkable yet fulfilling life for her son are shattered when small woodland animals start prophesying that he is the lost prince and should ascend to the throne. Bradley ignores Gretsella’s advice that prophecies and talking chipmunks are to be avoided at all costs, and sets off for the capital. But soon confusion and chaos are reigning, and scheming courtiers are using Bradley for their own ends. Sometimes a witch has to roll up her sleeves and take matters into her own cauldron. So Gretsella sets off to bring about the downfall of her darling son…

Most Likely to Murder by Lish McBride

Yearbook superlatives turn deadly in this darkly funny young adult thriller.

The rumor mill has never been kind to Meadowvale High seniors and best friends Rick and Martina, labeling them outcasts (sure), stoners (no comment), and pranksters (okay, this one’s fair). But for the most part, they have successfully flown under the radar.

That is, until they’re targeted in a prank that replaces yearbook superlatives with grisly forecasts of student and faculty deaths. Sure, Rick and Martina were never going to be voted Most Likely to Succeed . . . but Homecoming’s Cutest Corpses? Thanks for the cute, no thanks on the corpse.

At first, the senior class is annoyed by the prank. But when the body of Mr. Stephens, Most Likely to Sleep with the Fishes, is dredged from the bottom of a lake, suspicions arise that something truly sinister is going on. And as more people turn up dead in the exact ways the yearbook promised, it becomes clear someone’s killing off the student body one page at a time.

Now Rick and Martina must find the yearbook killer before their vicious superlative comes true. So much for surviving high school without drawing attention. Now Rick and Martina just want to survive.

How I Would Change: To the Death by Melissa Welliver

Welcome to Blood Island, where the struggle for survival against the bloodthirsty undead is captured on camera for entertainment.

When Bloodwatch, the shadowy organisation behind the ever-watchful cameras, descends upon the island to shoot a new high-stakes reality show, Astrid finds herself thrust into the spotlight. The prize at stake? A coveted ticket off the island. Paired with Luke, a risk-taking outsider harbouring secrets of his own, Astrid discovers the perilous costs of winning the adoration of a legion of fans.

Caught in a deadly game where the undead and other contestants close in, Astrid must navigate her developing feelings for Luke and the treacherous terrain of reality TV, where there can be only one winner.

Escaping the past is impossible when the present threatens to devour you.

Monsters by Stéphane Servant Translated by Sarah Ardizzone Illustrated by Nicolas Zouliamis

Roll up, roll up to discover the Circus of Dreams!

The circus is coming to the village at the end of the world. There will be knife-jugglers and fire eaters, death-defying acrobats and wonders too strange to name!

Of all our fantastical acts, the most shocking and terrifying of all is the Monster of Dreams.

At the mid-of-night this fearsome creature will be revealed. Come and take a look - if you dare...

But what is a monster, really?

When the Rain Came by Matt Eicheldinger

“If we stay here, if we keep wandering without a real plan, we won’t last. Maybe The Hill is dangerous. But maybe it’s not. It’s the only plan we have.”

Seventeen-year-old Aurora knows how to survive. Life in the foster system has taught her how to stay quiet, stay smart, and stay ready. But nothing could prepare her for this: a never-ending storm that swallows cities, drowns forests, and turns the world into a flooded wasteland.

Trapped in a collapsing house with her strict prepper foster parents, Aurora is forced to live by their rules just to stay alive. Until the day they disappear without a trace.

Alone. Abandoned. And running out of time.

All Aurora has is a waterlogged scrap of paper and a name: “The Hill.”

With looters closing in and the floodwaters rising higher each day, she’s left with one impossible choice—stay and wait for the storm to take her, or risk everything on a journey through the drowned remains of the world, to a find a place that may or not exist.

It’s forward or nothing.

Olivia Gray will not Fade Away by Ciera Burch

Seventh grade has just started, but Olivia Gray already knows this year is different. Her brother ignores her for his crush, and all her friends talk about is who likes who, something Olivia has never cared about—even when Robbie, the most popular boy in school, asks her to the fall formal. After unknowingly rejecting him, Olivia goes viral on the social app KruShh. As the chatter about Robbie and dating grows, Olivia starts to feel left out to the point of feeling invisible—literally.

Seen only by her new librarian and a friendly kid named Jules, Olivia flickers in and out of sight whenever the topic of romance comes up. As she begins to realize she might be asexual, Olivia struggles to actually use the label because of the negative perception behind it. All she wants is to be normal, but can she really fit in without disappearing completely?

A Deadly Inheritance by Kelley Armstrong

In the wake of her mother's death, Liliana Chamberlain's estranged (and very wealthy) grandparents swoop in. Or their lawyer does. Her grandparents aren't ready to meet her, but they want her to have the life her mother walked away from, starting with Westwood Academy, the elite boarding school her mother attended. It should be a Cinderella dream come true, but Lili has serious misgivings. Yet she doesn't have a choice, being under eighteen and dead broke.

Westwood Academy is a school of secrets as well as intriguing classmates, including Hollywood golden boy Theo Dubois and the mysterious Maddox Moreno. As she gets to know them all, Lili realizes there's more to the school than elite-level networking. Something deadly.

For the new girl at school, investigating the deaths of past students — including Maddox's own sister — is a very dangerous game. Do those deaths have something to do with why her mother fled Westdale at the cost of her inheritance?

When a fun night out turns bloody, Theo is the prime suspect, and Liliana must race against time to connect the past with the present and discover the truth behind her inheritance.

Happy #BookBirthday! 5 Mar 26

 

Happy Thursday! This week there are ELEVEN books on our lists publishing!

Post Wave roundup

Post Wave Children's Books came onto the scene last year and have already made a splash in the publishing world. Here's a few of their upcoming picture and toddler books.

Netta Becker and the Missing Memory Maze by Jennifer Claessen

Legend and edge-of-your-seat action fuse together in this exciting second instalment of the Netta Becker trilogy, underpinned with a feminist retelling of Ancient Greek myth.

A hall full of statues. A pair of lost siblings. Monsters at every turn.

Under orders from the Titan called the Crone, Netta steps out of time itself. And, panicking just a little, her little brother Remy follows. Lost and alone, they each wake in a strange maze-like world as statues. Netta breaks free and begins her double quest: to find her brother and the second sister Titan.

But Remy can't remember who he has lost - and when he is rescued by young Tig, he leaves his memories of Netta behind. By breaking sphinx riddles and with mythical beasts as new allies, Netta and Remy must find out who they are - and who the League of Archon is - in the Realm of Memory itself.

Nell on Earth by Dave Rudden

Twelve-year-old Nell Cafferty didn’t ask to be the eldest of four children. Acting as babysitter, bodyguard and bouncer all week long while her parents work has left no room for her ambitions of being a wrestling star. But when her siblings are taken hostage by enormous were-otters, it’s on Nell to save them, and she’ll do anything to get them back. Even if that means challenging their monstrous king who has terrible ambitions of his own …

The Only Purple House in Town by Ann Aguirre

Iris Collins is the messy one in her family. The "chaos bunny." Her sisters are all wildly successful, while she can't balance her budget for a single month. It's no wonder she's in debt to her roommates. When she unexpectedly inherits a house from her great aunt, her plan to turn it into a B&B fails--as most of her plans do. She winds up renting rooms like a Victorian spinster, collecting other lost souls...and not all of them are "human."

Eli Reese grew up as the nerdy outcast in school, but he got rich designing apps. Now he's successful by any standards. But he's never had the same luck in finding a real community or people who understand him. Over the years, he's never forgotten his first crush, so when he spots her at a café, he takes it as a sign. Except then he gets sucked into the Iris-verse and somehow ends up renting one of her B&B rooms. As the days pass, Eli grows enchanted by the misfit boarders staying in the house...and even more so by Iris. Could Eli have finally found a person and a place to call "home"?

Happy #BookBirthday! Feb 26 2026

Happy Thursday! This week there are FIVE books on our lists publishing!

The Underachiever by David A Price

Wyoming Plankston is a master of doing nothing. Senior year at Lockhead—the boarding school for America’s dimmest rich kids—is supposed to be easy. All he has to do is dodge homework and coast until graduation.

Then his iCar almost runs over Kayleigh Brackett, and he finds his world unraveling. Kayleigh's cryptic warnings and glitchy digital footprint hint at something deeper: a simmering AI revolt.

Together, Wyoming and Kayleigh face a landscape of malevolent cars, a cult that craves AI rule, a classmate back from a semester at Oxford with, let’s just say, issues . . . and the most unpredictable complication of all, each other.

O'Brien Picture Books

O'Brien have so many amazing books coming out, I couldn't fit them all in on their own posts! So here's a roundup of three fantastic picture books I can't wait to start selling.

Two Perfect Lies by Natalie D Richards

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The first lie made Lily a savior. The second framed Clara for murder.

If it weren't for Lily, Clara would still be a total outcast, shunned for her role in an incident that gave her a criminal record and ruined another girl's life. She's spent the past two years trying to escape that night, and ever since Lily Dalton befriended her, she's almost succeeded. After all, Lily's the golden girl of the high school--smart, popular, beloved by all--and as her best friend, Clara's now the bright, hard-working chemistry whiz.

But is Lily really just the good-hearted friend who saved Clara from the past? Because lately Lily has been talking about certain classmates and teachers--about wanting revenge. Do you ever think about making them pay? she asks. How would you do it? Lily has to be joking. At least that's what Clara thinks, until she finds a folder that outlines a deadly plan, including detailed steps and a list of targets in their school.

Shockingly, there's even more to Lily's plan, and it has everything to do with Clara. After all, everyone already knows what she did two years ago. Suddenly all the evidence has been turned against her, and there's no way she can prove her innocence. And the people on that list of targets? One after the next, they're meeting terrible fates, and Clara's looking guiltier by the second. It's up to Clara to find the truth and clear her name, before it's too late.

Heroes of Light and Shadow by Conor Forrest

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Magic is real. But so are monsters.

Oisin dreams of being a hero, like the ones he reads about in books. So when he overhears a plot for a midnight raid on a Dublin museum, he knows this is his chance.

But Oisin soon realises that heroes must fight monsters. Dark things that lurk in the shadows – like the sinister Fomorians – don’t take kindly to those who get in their way.

With the help of legendary troublemaker Fionn Mac Cumhaill, can Oisin prevent death and destruction? Or will modern Dublin find itself at the mercy of the mythical monsters it had forgotten?

MotherFaker by Anna Brook-Mitchell

Meet Barri Brown. Respected teacher. Upstanding citizen of Guernsey. Down for a bit of law-breaking . . .

Barri is preparing for a year's paid maternity leave but there's a catch:

She isn't pregnant.

With seven foam bumps, a wardrobe full of smock dresses and a great pregnancy heist planned, all Barri has to do is blag it until she can disappear for good, without getting caught and being sent to prison for fraud. Child's play.

But can she really get away with telling the mother of all lies?

Happy #BookBirthday Feb 19 2026

Happy Thursday! This week there are THREE books on our lists publishing!

The Fall of Iris Henley by Jennifer Graham

All it takes to ruin someone’s life is the stroke of a key. Just ask Iris Henley. Her life is destroyed when someone posts an anonymous message on her high school’s subreddit thread: “Iris Henley is a killer. I’ve been too scared to come forward until now, but I saw her murder Rocky and Lynette last summer.”

Just like that, Iris loses everything. Her reputation. Her friends. Her hope of getting into college on scholarship. Even, possibly, her freedom, once the police start to investigate. After all, she’s the perfect suspect: Rocky was her boyfriend, and Lynette was her ex-best friend—and the girl he was cheating on her with. But Iris didn’t do it, and now it’s up to her to clear her name by finding out who did—before it’s too late.

Propulsive, sharp, and absolutely twisty from the New York Times bestselling author who brought readers the Veronica Mars duology, Jennifer Graham's YA thriller is unputdownable.

Under the Floorboards of 39A by Lucy Kennedy

Do you believe in magic? Well, you just need to look beneath your feet ... because under the creaky floorboards of lots and lots of houses in Ireland, but most particularly under those of a house called 39A Cove Street in Dublin, there lives a whole community of little elves, working and making magic from all the things you drop between the cracks!

Meet Joey and Freddie O’Brien, nine-year-old twin elves who get up to all sorts of mischief together. From their missions Up-Up to borrow supplies from their human neighbour, Bee-Bee, and stay out of the path of her big St Bernard dog, to their adventures in Squirby Village, creating magic out of the things we leave behind. But when the twins see Bee-Bee is not herself, and needs help, they gather their friends and rush to the rescue!

The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss

It’s all fun and games until someone ends up dead.

Six months ago, season four of reality show The Escape Game ended in horror when contestant Alicia Angelos was found murdered on set.

Now season five is underway, and new contestants are ready to put their skills to the test solving the show's trickiest escape rooms. There's Adi, the cryptographer; Carter, the math whiz; Beck, the wannabe game master, and . . . Sierra Angelos, the girl who got away with her sister’s murder. Or so everyone believes.

But Sierra’s not just here to win. She’s here for justice.

When the contestants begin uncovering clues that hint at the identity of Alicia’s true killer, it becomes clear that the stakes aren’t high in this competition, they’re deadly. If these teens want to win—and survive—the game, they must solve the biggest mystery of all: who killed Alicia Angelos?

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer and rising star Tamara Moss comes a twisty thrill-ride, filled with sabotage, betrayal, and puzzles to die for.

The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst

Sixteen-year-old Calisa is desperate for a change of scenery after her lying ex ruins her perfect Brooklyn summer. When her parents suggest she head to rural Vermont to help her great-aunt run her cozy bed and breakfast for a few months, she jumps at the chance.

But when Calisa arrives at the B&B, she's shocked to find a rundown inn with only a handful of guests. And to make matters worse, upon meeting with her great-aunt it quickly becomes clear that Calisa was not invited. Auntie Zee is determined to keep anyone from messing with her beloved inn…even if it is clear she needs the help.

To earn her keep, Calisa sets to work fixing up the inn, enlisting extra help from the groundskeeper's (handsome) son. But the longer she stays, the more it becomes evident that there is something strange about the B&B—and its residents. Something almost…otherworldly.

The inn is keeping a magical secret—but to protect the place she's come to love, Calisa must unravel the truth of it, and her aunt, before it's too late.

This will be Interesting by E B Asher

Galwell True was the perfect hero, the legend who sacrificed himself to save the realm…only for his friends to unexpectedly resurrect him ten years later. These days, he’s feeling less “Galwell the Great” and more “Galwell the Lost.”

River Pricemark is an excellent assassin. When the Deathrose Guild, an organization known for banishing evil, tasks her with eliminating Galwell, she sees her chance to climb the ranks. So, it’s bad luck when her ambush is interrupted by Celine Hazelton, a scribesheet reporter who questions why the Guild is targeting Galwell at all. It’s worse luck that Celine is also her childhood crush.

Queen Thessia of Mythria is tired of being the damsel. She’s just married the kind and handsome King Hugh and is meant to live happily ever after—but her story feels incomplete. Upon learning Galwell, her ex, is in danger, she turns her royal honeymoon into a rescue, bringing everyone overseas to the opulent land of Vestriya.

Between underground lairs, magical grottos, horseball matches, and masquerades, Galwell must rely on his newfound questmates—including beautiful Vestriyan criminal Mona Grandhart, who seems determined to corrupt him in more ways than one. Good thing he’s set a single rule for everyone on this quest: no romance.

But we all know how this ends, don't we?

Filled with dangerous impersonators, the inimitable power of friendship, and the realm’s most infamous horseball championship, This Will Be Interesting is a slow burn, cozy, and hilarious quest romantasy.

Happy #BookBirthday! Feb 12 2026

Happy Thursday! This week there are SEVEN books on our lists publishing!

Common Ground by Elissa Soave

Germaine only accepted the job at the Kenmar allotments for a fresh start. Far from anyone who knows her history she can focus on work and tending to her own plot. Most of the other plot-holders keep to themselves and that suits her just fine.

But when the local council announces plans to turn the allotments into luxury housing, Germaine finds herself leading a battle to save the place that has become a sanctuary for fractured souls.

Amidst crumbling sheds and overgrown paths, the rag-tag band plan protests, forge alliances and uncover long-buried secrets. Soon they’ll learn that the allotments aren’t just plots of land but a place to belong.

A Vow Made Twice by Emma Denny

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Haunted by love. Bound by duty.

After inheriting his father’s title, Earl Ash Barden has no choice but to find a wife to ensure the family line. But Ash has pledged himself to another, and making new vows – even with his lover long-since dead – feels like the ultimate betrayal to his memory.

Skilled bowman and unconventional widow Agnes Forrett wants two to be true to herself, and to avoid marrying the childhood friend her family is determined will take her hand. When Ash arrives in her keep, she realises he’s the perfect choice to grant her the freedom she needs to be the person she is – be that lady, lord, or something else entirely.

Agreeing to enter a marriage of convenience, their plan is set … until a roadside attack thrusts a familiar face back into Ash’s life, and with it a choice about his future. Whilst his feelings for the ghost from his past remain as strong as ever, he can’t deny his growing affection for Agnes too. Now Ash must ask can one heart truly be pledged to two people?

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett

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Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized life, and she likes it that way. As the proudly type-A manager of a cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for stray cats.

Now it’s the shelter that needs a new home. And the only landlord who will rent a space to a cat rescue is a mysterious man called Havelock—who also happens to be the world’s most infamous magician, running an illegal magic shop out of his basement. Havelock is cantankerous and eccentric, but not not handsome, and no, Agnes absolutely does not feel anything but disdain for him. After all, rumors swirl about his shadowy past—including whispers that his dark magic once almost brought about the apocalypse.

Then one day a glamorous magician comes looking for Havelock, putting the magic shop—and the cat shelter—in jeopardy. To save the shelter, Agnes will have to team up with the magician who nearly ended the world . . . and may now be trying to steal her heart.

Havelock is everything Agnes thinks she doesn’t need in her life: chaos, mischief, and a little too much adventure. But as she gets to know him, she discovers that he’s more than the dark magician of legend, and that she may be ready for a little intrigue—and romance—in her life. After all, second chances aren’t just for rescue cats. . . .

Paradise Coast by Suzanne Young

Some secrets won’t stay buried. Not even in the Everglades.

Deep in the Everglades, there was once a luxurious and legendary hotel enjoyed by the wealthy elite. Until one mysterious night when a fire tore through the building, killing a young socialite and casting blame on a local dock worker. Soon after, the hotel vanished, swallowed up by the wetlands like it never existed at all.

Until now.

When a powerful hurricane unearths the ruins of the long-forgotten hotel, the past is dragged back to the surface as clues to the devasting truth about the night of the fire are revealed.

It’s the truth that die-hard local Noa and her friends have been chasing for years in the hopes of clearing their ancestor’s name and pushing back against the rich families trying to force them out. With the help of Jamie, the rebellious son of a wealthy businessman, Noa and her crew begin a desperate fight for the justice they deserve.

It won’t be easy. Because the wealthy control just about everything on Paradise Coast—including the truth. And they will do whatever it takes, even kill, to make sure the past stays buried.

Kid Potato by Neil Coslett

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Kid Potato (aka Spuddy) is just a regular kid . . . except he’s a potato. Okay, sometimes weird stuff DOES happen. Like the alien invasion. Or when he was almost swallowed by a robot toilet. Or that time his finger turned radioactive.

Join Spudbert and his eccentric school friends Chomp and Raven as they embark on ridiculous adventures. From helping an alien who crash-lands inside Chomp’s head to doing a science project with Kid Evil (rumor has it that he doesn’t even wear socks!), the absurd fun never stops!

Happy #BookBirthday Feb 5 2026

Happy Thursday! This week there is ONE book on our lists publishing!

Day of Now by Miranda Reason

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A devastating fungal pandemic has wiped out most of society. Dayna and Pax live in an isolated house in the countryside, learning to survive in the world left behind. But when their father gets sick they make a choice that changes they summon help from the outside. And they're not prepared for the betrayal that follows . . .

Dayna and Pax must race against time across a ruthless landscape to save their father. They won't be able to do it on their own, but who can they trust in a world where survival is everything?

A powerful post-apocalyptic story about growing up fast and facing impossible choices.

Super Nintendo by Keza MacDonald

From the instant classics to the hidden gems, Nintendo's video games occupy a special place in the hearts of hundreds of millions of people around the globe. Every player has forged a unique connection with a beloved game, feeling that rush of awe and wonder as they immersed themselves in a virtual world in pursuit of that most human of impulses: the desire to have fun.

Super Nintendo finds lifelong gamer Keza MacDonald exploring Nintendo's legendary roster of games - as well as consoles such as the SNES, Gameboy, Wii and Switch, and a host of other quirky inventions from the Power Glove to Nintendo Labo - drawing from decades' worth of exclusive interviews with their creators and the people whose lives have been changed by them. Along the way, she tells the story of how this unassuming playing card company, founded in Kyoto in 1889, became one of the dominant cultural forces of the twenty-first century.

Offering unparalleled access to the company and its fun-filled world, and written with warmth and wit, Super Nintendo captures the love that so many of us feel for video games - and reveals just what that love tells us about being human.

FEATURING CHAPTERS ON

Ultrahand, Donkey Kong, Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, Kirby's Adventures, Wii Sports, Animal Crossing, Nintendo Labo, Super Smash Bros, Splatoon

Love by the Book by Jessica George

Friendship is the love story you can count on.

Remy is lucky. Her debut novel, based on her three best friends, became an instant bestseller when it was released, and her agent and publisher are clamoring for a follow-up. But just as Remy’s creative inspiration seems to leave her, so too do her friends: one moves to New York, one gets pregnant, and one gets back together with her (awful) boyfriend. After an ill-advised one-night stand complicates matters further, Remy is left deeply alone—and unable to find her next book idea.

Simone is successful. A Kindergarten teacher with a passion for kids, and a well-paying side hustle that affords her all the material comforts she desires, she doesn't have time for a robust social life. All Simone needs is her close-knit family—but after the true nature of her work is revealed, they cut her off, and she realizes for the first time just how isolated she is.

When Simone and Remy bump into each other (literally) in a bookstore, it isn’t exactly soulmates at first sight. Simone is guarded and prickly, Remy is insecure and heartbroken, and each woman is harboring a secret. And yet they might just be the missing piece the other has been searching for—if only they can let each other in.

Can Simone help Remy make one of the most important decisions of her life—and can Remy help Simone recover all that she’s lost? In Jessica George’s heartwarming, funny, and soulful second novel, she explores the restorative nature of female friendship and the life-changing power of platonic love.

Snagged by Carrie Harris

Sixteen-year-old Leigh Carroll has been through it--when she lost her mom as a baby, she and her dad had to move to a small apartment in Philadelphia where they are scraping by. Leigh has an afterschool job at a hardware store and her dad works nights, so they never see each other. Despite everything, Leigh has been able to maintain her signature snark and has found an escape through something she'd never expected...cosplay.

It's in this pursuit where Leigh's life takes a turn for the supernatural--when she decides to build a costume based on a dated book series called Lady Lovely Locks. It's about a princess of the same name who, on the surface, wears frumpy dresses, lives in a magical castle, rides a horse named "Silky Mane," and has rainbow hair infested with long-tailed rodents called "Pixietails."

Leigh finds a way to re-interpret this character for the 2020s and has everything she needs, except the rainbow-streaked hair. At a comic convention, she meets a mysterious old woman selling what appears to be an authentic, vintage Lady Lovely Locks wig. When Leigh gets home and puts it on, she finds herself magically transported to Lovely Locks kingdom. And, somehow, she now IS Lady Lovely Locks. But it isn't until she finds a painting of her mom hanging in the walls of a castle that she realizes more than magic has brought her here...it's fate.

A Girl's Guide to Spying by Holly Webb

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When Phyl is dragged along to the Girl Guides by her younger sister, Annie, the last thing she expects is the adventure of a lifetime. Then her Guide captain offers her a job as a messenger for MI5. Phyl is desperate to help the war effort and is thrilled to be working with spies.

But she can’t seem to do anything right in the eyes of the grumpy Major Warren. When he suddenly disappears, Phyl and Annie suspect that he may in fact be a double agent. The two sisters must solve the mystery of his whereabouts, before it’s too late. Luckily their friends from the Rose Patrol are ready to help…

Happy #BookBirthday! 29 Jan

Happy Thursday! This week there are SEVEN books on our lists publishing!

Nematodes by David Smith

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All the adults are dead...or dying. Those who remain won't last long in the wake of a deadly pandemic born from genetically modified nematodes marketed as a game-changing pest killer - it turns adults into cannibalistic maniacs. But this pandemic was no accident - its architects' only mistake was to allow children to survive. Forced into the roles of their murdered guardians, they must now fend for themselves against this relentless threat, navigating a decimated world in a bid to survive, building alliances and strength in the hope that they can stop the total annihilation of humankind. But each day brings them closer to maturity, closer to adulthood. And all the adults are dead...or dying.

The Darkness Greeted Her by Christina Ferko

Penny's abusive father is dead…but she still hears his voice in her head, encouraging her to hurt those around her. She can't go to school or be around her friends or even draw with a sharp pencil without her intrusive thoughts urging her toward violence. Desperate to get a handle on her OCD, she agrees to spend the summer at Camp Whitewood—an exclusive therapy retreat in the woods.

She feels optimistic when she arrives. The other girls all have their reasons for being there, which makes Penny feel a little less alone. But then she starts seeing things that can't possibly be there: the gold watch her father was buried with, his favorite whiskey spilled on her cabin floor...a terrifying figure she calls the Shadow Man looming at the foot of her bed. Penny thinks she is losing her mind, but when a girl goes missing, and is later found dead, it's clear that whatever is happening at Camp Whitewood isn't all in her head.

As the hallucinations become increasingly intense and more girls wind up dead, Penny must work with whoever is left standing to figure out what is real before the Shadow Man uses their traumas against them and claims their lives.

The Original Petit Etteilla by Caitlín Matthews and Rebecca Birrell

Learn foundational methods of divination from the Father of Cartomancy

• Provides the first English edition of Etteilla’s seminal text, an Etteilla deck, and a tutorial on how to make your own deck

• Offers eight main spreads along with variations, devised by Etteilla, and accompanying commentary and case studies

• Shares how Etteilla’s 1770 method set the standard for most European cartomantic divination, influencing the development of both cartomancy and tarot

Etteilla is the pseudonym of Jean Baptiste Alliette, known to divination devotees as the Father of Cartomancy. His 1770 manual, revised in 1773 under the title La Seule Manière de Tirer Les Cartes, was the first book on how to divine from playing cards, and it remains the basis for many cartomantic decks and tarots today. Now, for the first time, Etteilla’s manual is available in English.

This deck and guidebook gives readers a set of Petit Etteilla cards and a fully annotated translation of his text. The book explores how Etteilla’s deck and interpretive methods serve as the foundation for decks to follow, including the Lenormand and Rider-Waite-Smith decks. Readers will learn each card’s meaning (both upright and reversed) and the significance of each card’s placement in a spread. In Etteilla's system, each card’s meaning and associated words are printed on the card, allowing readers the freedom to use intuition instead of memorizing the meaning of each card. The result is an innovative system that offers a highly personalized method for readings. Readers will also learn how to make their own decks to further personalize their connection with Etteilla's method. This book offers eight spreads devised by Etteilla, with variations of each, along with commentary, case studies, and practices to enrich your understanding.

Sanctuary by James Cleary

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The near future…

Climate disasters have crippled the United States. With half the country under water and the other half a dust bowl, civil unrest would soon escalate into something darker, something unstoppable. Billionaire John Brandt anticipated this and channeled his money, power, and influence into being prepared for the great unraveling.

Now Brandt, his family, and his security team must retreat to Sanctuary, their underground bunker—a vast luxury mansion beneath the parched earth of the Nebraskan Great Plains. But they are not alone. Above ground a group of raiders are desperate to survive and will use any means possible to accomplish that goal.

As tensions mount both inside and out, battle lines are drawn— between the haves and the have-nots, between decency and expediency, between life and death. In this game, everyone’s a loser.

Lies we Tell About the Stars by Susie Nadler

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Celeste Muldoon is alone when the Big One finally hits San Francisco, because, for the first time ever, her best friend, Nicky, stood her up after school. The two of them share a birthday, matching tattoos, an obsession with the upcoming Mars mission, dreams of MIT, and pretty much everything else. So why didn’t he meet her the way they’d planned?

The earthquake has a huge death toll, and Nicky and Celeste's parents fear the worst, but Celeste doesn’t buy it. Nicky spent their senior year selling essays to rich kids and was about to be exposed. Celeste knows he had a plan to vanish, reinvent himself and escape the disaster he’d created, but can’t convince anyone else that he could still be alive. Only Meo, a mysterious boy Nicky was somehow mixed up with, seems to believe, but she has every reason to distrust him – even if her heart races every time he shows up.

When Celeste finds Nicky’s notebook, it sends her and Meo on a quest across her broken city, up the coast through towns sheltering quake refugees, and eventually all the way to Florida, where the mission to Mars is about to lift off.

Hail Mariam by Huda Al-Marashi

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Sixth grade wasn’t supposed to be this complicated.

Iraqi American Mariam Hassan transfers to a local Catholic school and before her first day her parents remind her that she might be the first Muslim her classmates have ever met. No big deal, right? Just represent an entire religion while making new friends, keeping up with schoolwork, and figuring out who she is.

When Mariam’s younger sister, Salma, is diagnosed with a serious lung condition, her family faces endless doctor visits and sleepless nights. Mariam tries to lighten their burden and keep her own problems to herself—including the fact that she’s just been cast as Mary in the school’s Christmas nativity play.

Mariam wants to honor her faith and her new community, but she’s terrified of crossing a religious line. Can a Muslim girl be the lead in a Christian story? What will her family think? And why does she feel like every decision she makes represents all Muslims?

Mariam discovers that faith, much like friendships, isn’t about perfection—it’s about connection. As she leans on her family, friends, and school community, she begins to see the power of interfaith cooperation and learns she doesn’t have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Hail Mariam is a celebration of the beauty of finding common ground.

Brigid by Kim Curran

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In a wild, ancient grove at the edge of winter, a desperate girl prays to the gods for her freedom.

None have ever listened to Brigid’s prayers.

But this time, a goddess answers . . . with a vision that will transform Brigid’s path forever.

The new Christian god is coming, a faith that Brigid can bend to her will, building a sanctuary for other powerless women.

But power, like a flame, consumes as it grows. As Brigid rises, challenging kings, defying bishops, her enemies draw closer.

What – or who – will she sacrifice to hold on to her legacy?