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Now that Mum’s no longer with us, it’s just me and Mr Pooter. Even though he is only a cat, I know that Mr Pooter loved Mum every bit as much as I did. We both miss her so much … Things would be easier if I could just stop feeling. If I could freeeeze, like an ice lolly, it mightn’t hurt so much. Published by HarperCollins Children's Books ISBN: 9780007281732 For age 9+ Available from Amazon.co.uk We at Bookbag love, love, love Jean Ure. Love her. She writes real-life, kitchen sink dramas that inhabit a child's world with absolute credibility. And she does it with such kindliness and generosity of spirit that it quite steals our hearts away. But it's not all about heartstring tugging; there's always a good dollop of situational humour in every book, so nobody ever puts one of her stories down feeling sad. There's an ease about her writing that makes you feel as though she had an inexhaustible supply of stories in her head, and all she's lacking is the time to write them down. ~ Bookbag Extract from Ice Lolly So this is it; it’s happening. I’m sitting here between Auntie Ellen and Uncle Mark in this room that’s called a chapel, though it isn’t my idea of what a chapel ought to be. Chapels should be beautiful, I think; this is just plain and ordinary. Maybe that is what you get for not believing. In God, I mean. But you can’t be a hypocrite just for the sake of a stained glass window. You can’t say you believe when you don’t. Not however much you would like to. Mum wouldn’t have wanted me to do that. She used to say, “You have to face up to things, Lol.” So that is what I am doing. I am facing up. No. 6 in the Girlfriends series Polly is really looking forward to a trip to the seaside with her best friends and their boyfriends. It’ll be brilliant, all of them together! But then Polly’s plans start to fall apart as one by one her friends’ relationships hit trouble. Soon she finds herself stuck in the middle, like some kind of agony aunt. And when Polly finally gets her day by the sea, will it turn out to be as much as she hopes – or will it be total disaster? Published by Orchard ISBN: 9781408303023 For age 9+ Available from Amazon.co.uk No. 5 in the Girlfriends series The Gang of Four are growing up. It seems to Polly that all they ever do these days is talk about boys. Polly’s not sure that boys really ARE her. Wasn’t it better when it was just the four of them? She sometimes wonders whether she’ll ever get what it’s all about … Published by Orchard ISBN: 9781408303016 For age 9+ Available from Amazon.co.uk MORE BOOKS IN THE 'GIRLFRIENDS' SERIES
PINK KNICKERS AREN'T COOL - ISBN: 1846169615 Published by Orchard Books For age 10 + Pink Knickers Aren't Cool - available from Amazon.co.uk Thirteen-year-old Tamsin has never had a boyfriend, and she's starting to feel left behind. Even her ten-year-old sister has a boyfriend, so surely it must be her turn soon! When Tamsin meets Alex, she just can't stop thinking about him, and she's thrilled when he asks her out on a date. But he's sixteen and has already left school. Before she knows it, Tamsin is lying about her age and going behind her parents back...but for how long can she keep up the pretence? Published by HarperCollins Children's Books ISBN: 9780007281725 For age 11+ Available from Amazon.co.uk Extract from Love and Kisses I shall never forget the day I first saw Alex. I was walking down Hawthorn Road with my best friend Katie. Best friend in the whole wide world! Friends for ever, through thick and thin, though that was the summer was almost parted company … and all because of Alex. It was Cookie that got us started on our life of crime. Not that he was called Cookie back then. He was just the puppy that lived next door. We didn’t know that he would soon be ours. That we’d have to save his life. Or that he would lead us into such Big Trouble … Published by HarperCollins Children's Books ISBN: 9780007224623 For age 9+ Available from Amazon.co.uk Extract from Fortune Cookie Hi! I’m Fudge Cassidy, and this is my friend, the Cupcake Kid. She’s my bestie! Here we are in the Cupcake’s garden. Her mum took this photograph last September. We’d just started at secondary school and were showing off in our new school uniforms – which we now wouldn’t be seen dead in. Not if we could help it. We are both smiling, proudly, looking straight into the camera. Nothing to hide! No guilty secrets. That all came later … Grown ups don’t believe you can be in love when you’re only thirteen. Not properly in love. My mum calls it calf love, meaning that it’s something you grow out of, like puppy fat or spots. When I tell her that love is FOR EVER, she just laughs and says, “For ever is a mighty long time!” Published by Orchard ISBN: 9781846169595 For age 10+ Available from Amazon.co.uk Can their love survive? I couldn’t tell them lies about Priya, and I wasn’t going to pretend I’d done it with someone else. Priya was special. Sam and his mates enjoy boasting about their success with girls, until Sam meets Priya and everything changes. Suddenly, girls are not just sex objects or trophies. He and Priya are in love. But their happiness is shattered when Priya discovers she’s pregnant. Will their unborn baby bind them together or tear them apart? Published by Orchard ISBN: 9781843629405 For age 12+ Available from Amazon.co.uk A new comedy drama all about the ups and downs of seeking fame. Carmen is in Year 9 and has serious ambitions to be a rock star. She has a great voice, has taught herself to play the guitar, and with one of her best friends, Josh, actually writes her own songs. The school is having a Top Spot contest for would-be pop stars, and Carmen eagerly puts her name on the list. But when Carmen hears a spiteful girl at her school make comments about her weight, she bunks off school and swears she is never going back! Published by HarperCollins ISBN: 0007224613 For age 9+ Available from Amazon.co.uk Extract from Star Crazy Me The day Marigold Johnson called me a fat freak was the day I started bunking off school. That is a fact. It is absolutely one hundred per cent true. But is it a good way to begin? I thought that it was, but now I am not so sure. I mean, in one sense it was what set things in motion, as they say, cos if it hadn't been for me bunking off school - well! Certain things would never have happened. Meeting Mrs P, for one. On the other hand, lots of really significant stuff had gone on in my life before Marigold went and called me a freak. So now I'm feeling a bit confused and don't quite know how to begin.
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