Oaks Park LRC

Published as a 'shilling shocker', Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll's strange association with 'damnable young man' Edward Hyde, the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer, and the final revelation of Hyde's true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil.       About the Author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) is the author of many works of fiction including Kidnapped, Treasure Island, The Weir of Hermiston, and poetry. Robert Mighall has edited The Picture of Dorian Gray for Penguin Classics and is the author of A Geography of Victorian Gothic Fiction (1999).

Biography R.L Stine’s books are read all over the world. So far, his books have sold more than 300 million copies, making him one of the most popular children’s authors in history. Besides Goosebumps, R.L Stine has written the teen series Fear Street and the funny series Rotten School, as well as the Mostly Ghostly series, The Nightmare Room series, and the two-book thriller Dangerous Girls. R.L. Stine lives in New York with his wife, Jane, and Minnie, his King Charles spaniel.

First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's  The Haunting of Hill House  has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a 'haunting'; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers - and soon it will choose one of them to make its own. Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco in 1919. She first received wide critical acclaim for her short story 'The Lottery', which was published in 1948. Her novels - which include  The Sundial, The Bird's Nest, Hangsaman, The Road through the Wall, We Have Always Lived in the Castle  and  The Haunting of Hill House -  

My Rating: 4 stars  12-14 years House of Windows is a great story following the life of Nick, a 15 year old genius in everyone else's eyes but his own. He believes that the only reason he would be going to university at 15 years old is because he works hard. He is good at maths but not so good at making friends. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure and likes a good book to sit down and read.

Shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2018  The Oedipal myth of divided families, inter-generational rivalry and twisted fate is vividly re-imagined in Daisy Johnson’s debut novel  Everything Under.   Set in a remote cottage in the British countryside, the novel centres on the complex and fractured relationship between an isolated young lexicographer and her mother, a woman gradually succumbing to dementia. ‘A deeply involving, unsettling novel that pulls the reader into a uniquely eerie yet recognisable world.’

Have you ever wondered what happened to Tracy Beaker? She's a mum now - and it's her daughter Jess who's telling the story. Jess looks like a mini version of her mum - but she's not quite as fiery. Well, not often. Jess and Tracy are living a hand-to-mouth existence on a tough housing estate, but Tracy meets up with someone from her past and their whole lives are turned upside down... A fantastic new story featuring a much-loved old friend, this brilliant new book from Jacqueline Wilson is packed full of illustrations from Nick Sharratt throughout. Former Children’s Laureate Jacqueline Wilson first shot to fame with her  Tracy Beaker  stories and since then has gone on to write more than a hundred books, mostly for children, including popular stand-alone stories such as  The Illustrated Mum  and  Dustbin Baby .

Dear Evan Hansen,  Today's going to be an amazing day and here's why... When a letter that was never meant to be seen draws high school senior Evan Hansen into the Murphy family's grief over the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime:  to belong. He just has to stick to a lie he never meant to tell.  That the notoriously troubled Connor Murphy was his secret best friend. Suddenly, Evan isn't invisible anymore. And Connor's wealthy parents have taken him in like he was their own, desperate to know more about their enigmatic son from his 'closest friend'. As Evan gets pulled deeper into their family, he knows that what he's doing may not be right, but if he's helping people, how wrong can it be? No longer tangled in his once-incapacitating anxiety, this new Evan has a purpose. He's confident. He's a viral phenomenon. Every day is amazing. But when everything is in danger of unravelling, he comes face to face with

  Murder most unladylike is the first book of the ‘Murder Most Unladylike mystery series’.  It’s about two young girls (Daisy Wells- detective and Hazel Wong-secretary) who work together to solve mysteries that would normally be solved by the police.  It’s a great book because it’s packed with action; throughout the book Hazel and Daisy work together to find out who killed Miss Bell- a not so liked science mistress. They discover more and more evidence eventually leading to the suspect. My favourite character is Hazel. This is because even though she was the secretary- not the actual detective, she was the first person discover the dead body SECONDS before the evidence was removed. Plus, she was originally from Hong Kong and then moved there, and she previously had trouble fitting in and could be very relatable to the reader.  My favourite part of the book is when the police officer confronts all the teach

** LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018 **  The Overstory unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond:  An Air Force loadmaster in the Vietnam War is shot out of the sky, then saved by falling into a banyan.  An artist inherits a hundred years of photographic portraits, all of the same doomed American chestnut.  A hard-partying undergraduate in the late 1980s electrocutes herself, dies and is sent back into life by creatures of air and light.  A hearing- and speech-impaired scientist discovers that trees are communicating with one another.  These four, and five other strangers - each summoned in different ways by trees - are brought together in a last and violent stand to save the continent's few remaining acres of virgin forest.  There is a world alongside ours - vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive and almost invi

A heartfelt, hard-hitting, super-readable novella about the life-affirming, life-saving friendship that blossomsbetween a young teenager and her 59 year-old neighbour. All sweet-hearted Aman wanted was for her dad to stay a little longer, but he died before she had chance to read her special letter to him.  While grappling with grief, she’s bullied by a bunch of older kids, but thankfully new neighbour Gurnam intervenes to scare them off. While Aman sees Gurnam as her “personal superhero”, she notices a sadness about him, but he won’t reveal the cause of his pain.  The truth is revealed with poignant, page-turning urgency, leading to a shocking finale that sees Aman grasp a second vital chance to read her love-filled letter. About the Author Bali Rai  is a well-established, award winning and hugely popular voice within the young adult fiction market.  His particular successful title  Rani and Sukh  became a set-text for GCSE English.  His novel  Killing Hono

Felix Knutsson is nearly thirteen, lives with his mother and pet gerbil Horatio, and is brilliant at memorising facts and trivia. So far, pretty normal.  But Felix and his mom Astrid have a secret: they are living in a van. Astrid promises it's only for a while until she finds a new job, and begs Felix not to breathe a word about it. So when Felix starts at a new school, he does his very best to hide the fact that most of his clothes are in storage, he only showers weekly at the community centre, and that he doesn't have enough to eat.  When his friends Dylan and Winnie ask to visit, Felix always has an excuse. But Felix has a plan to turn his and Astrid's lives around: he's going to go on his favourite game show Who, What, Where, When and win the cash prize. All he needs is a little luck and a lot of brain power . . .  Susin Nielsen deftly combines humour, heartbreak, and hope in this moving story about people who slip through the cracks in society, and about t

The hero of the novel, Edmond Dantes,  is a young sailor who is unjustly accused of aiding the exiled Napoleon.   As punishment Dantès is sentenced to life imprisonment in a French island fortress. After 14 years, he makes a daring escape by taking the place of a dead companion; he is sewn into a burial shroud and thrown into the sea. Having learned from his dead prison mate of a vast treasure on the island of Monte Cristo, Dantès eventually makes his way there to uncover and claim it. Adopting the persona of the Count of Monte Cristo, Dantès becomes a powerful, shadowy figure who eventually avenges himself on those who wronged him.

A stunning, vital wake-up call of a novel about racism, social inequality and not giving up told through the eyes of an incredible, unforgettable sixteen-year-old. Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping novel about one girl's struggle for justice.

The dazzlingly brilliant Chris Riddell brings his magical illustration talents to J.K. Rowling's gloriously inventive  The Tales of Beedle the Bard  in a fully illustrated colour edition of this essential classic for Harry Potter fans. The Tales of Beedle the Bard have been favourite bedtime reading in wizarding households for centuries. Full of magic and trickery, these classic tales both entertain and instruct, and remain as captivating to young wizards today as they were when Beedle first put quill to parchment in the fifteenth century. Translated from the runes by Hermione Granger, the volume includes `The Tale of the Three Brothers', familiar to readers of Harry Potter from the crucial role it played in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Mischievous and witty, these five rollicking tales are a deeply satisfying read in the tradition of all great fables and fairytales. Kindnesses are rewarded and selfishness shown to be the ruin of many a wizard. Burping cauldrons, h

AR Book Level: 5.1 This book is written by Ross Welford. He writes children’s book and other well known books including:   time travelling with a hamster and what not to do if you turn invisible. This book is about a ‘1,000 year old boy’, who is called Alfie Monk. But you might be wondering, HOW IS HE A THOUSAND YEARS OLD? Well, when he was eleven he swallowed a life pearl. There are only 5 life pearls in the whole entire world, and they are highly valued and rare. So his dad got his hands on all 5 and swallowed one himself, and so did his wife. But it was only afterwards did he find out that even though you are immortal, you can still die. So with his father dead, he lives with his mum and a cat (called Biffa). Who he also gave a life pearl to swallow… So they live forever, him, his mum and Biffa. Everything goes well until one day he was due a DNA test to see if he was really 1,000 years old. After all, Alfie had kept it a secret from rest of the world. That’s w