Oaks Park LRC

Ice, myth, magic and danger in this bone-chilling, page-turning, beautifully written fantasy novel set in the same world as A SHIVER OF SNOW AND SKY. Blood-red lights have appeared in the sky over the frozen island of Skane, causing a cloak of fear and suspicion to fall over the village like a blanket of snow.  In a desperate attempt to keep out the plague, the village elders barricade its borders - no-one, no matter how in need of help, will be permitted to enter in case they bring infection with them. Teenager Janna refuses to turn her back on people seeking refuge and is banished to the swirling snow and lurking darkness beyond the village. Can she survive? Samantha Shannon, internationally bestselling author of The Bone Season, says: 'It reads like a long-lost fable, rich with beauty and imagination. A world you won't forget.'

Professor Stephen Hawking was a brilliant theoretical physicist, an influential author and thinker, and a great popular communicator. Throughout his career he was asked questions by business leaders, politicians, entrepreneurs, academics and the general public on a broad range of subjects, from the origins of the universe to the future of the planet. Brief Answers to the Big Questions  brings together his thinking on the most timeless and the most-timely questions in science: Where did we come from? What is inside a black hole? Is there other intelligent life in the universe? How will we survive on earth? How can we colonise space? Will we ever be able to go beyond the Solar System? For both the scientific and the intellectually curious, this book celebrates the mind, humour, and achievements of one of the most inspiring figures in recent history. The book will include an afterword from Lucy Hawking and a percentage of all royalties will go to the Motor Neurone Disea

The Wizarding World journey continues... The powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald was captured in New York with the help of Newt Scamander. But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escapes custody and sets about gathering followers, most of whom are unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings. In an effort to thwart Grindelwald's plans, Albus Dumbledore enlists Newt, his former Hogwarts student, who agrees to help once again, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald  is the second screenplay in a five-film series to be written by J K Rowling, author of the internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. Set in 1927, a few months after the events of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and moving from New York to London, Paris and e

This classic quest story is perfect for animal-loving adventure-seekers, replete with a kaleidoscope of characters and a high-stake journey driven by the colossal courage of one small creature. Byx is the lowliest member of her dwindling dairne pack, a mythical doglike species that’s on the verge of being hunted to extinction. While she was “used to being last”, she “did not want to be the last to live”. She “did not want to be the endling” of the dairnes and so when she finds herself alone, indomitable Byx embarks on a perilous quest to find others of her kind, encountering new allies as she braves war-ravaged lands.  The writing is pacey and infused with much courage, compassion and hope, and a sparkling sense of legend. This is a heartily nourishing novel for 9+ year-olds with a thirst for fantasy, and readers who love animals and nature.

Shortlisted for the Golden Man Booker 2018   Winner of the  Man Booker Prize 2017 Shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year 2017 At the dawn of the Civil War Abraham Lincoln nurses a very private grief. President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son lies gravely ill. In a matter of days, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy's body. From this seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of realism, entering a thrilling, supernatural domain: electric, hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself trapped in a transitional realm - called, in Tibetan tradition, the bardo - and as ghosts mingle, squabble, gripe and commiserate, and stony tendrils creep towards the boy, a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul. Unfolding over a single nigh

Having defeated the monstrous threat that nearly destroyed the peculiar world, Jacob Portman is back where his story began, in Florida. Except now Miss Peregrine, Emma, and their peculiar friends are with him, and doing their best to blend in. But carefree days of beach visits and ‘normalling’ lessons are soon interrupted by a discovery-a subterranean bunker that belonged to Jacob's grandfather, Abe. Clues to Abe's double-life as a peculiar operative start to emerge, secrets long hidden in plain sight. And Jacob begins to learn about the dangerous legacy he has inherited-truths that were part of him long before he walked into Miss Peregrine's time loop. Now, the stakes are higher than ever as Jacob and his friends are thrust into the untamed landscape of American peculiardom. This is a world that none of them understand, a world with few ymbrynes and even fewer rules. New wonders, and dangers, await in this brilliant next chapter for Miss Peregrine's peculi

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a severe facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, Auggie wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past his extraordinary face. Wonder begins from Auggie's point of view, but soon switches to include the perspectives of his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These voices converge to portray a community as it struggles with differences, and challenges readers, both young and old, to wonder about the true nature of empathy, compassion, acceptance, friendship, and—ultimately—kindness. Auggie is a hero for the ages, one who proves that you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out. ABOUT THE AUTHOR R. J. Palacio  lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, two sons and two dogs (Bear and Beau). Her debut novel,  Wonder , has been on the  New York Times  bestseller list since March, 2012, and

A collection of seventeen wonderful short stories showing that two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks is as talented a writer as he is an actor. A World War II veteran dealing with his emotional and physical scars. A second-rate actor plunged into sudden stardom and a whirlwind press junket. A small-town newspaper columnist with old-fashioned views of the modern world. A woman adjusting to life in a new neighbourhood after her divorce. Four friends going to the moon and back in a rocket ship constructed in the backyard. A teenage surfer stumbling into his father's secret life. These are just some of the people and situations that Tom Hanks explores in his first work of fiction, a collection of stories that dissects, with great affection, humour, and insight, the human condition and all its foibles. The stories are linked by one thing: in each of them, a typewriter plays a part, sometimes minor, sometimes central. To many, typewriters represent a level of craftsmans

When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions in this harrowing story of survival from New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman. The drought - or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it - has been going on for a while now. Everyone's lives have become an endless list of don'ts: don't water the lawn, don't fill up your pool, don't take long showers. Until the taps run dry. Suddenly, Alyssa's quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbours and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don't return and her life - and the life of her brother - is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she's going to survive.

This Sunday marks 100 years since the  Armistice  was signed in November 1918, bringing an end to the  First World War .  Big Ben sounded in Parliament Square to ring in the news as thousands gathered in Westminster and outside Buckingham Palace roaring in celebration, sparking three days of jubilation across Britain, with members of the public climbing the lions in Trafalgar Square. In the House of Commons, the prime minister, Lloyd George, concluded his address with the declaration: “I hope we may say that thus, this fateful morning, came an end to all wars.” A special display dedicated to Armistice 1918 has gone up in the school library, commemorating the Centenary of the end of the First World War. 

This book is written by Sophie Anderson and was published a few months ago.  The House with Chicken Legs is about a girl called Marinka, she thinks she is an average girl and wants to have an average life. However, her grandma is the Baba Yaga she guides dead spirits from this world to the next. Even though she knows one day she will be the next one to help for the next generation., she can’t help but wonder how her life would be if she could choose her own path in life and not have to follow some destiny. Plus, this book is very interesting because every now and then the house moves to a new place and her cycle of helping her grandma guide the dead is never ending. My favourite part of the book is when Marinka goes though the gate, this is because this was when she found out that she was actually alive- not dead. In addition, her loyal raven, her new living friend and the house all work together to try and save her. My favourite character is Marinka, this is because

See you in the cosmos is written by Jack Cheng, it was published on February 2017. This book is about a boy called Alex. Alex is eleven, he lives with his mum and a dog named after his all time hero- Carl Sagan.... Pretty normal right? Well, Alex is VERY responsible for his age, he can cook, clean take care of his dog and his mum in a matter of fact. However, his goal is to launch his iPod to space, he has recorded multiple recordings on what life on Earth (his earth) is like. The aim is that maybe one day some other living being will find it and will be able to find out what has happened on his earth.

Winner of the  British Book Awards  Book of the Year 2018 Waterstones Fiction Book of the Month  for February 2018 Winner of the 2017  Costa Book Awards  First Novel Award Longlisted for the  Women's Prize for Fiction 2018 Shortlisted for the  Desmond Elliott Prize 2018 Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive - but not how to live. She leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day and eats the same meal deal for lunch every day. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything. One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted - whilst searching for the courage to face the dark corners she's avoided all her life. Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than... fine?

Longlisted for the Carnegie Book Award 2019 Steffi has been a selective mute for most of her life - she's been silent for so long that she feels completely invisible. But Rhys, the new boy at school, sees her. He's deaf, and her knowledge of basic sign language means that she's assigned to look after him. To Rhys it doesn't matter that Steffi doesn't talk and, as they find ways to communicate, Steffi finds that she does have a voice, and that she's falling in love with the one person who makes her feel brave enough to use it.

Longlisted for the Carnegie Book Awards 2019 A sharply observed and warm hearted story about change and transition in adolescence,  Tender Earth  also carries a powerful message to all young readers about tolerance, integration and the need to stand up for what you believe in.  Moving to secondary school coincides with big changes at home and Leila finds herself struggling with all the differences she now faces. Her best friend is striking out on her own; her new friend has secrets which Leila doesn’t know how to unlock. When Leila discovers her grandmother’s ‘Protest Book’, a listing of all the protests she attended, Leila decides it is time for her to get her own voice heard. Leila’s coming of age experiences intelligently reflect today’s society while her gradual realisation of her own opportunities will inspire others.

THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL Nominations for 2019 Ainsworth, Eve.   Damage Almond, David (author) Smith, Alex, T. (illustrator).   The Tale of Angelino Brown Anholt, Laurence.   The Hypnotist Bain Murphy, Emily.   The Disappearances Barnard, Sara.   A Quiet Kind of Thunder Barr, Emily.   The One Memory of Flora Banks Barter, Catherine.   Troublemakers Beauvais, Clémentine (author and translator).   Piglettes Bergin, Virginia.   Who Runs the World? Blake, Kendare.   Three Dark Crowns Brahmachari, Sita.   Tender Earth Breslin, Theresa.   The Rasputin Dagger Breslin, Theresa.   Caged Brittan, Jane (author) , Hankin, Mike (illustrator).   Bad Blood: Part 2 Broadway, Alice.   Ink Bunzl, Peter.   Cogheart Carroll, Emma.   Letters from the Lighthouse Carroll, Sarah.   The Girl in Between Cassidy, Anne.   No Virgin Cheng, Jack.   See You in the Cosmos Clare, Horatio (author) Matthews, Jane (illustrator)  Aubrey and the Terrible Ladybirds Coelh