Everyone loves the wickedly dry sense of humour of The Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine.Okay, Okay. So hang me. I killed the bird. For pity's sake, I'm a cat.Poor Ellie is horrified when Tuffy drags a dead bird into the house. Then a mouse. But Tuffy can't understand what all the fuss is about.Who on earth will be the next victim to arrive through the cat-flap? Can soft-hearted Ellie manage to get her beloved pet to change his wild, wild ...

One of the all-time classics of children's literature, a feel-good book full of enthusiasm and exuberance, and a perfect family read"There is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it."When Pollyanna Whittier's father dies she is sent to live with her Aunt Polly in Vermont. A clash of personalities ensues as Pollyanna's sunny disposition sits ill with her aunt's need for quiet, her passion for...

Flour Babies by Anne Fine, won the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Book Award in 1992. When the annual school science fair comes round, Mr Cartwright's class don't get to work on the Soap Factory, the Maggot Farm or the Exploding Custard Tins. To their intense disgust they get the Flour Babies - sweet little six-pound bags of flour that must be cared for at all times.Funny and poignant, Flour Babies is a brilliant depiction of secondary school life.

Lydia, Christopher and Natalie are used to domestic turmoil. Their parents' divorce has not made family life any easier in either home. The children bounce to and fro between their volatile mother, Miranda, and Daniel, their out-of-work actor father. Then Miranda advertises for a cleaning lady who will supervise the children after school - and Daniel gets the job, disguised as Madame Doubtfire. This is a bittersweet, touching and extremely funny book.

Christmas comes but once a year. Luckily . . . The Christmas holiday is, traditionally, a time when families gather together. In Ralph's case this means ten or more relatives coming to stay, including assorted aunts and uncles, nutty Great-Aunt Ida (the Home tells them to be careful not to let her out) and his ghastly cousins: Titania in her silly, sick-making frilly fairy dresses and the twins Sylvester and Sylvia (it took until Easter last year before the family dog got over them...

How stupid do you have to be to fall out of a top floor window?Or was Stolly trying something else - up on cloud nine, even then?Stolly has always been so alive, so inspiring, taking risks, hiding nothing, notorious for being the school's most imaginative liar (or fantatist, as he calls it). But now he's lying in a hospital bed and Ian, his best friend who's as close as a brother, is watching, waiting and remembering . . .A characteristically funny, moving, li...

The King is at his wit's end; twelve daughters and every morning their shoes are torn to ribbons! Nobody can tell him why, so he promises that whoever uncovers their secret will inherit his kingdom. The reward is huge - but the price of failure is their head. Who will risk it all for a dance with the princesses?This story is a magic bean. It may not look much like a bean, but I can promise you that it is. For if you plant it in a young mind, it will grow into a love of sto...

A classic children’s story from one of our best-loved authors, former Children’s Laureate Anne Fine.Bill Simpson wakes up to find he’s a girl, and worse, his mother makes him wear a frilly pink dress to school. How on earth is he going to survive a whole day like this? Everything just seems to be different for girls …Anne Fine’s fun school stories have been delighting children for more than 20 years, winning her awards such as the Smarties Book Award and Carnegie Medal alon...

When Rupert's parents go to Great Uncle Perry's funeral, Rupert spends the day with his Great Aunt Ada, along with his unruly puppy, Roly. Great Aunt Ada is determined to teach Rupert some manners. Rupert thinks the day is going to be awful until hemeets Gordon, a very rude parrot. Gorden is even worse than Great Aunt Ada, and he bosses Rupert and Roly so much that they tidy the whole house. They are relieved to get back home, but they do remember their manners!

A travesty. A violation. An ecstasy. A disappointment. An instant. A lie. A theft. A rite of passage. Whatever you call it, there's only one first time.A.S. King, Melvin Burgess, Keith Gray, Patrick Ness, Anne Fine, Sophie McKenzie, Bali Rai, Jenny Valentine, Mary Hooper, and Andrew Smith. Some of today's leading international YA authors contributed to this hard-hitting collection of original short stories: some funny, some moving, some haunting, but all revolving around the same su...

'The devil walks . . . But the devil can make no headway if he has no help. We must invite him in . . .'Raised in secrecy by a mother everyone thinks has gone mad, Daniel's only link to his past is the intricately built model of the family home - High Gates. The dolls' house is perfect in every detail.As Daniel is reunited with the last remaining member of his family - his 'uncle' Severin, who bears an uncanny resemblance to a sinister wooden doll he has fo...

Everyone thinks they know what it's like, going to school. But have you ever wondered what life must be like at a boarding school? A school for young offenders? A school for the blind? With her trademark humour, insight, sensitivity and razor-sharp wit, Anne Fine explores these different worlds in a short story collection that will fascinate young readers.