Genna cuts out pictures for her scrapbooks - pictures of mothers, like the one she will never, ever see again. Mike is a new boy at school - a boy who is desperate not to be noticed. Who has a secret so terrible it will haunt him forever. But Genna's sure she's seen Mike's face before. And now she's out to get him.

Julia Kelly, gifted music scholarship student at Killian Grammar School, Melbourne, is taken hostage during a bank hold-up. The getaway car crashes and Julia barely escapes the flaming wreckage. Severely traumatised by burns and the loss of a rising career as a pianist, Julia depersonalises, sending the burned Julia to an imaginary place in the Simpson Desert, while retaining as herself, the undamaged 'Kate'.

Set on the front lines of the American Civil War. The main character, March, has been taken from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women . He is the father who is away at war and who returns and needs to reassemble his shattered mind and reconnect with his family.

No stranger to the injustice of racial hatred, five-year-old Peekay learns the hard way the first secret of survival and self-preservation - the power of one. An encounter with amateur boxer Hoppie Groenewald inspires in Peekay a fiery ambition - to be welterweight champion of the world.

Helen and Chris are in their last year at school when Helen discovers she is pregnant and resolves to break off their relationship. Suggested level: secondary.

This book is set in Ireland in 1984. After Shell's mother dies, her obsessively religious father descends into alcoholic mourning and Shell is left to care for her younger brother and sister. Her only release from the harshness of everyday life comes from her budding spiritual friendship with a naive young priest, and most importantly, her developing relationship with childhood friend, Declan, charming, eloquent and persuasive. But when Declan suddenly leaves Ireland to seek his fortune in America, Shell finds herself pregnant and the centre of a scandal that rocks the small community in which she lives, with repercussions across the whole country. The lives of those immediately around her will never be the same again.

Binti was the child star of a popular radio program in Malawi. But now she is nothing special. Both parents dead, separated from her brother and sister, ostracised by the rest of the family and treated like a servant. Binti is just another AIDS orphan. Facing this challenge, Binti discovers she must look outside herself and find a new way to be special.;"Binti was the child star of a popular radio program in Malawi. But now she is nothing special. Both parents dead, separated from her brother and sister, ostracised by the rest of the family and treated like a servant. Binti is just another AIDS orphan. Facing this challenge, Binti discovers she must look outside herself and find a new way to be special.";"Binti was the child star of a popular radio program in Malawi. But now she is nothing special. Both parents dead, separated from her brother and sister, ostracised by the rest of the family and treated like a servant. Binti is just another AIDS orphan. Facing this challenge, Binti discovers she must look outside herself and find a new way to be special."

In Kabul, Afghanistan, Parvana's father is arrested and removed by Taliban solders. Under Taliban law, women and girls are not allowed to leave home without a man, so Parvana, her mother and sisters must stay inside. When their food runs out, they face starvation, so Parvana must pretend to be a boy.

After her father dies, twelve-year-old Parvana is left to fend for herself and so, dressed as a boy and accompanied by other children on the run, must find a way to locate her remaining family inside war-torn Afghanistan.

Parvana's best friend Shauzia has fled Afghanistan and is faced with surviving on her own on the streets of Peshawar, Pakistan. wWth her dog as her only friend, she must scrounge for food, beg for money and look for a safe place to sleep every night. But could it be worse than a life-time spent living in a refugee camp?;"Parvana's best friend Shauzia has fled Afghanistan and is faced with surviving on her own on the streets of Peshawar, Pakistan. With her dog as her only friend, she must scrounge for food, beg for money and look for a safe place to sleep every night. But could it be worse than a life-time spent living in a refugee camp?";"When she decides to leave the relative safety of the refugee camp, Shauzia faces many difficulties alone in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. But she is determined to fulfil her dreams. Suggested level: primary, intermediate."

After a perilous and terrifying escape from war-torn Afghanistan, Gulnessa and her family are confined in a detention centre for asylum seekers, and forced to prove their refugee status. Gulnessa is determined to stay strong. She must keep her family together, and fight for her friend Abdul - with whom she has secretly fallen in love.

Felicity Clairet, more commonly known as Flick , is English, the beautiful wife of Michel, the leader of the Reims-based Resistance circuit, codenamed Bollinger . By day, Flick is a first-aider with the nursing Yeomanry. By night, she plays a vital role in the Resistance.

Welcome to bunkhouse five - it'a a scene of power struggles, hidden agendas and psychodramas. There's Brad with the troubled past, and fat, harmless Mountain-Man Singh. There's spineless Anthony Cannucia - and charismatic, dangerous Ape who keeps constant pressure on the group. And there's Falco - who never wanted to come on camp in the first place. He has just been made leader --Back cover.

Single teenage father Matt is 17 and looks after his baby, Mahalia. His girlfriend couldn't cope and has gone away, perhaps forever. This novel explores the tensions in Matt's existence between the purposeful growth and demands of the baby and his own sense of drift.

Lowell tries not to think about the past, about the hijacking that killed his mother. Samantha, on the other hand, cannot let the past go. As a child she survives the hijacking of Air France 064, and as an adult she obsessively digs for answers.

Suspicious of sixteen-year-old Marnie, a newcomer to their village, the residents accuse her of witchcraft when she discovers that the village madman is not crazy but deaf and she begins to communicate with him through hand gestures.

Terrified, a Navaron child watches helplessly from his hiding place as a Shinili woman is beaten and abused by a group of drunken Navaron men. Too frightened to answer her pleas the child runs away taking with him the sacred bone carving of the shinili people and in doing so binds his fate to them.

A world destroyed by fire is saved from ice by a charismatic young woman who has powers beyond those of any living human being.

In the depths of a reservoir lives a monstrous creature. Its existence is unknown to anyone except the teenage boy who feeds it. Six years ago it was a vicious little baby. Now it has grown huge, and its rusting cage can't hold it much longer...Stephen is a boy with many secrets, and the Beast is the biggest. His life in foster care, always bad, is getting worse, and he's in trouble with the police. All the odds are against him finding a decent place in the world, but his efforts to free himself of the Beast make him a hero that readers will never forget.

Watershed tells the story of three very different teenagers. Each has a problem they wish to escape from. Belinda and Leni are close friends in the inner city. Belinda moves to a new estate on the outskirts of the city so her family has adequate facilities for her brother who has cerebral palsy, and without her, Leni is without her main source of support. She feels totally restricted by her Greek parents and their customs, and she runs away from home.;"Belinda and her best friend Leni brave their way into the forbidding bush below Belinda's home in the mountains, where they confront Lance, a boy with nothing to lose. The three find themselves in a gripping adventure that explores friendship and selfishness, truth and deception, courage and fear."

Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.

In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.

Thirteen-year-old Lakshmi, though poor, enjoys her life until the Himalayan monsoons wash away her family's crops and she is sold to a brothel in India by her stepfather. She remembers her mother's wisdom, Simply to endure is to triumph, until the day comes that she can reclaim her life.

Dirk, found in the forest as a young child, is treated as something feral and wild by other members of the bush settlement in Victoria in 1840. At seventeen, when he finds a cache of sovereigns inside a log he is splitting, Dirk realises he has been given his independence. With the sovereigns tied around his waist, he sets out to discover what the world holds, who he is and what he wants to do with his life. Dirk travels to the frontiers of the new and strange land and comes to understand himself in the process.

Reduced to begging and thievery in the streets of London, a thirteen-year-old orphan disguises herself as a boy and connives her way on to a British warship set for high sea adventure in search of pirates.;"Desperate to escape a life of poverty on the streets of 18th century London, 12-year-old Jacky Faber joins the HMS Dolphin as a ship's boy. But there is just one problem - Jacky is a girl. And 18th century girls aren't supposed to murder pirates, have tatoos or swear - are they?"

Bridie's world is torn apart when her parents and baby brother die in the Great Hunger. She leaves Ireland, and strikes out alone to claim a life for herself in Australia, on the other side of the ocean.;"When she lose's her family to starvation Bridie sets out for Australia to start a new life."

While living on a poor Vermont farm during 1855 and 1856, Jip learns his identity and that of his mother and comes to understand how he arrived at this place.

Project Genesis Five are keen to know how Joella, Peter and Liane escaped from the Galax-Arena as no-one has done it before. The girls find shelter at Terra-Farma while Peter tries to survive in the outback. However, Terra-Farma is not what it seems to be.

In September 1943, Claudette Blum and her father flee across the Alps into Italy with other Jews seeking refuge, only to find an open battle ground among the Nazis, Allied forces, resistance fighters, and ordinary Italians struggling to survive.

East End chancer Harry Cole is determined to transcend his social class and when World War II breaks out he is sent to France and reinvents himself as the suave Captain Mason. He becomes involved with a French nurse who persuades him to set up an escape line but the risks are great.

After her mother's death, Eleni tries to get away from it all in Byron Bay, hoping to deal with the loss and rebuild her confidence. On her return the family leave Sydney for a small mountain community and Eleni finds more difficulties fitting in with the attitudes of the locals.

Tish, a teenager who has been enduring abuse from her adoptive stepfather since she was a small child, finally decides she must do something to stop him.

In wartime England two boys, too young to fight, take part in the evacuation from Dunkirk.

Fourteen-year-old Alem Kelo adjusts to life as a foster child seeking asylum in London, while his Eritrean mother and Ethiopian father work for peace between their homelands in Africa.;"Alem, the product of an Ethiopean father and Eritrean mother, is left alone in London, his fate resting in the hands of the Refugee Council and the British justice system. This story charts Alem's fate as he is moved from children's home to foster family, and in and out of court hearings."

These stories celebrate the adversities, failures and mistakes of some of our most inspirational New Zealanders, and includes stories by Michael Hill, Steve Lange, Graham Henry, Frankie Stevens, Peter Leitch, Rob Harley, Dame Malvina Major, Bernie Fraser, Linda Vagana, Garry Ahern, Suzi McClelland, Pat Armitstead, Craig McKibbin, Debbie Tawse, Callum Davies, Billy Graham and Hayden Wood.

Here is the unforgettable autobiography of Joni Eareckson Tada and her struggles to adjust after a diving accident leaves her paralyzed from the neck down. Now with an inspirational update from Joni about the worldwide impact of her book and her Joni and Friends ministry.

From the most photographed war in the twentieth century, among the enduring images is one of a little girl screaming in pain and terror after being burned by napalm in an air attack ... Her photograph ... was seen around the world and helped turn public opinion against the Vietnam War ... This book is the story of how that photograph came to be taken and what happened to Kim Phuc after it was taken ... Kim became a pawn in the Communist regime's propaganda campaign ... [her] recovery and rehabilitation was long and arduous, and after years of maipulation by Vietnamese officials, she escaped to Canada, where she now lives --Jacket.

At the age of 10, Li Cunzin was chosen to train as a ballet dancer at Madam Mao's Peking Dance Academy. His selection was based purely on his physique and the fact that he came from a family that had been peasants for three generations - he knew nothing about the art form at all.

Travel journalist Tess Redgrave and award-winning photographer Becky Nunes left their comfortable, urban Auckland lives to make 10 journeys into the New Zealand outdoors. Sea-kayaking in the Hauraki Gulf, mountain-biking in the Maniototo, horse-trekking in the Urewera, canoeing on the Whanganui River, camping and tramping. This collection of ten journeys into the New Zealand outdoors are an inspiration and a guide for women of all ages.

At the end of 2001, Mark Inglis celebrated the success of scaling the summit of Mt Cook. He had lost both his legs to frostbite to the same mountain 19 years earlier when, trapped in 'Middle Peak Hotel' for 13 days with fellow mountain guide Philip Doole, both men nearly lost their lives.

On 15 May 2006, double amputee Mark Inglis fulfilled a childhood ambition - to stand on top of the world's highest mountain. Tells the story of how he got there, and how he got back down again.

In 1996, 24-year-old Lance Armstrong was ranked number one cyclist in the world, but that October, tests revealed that advanced testicular cancer had spread to his lungs and brain. In this book, he reveals his journey from a 20% chance of survival, to victory in the 1999 Tour de France.

Rob Hamill & Phil Stubbs were the winners of the 1998 Transatlantic Double Handed Rowing Challenge. Their victory elevated them to hero status both in New Zealand & around the world. This is the story of how they triumphed over the elements to win the race.

On October 31, 1999, Melbourne school-boy sailor Jesse Martin completed one of the last great adventures of the 20th century. At the age of 18, and after 11 months at sea, he became the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world. This is his story of his adventure.

A chronicle of courage and adventure at sea follows nine sailors on their historic 1968 attempt to sail around the globe non-stop--a voyage that would result in madness, failure, and death for all but one.

Fashion model and UN ambassador Waris Dirie was born into a traditional family of tribal desert nomads in Somalia and told the story of her escape from there in Desert Flower . Here she traces the roots of her courage, resilience and humour back to her motherland, and particularly her mother.

The amazing story of the 13-year-old surfer girl who lost her arm in a shark attack, but never lost her faith or will to succeed, and her triumphant return to competitive surfing.

Caught up in a horrifying guerrilla war at the age of eight, China Keitetsi experienced years of abuse in Uganda. She has spoken at the United Nations on the rights of the child, and here tells her own story.

This is the story of Christine's courageous struggle in the Burwood spinal unit, her determination to find a new independence, and her spirited resolve to walk again. Christine's story is told here by writer Sandy McKay. Sandy cleverly weaves Christine's own words into the fabric of this remarkable biography.

The story of a Chinese woman and how she suffered appalling emotional deprivation and rejection by her family as a child growing up in China and Hong Kong. She tells of the consequences in her adult life, above which she rose to make a happy marriage and become a successful doctor in the USA.

The life story and family history of Adeline Yen Mah, who was born in Tianjin in 1937 and treated badly after her mother died, for her father believed she was bad luck. When she won a writing competition, she was able to convince her father to send her to school in England, where she attended medical school. Eventually she set up medical practice in California.

An Iranian doctor living in America with his American wife Betty and their child Mahtob wants to see his homeland again. He convinces his wife to take a short holiday there with him and Mahtob. Betty is reluctant, as Iran is not a pleasant place, especially if you are American and female. Upon arrival in Iran, it appears that her worst fears are realized: Moody declares that they will be living there from now on. Betty is determined to escape from Iran, but taking her daughter with her presents a larger problem.

Meena founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan in 1977 as a twenty-year-old Kabul University student. She was assassinated in 1987 at age thirty and lives on in the hearts of all progressive Muslim women. Her voice, speaking for freedom, has never been silenced. The compelling story of Meena's struggle for democracy and women's rights in Afghanistan will inspire young women the world over. Meena, Heroine of Afghanistan is the portrait of a courageous mother, poet, and leader who symbolizes an entire movement of women that can influence the fate of nations. It is also a riveting account of a singular political career whose legacy has been inherited by RAWA, the women who hold the keys to a peaceful future for Afghanistan. RAWA has authorized this first-ever biography of their martyred founder.

A mountaineer who survived a near-fatal accident by amputating his arm when it became trapped behind a boulder in Utah describes how he endured five days of hypothermia, dehydration, and hallucinations before managing his own rescue.

Recounts the experiences of the author who, as a young Polish girl, hid and saved Jews during the Holocaust.

An outstanding student and much admired leader of her class, Ji-Li Jiang was poised for a shining future in the Communist party until the Cultural Revolution of 1966. Told with simplicity, innocence and grace, this unforgettable memoir gives a child's eye view of a terrifying time in 20th-century history--and of one family's indomitable courage under fire.

In a remote region in north-western China, in May 2001, the journalist Pierre Haski and his group are preparing to leave Zhangjiashu, the tiny village they have been visiting. Suddenly a peasant woman approaches and urgently thrusts into their hands a letter, written on the back of a seed packet, and three small brown notebooks filled with characters in finely drawn pencil. When their precious bundle is translated, they are astonished to find they hold thirteen-year-old Ma Yan's diary and a lament she'd written to her mother, headed, 'I Want To Study'.

This is the story of a man fulfilling his childhood dream. Avoiding landmines and bullets, the author travelled through Iraq and Iran, negotiating a way into Afghanistan. Joining forces with the war-weary Mujahedeen, he found unexpected allies and unforgettable friends.

On September 11 2001, Battalion Commander Richard Picciotto led seven companies of firefighters up stairway B of Tower 1 in the World Trade Centre. This is the story of how Pitch , the highest-ranking firefighter, survived the collapse of the twin towers and led his men to safety.