Showing results by narrator "Charlie Sanderson" in All Categories

Nine is an orphan pickpocket determined to escape her life in the Nest of a Thousand Treasures. When she steals a house-shaped ornament from a mysterious woman’s purse, she knocks on its tiny door and watches it grow into a huge higgledy-piggeldy house. Inside she finds a host of magical and brilliantly funny characters, including Flabberghast - a young wizard who’s particularly competitive at hopscotch - and a hideous troll housekeeper who’s emotionally attached to his feather duster. They have been placed under an extraordinary spell.

Dilly is devastated: with her husband unable to work and four children already at home, they cannot afford to feed their newborn baby. Heartbroken, she delivers her baby girl to the Farthing family, who have just lost their own daughter to measles. This act of desperation will change the lives of both families irrevocably. But when the chance for true love finally comes, will Dilly choose family over her own happiness?

It's 1884, and 14-year-old Sunday Small has been in the Nuneaton workhouse since she was abandoned at birth. The regime is cruel, and if it were not for her dear little friend Daisy, Sunday's life would barely be worth living. And now she's attracted the unwelcome attention of the seedy workhouse master, who will stop at nothing to get her alone. It's time for Sunday to strike out alone in the world, but the brutal world of the workhouse will not let her go without a fight....

1850. When Opal Sharp finds herself and her younger siblings suddenly orphaned and destitute, she thinks things can get no worse. But soon three of them - including Opal - are struck down with the illness that took their father from them, and her brother Charlie is forced to make an impossible decision. Unable to afford a doctor, he knows the younger children will not survive. So, unbeknownst to Opal, Charlie takes their younger siblings to the workhouse, where he knows they will at least be fed and have a roof over their heads. Opal is heartbroken and struggles to forgive him.

Daniel and Lottie finally have their first date. A trip to a fancy gelato in Brighton. But how do you eat ice-cream in front of your crush and is Lottie ready for her first kiss? I mean he's nice and all but boys are still a bit gross, right? The school holidays are looming, and with Lottie off camping to France for two weeks and Daniel spending most of the summer on a fancy Greek island, it looks as if the young lovebirds will be cruelly ripped apart. But then Lottie makes friends with a French boy called Antoine.

Kate Hardy really doesn't like change. She's lived in the gorgeous coastal town of Seabury all her life—well, apart from that three-month blip in London—but she doesn't like to think about that. Now she's back where she belongs—running her tiny seafront cafe, The Sardine, with her rescue dog Stanley at her side, and the occasional romantic visit from a certain gorgeous French fisherman. But when the local gossip-vine starts buzzing with the news that New York Froth is coming to town, it's not just the super-snazzy coffee chain that's got Kate on the hop....

At long last Lottie and Daniel are an official couple and everything seems to be going super well (except for Amber being increasingly mean and jealous, but what's new there?). Amber decides it's ludicrous that Lottie has a boyfriend and she doesn't so she decides to hand out applications forms at school and audition the most eligible Bachelors for the role. Jess also decides to reveal to the rest of the group that she might be gay, and that she might also have a crush on someone at school.

Lottie Brooks is 11 ¾, and her life is already officially over - not only is she about to start high school without any friends or glamorous swooshy hair, she's just discovered she's too flat-chested to wear a bra! She might as well give up now and go into hibernation with her hamsters Sir Barnaby Squeakington and Fuzzball the Third.

After a summer of meeting handsome French boys and getting a tiny bit sunburnt. OK, fine - a lot sunburnt, Lottie's heading off on a week-long residential school trip. A whole week away from embarrassing parents and Toby's tasty air biscuits! But the trip soon turns into a total disaster. The other girls staying at the camp are MEGA-MEAN, best friend Jess is spending all her time with new girl Isha, and Lottie's diary gets stolen! Who knew a school trip could cause so much DRAMA?!

Lottie Brooks is back for spring term at secondary school and ready to face anything. No more trying to impress mean girl Amber. And absolutely no more being nicknamed Cucumber Girl. A lead role in the spring musical gives Lottie a chance to dazzle her mega-crush Daniel with her talent as a singing crab but it's not all singing and dancing at Kingswood High. Lottie's friendship with Molly and Jess seems to be falling apart no matter how hard she tries to keep her BFFs together.

A shaky upbringing has left Rosie Stevens craving safety and security. She thinks she knows exactly what she needs to make her life complete - the stable job and perfect house-sit she’s just found in Magnolia Creek. The only thing she wants now is for her long-term boyfriend, Adam, to leave his overseas job and come home for good. Owen Harrison is notoriously nomadic, and he roars into town on his Ducati for one reason and one reason only - to search his parents’ house while they’re away to find out what they’ve been hiding from him his entire life.

Gracie Thompson has a job, a loving family, a twin brother who drives her insane and a great friend. A chance meeting introduces her to the love of her life. But the storm clouds are gathering, Europe is teetering on the verge of war and threatening to destroy everything Gracie holds dear. When war arrives her family are split up, her younger siblings evacuated, her brothers join up to serve, her boyfriend, Charlie, is in daily danger and her life is threatened.

Christmas is complete chaos this year! The whole Brooks family are visiting for the festive break, there's a Secret Santa to organise AND Lottie has to prepare for her big performance in the Christmas play as the back-end of a reindeer. Will she survive the festivities intact?

Nell is 26 and has never been to Paris. She's never even been on a romantic weekend away before. Travelling abroad isn't really her thing. But when Nell's boyfriend fails to show up, she has the chance to prove to everyone, including herself, that she can be independent and intrepid. Alone in Paris, Nell finds a version of herself she never knew existed. In this collection of 11 unmissable short stories, Jojo Moyes introduces us to a cast of strong, relatable women in the midst of their everyday lives.

Ginny's drunken father, devastated by the death of her mother and three siblings, ends up imprisoned for murder. Charlie, Ginny's eight-year-old sickly brother, is taken to the workhouse. Ginny is forced to flee her job and the unwanted advances of a baker. Close to breaking point, her beauty leads her to become Lady's Maid to the difficult Miss Diana at Lamp Hill Hall. However, all Ginny wants is to find her brother.

Nine and her friends have broken the curse on their marvelous, magical House, and are free to travel the worlds once more! Their first stop: The Wizarding Hopscotch Championships. There's only one problem: the House is nervous about traveling—and gets the hiccups! Bouncing from world to world with every "HIC!", they finally land at the championships, only for Flabberghast to have an unfortunate run-in with square number seven, and find himself faced with the terrible Tower at the End of Time.

Nuneaton, 1880. Twenty year old Daisy Armstrong lives a happy life with her loving father, Jed. They have a special bond, particularly after losing her beloved Irish mother and younger brother. But when Jed falls in love with a local widow, everything is set to change for them both. With expensive tastes and a lavish lifestyle, moving into Daisy and Jed's humble forge is not what the widow or her spoiled son, Gilbert, expected - and they make that very clear. Worked to the bone trying to look after their busy home, Daisy is exhausted.

Jess and Tracy Beaker are the perfect team. Jess thinks Tracy is the best mum ever (even when Tracy shouts at her teachers). Tracy is fun and daring, but she also works hard to give Jess the family home she desperately wanted when growing up in the Dumping Ground. Their flat might be a bit mouldy. but it’s their happy home. But when Sean Godfrey - Tracy’s rich new boyfriend - comes onto the scene, Jess is worried things are going to change.

The next magical and brilliantly funny instalment in the House at the Edge of Magic series. Nine and her friends have cured the house's hiccups and are off to the strange and utterly unpredictable Back of Beyond in search of Professor Dish – Spoon's best friend and partner in all things alchemy....

Lily Moon, the local miner's daughter, spends her days as a parlour maid for Lord and Lady Bellingham at Oakley Manor, on the outskirts of Nuneaton. She's always been happy with her lot in life, and never expected more. But one day, everything changes when she temporarily becomes lady's maid to the Bellingham's daughter, Arabella, who is pregnant with the illegitimate child of her lover, and about to be unhappily married off to a man double her age.