Hilary McKay

Charlie is an irresistibly funny little brother who manages to get into all kinds of scrapes. Whether he's trying to hinder or help his brother Max and best friend Henry, trouble is guaranteed! In the first story, Henry knows there's something wrong when Charlie gives up cheese and onion crisps. Will the truly amazing smarties trick bring things back to normal? In the second story, Charlie and Henry are planning the best sleepover ever, and have even...

Indigo's going back to school after a long bout of illness. He's not looking forward to it, the bullies are lying in wait. But he's determined to stand on his own two feet - so when Saffy and Sarah break up a fight in the boys' bathroom, he's furious. Until he meets Tom. Tom is from New York, loves music, makes Indigo laugh and is unfazed by the bullies. But Tom has troubles of his own - can the boys help each other out?.

After Saffron discovers that she's adopted, life is never quite the same. Her artistic parents and doting siblings adore her, but Saffy wants a piece of her past. So when her grandfather bequests a stone angel to her, Saffy knows she has to find it. Realising that her childhood in Siena holds the key, she stows away on a car trip to Italy. The rest of the family are engaged in their own wacky projects: Caddy, a hopeless student, is revising for her...

Abi and her two step-brothers, Max and Louis, find that strange things happen when they are alone in their eerie, ivy-covered new house. Abi, reading alone, finds herself tumbling deep into books, while Louis summons a startling guest through his bedroom window. Even Max has started to see shapes in the shadows. Their busy parents see none of it - but Louis' secret visitor is growing too alarming to keep secret, and he finds he cannot manage without...

Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe Conroy love reading and having fun more than anything else. So the sisters are horrified when they learn that their parents are sending them away to Cumbria for the summer, to stay with their fearsome grandmother - Big Grandma. Big Grandma is strict, makes them do chores and doesn't let them have any fun - but worst of all, she refuses to let the girls read any books. Determined to enjoy their summer, the sisters decide...

Ruth, Naomi, Rachel and Phoebe Conroy are all struggling to deal with the trials and tribulations of first love(s). Ruth develops a crush on the school bus driver, but finds herself conflicted when she also develops feelings for Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre, the temporary English teacher (who Naomi is also smitten with) and Alan Adair who works in the butcher's shop. Meanwhile, the younger two sisters have other things on their minds - Rachel is plotting...