9-12

Bisnu finds how dangerous and lonely life can be for a boy who has to leave his home to earn money for his family. As he sets to work on the limestone quarries with the choking dust enveloping the beautiful mountain air, he longs for home more than ever.

I know the world’s a crowded place,
And elephants do take up space,
But if it makes a difference, Lord,
I’d gladly share my room and board.
A baby elephant would do…
But, if he brings his mother too,
There’s Dad’s garage. He wouldn’t mind.
To elephants, he’s more than kind.
But I wonder what my Mum would say
If their aunts and uncles came to stay!

Ruskin Bond has regaled generations of readers for decades. This delightful collection of poetry, prose and non-fiction brings together some of his best work in a single volume. Sumptuously illustrated, Uncles, Aunts and Elephants is a book to treasure for all times.

Somewhere in life There must be someone To take your hand And share the torrid day.
Without the touch of friendship There is no life, and we must fade away.
Discover a hidden pool with three young boys, laugh out loud as a littlemouse makes demands on a lonely writer, follow the mischievous ‘fourfeathers’ as they discover a baby lost in the hills, and witness the bondbetween a tiger and his master. Some stories will make you smile, somewill bring tears to your eyes, some may make your heart skip a beat-butall of them will renew your faith in the power of friendship.

Laurie, an English boy in a small hill town in India, strikes up an unlikely friendship with Anil, the son of a local cloth merchant, and Kamal, an orphan who sells buttons and shoelaces but dreams of going to college. One day the three discover a secret pool on the mountainside, and it is there that they plan their greatest escapade yet-a trek to the Pindari Glacier, where no one from their town has gone before.
This newly illustrated edition of Bond’s magical tale of camaraderie and adventure is sure to win over yet another generation of readers.

Rusty is a quiet, imaginative and sensitive boy who lives with his grandparents in pre-Independence Dehra Dun. Though he is not the adventurous himself, the strangest and most extraordinary things keep happening around him.

The house in Dehra is full of strange creatures. Rusty has to deal with everything from his grandfather’s pet python to the ever-inventive Uncle Ken. Visiting his father in wartime Java, Rusty narrowly escapes enemy bombardment, and survives a plane crash in the Arabian Sea. Back in India, he spends his time encountering a ghost in the garden and recreating his grandmother’s youthful days from an old photograph. Then, something totally unexpected happens and Rusty is forced to leave Dehra, his future uncertain …

Rusty, a sixteen-year-old Anglo-Indian boy, is orphaned, and has to live with his English guardian in the claustrophobic European part in Dehra Dun. Unhappy with the strict ways of his guardian, Rusty runs away from home to live with his Indian friends. Plunging for the first time into the dream-bright world of the bazaar, Hindu festivals and other aspects of Indian life, Rusty is enchanted . . . and is lost forever to the prim proprieties of the European community.

As soon as Binya saw the beautiful blue silk umbrella she wanted it She wanted it so badly that she was willing to give her lucky leopards claw pendant in exchange No-one in the village had such a fine umbrella and everywhere Binya went the umbrella went too Gradually it faded to a pale blue and was patched in several places but there was still many who envied Binya her treasured possession And the most envious of them all was old Ram Bharosa the shopkeeper who decided that by some means he must own the blue umbrella.

Isaiah "Ice" Abernathy has always worshiped his older brother, Seth. For years they’ve been not just brothers but best friends—and as Seth starts his senior year, Ice is eager to spend as much time with his brother as he can, making memories before Seth goes to college.

But when Seth announces he’s leaving much earlier than expected, and then he misses an important event—one he'd promised to attend—it causes a major fight.

Inspired by real events, Between Two Brothers is a powerful and uplifting story about forgiveness, brotherhood, and the power of a family’s unconditional love

The Serpent's Shadow is the final thrilling instalment in award-winning author and Percy Jackson creator Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles trilogy. Is their inherited magic enough to battle against the most powerful mythical forces that Egypt's gods have to throw at them?

EVER since the gods of Ancient Egypt were unleashed on the modern world, Carter Kane and his sister, Sadie, have been in big trouble.

As descendants of the magical House of Life, they command certain powers. But now a terrifying enemy - Apophis, the giant snake of chaos - is rising.

If Carter and Sadie don't destroy him, the world will end in five days' time. And in order to battle the forces of chaos, they must revive the sun god Ra - a feat no magician has ever achieved. Because first they must search the world for the three sections of the Book of Ra, then they have to learn how to chant its spells . . .