The USA Today and #2 Amazon Bestseller'The gripping tale of an exceptional, misunderstood child... This book will get people talking for sure' Sally Hepworth Meet Jackson - a very unusual boy in a world that prefers 'normal'... Julia Curtis is a busy mother of three, with a husband often away for work, an ever-present mother-in-law, a career, and a house that needs doing up. Her fourteen-year-old daughter, Milla, has fallen in love for the first time, and her youngest, Ruby, is a nine-year-old fashionista who can out-negotiate anyone. But Julia’s eleven-year-old son, Jackson, is different. Different to his sisters. Different to his classmates. In fact, Jackson is different from everyone. And bringing up a child who is different isn’t always easy. Then, one Monday morning, Jackson follows his new friend Digby into the school toilets. What happens inside changes everything; not only for Jackson, but for every member of his family. Julia faces the fight of her life to save her unusual boy from a world set up for ‘normal’. An extraordinary boy. The mother who loves him. The fight of their lives. Bestselling novelist Fiona Higgins returns with a heart-stopping, devastating, but ultimately uplifting story about loyalty, love and forgiveness. Praise for Fiona Higgins: 'An Unusual Boy is the gripping tale of an exceptional, misunderstood child. I found myself glued to this book from start to finish. While reading it, you can’t help but become Jackson’s mother, and the mother of every child who is misunderstood in our society. This book will get people talking for sure.' Sally Hepworth bestselling author of The Mother-in-Law and The Family Next Door 'An Unusual Boy is a beautifully-written book and a page-turner, but it’s the powerful descriptions of family relationships and friendship, both toxic and supportive, that will stay with me. Ultimately uplifting and hugely emotional, this is a wonderful and unusual book.’ Louise Douglas, bestselling author of The House by the Sea 'A tender-hearted story of loving patience triumphing in the face of impossible odds. Original, engaging and beautifully written.' Amanda Brookfield 'An Unusual Boy' is the unforgettable story of an exceptional child and his flawed but loving family, told with Fiona Higgin's characteristic intelligence, deep empathy and insight.' Virginia Lloyd, author of Girls at the Piano ‘Absorbing, intelligent, moving and real, An Unusual Boy is a novel with both heart and brains... a story tailor-made for our times.’ Kylie Ladd, author of The Way Back 'Oh, how I fell in love with this charming book! Fiona Higgins manages to strike the perfect balance of humour and poignancy to create a heart-warming and insightful novel that oozes humanity. I defy any reader not to fall in love with young Jackson and his idiosyncratic 'super powers'.' Joanna Nell, author of The Single Ladies of the Jacaranda Retirement Village 'An Unusual Boy is not only a compelling read, it’s an important one. This tale of an ordinary family dealing with the complexities of raising an extraordinary child had me gripped from the very first page. Intelligently written, this moving story will have book clubs talking long into the night. Fiona Higgins at her finest!' Lisa Ireland, author of The Shape of Us

A wise, hilarious novel from the beloved, award-winning author of Dickens and Prince, Funny Girl and High Fidelity Will Freeman may have discovered the key to dating success: If the simple fact that they were single mothers meant that gorgeous women – women who would not ordinarily look twice a Will – might not only be willing, but enthusiastic about dating him, then he was really onto something. Single mothers – bright, attractive, available women – thousands of them, were all over London. He just had to find them. SPAT: Single Parents – Alone Together. It was a brilliant plan. And Will wasn’t going to let the fact that he didn’t have a child himself hold him back. A fictional two-year-old named Ned wouldn’t be the first thing he’d invented. And it seems to go quite well at first, until he meets an actual twelve-year-old named Marcus, who is more than Will bargained for…

Through a series of letters, Sophie Brown, age twelve, tells of her family's move to her Great Uncle Jim's farm, where she begins taking care of some unusual chickens with help from neighbors and friends.

Originally published: London: Puffin Books, 2008.

The first book in a funny, heartfelt, and irresistible young middle grade series starring an unforgettable young boy on the autism spectrum. For Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat), life tends to be full of surprises—some of them good, some not so good. Today, though, is a good-surprise day. Bat’s mom, a veterinarian, has brought home a baby skunk, which she needs to take care of until she can hand him over to a wild-animal shelter. But the minute Bat meets the kit, he knows they belong together. And he’s got one month to show his mom that a baby skunk might just make a pretty terrific pet. "This sweet and thoughtful novel chronicles Bat’s experiences and challenges at school with friends and teachers and at home with his sister and divorced parents. Approachable for younger or reluctant readers while still delivering a powerful and thoughtful story" (from the review by Brightly, which named A Boy Called Bat a best book of the year). Elana K. Arnold's Bat trilogy is a proven winner in the home and classroom—kids love these short illustrated young middle grade books. The trilogy is A Boy Called Bat, Bat and the Waiting Game, and Bat and the End of Everything.

'All those things no one ever tells you about motherhood. It's like secret mothers' business. Lots of my friends had babies before me, but not one of them ever told me it would be this hard...It's like a code of silence.' The Mothers' Group tells the story of six very different women who agree to regularly meet soon after the births of their babies. Set during the first crucial year of their babies' lives, The Mothers' Group tracks the women's individual journeys-and the group's collective one-as they navigate birth and motherhood as well as the shifting ground of their relationships with their partners. Each woman strives in her own way to become the mother she wants to be, and finds herself becoming increasingly reliant on the friendship and support of the members of the mothers' group. Until one day an unthinkably shocking event changes everything, testing their bonds and revealing closely held secrets that threaten to shatter their lives. The Mothers' Group is an unflinching and compelling portrait of the modern family in all its complexity and intensity: love, sex and marriage and all the joys and tensions of raising children in an increasingly complicated world. Moving, provocative, tender and utterly gripping, The Mothers' Group will draw you in and never let you go.

A School for Unusual Girls is the first captivating installment in the Stranje House series for young adults by award-winning author Kathleen Baldwin. #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Cabot calls this romantic Regency adventure "completely original and totally engrossing." It's 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England's dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don't fit high society's constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young ladies. Or so their parents think. In truth, Headmistress Emma Stranje, the original unusual girl, has plans for the young ladies—plans that entangle the girls in the dangerous world of spies, diplomacy, and war. After accidentally setting her father's stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House. But Georgie has no intention of being turned into a simpering, pudding-headed, marriageable miss. She plans to escape as soon as possible—until she meets Lord Sebastian Wyatt. Thrust together in a desperate mission to invent a new invisible ink for the English war effort, Georgie and Sebastian must find a way to work together without losing their heads—or their hearts.... At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A Newbery Honor Book * Booklist Editors’ Choice * BookPage Best Books * Chicago Public Library Best Fiction * Horn Book Fanfare * Kirkus Reviews Best Books * Publishers Weekly Best Books * Wall Street Journal Best of the Year * An ALA Notable Book A young outcast is swept up into a thrilling and perilous medieval treasure hunt in this award-winning literary page-turner by acclaimed bestselling author Catherine Gilbert Murdock. The Book of Boy was awarded a Newbery Honor. “A treat from start to finish.”—Wall Street Journal Boy has always been relegated to the outskirts of his small village. With a hump on his back, a mysterious past, and a tendency to talk to animals, he is often mocked by others in his town—until the arrival of a shadowy pilgrim named Secondus. Impressed with Boy’s climbing and jumping abilities, Secondus engages Boy as his servant, pulling him into an action-packed and suspenseful expedition across Europe to gather seven precious relics of Saint Peter. Boy quickly realizes this journey is not an innocent one. They are stealing the relics and accumulating dangerous enemies in the process. But Boy is determined to see this pilgrimage through until the end—for what if St. Peter has the power to make him the same as the other boys? This epic and engrossing quest story by Newbery Honor author Catherine Gilbert Murdock is for fans of Adam Gidwitz’s The Inquisitor’s Tale and Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, and for readers of all ages. Features a map and black-and-white art by Ian Schoenherr throughout.

Wagstaffe is an unusual boy. He is kind, polite and generous-but his parents think that he's completely useless. He is a bit scruffy, true, but is that really an excuse for them to run away and join a circus? They do, and soon become world famous, due to their amazing tricks. Wagstaffe has a problem. He's got clockwork guts a big key in the middle of his back-and he is completely skint. A quirky comedy for children that will be enjoyed by adults too. With delightful drawings by Roy Bentley.

The story of your life never starts at the beginning. Don't they teach you anything at school? So says 104-year-old Ona to the 11-year-old boy who's been sent to help her out every Saturday morning. As he refills the bird feeders and tidies the garden shed, Ona tells him about her long life, from first love to second chances. Soon she's confessing secrets she has kept hidden for decades. One Saturday, the boy doesn't show up. Ona starts to think he's not so special after all, but then his father arrives on her doorstep, determined to finish his son's good deed. The boy's mother is not so far behind. Ona is set to discover that the world can surprise us at any age, and that sometimes sharing a loss is the only way to find ourselves again. “Readers won’t be able to resist falling for Ona … The conclusion will leave them smiling through their tears.”—Shelf Awareness ?“Poignant … There is much to enjoy in this heartfelt tale of love, loss, and friendship.”—Express “A must-read book … Whimsical and bittersweet.”—Good Housekeeping