Recommended reads

A big performance looms and Maddy knows that the school has a way of weeding out the weakest dancers. Now is her time to shine. But will Maddy and her friends be celebrating at the end of the year?

A young boy decides to try and steal his sister's brain in order to win a quiz that he has entered.

Keith has entered the Junior Mega Brain quiz and he's determined to win. The problem is - he's not really a genius. Even worse, his sister Minerva actually is, and Keith will have to go head to head against her.

Keith needs to get super smart and fast! Could he just steal Min's brain? Or will some awesome inventions, sneezing rabbits and fearsome flapjacks be the genius way to victory?

Daisy runs into problems when she decides to take the class hamsters she is looking after with her to Chocolate Land.

After a break-in at their London home, Kat Wolfe and her veterinary-surgeon mum decide it's time to move to the country. Dr Wolfe's new job in idyllic Bluebell Bay on Dorset's Jurassic Coast comes with a condition: they have to adopt Tiny, a huge, near-wild Savannah, who resists Kat's best attempts at cat whispering. When she starts a pet-sitting agency to make pocket money, her troubles escalate.

Jamie's Amazing Cape is pretty awesome: it grants wishes when wet. Only his best friend Reema and his brother know Jamie's secret, but will they be able to stay away from trouble?

Paige Owens, bright, cheeky, confident, cannot wait to go to secondary school. Curtis Okafor, wary and much less confident, is not so sure. The only thing they share in common is the first letter of their surnames - which ensures they are forced into each other's company on a school trip to Wickworth Manor, the local stately home.

When Mary Lennox is sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle, everybody says she is the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It is true, too. Mary is pale, spoilt and quite contrary. But she is also horribly lonely. Then one day she hears about a garden in the grounds of the Manor that has been kept locked and hidden for years. And when a friendly robin helps Mary find the key, she discovers the most magical place anyone could imagine...

When Heidi is sent away to live in the town she gains a wonderful new friendship, but longs to return to her happy life in the mountains. Is there any way she can have both?

Having two sets of grandparents is turning out to be very good for me. The Wrinklies are keen on giving presents AND they're planning a family outing which is going to be EPIC! Even Delia wants to come. (I can always ignore her.)