On a clear, dark night we can look up & see the moon, other planets, stars, galaxies, shooting stars
- & sometimes even comets
-

...

The Glump lives alone in his cave in the wood, wishing he could come out & dance with the Peebles. But nearby there`s a peeble who wishes she could be quiet & thoughtful
- like a glump. When they meet, it turns out they have a lot to teach each other! A heartwarming story of friendship & daring to be different, from the team who created How the Library (Not the Prince) Saved Rapunzel.
...

A powerful, heart-wrenching story of friendship & love ` This is a story about me, Clementine, & my friends: a panther called Levi, a pelican called Lola & a turtle called Jimmy. It is about dragons & goblins, my Daddy the King, my Mummy the Queen & Prince Pio my brother. At least that is the way I tell it sometimes when thoughts of the blood, the machetes, the swamp & the fear of Uncle Leonard become too hard to describe. But that was all before I met Ashley, wonderful Ashley. Not that he would ever call himself wonderful in a million years. When he tells you his story you will see what I mean...` Ashley Bolt
- A middle-aged, loner for whom teaching singing is the only escape from his London life. In an attempt to forget a violent past he turns to self-harming but this provides little comfort. Clementine Habimana
- A Rwandan child refugee who witnesses the 1994 genocide at first-hand & lives to tell her story. Delivered into the hands of an abusive uncle in the UK, Clementine remains undeterred in her hope for a brighter future. When their two worlds collide, nothing is ever the same again...

...

When one long, hot summer, young Leo is staying with a school-friend at Brandham Hall, he begins to act as a messenger between Ted, the farmer, & Marian, the beautiful young woman up at the hall. He becomes drawn deeper & deeper into their dangerous game of deceit & desire, until his role brings him to a shocking & premature revelation. The haunting story of a young boy`s awakening into the secrets of the adult world, ” The Go-Between” is also an unforgettable evocation of the boundaries of Edwardian society. ...

When Kid accompanies her parents to New York City for a six-month stint of dog-sitting & home-schooling, she sees what looks like a tiny white cloud on the top of their apartment building. Rumour says there`s a goat living on the roof, but how can that be? As Kid soon discovers, a goat on the roof may be the least strange thing about her new home. Painfully shy & too afraid to talk to new people at first, Kid is happy to explore Manhattan, especially the Metropolitan Museum of Art & Central Park, where she meets Will, who is also home-schooled & under the constant watchful eye of his grandmother. As Kid & Will become friends, she learns that Will`s parents died in the Twin Towers. Will can`t look out windows, he is a practitioner of Spoonerism, & he is obsessed with the Ancient Egyptian Tomb of Perneb. When Kid learns that the goat will bring good luck to whoever sees it, suddenly it becomes very important to know whether the goat on the roof is real. So Kid & Will set out to learn the truth, even if it means confronting their own fears. ...

There has been a bad-tempered quarrel between defenders & critics of religion in recent years. Both sides have expressed themselves acerbically because there is a very great deal at stake in the debate. This book thoroughly & calmly examines all the arguments & associated considerations offered in support of religious belief, & does so in full consciousness of the reasons people have for subscribing to religion, & the needs they seek to satisfy by doing so. & because it takes account of all the issues, its solutions carry great weight. The God Argument is the definitive examination of the issue, & a statement of the humanist outlook that recommends itself as the ethics of the genuinely reflective person. ...

The God Delusion caused a sensation when it was published in 2006. Within weeks it became the most hotly debated topic, with Dawkins himself branded as either saint or sinner for presenting his hard-hitting, impassioned rebuttal of religion of all types. His argument could hardly be more topical. While Europe is becoming increasingly secularized, the rise of religious fundamentalism, whether in the Middle East or Middle America, is dramatically & dangerously dividing opinion around the world. In America, & elsewhere, a vigorous dispute between 'intelligent design' & Darwinism is seriously undermining & restricting the teaching of science. In many countries religious dogma from medieval times still serves to abuse basic human rights such as women's & gay rights. & all from a belief in a God whose existence lacks evidence of any kind. Dawkins attacks God in all his forms. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion & demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry & abuses children. The God Delusion is a brilliantly argued, fascinating polemic that will be required reading for anyone interested in this most emotional & important subject. ...

Winner of the *1997 Booker Prize*, Arundhati Roy’s “ The God of Small Things” is set against a background of political turbulence in Kerala, Southern India, telling the story of twins Esthappen & Rahel. Amongst the vats of banana jam & heaps of peppercorns in their grandmother`s factory, armed only with the invincible innocence of children, they fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family
- their lonely, lovely mother, Ammu (who loves by night the man her children love by day), their blind grandmother, Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher), & their enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun & incumbent grandaunt). When their English cousin, Sophie Mol, & her mother, Margaret Kochamma, arrive on a Christmas visit, Esthappen & Rahel learn that things can change in a day. That lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever. “ The God of Small Things” certainly takes on the big themes: love; madness; hope; & infinite joy. The brilliantly plotted story uncoils with an agonizing sense of foreboding & inevitability; yet nothing prepares you for what lies at the heart of it.
...

The green movement has got it very wrong. Nature no longer controls our planet -- it is humanity, `the god species`, that must save the environment we have inflicted unprecedented damage upon. & the tools we must use are the very technologies that environmentalist have told us for years will spell disaster: nuclear power, GM food & geo-engineering. In this blistering & urgent manifesto, Mark Lynas identifies a new future for the green movement & an entirely fresh agenda for how we will save the Earth, & ourselves. ...

This collection brings together the five 2017 shortlisted stories, along with eleven stories written at the Caine Prize Writers` Workshop, which took place in Tanzania in April 2017. Judges are drawn from different literary fields including eminent journalists, broadcasters & academics with expertise & a connection to literature in Africa. Five stories are selected for the shortlist by the judges, with one being selected as the winner on the day of the award on 3 July 2017. This year`s judes are: Nii Ayikwei Parkes, award winning author, poet & editor; 2007 Caine Prize winner, Monica Arac de Nyeko; author & Chair of the English Department at Georgetown University, Professor Ricardo Ortiz; Libyan author & human rights campaigner, Ghazi Gheblawi; & distinguished African literary scholar, Dr Ranka Primorac. ...