Young Sophie Peshka is a gifted chess player, an art she has learned from her grandmaster father. She is undefeated on the streets of Moscow and is able to hustle her way to a few roubles. Everything goes wrong when her father is summoned to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg to teach the son of the powerful Empress Catherine the Great how to play the game.
Imprisoned for failing to impress and cut off from his family, he has no means of escape. His only hope is Sophie who must use all of her skills and strategic thinking to devise a cunning escape. Her plan involves a chess playing marvel - The Clockwork Queen - and she must play the game of her life if she is to find her way to the palace and free her father…
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Hanh used to be a girl who went to school and dreamed of a better future, a future where she would be a fashion designer. Now she is a child labourer working in an illegal clothing factory in Hanoi. Life in the sweatshop is brutal; the hours are long, the rewards are non-existent and the food is poor. The supervisor is terrifying, violence is commonplace and sleeping on the wooden floor brings little respite from the horrors of the factory. Far from home, Hanh knows that if she ever wants to escape she must take action but when the chance presents itself will she have the courage to risk everything for her freedom…
Familial bonds are tested in this search for the perfect family photograph (if there is such a thing).
Sonal’s family never spend any quality time together. They’re rarely in the same place at the same time and even when they are everyone is too busy looking at their screens to notice anyone else. Sonal is convinced that a school photography project is just the thing to unite the family and a camping trip without their beloved screens will provide lots of opportunities for the perfect family portrait. A digital detox, some fresh country air and the great outdoors should bring the family together…shouldn’t it. Will this be the holiday Sonal is hoping for or will it be a camp-tastrophe…
Hetty has always loved the library and ever since the ‘Big Falling Out’ with her closest friends she has found herself spending more time there than ever. So when she learns that the headteacher plans to close it down and make librarian Ms juster redundant in the process she is absolutely horrified. Something must be done. Can Hetty repair her broken friendships and come up with a way to save the library before it’s too late? The battle of the books is on. Will pupil power triumph over the headmaster’s sneaky plans…
The loveable Noodle the doodle and the children of Wigley Primary School are back for a third outing and this time there’s a new puppy in town.
Summer is in the air and the children of Wigley Primary School are excited for their upcoming Sports Day. With plenty of alternative races like Book Balancing, Speed Dressing and Frisbee Throwing it could be the funnest one yet. Of course, the school’s dog Noodle the doodle is keen to join in the fun and games too. And he’s not the only one. There’s a new young pup in town - Daniel the spaniel. The pup is still in training and when the canine capers get out of hand it is up to Noodle to try and win the day. On your barks…get set…GO! |
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March 2024
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