The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant "wallflower" Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

Damian is just seven when he is taken in by foster carer Cathy Glass. His mother, Rachel, loves her three young children dearly, but she is vulnerable, naïve and unable to cope on her own. Cathy sets about helping Damian overcome his eating issues, with the hope that he will eventually return home. But when Rachel’s new boyfriend, Troy, arrives on the scene, Cathy becomes deeply concerned. She soon realises that Damian and his siblings are in great danger.

"I'm going to love my baby and give her lots of attention," Jade said. "I'll show my mum she's wrong." Jade, 17, is pregnant, homeless, and alone when she's brought to live with Cathy. Jade is desperate to keep her baby, but, little more than a child herself, she struggles with the responsibilities her daughter brings. Cathy is worried as soon as Jade arrives: she's never looked after a pregnant teenager before, but none of the mother-and-baby carers is free.

From the author of Number One bestseller Damaged comes the poignant and shocking memoir of Cathy's recent relationship with Tayo, a young boy she fosters whose good behaviour and polite manners hide a terrible past. Tayo arrives at Cathy's with only the clothes he stands up in. He has been brought to her by the police, but he is calm, polite, and very well spoken, and not at all like the children she normally fosters. The social worker gives Cathy the forms which should contain Tayo's history, but apart from his name and age, it is blank.

Bad childhood memories start to resurface when Hannah Hall’s daughter Rosie begins school. To make matters more complicated, Hannah has been steadfastly ignoring the obvious truth that Rosie is intellectually gifted and wise beyond her years. In the crumbling old school, she meets Rosie’s new teacher, Alice Spencer, who has moved from the city to teach in the small coastal town of Fairlight. Alice immediately sees Rosie’s potential and embarks on developing an educational curriculum to suit Rosie’s needs, to Hannah’s dismay.

It was like he had stepped straight out of my dream. He was even wearing the same clothes. I stood rooted to the spot as he walked right past me without even glancing my way. Susannah has a prophetic dream about a guy she has never met. She later sees him at school and learns that he is a new student. He awakens a power in her that she never knew she possessed.

Aged nine Joss came home from school to discover her father's suicide. She's never got over it. This is the true story of Joss, 13 who is angry and out of control. At the age of nine, Joss finds her father's dead body. He has committed suicide. Then more recently her mother remarries and Joss bitterly resents her step-father who abuses her mentally and physically.

When foster carer Cathy Glass is asked to foster Darcy-May, a two-day-old baby, she is very concerned. The baby is coming to her straight from the hospital and will have no contact with her teenage mother, Haylea. Even more worrying, she will be brought to Cathy with a police escort, as it’s vital her extended family don't know where she is.

Leonard and Hungry Paul is the story of two friends who ordinarily would remain uncelebrated. It finds a value and specialness in them that is not immediately apparent and prompts the idea that maybe we could learn from the people that we overlook in life.

At first glance Emma and Lucie seem very different, but they share an unspeakable vice. Beautiful, wealthy Emma appears to have it all with a loving husband and a seemingly successful life, but a restless craving has driven her to foolish actions. Meanwhile, young widow Lucie is struggling to make ends meet while coping with a troubled five-year-old.

An amazing, miraculous refugee story of coming to America, the young readers edition of Tani Adewumi's story will inspire kids looking for true stories of doing hard things. At eight years old, Tani Adewumi, a refugee, won the 2019 New York State Chess Championship after playing the game for only a year - and while homeless. Tani and his family fled Boko Haram's reign of terror in Nigeria to come to the United States, where they lived in a New York City homeless shelter while waiting to be granted religious asylum.

In his compelling autobiography, Michael McIntyre reveals all. With deeply personal and captivating narration, Michael unveils his incredible journey: from his showbiz roots, to his appalling attempts to attract the opposite sex, to going from selling just one ticket at the Edinburgh Festival to half a million at his last tour. Written and narrated by Michael himself, Life and Laughing is the hilarious performance and life story from one of the country's most loved comics.

The heartbreaking true story of a young, troubled mother who needed help. The 16th fostering memoir by Cathy Glass. It is the first time Laura has been out since the birth of her baby when Cathy sees her in the school playground. A joyful occasion, but Cathy has the feeling something is wrong. By the time she discovers what it is, it is too late. This is the true story of Laura, whose life touches Cathy's in a way she could never have foreseen.

'Is It My Fault Mummy?': seven-year-old Paris is trapped in a prison of guilt. Devastated after the death of her baby brother, Joel, Maggie faces one of her most heartbreaking cases yet as she tries to break down the wall of guilt surrounding this damaged little girl. 'A Desperate Cry for Help': 12-year-old Meg arrives at Maggie's after a fire destroys the children's home she's been living in. Traumatised by the fire and angry and vulnerable, having been put into care by her mother, Meg is lashing out at everyone around her.

Tressa Middleton made UK history when she became Britain's youngest mum in 2006 aged just 12 years and eight months. Her case provoked shock and outrage - but the truth behind the headlines was far sadder than anyone could ever have imagined. Born into a life of poverty and neglect, Tressa was forced to grow up fast when was she taken into care at just four years old. She was returned to her mother's chaotic world, but by the age of seven, she was being abused by her own brother and at 11 years old she fell pregnant with his child. For years she kept his dark secret in an attempt to hold her family together until the truth threatened to destroy her completely.