Every year, Trinity School runs a chocolate sale. Each boy volunteers to sell a quota of boxes. But this year it's different, because new kid Jerry Renault has refused to take part. This small act of defiance starts a chain reaction exposing the corruption running throughout the school.

Set in 2099, this story is themed around the consequences of global warming where Mara, her family and community realize they are asylum-seekers in a world torn between high-tech wizardry and the most primitive injustice. To save her people, Mara must not only find a way into the city but also search for a new land and a new home.

A teenage boy visits to the home of 75-year-old Matilda. She tells him the story of her life with Feather, a man who lived by the sea and had a great affinity for birds and wild creatures. She speaks of her love for him and how, long ago, she had become pregnant but miscarried, and he left her.

An advert in the Calcutta Gazette is looking for an apprentice to accompany a scholar on an expedition to record avian life in Bengal. How can Anila Tandy, left to fend for herself in a city of rogues, dare to apply for a position that is clearly not meant for her? But the talented Bird Girl of Calcutta has never shrunk from a challenge.

Set in 1776, against the backdrop of the American struggle for independence, this powerful novel is also an incredible adventure about one girl's struggle for freedom in a society in which she is considered someone else's property.