The clock is ticking for Sam Temple and the kids of Perdido Beach but it's not the big one-five that they face now; it's starvation that threatens the FAYZ. In an abandoned mine shaft a faceless animal lurks, pulling the strings, toying with human and mutant alike. And he's hungry - hungry in the darkness.

A young boy visits a tropical rainforest in Queensland, Australia. "My father says there has been a forest here for over a million years," he tells us, and we follow him through the ancient forest as he makes believe it is a time long ago. But how much longer will the forest remain, he wonders?

Best freinds Gemma and Amy have no time for Miss Perfect Teenagers - tall, thin blondes whose only talk is of boys and fashion. At least they didn't. Now, suddenly, Amy's changed and runs with a new set of fashionable friends. Will unglamourous Gemma follow Amy or find her own way?

Lance Loosley, known as Loser at school, is a bit of a weirdo, always boasting, a kid noone wants to be friends with. One day Lance is pushed too far by his peers and this time the humiliation and teasing is too much. Lance seeks revenge by threatening to release a deadly virus into the school.

Ginger's new owner loves her lively present, but when she has to walk him before school and clean up his mess, she soon gets fed up. By Eastertime, Ginger is left tied up in a garden. Meanwhile, James thinks Mum and Dad don't love him. They both run away, meet up and form a lasting relationship.

This timely publication deals with current high-profile issues of compulsive eating disorders amongst young women.

Dicey had known for a while that something was not right, and when her mother said goodbye that day Dicey knew she wasn't coming back. It was up to Dicey to lead the three others on foot across America to their aunt. This is the story of how they reached their destination and what they found there.

The second in the Accident series sees the unprincipled behaviour in a young doctor's personal life threaten the morale of the staff, just as a young boy needs more than the obvious help with an injury. A Cause for Concern fact sheet in the book gives information and advice on child abuse.

When Billy's mother, a surfer, dies, the boy's world is drained of colour. His dad isn't coping well and the aunt he has been sent to live with is a grey person. In this book, themes of grief and loss are explored and set against the vibrancy of surfing culture.

Stories by Themes: Teamwork, Accepting Difference, Helpfulness, Making Choices, Cooperation, Duty, Courage.