Henry Tumour Working Title

A stream-of-consciousness story of a poverty-stricken young American, living in Paris.

Cancer in childhood is a rare disease, but for many reasons attracts interest out of proportion to its frequency. There is, of course, the parental anguish associated with a catastrophic illness in a son or daughter - anguish shared in large measure by the physician. This aspect no doubt has spurred on clinicians and investigators in their race to develop more effective means of treatment. The rewards are great. Not only is there the human element, but there is also the fact that survival of the successfully treated child is measured in scores of years rather than the ordinary five to ten year survival rates cited for the adult. Associated with this aspect of paediatric oncology is the responsibility to make those many years as trouble-free as possible. The challenge to the team organizing the care of children with cancer is clear. Cure is to be obtained, but not at the cost of progressively more severe somatic or psychic lesions as the child develops through adolescence to maturity. The cured child of today must not become the chronically ill adult of tomorrow. The spectrum of malignant diseases in childhood is not so varied as that of older patients. The kinds of tumour seen in children are relatively few in number; therefore, concentrated attention can be focussed on each entity, and specific strategies developed for clinical management.

Hector is being hectored by an unlikely bully: a talking brain tumor. And it's not just a talking brain tumor. It's a know-it-all, pain-in-the-arse, jibber-jabbering brain tumor that names itself Jack, and insists on coaching Hector through life even as it's threatening to take his life away. It's a pretty good coach, actually. With Jack in control of Hector's speech and brain chemicals, Hector suddenly finds himself with a cool haircut, a new fashion sense, and tactics for snogging previously unattainable hottie Uma Upshaw. But when Jack begins to force increasingly questionable decisions and behavior, Hector has to find a way to turn the tables – before it's too late for both of them. Delightfully twisted, desperately funny, and deeply moving, this novel is also the winner of the Booktrust Teenage Prize in the United Kingdom.

A black comedy and high-school noir from a critically acclaimed writer"A darkly comic and original mystery novel filled with Raymond Chandleresque noir dialogue" - The Telegraph Someone is on a killing spree - slaughtering the school pets with a cold-blooded savagery. The number-one suspect: Johnny Middleton. Johnny's had problems in the past, but they're behind him now. So what if he still sees the world a little differently? He's not crazy and he's not a killer. And he's going to prove it.