The Shark Caller

WINNER OF THE EDWARD STANFORD CHILDREN'S TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 A SUNDAY TIMES CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK Dive beneath the waves with this spell-binding adventure of friendship, forgiveness and bravery, set on the shores of Papua New Guinea, perfect for fans of Katherine Rundell and Eva Ibbotson. "I want to be able to call the sharks. Teach me the magic and show me the ways." Blue Wing is desperate to become a shark caller, but instead she must befriend infuriating newcomer Maple, who arrives unexpectedly on Blue Wing's island. At first, the girls are too angry to share their secrets and become friends. But when the tide breathes the promise of treasure, they must journey together to the bottom of the ocean to brave the deadliest shark of them all... "The most incredible story...tender and wise, with themes of friendship, love, grief, revenge and acceptance." Michelle Harrison "Magnificent and beautiful." Sophie Anderson

Only a twin from a shark calling family can appease the ancestors and bring a community back together in this powerful and haunting story. Isabel is on a plane heading back to her island birthplace in Papua New Guinea. Izzy is looking forward to seeing her family again, but there's another tragic reason for the trip. Izzy's twin brother, Ray, died in a freak diving accident, and Izzy and her mum are taking his ashes home for traditional death ceremonies. After they arrive, Izzy realises things have changed since their last visit. Logging threatens the community's way of life and sharks no longer answer the song of the shark callers. Izzy's cousin Noah explains that the clan needs someone to undertake a traditional diving ritual. The person must be a twin from the shark calling lineage. The dive will be perilous. And Izzy is the last twin. Will she have the courage to attempt the dive? And what deep, dark secrets will the ocean reveal if she does?

Two teenage boys, one on a shark hunt and the other traveling with his family, face the challenge of their lives when a volcano erupts causing a massive tidal wave in the South Seas.

Thirteen-year-old Ivy North is an adventurer. She can pitch a tent in four minutes flat, knows the local landscape like the back of her hand, and she’s an expert map reader. There's just one problem. She's afraid to go outside But when her little brother is transformed into a kestrel by a powerful sorcerer, Ivy is the only one who can rescue him. Following him through a mysterious hole in the garden wall, she emerges in Underfell – an enchanted realm that seems like the Lake District she knows, but is dangerously different. Battling her dread of being out in the open, Ivy must gather all her courage to navigate a path across this extraordinary world, where haughty fairies with birds' wings fly through purple skies and a ghostly spectre haunts her every step. With the help of an unexpected new friend, can Ivy break the spell – before her brother becomes a bird forever? An immersive and beautifully written fantasy adventure, The Sky Beneath the Stone is a soaring journey of family, friendship, overcoming fear – and realising that we are never as lost as we think we are. Alex Mullarky's debut novel introduces a captivating new talent in children's fiction.

Everyone's favourite (socially distanced) characters return to help us through this challenging period.Hedgehog is waiting for his friend Tortoise to wake up. But where is he and when will he wake?Hedgehog's friends are all very lovely, but they just aren't as much fun at the beach, or at hide and seek, or at holding hands, or at hugs. Tortoise begins to stir - the one boulder that Hedgehog didn't think he could lift to turn . . . Tortoise has been dreaming of Hedgehog. And the hug that follows is their best yet!A charming and touching new tale from the creators of the bestselling While We Can't Hug!

A group of traders huddles around a pile of dried shark fins on a gleaming white floor in Hong Kong. A Papua New Guinean elder shoves off in his hand-carved canoe, ready to summon a shark with ancient magic. A scientist finds a rare shark in Indonesia and forges a deal with villagers so it and other species can survive. In this eye-opening adventure that spans the globe, Juliet Eilperin investigates the fascinating ways different individuals and cultures relate to the ocean’s top predator. Along the way, she reminds us why, after millions of years, sharks remain among nature’s most awe-inspiring creatures. From Belize to South Africa, from Shanghai to Bimini, we see that sharks are still the object of an obsession that may eventually lead to their extinction. This is why movie stars and professional athletes go shark hunting in Miami and why shark’s fin soup remains a coveted status symbol in China. Yet we also see glimpses of how people and sharks can exist alongside one another: surfers tolerating their presence off Cape Town and ecotourists swimming with sharks that locals in the Yucatán no longer have to hunt. With a reporter’s instinct for a good story and a scientist’s curiosity, Eilperin offers us an up-close understanding of these extraordinary, mysterious creatures in the most entertaining and illuminating shark encounter you’re likely to find outside a steel cage.

A beautiful friendship and coming-of-age story in middle-grade, The Extraordinary Colors of Auden Dare by Zillah Bethell is lightly futuristic, and deeply compelling. Auden Dare is colorblind and lives in a world where water is scarce and families must live on a weekly, allocated supply. When Auden’s uncle, the scientist Dr. Bloom, suddenly dies, he leaves a note to Auden and to his classmate Vivi Rookmini. Together, the notes lead them to Paragon—a robot. As Auden, Vivi, and Paragon try to uncover Paragon’s purpose and put together the clues Dr. Bloom left behind, they find out that Dr. Bloom's death was anything but innocent, that powerful people are searching for Paragon—and that it's up to Auden and Vivi to stop them.

Will she find the last horses on earth? Serendipity lives inside a walled city. Before her mother died, she gave Seren an old figurine of a horse. Horses no longer exist in Serendipity’s world, but when she discovers a map that may lead her to real horses, she starts on a journey that will take her far from everything she knows. Traveling with an orphan boy, Tab, and his beloved dog, she's soon on the run from a powerful and dangerous man who will do anything to make sure Serendipity never leaves the walled city again. Zillah Bethell’s middle-grade fiction debut A Whisper of Horses is original, breathtaking, adventurous, and moving. It is a story of friendship, perseverance, and resilience that readers won’t soon forget.