The plot describes Bella Swan''s move from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie, while her mother, Renée, travels with her new husband, Phil Dwyer, a minor league baseball player. Bella attracts much attention at her new school and is quickly befriended by several students. Much to her dismay, several boys compete for shy Bella''s attention. She is immediately struck by the extreme beauty of the Cullens, who appear pale and different. When Bella is seated next to Edward Cullen in class on her first day of school, Edward seems utterly repulsed by her. He disappears for a few days, but warms up to Bella upon his return; their newfound relationship reaches a climax when Bella is nearly run over by a classmate''s van in the school parking lot. Seemingly defying the laws of physics, Edward saves her life when he instantaneously appears next to her and stops the van with his bare hands. Bella becomes determined to find out how Edward saved her life, and constantly pesters him with questions. After a family friend, Jacob Black, tells her the local tribal legends, Bella concludes that Edward and his family are vampires who drink animal blood rather than human. Edward confesses that he initially avoided Bella because the scent of her blood was too desirable to him. However, he admits his true nature and when this doesn''t scare away Bella, they begin a relationship. They begin questioning each other about their lives, and Edward decides to show Bella why he and his family can''t be in the sun. They go hiking for a day, where Edward tries once more to show just how dangerous he really is, but it turns out that neither can stay away, culminating in a kiss. This first part of the novelization ends with Edward taking Bella home. Part 2 begins when Edward Cullen takes Bella Swan home from visiting his family at their house. All of the Cullens are very welcoming to Bella except for Rosalie, who is concerned that the relationship between Edward and Bella may end badly, implicating the entire family and forcing them to move again. However, Edward is very careful not to lose control when he is around Bella, and their relationship continues to grow. The relationship is disturbed when another vampire coven arrives in Forks. James, a tracker vampire who is intrigued by the Cullens'' relationship with a human, wants to hunt Bella for sport. The Cullens attempt to distract the tracker by splitting up Bella and Edward, and Bella is sent to hide in a hotel in Phoenix. There, she receives a phone call from James, who claims to be holding her mother captive. When Bella surrenders herself, James attacks her. Before James can kill her, Edward, along with the other Cullens, rescues her and defeats James. Once they realize that James has bitten Bella''s hand, Edward successfully sucks the poison from her bloodstream and prevents her from becoming a vampire, after which she is brought to a hospital. Upon returning to Forks, Bella and Edward attend their school prom and Bella expresses her desire to become a vampire, but Edward refuses.

Twilight: The Graphic Novel

The story is set in AD 77, in Alexandria, Egypt, which was at that time part of the Roman Empire. Falco and his family travel to Egypt to see two of the seven wonders of the world, the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Great Pyramid of Giza, but are caught up in investigation into a mysterious death, and soon several deaths. The plot revolves around the Library of Alexandria, with reference to library management practice, corruption, illegal autopsies, a man-eating crocodile, and the legendary catoblepas. For the duration of their trip, Falco and his family have chosen to stay with his mother''s brother, Fulvius, and his live-in partner Cassius who host a dinner party to which Falco''s family and the Chief Librarian of the Serapaeion, Theon, are invited. When Theon is found dead later in mysterious circumstances, locked in his own private Chamber at the Serapaeion, Falco, Fulvius and the others fall under suspicion by the authorities, and it is up to Falco to clear everyone''s names, eventually unravelling a web of corruption, deceit and even murder at the Library of Alexandria.

Alexandria

The story is set on Mars in the late 21st Century. It follows the exploits of the 400-year-old vampire John Shade, whose comfortable life in the Hellas crater on Mars is disrupted when he is forced to become part of a complex conspiracy to protect the Janglers, a sub-species of humans who have replaced parts of their brains with technology. Shade eventually becomes the leader of a collection of loners, losers, drop-outs and rebels, holding them together through unwitting charisma and a sense of personal vengeance against the government of Mars. As a vampire, Shade sometimes feels a lust for blood, though this only occurs once or twice a year - though the Need, as it is called, strikes several times during the course of the novel for reasons that are not fully explained. Shade also possesses increased strength and reflexes, a photographic memory, excellent mathematical knowledge, the ability to change his own shape and the power to "shift" into "high temporal", which tremendously enhances his speed. Shade has read Bram Stoker''s Dracula and believes it to be "foolish in many details".

Nightshade

The novel is in three parts. The first part, "A Russian Fairy Tale", deliberately evokes the atmosphere of Arthur Ransome''s Old Peter''s Russian Tales. It is a fairy-tale account of the circumstances leading to the Russian Revolution, featuring the poor woodcutter, the orphaned children, the romantic but oblivious Royal family, the mad monk, the sleeping bear and the two conspirators in the wood. The novel continues by presenting history from the perspective of an individual, an outsider. The English writer Arthur Ransome, in Russia to collect folktales, stays to observe events, becoming a correspondent for the Daily News. In the second part of the novel, "One Night in Moscow", Ransome is haunted by the scenes he has witnessed. They appear as a scatter of flashbacks, reflecting the confusion in his mind. He has experienced the pull of Bolshevik idealism, and has fallen in love with Trotsky''s secretary, Evgenia. On the other hand he is appalled by the brutality of some revolutionaries and considers helping his friend Robert Lockhart of the British Embassy. He finally decides that he has no business interfering with the destiny of Russia, one way or the other, and leaves Moscow for Stockholm. The final part, "A Fairy Tale, Ending", focuses on Ransome''s private life, and shifts into first person narration. Ransome''s supposed Bolshevist sympathies bring him under suspicion when the Red Terror begins, but he redeems himself by helping to free Lockhart from the Kremlin. Ransome is happy with Evgenia in Stockholm and when she has to return to Russia, he chooses to go with her. To ease his return, he reconsiders the offer from the SIS, and becomes agent S76. Lenin welcomes him back to Russia, dismissing Trotsky''s fears that he might be a spy. On what is intended to be a brief visit to England, he meets unexpected difficulties, being questioned by the authorities and losing his job with the Daily News. It is some months before he regains his journalist status, and meanwhile there is civil war in Russia. As the Tsarist White Army makes advances against the Bolshevik Red Army, he becomes worried for Evgenia''s safety. He takes considerable risks to return to Russia, and eventually succeeds in bringing her back west with him.

Blood Red, Snow White

The novel opens with the trial of Obi Okonkwo on a charge of accepting a bribe. It then jumps back in time to a point before his departure for England and works its way forward to describe how Obi ended up on trial. The members of the Umuofia Progressive Union (UPU), a group of Igbo men who have left their villages to live in major Nigerian cities, have taken up a collection to send Obi to England to study law, in the hope that he will return to help his people navigate British colonial society. But once there, Obi switches his major to English and meets Clara Okeke for the first time during a dance. Obi returns to Nigeria after four years of studies and lives in Lagos with his friend Joseph. He takes a job with the Scholarship Board and is almost immediately offered a bribe by a man who is trying to obtain a scholarship for his little sister. When Obi indignantly rejects the offer, he is visited by the girl herself who implies that she will bribe him with sexual favors for the scholarship, another offer Obi rejects. At the same time, Obi is developing a romantic relationship with Clara Okeke, a Nigerian woman who eventually reveals that she is an osu, an outcast by her descendants, meaning that Obi can not marry her under the traditional ways of the Igbo people of Nigeria. While he remains intent on marrying Clara, even his Christian father opposes it, although reluctantly due to his desire to progress and eschew the "heathen" customs of pre-colonial Nigeria. His mother begs him on her deathbed not to marry Clara until after her death, threatening to kill herself if Obi disobeys. When Obi informs Clara of these events, Clara breaks the engagement and intimates that she is pregnant. Obi arranges an abortion, which Clara reluctantly undergoes, but she suffers complications and refuses to see Obi afterwards. All the while, Obi sinks deeper into financial trouble, in part due to poor planning on his end, in part due to the need to repay his loan to the UPU and to pay for his siblings'' educations, and in part due to the cost of the illegal abortion. After hearing of his mother''s death, Obi sinks into a deep depression, and refuses to go home for the funeral. When he recovers, he begins to accept bribes in a reluctant acknowledgement that it is the way of his world. The novel closes as Obi takes a bribe and tells himself that it is the last one he will take, only to discover that the bribe was part of a sting operation. He is arrested, bringing us up to the events that opened the story.

No Longer at Ease

The novel has a convoluted plot about two distant cousins both named Allan Armadale. The father of one had murdered the father of the other (the two fathers are also named Allan Armadale). The story starts with a deathbed confession by the murderer in the form of a letter to be given to his baby son when he grows up. Many years pass. The son, mistreated at home, runs away from his mother and stepfather, and takes up a wandering life under the assumed name of Ozias Midwinter. He becomes a companion to his distant cousin, the other Allan Armadale, who throughout the novel never discovers the relationship. But Ozias is constantly haunted by feeling that he might harm Allan, first after he reads the letter left for him, and then again after they spend the night on a shipwreck off the Isle of Man — the ship turning out to be the same on which the murder took place (the murderer locked his victim in a cabin as the boat filled with water). On the boat, Allan has a mysterious dream involving three characters. This dream fills Ozias with foreboding, justifiably so as its three scenes become fulfilled in the course of the novel. Allan inherits estates at Thorpe Ambrose in Norfolk after the mysterious death of three of the family. He is unused to wealth, and falls in love with the sixteen-year-old daughter of Major Milroy, to whom he has rented a cottage. This love affair is for a period thwarted by the machinations of Miss Milroy''s governess, Lydia Gwilt. Lydia, who is thirty-five but looks twenty-something, is the villain of the novel and her colourful portrayal takes up much of the rest of the story. Originally Allan’s mother''s maid, and a contributor to the conflict between Allan''s and Ozias''s fathers, she is a fortune-hunter and, it turns out, a murderess. Unable to alienate Allan''s affections from Miss Milroy, she settles for marrying Midwinter, having discovered his name is the same. She plots to murder Allan — or to have him killed by her ex-husband, a Spanish desperado — and, since she is now "Mrs. Armadale," to impersonate his widow. Allan escapes the desperado''s attempt on his life — he is supposed to have drowned in a shipwreck — and returns to England. Lydia''s plans are thus foiled. Her last shot is to murder Allan herself — the weapon being poison gas, the scene being a sanatorium run by a quack called Doctor Downward — but she is thwarted by her own conscience. Midwinter and Allan have switched rooms, and she can''t bring herself to murder her true husband, for whom she does have genuine feelings of love. After rescuing Midwinter and writing him a farewell note, she goes into the air-poisoned room and kills herself. Allan marries Miss Milroy; Midwinter, still his best friend, becomes a writer. Some linking passages consist of letters between the various characters, or of extracts from Lydia''s journal, but the great majority of the text narrates the events as they occur. The novel is enlivened by many minor characters including Mr Bashwood, an old failure of a clerk who is infatuated with the beautiful Lydia; his son, James Bashwood, a private detective; Mrs Oldershaw, an unscrupulous associate of Lydia’s; the Pedgifts (father and son), Allan''s sometime lawyers; and the Rev Decimus Brock, a shrewd (but not quite shrewd enough) clergymen who brings Allan up but who is kept out of the way for much of the book. Is the dream to be interpreted rationally or superstitiously, as Midwinter does? The question is never resolved. “The distortions of the plot, the violent and irrational reactions of the characters, reflect and dramatize the ways in which his readers’ perceptions were distorted by the assumptions and hypocrisies of the society in which they lived," writes Catherine Peters. In the end, the novel is a story of redemption that teaches that the sins of the fathers are not necessarily visited on the children, and the son of a murderer can turn out good. Collins was to take this up again later in The Legacy of Cain.

Armadale

The British Empire is falling apart. Many commoners are unhappy with the current government, though none of the commoners claim responsibility for the status quo. The magician''s demons are being assaulted by the children''s natural abilities to see and resist the demons. (All of the magicians in the government were originally commoners whose parents sold them to the government at a young age, so it is not hard to understand why they are such a heartless group of people, concerned only with power and wealth.) Some commoners advocate slow reform, while others advocate open revolt, while still others say the commoners should learn how to summon spirits of their own to combat those spirits belonging to the magicians. Ptolemy''s Gate concludes with a council of surviving magicians and important commoners trying to work out a government that is beneficial to everyone. Kitty Jones eventually unearths the reason why humans and spirits are locked into the endless cycle, that humans do not understand the nature of djinni and summon them only as powerful, but dangerous, slaves, not equals. This theory is confirmed by Bartimaeus who states that his greatest master, Ptolemy, was the only human who treated his servants as equals and tried to build a bridge between djinni and humans. However, Ptolemy misguidedly believed many others would follow in his footsteps; the only other person to ever successfully cross into the Other Place was Kitty. England''s domestic turmoil has taken its toll on John Mandrake. Mandrake is friendless and constantly watched by his numerous enemies. In the three years since The Golem''s Eye there have been several attempts on Mandrake''s life. His years as a high ranking government official have made Mandrake merciless, and he treats all of his servants cruelly, especially Bartimaeus. However, events in Ptolemy''s Gate shatter Mandrake''s confidence in what he has become. The transformation from Mandrake to Nathaniel is much more rapid than the one from Nathaniel to Mandrake. Nathaniel drops the name John Mandrake all together, as well as the fear of others knowing his true name, humbly telling it to Kitty, with whom he seems to have struck up a newfound friendship, and boldly proclaiming it to the spirit Nouda. With the end of Mandrake, Nathaniel becomes all that Ptolemy hoped to be. Nathaniel willingly allows Bartimaeus to share his body to combat Nouda and his army of hybrids, using Gladstone''s staff, a fusion that forever bridges the gap between humans and djinn. However, at the last moment, he dismisses Bartimaeus and then sacrifices himself to destroy the spirit Nouda. This incident was similar to what Ptolemy did in the moments before he died.

Ptolemy''s Gate

While on Dorval, the Sunrunner Meath uncovers ancient scrolls in the Sunrunner ruins. Concerned about the content and odd star symbols, Meath decides to take the scrolls to the leader of the Sunrunners, Andrade. Lady Andrade appoints Andry to translate the scrolls with the help of Hollis, his brother Maarken''s unofficial betrothed. As Andry and Hollis work through the translation and the embedded code, they learn that the scrolls deal with ancient sorcerers and sorcery. They are unaware that the scrolls'' existence and rediscovery is known to sorcerers in hiding. Mireva, a sorceress, forms a plan to retrieve the scrolls. One of her charges, Segev, Ianthe''s youngest son, travels to Goddess Keep to pose as a young faradhi in order to steal the scrolls. He addicts Hollis to dranath as a cohort, but Andry disrupts Segev''s plan. Meanwhile, an arrogant upstart called Masul attempts to proclaim himself Roelstra''s son and heir. The whispers of this heir lead to an assassination attempt on Pol''s life. To proclaim Pol''s position as Prince of Princemarch, Rohan and Pol progresses through Princemarch. Pol meets the local Lords and earns his people''s favor by participating in their traditions. Unfortunately, another assassination attempt is made, this time ending in Maeta''s death. At the Rialla, most of the discussion is over Masul, whether or not he is Roelstra''s heir, and whether or not it even matters. As the Princes debate the issue, Segev continues to drug Hollis, who in turn draws away from Maarken. Then, Andrade claims that she can show the events of the past by using sorcery from the scrolls. Gleeful at the turn of events, Segev uses sorcery during her conjuring in order to kill her. Andry becomes Lord of Goddess Keep. Though saddened by Andrade''s death, the debate of Masul continues; her conjure proved nothing. At last a duel is proposed between Masul and Pol. Maarken fights in Pol''s place as Pol has yet to be knighted. During the battle, Segev uses sorcery against Maarken. Seeing Maarken in pain snaps Hollis out of her drugged state, and she kills Segev. Masul nearly kills Maarken, but at the last minute, Rohan intervenes and kills him with a pair of thrown daggers. As the Desert entourage travels home, accompanied by Hollis, who is slowly recovering, a valley filled with dragons is discovered. The site will become Pol''s palace, Dragon''s Rest. Sioned, who had earlier ''bumped'' into a dragon on sunlight, attempts to ''speak'' with a dragon. This time she succeeds and a bond is formed between human and dragon.

The Star Scroll

Out-of-work former cavalryman and tank inspector Captain Richard is offered a job interview with a "catch" by a former comrade, Twinnings: namely, he suggests a morally questionable position with Giacomo Zapparoni, whose firm builds advanced robots; occasionally one of his engineers deserts, and he needs a man to "take care of" the problem to protect company secrets. At this point a reluctant Richard offers the first of many essayistic narrative asides, as he outlines the social magnitude of Zapparoni''s creations, and the first of many autobiographical flashbacks, recounting his days in Military Academy under the guidance of his strict yet caring instructor, Monteron. Two days later, while nervously awaiting Zapparoni, Richard notices how Zapparoni''s modest house appears strangely old-fashioned for a man who made his vast fortune in robotics. This tension between new and old prompts Richard to nostalgically reflect upon the historic demise of cavalry, supplanted by mechanized modern warfare. The suicide of his comrade Lorenz, who refused to adapt to the vertiginous pace of technological, social change, figures prominently in his reflection; for Richard, Lorenz''s death exemplifies the fate of those who cannot “find firm ground under [their] feet in the present.” Richard''s ruminations then turn inward, as he narrates his own lack of worldly success and his negative evaluations by superiors as an "outsider with defeatist inclinations." When the elderly Zapparoni finally makes his entrance, Richard senses his latent power, remarking that there is more to him than his intelligence. In a narrative aside prompted by a question from Zapparoni, Richard contrasts his former comrades Fillmor, Lorenz, and Twinnings. Unlike either Lorenz and Twinnings, Fillmor, now a successful high officer, is driven entirely by ambition, yet totally lacks imagination. So when Zapparoni asks Richard for his opinion on Fillmor’s memoir, Richard is unsure how to respond. Over the course of a tactical conversation, Zapparoni begins with familiar territory for Richard, namely war, yet is quickly able to master the discussion, forcing Richard into contortions and self-contradictions. Zapparoni then announces that he has other matters to attend to, and asks Richard to wait for him in the garden, warning him to beware of the bees. Out in the garden Richard, through a pair of sophisticated binoculars, discovers the glass bees. Watching them, he observes how these robotic bees are much more efficient at gathering nectar than real bees, and marvels at their construction. As he watches the bees, he notices a pond filled with severed ears. Richard briefly considers contacting the police but realizes that the powerful Zapparoni could easily frame him. Richard''s predicament spurs a childhood reminiscence about Atje Hanebut, "chief" of Richard''s neighborhood gang. One day, Atje has them savagely beat a member of a rival gang. Richard tries to stop Atje, calling his attention to the boy''s bleeding nose, for which Atje has the boys beat Richard, after which they flee. The rival gang then finds Richard, beating him further in retaliation. Finally at home, Richard is beaten once more, this time by his father. Leaving the garden, Richard encounters Zapparoni, who reveals that the ears had been severed from humanoid robots, and were a test that Richard has unfortunately failed. Zapparoni then surprises Richard by offering him a different job requiring sharp moral discrimination, which Richard accepts. On the way home, Richard buys Teresa a red dress, they go out for dinner, and Richard begins to forget the events in Zapparoni’s garden.

The Glass Bees

Catherine is a thirteen year old Quaker girl who leads a simple life with her mother, father, and younger siblings that are Thomas, Eliza and Baby Will. At first she writes in her journal about school; meetings (church services); her crush, a handsome, spunky boy named Jess Owen; and her family including Baby Will''s first tooth. But when the family hears about the Indian raids and massacres on nearby farms and at church, fear grows in her. Catherine is terrified to death of what may happen. Then one day while walking to school, Caty (Catherine) and Thomas are both captured by Lenape Indians. They are taken to the Lenape camp, and Thomas is separated from his sister and taken to another camp. Later, he moves to her camp after a bout with fever. Catherine is adopted by an old woman named Wapa-go-kos (White Owl) and her daughter, Tan-kan-wan (Little Cloud). Catherine is called Chilili (Snow Bird). Catherine hates her new family and their traditions and customs. But when she befriends a handsome young hunter named Wine-lo-wich (Snow Hunter) and a romance develops, she grows to love her new people. Snow hunter is English and was also captured, but he has lived with indians several years. Seasons pass, and then tragically Catherine and Thomas are torn apart from their new family, and her new love by the white men. Snow Hunter and a group who went to trade furs were murdered by white men, and Catherine and Thomas were taken back to their real home. Catherine''s mom was shocked by Catherine acting like a "savage" when Catherine was captured and does not know how to treat her daughter. Catherine decides to let her father read her diary. Instead of being ashamed, he tells Catherine that he is proud of her learning to look past differences between people and for "standing in the light". It also includes an epilogue and historical note. Catherine lived in the Quaker land, then in the Lenape land.

Standing in the Light, The Captive Diary of Catherine Carey Logan

The plot centers on the experiences of the protagonist Di Yun, a simple and ordinary peasant from Xiangxi. He lives in the countryside for several years together with his martial arts teacher Qi Zhangfa and the latter''s daughter Qi Fang, who is his sweetheart. One day, the three of them travel to the city to attend the birthday party of Wan Zhenshan, Qi Zhangfa''s senior from the same martial arts sect. Di Yun runs into trouble as he is framed for larceny and attempted rape, and is arrested and imprisoned. Qi Zhangfa disappears mysteriously when Di Yun needs him the most. Wan Zhenshan''s son Wan Gui bribes the magistrate to hand a heavy sentence to Di Yun to exaggerate the seriousness of Di''s "crimes", while hypocritically playing the role of a good man by pretending to help Di in order to win Qi Fang''s heart. Qi Fang becomes disappointed with Di Yun after believing that he is indeed guilty and gives up on him. With no one else to turn to, she eventually marries Wan Gui. Di Yun suffers in prison and is continuously harassed by Ding Dian, a fellow raving inmate who accuses him of being a spy and subjects him to constant physical beatings. However, after Di Yun attempts suicide, Ding Dian is finally convinced that Di is not a spy and they become close friends. Ding Dian tells Di Yun that he has obtained from an old man named Mei Niansheng the manual for the skill called Liancheng Swordplay, and has since become the target of many jianghu pugilists who are after the book. Ding Dian also teaches Di Yun a powerful inner energy skill that later proves to be a blessing for Di. Di Yu overhears the dirty secrets of his respected teacher Qi Zhangfa and his fellows, of how they murdered their teacher Mei Niansheng to seize possession of the Liancheng Swordplay manual. Di Yun and Ding Dian manage to break out from jail but Ding is fatally poisoned by Ling Tuisi, a heartless magistrate who is the father of Ding''s late lover. Di Yun returns to Qi Fang''s house and sees that Qi has conceived with Wan Gui a daughter nicknamed Kongxincai. He is depressed and emotionally hurt and escapes as a runaway convict. Di Yun soon arrives at a temple, where he encounters an evil cannibalistic monk called Baoxiang, whom he outwits and kills. He dons Baoxiang''s robes and is mistaken by the Tibetan Blood Saber Sect''s lascivious leader Grandmaster Xuedao as a grand disciple. Xuedao protects Di Yun from attackers from orthodox sects, and captures a girl named Shui Sheng, holding her as a hostage as they flee. They encounter an avalanche that causes them to be trapped a snowy valley in the Daxue Mountains during deep winter. Xuedao manages to kill three of their pursuers, one of whom is Shui Sheng''s father. Meanwhile Xuedao becomes suspicious of Di Yun''s identity and he attempts to kill the latter when Di''s cover is blown. Unexpectedly, Xuedao''s strike helps Di Yun channel his inner energy cycle and he dies at Di''s hands instead. The last surviving pursuer Hua Tiegan reveals his true colours after Xuedao''s death and resorts to cannibalism on his three dead companions in order to survive. While Di Yun, Shui Sheng and Hua Tiegan remain in the valley to wait for spring, Shui sees Di''s kindness beneath his seeming misanthropy. When the three of them are finally able to leave the valley and meet up with other pugilists, Hua Tiegan accuses Di Yun and Shui Sheng of sexual immorality in front of Shui''s fiance. Di Yun separates himself from Shui Sheng and continues on his lonely journey to vengeance. Di Yun tracks down the perpetrators responsible for his wrongful incarceration and learns that his teacher Qi Zhangfa is actually a scheming and ruthless villain, just as Ding Dian had told him. His first love Qi Fang is mercilessly killed by her husband Wan Gui when he suspects her of infidelity. As the story progresses, all the antagonists in the novel eventually locate the whereabouts of the Liancheng Swordplay manual in a temple. They start slaying each other over the treasure and all become insane after coming into contact with the deadly venom smeared on the jewels. After witnessing these beastly acts, especially Qi Fang''s death, Di Yun becomes totally disillusioned with the dark nature and greed of humanity. He brings Qi Fang''s daughter Kongxincai with him to the snowy valley and intends to lead a reclusive life there. To his surprise, he meets Shui Sheng, who has been faithfully waiting alone for his return.

Requiem of Ling Sing

Lily is the eldest child in the Green family. She has two younger half-sisters and a younger half -brother. She often has to take care of them when their mother, Kate Green, goes out to the pub, newsagent or off-licence. Although Lily does not usually mind being shouldered with the responsibility, she sometimes resents it. When Lily''s mother meets Gordon, her new boyfriend, at a local club, Kate is convinced that her life has improved and she feels as if Gordon and her [are] on a rollercoaster up to heaven.'' Lily becomes cross with her mother for not coming home in a timely manner. That night, she takes care of her brother and sisters by drawing and watching Tracy Beaker. The next day, Kate takes her children on a frivolous shopping expedition and uses a credit card, which causes Lily to become very suspicious. She worries about where and how her mum obtained the card. Kate flies to Spain to be with Gordon. Lily is fearful and angry when her mother suggests that Mikey, Kate''s ex-husband, look after the rest of the family while Kate travels to Spain. Kate tells Lily that she has yet to reveal to Gordon that she has children. She further annoys Lily when Kate reveals that she feels as if she deserves a holiday from living in a ''dump.'' Kate leaves a voicemail message for Mikey to tell him that he must take care of the children while Kate is on holiday. Lily is afraid of Mikey. By the time Mikey returns Kate''s call, Kate has already left for Spain. Mikey tells Lily that he is on his way to Glasgow and tells Lily to tell her mother not to go anywhere. Lily pretends that she has delivered the message. They survive by eating what is left in the fridge. Lily is able to prepare simple meals for her siblings because she has grown accustomed to caring for them. Lily is frightened and cross because she is the one who is in charge. She is fearful that people will find out about her situation and that she will be separated from her siblings. She manages by taking her brother and sisters to the park as well as by using her imagination to entertain the others. She also uses her brains to deal with adults who ask about the whereabouts of her mother, such as the couple the children encounter in the park. Mr Abbot, Lily''s teacher, comes to the flat because he is concerned that the children have not attended school and that Lily failed to go on the trip to the art gallery. Lily tells her teacher that they have all been ill and that her mother is at the shops in order to purchase medicine. Lily is scared that Mr Abbot will return with social workers so she packs food, clothing and bedding. When they run away, all of the children are very scared and struggle to feed themselves. They fend for themselves by stealing food from a nearby canteen, until the owners tell them to stop. Lily also enters a home and takes several items of delicious food.Now there''s another person on her back her flat neighbour who they call Mr Nosy. Things go even more wrong when Bliss falls out of a tree and breaks her leg while Lily sleeps. Lily realises that she needs adult intervention. She calls an ambulance and they take Bliss to the hospital. When the nurses get Bliss lying down, their Mum returns. The police charge Kate with child neglect. She is told that she needs to perform community service as her punishment. Lily goes to a children''s home, split apart from her siblings Baxter and Pixie who were fostered, while Bliss stays in the hospital. The story ends by Lily drawing a picture of the Green family and writing at the bottom: "We''re all going to be together very, very soon."

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Twilight: The Graphic Novel

No Author Listed

Alexandria

By Lindsey Davis

Nightshade

By Jack Butler

Blood Red, Snow White

By Marcus Sedgwick

No Longer at Ease

By Chinua Achebe

Armadale

By Wilkie Collins

Ptolemy's Gate

By Jonathan Stroud

The Star Scroll

By Melanie Rawn

The Glass Bees

By Ernst Jünger

Standing in the Light, The Captive Diary of Catherine Carey Logan

No Author Listed

Requiem of Ling Sing

By Louis Cha

Lily Alone

No Author Listed