Books with author Alan Gibbons

The Rough Diamonds are a close knit team. Kev McGovern, their captain, makes sure they work hard and play hard. Right now, John O'Hara feels he's on the verge of losing everything. His family is about to break up. He's dumbstruck when he finds out that his Mum is seeing his teacher, and Dad...well the less said the better. John feels lonely and insecure; none of this is helping his street cred with the lads, and worse still his form on the pitch is really suffering.

Sam's team are edging closer to the bottom of the league this season and team captain Jordan's bad attitude isn't helping anyone. When Sam spots Hasan playing on the refugee team, he can see that Hasan's got talent and invites him along to practice. Hasan and his friend Faisal prove to be exactly what the team need - but Jordan's not going to accept his new teammates so easily. Can Sam get the boys to pull together and win? Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 8+

Having once risked everything precious to him to halt King Lud's progress from the ancient bowels of London to the city's modern streets, teenage Paul Rector knows his task is far from over. Paul also knows that, like his brother John and his great uncle Harry, he is both demon and man. Will it be fate that decides which side wins out? To find out, Paul takes Hell's Underground back to London of the Blitz in World War II and becomes involved in defeating Harry Rector's plot to assassinate Prime Minister Churchill. His main weapons are fire and fear. Along the way, he learns more about the Rector curse and once again endangers not only his own life, but that of the people he comes to regard as a second family.

Gary was flicking beany gunge on my flawless new Ellesse top - I was yelling at him. What a pillock! Mum was dead, well - fatally injured - she died later in hospital. We just didn't know it at the time.Gary, John and Dad, too, are lost without Mum. Gary is only 14 and goes seriously off the rails, getting involved with local thugs and teetering on the brink of being on the wrong side of the law. John is wrestling with the GCSEs and his first romance - the gorgeous Olivia Bellman. But he's carrying the burden of trying to cope with Gary and Dad at the same time. And they're all living with the memories of someone they can never replace. Alan Gibbons has an extraordinary knack of knowing just what it's like to be a teenager. He writes here with compassion - and flashes of humour - about surviving against all the odds.

Aidan has it all - a happy home in leafy suburbia with two cars parked on the drive, and all a boy could ask for in terms of designer labels and gadgets. He's top of the class, captain of the swimming team and has the gorgeous Emily hanging on his every word. So a trip up North with Mum to visit his dying Grandfather doesn't go down well. But it does teach Aidan a thing or two about real life - and friendships, trust, loyalty and survival. He's shattered to discover his real father is a gangland drugs dealer recently released from prison and out to regain his scrap of turf whatever it takes. He's surprised and confused to find he's falling in love with the intriguing Jade even though she's already pregnant after a fling with one of the bad lads who hangs out on the estate. He's humbled by his grandparents, how little they have, but how much wisdom and love they offer him. In a crackingly paced, hard-hitting, real life thriller that deals with drugs and crime, Alan Gibbons also describes the summer of one boy who must grow up super-fast - from hormonal to responsible - in one huge leap of faith.

It has always been this way. The Helati are slaves. Each month, at the full moon, they are expelled to face the demon host, the Lost Souls.But something has changed in the fabric of the times. The demons are controlled by a new master, the Darkwing. Now the danger is permanent, the horror incessant.In a southern port, however, a fourteen year old slave girl, oblivious of her destiny, holds the key to ending the nightmare of the Lost Souls. But will she ever understand the secret that is hidden deep in her memory, the secret of the Black Tower?Alan Gibbons' latest novel is an epic fantasy that takes you through a fabled land, reminiscent of a mythical ancient India. On a roller-coaster ride you will meet shape-shifters, demons, magic, tyrants, an evil lord who is the master of the living dead and countless fighters for evil...and for good.

When Paul journies back to 17th-century London, he expects to be thrown into a life or death struggle for the three gates that imprison the ancient King Lud. But the battle doesn't come. Instead, Paul roams alone, learning how to survive in a city where all the talk is of the savage civil war that rages beyond its ramparts. Somewhere underground, Lud is waiting in his crypt, preparing to rise again. War, fear and want are his tools. But Paul has his own weapons. Beyond the city, a witchhunt rages out of control. Only one woman possesses the power to help Paul in his quest.

A gripping, virtual reality thriller - the second title in The Legendeer trilogy.What if there are places where our nightmares live and wait for us?Phoenix has found one and it's alive. Armies of bloodsucking vampyrs and terrifying werewolves, the creatures of our darkest dreams, are poised to invade our world. After his battle with the evil Gamesmaster in SHADOW OF THE MINOTAUR, Phoenix knows this is for real. As he prepares to enter the second deadly computer game in The Legendeer series, he knows he must win or never come back.The Legendeer is more than just a game. Play it if you dare.

Kev's a loner, a hard case. When his mum and dad split up, he goes off the rails. He's looking for trouble - but he never means it to go that far . . . the fire, the shed, that old man. After the fire Kev is moved to a new school to build a new life, but his terrible secret is found out. The only way Kev knows how to deal with it is through another fire. But this time perhaps it's Kev's life that will go up in flames.Alan Gibbons writes with compassion and intuitive understanding about one boy's battle to survive against the odds.