Books with author Ann Halam

Semi, Miranda, and Arnie are part of a group of 50 British Young Conservationists on their way to a wildlife conservation station deep in the rain forests of Ecuador. After a terrifying mid-air disaster and subsequent crash, these three are the sole survivors, stranded together on a deserted tropical island. Or so they think. Semi, Miranda, and Arnie stumble into the hands of Dr. Franklin, a mad scientist who’s been waiting for them, eager to use them as specimens for his experiments in genetic engineering.

Semi, Miranda, and Arnie are part of a group of 50 British Young Conservationists on their way to a wildlife conservation station deep in the rain forests of Ecuador. After a terrifying mid-air disaster and subsequent crash, these three are the sole survivors, stranded together on a deserted tropical island. Or so they think. Semi, Miranda, and Arnie stumble into the hands of Dr. Franklin, a mad scientist who’s been waiting for them, eager to use them as specimens for his experiments in genetic engineering.

Semi, Miranda, and Arnie are part of a group of 50 British Young Conservationists on their way to a wildlife conservation station deep in the rain forests of Ecuador. After a terrifying mid-air disaster and subsequent crash, these three are the sole survivors, stranded together on a deserted tropical island. Or so they think. Semi, Miranda, and Arnie stumble into the hands of Dr. Franklin, a mad scientist who’s been waiting for them, eager to use them as specimens for his experiments in genetic engineering.From the Hardcover edition.

What's it like to see your friend transformed into a raven before your very eyes, and to know it's your turn next? How does it feel to morph into a manta ray or slide into the body of a snake? This is what happens to Miranda, Semi and Arnie, three friends who are the sole survivors of a plane crash. They find themselves on a tropical island of azure waters and white sands. But beyond the palm-fringed beaches lies the hospital run by the sinister Dr Franklin, and the three teenagers are about to become his next patients. Perfect candidates for his experiments in genetic engineering...A horrifying, fascinating story that is Ann Halam's most unusual and challenging novel so far.

A gripping, deeply moving adventure raises startling questions about what it means to be human. Taylor Walker seems like any ordinary 14-year-old. Ordinary—if you overlook the fact that she lives on the island of Borneo, on a primate reserve run by her parents, and knows how to survive in the jungle. Obviously, Tay isn’t just like everyone else. But she is like one other person. She’s exactly like one other person. Tay is a clone, one of only five in the world, and her clone mother is Pam Taylor, a brilliant scientist.When rebels attack the reserve, Tay escapes with her younger brother and Uncle, an exceptionally intelligent orangutan. As they flee through the jungle, Tay must look within to find her strength: Pam’s DNA, tempered by Taylor’s extraordinary life. And she looks to Uncle for guidance—for Tay knows that the uncanny bond between Uncle and herself is the key to their survival.

When Sloe was tiny, her Papa disappeared and she and her mama went to live in a prison camp in the snowy north, in a time and place when there are no more wild animals. Mama’s crime: teaching science, and her dedication to the hope that the lost animal species can be reborn. To Sloe, Mama’s secret work is magic, as enchanting as Mama’s tales of a bright city across the ice where they will be free. Years later, Sloe is sent to a prison school, and Mama disappears. At 13, Sloe escapes, pursued by a mysterious man. With only hope to keep her going, Sloe sets out on a solitary 1000-mile journey. But she is not truly alone for Mama left Sloe a gift: the seeds of five missing species and the knowledge to bring them to life.

Moving into a proper house with a garden was a dream come true for Diesel and her mum and dad. The dream quickly turned sour when they found out they were living next door to the notorious Knight brothers (a crime wave all by themselves). Every night, all night it was noise and loud music. When the boys' mother was at home for a change it was even worse, the screaming and drunken abuse never stopped. But Martin Knight smiled at Diesel as she walked by. Diesel smiled back, and with just that one smile they'd started something doomed that couldn't be stopped. "You're a go to church on Sunday, knives and forks on the tablecloth sort of girl," said Martin. "I'm a pizza-from-the-box sitting on the scummy dirty carpet sort of boy." It was never going to work. Diesel wasn't prejudiced but something deep inside told her this was going nowhere: Martin was too far gone: too deep-down broken to be mended. It broke her heart, but that was only the beginning. It was afterwards, when she thought she and Martin were parted forever, that things got really bad. More horrible, more terrible than she could have believed possible. And yet she still loved him, and he loved her; and came to her for comfort. Maybe that was the worst, most foul and terrible part of all.

Jessica Raven dreams of finding a cure for her brother's fatal illness, but she knows it isn't going to happen. Then on holiday in France she meets a strange ragged band of children. Who are they? What do they want from her so urgently? And who is Jean-Luc, the attractive but mysterious young man who seems to be in charge? Jess is caught up in a game that's more than a game. How can she free |Jean-Luc from the terrifying children, undead guardians of a priceless treasure? Maybe only Adam could help her. But Adam is dying, and the only man who could save him is lost . . . lost in a nightmare of the Nazi occupation."A novel of singular completeness and perfection . . . "Junior Bookshelf

A dreadful secret hangs over the deserted house on Roman Road. What is it that keeps drawing Andrei to it? Why is his mother so afraid of the place? And what is the unknown presence, not human, not a ghost that seems to be stalking the family: Andrei and his mother, his little sister (who believes she can do magic) and their baby brother? Andrei's mother has been constantly on the run from the father he's never met, for as long as he can remember: but now the nightmare is closing in, and it's time to turn and face the monster. Whatever that may cost. "A horror story which succeeds in making the fantastic nastily plausible and tactile . . This is a genuinely spooky story where skilful writing conjures spectres out of shadows and rags, and really worries at the edge of the normal." Books for KeepsWinner of the Children of the Night award.

Stacey vanished three years ago. Alan knows she's dead: he knows what happened because it was all his fault. But his mother refuses to believe it. Mum's endless, hopeless search for her baby, her lost little daughter, is the worst misery of Alan's life-after-Stacey. Going nowhere, filling shelves; seeing his dead little sister' ghost. Then Mum discovers NIMROD, the psychic missing persons agency. These people claim they can pluck messages from lost souls (living or dead) from the aether, and convert them into text on a computer screen. They're just another bunch of callous chancers, as far as Alan's concerned. But Mum's convinced, so Alan gets drawn in. The search for Stacy becomes Alan's search for the truth about NIMROD, and leads him into a bewildering underworld of James Bond gadgets, luxury yachts, conspiracy, blackmail; secret safe houses in the backstreets of his seaside town; and even aliens from outer space. Who are these people? They've got to be faking their "Stacey" messages, but how can they know what they know? And if they're crooks, why don't they go after someone with money? What can they have to gain from targetting Alan and his Mum?

Robs Hayward, a talented young pianist, is thrilled when she's recruited by Maddy Turner and Darryl (Jef) Jeffries, to join an experimental techno band. She's fourteen and a shy loner, Maddy and Jef are sixteen and super-cool. When their rehearsal space at school becomes a new car park, it's Robs who suggests they could use a mysterious, derelict old industrial building in the Wild Park. She doesn't tell them, she'd feel so stupid, that she's afraid it might be haunted. Everything works out okay, though The Powerhouse is being repurposed by the town Council, and they have to share it with a rather eccentric Artist in Residence . . . Until Maddy, the bright flame, gets obsessed with an ancient murder mystery. Robs is certain that a seance would be a really, really bad idea. She doesn't think the thing she keeps seeing, out of the corner of her eye, is the sad ghost of a sweet hippie wild child. Maddy is determined to clear the name of an innocent man, but Robs has a horrible feeling there'll be hell to pay . . .