Books with author Mary Hoffman

You're brain is absolutely amazing! They are responsible for absolutely every single thing we do. Every time we breath, or walk or talk or eat, it’s all because of our brilliant brains! When we feel happy or sad, when we drop something, when we run or draw - none of this would be possible without our fantastic brains.Find out how our brains work, how they control the rest of the body and how they change over time. From how they create our memories, to how they help us learn new things and what happens to them when we are asleep, great ready to uncover lots of fascinating facts about the brain. And don’t forget to look out for the friendly cat on every page, helping us learn all about our wonderful brains!

Lucien is in bed seriously ill with cancer. So how can he simultaneously exist in full health in a strange city that looks oddly like Venice - and yet couldn't be more different? Lucien has arrived in Bellezza, ruled by the powerful Duchessa, but it is his method of travel that marks Lucien out. Through an innocent gift of a Venetian notebook, Lucien has become a member of the Stravaganti, travellers in time and place. He has entered a world thick with drama, colour, intrigue and danger for which he is ill-prepared.

This is a story of persecution and poetry, love and war set in thirteenth century southern France. A troubadour, Bertran, witnesses the brutal murder of the Pope's legate, and risks his life to warn others of the war that he knows is certain to follow this act. The lands of the peaceable Cathars - deemed heretics - are now forfeit and under threat from crusaders who have been given authority by the Pope to take the Cathar domains by force. But the Pope is trying to track Bertran down and so is somebody else: Elinor, a young noblewoman, in love with Bertran but facing a loveless arranged marriage, flees her family and becomes a minstrel herself. Soon both Bertran and Elinor find themselves enveloped in a rising tide of bloodshed that threatens the very fabric of their society.