Books with author Melvin Burgess

A sexually active, rebellious teenager is transformed into a confused and frightened dog by a tramp with magical powers. Sandra has a lot of growing up to do quickly if she is to survive as a scrounging stray in a rough dogs' world. She experiences all the physical aspects of being a dog, including running with a pack and going on heat. She must decide whether she wants to recover her humanity, and if so how to do it - doubly difficult as her brain is reduced to the scattered consciousness of adog.

Melvin Burgess, author of the award-winning young adult novel Junk, explores breaches of trust and the fight for revenge in the sinister thriller Nicholas Dane. 'We take care of boys that no one else will . . .' When Nicholas's mum overdoses on heroin, the fourteen-year-old is suddenly lost, grieving and alone. Sent away to a boys' home, Nick finds order is kept by intimidation and violence. After countless fights and punishments, Nick thinks life can't get any worse. But the deputy head, Mr. Tony Creal, has other ideas. The shame Nick experiences at the hands of Mr. Creal can never quite be forgotten and, when Nick discovers he wasn't the only one to suffer, the old hatred later resurfaces. Can revenge lay Nick's ghosts to rest - or will he never be free of them? 'A fine novel' - Independent 'A brave exploration of how the brutalization of children reverberates long after it has passed' - Daily Mail Award-winning children's author Melvin Burgess is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary young adult fiction. His most well-known book Junk won the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Fiction prize and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year. Other titles by Melvin Burgess available from Penguin include: Sara's Face, Doing IT (winner of the LA Times Young People's Book of the Year) and Kill All Enemies. If you enjoyed Nicholas Dane and want to get inside more of your favourite books, then check out spinebreakers.co.uk for exclusive author interviews, competitions, and much more.

A gripping story based on the Siegfried and Brunnhilde tale from Nordic myth.Sigurd has a fabulous but frightening future predicted. To start with, he must leave everything he knows to go and fight a dragon and from there descend into the Underworld. Sounds bad enough, but when you know that the dragon lives on a futuristic, industrially-ruined moonscape that was once Hampstead Heath, the scene is set for a brutal fight on an epic scale. Unhappily for Sigurd, he meets the love of his life in the underworld, and his efforts to rescue his lover will cause heartache and grief for both of them, and anyone who ever meets them.