Books with author S M Stuart

What’s the response when diplomacy fails? How will it affect our future? Do we really want to know?24th July 2110: When the midnight chimes end at Dez’s 16th-Eve Party she realises she’s destined to be an 'Empty'. Her subsequent attempts to connect with her Psyche-Twin have startling consequences and she soon finds herself facing the worst of nightmares. Seth has his own demons. He needs to unearth the truth about his mother’s death and enlists Dez to help in deciphering the clues hidden in her diary. Little do they realise that they will soon be searching for a merciless killer - one who is connected to them by a cruel twist of fate. Unwittingly their enquiries bring them to his attention.

What's the response when diplomacy fails? How will it affect our future? Do we really want to know? 24th July 2110: When the midnight chimes end at Dez's 16th-Eve Party she realises she's destined to be an 'Empty'. Her subsequent attempts to connect with her Psyche-Twin have startling consequences and she soon finds herself facing the worst of nightmares. Seth has his own demons. He needs to unearth the truth about his mother's death and enlists Dez to help in deciphering the clues hidden in her diary. Little do they realise that they will soon be searching for a merciless killer - one who is connected to them by a cruel twist of fate. Unwittingly their enquiries bring them to his attention.

Henry discovers a horse with a scar on his forehead in his front yard. He will discover later this is a hornless unicorn, the victim of a brutal attack that happened over a hundred years ago in a land called Altara. The horse carries him to Altara where the first person he meets is an old man called Papo. After traveling for two days with Papo his suspicions are confirmed, Papo is plotting to use Henry for his own purposes and then to “be rid of him and the other boy.” Henry sets off alone, struggling with whether or not he can be hurt or even killed in this alternate world. At the end of each day in Altara Henry falls asleep only to wake up in his own bed in his own suburban life. At home he has two friends, Jamal and Fred and a little brother named Larry. While Henry is struggling to understand his alternate world he is also struggling with the challenges of his middle school life. A great deal hangs on a chess match against the coach. Also, Jamal falls in love but needs Henry and Fred to go to the dance with his girlfriend’s best friends. This is Henry’s first middle school relationship and his stomach is tied in knots. He also must face his anger issues and his fear that dweebdom is an inescapable black hole. Back in Altara Henry meets Anree who in a few days will be raised up as the Tara, the leader of the land of Altara. They are identical, this was the fact Papo and his friends planned to use to unseat the new Tara.Henry and Anree decide they must find the lost key to the Gates of Altara and heal the ancient wrong done to the unicorn in order to fully establish the true Tara. The horn that was brutally taken from the unicorn a hundred years ago has been hidden in plain sight in the apartment of one of Papo’s co-conspirators, and amazingly Henry’s grandfather has the key to the Gates. Henry not Anree, is the true heir to the role of the Tara. Through all this Henry discovers he can accept his assigned place in school as a dweeb with a chessboard or decide he will be something more. He realizes the reason he doesn’t have many friends is he is a lousy friend. He learns he must take responsibility for Henry. In the final pages Henry wakes up in his bed at home to find his mother reading his journal. She wants to know if this is fact or fiction and whether Henry or Anree has come home to her.

High graphical childrens story about Custard the dragon and his VERY unusual birthday party.Custard (and Blink the parrot) is joined by his cousin Custard, and tempted by cheese and cucumber sandwiches there appears Willow the witch and Camelot the wizard. And then Gobble the goblin with his lucky stone, who gatecrashed the party and there is a recipe for ... well ... disaster, fun and new found friendship.

Henry thinks he is the King of Dweebs. He wants to escape. He wants to be?Well maybe that's the problem he doesn't know what else to be or how to get there. A hornless unicorn takes him to a land called Altara. In Altara, Henry will meet his identical other, discover he is the real heir to rule Altara and try not to get killed. He also finds a fire in his gut. He finds out what it is to be alive. His greatest challenge is to sustain that fire in middle school where he feels he is suffocating. Where he will play coach in two chess matches, go to his first dance, have his first middle school romance (and break up) and face the impossible challenge of climbing the rope hanging from the gym ceiling. Stuart weaves together the two worlds and the life of Henry and his identical other into 12 days of very realistic living. By the end Henry knows who he is. He knows what it means to be Henry on Fire living in suburbia.

Henry thinks he is the King of Dweebs. He wants to escape. He wants to be?Well maybe that's the problem he doesn't know what else to be or how to get there. A hornless unicorn takes him to a land called Altara. In Altara, Henry will meet his identical other, discover he is the real heir to rule Altara and try not to get killed. He also finds a fire in his gut. He finds out what it is to be alive. His greatest challenge is to sustain that fire in middle school where he feels he is suffocating. Where he will play coach in two chess matches, go to his first dance, have his first middle school romance (and break up) and face the impossible challenge of climbing the rope hanging from the gym ceiling. Stuart weaves together the two worlds and the life of Henry and his identical other into 12 days of very realistic living. By the end Henry knows who he is. He knows what it means to be Henry on Fire living in suburbia.

A delightful illustrated childrens short story about a big bad wolf on the prowl at Hallowe'en. He chases away a witch and finds one house where a little girl lives. The wolf taps on the window and begs to come in. The little girl takes pity on the cold wolf and opens her bedroom window to let him in. But ... as soon as the wolf is in her room, he lunges forward to eat her ... only to be saved by the three toy dinosaurs.

A wonderfully funny adventure and educational story for children.Layla Skye is a ten year old girl with a talent. Through her books and her online research she discovers things. And she has discovered the secret where abouts of the mythical "last treasure of the Hyksos" - and it is Crete. She persuades her mother and family to go to Crete on holiday.She is excited - but less so when she meets with Professor Zoakos who has been searching for the treasure for years within the ancient ruins of Knossos. Zoakos is keen to find out what Layla Skye knows and is not about to let his arrest record and ban from Knossos stop him.He tries every trick he can think of to get Layla Skye to part with her knowledge and reach the treasure before her. Yet he can trick everyone else ... apart from Layla Skye. She manages to evade his every attempt while getting closer to the clues within the ruins of KnossosOn the verge of a great archaeological find, and stealing the treasure, the Professor is unmasked and led away under arrest just as Layla Skye and her father discover the hidden passage to the secret treasure vault - and the most incredible treasure of the ancient world. And yet ... treasure comes in many forms.