Books in Essential Modern Classics series

Robert is a boy who can do anything - or so old Edith Sorrel at the nursing home tells him. Robert doesn't think so, knowing as he does that he is the school geek.But something compels him to do what Edith asks - to visit old Chance House, where a boy once fell to his death from the top floor flat, to confront his fears and find some answers.Niker the bully thinks this is a great laugh. He challenges Robert to spend the night at Chance House with him - but there the balance of power changes, and it is Robert who proves to be the stronger.Niker feels threatened by the change - and when he finds out Robert's secret obsession, to make the dying Edith Sorrel a coat of feathers like in the old legend of the Firebird, he knows just how to wrest his old power back. But just how important is the coat of feathers? Could it really save Edith's life?Age 9+

Read the story behind the beloved film – now available in Essential Modern Classics.In Prohibition-era New York City, Fat Sam runs one of the most popular speakeasies in town – but his rival Dandy Dan is trying to shut him down. It’s up to the baby-faced Bugsy Malone to save the day…Packed with thrills and spills (and more than a few custard pies and splurge), this is a mobster story with a twist – the stars are kids!

When sea-dog Billy Bones dies mysteriously while lodging at the inn owned by Jim Hawkins' parents, the young boy's life is changed forever. Finding a treasure map in the old pirate's possessions, Jim sets sail on the Hispaniola and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure in search of the lost booty. With its unforgettable characters - Benn Gunn, Blind Pew and Long John Silver - this is one of the worlds greatest adventure stories. Age 8+ Complete and unabridged.

The Indian in the Cupboard is the first of five gripping books about Omri and his plastic North American Indian - Little Bull - who comes alive when Omri puts him in a cupboardFor Omri, it is a dream come true when the plastic American Indian he locks into the old cupboard comes to life. Little Bull is everything an Indian brave should be - proud, fearless and defiant.But being in charge of a real, live, human being is a heavy responsibility, as Omri soon discovers. And when his best friend, Patrick, is let in on the secret, he soon realises that life-changing decisions lie ahead.

Harriet must choose between her friend Lalla and her new-found love of ice-skating! "If you pass your inter-silver, I'll tell Aunt Claudia that I don't want to work with you any more." Harriet is told that she must take up ice-skating in order to improve her health. She isn't much good at it, until she meets Lalla Moore, a young skating star. Now Harriet is getting better and better on the ice, and Lalla doesn't like it. Does Harriet want to save their friendship more than she wants to skate?

Arguably the greatest horror novel ever written by the greatest horror novelist, this is a true Modern Classic that was first published in 1978, and then re-published in 1990, complete and unabridged, with 150,000 words cut from the first edition restored, and now accompanied by unusual and imaginative line art. The total copies for both editions, in hardcover and paperback, exceeds 4 million worldwide.The Stand is a truly terrifying reading experience, and became a four-part mini-series that memorably brought to life the cast of characters and layers of story from the novel. It is an apocalyptic vision of the world, when a deadly virus runs amok around the globe. But that lethal virus is almost benign compared to the satanic force gathering minions from those still alive to destroy humanity and create a world populated by evil.Stephen King is a brilliant storyteller who has the uncanny gift of putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, giving readers an experience that chills and thrills on every page.