Books in Playaway Young Adult series

When D Foster walks into Neeka and her best friend's lives, their world opens up. D doesn't have a "real" mom constantly telling her what to do, and the girls envy her independence. But D wants nothing more than to feel connected, and the three girls form a tight bond – and a passion for the music of Tupac Shakur. D's the one who understands Tupac's songs best, and through her, his lyrics become more personal for all of them.

Narrated in the first person, Great Expectations tells the story of Philip Pirrip (known as Pip) from his disadvantaged start as an orphan in the Kent marshes to the improvement in his position following an anonymous allowance. Pip moves to London where, only after many trials, does he learn humility and the value of loyalty. Key Dickens characters abound – the convict Magwitch, the eccentric Miss Havisham and the pompous Pumblechook. Anton Lesser's abridged recording of this text won awards, and his new unabridged recording also deserves similar praise for its remarkably vivid characterisations.

A chilling collection of ghost stories containing Rats by M.R. James, The Raven and Berenice by Edgar Allan Poe, The Birthday of the Infanta by Oscar Wilde, A Tough Tussle by Ambrose Bierce, and The Signalman by Charles Dickens. In Rats, Mr. Thompson comes to regret his decision to investigate a locked room in a country inn, and in The Signalman, the subject of the story is haunted by ghostly appearances that always precede tragic events.

In this riveting crime novel, fourteen-year-old Steven a oeSteela Trapp sets off with his mom and their dog, Cairo, on a two-day Amtrak journey to compete in the National Science Challenge in Washington, D.C. Steel is both blessed and cursed with a remarkable photographic memory - just one look, and whatever he sees is imprinted for keeps. Trying to be a Good Samaritan on the train, he unwittingly becomes embroiled in an ingenious plot that may have links to terrorists. Federal agents (first seen in Pearsona (TM)s adult thriller Cut and Run) track Steel and his newfound science geek accomplice, Kaileigh Augustine, as they attempt to put together the pieces of a complex puzzle. Using Steela (TM)s science contest invention - and with the help of Cairo - Steel and Kaileigh lead listeners on an action-packed adventure as they attempt to prevent the unimaginable, before ita (TM)s too late.

In his elegant translation from the original Yiddish, Jeffrey Shandler brings us this literary gem in English for the first time. Vienna, 1938. Two boys, one Jewish, one not, fend for themselves after their parents are taken away by the Nazis. Emil and Karl, best friends, are brave and loyal in a world of persecution and cruelty. The Holocaust has recently been rediscovered by children's authors as a new generation of young people, growing up at an ever greater distance from the reality, risks losing a sense of its horror. But Yankev Glatshteyn's Emil and Karl is an exceptional novel, not just for its raw and compassionate portrayal of what was suffered by the Jews in Austria, but for its historical accuracy. Written in 1940 in Yiddish, this heart-wrenching story of two nine-year-old friends caught up in the earliest tremors of anti-Semitic hatred in Vienna is all the more shocking because its author had no idea of what was still to come. Despite the casual violence done to their families - Karl's parents were socialists and Emil is Jewish - the boys find moments of kindness, courage and hope along their painful journey. Emil & Karl is a moving story of friendship and survival in a time of hate. It will resonate with readers of all ages.

Nesta's life is thrown into upheaval when she gets involved in charity work thinking that it might be a cool way to meet people (mainly boys. ) But as her eyes are opened to the plight of the world, she begins to genuinely want to get involved and help others. On top of this, Nesta meets William, a boy who questions her motives. At times, she's convinced he hates her and the feeling is mutual. But Izzie, Lucy and TJ think it is something more like love.

Book 2 in the Tomorrow, When the War Began series. “There was a crashing sound from the bushes. I spun round, wondering if this was my death, the last movement I would even make, the last sight I would see ...” It's tough surviving in Hell. But sometimes Hell can be a haven. Their country has been invaded. Their homes have been occupied by strangers - or destroyed. Their families are facing death at the hands of a merciless enemy. But one group of teenagers - fugitives in a remote valley - will never give in. Not without a fight. But sometimes courage demands too high a price...