John Hicks is an English trained vet who has spent much of his working life in rural New Zealand. On one level A Wander in Vetland is an insider's look at his changing profession. Hicks's entertaining anecdotes mark a fond farewell to "Herriotism": the dated public image of life as a rural vet, so lovingly depicted in the novels of James Herriot.But this memoir has a far broader scope. In a lively, literary style John Hicks links his tales with some of the more curious aspects of history - particularly veterinary and medical history. Hemlock poisoning leads to a discourse on Socrates' death; brain surgery on a ram poses the question of how Neolithic man performed similar operations. There are insights into the nature of bladder stones in animals and how these relate to the suffering of Samuel Pepys in the seventeenth century; and if you ever wondered how Italian women seduced their lovers or about the use of goose quills by eunuchs in Eastern seraglios, the answers are...

A re-discovered masterpiece of reporting by a literary icon and a celebrated photographer In 1941, James Agee and Walker Evans published Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, a 400-page prose symphony about three tenant farming families in Hale County, Alabama, at the height of the Great Depression. The book shattered journalistic and literary conventions. Critic Lionel Trilling called it the “most realistic and most important moral effort of our American generation.”  The origins of Agee and Evans’s famous collaboration date back to an assignment for Fortune magazine, which sent them to Alabama in the summer of 1936 to report a story that was never published. Some have assumed that Fortune’s editors shelved the story because of the unconventional style that marked Famous Men, and for years the original report was presumed lost. But fifty years after Agee’s death, a trove of his manuscripts turned out to include a typescript labeled “Cotton Tenants.” Once examined, the pages made it clear that Agee had in fact written a masterly, 30,000-word report for Fortune. Published here for the first time, and accompanied by thirty of Walker Evans’s historic photos, Cotton Tenants is an eloquent report of three families struggling through desperate times. Indeed, Agee’s dispatch remains relevant as one of the most honest explorations of poverty in America ever attempted and as a foundational document of long-form reporting. As the novelist Adam Haslett writes in an introduction, it is “a poet’s brief for the prosecution of economic and social injustice.”

The sense of adventure and urgency are compelling (School Library Journal) in this sequel to the New York Times bestselling Elixir by Hilary Duff . Clea Raymond believes her soulmate, Sage, is lost forever, and it rips her apart. She is haunted by memories of him being taken away by his enemies. Then strange signs and dreams point to a way she can possibly win him back. To succeed, shell have to put her faith in her former best friend Bendespite the devastating reason hes lost her trust. As Clea and Ben follow a dangerous and mysterious trail across the globe to reach Sage, all their loyalties will be tested. And Clea will face a terrible choiceshe can save Sage, but only by betraying the people closest to her. With Sages immortal soul in the balance, whatever Clea decides will change her life forever.

Things start to happen when Lucas arrives on the island. Who is he? Where does he come from? What does he want? And why do other people hate him so much? Caitlin's life changes from the moment she sees him walking across the causeway one hot summer's day. Lucas is the strangest, most beautiful, most unforgettable boy she has ever seen - and when she meets him, her world comes alive. But to others, he quickly becomes an object of jealousy, prejudice and hatred. Caitlin tries to make sense of the injustice that lurks at every unexpected twist and turn, until she realises that she must do what she knows in her heart is right. A haunting and gripping story of love and hate, about a girl afraid to let go of her innocence, and an extraordinary boy called Lucas.

 The Bunker Diary is award-winning, young adult writer Kevin Brooks's pulse-pounding exploration of what happens when your worst nightmare comes true - and how will you survive?I can't believe I fell for it. It was still dark when I woke up this morning. As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was. A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete.There are six little rooms along the main corridor.There are no windows. No doors. The lift is the only way in or out.What's he going to do to me?What am I going to do? If I'm right, the lift will come down in five minutes. It did. Only this time it wasn't empty . . .

Pizzles in Paradise is well-known Southland vet John Hicks's collection of anecdotes from more than 30 years of tending to bird, beast and pet-owner. It ranges from the wilds of New Zealand to the Yorkshire Dales, from the Scottish Highlands to the fjords of Norway. Whether abseilling off a cliff to perform a post-mortem on a horse or contending with hysterical owners of pets in a city surgery, John's stories are lively and good-humoured, occasionally poignant and often hilarious. He also tells stories of childhood pranks, the trials of adolescence and courtship, the pains and rewards of emigration and the sobering experience of dealing with cancer.

Sixteen-year-old Robert lies anaesthetized. A routine operation has just gone wrong.'What the hell is that?''That, Mr Ryan, is the inside of this boy.''Christ . . . It looks like some kind of plastic.'As Robert slowly wakes, he can hear, he can feel, but he can't scream. The operation isn't over. But life, as Robert knows it, is.Robert goes on the run, terrified and desperate for answers. But what if the answers are too terrifying to face?This is Kevin Brooks at his very best - powerful, intense, page-turning reading for teenage readers and beyond.