Books by Joan Aiken

An ingenious continuation of one of Jane Austen's intriguing unfinished novels, The Watsons.

A child in danger, an isolated house - and a killer on the loose... 'Don't miss ... guaranteed unputdownable' Observer

Book Band: Dark Blue - Ideal for ages 9+A brilliant collection of spine-chilling tales by Joan Aiken, author of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. From a mysterious traveller who leaves an injured horse with a stranger, to a garden plant that slowly creeps into a house during a thunderstorm and a man who comes across two angry forces in the middle of a forest, this chilling collection of stories will have readers jumping at bumps in the night.Much-loved author Joan Aiken is best known for The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and the Arabel and Mortimer books. This brilliant collection has spooky black-and-white illustrations by Masha Ukhova and is perfect for children who are developing as readers. The Bloomsbury Readers series is packed with book-banded stories to get children reading independently in Key Stage 2 by award-winning authors like double Carnegie Medal winner Geraldine McCaughrean and Waterstones Prize winner Patrice Lawrence. With engaging illustrations and online guided reading notes written by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), this series is ideal for home and school. For more information visit www.bloomsburyreaders.com.'Any list that brings together such a quality line up of authors is going to be welcomed . Bloomsbury Readers are aimed squarely at children in Key Stage 2 and designed to support them as they start reading independently and while they continue to gain confidence and understanding.' Books for Keeps

'The Under People. They live in a huge Cave. They are thought to be boring upwards. Giant worms and flying ants. Underground magic.'Mickle, the palace cat, knows the kingdom is in danger. He can feel it in his whiskers and he has found a mysterious note in the royal library... (Yes, of course he can read, and speak - if he chooses to!) Mickle can't trust the King and Queen with his mission, so he and Prince Michael, with the help of their animal friends (and quite a bit of magic!), set out on a perilous quest to find the sinister Under People, discover their secret power and save the Kingdom of Astalon.In her first novel, written when she was only a teenager, Joan Aiken showcases the imagination, wit and storytelling zest that would lead to classics like Arabel's Raven and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

Prize winning WOLVES CHRONICLES PREQUEL reissued in A Puffin Book - All 12 Wolves books now in print for the first time ever.In THE WHISPERING MOUNTAIN by Joan Aiken, the small town of Pennygaff, the legendary Harp of Teirtu is found - and lost again. For young Owen Hughes and his friend Arabis, it is the start of a hair-raising race to save the harp from sinister Lord Malyn. As they struggle to keep it out of his hands, they are plunged into a wild adventure involving murder, kidnapping, underground worlds, savage beasts, floods, avalanche, the mysterious children of the Pit - and above all, a man who will stop at nothing to get the harp back again.Winner of the 1969 Guardian Fiction Award.

A volume of Joan Aiken's own favourite stories, collected here for the first time.

Arun returns to his mother's house on Cold Shoulder Road, only to find it deserted and flood-ravaged. Some say she's run off with a Silent Sect, other whisper that she's a witch, and Mrs Boles mutters fearfully about the Emjee and the Handsel child, but dares say no more. With the help of his indomitable cousin, Is Twite, Arun sets off in search of Admiral Fishkin - their only key to discovering the real truth, whatever it may be...

Dido's sister, Is, travels north to try and find her lost cousin. But instead of the promised Playland, she discovers an underground kingdom where children work as slaves in the worst conditions imaginable - under the rule of the sinister Gold Kingy. . .

'It's a rotten old job being King!' says Dido Twite. Her friend King Simon agrees - his scheming courtiers want to marry him off to a pushy princess, and he has to lead his army against a tribe of invading Wends.

Joan Aiken, classic author of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, wrote the Armitage family stories all throughout her life - from when she was a teenager onwards. This is the first time the stories have been collected together in our market.

There is eerie trouble once again in the Cornish village of St Boan, often known as Thunder's Pocket. Some hundred-year-old water pipes are being replaced and the digging has disturbed the ghosts of the past, namely the twins Matthew and Ben Pernel who were killed in mysterious circumstances and their musician father blamed. The three are now trying to be reunited but less innocent forces are also at work and the present townspeople are involved as the unhappy incidents of a hundred years ago are relived. Aunt Lal calls on her nephew Ned to help. She believes only he can bring the Pernels together again and thus truly bury the past. But even Ned is not immune to the horrors of the disturbed spirits. A thrilling sequel to In Thunder's Pocket by this prestigious author.

"e;Don Francisco wants you home, and in double-quick time, too. We must leave tomorrow at dawn . . ."e;Felix's heart sinks at Pedro's words. What can be wrong? Is his beloved grandfather ill? Dashing and loyal, he speeds towards Villaverde - and a rescue mission.Donna Conchita's children are kidnapped and Felix may be reunited with the feisty Juana, if he agrees to help. Despite warnings of a conspiracy and his own suspicions of a trap, Felix fearlessly plunges into a plot thick with intrigue and danger. His grandfather said it was a matter of life and death - but whose?

Packed-off to boarding school and bullied by his peers, Felix feels sad and trapped. Although he has a home in England, his heart lies in Spain - so he runs away. But Felix's journey is cut short when his ship is caught in a storm off the French coast. Despite being shipwrecked and then held prisoner in a remote monastery, Felix's spirit is far from broken - and he needs all the strength he can muster to battle against the demonic Abbot Vespasian and his evil powers . . .

Despised by his Spanish relatives and ignored by his distant grandfather, twelve-year-old orphan Felix Brooke is lonely and unhappy. So when he's given a parcel with a blood-stained letter from his dead father, it inspires him to track down his long-lost English family. Felix packs his bag, jumps on his trusty mule and heads for the coast and a new life. But his journey across the mountains and over the sea does not prove to be plain sailing - as Felix soon discovers . . .

Can Bonnie and Sylvia outwit the wicked Miss Slighcarp and her network of criminals, forgers and snitches?BACKSTORY: Find out a few things you didn't know about wolves and learn all about the wonderful world of the author.

The Twite household, where Simon is lodging, seems particularly shifty. Before he even gets a chance to open his glistening new paints Simon stumbles right into the centre of a plot to kill the King. Will they save the king in time?BACKSTORY: Test your knowledge of Black Hearts in Battersea and play the name game.

Dark family secrets can be murder . . . 'Joan Aiken's triumph with this genre is that she does it so much better than others' New York Times Book Review

A sentence of death...and a journey into the unknown'Joan Aiken's triumph with this genre is that she does it so much better than others' New York Times Book Review

Trapped with family can be murder . . . 'Joan Aiken's triumph with this genre is that she does it so much better than others' New York Times Book Review

An inheritance comes with its own sinister dangers... 'Joan Aiken's triumph with this genre is that she does it so much better than others' New York Times Book Review

Clytie Churchill's life has been guided by love and death, but there's a mystery from her past that she is forced to revisit before she can move on in this satisfying romantic suspense novel from award winning author Joan Aiken.

A thrilling, funny and spectacular adaptation of Joan Aitken's classic novel.

From 'A Necklace of Raindrops' to 'The Patchwork Quilt', here are eight classic stories to treasure and enjoy. a house that stands on one leg - these are just some of the objects and characters that figure in these delightful stories.

Dido Twite is waylaid by her father, the shady Abednego Twite, acting on instructions from his evil patron. How does hard-drinking Mrs Lily Bloodvessel figure in this intricate plot, with her cellar full of sleeping guttersnipes? Another rollercoasting story by Joan Aiken, in which Dido's scheming Pa finally receives his comeuppance.

While her friend Capt Hughes recovers from a carriage accident, Dido is marooned with the odd inhabitants of the Tegleaze estate. Soon suspicious things happen; a priceless possession is stolen, a boy kidnapped, a twin sister found and when Dido catches a glimpse of her rascally father in Petworth, she is sure she is in the midst of another wicked Hanoverian plot. Can she combat mass hypnotism, smugglers, and a gang of murderers to prevent the plot to put St Paul`s Cathedral in the River Thames?

When orphans Bonnie and Sylvia fall into the hands of evil Miss Slighcarp, they need all their wits - and the help of Simon the goose-boy - to escape unscathed, for the governess is more cruel and merciless than the wolves that surround the great house of Willoughby Chase.