Fourteen-year-old Ed Clayton is a liar. It started when his dad went to prison and now he can’t seem to stop. When Ed’s younger brother, Sam, goes missing one day under his supervision, nobody believes him when he says he can’t remember what happened.

Things begin to go very wrong for Ed’s family when his mum loses her job and they have to start using a food bank. Ditched even by his best friend, Ed is on his own trying find out what’s happened to Sam, until he meets Fallon, a new neighbour who’s willing to help him unravel the mystery. The two stumble on a secret even Ed could never have imagined. But nobody will ever believe a liar . . .

Fourteen-year-old Calum Brooks has big dreams. One day he’ll escape this boring life and write movies -proper ones, with massive budgets and A-list stars. For now, though, he’s stuck coping alone while his dad works away, writing scripts in his head and trying to stay ‘in’ with his gang of mates at school, who don’t like new kids, especially foreign ones.

But when his father invites his new Polish girlfriend and her son, Sergei, to move in, Calum’s life is turned upside down. He’s actually sharing a room with ‘the enemy’! How’s he going to explain that to his mates? Yet when Calum is knocked down in a hit-and-run and breaks both legs, everything changes.

Trapped at home, Calum and Sergei slowly start to understand each other, and even work together to investigate a series of break-ins at the local community centre. But Calum can’t help feeling that Sergei’s hiding something. Is he really trying to help, or to cover up his own involvement in the crime?

928 Miles from Home is a powerful new story from the multi-award-winning author of Smart and A Seven-Letter Word, Kim Slater.

‘My name is Finlay McIntosh. I can see OK, can hear perfectly fine and I can write really, really well. But the thing is, I can’t speak. I’m a st-st-st-stutterer. Hilarious, isn’t it? It’s like the word is there in my mouth, fully formed and then, just as it’s ready to leave my lips . . . POP! It jumps and ricochets and bounces around my gob. Except it isn’t funny at all, because there’s not a thing I can do about it.’

Finlay’s mother vanished two years ago. And ever since then his stutter has become almost unbearable. Bullied at school and ignored by his father, the only way to get out the words which are bouncing around in his head is by writing long letters to his ma which he knows she will never read, and by playing Scrabble online.

But when Finlay is befriended by an online Scrabble player called Alex, everything changes. Could it be his mother secretly trying to contact him? Or is there something more sinister going on?

An evocative and compelling debut for fans of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2015, longlisted for the 2015 Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Federation of Children’s Book Groups 2016, Kim Slater’s outstanding debut, Smart, is moving and compelling novel with a loveable character at its heart.

‘I found Jean’s friend dead in the river. His name was Colin Kirk. He was a homeless man, but he still wanted to live.’

There’s been a murder, but the police don’t care. It was only a homeless old man after all.

Kieran cares. He’s made a promise, and when you say something out loud, that means you’re going to do it, for real. He’s going to find out what really happened. To Colin. And to his grandma, who just stopped coming round one day. It’s a good job Kieran’s a master of observation, and knows all the detective tricks of the trade.

But being a detective is difficult when you’re Kieran Woods. When you’re amazing at drawing but terrible at fitting in. And when there are dangerous secrets everywhere, not just outside, but under your own roof.

‘Smart’ is WINNER of:

Leeds Book Award 2015, St Helen’s Book Award (BASH) 2015, East Midlands Book Award (Geoffrey Trease Prize) 2015, Tower Hamlets Book Award 2015

Brilliant Book Award 2016, 1066 Schools Book Award 2016

‘Smart’ has been nominated for twenty-two UK book awards plus the prestigious Orbil Prize 2016 in Italy:

2016

The FCBG’s Children’s Book Award, Girls’ Day School Book of the Year, The Orbil Prize (Italy), The Grampian Book Award, The Weald Book Award, Brilliant Book Award, Bolton Book Award, Portsmouth Book Award, Warwickshire Secondary Book Award, Hounslow Teen Read, ‘Spellbinding’ Cumbrian Schools’ Book Award, New Horizons Dorset Book Award, 1066 Schools Book Award

2015

Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, Carnegie Medal, East Midlands Book Award, St Helen’s Book Award (BASH), Leeds Book Award, Shropshire Teen Book Award, Worcestershire Teen Book Award, Stockport Book Award, Tower Hamlets Book Award