Karen McCombie

Like most children Ally loves Christmas. Unfortunately her family do not have the money to celebrate it properly. In the last week of school there is to be a fashion show and Ally is determined that Alfie will fall in love with her.

When sixteen-year-old Dolly Shepherd is offered the chance to take to the sky in a hot-air balloon, there's no way she's going to turn it down. Even though the pilot actually plans for her to jump out of the balloon and plummet back to earth using just a flimsy parachute. For Dolly, it's the start of a sensational career. But the life of an aeronaut is as dangerous as it is daring, and there will be many narrow escapes along the way...

Pioneering aviatrix Dolly Shepherd comes alive in this thrilling reimagining of her death-defying exploits from bestselling author Karen McCombie.

When Dani’s mum gets the chance to study penguins in the Antarctic, she decides the best place for eleven-year-old Dani is a strict girls’ boarding school where – uh-oh! – students wear SKIRTS! But when they arrive at St Grizelda’s it seems that there’s been some drastic changes; gone are the uniforms and the rules, and in are chaos, anarchy and, er, goats.

Surely Mum’s not going to leave her at the mercy of a crazy head-butting goat, a bunch of eight-year-olds masquerading as mutant goblins and a head teacher wearing a crown of picnic cutlery? But as a homesick Dani waits for Mum to make alternative arrangements, the madness of St Grizzle’s begins to warm Dani’s heart.