GCSE

Will is single and doesn't want children but when he meets Marcus, aged 12, they both discover they can benefit from their friendship. Strong language.

Prepare for a barnstorming performance in the exams - this CGP Text Guide explains everything you need to know about Animal Farm! It covers the characters, language, themes, historical background...the lot. 

Passion, politics, love and death combine in the story of the legendary love triangle between Mark Antony, Octavian, and Cleopatra the Queen of Egypt.

In the midst of Mao's cultural revolution, two boys are sent to 're-education' camps and have to rely on each other and the daughter of a local tailor to keep going. Their lives are changed when they find a suitcase packed with Western novels, and after listening to the stories of Balzac so is the little seamstress.

Barnaby Rudge, pathetic and half-witted son of a murderer, and his raven Grip play unwitting parts in the Gordon riots of 1780 and in the family feud of the Haredale and Chester families.

In The Canterbury Tales Chaucer created one of the great touchstones of English literature, a masterly collection of chivalric romances, moral allegories and low farce. A story-telling competition between a group of pilgrims from all walks of life is the occasion for a series of tales that range from the Knight's account of courtly love and the ebullient Wife of Bath's Arthurian legend, to the ribald anecdotes of the Miller and the Cook.

Through Coriolanus's searing scorn for the turbulent citizens of Rome, Shakespeare shows how the qualities that make a successful and heroic general in wartime fail to translate to a time of peace.

Like Dr Jekyll, we all have a dark side… but this Text Guide will help students make sure examiners see them at their best! It contains everything they need to write unbeatable essays about Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and it's suitable for all major GCSE English exam boards.

Inside, you'll find clear, thorough notes on the novel's context, plot, characters, themes and the writer's techniques - plus quick warm-up activities, in-depth exercises and realistic exam-style questions at the end of sections, alongside challenging questions for students aiming for Grades 8-9.

Whilst Uma, a plain spinster, lives in India smothered by her overbearing parents, her over-indulged younger brother Arun is studying in Massachusetts. He is bewildered by the freedom and culture he finds in the home of the Patton family.

Sunday Express Book of the Year. Whitbread Winner. Felicia's journey across the Irish Sea in search of a friend leads her into a dark and unforgiving landscape. Whitbread Book of the Year Winner.

This Complete Revision & Practice book is a brilliant guide to success in the Grade 9-1 GCSE Business course. It's suitable for the AQA, Edexcel and OCR exam boards.

Everything's explained in our clear, friendly style with case studies to make the theory easier to understand. The audiobook prepares students for the real exams with plenty of exam tips, worked example questions and exam-style questions (including answers).

Bolingbroke, the decisive usurper of Richard II, has been transformed into the careworn King Henry IV, thwarted in his desire to expiate his guilt by going on crusade due to the threat of civil war. His wayward son is won over by the decadent charms of Falstaff but wins a decisive battle.

Political unrest abounds in England after King Henry IV dies. His young son, Henry V, is left to take the throne and deal with suspected treason, the invasion of France, and a royal courtship. Two knaves and a braggart provide comic relief.

Four mothers who have moved from pre-revolutionary China to San Francisco meet and form the Joy Luck Club to eat dim sum and to share stories. Forty years on they and their daughters tell stories of hope, loss and their struggle to come to terms with their cultural identity.

Julius Caesar is the most successful general Rome has ever had, and now he wants to be king. Cassius, Brutus and other senators are determined not to see power fall into the hands of one man. And so they plot to kill him.

Richard emerges from the chaos which surrounds the reign of Henry VI determined to become king by removing his elder brother Edward IV, by convincing him that their brother Clarence is plotting against the crown. The series of murders and conspiracies that Richard masterminds confirms his claim that "I am determined to prove a villain".

For all of her 22 years, Amy Dorrit has lived in Marshalsea prison, trapped with her family because of her father's debts. Her only escape is to work as a seamstress for the kind Mrs Clennam. But when it is unexpectedly discovered that her father is heir to a fortune, some shocking truths emerge and Amy's life changes for ever.

Double, double, toil and trouble, make your grades incredible! This handsome Text Guide is a smashing GCSE-level companion to Macbeth - and it's perfect for all major GCSE English exam boards.

It contains succinct summaries of the key elements of the play, plus in-depth notes on the characters, themes, language, historical background and more, with photographs from film and stage productions to help set the scene.

To make sure everything has sunk in, we've thrown in a heap of quick warm-up activities, in-depth exercises and realistic exam-style questions at the end of sections, alongside challenging questions for students aiming for Grades 8-9.

Long convinced that his family are only after his money, Martin Chuzzlewit takes in an orphaned girl - Mary Graham - to be his nursemaid. But when Martin's grandson - young Martin - falls in love with Mary, he is disowned. Cast out, young Martin travels to the American West to build his fortune. However, his journey has unforeseen consequences.

A Venetian merchant, Antonio, borrows money from Shylock, a Jewish money-lender, to help his friend Bassanio, woo the beautiful Portia. Shylock stipulates that if Antonio defaults, he will claim a pound of Antonio's flesh. When Antonio's ships are lost at sea, Shylock calls in the debt and Portia disguises herself as a lawyer to defend him.

On a tropical island shattered by war, the eccentric Mr Watts is the only remaining white man. He starts to read Dickens’s Great Expectations to the island’s children, in the ruins of the schoolhouse. The adults, too, are drawn to listen and begin to share their own stories. Richard & Judy Bookclub

A poetry anthology for students preparing for the AQA GCSE English Literature specification Unit 2. This selection covers a range of poems from the English, Welsh and Irish Literary Heritage chosen by teachers to engage and stimulate readers in the classroom.

A vivacious woman and a high-spirited man both claim that they are determined never to marry. But when their friends trick them into believing that each harbours secret feelings for the other, they begin to question whether their witty banter and sharp-tongued repartee conceals something deeper.

Kathy, Tommy and Ruth are all products of Hailsham House, a school where they are sheltered from the outside world and subjected to frequent medical checks. As the children grow and mature into adults the sinister purpose of Hailsham becomes apparent.

This CGP Text Guide contains everything you need to write top-grade essays about John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men'.

You'll find clear, thorough notes on the novel's context, plot, characters, themes and the writer's techniques - with quick questions, in-depth questions and exam-style questions included at the end of every section. There's also detailed exam advice to help you improve your grades

Paddy Clarke is ten in 1968 and loves George Best, Geronimo and the smell of his hot water bottle. He hates zoos, kissing and boys from the Corporation houses and his brother. He knows that his mother is crying, that Da leaves the house in silence, but he doesn't know why... Man Booker Prize Winner.

When Nigeria begins to fall apart under a military coup, 15-year-old Kambili's father, involved in mysterious ways with the unfolding political crisis, sends Kambili and her brother away to their aunt's. Here she discovers love and a life - dangerous and heathen - beyond the confines of her father's authority.

A romantic tragedy of two teenagers from rival families who fall in love. A sentence of exile and an impending arranged marriage force the two to flee. A friar suggests a ruse to accomplish their union, but miscommunication causes it to backfire.

'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.' A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man falsely charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much.