Showing results by narrator "Aysha Kala" in All Categories

Christmas feels like a real gift for Lucy this year. Her cosy coastal cottage is starting to feel like home, her new pizza business is getting the locals ‘All Fired Up’, and she can’t wait to spend it with her new flame Jack, the charismatic owner of the Cocktail Campervan. Winding along the snow-dusted Northumberland coast for a whirlwind of Christmas markets and celebrations, Lucy and Jack can’t resist stealing a few kisses under the mistletoe. But there’s a twist in their romantic tale when Lucy’s ex turns up in the village.

Simon Sparks is the man you know from behind the counter at the local Prince Burger (‘hold the gherkin!’), fry shovelling, shelf stacking, hiding away from the world. And Jodie Brook is the single mum you see crossing the street with her son, Zak - always chasing a dream she can’t reach. What if life could be so much more? When Simon and Jodie’s worlds collide, it upends everything they know. But in chaos comes opportunity. And for every person who’s ever doubted them, they find someone who’ll finally believe.

Through the glass, the magic is waiting.... Nona and her uncle travel everywhere together, replacing stained-glass windows in war-torn buildings throughout England. One day a mysterious commission takes them to the lonely moors of Dartmoor, where a wild and powerful magic threatens everything that Nona holds dear. Can she find the courage to protect those she loves - even if it means fighting darkness itself?

Born in a Soviet prison camp, Lina has never seen the world outside until the night she escapes with her best friend, Bogdan. As the pair journey across a snowy wilderness, they are pursued by a vengeful sorceress and her pack of shadow wolves. The children will need every ounce of courage - and a whisper of magic - if they are to survive.

Meet the Secret Explorers - a band of brainiac kids from all around the world. Everyone in this diverse group of young experts has a speciality, from outer space to dinosaurs, and each story follows a character who gets chosen for a 'secret exploration'. Space expert Roshni and geology expert Cheng blast off into outer space on a mission to the Moon. There, they must navigate the dangerous terrain to clear up space debris before it can interfere with a lunar mission! Along the way, the Secret Explorers pilot a space buggy and collect important rock samples.

The tapestry of life may be more fragile than it seems: pull one thread, and all will unravel. In The City of Woven Streets, human life has little value. You practice a craft to keep you alive, or you are an outcast, unwanted and tainted. Eliana is a young weaver in the House of Webs, but secretly knows she doesn't really belong there. She is hiding a shameful birth defect that would, if anyone knew about it, land her in the House of the Tainted, a prison for those whose very existence is considered a curse.

Best friends Amani and Huda are getting nervous about their GCSEs - and their future beyond school, which they're both wildly unprepared for. Shy, quiet Amani has an outwardly picture-perfect family - a father who is a successful TV presenter, a loving mother and an adorable younger brother - while confident and impulsive Huda has grown up with over-affectionate foster parents who are now expecting a baby of their own.

Maeve gets an unexpected call from her brother, Sean. It's no surprise to her that he is in trouble again. But she's the only family he's got, so she must saddle up and ride to the rescue. Or at least, scrounge a lift from Aimee and drive there. Otis and Eric insist they can help, and Maeve's mission becomes a summer holiday road trip. Sean's been partying with a group of decadent socialites who have now accused him of a crime. The evidence against him is pretty damning. Trying to clear his name, Maeve and friends integrate themselves into the rich kids' circle.

As the Nazi regime crumbles, Hanni hides from her father on the fringes of Berlin. She develops the photographs she took to record the brutality of the camp - the empty food bowls and hungry eyes - and vows to get justice for the innocent people she couldn’t help. But, on the day she plans to deliver these damning photographs to the Allies, Hanni comes face to face with her father again. Reiner Foss is now working with the British forces, his past safely hidden behind a new identity. He will go to deadly lengths to protect his secrets, but Hanni knows she can’t give up her fight.

Sixteen-year-old Mehreen Miah's anxiety and depression, or 'Chaos', as she calls it, has taken over her life, to the point where she can't bear it any more. So she joins MementoMori, a website that matches people with partners and allocates them a date and method of death, 'the pact'. Mehreen is paired with Cara Saunders and Olivia Castleton, two strangers dealing with their own serious issues.

Hazel has always known she was different, but she doesn’t know where she came from. When her best friend Pete is kidnapped by strange creatures, she must gather her courage and enter Goblyn Wood, a forest inhabited by fairies. But their magic is being drained away, and Hazel soon realises that her own power is the key to saving both Pete and her new friends. Embarking on an epic journey of discovery, can Hazel restore the balance of the fairy realm?

In this fun, fact-filled instalment, Connor the marine expert and Kiki the engineer go off in search of pirate treasure, but find their plans have to change when they encounter a basking shark that's in need of their help. Can the Secret Explorers find the treasure as well as rescue the shark? Only time will tell!

Allyship is a journey, but it's not always easy to know where to start. See things from a different perspective with heartfelt real-life stories by writers from diverse backgrounds, abilities and circumstances. Wherever you are in your allyship journey, these stories about what it means to be an ally can empower you to help make the world a better place for everyone. Find out what you can do and take an active role with resources like self-reflective questions, journaling ideas, prompts and further learning. Be the reason someone feels seen, heard and supported.

In the village of Great Wyrley near Birmingham, someone is mutilating horses. Someone is also sending threatening letters to the vicarage, where the vicar, Shahpur Edalji, is a Parsi convert to Christianity and the first Indian to have a parish in England. His son George - quiet, socially awkward and the only boy at school with distinctly Indian features - grows up into a successful barrister, till he is improbably linked to and then prosecuted for the above crimes in a case that left many convinced that justice hadn’t been served.

Monsoon Memories is an unforgettable journey through a mesmerizing, passionate land of contrasts – with a family whose story will touch your heart. Anyone who enjoys the storytelling of Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlain, or Dorothy Koomson will love this. Exiled from her family in India for more than a decade, Shirin and her husband lead a comfortable but empty life in London. Memories of her childhood – exotic fragrances, colours, stifling heat and tropical storms – fill Shirin with a familiar and growing ache for the land and the people that she loves.

Maggie Walton’s father has dedicated his life to a single pursuit: hunting down the monster created by Victor Frankenstein. It has cost Maggie and her family everything - and now her father is staking everything on one last voyage to the Arctic, with Maggie secretly in tow, where he hopes to find the monster at last. But there they make a shocking discovery: Frankenstein’s monster has a son.

Bronte Tempestra of the Storm Kingdom is taking charge of her own destiny - she will be the first ever princess to become a knight! But knight school isn't the fun-filled adventure Bronte is expecting - the knights don't seem interested in saving...anything. And when she discovers that the Lightning Steeds have gone missing, leaving the Thunder Trolls to wreak havoc across the lands, she knows it's her moment to prove just how brave a princess can be. Bronte must face down pompous griffin lords and bare-bottomed cloud-stealing gnomes, monstrous horrorflies and spooky zombits.

Apprentice tea witch Yesterday Crumb is on a mission to find her mother. First stop in her search is London to watch The Wild Feast, the biggest magical cooking competition in Europe. But when the teashop Yesterday and her friends call home is shrunk by the Faerie Queen's Spymaster, she must join the competition to win it back. Yesterday will have to face more than just a fierce competition when new enemies emerge and members of the Faerie Court start to go missing.

Meet the Secret Explorers—a band of brainiac kids from all around the world. Everyone in this diverse group of young experts has a speciality, from outer space to dinosaurs, and each story follows a character who gets chosen for a 'secret exploration'. In this fun, fact-filled children's audiobook, Tamiko the dinosaur expert and Ollie the rainforest nut travel back in time to the ice age to help reunite a baby mammoth with the rest of its herd.

Having taken down the Fate-Weaver and freed the future, Ember thought things in Everspring would be easier. But not everyone is happy. People don't know how to live their lives without the Fate Cards telling them what to do. Then, Ember discovers something terrible on Mount Never. Someone has been cutting people's Fate Threads. Convinced it's her fault and determined to do something to stop the Thread-Cutter, Ember heads off to look for clues with Hans, eventually discovering that her only chance at preventing the Thread-Cutter from harming anyone is to go back in time to stop them.