Showing results by author "Joanna Nadin" in All Categories

Lydia, home from Paris on New Year’s Day in a welter of hangover and humiliation, finds herself swearing off drink, drugs and sex for the next 12 months. Through her unfamiliar sobriety, she’ll see a landmark year for all the Bennet sisters, including a disruptive 40th birthday, an engagement and a funeral: and, maybe, coming to terms with the results of a run-of-the-mill run-in with a jacknifed lorry on a wet stretch of the M1…

Nine hilarious short stories including 'Penny Dreadful versus the Vampire', in which Penny decides to embark on a career as a vampire hunter; 'Penny Dreadful Looks on the Bright Side', in which miserable Grandma Grimshaw comes to stay; and 'Penny Dreadful and the World Record', in which Penny attempts to get her name in the record books. There's chicken pox in 'Penny Dreadful Is Incredibly Contagious' and much more fun in her other adventures....

Soon-to-be eight-year-old Daffodil likes the dictionary, the middle bit in custard cream biscuits, and thinking BIG. She does NOT like her cousin Hugo Patterson-Dent, who has ten more gold stars than she does; the biscuit bit of custard creams (but that’s OK because her friend Nirmal-Next-Door eats that); or any sort of catastrophe. The trouble is that somehow Daffodil's ambitious plans tend to go pear-shaped …

When Jake Jellicoe signs up as a cabin boy aboard the Flounder, Captain Dreadnought promises him a share of the loot. But he soon discovers that the captain isn't all he seems. And before he knows it, Jake is caught up in a race for the dread pirate Redbeard's treasures! Har-har, me hearties!

Daffodil is eight years old. She's the youngest in her family but is full of BOBBY DAZZLERS, which means brilliant ideas. Daffodil's latest Bobby Dazzler involves entering the Chipping Grimley Village Talent Show and winning £25 and getting her picture in the local paper so she can become WORLD FAMOUS. But first she needs to practise the trombone so she can win the competition. And before that she needs to get a trombone ... And to start off with, she'll need to raise £25 to buy a trombone from the charity shop.

According to head Teacher Mrs Bottomley-Blunt, 4B is the worst class in the world. She says school is not about footling or fiddle-faddling or fun. It is about learning. But Stanley and Manjit didn’t literally mean to make their whole class sick with homemade biscuits. And they definitely didn’t literally mean for Manjit’s dog, Killer, to eat their teacher’s shoes or for Bruce Bingley’s rat to escape. These things just happened. You see, 4B may be the worst class in the world. But you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Joanna Nadin's first novel for adults, The Queen of Bloody Everything, is about mothers, daughters and how we can make many choices in life but can't choose where we come from. As Edie Jones lies in a bed on the fourteenth floor of a Cambridge hospital, her adult daughter Dido tells their story...

Head teacher Mrs Bottomley-Blunt thinks 4B is the worst class in the world. She says school is not about footling or fiddle-faddling or fun. It is about learning and it is high time 4B tried harder to excel at it. But best friends Stanley and Manjit didn’t literally mean to swap Killer for a War of Wizard’s playing card and set him loose in school. And they really didn’t literally mean to explode fizzy foam all over the classroom and all over Mrs Bottomley-Blunt.

My name is not actually Penny Dreadful. It is Penelope Jones. The ‘Dreadful’ bit is my dad’s JOKE. But it is not even true that I am dreadful.

The characters in this book are works of fiction. But, then, isn’t everyone . . . ? 1988, Pencalenick, Cornwall. At seventeen, Jason wants much more from life than working at his father’s pub and when fate, in the form of twins Daisy and Bea and their small circle of friends, offers him a...

Sixteen-year-old Jude has to get out of tiny Churchtown. She has to escape her outcast status at the Royal Duchy School and her pathetic dad, who hasn’t gotten past her mum’s death. The only bright light is drama, her way out, if only she can get into the Lab in London. It takes a lot of nerve to apply to such a prestigious program, and Jude’s not sure she can do it. Then Jude’s childhood best friend, Stella, returns. Stella, sexy and bold, and 10 times cooler than Jude. With Stella by her side, Jude knows she’s capable of anything. But Stella’s influence extends well beyond the theater.

Head teacher Mrs Bottomley-Blunt thinks 4B is the worst class in the world. She says school is not about footling or fiddle-faddling or fun. It is about learning and it is high time 4B tried harder to excel at it. But best friends Stanley and Manjit didn’t literally mean to get covered in newt pond water just before the class photo. And they really didn’t literally mean to cause total mayhem by trying to get fake teeth to the very best tooth fairy. These things just happened, even though they had foolproof plans to get away with it all.

Head teacher Mrs Bottomley-Blunt thinks 4B is the worst class in the world. She says school is not about footling or fiddle-faddling or fun. It is about learning, and it is high time 4B tried harder to excel at it. But best friends Stanley and Manjit didn’t literally mean to let flying minibeasts free in the classroom. And they really didn’t literally mean to do a series of dares to become the Overlord of the Universe. These things just happened, even though they had foolproof plans to get away with it all.

Maisie Morris lives with her mum in a titchy tiny turret at the top of Withering Heights Retirement Home and plays gin rummy with the elderly residents. But all live in fear of Withering Heights' odious owners, Mr and Mrs Arkwright, who run a rotten, rigid regime.

Penny Dreadful manages to cause a kerfuffle with three uproarious stories in which she ends up blue, along with her sister’s swan outfit, and turns Joshua Bottomley pale and green by doing a science experiment on him. Penny then cooks up a calamity as she tries to turn over a new leaf in the school show, on a class trip and by making the cake of dreams for her mum's birthday... but somehow her efforts still turn into a huge disaster.

For fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel, comes a story about mothers, daughters and second chances . . . It’s 1981. Eleven-year-old Sadie adores her beautiful and vibrant mother, Connie, whose dreams of making it big as a singer fill their tiny...

According to head teacher Mrs Bottomley-Blunt, 4B is the worst class in the world. She says school is not about footling or fiddle-faddling or fun. It is about learning, and it is high time 4B tried harder to excel at it. But Stanley and Manjit didn’t literally mean to flood the toilets when they should have been monitoring the playground. And they definitely didn’t literally mean to bring a penguin home from the zoo on their school trip. These things just happened even though they had a foolproof plan to get away with them.

Best friends Stanley and Manjit are part of Class 4B, which Head teacher Mrs Bottomley-Blunt says is the worst class in the world. She says school is not about footling or fiddle-faddling or fun. It is about learning and it is high time 4B tried harder to excel at it. But they didn’t literally mean to let the class stick insects loose in the wilds of the playground. And they really didn't literally mean to make a massive mess trying to do modern art (which may or may not have involved a mummified cat being stolen).

Daffodil Patterson is a small girl with BIG plans - it's really not her fault that they always seem to go wrong! A brilliantly funny new series for young readers, from the author and illustrator of The Worst Class in the World. Perfect for fans of Pamela Butchart's books.

The characters in this book are works of fiction. But, then, isn’t everyone . . . ? 1988, Pencalenick, Cornwall. At seventeen, Jason wants much more from life than working at his father’s pub and when fate, in the form of twins Daisy and Bea and their small circle of friends, offers him a...