Elizabeth Wein - Code Name Verity
Teen.
452 pages.
Only in wartime could a stalwart lass from Manchester rub shoulders with a Scottish aristocrat; one a pilot, the other a special operations executive. But when a vital mission goes wrong, one of the friends has to bail out of a faulty plane over France. She is captured by the Gestapo and becomes a prisoner of war. Themes: women's roles in WW2, spies, friendship and violence. Contains occasional swearing, sexual references and some distressing scenes.
Alex Wheatle - Cane Warriors
Teen.
192 pages.
Moa is fourteen. The only life he has ever known is toiling on the Frontier sugar cane plantation for endless hot days, fearing the vicious whips of the overseers. Then one night he learns of an uprising, led by the charismatic Tacky. Moa is to be a cane warrior, and fight for the freedom of all the enslaved people in the nearby plantations. But before they can escape, Moa and his friend Keverton must face their first great task: to kill their overseer, Misser Donaldson. Time is ticking, and the day of the uprising approaches. Themes: Slavery and Jamaican dialect.
Anna Whitwham - Boxer Handsome
Teen 14+.
288 pages.
Boxing runs in Bobby's blood. His Irish dad was a boxer. So was his Jewish grandfather. Yanked up by their collars at Clapton Bow Boys Club and taught how to box and stay out of trouble. So Bobby knows he shouldn't be messing in street brawls a week before his big fight with Connor 'the Gypsy Boy', an Irish traveller from around the way. They're fighting over Theresa. But Bobby's handsome, like his dad; boxer handsome. Behind him stands a family legacy of bad blood, booze and bruises, and the kitchen-sink drama of the council estate on which he lives, that sucks Bobby in and under. And all he really wants is to face his fights and win, with a good girl behind him - the promise of another, better future.
Michael Williams - Now is the Time for Running
Teen 14+.
233 pages.
Meet Deo, a great footballer and a fierce protector of his older brother. When the soldiers come, they destroy the only home they've ever known. Now, Deo has nothing but his brother, and a football stuffed with billions of worthless dollars. And so starts their journey to find their father. Themes: adventure, war, family, weapons, escape.