Fantasy/Young Adult. 108635 words long. First published in 2008, 2008

17-year-old Banyan is a tree builder. Using salvaged scrap metal, he creates forests for rich patrons who seek a reprieve from the desolate landscape. Although Banyan's never seen a real tree--they were destroyed more than a century ago--his missing father used to tell him stories about the Old World. Everything changes when Banyan meets a mysterious woman with a strange tattoo--a map to the last living trees on earth, and he sets off across a wasteland from which few return. Those who make it past the pirates and poachers can't escape the locusts . . . the locusts that now feed on human flesh.But Banyan isn't the only one looking for the trees, and he's running out of time. Unsure of whom to trust, he's forced to make an alliance with Alpha, an alluring, dangerous pirate with an agenda of her own. As they race towards a promised land that might only be a myth, Banyan makes shocking discoveries about his family, his past, and how far people will go to bring back the trees.Review"There's a brilliant madness to this deadly postapocalyptic world, filled with complex characters, shifting loyalties, and layers of mystery... it's also a nonstop adventure, with wild concepts and an almost hypnotic quality to Banyan's terse, weather-beaten narration. Lines like "I knew it was a day of endings, one way or another" and "One good thing about a world made of stone and steel, that world can't burn for long" bring this unforgettable setting to life." - Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW"Howard has a gift for the phantasmagoric image: the killing Surge that is this future's ocean, the bark Banyan finds growing on a homeless man, the swarm of locusts descending for the kill and more." - Kirkus ReviewsFrom the Inside FlapSeventeen-year-old Banyan is a tree builder. Using scrap metal and salvaged junk, he creates forests for rich patrons who seek a reprieve from the desolate landscape. Although Banyan's never seen a real tree--they were destroyed more than a century ago--his father used to tell him stories about the Old World. But that was before his father was taken . . .Everything changes when Banyan meets a woman with a strange tattoo--a clue to the whereabouts of the last living trees on earth, and he sets off across a wasteland from which few return. Those who make it past the pirates and poachers can't escape the locusts--the locusts that now feed on human flesh.But Banyan isn't the only one looking for the trees, and he's running out of time. Unsure of whom to trust, he's forced to make an uneasy alliance with Alpha, an alluring, dangerous pirate with an agenda of her own. As they race towards a promised land that might only be a myth, Banyan makes shocking discoveries about his family, his past, and how far people will go to bring back the trees.In this dazzling debut, Howard presents a disturbing world with uncanny similarities to our own. Like the forests Banyan seeks to rebuild, this visionary novel is both beautiful and haunting--full of images that will take permanent root in your mind . . . and forever change the way you think about nature.

In a radical departure from her urban life, Ann Turner buys a piece of remote Vermont land and sets up a tent home in deep forest. She's trying to escape an unending string of personal disasters in Boston; more, she desperately wants to leave behind a world she sees as increasingly defined by consumerism, hypocrisy, and division.As she writes in her journal, "There's got to be a more honest, less divided way to live."She soon learns she was mistaken in thinking a kindly Mother Earth would grant her wisdom and serenity in her new home. The forest confronts her with unanticipated dangers, aching loneliness, harsh weather, instinctive fears, and unsettling encounters with wild animals. It's beautiful, yes, but life in the woods is never easy. When necessity requires her to start work as a farmhand, she quickly realizes that she held similarly childish illusions about small farms. Under the stern tutelage of Diz Brassard, the farm's sixty-year-old matriarch, and the gentler...

The Barnes & Noble ReviewSecond in the Cree Black series (following City of Masks), this paranormal thriller is filled with fascinating elements of Navajo culture and traditional beliefs. Author Daniel Hecht finds a careful narrative balance between family drama, eerie occultism, and scientific examination.Teenager Tommy Keeday suffers strange and dangerous seizures while a student at a school for gifted Native Americans in New Mexico and is believed to be possessed by an evil Navajo spirit. Seattle-based parapsychologist Cree Black is asked to study and save the boy. Along with her team of ghost hunters, she uses her own empathic skills to delve into the dark secrets of the teachers and fellow students who might have something to do with Tommy's illness.Hecht makes a bold effort to give readers believable investigations into the supernatural. Cree considers and applies theories involving magnetic fields, mysterious energies, genetics, and geographical forces. The narrative is leavened with a great many separate back-stories, as several fascinating Navajo myths and local legends are discussed in depth. This plausible, spooky, and grabbing mixture of solid detective work and paranormal chills is highly recommended.

'Witty, wise and wonderful . . . Such fun!' Miranda Hart.Delightful and candid, this uproarious tale will have you in tearsWhen thirteen-year-old Tabitha's parents split up, she's forced to move down to London with her mum and brother. Sounds cool right? Well there's just one teeny tiny hitch. They're moving in with Gran . . . Mental, very much NOT cool Gran, who talks to (AND FOR) her knitwear-adorned dog Basil like he's the son she never had. Worse still, her mum has decided to start writing an embarrassing blog (much of it about her teenage daughter) and her younger brother Luke's favourite pastime seems to be 'annoy Tab as much as humanly possible'.All this embarrassment is particularly bad news as Tabitha has given herself a mission for her new school: to be the coolest, most popular girl there! Despite her family's best efforts, things get off to a good start as Tab quickly makes friends with A'isha and Emz (and manages to avoid total losers like...

Witty, wise and wonderful . . . such fun!' - Miranda Hart on TABITHA BAIRDFrank and fabulous - Arabella Weir on tricky teen life in the hilarious follow up to THE RISE AND RISE OF TABITHA BAIRD.Tabitha Baird and her friends Emz and A'isha reckon they're the coolest, most popular girls in their year. But they have a rival in new girl, Bea. She's a seriously scary Goth who quickly attracts a following - and she doesn't like Tab at all!That's only the start of Tab's problems. Basil, Gran's beloved dog, races off and Tab catches him with Sam's dog Fifi. There's absolutely no doubt who the father is when Fifi's puppies are born two months later - and Gran wants custody! Then Tabitha's mum is offered a job because of her blog about life with a teenage daughter. She only had about two followers before, but not any more! To top it all, Mum's got a new boyfriend. He might be OK if Tab could only see beyond his huge, thick beard . . .ABOUT THE...

'We're the rubbish kids, losers and orphans. Everyday we go out on to the Tip to sort rubbish for Mother Shelly.' For Sham, Fly Pie and his sister Jane, this is the grim reality of their lives. Then one day everything changes when they find a baby on the Tip - a baby worth seventeen million pounds . . . This discovery takes them into a savage, lonely city and so begins an endless fight for survival.

When Nick's mother dies suddenly the fourteen-year-old is sent straight into a boys' home, where he finds institutional intimidation and violence keep order. After countless fights and punishments. Nick thinks life can’t get any worse - but the professionally respected deputy head. Mr Creal, who has been grooming him with sweets and solace, has something much more sinister in mind. The scarring, shaming experience he suffers at the hands of Mr Creal can never quite be suppressed, and when the old hatred surfaces, bloody murder and revenge lead to an unforgettable climax. Carnegie-prize winning author, Melvin Burgess, has written a long-awaited new story. His most substantial book to date, this compelling story of a teenager caught in a corrupt 1980s care home is a powerful study of a particularly highly charged and distressing subject. Handled with great sensitivity and engrossing narrative drive, it is an important addition to the understanding of how teenage lives can go so wrong.

Dino's girlfriend won't give him what he wants. Jonathon is afraid of what his mates will think of the girl he likes. And Ben is having extra lessons from his sexy teacher. Three seventeen-year-old boys discover sex for the first time: but do they really know what they're doing?