One stormy night, five stranded schoolchildren uncover the story of Richard Clayton Harwick - a boy who many years ago learned what it was like to have a truly wicked stepfather. But the children have stories of their own step-parents to tell - stories that have warmth and humor, as well as sadness, and a fair share of happy endings.

A collection of short stories - four published in different anthologies, three new ones - linked by the theme of young people experiencing dilemmas through the political contexts of South Africa under apartheid and after the first democratic elections.

Mia is sixteen, and still living with Dad, although this relationship becomes increasingly under strain. Mia has to work out the complicated emotional and practical implications of being a mother when she herself is still a child, with huge emotional needs of her own.

Tom, Mia and Oliver are the victims of a gang of bullies - who waylay them on the way home from school. It's not at school, so the teachers wouldn't be able to help, and they don't want to tell their parents, so there's only one option - to pay up.

When a new teacher, whose face is blotched with a startling white patch, starts at their school, Maleeka can see there is bound to be trouble for her too. But the new teacher's attitude surprises Maleeka. Can Maleeka too? A deeply involving novel that will draw readers into Maleeka's world and let them see it through her eyes.

The Crew didn't think things could ever get that bad again. Things have calmed down for the Crew (Billy, Ellie, Della, Jas and Will) and life in the Ghetto is ticking on as usual. Billy is mugged, Ellie is picked on in school, and Billy's house is being targeted.

Luckily for Rose, her Uncle Vinnie has a wizard trick or two up his sleeve - maybe he can conjure up a magic solution to her problem? Soon, with a little help from Uncle Vinnie and the classroom pet rat, Rose is ready to teach Zack a lesson he'll never forget .

Like her cousin Ruby says, it's the last taboo. But Simran likes Tyrone too much to walk away, so they face the problems their relationship causes together.

The physicist mother of Kizzy Rye and Fraser Rye has invented an amazing time machine that can travel back into the past, snatch a plant or animal now extinct and bring it back into the present. It's a wonderful achievement, a real scientific breakthrough.

But the website won't let them stop and an increasingly sinister game begins, with MementoMori playing them off against each other. A pact is a pact, after all. In this powerful debut written in three points of view, Yasmin Rahman has created a moving, poignant novel celebrating life.