MARY HOOPER

Velvet is a laundress in a Victorian steam laundry. With both her mother and father dead, she is an orphan and has to rely upon her own wits to make a living. The laundry's work is back-breaking and Velvet is desperate to create a better life for herself. Then Velvet is noticed by Madame Savoya, a famed medium, who asks Velvet to come to work for her. Velvet is dazzled at first by the young yet beautifully dressed and bejewelled Madame. But soon Velvet realises that Madame Savoya is not all that she says she is, and Velvet's very life is in danger ...A romantic and thrillingly exciting new novel from an acclaimed and much loved historical writer for teens.

''Crumbs,'' Flicka said as soon as I opened the door. ''Is that the baby?'' She stood back, aghast. ''What''ve you done to her?'' Katie thought looking after her sister''s baby would be easy. But one tin of golden syrup, some scrambled egg, newspaper print, a whole load of boot polish, an earwig, half a caterpillar and a dirty log later, things look very different indeed. Baby Emily is not the only one in a bit of a mess.

''You be going to live in the city, Hannah?'' Farmer Price asked, pushing his battered hat up over his forehead. ''Wouldn'' t think you''d want to go there Times like this, I would have thought your sister would try and keep you away.'' Hannah is oblivious to Farmer Price''s dark words, excited as she is about her first ever trip to London to help her sister in her shop ''The Sugared Plum'', making sweetmeats for the gentry. Hannah does not however get the reception she expected from her sister Sarah. Instead of giving Hannah a hearty welcome, Sarah is horrified that Hannah did not get her message to stay away - the Plague is taking hold of London. Based on much research, Mary Hooper tellingly conveys how the atmosphere in London changes from a disbelief that the plague is anything serious, to the full-blown horror of the death carts and being locked up - in effect to die - if your house is suspected of infection. A brilliant new departure from this best-selling author. "Mary Hooper is another writer to watch" The Independent

Eliza is ousted by her new stepmother from her family and finally makes her way to London - only to be thrown straight into prison for stealing a mouthful of bread. At this point Eliza''s life takes some remarkable twists as she learns to survive the sordid prison life, and is rescued by a woman she has never met before pretending to be her aunt - but for what exactly? - and befriends Nell Gwynn who introduces her to the courtly intrigue, politics and glamour of the court of King Charles. And then Eliza finds out about her true background.

Holly. I hope you won''t mind me buying you this. I think it''s the sort of thing you''ll like. Am I right? And I think it matches your eyes. This comes with best wishes from (and I know it''s corny). A Friend." And that was how it all started. Holly starts receiving anonymous gifts at the cafe where she works. She can''t believe it - how romantic can you get? But when Holly finds out the identity of her admirer she is in for a shock - her admirer is not a potential boyfriend: her admirer is her father. Holly has to come to terms with the fact that her father is not the man who lives at home with her, who she loves and calls her father. Her father is a man who has lived all her life on the other side of the world, not even knowing of her existence. Holly and her mother have some talking to do. Mary Hooper tackles this emotionally fraught situation with tenderness and compassion: yet still with her trademark pacy readability that has proved so popular with the young teen girls market.

Holidays are supposed to be fun, but a week in a holiday camp with Mrs Bayleaf - Torture! Out of desperation, Katie seeks refuge in the Kids'' Klub, where she meets a particularly irritating little madam called Antonia who can''t stop bragging about how her family win all the competitions. Katie would love to wipe the smile off Antonia''s face. Perhaps Katie''s family, and even Mrs Bayleaf, might come in useful after all ...Well, there''s nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition, is there?

Lucy has been forced to run away from home as she fears for her safety from her drunken father. She is taken on as a maid at the house of Dr Dee, court magician, upon whom Elizabeth I relies heavily, even down to advising the date of her coronation. The household is strange and sinister, and Lucy has a nose for intrigue ...And she has more than enough to satisfy her: Lucy stumbles across a plot to assassinate the queen and has to find means to warn her...

I could barely explain how much I wanted to go back to London, for I hardly understood myself. I'd hated the stinking city when we'd left, could hardly bear to think on its name, but now the plague had disappeared from the streets the people would be back, the theatres and shops would be open and we would find everything as cheery as it had been before. Hannah returns to her beloved London to re-open the sweetmeats shop with younger sister Anne. Londoners are reeling from the plague epidemic of the previous year, but Hannah and Anne are keen to start enjoying everything the bustling city has to offer. But this is 1666, and it has been prophesised that terrible things will happen, and on Pudding Lane, flames are raging through the bakery...Mary Hooper evokes with complete mastery the sights, sounds and terror of a London gripped by the ferocious and terrible Fire of London, engulfing everything in its path.