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Amy and Matt are bored. They don't want to study for their exams. They want to have a good time. So they drive to the marina at West Palm Beach, and Matt jumps onto one of the boats. 'We can go anywhere!' he jokes. But when the owners of the boat come back and find them, Amy and Matt are in deep trouble. Matt is a good swimmer and enjoys scuba- diving, but now he must dive for their lives.

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Tino wants to be a famous football player, and now is his chance – he is playing in his first game for an important team! But not everyone wants to help him. His father won’t come to watch him play. His team captain, Lenda, thinks he is a bad player. And what about the other team? Their captain is very big – and very mean! How will Tino do? What will happen to his friends, and his team? What will his family do? And who will win?

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Anna is a new student at Oxford University. When she arrives in Oxford, she meets Selim, and they become good friends. But Selim is not English, and living in a different country is not easy for him. Anna tries to help – but she knows that her father isn't going to like it. Selim and Anna have each other. But is that enough? And can they find true happiness together?

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'Fay loves making The Friends' Hour for Studio Five, but her boss – Jason – is always angry with her. One day, a young man – Simon Jones – phones her show. Soon Fay must find Simon, and work hard to keep her job. Then her best friend – Wing – stops helping her. What can Fay do now? Can she and Wing stay friends?

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For thousands of years the dead body of the young king Tutankhamun sleeps under the sands of Egypt. Then, in the autumn of 1922, Howard Carter and his friends find and open his tomb door. These are exciting times, and Carter's young helper Tariq tells the story in his diary. But soon people begin to die. Who or what is the killer? Is Tutankhamun angry with them for opening his tomb? And who is the beautiful French girl with the face of Tutankhamun's long- dead wife?

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Victor Frankenstein has found the secret of life. He takes dead people and builds a man. But people call this man a monster… and he learns to hate.

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When Jake Stevens goes to work for some months in Ireland, he feels happy. He loves travelling, and talking about his job – making computer games for BananaTech in America. 'Your new game's going to be the best thing at the Irish Computer Exhibition!' people at BananaTech Ireland tell him. But living with a noisy parrot isn't easy, and when Jake asks the most beautiful girl at work out to dinner, she says 'no'. Then someone steals Jake's game the night before the show. Who – or what – can help him to get it back?

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'How long is she in Oman for?' 'Ten days. And then they want to take her back home.' 'Ah, yes. But she's not going back to London. They're never going to see her again!' Jamie and Taymour overhear this strange conversation near their homes in Muscat. Two men want to kill an important visitor, it seems. But who is the woman in danger? And what can the boys do to save her? Can they, their sisters Sarah and Nadine, and their Australian friend Ruth find the answer to the mystery?

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'He's an intelligent man. He was once rich and is now poor. His wife loved him once, but she doesn't love him now. And he's thirty or forty years old.' One look at an old hat, and Sherlock Holmes can tell you a lot about its owner. He sees – and thinks – a lot more than the people around him, and when a beautiful blue diamond disappears, Sherlock is the only man in London who can find it.

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A man from the British royal family leaves an expensive gold and emerald crown at Holder and Stevenson's – one of the best banks in London. When someone tries to take the crown from Mr Holder's desk, he asks Sherlock Holmes for help. Who wants the crown and why? Only Sherlock can find the answers.

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'Help me,' says Helen Stoner. 'My sister died, and now I am going to die too.' Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson must answer the question of how Julia Stoner died, two years ago. If they cannot, then Helen Stoner will die too. But her house is very strange - and her stepfather, Dr Grimesby Roylott, is very angry and does not want Holmes there. Who killed Julia, and how? And why did she say 'The speckled band!' before she died?

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'This telegram is from my brother Mycroft,' said Holmes. 'He wants to speak to me at once about Mr Arthur Cadogan. Do you know this man, Watson?' 'I saw something about him in today's newspaper,' I answered. When a young man dies on a London Underground line, top-secret plans for a new British submarine go missing. But who is Cadogan's killer, why did he die, and where are the missing papers? Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson must quickly help Mycroft to answer these important questions.

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In 1386 a number of pilgrims are going to Canterbury to visit the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket, and they all tell stories on the way. Who should be the stronger in a marriage – the husband or the wife? And what happens when two men fall in love with the same woman? In these five stories from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales we find different answers to these questions from the Knight, the Wife of Bath, the Clerk of Oxford, the Merchant, and the Franklin.

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'Are you scared, Gordon?' asks Heather. Four friends talk of ghosts in a hotel in Scotland. That night Gordon sees and hears something strange in his room. But is it really the ghost of Lord McCoy? These six stories tell of ghosts – friendly, sad, and bad – from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, America – and Egypt!

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The Teacher's Secret and Other Folk Tales

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The Teacher's Secret and Other Folk Tales

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Are men cleverer than women? Is a poor man cleverer than a rich man? And what about teachers? Are they always cleverer than their students? The people in these six well- known folk tales from around the world all want to be clever. But are some of them just stupid? Each story is recorded in American or British English to reflect its origin and setting.

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'My first journey was a pilgrimage to Makkah. I got on a donkey and said “Goodbye” to my parents in Tangier when I was 21. My mother cried.' In this way Ibn Battuta, one of the greatest travellers in the world, begins telling his story to his nephew, Ahmed. His many journeys take him to new and interesting places far from home. He sees many strange and wonderful things, has many funny and frightening experiences, and meets many different people along the way. This is his story...

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Hercules is the strongest man in the world, but one day he does something very bad. The priestess at Delphi tells him: 'The gods are angry with you. For twelve years you must work for King Eurystheus, and do twelve tasks for him. When you finish, the gods can forgive your crime.' Some tasks are easier, and some tasks are more difficult. Can Hercules finish all twelve of them? And what happens when he does?

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'There's going to be a storm,' Father told Fritz. 'Find your brothers and bring them to our room.' A Swiss family are going to Australia when their ship sinks in a storm. After that, Mother, Father, Fritz, Hans, Ernst, and little Franz must make their home on a Pacific Island. Like Robinson Crusoe, they have many exciting times on the island, and they learn a lot about its animals and plants. But do they always want to stay there, or are they going to leave one day?

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Dr Aronnax and Conseil journey from Paris to learn who is attacking ships in the Atlantic - where they meet the strange Captain Nemo.

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The Happy Prince is a beautiful golden statue high up on a column in the city. Everyone loves him. He feels sad about the city's poor people, but what can he do? He can't leave his column. Then the swallow arrives, and helps the Happy Prince to do many good things. But what about the swallow's dream of flying to Egypt? And what does the Mayor do when the Happy Prince loses all his gold?

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It is 1865. Impey Barbicane and J.T. Maston are very good with guns and explosives, and want to do something important – so they decide to build a big gun and use it to go to the Moon. But no-one has gone to the Moon before, and many people, like the great Captain Nicholl, believe that it cannot be done. What will happen when Barbicane and Nicholl meet? And will the men who try to go to the Moon come back alive?

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'Tripitaka, can you go to the west for me – and for Buddha?' When the holy woman Guanyin asks the young Chinese monk Tripitaka to bring some holy writings back from India, he says 'yes'. But how can he travel across rivers, and fight terrible monsters and demons, on his long journey? He needs three strong helpers – Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy – to do that! But where do they come from? Do they always help? And can they bring the holy writings home again? Read this old Chinese story, and find out.

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A dark, rainy day in Scotland, long ago. Returning from battle, Macbeth and his friend Banquo meet three witches. 'Macbeth, the king!' they say, but Macbeth is not a king, he is just a simple soldier. Macbeth and Banquo cannot forget the witches' words. Soon Macbeth is king, but his wife walks in her sleep at night, and dreams of blood. What lies in the future for Banquo? And how many people must die before Scotland finds peace once more?

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'My friend Queequeg and I are looking for whaling work,' Ishmael says. Ishmael is a sailor from New York. With Queequeg the harpooner, he takes work on Captain Ahab's whaling-ship, the Pequod. The ship's first mate, Starbuck, wants to hunt whales for their oil. But Captain Ahab isn't interested. In the hunt for a white whale twenty years earlier, the captain lost a leg. So now Ahab wants revenge on the white whale – Moby-Dick! Who lives? Who dies? And what happens to Ishmael?

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When Pollyanna's father dies, she goes to live with her Aunt, Miss Polly Harrington. Miss Harrington likes doing good, but she doesn't like children very much! Pollyanna always tries to find the good in everything. She soon makes many different people in her new home feel happier. But is Miss Polly's life going to change for better or worse after her niece arrives? And what happens to Pollyanna when she has a very bad accident?

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King Shahriyar cannot trust women. Every afternoon he marries a wife, but the next morning he always kills her. One day, the Vizier cannot find any more wives for the King. What can he do? 'I can be Shahriyar's new wife!' says Sheherazade, the Vizier's older daughter. 'God willing I can stay alive, and help the women of our country.' But how can Sheherazade stay alive for a thousand and one nights? And does Shahriyar learn to trust women again in the end?

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Al Brown plays the guitar in a band with friends. He writes songs, too. 'Our boy can't live without his music,' his parents say. But when Al's baby sister, Lisa, arrives from hospital, his life is suddenly different. Now his mother and father have no time for him, and he has no time for school work – or the band. Then Al's sister gets ill. And Grandad tells him, 'Write a song for Lisa!' But why, and how can this help?

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Abby is a teenager, and she doesn't talk much to her parents. Abby's dad works hard for an oil company, and Abby's mom doesn't like her friends. Then, one summer, Abby stays with her crazy Aunt May in California. Here – with Aunt May and her neighbours Diego and Bianca – she learns to see things differently. But, one night, there's an oil spill on the beautiful beach near their home. What can Abby, her aunt, and the neighbours do? And who answers Abby's call for help? And how?

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'I love Owen's skateboarding,' Hannah thinks. 'I want to jump and do tricks, too.' When a skatepark opens near her house, Hannah is suddenly very interested in skateboarding. How do Mom, Dad, brother Evan, and cousin Justin feel about this? Who helps her? Who laughs at her? And who teaches her to be a true skateboarder in the end? This story has the answers.

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'What's your job?' Yukio asks. 'I'm a sorcerer,' the old man smiles, 'and I need a young apprentice.' One day, Yukio – a young boy from old Japan – leaves his sister in the country and looks for a job in the town. He finds interesting work there, as a sorcerer's apprentice. But why must Yukio wait to learn magic? And what happens after he puts a spell on a broom when the sorcerer is away?

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'Professor Clark's work usually helps people. But this is something new.' Clark's helper – Tasha Kiara – is telling Chaz – a local TV reporter about the Professor's new serum. Then an earthquake hits Clark's California lab, and his serum brings dead bodies in the cemetery alive. Soon the zombies attack! What happens to Professor Clark? How can Tasha and Chaz stop the zombies? Who lives and who dies? Read this story and see.

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‘Come quickly, Dr Watson,’ says Mrs Hudson. ‘Sherlock Holmes is dying!’ Sherlock Holmes was trying to solve a murder. But now he has a terrible illness, and he is not his normal self. Can his friend Watson help him? Can the strange Mr Culverton Smith help him? Or will Sherlock Holmes die?

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'Help! A wolf is eating my sheep!' What happens when a bored shepherd boy lies to the people in his village – or when he later tells the truth? What do a man and his wife do when their goose lays golden eggs? And what can two travellers learn from a bear in the woods? These three old Greek tales teach us important truths about people today.

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'I want to fly later this year.' 'So, it's a race,' laughs Lagari. 'Yes,' smiles Hezarfen. The time is the 1630s. Sultan Murat IV rules the Ottoman Empire. Two Istanbul brothers – Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi and Lagari Hasan – dream of flying. Which of them can be the first flying man? And what does the Sultan give to the winner of the race? Read this story and find the answers.

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Perseus is the son of Danae, Princess of Argos, and the god Zeus. When he is very young, his mother moves with him to live on the island of Seriphos. Later, Polydectes – the king of Seriphos – wants to marry Danae. Perseus says 'no' to this, so Polydectes sends the young man away for the head of Medusa. Medusa is a she-monster with snakes for hair. Can Perseus find and kill Medusa? And what happens after he goes back to Seriphos?

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'I see Troy in flames years from now – because Paris brings disaster to us,' Queen Hecuba says about her son. Paris's father, King Priam, wants to kill him. But Paris lives, and later loves Helen – King Menelaus's queen – from Greece. When Paris brings Helen to Troy, war begins between the Trojans and Greeks. What happens when Paris's brother Hector and the Greek fighter Achilles meet in battle? Who wins the war, and how? Read Troy and find the answers.

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'Be careful with Morfran,' Princess Adhan tells her young son, Merlin. Morfran, the son of the Enchantress Ceridwen, is a bully. Then one day, Merlin drinks one of Ceridwen's magic potions. After this, he can become different animals, see through walls, change the weather, and look into the future. But Morfran is angry with Merlin when Ceridwen dies. Years later, Morfran – now King Vortigern's magician – plans to kill Merlin, the boy with no father. How can Merlin's magic powers help him to fight his old enemy?

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'Ali Baba finds a thieves' treasure cave, and he is suddenly rich. Then his brother Kasim visits the cave, and things go wrong. The forty thieves find Kasim there, kill him, and cut him into four pieces. What can Ali Baba do? He wants to bury his brother quietly, but how can he? Morgiana, his servant-girl, has the answer. But what can she do when the thieves find Ali Baba and want to kill him, too?

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'It's my garden,' says the Giant, 'People must understand. Nobody can play here – only me!' So, the children leave, and the Selfish Giant puts a wall around his garden. After that, it's always winter there. Later, the Giant feels sorry for a young boy in the snow. He knocks down the garden wall – and the children, and the spring, come back. But where is the young boy now? And how can the Giant find him again?

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It's a cold winter's day, and a poor little girl can't sell any of her matches to people in the street. She can't go home without any money. But how can she stay warm? That 31st December, the little match girl sees rich people's homes, Christmas trees, and wonderful things to eat. She also remembers her kind grandmother – now sadly dead. Can the New Year make things any better for the poor young girl?

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Zoe Baker works in a bookstore. She also likes acting, and she has a part in the play Romeo and Juliet. Mike Morrison writes about the play for the newspaper. What does he write about Zoe? Is Zoe a good actress... or is she just 'a pretty face'? What does Zoe think when she reads the newspaper? What does she do?

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Hal works at the zoo every day and his life isn't exciting – until he meets Tim. Tim is a movie star. He has a difficult life, and he is unhappy – until he meets Hal. But when they meet, and agree to change places, interesting things start to happen. And, by changing places, the two men learn what is truly important in their lives.

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Tristan and Isolde are in love, but Isolde must marry King Mark. So, a happy love story seems impossible... The lovers meet every day but then, one night, King Mark finds them together. Now Tristan must leave the castle, but he is badly hurt and dying. Only Isolde can help him. Can Isolde find Tristan in time? Can their love survive?

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One cold winter morning, a famous movie star and her teenage daughter are driving along a country road... A blue van is waiting for them. Tom is in the van, but he's not a kidnapper – he's an artist. He usually draws pictures for adventure stories. Now he's in a real-life adventure.

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'Bring me something new and exciting. Bring me a BIG story!' says Rosie's editor at The Record newspaper. And, when she leaves the office, Rosie does find a story. A story that is bigger than she expects. A story that takes her across Europe, into a dangerous world of art and art thieves. This story is recorded in British English, with some American characters.

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Keawe buys a magic bottle that can give him anything he wants. He builds a beautiful house, falls in love with and marries Kokua, and is very happy. But if you have the bottle and die, you go to hell – and when Keawe tries to get rid of the bottle, it comes back. He wants to sell it, but people are afraid. Can Kokua find a way to help Keawe? Or will one of them go to hell in the end?

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Rip Van Winkle & The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

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Rip Van Winkle & The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

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In the first of these stories, Rip Van Winkle sleeps for over twenty years, and then wakes up to a world that he no longer understands. In the other story, Ichabod Crane, the school teacher, meets a headless rider in the middle of a dark night. These two classic tales of the supernatural by Washington Irving have been popular for nearly two hundred years.

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The men and the women in this book – William Tell, Tom Blood, Lord Bao, King Matthias, Johnny Appleseed, and Lady Godiva – are all real people from history. But every time someone tells an old story, they change things in it, to make them bigger, better, and more exciting. So, what is true in this book and what is not? Read all six of the stories and see what you think.

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The year is 1717. It is a bad time to be the captain of a ship in the Caribbean because of pirates. The most frightening pirate on the sea is Edward Teach, or 'Blackbeard'. 'The Governor of Virginia wants us all dead!' Blackbeard thinks. 'But can he kill me – the most famous pirate in the Caribbean? No!' This is his story...

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When the Emperor calls every man to join the army and fight the enemy, Mulan's father is old and ill, and cannot go. Wearing men's clothes and riding a horse, Mulan leaves her family and fights bravely for the Emperor in her father's place. She is soon a hero for all the soldiers in the Chinese army. One of them, Ye Ming, is her best friend. But does he know that she is a woman? And can Mulan fall in love with a friend?

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It’s London, 1666. It’s a hot, dry summer. A small fire starts in a baker’s shop in Pudding Lane. Soon the city of London is burning and the fire-fighters can’t stop the fire. People are running from their houses down to the River Thames. But how does the fire begin and who can stop it? What is the King of England doing to help?

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'Today you can go round the world in eighty days,' says Phileas Fogg. 'Do it, and I pay you £20,000,' says his friend Stuart. This is the beginning of one of Jules Verne's most exciting stories. Phileas Fogg must get back to London by December 21st or lose all his money. With the help of his servant, Passepartout, Fogg travels in many ways – from train to elephant – and he has some surprising adventures on the way.

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In Hamburg, Germany, Professor Otto Lidenbrock comes home with an old Icelandic book. In it there is a message about a journey to the centre of the Earth. This is the beginning of one of Jules Verne's most exciting stories. 'Is this message true? We must go to Iceland and see!' says Lidenbrock excitedly. But his nephew, Axel, wants to stay at home. Can Lidenbrock and Axel – and their Icelandic guide, Hans – find the centre of the Earth? And can they all get home alive after their many underground adventures?

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'I'm not going with you, Aunt Dete!' Heidi cries. 'Oh yes, you are!' Dete answers. Heidi loves her home in the Swiss mountains, her grandfather, and her friend Peter, the goatherd. So when Aunt Dete takes her away to Frankfurt, she doesn't leave happily. In Frankfurt, Heidi is soon good friends with Clara Sesemann, a rich but very ill girl in a wheelchair. But how can Heidi live without the mountains? And what can she do about Fräulein Rottenmeier, the Sesemanns' unfriendly housekeeper?

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Sinbad the sailor spends many years at sea. He visits strange countries, meets some strange people and some very frightening animals. He is sometimes rich, sometimes poor... and always in danger. But all the time he is learning from his adventures, until finally he returns home to Baghdad, an older and wiser man.

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Prospero, the Duke of Milan, and his daughter Miranda are far away from home, alone on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. They want to return to Milan... Then, one day, Prospero sees a ship near the island carrying his greatest enemies. Prospero, with the help of his magic and the island spirit, Ariel, makes a magic storm – a tempest – to bring them to the island.

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'When he went home to Athens, the great prince Theseus left me on the island of Naxos. But why did he leave me? Everyone says that he was tired of me. But when we met, I was the princess of Crete and the most beautiful woman in the Aegean Sea.' Ariadne's story is one woman's tale of secret love, adventure, and of escape – both from danger and from a life that she wanted to leave far behind her – many years ago in Ancient Greece...

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Jemma is very excited when she joins an expedition to the island of Kamora. She hopes to learn about doing scientific research, and to find a very rare bird of paradise. She is happy to meet the famous Dr Malone and the wise Dr Al Barwani, and to help to research birds, snakes, and insects. But things start to go wrong. Someone has a terrible secret, and there is danger for Jemma – and for the bird. Who has a secret plan, and what is it? What will happen to the bird? And what will happen to Jemma?

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When his father is arrested in Dubai, Kareem has to move fast. He must show that his father is not a thief – and prove that his family is honest. For Kareem is going to marry the beautiful and intelligent Samira Al-Hussein, and she could never marry someone from a bad family. So Kareem and his brother get to work quickly – with a little help from Samira.

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'There's some bad weather out there,' Captain MacWhirr said to himself just before he sailed his ship, the Nan-Shan, into the middle of the most terrible storm in the South China Sea. The typhoon brings out the best in some men on the ship, and the worst in others. Can MacWhirr bring the ship through the storm safely? And what will happen to all the poor Chinese workers travelling home down in the ship's hold?

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‘You’re in Paris and you aren’t even happy to be here!’ said Mum. ‘So what?’ I said. ‘Places don’t make you happy, do they? People make you happy. And all my friends are in London.’ Violet’s mum moves to Paris, so she has to go too. Living in Paris as a fourteen-year-old girl should be very exciting, but Violet doesn’t like it. Her only hope is to talk to her friends from London online. But will that work? Will Violet ever enjoy Paris? And what can she do about her Mum (who is so annoying…)?

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Vic has no friends. Everyone else has friends, and it makes him angry. So, Vic makes a new name for himself online, so he can make other people feel the way he does. But soon Vic finds it difficult to control what he has created… Will Vic’s mistake hurt people, or can he stop it in time? What will happen to Vic? And what will happen to the monster he has made?

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Sara has exams to study for, but too much is happening! A girl from her school is dead, her boyfriend Luke is being strange, and her friend Carlie is keeping secrets. Could it all be connected? Sara tries to find out what’s going on. She’s a top student at school, but she’s going to have to break a few rules if she’s going to learn what’s happened to Luke. Can she solve the mystery before it’s too late?

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'For me, Watson, life is not so interesting,' says Holmes. 'I loved to read the newspaper, hoping to find some news of an interesting crime for me to investigate or a dangerous criminal for me to catch. Where are all those clever criminals these days?' Then, suddenly, a wild, excited young man runs up the stairs to Holmes' room. He has a story to tell about a strange crime that took place in Norwood. But who is the criminal? And is he dangerous? Life, for Holmes, suddenly starts to get interesting.

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'He's great, Vera,' said Angie. When Viktor Sarav takes a job at Ballantine's, Angie, and her brother Don – the young owners of the New York fashion company – are pleased. But soon there are strange deaths in the company. Is there a vampire at work at Ballantine's? Vera Donato, a company director with secrets to hide, is against Viktor. But Ed Valdemar, the company lawyer, trusts him. Who is right?

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The Bird of Happiness and Other Wise Tales

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The Bird of Happiness and Other Wise Tales

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What is the secret of happiness, or the best thing for a wife to take with her when she leaves home? How does a man pay for the smell of bread, or decide if he is lucky? What happens when a friend steals a gift meant for you, or is careless when he tries to make his dreams of a better life come true? How can you change dirt into gold, or get what you want? The eight wise tales in this collection can teach us some important lessons about life. Each story is recorded in American or British English to reflect its origin and setting.

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What does a poor young woman do when she loses her boyfriend or wants to find one? What little lies do we tell to make ourselves look better in the eyes of those that we love? How can a friend save someone who is sure that they are going to die? What happens when someone's clever plans all go wrong? These sweetly surprising short stories – about both good times and bad – are sometimes sad, and sometimes funny. But all of them are sure to make you think.

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Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories

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Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories

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The three stories in this book are about ordinary people, people like you and me; but they find themselves in surprising situations. Lord Arthur Savile, a rich man with no enemies, finds out that he must do something terrible before he can marry. Poor young Hughie Erskine gives money to an old beggar – but the beggar is not what he seems. And Lord Murchison falls in love with a mystery woman – but what is the strange secret behind the door in Cumnor Street?

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'Well, Yusuf, are you sure that you want to be a soldier?' 'I'll do my best, Uncle.' When Yusuf went to Aleppo to learn to fight under General Shirkuh, no one knew what this young man would do with his life. But years later, Yusuf became the great and chivalrous general, Saladin – the man who helped to bring Muslims together to win back the holy city of Jerusalem from the Franks. This is his story...

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Conan the Barbarian: The Jewels of Gwahlur

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Conan the Barbarian: The Jewels of Gwahlur

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Conan goes to the great, empty city of Alkmeenon. He wants to steal the Jewels of Gwahlur – but so does his enemy, Zargeba. In the city, Conan meets Muriela, who is clever and good at acting. With her help, Conan thinks he will win. But there are things happening in Alkmeenon that Conan does not understand – strange, terrible things. Will Conan get the jewels, or will Zargeba? And what is the secret of Alkmeenon?

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'Señor Zorro is on the road again, they say,' the landlord began. 'Why do I always hear his name?' cried Sergeant Gonzales angrily. Zorro fights to help the poor and weak in California under the Spanish Governor's rule. Sergeant Gonzales has promised to catch and kill him, so how does Zorro always escape? And how will Señorita Lolita – the only daughter of a fine but poor old family – choose between Zorro, the exciting outlaw, and Don Diego, the rich but boring young man who wants to marry her?

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'You said that you wanted danger, didn't you?' says McArdle, the editor of the Daily Gazette. And he sends his young reporter, Malone, on a strange journey into South America with the famous Professor Challenger. Challenger believes that he can find a lost world full of dinosaurs in the middle of the Amazon Forest. But this world is dangerous to reach, and, once the Professor and his small group of explorers arrive, things get even more dangerous for them. Will they return alive?

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Life is hard and dangerous for both people and animals in the frozen Canadian North. For a wolf like White Fang it is a continuous fight to find food – a fight in which many animals die. When White Fang meets the people of the North – first Indians and then White Men – he learns to live with them like a dog. But some men are cruel to their dogs and others are kind. Will White Fang's life be any easier now?

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Emma Woodhouse is beautiful, clever and rich. She lives alone with her father, and spends a lot of her time thinking about future husbands - for her friends. When she meets Harriet Smith, a poor girl with no family, Emma decides that she must find a husband for her. Harriet is pleased to be Emma's friend - but will Emma's matchmaking make Harriet happy?

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When his father dies a poor man, Nicholas Nickleby goes to London and takes a teaching job at Dotheboys Hall – a terrible school belonging to Mr Wackford Squeers. There he helps a poor boy called Smike who has no one to look after him. Leaving Dotheboys, Nicholas makes both friends and enemies on his journey towards better things. But will Smike, who travels with him, ever find the happy family life that he so dearly wants?

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It is the year 1627, and young d'Artagnan comes to Paris with a dream – to become a King's Musketeer. Three of these brave soldiers – Porthos, Athos and Aramis – soon become his friends. After a short time d'Artagnan has fallen in love – and into great danger. Can the three musketeers and d'Artagnan fight against the evil plans of the beautiful Milady and the cruel Cardinal Richelieu?

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'We have some wonderful mosaics in Pompeii, but I've never seen a better one than this!' After the young Roman mosaic designer Felix starts work in Pompeii, his whole life changes. There he falls in love with the beautiful Greek slave Agathe, who can see into the future. When the volcano Vesuvius sends hot ash over the city, Felix – and Agathe's brother Alcander – ride to the port of Misenum for help. But will they reach admiral Gaius Plinius in time, and will they ever see Agathe alive again?

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The Moonstone is a beautiful yellow diamond that was stolen from the statue of a Moon god in India. When Franklin Blake brings it to Rachel Verinder’s house in Yorkshire for her birthday, it brings bad luck with it. How many people will the Moonstone hurt? How many must die before the diamond’s revenge is complete?

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Miss Mary Morstan has a strange story to tell. Since her father disappeared, she has received a large pearl through the post on the same day, every year for six years. Who is sending them? And what about her father's paper with the words 'The Sign of Four' written on it?

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button & Other Stories

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button & Other Stories

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What happens when a man lives his life backwards, or a family owns a diamond as big as the Ritz Hotel? How can a boring girl become more popular, a careless young woman become more sensible, or a cut-glass bowl destroy a married woman's life? What does a young man do to save the girl that he likes from an evil ghost, or to forget old feelings for a woman when she marries another man? Read this collection of short stories by one of America's finest storytellers to find out.

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A 'Tall Tale' is a story that's hard to believe, and the five tall tales in this book all tell of ghosts. Some have dark secrets buried in the past, others bring messages for the living. Some are laughable, some are sad, and some are just evil. Sometimes there's a logical explanation for the strangest happenings, but often things cannot be explained by logic alone. Either way, you're sure to find some frightening reading between the covers of this book.

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'Conan!' cried Valeria. 'What are you doing here?' Conan the Barbarian follows Valeria the Pirate south. Together they escape from a fierce dragon, and enter a strange city in the desert. Two enemy clans live in the city, and Conan and Valeria are soon asked to join in the war between them. This adventure story – full of battles, magic, and terrible monsters – is about two friendly fighters. But who are their enemies? And what is the secret of the black pillar with the red nails in it?

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The year is 1757. The English and the French are at war in North America. Two sisters – Cora and Alice – want to visit their father, General Munro. They begin their dangerous journey with the handsome English officer, Duncan Heyward, and the Indian guide, Magua. On the way they meet friends and enemies, and many adventures. Some people will become heroes and some people will die. But what will happen to their friend Uncas, the last of the Mohican Indians?

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Why shouldn't we offer to take care of her? She could live with us at Mansfield.' In this way Mrs Norris persuades her sister, Lady Bertram, and Lady Bertram's husband, Sir Thomas, to ask their poor niece Fanny Price to live with them at Mansfield Park. At first Fanny is unhappy there. Then, after she makes friends with her young cousins, things improve. But what happens when the cousins are older, and starting to think of love?