Max used to be an ordinary boy...until he offered himself up to Death in the place of his little sister, and somehow ended up as Death's assistant! Life in the Underworld isn't all bad though, despite housekeeper Liah's abysmal cooking.Above ground, someone has worked out how to bring the dead back to life, with potentially universe-destroying consequences. Can Max and Liah stop the culprit in time? Or will Max get a lot more than he bargained for? A darkly comic fantasy adventure in the Black Cats series: short, gripping stories for newly confident readers aged 8-12.

Nic's friends laugh at him all the time: when he gets chased by a stray dog, when he spills juice on himself and when he gets into trouble at school. After a disasterous Halloween party, Nic can't risk giving them another excuse to laugh at him, so when the boys visit the local haunted house he accepts a dare to go inside. The trouble is, the boys don't realise that this party has a host, and he isn't very friendly... Bloomsbury High Low books encourage and support reading practice by providing gripping, age-appropriate stories for struggling and reluctant readers, those with dyslexia, or those with English as an additional language. Printed on tinted paper and with a dyslexia friendly font, The Bet is aimed at readers aged 11+ and has a manageable length (64 pages) and reading age (9+).Produced in association with reading experts at CatchUp, a charity which aims to address underachievement caused by literacy and...

The sinister Prankster preys on 12-year-olds in Scott's town. He challenges them to games, with their heart's desire if they win. None of them ever win. None of them ever come back.Scott accepts the Prankster's challenge in the hope of saving his sister's life. But as the game goes on he realises he's made a terrible mistake. Because losing is bad...but winning could be worse.Highly readable, exciting books that take the struggle outof reading, Wired Up encourages and supports reading practice by providing gripping, age-appropriate stories for struggling and reluctant readers aged 11+, at a manageable length (80 pages) and reading level (9+). Produced inassociation with reading experts at CatchUp, a charity which aims to address underachievement caused by literacy and numeracy difficulties.

Everyone knows that you don't go into Ma Jessop's woods. Everyone but new boy Josh. He's not scared by spooky stories about a wild old witch who drinks human blood. To prove his point to Ella and her friends, Josh goes into the quarry at the heart of the woods and steals a souvenir. But suddenly, terrible things start to happen. Can Ella and Josh find a way to appease Ma Jessop before anyone gets really hurt? Or is the horror only just beginning... Highly readable, exciting books that take the struggle out of reading, the Wired and Wired Upseries encourage and support reading practice by providing gripping, age-appropriate stories at a manageable length and reading level.