Agent Zaiba Investigates: the Smuggler's Secret


Book Description

When Zaiba and her team visit a historical ship wreck, they can't wait to see the mystery cargo found on board! But when the priceless artefact goes missing, it's up to Zaiba to find it before it's lost again forever.




Agent Zaiba Investigates: the Missing Diamonds


Book Description

Determined to be the world's greatest detective, Zaiba is always on the lookout for a crime to solve. She knows everything there is to know about running an investigation - in theory... At her cousin's Mehndi party, Zaiba gets her first challenge: to discover the identity of the VIP staying at the same hotel. With the help of her best friend Poppy and brother Ali, Zaiba puts her sleuthing skills to the test. And when the celebrity's precious dog disappears, along with its priceless diamond collar, it's up to the trio to save the day! The first in a fun, fresh and exciting new detective series, for fans of Robin Stevens, Katherine Woodfine, HIGH RISE MYSTERYand NANCY DREW.




Agent Zaiba Investigates: the Haunted House


Book Description

Determined to be the world's greatest detective, Zaiba is always on the lookout for a crime to solve! When a new family moves to the village, Zaiba is intrigued to hear about the strange happenings in their home. Things go missing, objects are smashed and unfriendly messages are painted on the walls. There have always been rumours that the house is haunted, but is a ghost really causing all this trouble? Zaiba and her team are convinced that the culprit is very much alive - and won't stop until they get what they want... The third book in a fun, fresh and exciting new detective series, for readers not quite ready for Robin Stevens, Katherine Woodfine, HIGH RISE MYSTERY and NANCY DREW.




Ruby Redfort Blink and You Die


Book Description

Got a sixth sense for trouble? Read on, buster. Our favorite girl detective calls on her gut instincts in an exciting grand finale of the Ruby Redfort series. Ruby Redfort: you can count on her when the ice starts to crack. Falling through the air at 120 miles per hour? Just relax and think fast. But now even Ruby Redfort is running scared. A bunch of people want her dead, and worst of all, one of them is on her team. When your name is first on a mastermind’s hit list, do you lock the doors, switch off the lights, and wait for someone else to do something? Or do you get out there and save yourself? If you’re Ruby Redfort, genius code breaker and undercover agent, the choice is clear: death or glory. In a satisfying series finale, surprises are in store and Spectrum’s backstory comes to light as fans bid good-bye to Ruby Redfort, every smart kid’s smart kid.




Agent Zaiba Investigates: the Poison Plot


Book Description

Zaiba goes to the Village Green to help at the summer fete, but has to uncover a cupcake poisoner.




Bindu's Bindis


Book Description

A companion to Kelkar's The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh, this picture book features a little girl named Bindu whose bindis connect her to family and help her find courage to compete in the school talent show. This charming picture book is about a little girl who loves her bindis (and the many creative shapes they come in!). The bindis are also a connection to her Nani who lives in India. When Nani comes to visit Bindu and brings the bindis to her, it is just in time to wear something new to the school talent show. Bindu and Nani work together to shine their brightest and embrace their sparkle, even when they stand out from the crowd.




From Third World to First: The Singapore Story, 1965-2000


Book Description

Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when independence was thrust upon it in 1965. Today the former British trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis with one of the world’s highest per capita income. The story of that transformation is told here by Singapore’s charismatic, controversial founding father Lee Kuan Yew. From Third World To First continues where the best-selling first volume, The Singapore Story, left off, and brings up to date the story of Singapore’s dramatic rise. It was first published in 2000. Delving deep into his own meticulous notes and previously unpublished papers and cabinet records, Lee details the extraordinary efforts it took for an island city-state in Southeast Asia to survive, with just “a razor’s edge” to manoeuvre in, as Albert Winsemius, Singapore’s economic advisor in the 1960s, put it.We read how a young man of 42 and his cabinet colleagues finished off the communist threat to the fledging state’s security, and began the long, hard work of building a nation: creating an army from scratch, stamping out corruption, providing mass public housing, and masterminding a national airline and airport. Lee writes frankly about his trenchant approach to political opponents and his often unorthodox views on human rights, democracy and inherited intelligence, aiming always “to be correct, not politically correct”. Nothing about Singapore escaped his watchful eye: whether choosing shrubs for roadsides, restoring the romance of historic Raffles Hotel of persuading young men to marry women as well-educated as themselves. Today’s safe, tidy Singapore certainly bears his stamp, but as he writes, “If this is a nanny state, I am proud to have fostered one.”




A Gathering of Giants


Book Description

Take up the quest in the hilariously epic finale of the How to be a Hero series, A Gathering of Giants, from Cat Weldon, illustrated by Katie Kear. Unlikely hero Whetstone and banished Valkyrie Lotta are in hiding. Their quest to find the magic harp strings before Loki, the trickster God, can use them to bring chaos to the Nine Worlds has come to a dead end. And with the evil Valkyrie Glinting-Fire wreaking havoc on earth, nowhere is safe. Especially when Lotta can't control her strange new powers. So when they overhear that Whetstone's mother, and the second harp string, are in imprisoned in the land of the Frost Giants, Whetstone decides that in order to beat Loki, he's going to have to act like a 'proper' hero and leave the thief he used to be behind. But with an army of giants, traitorous trolls, brainwashed Valkyries and dangerous long-lost secrets, how can Whetstone and Lotta hope to win when they can't figure out how to be a hero and themselves at the same time? The explosive finale in this funny, fast-paced series about how to be a friend, what it means to be a hero and just how confusing the Norse Gods really are.




I Am Not an Octopus


Book Description

Can a scaredy octopus in denial embrace his true identity? A goofy octopod finally dares to take the plunge—and dip his tentacles into the water he fears. Terry is definitely not an octopus. He’s just a regular guy who happens to have a few extra limbs and a love of canned tuna. But again, he is NOT an octopus. If he were an octopus, he’d be living in the ocean, right? Not to mention going to Super Octopus Fantasea Adventure World. He definitely wouldn't be on land, unless he was afraid of the water. Which he absolutely isn’t! OK, maybe, just maybe, it’s time he learned how to swim? Kids will smile at this very silly story about being brave, facing your fears, and accepting who you really are.




"Everyone Lives in Fear"


Book Description

Key recommendations - A note on methodology. -- Background: People, the India-Pakistan dispute, political history, recent developments, and peace talks. - The people of Jammu and Kashmir - India-Pakistan dispute - Political history inside Jammu and Kashmir. -- Legal causes of abuses and impunity. Preventing arrest: Section 45 of the Criminal Procedure Code - Preventing prosecution: Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code - The Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act and Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act -- The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 -- Legal weaknesses in the Human Rights Protection Act -- Weaknesses in military court jurisdiction. -- The origins of impunity: failure of accountability in Jammu and Kashmir since the start of the conflict. A. Shootings at Gawakadal, Srinagar - B. Death of Mirwaiz Maulvi Mohammad Farooq - C. The Beijbehara killings - D. The killing of Jalil Andrabi - E. Chattisinghpora massacre and ensuing killings. -- Recent abuses and continuing impunity. A. Killings - B. "Disappearances"--C. Torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment - D. Arbitrary detentions. -- Militant abuses. Militant goups and Pakistan's role in the conflict. - A. Politically motivated killings, summary executions, and intimidation - B. Direct and indiscriminate attacks on civilians - Militant attacks on schools and recruitment of children. -- Recommendations. To the government of India - To the state government of Jammu and Kashmir - To militant groups - To the government of Pakistan - To the United Nations - To the international community, in particular those states with significant influence on India, Pakistan, and militant groups. -- Acknowledgements.