John Escott
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?
Around the World in Eighty Days
Jules Verne
Text adaptation by Bill Bowler
'Today you can go round the world in eighty days,' says Phileas Fogg.
'Do it, and I pay you 20,000 pounds,' 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. And with the help of his servant, Passepartout, Fogg travels in many ways - from train to elephant - and has some surprising adventures on the way.
Blackbeard
Retold by John Escott
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...
Changing Places
Alan Hines
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.
Heidi
New
Johanna Spyri
Retold by Paul Davenport
'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?
Hercules
Retold by Janet Hardy-Gould
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?
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
Jules Verne
Text adaptation by Merinda Wilson
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 Vernes 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?
Kidnap!
John Escott
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.
Mulan
Retold by Janet Hardy-Gould
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?
