Cambridge International Book Centre

Six baby meerkats sad and far from home! Uncle Jack and the children come to the rescue! When Uncle Jack and the children find some homesick baby meerkats they decide to take them home to the Kalahari Desert. Getting there is easy in Uncle Jack's balloon. But the desert is a dangerous place. Can they keep them safe?

Judges' Comments: This story is good for young learners because it is a nice mixture of adventure, fantasy and reality, with an animal conservation angle. It also has a cool family theme and intelligent child characters. Well-written, nice design and fun to read.

Jack is on his summer holidays. He's at the seaside with his grandma and grandad. Alfie is Jack's dog. He's on holiday too! Follow Jack and Alfie in their fun adventures at the beach.

Judges' Comments: The lively, child-friendly design and enjoyable beach theme attract young children. There are also fun activities that make children think. Well written, nice fonts and excellent art.

Enjoy this tale from Morocco and find out how the hungry donkey helps Mansour.

Judges' Comments: The illustrations are awesome; the red, brown and maroon colours really capture the exotic essence of North Africa. This story of a boy helping his old uncle has a good moral and a nice ending.

Arman, a teenage refugee, makes an epic journey across Europe, often in the hands of people smugglers. He lives and works as an illegal immigrant in the UK until one day love comes into his life.

Judges' Comments: This original story is filled with adventure that compels the reader through to the end. The content is especially relevant for adult learners - touching on conflict, economics, prejudice, and romance. The illustrations are supportive of the meaning. There are no exercises to distract from the story.

Twins, Andy and Mary, are in California on holiday with their parents. Mary takes some photos with her new camera and the twins soon discover that someone does not want to be photographed. Why?

Judges' Comments: This original story has a fast-moving plot with a number of surprising twists. The illustrations are helpful and the language is well-controlled. The story introduces a number of social issues that give the story relevance for young adult and adult readers.

As a new student at Brenton College, Bobby Harris has many things to worry about-but his biggest problem is his new roommate, Ash! Because of Ash, Bobby can't sleep, study, or work properly. The problem is, how does he tell Ash without losing a roommate and a friend?

Judges' Comments: This original story is very relevant for young adults and adult students. Although there are quite a number of characters, the action focuses on the two main characters, whose personal differences are easy to relate to. The illustrations are well done and contribute to the comprehensibility of the story. Exercises are not disruptive since they are all at the end.

Harry doesn't live a typical teenage life. His dad works away from home and his mother needs a lot of help, so he can't see his friends after school or at weekends. Then Harry sees a competition as a chance for his family to take a break. But the competition changes Harry's life more than he could ever expect.

Judges' Comments: This is an intriguing book, with an excellent plot. The reader is kept on edge, wondering what will happen to Harry. Will he get to go on a holiday?

Alice is an Agony Aunt on her school website. Students write to her with their problems and she answers them. But how can Alice give advice when she's got so many problems of her own?

Judges' Comments: Alice writes an advice column for her high school newspaper. But who is Alice to give advice to her classmates on their problems? She has her own! The ending of this well-written story is a surprise.

Charles "Chuck" Kingston is studying business so he can take over his father's company. But his father doesn't know that Chuck's real love is free running. When things start to go wrong, Chuck learns he can't run from his problems forever.

Judges' Comments: The story revolves around the all-too common situation of conflict between a father and son. The reader is quickly drawn into the plot, wondering how it will ever be resolved.

Mean and miserable Ebenezer Scrooge who only cares about making money has a rude awakening on Christmas Eve to how sad and lonely his life really is.

Judges' Comments: This is one graphic novel which has a rare combination of excellent artwork and skillful retelling. Potential to engage readers from start to finish.

The story of Buck, a domestic dog who is suddenly stolen and sold to gold prospectors. In this new - and hard - life, Buck's natural instincts are awakened to the call of the wild.

Judges' Comments: An interesting story. The author does well to keep the language relatively simple without sacrificing the feel of the story. Full of action from start to finish and this will appeal to young readers.

Sephy Hadley and Callum McGregor are two young people in love. But Sephy is a Cross, daughter of a government minister, and Callum is a Nought. In their world, Crosses and Noughts cannot be friends. Must they become enemies? Or is there hope for them - and for their unhappy country?

Judges' Comments: The story is interesting, and the ending is compelling. The magic is in the plot - black people showing superiority over a white minority and this adds to serious thought-provocation. It will leave readers with as many questions as answers when they finish.

Joe is a young city trader, and he'll do anything to be successful. Anything. So when a mysterious man called Rey Todd offers him everything he's ever wanted, how can Joe say no? Of course, there's always a price to pay...

Judges' Comments: This is a gripping story, and a moral tale for our times. A clever up-dating of the legend of Doctor Faustus, relevant to us all. The Devil has many disguises...

Nick Carraway is drawn into the dark world of Gatsby - a world of hidden frustrations and superficial relationships which perfectly illustrates the "careless and confused" nature of America's Jazz Age.

Judges' Comments: Richard Larkham should be very proud of his excellent adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece. Gatsby, the dreamer, lives in a magnificent house and can buy anything he wants --- except for one thing...

In the early 1990s Katy, a young reporter, arrives in Sarajevo, a city under siege, and receives conflicting advice from two colleagues. 'Of all the wars I've been in,' a news cameraman tells her, 'this is the one where it's not possible to 'be objective'. You can't be objective about what's going on here.' 'This is not my war or your war,' an Italian journalist explains. 'We just report what we see, but we stay outside it. We can't get too involved. We mustn't get too near.' But Katy does get too near...

Judges' Comments: A moving story of love and death during the siege of Sarajevo. A young reporter learns more about the beauty and the ugliness of humanity in a few short months than she has previously learnt during the whole of her life.