Bøger af Melvin Burgess

Brandon is a boaster - he says he is brilliant at lots of things. Then he is challenged to count up to ten million. So Brandon starts: one, two, three . . . and before long he is up to one thousand. Everyone around him is bewildered and annoyed: his friend Waris, his teachers and Miss Hexx, the head. But Brandon can't stop counting. And the higher he counts, the more everyone takes an interest, when Brandon reaches 30,000 he goes viral, by the time he gets to one million, he has a manager and a stadium full of fans counting with him. And then strange, impossible things start happening. The numbers are taking over everything . . .A fun and contemporary story about rise and fall of celebrity, and ultimately staying true to yourself.

Melvin Burgess' dark fantasy epics, inspired by Norse mythology, now available as one sensational duology for a new generation of fans London is in ruins. The once-glorious city is now a gated wasteland cut off from the rest of the country and in the hands of two warring families - the Volsons and the Connors. In Bloodtide, Val Volson offers the hand of his young daughter, Signy, to Connor as a truce. At first the marriage seems to have been blessed by the gods, but betrayal and deceit are never far away in this violent world, and the lives of both families are soon to be changed for ever... A generation later, in Bloodsong, fifteen-year-old Sigurd, son of King Sigmund, is the last surviving member of the Volson clan. His father's kingdom - the former city of London - is gone. Armed with a legendary weapon, Sigurd faces death, fire and torment as he travels through Hel and back to unite his country once again.

I can give it up any time I want . . . Sometimes maybe you need an experience. The experience can be a person or it can be a drug. The experience opens a door that was there all the time but you never saw it. Or maybe it blasts you into outer space. This time it was Lily and Rob and Gemma spending all that time to make me feel one of them, but it was the drug too. All that crap--about Gemma leaving me, about Mum and Dad, about leaving home. All that negative stuff. All the pain . . . It just floated away from me, I just floated away from it . . . up and away . . . I leaned back and I looked at the book and I looked at them and Gemma smiled at me, a big soft smile, and her eyes were like marbles. Better? she said. Smack is the winner of the 1996 Carnegie Medal in Literature.

Loki, born within the heart of a fire in the hollow of a tree-trunk, arrives in Asgard as an outsider. Over time, he goes on to become one of Odin's closest allies and plays an integral role in the rise of the Golden Era of the Gods and their eventual destruction. This book, told from the perspective of Loki, the trickster god, charts the history of Norse mythology, starting with the creation of Heaven and Earth and leading to the eventual downfall of the gods. Told deftly with complexity and nuance, we hear the famous stories of Odin's self-sacrifice on the World Tree and the murder of Balder the Beautiful, and how Loki fathered Odin's horse Sleipnir. This is a retelling of the cycle of Norse myths for modern times, written with the vividness and earthy, sometimes shocking humour for which this prize-winning author is famous.

The Bloods are in control and they're desperate to turn Britain into the world they want to see: right, white, Christian supremist. Anyone who they call abnormal is a target. Amidst the chaos of civil war the country is on the move as small militia groups fight each other and a sea of refugees escapes the cities and the pursuing Bloods. When her home is destroyed in a bombing raid, Marti must strike out on a mission of her own - to save her father and get his vital software into the right hands. But Marti is mixed race and trans and has her young brother in tow. Crossing into enemy territory could prove suicidal. Yet Marti's enemies haven't reckoned with her indomitable will to survive - and the gun she carries, which has three bullets . . .

This 20th Anniversary edition of the classic novel comes with an introduction from former children's laureate Malorie Blackman and bonus content following its controversial history, from its writing to when it won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. It was a love story. Me, Gemma and junk. I thought it was going to last forever. Tar loves Gemma, but Gemma doesn't want to be tied down. She wants to fly. But no one can fly forever. One day, finally, you have to come down. Melvin Burgess' most ambitious and complex novel is a vivid depiction of a group of teenagers in the grip of addiction. Told from multiple viewpoints, Junk is a powerful, unflinching novel about heroin. Once you take a hit, you will never be the same again.

The Bloods are in control and they're desperate to turn Britain into the world they want to see: right, white, Christian supremist. Anyone who they call abnormal is a target. Amidst the chaos of civil war the country is on the move as small militia groups fight each other and a sea of refugees escapes the cities and the pursuing Bloods. When her home is destroyed in a bombing raid, Marti must strike out on a mission of her own - to save her father and get his vital software into the right hands. But Marti is mixed race and trans and has her young brother in tow. Crossing into enemy territory could prove suicidal. Yet Marti's enemies haven't reckoned with her indomitable will to survive - and the gun she carries, which has three bullets . . .

Bea has started to hear and see things that no one else can - creatures, voices, visions. Then strangers visit Bea and tell her she is different: she has the rare powers of a witch. All Bea wants to do is get on with her life, and to get closer to Lars, the mysterious young man she has met at the skate park.

PART II Fifteen-year-old Sigurd, son of King Sigmund, is the last surviving member of the Volson clan. His father''s kingdom -- the former city of London -- is gone. And his father''s knife, a gift from Odin himself, has been shattered to dust. Now, Odin''s eye is upon him. Armed with a powerful sword forged from the remnants of his father''s knife, Sigurd will face death, fire, and torment. He must travel through Hel and back...to unite his country once again.

A haunting, powerful drama from Carnegie Medalist Melvin Burgess about a struggle to return to life. A girl in a coma. A desperate mother. Can they both persist long enough to find a way back to one another? Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+

Dino's girlfriend won't give him what he wants. Jonathon is afraid of what his mates will think of the girl he likes. And Ben is having extra lessons from his sexy teacher. Three seventeen-year-old boys discover sex for the first time: but do they really know what they're doing?

In 2012-2013, a year-long conversation between writers took place at 17 literary festivals around the world, from Jaipur to Krasnoyarsk, and from Melbourne to Berlin. This book provides an international perspective on the issues facing writers and writing in general, and the present-day novel in particular.

Tam is unhappy at home and often takes refuge in the ruins of Thowt It Farm. But then one day he is transported back to the Second World War. Alone and afraid, he makes friends with May, who has been rescued from a bombed-out house. She tries to persuade him to stay at the farm, but Tam is afraid of being trapped in the past forever.

When Beth wakes up one morning covered in dirt, she puts it down to an extreme case of sleep-walking. But when reports of a desecrated grave start to circulate, her night-time wanderings take on a sinister air. Soon the city is being plagued by strange sightings and sudden disappearances.

Everyone says fourteen-year-old BILLIE is nothing but trouble. A fighter. A danger to her family and friends.But her care worker sees someone different. Her classmate ROB is big, strong; he can take care of himself and his brother.But his violent stepdad sees someone to humiliate. And CHRIS is struggling at school; he just doesn't want to be there.But his dad sees a useless no-hoper. Billie, Rob and Chris each have a story to tell. But there are two sides to every story, and the question is . . . who do you believe?

It was a mistake for Ben to tell the Hunter that there were still wolves in Surrey. For the Hunter was a fanatic, always on the lookout for unusual prey. Driven by an ambition to wipe out the last English wolves, the Hunter set out on a savage quest. But what happens when the Hunter becomes the hunted?

His most substantial book to date, this compelling story of a teenager caught in a corrupt 1980s Care Home is a powerful study of a particularly highly-charged and distressing subject.

Two runaway teenagers are drawn into a web of heroin addiction and prostitution when their search for adventure takes an unfortunate turn.

Narrated from two very different perspectives, this is the tale of two boys' efforts to become highwaymen to fool their school teacher. Further danger lies in store when they realize that they've strayed onto another robber's patch. The story examines a fast-changing period of history.