Spider and the King by Diana Kidd

Sam leaves home without thinking it through. He is tired of not been noticed, and jealous of all the attention his sister Kate is getting since her life-changing accident. However, life on the streets in the city is not all it seemed cracked up to be and Sam feels an intense loneliness. Not only this, but he is also hassled by a gang who seem out to cause him harm. Then, it's Rissole to his rescue and little by little Rissole tests him and allows him into his life. They both share a love of a stray kitten called Pinball and both have their own issues to come to terms with. Rissole wants desperately to find his mum and Sam, now nicknamed Spider, struggles to come to terms with his feelings of guilt at having left home and the enormous obstacle that his sister faces.

The White Horse Gang by Nina Bawden

Sam Peach didn't expect to enjoy having his cousin Rose to stay for moths on end. He certainly didn't expect that his hero, Abe Tanner, would like her enough to give her his dead rats, but then Rose was soon to become an indispensable member of the White Horse Gang. And here they were thinking about kidnapping someone in order to raise money so Rose could go to America to see her parents. However, their plan backfires and they find themselves in danger and a real tragedy lurks just around the corner. If you like adventure and suspense, why not try this book.

Author Nina Bawden and her husband Austen Kark, the former head of BBC World Services, were travelling in the train that was involved in the Potter's Bar train crash in May 2002. Nina suffered extensive injuries but survived, however, sadly, Austen was killed.

I Hate Fridays by Rachel Flynn

Well I must admit I love Fridays, because the weekend is just around the corner. This is a book of diary entries written by the students at Kola Hill Primary. Read it to find out just why they hate Fridays. The first character introduced in the book. Is Peter Karlos. He is shown to be completely arrogant and holds a very high opinion of himself, believing himself to be more intelligent than all of his peers in the 4th grade. Kathryn is the second character introduced in the book. She is a smart girl but also holds an extraordinarily high opinion of herself (much like Peter) and is incredibly pretentious. Joan Smith is Kathryn's best friend at the beginning of the series, although as the series progresses she becomes more of an independent character in her own right. Sam Lancer is portrayed as a typical immature grade school boy who revels in many gross and puerile things and loves being able to constantly humiliate and tease the girls. David Pierce is a relatively normal boy and best friends with Thadeus after having to sit next to him in 4th grade. He is also the object of many different girls' affections.