Showing results by narrator "Sarah Ovens" in All Categories

Sometimes the past is best left buried. Since the birth of baby Joe five weeks ago, Ali Baker has been struggling to cope. Starved of sleep and haunted by painful memories from the past, she's a million miles away from the polished, professional barrister she has worked so hard to become. Then her mother tragically and unexpectedly dies, leaving Ali an orphan. Haunted by her loss, Ali can't forget her mother's last words to her: There is something I really need to tell you.

The Banks family are searching for a nanny. Macaw the parrot helps out at the fish and chip shop and a stonecutter dreams of becoming an emperor.

The temperature is rising, which can only mean one thing: it's summer! Bookings are up at Hotel Flamingo, and the hotel is getting busy. Anna is excited to receive word from King Penguin royalty asking to holiday in their Royal Suite. But there's a lot to get done, and it's not easy to manage the needs of the penguins when there's a heatwave on and a huge ice shortage. Help! Can Anna get Hotel Flamingo back to its usual shining self and have happy guests all round?

Molly Thompson has lots of questions. Questions like, is her Aunt Carol an undead fiend who drinks the blood of the living? Is she secretly lurking in the attic? And is Molly's friend Lowry a descendant of a long line of Kroglin werewolves? Serious young historian Molly suspects that the creepy legends about her tourist town of Howlfair are starting to come true. But when her mother bans her from doing any further research, bookworm Molly and her friends - Lowry and guardian-cat Gabriel - become covert monster-hunters to keep Howlfair safe.

Rebecca Riley has always been a bit of a pushover. When her glamorous boss, Vanessa, asks her to jump, she doesn’t just ask how high...she asks if her boss would like her to grab a coffee on the way back down! So whilst overseeing the renovation of Vanessa’s beautiful countryside home, the last thing Rebecca ever expected was to be mistaken for her boss – or that she would even consider going along with it! Far away from the bustling city and her boss’s demanding ways, could she pretend to be Vanessa and swap lives, just for a little while?

The town of Spindrift is frequented by pirates, Shadow Mages and charlatans. It's also home to the Orphanage School, where Finlay lives with Glim, Taya and Eli. Just outside town is the painfully posh Brathelthwaite Boarding School, home to Honey Bee, Hamish and Victor, Duke of Ainsley. When the two schools compete at the Spindrift Tournament, stakes are high, tensions are higher and some people are out to win at any cost. Before long, the orphans and the boarding school are in an all-out war. And then Whispering Wars break out, and Spindrift is thrust onto the front lines.

Once upon a time, villagers would whisper their desires to The Book of Fortunes, and its pages would reveal how to obtain them. All was well until someone used the book for evil. Afterward, the branches of the Forest Grimm snatched the book away and the village withered. The villagers tried to make amends with the forest, but every time someone crossed its border, they never returned. Despite the warning from her fortune-teller grandmother, Clara embarks on the journey into the deadly forest to procure the Book of Fortunes – to reverse the curse and save her mother and village.

What is competitive gaming, and where did it come from? What makes it so exciting? The bitter esports team and country rivalries, the scandals, the money, the last-minute Hail Mary plays; it’s all here, brought to you with the trademark wit - and access - of the industry’s most respected and experienced broadcaster. He’ll even tell you how to spell it. This is the world of esports according to its most famous presenter.

It's the end of the summer, which means it's time for Carnival! And Hotel Flamingo, the sunniest hotel in town, is all set to join the party. Animal Boulevard is a riot of colour, and every establishment is preparing a float for the annual procession. Anna is determined to win the prize for Hotel Flamingo for the best display, despite rival hotel the Glitz having won it every year since the Carnival began. But disaster strikes! The rainy season comes early, and high winds and torrential rain lash down across the Boulevard. Can Anna save the Carnival and the day?

A frozen palace and a sparkling secret - an epic Russian adventure awaits! Anna Orlov might be the luckiest girl in the world. She is the daughter of a Russian Count and lives in a beautiful snowbound palace that is home to a menagerie of wonderful animals: tigers, wolfhounds and, of course, horses. And she is the owner of a beautiful heirloom - a diamond necklace with a secret past. But when Anna defies her father's wishes and secretly raises a young colt alongside her pet tiger cub, her actions will have far-reaching consequences.

On Animal Boulevard the snow is finally melting after a long, quiet winter and Hotel Flamingo is ready to embrace the new season and new guests. Anna knows she needs to come up with a plan to get the hotel buzzing again! And what does Hotel Flamingo have that no one else has? One of the best chefs in town - Madame Le Pig! In a stroke of inspiration Anna decides that the hotel will put on a Battle of the Chefs.

Wes Anderson has quickly become one of the auteurs of modern American cinema, creating his own distinctive world with pastel colour palettes, meticulous set design, nostalgic soundtracks and a kooky troupe of actors. In this pocket guide, Sophie Monks Kaufman navigates his off-kilter world, strolling across the quadrangles of Rushmore Academy, diving beneath the sea with Team Zissou and checking in to the Grand Budapest Hotel to discover how an awkward indie film nerd from Texas became the most celebrated director of his generation.

On her tenth birthday, Meticulous ‘Metty’ Jones receives her fate, as all children do, in the form of a magical tattoo on her hand. She hopes that her tattoo will reveal an exciting destiny: travel, discovery or adventure. What appears is a skull in the palm of a violet glove – Metty’s fate is to be a murderer. When Metty’s father disappears in mysterious circumstances, Aunt Magnificent takes her to the glittering city of New London, filled with magic, wonder and enchantment.

Fact: Ember and Ness are best friends. There’s nothing more to say about it. It is what it is. It is what will always be. Ember and Ness. Then Ness dies. It is sudden and unexpected and leaves Ember completely empty. How can this be? When Ember finds a way into the Afterworld, she determines to bring Ness back. Because that’s what friends do, isn’t it? They rescue each other. They help. They never give up. Ember and Ness. That don’t change. A powerful, poignant, darkly comic and deeply moving story about friendship at its most extraordinary.

When Rosie's best friend has an affair with her husband, the consequences reverberate through the lives of two families. Relationships are torn apart, friendships shattered and childish innocence destroyed. Her daughter Daisy's fragile hold on reality begins to unravel when a letter arrives that opens old wounds. Rosie's son, Max, blames himself for everything that happened. And her ex-husband, Nick, has his own version of events.

Moss hates her life. As the daughter of the executioner in the Tower of London, it’s her job to catch the heads in her basket after her father has chopped them off. When she discovers a hidden tunnel that takes her to freedom, she learns that her life isn’t what she believes it to be. Her search for the truth takes her on a journey along the great River Thames. Could the answers lie deep in its murky depths?

1997. Seventeen-year-old Laura Bow has invented a rudimentary artificial intelligence and named it Organon. At first it's intended to be a sounding board for her teenage frustrations, a surrogate best friend; but as she grows older, Organon grows with her. As the world becomes a very different place, technology changes the way we live, love and die; massive corporations develop rival intelligences to Laura's, ones without safety barriers or morals; and Laura is forced to decide whether to share her creation with the world.

Guernsey, 1940. As war storms through Europe, Churchill orders the evacuation of all military personnel from the island. Boats ferry soldiers and vulnerable young children to England, leaving their parents and loved ones behind to face the invading German army on their own. One of the few remaining policemen on the island, Jack must protect not only his friends and family, but also the woman he loves: Johanna, a Jewish nurse from Germany, whose secret faith could prove fatal to them both.

Rudger is Amanda’s best friend. He doesn't exist, but nobody's perfect. Only Amanda can see her imaginary friend – until the sinister Mr Bunting arrives at Amanda's door. Mr Bunting hunts imaginaries. Rumour says that he eats them. And he's sniffed out Rudger. Soon Rudger is alone, and running for his imaginary life. But can a boy who isn’t there survive without a friend to dream him up?

Libby and Jack are the happiest they’ve ever been. Thanks to their dear friend, 80-year-old Sid, they’ve just bought their first house together, and it's the beginning of the life they've always dreamed of. But the universe has other plans for Libby and Jack, and a devastating twist of fate shatters their world. All of a sudden life is looking very different, and unlikely though it seems, might Sid be the one person who can help Libby and Jack move forward when what they loved the most has been lost?