Paupers

by Mary Chapman

Published 11 August 2013
It's 1834 in England, and Lydia Maddison and her family have nowhere to go. Their father has left them - and left them with nothing. So they begin at the workhouse as paupers, in Victorian England. It's a hard way to live. Lydia's son Tom and his sister Rose need to summon all their strength and ingenuity to survive. What does the future hold for the Maddison family? A final note at the end of the book offers some historical background to the Poor Laws and workhouses in nineteenth-century England.

An eye-opening tale that is sobering but ultimately uplifting. Based on real historical events, and drawing parallels with our lives today, this is an evocative narrative that will appeal to children who are curious about the past and who want a story with a little more grit than the usual books for their age range.

The Cold Fusion series is aimed at young readers aged 9 - 12 and contains titles written by many different authors:

This is a series designed for children who like a challenge and caters for the more able - though not necessarily the keen - reader. The books are out of the ordinary, designed to grip children who often aren't stimulated by general fiction for their age group. Cold Fusion is for readers who are curious, enjoy the challenge and like thinking outside the box. The five titles include four fiction and one non- fiction. These titles prove incredibly popular with certain readers and the books have won various awards

This pack contains one copy of each of the following books from the Cold Fusion series:

The Secret Code Menace
Never Odd or Even
The Secret Message
Paupers
Why Haven't We Seen Aliens

How Do We Know Anything?

by Stephen Rickard

Published 1 January 2025
Sometimes the most innocent questions are the hardest to answer. Is the earth really round? Did Christopher Columbus really discover America? Does three plus eight always make eleven? How do you know? How do you know anything? This is a light-hearted, stimulating and provocative journey through the jungles of fact and fiction, knowledge and wisdom, and an invitation for you to learn to think for yourself. Are you the victim of other people's thinking? How can you be sure?

This is a wonderful non-fiction book from the Cold Fusion series, which offers deep insights to inquiring minds in a way that is simple yet not patronising. Light-hearted, stimulating and entertaining, this book will answer at least some of the questions that a curious child wants to know the answers to. .

Never Odd or Even

by John Townsend

Published 11 December 2013
Here's a detective story with a difference. Elliot is twelve - and he thinks outside the box. Numbers are his thing - and letters. So when 'the biggest mystery that struck our school in the history of the world' needs to be solved, Elliot is the one to call on. But the solution lies inside the book itself - only it's locked away in a series of puzzles and palindromes. Can you find the clues, solve the puzzles and find the culprit? In this mind-boggling detective story with a twist, the reader is the true detective!

A mind-boggling detective story with a twist - where the reader is the true detective! One of the amazing books from the Cold Fusion series, this story is ideal for more able reluctant readers who appreciate letter and number patterns. The clues to the mystery can be found hidden in the pages of the book, providing something different from usual detective stories.

If there really is alien life elsewhere in the Universe, then it's reasonable to ask why we haven't seen it. Surely planet Earth must have been visited by aliens, if they exist. Does that mean that alien life doesn't exist? This book uses our knowledge of the universe, some simple maths and a little bit of intelligent speculation to take a sober look at the chances of our actually meeting alien life. After all, we will only meet up if both of us are in the right place at the right time. The Universe is a big place - and it has been around for a long time. Perhaps we were "out" when they visited us?

This is a wonderful non-fiction book which offers deep insights to inquiring minds in a way that is simple yet not patronising. Light-hearted, stimulating and entertaining, this book will answer at least some of the questions that a curious child wants to know the answers to.