Spratt, R. A

Someone stole the Mona Lisa. Okay, it was over a hundred years ago, but a recently uncovered letter reveals that the thief forged a copy. That means that the painting in the Louvre now is a fake. And the real Mona Lisa could be anywhere! Friday Barnes needs to find the truth, and the real painting. She's going undercover as an art student, along with her partner-in-crime-solving, Melanie, and her staggeringly good-looking boyfrenemy, Ian. As they watch the comings and goings of France's most famous art gallery, they see some very strange things. Amid digital pickpockets, guerrilla graffiti and projectile perfume, Friday soon discovers that the Paris art scene is a hotbed of crime.

"Selby hates homework. She would rather watch TV--anything to escape the tedium of school, her parents' bookshop and small-town busybodies. So Selby didn't plan to read Hamlet. She certainly never planned to meet him. This novel transports Selby, and the reader, into the cold and crime-ridden play itself. Here she meets Hamlet: heavy with grief, the young prince is overthinking and over everything. Selby can relate. But unlike Hamlet, Selby isn't afraid of making decisions. In her world, Selby is used to feeling overlooked. But in the bloody, backstabbing world of Shakespeare, Selby's good conscience and quiet courage might just save some lives, hopefully before Hamlet stabs one of her classmates"--Provided by publisher.

When Nanny Piggins discovers some startling truths about the ruthless ringmaster, the circus will never be the same. But she doesn't stop there, she also makes time to provide counselling to a Molavadinian princess with pre-wedding jitters, win a Nobel Prize while impersonating her sister and catch up with her favourite 4-tonne friend, Esmeralda the forgetful elephant.

Nanny Piggins gets in trouble with the law after some illicit tight rope walking, and is sentenced to 5,000 hours community service. But she isn't the type of pig to take her punishment lying down, not when there are old people to rescue, pirates to impersonate and a great big bus to borrow.

Instead of being in school, Derrick, Samantha and Michael find themselves in NASA's space shuttle, which Nanny Piggins manages to blast into outer space...

When Mr Green rings from a tropical island, begging to be rescued, Nanny Piggins' first instinct is to say no. However, a principle is at stake. No-one kidnaps her employer--at least not without written permission from her. So Nanny Piggins sets out to save the hapless tax lawyer, and to do so she must first dabble in a spot of bungy jumping, deceive immigration officials wearing a fake moustache and seduce the President with her most powerful weapon--the dance of the seven cakes.

Friday is not running away. Yes, she did get on a train to Norway without telling anyone where she was going, but she had to help Binky. He may or may not have been attacked by a polar bear. Now he's facing court martial for dereliction of duty. Obviously, Friday had to drop everything and travel 3000 kilometres to solve the case. The fact that it's easier to handle her feelings for Ian Wainscott if there's a continent between them is just a coincidence. When Friday arrives in Oslo, there are so many mysteries to solve. Is someone trying to keep Binky and Princess Ingrid apart? How can a painting leave a museum when all the doors are sealed? And will Melanie persuade Friday to go to the royal ball without wearing a brown cardigan? If Friday survives her trip to the remote Global Seed Vault, we may find out.

After Friday Barnes uncovered the truth about her frenemy Ian Wainscott's family dispute, it may bring an end to the friendship side of their relationship for good. As a result, Ian is determined to make Friday's life at Highcrest Academy miserable, and things go from bad to worse with the arrival of a celebrity artist with murky motivations and an over-enthusiastic PE teacher.

Friday Barnes' stay in prison hasn't dampened her curiosity and brilliantly deductive mind one bit--as soon as she gets out and back to Highcrest Academy she begins investigating her school's intrigues again. Then, Uncle Bernie urgently needs Friday's help in protecting the Uffizi Galleries in Italy from art thieves.

A new headmaster at Highcrest Academy has turned everything upside down for Friday Barnes--her extremely high IQ has fast-tracked her for graduation, but if she graduates early she may not be able to help her friend Ian escape expulsion over an incriminating pair of paints. Then, Friday investigates rumors of a stash of gold hidden on campus.