Chocolate Girls

Chocolate Girls
Author: Annie Murray
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2010-11-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0330527142

In Annie Murray’s bestselling Chocolate Girls, three very different women work together at Cadbury’s Bournville factory, where their lives become entwined by war and work – and a child called David. Edie marries young to escape her unhappy family home. Widowed at nineteen, and having lost her child from the marriage, she faces the war grieving and lonely. Then one night during the Blitz, an infant mysteriously abandoned during the bombing is handed into her care . . . Ruby, meanwhile, doesn’t want to be left behind in the wedding stakes, and settles for marriage with Frank. Finally there’s Janet, kind-hearted and susceptible to male charm, who is hurt desperately by an affair with a married man. David, the child who steals Edie’s heart as she brings him up through a time none of them will ever forget, is the love of all their lives. And when David is old enough to wonder who he really is, he leads Edie through struggle and heartache to a life and love she would never have dreamed of . . . Chocolate Girls is followed by the captivating sequel, The Bells of Bournville Green.

Cherry Crush

Cherry Crush
Author: Cathy Cassidy
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2011
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0141325224

Cherry Costello's life is about to change forever. She and Dad are moving to Somerset where a new mum and a bunch of brand-new sisters await. And on Cherry's first day there she meets Shay Fletcher; with suntanned skin and sea-green eyes he's the kind of boy who should carry a government health warning.

Secrets of the Chocolate Girls

Secrets of the Chocolate Girls
Author: Annie Murray
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2022-04-14
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 152906497X

From Annie Murray, the bestselling author of The Chocolate Girls and The Bells of Bournville Green, comes another gritty family saga about love, war and chocolate . . . September 1940, Birmingham. While her husband and daughter work at the Cadbury's Bournville factory, Ann Gilby has her hands full at home with her youngest Martin and other daughter, Sheila newly returned home with baby Elaine. With Sheila's husband away doing his bit in the RAF, Ann knows she should be grateful to have all her children safe under one roof. But she can't help but fear for their uncertain future as bombs fall ever closer to her Birmingham home. Part of her yearns for the carefree days of her youth when she also worked the line at Cadburys, filling trays of chocolate shells. But mostly Ann tries not to think of the past at all since that would mean she would have to confront her oldest secret, one she's kept since the last war and the one that could easily rip her family apart . . .

Chocolate Box Girls: Coco Caramel

Chocolate Box Girls: Coco Caramel
Author: Cathy Cassidy
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2013-06-06
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 014197317X

Another delicious book in the Chocolate Box Girls series, a sequel to Cherry Crush, Marshmallow Skye and Summer's Dream, from bestselling girls' favourite, Cathy Cassidy. Coco is the youngest of the Tanberry sisters but she's as headstrong as any of them. Coco is crazy about animals and loves her riding lessons. When her favourite pony at the stables is sold, Coco scopes out the new owner - and she's not happy about what she discovers. With big sister Honey going off at the deep end and Skye only just recovering from her eating disorder, Coco can't rely on family help. Can Coco save Caramel alone - or will a new friend help her? A perfect next step for fans of Jacqueline Wilson, by the bestselling author of Scarlett, Dizzy, Angel Cake and Ginger Snaps. For all the latest Cathy news, visit www.cathycassidy.com

The Bells of Bournville Green

The Bells of Bournville Green
Author: Annie Murray
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Total Pages: 446
Release: 2010-11-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0330527002

Continuing the saga begun in Annie Murray’s Chocolate Girls, and set in 1960s Birmingham, The Bells of Bournville Green is a story of families whose lives are entwined, of belonging and loss . . . and of a young woman’s search for transforming love. Pretty seventeen-year-old Greta has never known a stable family life. With no father, and loathing her mother Ruby’s latest boyfriend, Greta finds life hard at home and is happiest at work with her friends at the Cadbury factory in Birmingham, where she is popular with the boys. Life takes a turn for the worse when her missing vixen of a sister Marleen turns up during the freezing winter of 1962. Greta soon decides that her only way out is marriage, but all too soon she discovers that life with her old classmate Trevor is not a ticket to freedom and happiness. She finds herself on the streets, pregnant and homeless . . . She is taken in by her mother’s old friends, Edie and Anatoli Gruschov. In Anatoli, Greta finds the father she has never had. Kindly Edie loves to mother people and is desperately missing her son David and his family, who have settled in Israel. But the love and security of this haven is soon shattered by appalling tragedy, which affects all the chocolate girls and their children and changes life forever . . . The next novel in Annie Murray's gritty family saga is Secrets of the Chocolate Girls

Black Girl Baking

Black Girl Baking
Author: Jerrelle Guy
Publisher: Page Street Publishing
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2018-02-06
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 1624145132

**2019 James Beard Foundation Book Award Nominee** "Black Girl Baking has a rhythm and a realness to it." - Carla Hall, Chef and television personality Invigorating and Creative Recipes to Ignite Your Senses For Jerrelle Guy, food has always been what has shaped her—her body, her character, her experiences and her palate. Growing up as the sensitive, slightly awkward child of three in a race-conscious space, she decided early on that she’d rather spend her time eating cookies and honey buns than taking on the weight of worldly issues. It helped her see that good food is the most powerful way to connect, understand and heal. Inspired by this realization, each one of her recipes tells a story. Orange Peel Pound Cake brings back memories of summer days eating Florida oranges at Big Ma’s house, Rosketti cookies reimagine the treats her mother ate growing up in Guam, and Plaited Dukkah Bread parallels the braids worked into her hair as a child. Jerrelle leads you on a sensual baking journey using the five senses, retelling and reinventing food memories while using ingredients that make her feel more in control and more connected to the world and the person she has become. Whole flours, less refined sugar and vegan alternatives make it easier to celebrate those sweet moments that made her who she is today. Escape everyday life and get lost in the aromas, sounds, sights, textures and tastes of Black Girl Baking.

Wartime for the Chocolate Girls

Wartime for the Chocolate Girls
Author: Annie Murray
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Total Pages: 403
Release: 2023-04-13
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1529065011

April 1941. Almost losing her life in a bomb blast while serving in the Women's Volunteer Service has made Ann Gilby take stock of what's really important - her family. With daughter Sheila back home, and Joy still working munitions at the Cadbury factory and engaged to her soldier sweetheart, home life feels more settled too. Ann has even come to an uneasy truce with her husband, Len, despite her recent discovery of his infidelity and the fact that he has fathered a child with another woman. But what Ann has not reckoned with is Marianne, Len’s other woman, turning up on her doorstep - a woman with a mysterious past. Only Ann has secrets of her own and one day soon she knows she will have to tell her youngest child, Martin, who his father really is . . . From Annie Murray, the bestselling author of Chocolate Girls, The Bells of Bournville Green and Secrets of the Chocolate Girls, Wartime for the Chocolate Girls is a gritty family saga about love, war and chocolate . . .

Chocolate Box Girls: Summer's Dream

Chocolate Box Girls: Summer's Dream
Author: Cathy Cassidy
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2012-06-07
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0141973188

Another delicious story in Cathy Cassidy's Chocolate Box Girls series, alongside Cherry Crush and Marshmallow Skye. A perfect summer read; fans of Jacqueline Wilson will love this too. Summer has always dreamed of dancing, and when a place at ballet school comes up, she wants it so badly it hurts. Middle school ends and the holidays begin, but unlike her twin Skye and their other sisters, Summer has no time for lazy days and sunny beach parties. Theaudition becomes her obsession, and things start spiralling out of control . . . The more Summer tries to find perfection, the more lost she becomes. Will she realise - with the help of the boy who wants more than friendship - that dreams come in all shapes and sizes?

Thunder Cake

Thunder Cake
Author: Patricia Polacco
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 34
Release: 1990-03-15
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0399222316

A loud clap of thunder booms, and rattles the windows of Grandma's old farmhouse. "This is Thunder Cake baking weather," calls Grandma, as she and her granddaughter hurry to gather the ingredients around the farm. A real Thunder Cake must reach the oven before the storm arrives. But the list of ingredients is long and not easy to find . . . and the storm is coming closer all the time! Reaching once again into her rich childhood experience, Patricia Polacco tells the memorable story of how her grandma--her Babushka--helped her overcome her fear of thunder when she was a little girl. Ms. Polacco's vivid memories of her grandmother's endearing answer to a child's fear, accompanied by her bright folk-art illustrations, turn a frightening thunderstorm into an adventure and ultimately . . . a celebration! Whether the first clap of thunder finds you buried under the bedcovers or happily anticipating the coming storm, Thunder Cake is a story that will bring new meaning and possibility to the excitement of a thunderstorm.

Marshmallow Skye

Marshmallow Skye
Author: Cathy Cassidy
Publisher: Chocolate Box Girls
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012
Genre: Children's stories
ISBN: 9780141325248

SKYE and SUMMER TANBERRY are identical twins, and Skye loves her sister Summer more than anyone else in the world. They do everything together, but lately Skye's been feeling like second-best - it's the story of her life. And when her friend Alfie confesses he's fallen not for her, but for Summer, it hurts. Skye wants to be her own person, but with an effortlessly cool twin, how can she? Will Skye ever step out of Summer's shadow and find her own chance to shine?