Joe All Alone (Little Brown Young Readers)

It's just for a week. And they'll be back in the blink of an eye, Mum said. Back before I know it. It'll be like an adventure, she said. A holiday and an adventure.

Dreaming of escape from the bullies at school, Joe thinks a holiday abroad sounds perfect. So it's a shock when his mum announces she's flying to Spain with her boyfriend, Dean, but no Joe. He's being left behind in their Peckham flat for a week, with strict orders to stay out of trouble, and out of sight.

Joe makes the most of it, eating pizza for breakfast, having Xbox marathons and forming a friendship with Asha, a fellow fugitive hiding out at her grandpa's flat next door. But time and money are running out. Can their friendship survive the threats that are closing in? Can Joe survive at all?