New School Blues — Theresa Breslin

It's first term at the Big School for Mary McPherson, and right from the start it looks as if her new friend, Jamie, is going to lead her astray … literally!

Using a forgotten footpath on the way home, they are chased by a ferocious bull and narrowly escape being flattened. Meanwhile Mary has to put up with the humiliation of wearing braces and thick-framed glasses, and they both have to get used to new school subjects such as sex education, self-defense, and basic soldering. But all this is as nothing compared to the dreaded dinner queues and the obnoxious prefects who police them.

You really don't need all this when trying to establish a right of way. But help comes in the unexpected form of parents and teachers ... who may just be human after all.