Penguin Random House Teen/YA

Click on the cover to buy.

MANNY WANTS TO BE A FOOTBALLER. OR A POP STAR. OR WRITE A BESTSELLER. HE DOESN’T WANT TO GET MARRIED…

‘Harry and Ranjit were waiting for me – waiting to take me to Derby, to a wedding. My wedding. A wedding that I hadn’t asked for, that I didn’t want. To a girl who I didn’t know… If they had bothered to open their eyes, they would have seen me: seventeen, angry, upset but determined – determined to do my own thing, to choose my own path in life…’

Set partly in the UK and partly in the Punjab region of India, this is a fresh, bitingly perceptive and totally up-to-the-minute look at one young man’s fight to free himself from family expectations and to be himself, free to dance to his own tune.

Reissued in Penguin’s ORIGINALS series of powerful teenage fiction.

Click on the cover to buy.

‘Energetically and pacily written…. There is a vitality and freshness about Rai’s writing that engages the reader…. An intriguing debut that promises well for the future’ 

(Books for Keeps) 


Click on the cover to buy.

Meet Ellie, Jas, Della, Will and Billy.

They’re tough. They’re street-smart. They’re the Crew, and they live in what they call the Ghetto – the estates round the city centre where everyone is skint and it’s important to stick together. No-one has a go once you’re part of a gang.

Except, sometimes, the older gangs who can be really dangerous- A new, contemporary novel for today’s teenagers from the author of the critically acclaimed (un)arranged marriage.

“A jewel of a book . . . “

Nicholas Tucker, Independent


Click on the cover to buy.

A powerful and gripping novel that sweeps the reader from modern-day Britain to the Punjab in the 1960s and back again in a ceaseless cycle of tragedy and conflict.

1950s Punjab – a secret affair goes terribly wrong and the bride commits suicide after her lover is attacked by her family. The two families part in violence and conflict.

2004 Leicester – Rani and Sukh fall in love, unaware of the terrible legacy of the past and the conflict between their two families-Can tragedy be averted or will the two young people be able to escape the cycle of violence and draw the families together for the future?

“This bitter-sweet story hurtles towards its inevitable conclusion… a heart-wrenching love story that will exert its power over you long after the book is finished”

Claudia Mody, The Bookseller


Click on the cover to buy.

The Crew didn’t think things could ever get that bad again. They were seriously wrong. 

Things have calmed down for the Crew (Billy, Ellie, Della, Jas and Will) and life in the Ghetto is ticking on as usual. But things are about to kick-off all over again. The police have launched Operation Clean-up and dealers are regularly being pulled off the street and into the police station. Someone’s got to be grassing them up, and soon Nanny and the Crew are getting blamed. Billy is mugged, Ellie is picked on in school, and Billy’s house is being targeted. The Crew need to find out who’s pointing the finger before things get really serious. 

As tough and uncompromising as ever, Bali’s latest novel won’t disappoint his army of fans and will undoubtedly win him many more. A thrilling sequel that also stands alone.

“A hard-hitting, totally convincing and yet strangely sympathetic tale of life on the streets of our cities today”

Carousel


Click on the cover to buy.

Simran likes Tyrone from the moment she spots him in the crowd. He’s gorgeous and he won’t take no for an answer. There’s just one problem. . . Tyrone is black and Simran’s not sure how her family will react.

Even though her parents were a ‘love match’ and married each other against the wishes of their families, Simran doesn’t think they will approve of her having a black boyfriend, and her nightmare uncles and aunts certainly won’t. Like her cousin Ruby says, it’s the last taboo.

But Simran likes Tyrone too much to walk away, so they face the problems their relationship causes together. But it becomes harder than either of them predicted and when the hatred they encounter escalates into violence, with families and friends turning against each other, Simran and Tyrone are forced to question whether they are strong enough to fight for what they believe in.

“Bali Rai deals with important and controversial issues not because it is fashionable to do so but because he is compelled to. Long may he continue!”

Jean Allen, Carousel


Click on the cover to buy.

A missing girl, a web of clues, a race to find the truth…

It’s eight months since Sophie went missing from a music festival in the summer after her GCSEs. The police search has lead nowhere and Jit, Sophie’s best friend and soulmate, is going slowly crazy not knowing what’s happened to her. He has to DO something. So he starts on a search that will take him all over Britain, following the clues he finds after tracking down the people Sophie met at the festival.

Eventually the search takes Jit to Scotland and the remote farmhouse that’s home to a racist cult. Surely he’s close to finding the answers. . . but then everything falls into place and the horrific and unimaginable truth comes to light . . .”A tense and demanding thrillerthe that has authenticity and emotional truth and better still, the courage to approach difficult issues head-on”thebookbag.co.uk

“A tense and demanding thriller that has authenticity and emotional truth and better still, the courage to approach difficult issues head-on”

thebookbag.co.uk


Click on the cover to buy.

It’s 1919 and Amritsar is a city on the brink of rebellion. Riots, violence and tension spill onto the streets . . . 

Bissen Singh fought bravely for the British Empire during World War One. Now he waits patiently for news from England.

Gurdial, a young orphan, is desperate to marry Sohni, the daughter of a rich and evil man.

And Jeevan, Gurdial’s oldest friend, is swept up in the revolution and changing beyond all recognition.

“Heart-rending tale from a talented author”

Amanda Craig, The Times


Click on the cover to buy.

‘Honour,’ I repeated, wondering how such a small word could have caused so much trouble.

When Sat’s sister, Jas, is married off into the Atwal family she changes, she’s quiet and distant. But Sat’s too busy with his own life; his girlfriend, his friends, football . . . Then Jas disappears.

According to her new husband, she’s run off with another man. Her family disown her; don’t seem to care if she’s ever found. But Sat doesn’t believe it. Something has happened to his sister and he’s determined to figure out what. But his investigations take him into dark and dangerous territory . . .

A powerful, hard-hitting teen thriller on the controversial topic of honour killing, by multi-award-winning author Bali Rai.

“Rai never shies away from difficult topics, and here tackles the controversial issue of honour killings. It’s utterly compelling, and will be much-debated”

Fiona Noble, The Bookseller


Click on the cover to buy.

Twenty-five years ago the world changed forever. A great war, which had raged for three years ended, and the reign of the Demons began…

Within the crumbling walls of Fire City, fifteen-year-old Martha is a member of the resistance, a small band of humans fighting for freedom in a lawless and horrifying new world. Amidst the chaos of battle arrives Jonah, a handsome stranger with a thirst for revenge and a power to destroy the Demon rulers. 
As Martha and Jonah’s lives collide, the future of the resistance is altered forever. The battle for humankind will now begin. An epic story of catastrophe, survival and the power of humanity.

“A disturbing allegory of corruption which will appeal to fans of dystopian fiction.” – Booktrust


Click on the cover to buy.

You’ll never sleep again…

When the incredibly attractive Benedict befriends Lily online, she is thrilled. He is so much more mature than boys her age and he seems to know exactly how she’s feeling. She finds herself opening up to him, telling him things she wouldn’t tell anybody else.

And she needs someone to confide in more than ever before as a spate of apparent suicides rocks her school – and her group of friends. 

But is Benedict the kind, charming person that he seemed to be initially? Lily soon realises that now, with half our lives spent online, you can be found – even if you try to hide . . .

“…an astonishingly, shockingly powerful novel.” – Susan Elkin, The Stage