This new series features popular stories from the "Shades" series that have been reduced in length and complexity to provide a gripping, achievable read for less able or reluctant readers.The year is 1665 and the plague has come to the city of London.

For Henry Harper, apprentice apothecary, life will never be the same.

His father has died of the plague, and his mother and brother have fled to the country.

Now Henry is alone, and must find a way to escape from the city he loves before he, too, is struck down.