Ann Turnbull's eagerly awaited sequel to No Shame, No Fear, Forged in the Fire (Walker £6.99), follows Susanna and Will to London. Apprenticed to a stationer, he is saving for their marriage. Their voices alternate with love and anxiety as he is caught in the city by the plague and none of his letters reach her. In the growing horror and suffering of the pestilence and the mounting prejudice towards the Quakers, he is thrown into Newgate.

Determined to find him, she discovers that a rich Quaker has rescued him and he is recuperating at home where his three daughters live. Susanna is distraught with jealousy. Turnbull's research is meticulous, the scenes searing, the religious prejudice deeply felt. Most moving is the simple faith, endurance and yearning for one another as their world is destroyed.

A Single Shard (Oxford £5.99), by Linda Sue Parks, is set in the ancient country of Korea where an orphan, Tree-ear, lives under a bridge in the village of Chulp'o with his friend and protector Crane-man, a kind of wise philosopher. As Tree-ear searches daily for food he learns about the potters, their knowledge of clay and especially the clear celadon glaze that depends on the precise proportion of water to wood.

Min is the best potter, so when Tree-ear drops a perfect pot, he must work to repay the master for his mistake. Finally Tree-ear's devotion to his craft and his loyalty to Min is rewarded: he learns of a new technique inlay never previously used in ceramics. Tree-ear will take the precious samples on the long and dangerous journey to win a royal commission for Min. Parks's knowledge of Korea and her understanding of the grace and the colouring of ceramics infuse this story of loyalty and perseverance.

From the innovative publisher David Fickling comes a fine debut novel by Siobhan Dowd. Seen through the eyes of 15-year-old Shell, A Swift Pure Cry (£10.99) is told with the innocence and tension of youth. When her mother dies, her father turns to religion, then alcohol, leaving Shell to care for her young siblings. Disillusioned with school, she shares cigarettes, jokes and sex with two friends but with the arrival of the young, compassionate Father Rose the spirit of her mother returns and the everyday life of the claustrophobic community of Coolbar is imbued with spirituality as she sees that "the plain people of Nazareth were no different from those of County Cork".

The setting and the atmosphere is beautifully realised as the calm tempo moves to a crescendo.