Clay is a normal teenager who likes watching films with her Dad and doing her paper round. But when a new neighbour befriends her Mum, she starts to feel uneasy. Since when did their lives revolve around his? And why is everything suddenly so complicated?Clay knows there is something odd about the new family, yet she can't help being drawn to them like everyone else...This book is by turns hilariously funny and very creepy. It talks about the power one individual can yield. And Clay meanwhile is growing up. It is stunningly original and never simplistic. It simply deserves to be read.
Jan Mark was one of the most distinguished writers for children of recent times. She won the Carnegie Medal twice - for Thunder and Lightnings (1976) and Handles (1983). Other acclaimed titles include They Do Things Differently There, which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award and The Eclipse of the Century, which was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Her science fiction novels - The Ennead, Divide and Rule and Aquarius (all Hodder) - are acclaimed as masterpieces. A former teacher, Jan came from a London family, spent many years living in Norfolk but, for the last twenty years of her life, made her home in Oxford, where she died in 2006.
A witty, exciting, page turner of a story.
Hackwriters.com
A fascinating account of how rumours can build and how important family is. A thought-provoking read.
Caroline Franklin
Fantastically well observed
Newcastle upon Tyne journal
A lovely, wryly witty version of daily life with joyous characterisation
Books for Keeps
A very compelling read
The School Librarian
Told with wry wit and humour, employing sharp irony and masterful dialogue
Carnegie nominations
STRATFORD BOYS: A hugely enjoyable and dazzilingly clever novel
The Guardian
'The story is told with wry wit and humour, employing sharp irony and masterful dialogue.'
The Carnegie Medal Website