Ash Tyler knows that times have been tough in his area of northern England. There has been drought, and the sheep that didn't die from disease were killed by government officials trying to prevent the disease from spreading. His father returns from war physically unharmed, but carrying emotional and psychological scars. Even Ash's best friend, Mark, isn't acting like himself. Ash feels more disconnected from his loved ones than ever. All he wants is for everything to go back to how it used to be. As Ash trains to run in the Stag Chase-a race rooted in violent, ancient lore-he's certain that if he can just win the race and make his father proud, life will return to normal. But the line between reality and magic, between the living world and the dead, is rapidly blurring, and the past has a way of threatening the present. Ash's friend Mark is on a quest to bring his late father back from the dead in a ritual that now threatens Ash. When a run in the mountains brings Ash face to face with Bone Jack-a figure with the ability to take different natural forms-everything changes once more. Bone Jack guards the boundary between the living world and the dead, and he's reappeared after centuries of dormancy, summoned by the dark energy taking root. As Ash tries to sort out why the very fabric of his world-and the people in it-are falling apart, it becomes harder to distinguish reality from illusion. Ash must literally run for his life if he is ever to help his friend, save himself, and restore things to their proper order. For fans of Neil Gaiman's THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, a haunting story for older middle-grade readers.
Ash's dad has returned from war, close to a breakdown and lost in a world of imaginary threats. Meanwhile, Ash's best friend Mark is grieving and has drifted away into his own nightmares. Ash's only escape is his lonely mountain running, training to be the stag boy in the annual Stag Chase. But dark things are stirring. Could Mark and Dad be haunted by more than just their pasts?
'Reads like a cross between I Capture the Castle and Love, Nina' Cathy Rentzenbrink, Bookseller
Life is full of terrible things. Ghosts of dead relatives, heartbreak . . . burnt toast.
In 1987, Sue Bowl's world changes for ever. Her mother dies, leaving her feeling like she's lost a vital part of herself. And then her father shacks up with an awful golddigger called Ivana.
But Sue's mother always told her to make the most of what she's got - and what she's got is a love of writing and some interesting relatives. So Sue moves to her Aunt Coral's crumbling ancestral home, Green Place, along with a growing bunch of oddballs and eccentrics. Not to mention the odd badger or two . . .
There she fully intends to write a book, fall in love, and learn to live decadently.
Campari for Breakfast is a heart-warming, eccentric novel that joins the ranks of great British coming-of-age novels such as Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle and Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love.
