David Almond

From master storyteller David Almond comes a gripping, exquisitely written novel about a hidden-away child who emerges into a broken world. Billy Dean is a secret child. He has a beautiful young mother and a father who arrives at night carrying the scents of candles and incense and cigarettes. Birds fly to his window. Mice run out from his walls. His world is a carpet, a bed, pictures of the holy island, and a single locked door. His father fills

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Unhappy about his baby sister's illness and the chaos of moving into a dilapidated old house, Michael retreats to the garage and finds a mysterious stranger who is something like a bird and something like an angel.

Claire witnesses a love so dramatic it is as if Ella Grey has been captured and taken from her, but the loss of her best friend to the arms of Orpheus is nothing compared to the loss she feels when Ella is taken from the world in this modern take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice set in Northern England.

In 1962 England, despite observing his father's illness and the suffering of the fire-eating Mr. McNulty, as well as enduring abuse at school and the stress of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Bobby Burns and his family and friends still find reasons to rejoice in their lives and to have hope for the future.

A dark, powerful and moving short story from the internationally acclaimed author of Skellig. Joe Quinn tells everyone about the poltergeist in his house, but no one believes him. No one that is, except for Davey. He's felt the inexplicable presence in the rooms, he's seen random objects fly through the air. And there's something else ... a memory of his beloved sister, and a feeling deep down that somehow it might be possible for ghosts to exist....

"One hot summer morning, only weeks after his father's death, Davie steps out his front door into the familiar streets of the Tyneside town that has always been his home. But this seemingly ordinary day takes on an air of mystery and tragedy as the residents learn that a boy has been killed. Despite the threat of a murderer on the loose, Davie turns away from the gossip and sets off toward the sunlit hill above town, where the real and imaginary worlds...

The Junior Great North Run is coming soon to Newcastle Upon Tyne and Liam needs to train. But his elderly neighbor, Harry, needs a hand moving and Liam is asked to help. Little does he know that Harry ran in the Great Run as a young lad and has a very interesting story to tell!

Nanty Solo is new in town and claims she can turn children into birds. Terrified parents forbid the idea, but the children want to fly--they want it very much--and they do. One by one, they approach Nanty Solo. One by one, they are transformed until the sky over town teems with rooks and goldfinches, parakeets and sparrows. The adults take one look and cry, "Get out of that sky this very minute!" But the sight of their offspring--set free to soar,...

"From the boundless imagination of David Almond comes a thought-provoking question, packaged in a lively illustrated chapter book: what if a robot went to school? When a new boy joins their class, everyone thinks he's . . . odd. George doesn't behave like other kids. He doesn't think like other kids. But he's great at football and snacking, and that's what matters to Dan and Maxie and friends, who resolve to make George feel welcome. Over time, they...

An anthology of dark, powerful and moving short stories from master storyteller David Almond, inspired by his childhood in the north-east of England. It features coming of age stories on the theme of closeness to home, deftly interwoven with illuminating autobiographical pieces on the inspirations behind the fiction. David Almond says of this unique collection, "Stories on the page are so beautifully neat. All that lovely black print; those lovely...