Showing results by author "David Almond" in All Categories

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 his mind and his dreams with mysterious tales and memories and dreadful warnings. But then his father disappears, and Billy’s mother brings him out into the world at last. He learns the horrifying story of what was saved and what was destroyed on the day he was born, the day the bombers came to Blinkbonny.

With fascination, Davie and his friend Geordie watch the arrival of a new boy, Stephen Rose, in their town. He seems to have come from nowhere, and when he arrives to live with his distant aunt, the local Crazy Mary, no one envies his new home. But perhaps he's the answer to Davie and Geordie's...

A hopeful and moving coming-of-age story set on the island of Lindisfarne, by David Almond, author of the bestselling Skellig and A Song for Ella Grey. Louise has travelled with her father to the island of Lindisfarne every year ever since she can remember - it's the place Louise's mother loved...

A stunning new story from the bestselling, prize-winning David Almond, unfolding the magic of the everyday. Mina, from the unforgettable Skellig and My Name is Mina, journeys to Japan and discovers the wonders of the world around her. Kyoto, Japan. Mina is on a bus. Everything is strange and...

Joe Maloney is out of place in this world. His mother wants him to be a man, and he can’t be that yet. His only friend, Stanny Mole, wants to teach him how to kill, and Joe can’t learn that. Joe’s mind is always somewhere else: on the weird creatures he sees in the distant sky, the songs...

Bert and Betty Brown have got themselves a little angel. Bert found him in his top pocket when he was driving his bus. Bert and Betty's friends think he's lovely. So do Nancy and Jack and Alice from Class 5K. What a wonder! But Acting Head Teacher Mrs Mole is not so sure. Nor is Professor Smellie, or the mysterious bloke in black who claims to be a School Inspector. Then there's Basher Malone - big, lumbering Basher Malone. He REALLY doesn't like Angelino. And it looks like he's out to get him....

A magnificent tale of crackpot notions and sky-high courage - from David Almond, the master of magical realism. Paul believes that the moon is not the moon but is a great hole in the sky. It's one of many strange ideas that he's never told anyone (at school he was told that he had no ideas at all) until he meets Molly, his irrepressible neighbour, who begins to convince him that his theory might just change the world....

A joyful, uplifting story of times gone by from the internationally acclaimed author of Skellig. Liam just wants to go out running with his mates - it's not long till the Junior Great North Run, and there's training to be done. But Mam needs him today to help old Harry clear out his house. Harry knows a thing or two about running. When he was a lad, he says, he ran all the way from Newcastle to South Shields. "But Harry," says Mam, "that's 13 miles!" Harry grins. "Different times," he says.

"I was born in a hovel on the banks of the Tyne...” Dominic Hall grows up in the sixties on a brand-new estate, along with the other families who escaped the river. But the Tyne is still an overwhelming presence, and most of the fathers work in the shipyards. Dom is torn between his new mates: Holly Stroud, his enchanting neighbour, and Vincent McAlinden, who's something else altogether – a wild, dangerous boy with murderous instincts.

Lizzie and Dad live in a rainy town in the north of England. But why is Dad building himself a pair of wings and studying the birds to see how they fly? The Great Human Bird Competition of course!

Imagine you wrote a story and it came true. That is exactly what happens to Blue Baker who writes a story about a savage living alone in the woods near his home. After his dad’s death, Blue finds comfort in dreaming of this strange wild kid. But when the savage pays a visit to the local bully, boundaries become blurred and Blue begins to wonder where he ends and the savage begins

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. Stories include: "The Missing Link", "Joe Quinn's Poltergeist", "Harry Miller's Run", "Slog's Dad", "Klaus Vogel and the Bad Lads", "Mary Malone", "Half a Creature from the Sea", and, "When God Came to Kathleen's Garden".

Joe lives with his mother in Helmouth, a forgotten village crumbling on the edge of the suburbs. His days are spent trying to evade the demands of school and the taunts of the local bullies. Joe's friend, Stanny, insists that Joe must toughen up, become a survivor - and he is adamant that a...

There he was, below the bridge, half-naked, eyes blazing. He had a pair of burning torches. He ran them back and forth across his skin. He sipped from a bottle, breathed across a torch, and fire and fumes leapt from his lips. The air was filled with the scent of paraffin. He breathed again, a...

Nel garage della nuova casa, Michael scopre qualcosa di magico: una creatura, un po' uomo un po' uccello, che sembra avere bisogno di aiuto. Si chiama Skellig e adora il cibo cinese e la birra scura. Non sapremo mai di preciso cos'è; c'è del mistero in questa storia, ma va bene così. L'importante per Michael, e per la sua sorellina sospesa tra la vita e la morte in ospedale, è che Skellig ci sia. Come scrive Nick Hornby, Skellig è una storia "meravigliosamente semplice ma anche terribilmente complicata".

Do you believe in angels? Bert and Betty Brown do, because Bert discovered one in his shirt pocket the other day while he was driving his bus. All of a sudden they had a little boy of their very own to care for - how heavenly! Bert and Betty’s friends think Angelino is lovely. So do Nancy and Jack and Alice from school. But the Head Teacher, Mrs. Mole, is not so sure. Neither is Professor Smellie. And who is the mysterious Man in Black who claims to be a School Inspector? Or the big, lumbering Basher Malone?

This wonderful tale transports the reader from the city to the forests and fells of Northern England. Under a boundless starry sky, the unforgettable Sylvia Carr reconnects with the ancient past and discovers what it really means to be young in the world today. Sylvia, brave hearted and...

This is a moving, funny and inspirational novel from the bestselling author of Skellig. *Shortlisted for the 2018 Costa Book Awards.* "The day is long, the world is wide, you're young and free." One hot summer morning, Davie steps boldly out of his front door. The world he enters is very...

George is not like any other kids in the class, or in fact like anyone Dan or his mates have ever met before. But George turns out to be clever and funny, and everyone soon forgets his oddness...until a shocking truth comes to light. George is a robot! In fact, he is part of an ambitious new experiment in robot-kind. But the experiment is in danger, and there are people out to destroy him. Can Dan, Maxie, Billy and Louise rescue their new pal from obliteration?

From David Almond, a 'master storyteller' Independent Nothing is the same for Joff this summer. His dad is sick, his mum is working, there's a new kid in town. The days are long and hot, and change is in the air. With his dog, Jet, Joff explores. The Chapel of Doom is always there, ancient and...