Back to Blackbrick by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald Orion HB/EB Out February Cosmo’s grandfather keeps acting strangely. If things don’t improve he will
be sent to a nursing home, and Cosmo will have to live with Uncle Ted. When Cosmo’s grandpa gives him a key to the gates of Blackbrick Abbey, with instructions to meet him inside, Cosmo steps back in time and meets his teenage grandfather. Drawn into the past, will Cosmo be able to return and bring his grandpa’s memories with him? The story rattles along while dealing sensitively with issues of love, loss, illness and memory. It’s a poignant story but there are funny moments along the way, too.
AH
Infinite Sky by C.J. Flood S&S HB/EB Out February When gypsies descend on Iris’ home she can’t take her eyes off them and, after her
mother’s recent departure, their carefree life looks rather more welcoming than her own. For her father and brother, each dealing with their own devastation, the gypsies are intruders who need to be dealt with. A summer of secrets, new discoveries and daring defiance underpins this modern take on family feuds and forbidden love. C.J. Flood has hit upon a timely topic. Interest in the travelling community gathers momentum, and this is a serious story that asks some brave questions.
IN DEPTH
Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher
Indigo HB/EB/ AB Out now
Zoe is writing a confession to the only person who can understand her situation: a Texan criminal on Death Row. A foolish kiss, misread signals and temptation led Zoe into a triangle which will destroy the family of the school’s most popular boy, while her own breaks down around her. Her parents’ constant arguing and over-protectiveness push Zoe further into a web of
deceit and the irresistible arms of young love – but deciding whose arms proves more difficult. Zoe is a wonderful
narrator: each page is packed with lines that sing off the page like the birdsong that entrances her. But her own wings are clipped, and it is a testament to Annabel Pitcher’s writing that what could have been the silly musings of an indecisive girl becomes a desperate story of a tormented young adult struggling to make sense of what she has – and what she really wants. KC, L