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Showing posts with the label Ghost Story

It's Release Day! Middle Grade Adventure: "All the Time in the World" by Elizabeth McKay

Imagine a world not governed by time. When twelve-year-old twins Jake and Abi stumble upon the mysterious Merchiston Hall, they think they’ve found somewhere to work, somewhere to sleep, and, if they’re lucky, a place to stay safe. Instead, they discover a world unlike anything they’ve ever known. A house with no clock. Unicorns roaming the grounds. And a bridge across the river that nobody wants them to cross. For the first time since their mother’s death, Jake and Abi begin to feel happy. They begin to feel at home. But there is an underlying threat of a stolen power - the ability to control all the time in the world.  There is no more excitement in Crowvus HQ than there is on Release Day of a new book! And today, we are doubly excited, because this is not only a new book but a new Crowvus author, Elizabeth McKay. All the Time in the World  is a wonderful, suspenseful, and exciting adventure. Abi and Jake, the books protagonists, are relatable and easy to engage with, while ...

Ghost Story Competition - Writing the Supernatural

 I'm not the Crowvus writer who publishes horror. I've appreciated the brilliant books by Judith Crow, but I know it's not something I can write. The supernatural is different. People will - quite rightly - tell you that horror can encompass the supernatural, but the supernatural is not only confined to that genre. The supernatural, by definition, have their roots in the natural. In the case of ghosts, they were once alive, now having transcended from the natural (i.e. worldly) existence, into the supernatural on an unknown plain. The best ghost stories (my opinion only!) are the ones which unite the natural and the supernatural, looking at the shadows and imprints left on the natural world by those now occupying the supernatural one. In essence, when I read through the submissions for the Crowvus Christmas Ghost Story Competition , I'm looking for the human aspect of the story. I love the idea of ghosts trapped in time, I love the idea of ghosts trying to commune with ...

"Childish Spirits" Book Review

"Childish Spirits" by Rob Keeley "When Ellie and her family move into Inchwood Manor, Ellie quickly discovers strange things are happening. Who is the mysterious boy at the window? What secrets lie within the abandoned nursery? Who is the woman who haunts Ellie's dreams - and why has she returned to the Manor, after more than a century? Ellie finds herself entangled in a Victorian mystery of ghosts and tunnels and secret documents - and discovers that life all those years ago isn't so different from the world she knows today...Rob Keeley's first novel for children brings out all the ingredients of the classic ghost story within a recognisable modern world setting. Readers of his short story collections for children will find in Childish Spirits the elements which made his past books such a success - strong and contemporary characters, inventive twists on traditional themes, and a winning combination of action, suspense and humour." Available from...

Happy World Book Day - Class Novel 2

As promised, here is my 2nd class novel suggestion for a primary school classroom. It has been tried and tested in my own classroom and the children loved it. "Children of Green Knowe" by Lucy Boston is a really great story to read in the lead-up to Christmas. Here is the blurb from Goodreads: ""Tolly" Toseland 7 is rowed up to great-gran Linnet Oldknow by servant Boggis - there has always been a Boggis at Green Knowe. The real "castle" is over 900 years old. Gran tells old family stories, and songs. Over the generations there have been many who can see, hear, and feel the ghosts, evoked by white-on-black illustrations. Toby 14, Alexander, and Linnet 6 linger after the Plague, as does the cursed topiary Green Noah." While it is my policy to use the blurbs from Goodreads on my blog, quite frankly, I don't think this blurb does the book justice. It seems to have been written by someone who is trying to bring the book up to date...