Fifteen-year-old Laurence Roach just wants a normal life, but it's not easy when your mum is a depressed alcoholic, and your six-year-old brother thinks he's a dog. When Mum fails to come home one night, Laurence tells nobody, terrified he and his brother will be taken into care if anyone finds out. Instead, he attempts to keep up the pretence that Mum is still around: dressing up in her clothes to trick the neighbours and spinning an increasingly complicated tangle of lies. After two weeks on their own, running out of food and money, and with suspicious adults closing in, Laurence finally discovers what happened to his mother. And that's when the trouble really starts . . . A compelling thriller filled with some hilarious and surreal moments. Fifteen Days Without a Head is a tender, honest story about family, forgiveness and hope.

 

There are 288 pages in this book. This book was published 2012 by Oxford University Press .

Dave's short story THE FLOODLIGHT MAN was broadcast on BBC Radio Five Live, and an extract from FIFTEEN DAYS WITHOUT A HEAD was one of the winning stories featured in the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices Anthology in 2010. He is the author of the CHARLIE MERRICK series and WAITING FOR GONZO. Originally from Birmingham, Dave now lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and family, in a house full of books and records. Visit www. www. davecousins. net | @DaveCousins9000 Catalina has studied graphic design and children's book illustration in Milan and Cambridge. She is originally from Bogota, Colombia but now lives in the UK. Visit www. cataecheverri. com | @cataverri