Stevie is having an unhappy break with his father and his father's girlfriend. In a rage he storms off and eventually finds himself at dusk in a quiet courtyard where a strange old man is washing in an old well. Repulsed by the figure, Stevie nonetheless takes the broken bell the man leaves behind. but that night he wakes to find ghostly figures in his room. They too are disfigured like the old man and Stevie finds himself drawn into their medieval world. Outcasts, excluded from the town, they tell Stevie that the old man, their grandfather, is bent on risking everything to enter the town one last time. Stevie joins in following the old man to try to protect him from the pitiless mob of townsfolk. In a dramatic climax Stevie faces the fury of the crowd and in doing so begins to understand what it is to be an object of hate. This deeply felt story is a gripping read, powerfully told and illustrated by a leading author and illustrator. Sure to appeal to all readers of 11 - 14, its relatively short text broken into digestible chapters and high level of illustration make it accessible to less able and reluctant readers as well.

 

 

This book is part of a book series called Tales From the Dark Side .

There are 128 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2006 by Hachette Children's Group .

Tim Bowler is the Carnegie medal winning author of RIVER BOY and a number of other highly acclaimed novels for teenagers. Illustrator: Jason Cockcroft is a talented illustrator of children's books. He has collaborated with many established authors such as Helen Cresswell and Geraldine McCaughrean, illustrating Sophie and the Seawolf and Never Let Go respectively.