The Ghosts of Heaven | TheBookSeekers

The Ghosts of Heaven


School year: Lower 6th, Upper 6th, Year 10, Year 11, Year 8, Year 9

No. of pages 224

Published: 2015

Great for age 12-18 years

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Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2016, this mesmerising and mysterious novel by Printz Award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick is written in four cleverly interlinked parts and can be read in 24 different ways. Spanning thousands of years, The Ghosts of Heaven can tell us a secret as old as time, about survival, discovery, and the effect of the spiral - a symbol that has no end - on all our lives. It's there when a girl walks through the forest, the moist green air clinging to her skin. There centuries later in a pleasant green dale, hiding the treacherous waters of Golden Beck that take Anna, who they call a witch. There on the other side of the world, where a mad poet watches the waves and knows the horrors they hide, and far into the future as Keir Bowman realises his destiny. Each takes their next step in life. None will ever go back to the same place. The spiral has existed as long as time has existed. Follow the ways of infinity to discover its meaning.

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book has been graded for interest at 12-16 years.

There are 224 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 2015 by Hachette Children's Group .

Find his website at www. marcussedgwick. com and follow him on Twitter @marcussedgwick

 

This book has been nominated for the following awards:

Michael L Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature - YA
This book was recognised in the YA category by the Michael L Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.

The Whitbread Award
This book was recognised by the The Whitbread Award, now called 'The Costa Book Awards'. These are a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in Britain and Ireland. They were inaugurated for 1971 publications and known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2006 when Costa Coffee, then a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship.

A startlingly original novel with a strong concept link to the motif of a spiral. A hugely ambitious work. -- The Judges * COSTA CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD *

 

The Ghosts of Heaven is an excellent book that will open up new avenues of thought and future reading and introduces teenage readers to a more inventive understanding of storytelling. The Ghosts of Heaven is a book teens are likely to remember as a pivotal reading experience. * BOOKTRUST *

 

It's an intelligent, ambitious and hugely satisfying novel showing that there's no need to stick with simple for young adult fiction. -- Anna James * WELOVETHISBOOK.COM *

 

Marcus Sedgwick's beguiling novel about human longing, The Ghosts of Heaven, is a triumph... The four stories in themselves are engrossing and fluently written but what makes this book something special is that, as a whole, it is also a beguiling and philosophical account of human longing and the unknown. -- Martin Chilton * THE TELEGRAPH *

 

Marcus Sedgwick is the kind of author you utterly love and find annoying at the same time. Mainly because he's so incredibly clever and smart that is on another level that you can't believe he manages to pull off these great stories every time; and yet he does... They're tales of the odd and slightly unexplained with a sense of sorrow lingering around them. Marcus Sedgwick is Poe for this generation as he weaves tales that make you want to lock your doors when your alone. * SISTER SPOOKY *

 

If anyone ever suggests to you that science and art (or philosophy) don't go together, give them this book! Four fabulous stories from different time frames linked by the natural constant of the spiral. From pre-history to the distant future there are spirals and humans longing to make sense of them. This really does have to be the book of the year. * THE BOOKBAG *

 

Ghosts of Heaven is a return to Sedgwick's talent for interlocking stories and symbols last seen in his 2012 novel Midwinterblood. It's an intelligent, ambitious and hugely satisfying novel showing that there's no need to stick with simple for young adult fiction. * WE LOVE THIS BOOK *

 

The book has an overarching theme of the spiral. Marcus Sedgwick is exceptionally clever in his writing, something which was made apparent with his previous book She Is Not Invisible (If you haven't read that please do so. Now.) and something that is reinforced in this book. There are many little tidbits that if you aren't playing close attention you will miss, but that's not to say it's a hard book to read. I really enjoyed the theme and what it stood for, how it affected the different characters I met. * READARAPTOR *

 

Marcus Segwick's writing is amazing. Each story completely takes you in. They are gems in their own right but then they also work together tomake this book... I still can't find the right words. Just wow. The Ghosts of Heaven is without a doubt one of the best books I've read this year! * LITTLE LUNA'S LIBRARY *

 

I like that Marcus Sedgwick takes risks and is always trying to broaden his appeal to a wider readership. The Ghosts of Heaven is fascinating, tragic, and utterly compelling. * HACKWRITERS.COM *

 

Each story reflects the last and also adds meaning to the story that follows. Sedgwick's writing is easy to comprehend yet is also heavily textured. Key elements in each story resonate throughout the work, and common themes emerge naturally. This is a lesson in perception and meaning and though more learned readers may find some of the plotlines a little bit too obvious, it's still an extremely enjoyable journey, and one that should fascinate mature minds of all ages. * STARBURST *

 

Teenage readers who like their books to have ambition will find much to admire in Marcus Sedgwick's The Ghosts of Heaven, whose recurring motif is the idea of a spiral, which addresses the meaning of life. * THE TELEGRAPH *

 

This theme [what makes a person who they are] is also examined with grace and thoughtfulness by Marcus Sedgwick in Ghosts of Heaven. Sedgwick's writing is human and gripping. Another one for the fireside, and it will plant questions in any teenager's mind. -- Philip Womack * LITERARY REVIEW *

 

...evokes vivid characters, trigger ideas and add up to sophisticated and sometimes disturbing exploration of our response to the unknown. -- Nicolette Jones * THE SUNDAY TIMES *