Clay- David Almond.

“strange, miraculous, beautiful” The Times.

There’s a stranger in town – Stephen Rose. He’s got waxy skin, haunting eyes, a sickly smell. No parents. No friends. He’s come to live with Crazy Mary. There are many tales and rumours about him. One thing’s certain: there’s magic in the weird creatures he makes with clay.
Should Davie and Geordie keep away? Or should they get close? Could Stephen be an ally in their bitter struggle against monstrous Mouldy and his gang?

David Almond, author of Skellig and winner of Whitbread, Smarties and Carnegie Awards, has created a dark, thickly plotted story of a modern day Frankenstein. He cleverly interweaves questions of faith, of good and evil, with the trails and tribulations of adolescence.
The hero, Davie is a sympathetic character, and Stephen is chilling and dark.
I loved the way that the characters whom Davie is afraid of, Mouldy, Crazy Mary and Stephen have their own tales of hardship explaining the way they are. The book provokes thought, if we can believe in the existence of God and goodness, is it not necessary to consider evil also? And if God exists, why not monsters and so many other unbelievable, unexplainable things?
This novel is children’s fiction, but could easily appeal to adults and was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

"A haunting and compelling novel" The Guardian.

A Swift Pure Cry- Siobhan Dowd

"Beautifully written and deeply moving" Guardian.

Life has been hard for Shell since the death of her Mam. her Dad has given up work and turned his back on reality, leaving Shell to care for her brother and sister. When she can, she spends time with her best friend Bridie and the charming, persuasive Declan, sharing cigarettes and irreverent jokes.
Shell is drawn to the kindness of Father Rose, a young priest, but soon finds herself the centre of an escalating scandal that rocks the small Irish community to its foundations.

Siobhan Dowd has, in her debut novel, written a haunting tale which will appeal to both adults and younger readers. Shell, the heroine, is a delight and an inspiration. Her life is a drudge, and she sorely misses her Mam, yet she soldiers on, looking after Jimmy and Trix, her younger brother and sister, and the relationship between the three is incredibly moving. Her father has been little help to Shell, yet the reader begins to sympathise with him, and his plight, realising that he is a vulnerable and fallible man. The novel really captures smalltown life in Cork, and the prose and dialogue are lilting and lyrical. Although the novel is full of loss, it has at its heart a sense of hope, and an ending which did make me cry.
It is currently shortlisted for the Children's Books Ireland/Bisto Book of the Year Award and the Sheffield Children's Book Award and longlisted for the 2007 Carnegie Medal.

"Written with a fluent, lyrical sprightliness, this poignant novel invests tragic events with humanity and even, in places, humour" The Times.