Book Info

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Format

Paperback
256 pages

Author

Ally Kennen
More books by Ally Kennen

Author's Website

www.allykennen.com/

Publisher

Scholastic

Suitable for Ages

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Publication date

19th June 2006

ISBN

9781407117089

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Beast

Ally Kennen

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The Lovereading comment:

Shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2007. What the judges’ said:Admired hugely its spare prose and confident storytelling’ Teenagers, particularly boys will empathise completely with the hero in Beast even though he may not be your typical teenager as he's always in trouble with his foster parents and with the police.  His relationship with this monstrous creature of the deep is brilliantly told and full of intrigue and suspense and the secrets he keeps are cleverly revealed to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.  As with some of our books chosen for teenage readers this one will be enjoyed just as much by adults. (12+)Judges' comment:Whilst being a tough read this story offers a sensitive portrayal of what it’s like be in care and is incredibly touching.  The author balances black humour, farce and emotional truth – a real achievement.   The plot is well constructed and full of suspense that keeps you reading. 

 

Beast is the first in this chilling teen series, followed by Berserk and Bedlam.

Synopsis

In the depths of a reservoir lives a monstrous creature. Its existence is unknown to anyone except the teenage boy who feeds it. Now the creature has grown huge, and its rusting cage can't hold it much longer. Stephen is a boy with many secrets, and the Beast is the biggest. His efforts to free himself of the Beast make him a hero.

About The Author

Ally Kennen comes from a proud lineage of bare-knuckle boxers, country vicars and French aristocracy. 

She grew up in an isolated farm on Exmoor, with no flushing toilet, dead tadpoles in the taps, and annual rat infestations.  The farm was a foster home to many children and teenagers. Ally has worked as a classroom assistant, nursery nurse, museum guard and archaeologist. She is also a professional singer.

Ally lives in Somerset with her husband, small daughter, smaller son and baby four chickens and a curmudgeonly cat. No woman has ever beaten Ally in an arm wrestle.

In Her Own Words:

“I grew up on a small organic farm on Exmoor. My parents still farm cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, turkeys and ducks. I have one brother. My parents fostered children for many years, from when I was about three or four till I was thirteen. They started again when I was eighteen and fostered for another five or six years.

"When I was young, we farmed dairy cows, which make a lot of mess. There is half a mile of muddy road up to the school bus stop. In school assemblies I would usually leave a small pile of dried mud in my place, which I had picked off my shoes. In winter, my school uniform smelled of smoke because it had dried over the fire. We had an outdoor loo, called an earth closet, which had no flush. You had to do what you did, then cover it up with sawdust. When I was eight, we got a flushing loo which I thought was deeply sophisticated (though once I did fall in the septic tank!).

"There were no shops, pubs or buses (except the school bus) and hardly any people. As a child, I spent a lot of time on my own, reading, playing in the mud, building dams and messing around the farm. I was always scruffy and sadly I still am! At school I liked writing stories and liked the idea of being an author, but I also wanted to be a runner, an archaeologist and a naturalist.”

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