LoveReading4Kids Says
May 2012 Book of the Month.
Best-selling author Michelle Harrison blurs the lines
between being dead and alive in this brilliant, spine-tingling story of the
powers of the undead. Elliott escapes death by a hair’s breadth; he’s so close
to it that he draws attention to himself from the dead. From that moment on,
his nights are haunted by shadowy figures and he can never sleep
properly… Elliott knows he is being sucked into the spirit world. Can he keep in
his world and can he keep the dead from taking over?
The Lovereading Comment:
When the dead don't sleep, the living are afraid to... this is the exciting and chilling new stand-alone novel from the widely acclaimed and award-winning Michelle Harrison. Beautifully written with a power to it that draws you in and won't let you go, it's one that will live on well after you've finished the final page.
LoveReading4Kids
Find This Book In
| Suitable For: |
|
| Other Genres: |
|
| Recommendations: |
|
Unrest Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Elliott hasn't slept properly for six months. Not since the accident that nearly killed him. Now he is afraid to go to sleep. Sometimes he wakes to find himself paralysed, unable to move a muscle, while shadowy figures move around him. Other times he is the one moving around, while his body lies asleep on the bed. According to his doctor, sleep paralysis and out of body experiences are harmless - but to Elliot they're terrifying. Convinced that his brush with death has opened up connections with the spirit world, Elliott secures a live-in job at one of England's most haunted locations, determined to find out the truth. There he finds Sebastian, the ghost of a long-dead servant boy hanged for stealing bread. He also meets the living, breathing Ophelia, a girl with secrets of her own. She and Elliott grow closer, but things take a terrifying turn when Elliott discovers Sebastian is occupying his body when he leaves it. And the more time Sebastian spends inhabiting a living body, the more resistant he becomes to giving it back. Worse, he seems to have an unhealthy interest in Ophelia. Unless Elliott can lay Sebastian's spirit to rest, he risks being possessed by him for ever, and losing the girl of his dreams...
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780857070913 |
| Publication date: |
26th April 2012 |
| Author: |
Michelle Harrison |
| Publisher: |
Simon & Schuster Childrens Books an imprint of Simon & Schuster Ltd |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Suitable For: |
|
| Other Genres: |
|
| Recommendations: |
|
Michelle Harrison Press Reviews
Praise for The Thirteen Treasures:
"excellent additions to the evolution of fairy-tales" The Times
"The Thirteen Treasures boils with the kind of fairy that is far worse than Puck..what could be more cheering to curl up with" - Amanda Craig
"The story itself is both dark and gripping"- thebookbag.co.uk
"This is a really exciting read, full of thrills, mysteries and menace" - Primary Times
"Flows with energy... a magical enchanting story which kept me gripped…" Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books blog
"an unmissable treat. Combining the faery of Spiderwick with a truly nail-biting thriller" - Books Monthly.co.uk
About Michelle Harrison
Michelle Harrison is a full time author who lives in Essex. Her first novel, The Thirteen Treasures, won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and is published in sixteen countries including the UK. It was followed by The Thirteen Curses and The Thirteen Secrets. Michelle has since written Unrest, a ghost story for older readers and One Wish, a prequel to the Thirteen Treasures books. The Other Alice is her sixth novel.
Michelle's path to becoming a writer was inspired by stories told by her sisters as she was growing up, one of which was so vivid it prompted her to dig in the garden looking for evidence of a dead fairy. (She didn't find anything.) Since becoming a published author she still does strange things like asking people to shut her in the boots of their cars – all in the name of research, of course – like Alice.
Michelle has a son called Jack and two black cats. She suspects one of them is a mischief, but hasn't caught her drinking tea . . . yet.
Q&A with Michelle Harrison
Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
A. I'm a 'glass half-full' type of person.
Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. Elvesden Manor.
Q. What’s your best quality?
A. Optimism, or at least I like to think it is!
Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. I sometimes think I'd like to be a cat, just for the sheer amount of sleeping they do.
Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. My Essex accent.
Q. Who is your favourite fictional villain?
A. Beatrice Lacey in Wideacre by Philippa Gregory.
Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. It would be Jack the Ripper. I like to think I'd demand to know his identity, but in all honesty I'd probably run.
Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. People who look down their noses at others.
Q. What is your favourite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. It depends on my mood, but drawing/painting, reading or watching a film.
Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Being an author and an illustrator!
Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Loyalty, a sense of humour, and integrity.
On Books and Writing
Favourite authors
Hans Christian Andersen, Enid Blyton, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Martina Cole, Roald Dahl, Philippa Gregory, The Brothers Grimm, Julie Hearn, Eva Ibbotson, Christopher Pike, J.K. Rowling, Marcus Sedgwick, Sarah Singleton.
Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
A. Read lots, write lots, and don't give up.
More About Michelle Harrison
