"‘Spectacular. A wild, hilarious, surreal adventure of self-discovery’ Guardian
‘A fabulously entertaining, hugely inventive novel of epic adventure, friendship and bravery’ Editor’s Choice, Bookseller
The extraordinarily inventive and inspiring new middle-grade novel from the rapturously acclaimed author of BLOOM.
This is the story of Kirsten, an apparently happy and successful 11-year-old YouTube star who meets a ship that comes alive… and is claimed by it as its new captain as it breaks free from its dry dock.
Inspired by the true history of the SS Great Britain, Starboard is about the friendship, heroism and bravery that you can find in others, whether they’re made of flesh or iron. It’s about taking control of your own life and going on epic adventures. But most of all, it’s about finding out who you really dare to be, when you’re completely out of your depth…"
"The extraordinarily moving, funny and original new novel from the author of the rapturously acclaimed BLOOM.
“You were born raging, Frances Frida Ripley. That’s what happens when you’re born in a storm.”
Frances’s parents were not prepared for her birth: they had a blanket and an easel and some paint, but not anything useful, like a car or a phone. So it’s no wonder Frankie has always had a temper. She was born on a BEACH, in a STORM.
What Frances was not prepared for was dying in a freak natural disaster that wiped out her whole town.
Waking up 100 years later, Frances finds a whole load of new things to be angry about. And that’s before the visitors start turning up, treating her home like it’s a tourist attraction. Which it is.
Only there are worse people out there than tourists… and they’re coming for Frankie.
Frankie is about to discover that there are things more important than herself – and that anger has its uses. Because when you have a storm inside you – sometimes the only thing to do is let it out…"
"A beautifully written, incredibly original and wickedly funny novel for readers of 10 and older – BLOOM is for everyone who has ever felt like they didn’t fit in, and for anyone who has ever wanted a little more colour and wildness in their lives…
Sorrel Fallowfield is growing up – in a REALLY surprising way…
Sorrel Fallowfield is so good at being good that teachers come to her when they need help remembering the school rules – and there are LOTS.
Luckily, Sorrel doesn’t have any trouble following them, until the day she discovers a faded packet of Surprising Seeds buried under a tree in her backyard.
Now she’s hearing voices, seeing things, experiencing an almost unstoppable urge to plant the Seeds in some very unusual places… and completely failing to win her school’s competition to find The Most Obedient Child of the School.
And all that’s before flowers start growing out of her head…"
