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Lissa Evans still remembers cracking her first joke, age 7. It involved a hippo. (We’ll say no more.) But the comedy bug was born and, following a medicine degree, Lissa changed careers to become a comedy producer for radio and TV. Eventually, after a decade of running a red pencil through other people’s work, Lissa began to write something of her own. This is Lissa Evans' third book for children. Her first, Small Change for Stuart (published in the USA as Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms), was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Costa Children’s Book Award. She has also written books for adults. She has two teenage daughters, and lives in London.
Author photo © Alys Tomlinson
Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2018 | Shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award 2017 | Shortlisted for the 2018 Blue Peter Awards - Best Story Wed Wabbit is a tour de force! Lissa Evans’s hilarious, madcap adventure is both effervescent and tautly plotted making it impossible to put down. When Fidge furiously kicks her little sister’s beloved soft toy, the Wed Wabbit, into the road she unleashes an imaginary caper that sends her and her spoilt cousin Graham into the world of the ridiculous Wimbley Woos, blobby characters of different colours who only speak in rhyming couplets. But are they so ridiculous? By the end of their adventure, and with the help of the wonderful cast of ludicrous characters including a plastic carrot, both Fidge and Graham have been changed. Lissa Evans’s comic timing and her control of her richly imagined world is perfect. ~ Julia Eccleshare The Costa Judges say: ‘A deeply original riot of a novel that will delight children and adults alike, and keep you laughing all the way through.’ David Fickling says “Wed Wabbit is wildly inventive, dazzlingly funny and sometimes scary; it's a tautly plotted adventure that packs a surprising emotional punch. It has the makings of a classic and will be loved by readers of all ages for many years to come".
Shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award 2017 | Shortlisted for the 2018 Blue Peter Awards - Best Story Wed Wabbit is a tour de force! Lissa Evans’s hilarious, madcap adventure is both effervescent and tautly plotted making it impossible to put down. When Fidge furiously kicks her little sister’s beloved soft toy, the Wed Wabbit, into the road she unleashes an imaginary caper that sends her and her spoilt cousin Graham into the world of the ridiculous Wimbley Woos, blobby characters of different colours who only speak in rhyming couplets. But are they so ridiculous? By the end of their adventure, and with the help of the wonderful cast of ludicrous characters including a plastic carrot, both Fidge and Graham have been changed. Lissa Evans’s comic timing and her control of her richly imagined world is perfect. ~ Julia Eccleshare The Costa Judges say: ‘A deeply original riot of a novel that will delight children and adults alike, and keep you laughing all the way through.’ David Fickling says “Wed Wabbit is wildly inventive, dazzlingly funny and sometimes scary; it's a tautly plotted adventure that packs a surprising emotional punch. It has the makings of a classic and will be loved by readers of all ages for many years to come".
Shortlisted for the 2012 Carnegie Medal and the 2012 Branford Boase Award. Shortlisted for the 2011 Costa Children's Book Award. The Carnegie Medal Judges said: A refreshing and plausibly magical novel which joyfully celebrates cleverness and a delight in words. Both the main characters and the cameo parts are extremely vivid and humorous, and the mystery and trail of clues throughout the plot are very well-worked out. A story that is terrific fun, so perfectly paced and exquisitely written that it reads aloud beautifully. The Branford Boase judges said: A little gem and a book full of discoveries. Readers will be caught up in the mystery and the problem solving. Family relationships are beautifully handled too. ------------------------- Small Stuart embarks on an awfully big adventure in this quirky puzzle-solving novel. Uprooted from London by his kindly but distracted parents, Stuart finds himself with nothing to do in his seemingly lifeless new home town. The only interest comes from the confusion caused by the identical triplets next door, and that just makes things worse. But a long-lost letter from a long-lost great uncle sets Stuart off unlocking one baffling puzzle after another. Each more curious than the one before, the far-fetched solutions they require bring the book to a hugely satisfying conclusion. The Branford Boase Award shortlist 2012: Long Lankin - Lindsey Barraclough Being Billy - Phil Earle Small Change for Stuart - Lissa Evans Everybody Jam - Ali Lewis Sky Hawk - Gill Lewis A Beautiful Lie - Irfan Master My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece - Annabel Pitcher
Shortlisted for the 2012 Carnegie Medal. Shortlisted for the 2012 Branford Boase Award for outstanding Debut novel. The Judges said: A refreshing and plausibly magical novel which joyfully celebrates cleverness and a delight in words. Both the main characters and the cameo parts are extremely vivid and humorous, and the mystery and trail of clues throughout the plot are very well-worked out. A story that is terrific fun, so perfectly paced and exquisitely written that it reads aloud beautifully. -------------------------Small Stuart embarks on an awfully big adventure in this quirky puzzle-solving novel. Uprooted from London by his kindly but distracted parents, Stuart finds himself with nothing to do in his seemingly lifeless new home town. The only interest comes from the confusion caused by the identical triplets next door, and that just makes things worse. But a long-lost letter from a long-lost great uncle sets Stuart off unlocking one baffling puzzle after another. Each more curious than the one before, the far-fetched solutions they require bring the book to a hugely satisfying conclusion. Shortlisted for the 2011 Costa Children's Book Award.
Magic, mystery and a very dangerous quest... Stuart Horten (aged ten, but looks younger) is now the owner of a Magician's Workshop - a treasure trove of illusions and the gateway to seven magical adventures. Except that without his great-uncle's last will and testament, Stuart can't actually prove the workshop is his. Can he solve the puzzles and find the will before it's too late? Or will the looming danger and increasing risks ruin his friendships for good?
Stuart Horten, ten years old and small for his age, is about to have the strangest ADVENTURE of his life. After moving to the boring town of Beeton, he finds himself swept up in an INCREDIBLE QUEST to find his great-uncle's lost legacy: a magician's workshop stuffed with trickery and MAGIC. There are clues to follow, unbearable neighbours to avoid and PUZZLES to solve, but what starts as FUN ends up as DANGER, and Stuart begins to realise that he can't finish the task on his own...
As featured on BBC Radio 4 Good Reads 'A timely, bittersweet comic novel' Guardian ____________________ What do you do next, after you've changed the world? It is 1928. Matilda Simpkin, rooting through a cupboard, comes across a small wooden club - an old possession of hers, unseen for more than a decade. Mattie is a woman with a thrilling past and a chafingly uneventful present. During the Women's Suffrage Campaign she was a militant. Jailed five times, she marched, sang, gave speeches, smashed windows and heckled Winston Churchill, and nothing - nothing - since then has had the same depth, the same excitement. Now in middle age, she is still looking for a fresh mould into which to pour her energies. Giving the wooden club a thoughtful twirl, she is struck by an idea - but what starts as a brilliantly idealistic plan is derailed by a connection with Mattie's militant past, one which begins to threaten every principle that she stands for. Old Baggage is a funny and bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never, never given up the fight. ____________________ 'Essential . . . Evans is a brilliant storyteller' Stylist
'The work of a novelist in her prime' Daily Telegraph 'Wise and witty' Sarah Hughes, Observer 'Essential . . . Evans is a brilliant storyteller' Stylist What do you do next, after you've changed the world? It is 1928. Matilda Simpkin, rooting through a cupboard, comes across a small wooden club - an old possession of hers, unseen for more than a decade. Mattie is a woman with a thrilling past and a chafingly uneventful present. During the Women's Suffrage Campaign she was a militant. Jailed five times, she marched, sang, gave speeches, smashed windows and heckled Winston Churchill, and nothing - nothing - since then has had the same depth, the same excitement. Now in middle age, she is still looking for a fresh mould into which to pour her energies. Giving the wooden club a thoughtful twirl, she is struck by an idea - but what starts as a brilliantly idealistic plan is derailed by a connection with Mattie's militant past, one which begins to threaten every principle that she stands for. Old Baggage is a funny and bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never, never given up the fight. 'Utterly wonderful and intelligent' India Knight, Sunday Times Magazine 'A timely, bittersweet comic novel' Guardian 'This beautifully written story teems with atmosphere and perfect period detail but it's the brave and brilliant Mattie that makes it unforgettable' Sunday Mirror 'A thoughtful, funny, companionable novel, offering an invigoratingly fresh vantage on a well-trodden period' Patricia Nicol, Sunday Times
Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2018 | Shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award 2017 | Shortlisted for the 2018 Blue Peter Awards - Best Story Wed Wabbit is a tour de force! Lissa Evans’s hilarious, madcap adventure is both effervescent and tautly plotted making it impossible to put down. When Fidge furiously kicks her little sister’s beloved soft toy, the Wed Wabbit, into the road she unleashes an imaginary caper that sends her and her spoilt cousin Graham into the world of the ridiculous Wimbley Woos, blobby characters of different colours who only speak in rhyming couplets. But are they so ridiculous? By the end of their adventure, and with the help of the wonderful cast of ludicrous characters including a plastic carrot, both Fidge and Graham have been changed. Lissa Evans’s comic timing and her control of her richly imagined world is perfect. ~ Julia Eccleshare The Costa Judges say: ‘A deeply original riot of a novel that will delight children and adults alike, and keep you laughing all the way through.’ David Fickling says “Wed Wabbit is wildly inventive, dazzlingly funny and sometimes scary; it's a tautly plotted adventure that packs a surprising emotional punch. It has the makings of a classic and will be loved by readers of all ages for many years to come".
'Evans is very funny . . . the Tom Sharpe for the next generation' Sunday ExpressSome are born odd, some achieve oddness and some are just in the wrong place at the wrong time Netta Lee had always felt like the odd one out growing up. But when, as an adult, she returns to the Midlands to help her family move house, it becomes apparent that perhaps she isn t the unusual one after all. A brother with a penchant for rubbish collection, a mother who seems to think she s running the Bolshoi Ballet rather than the local junior dance school and a hoard of questionably competent friends challenge Netta s ordered world. Perhaps the life and the people she tried so hard to leave behind are not as distant as she thought.
'Bloody funny, bloody moving - bloody buy it!' Meera SyalSome people live life in the fast lane. Others have stalled and are waiting for assistance on the side of the road, sustained only by the piece of chewing gum they ve just found in the glove compartment.Spencer s ex-lover has died, leaving him a lizard and a list of things to do before the end of the year.Spencer s friend Fran shares a house and a mortgage with her brother and his girlfriend, a woman with delicate wrists and a bloated cat.Fran s neighbour Iris is slave to the three men in her life: an aging father who likes the phone and two teenage sons who cannot fathom the washing machine.Maybe it s not about living life in the fast lane. It s about learning to live at all. Spencer s List is a wonderfully funny tale of life lived on the edge of reason, of failure and of (just possibly) a brighter future.
Now a major film starring Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin and Bill Nighy. It's 1940. In a small advertising agency in Soho, Catrin Cole writes snappy lines for Vida Elastic and So-Bee-Fee gravy browning. But the nation is in peril, all skills are transferable and there's a place in the war effort for those who have a knack with words. Catrin is conscripted into the world of propaganda films. After a short spell promoting the joy of swedes for the Ministry of Food, she finds herself writing dialogue for 'Just an Ordinary Wednesday', a heart-warming but largely fabricated 'true story' about rescue and romance on the beaches of Dunkirk. And as bombs start to fall on London, she discovers that there's just as much drama, comedy and passion behind the scenes as there is in front of the camera . . . Originally published as Their Finest Hour and a Half
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