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Ross Welford was a journalist and television producer before becoming a full-time writer. He lives in London with his wife, children, a border collie and several tropical fish.
January 2019 Book of the Month | Ross Welford has a knack for combining science and philosophical questions in stories that stem from things we all understand – family, friendship, self-discovery and love. Georgie and her friend Ramzy are fascinated by the eccentric Dr Pretorius and the amazing VR machine she’s created in her secret hideout on the Whitley Bay seafront. She claims it can send them into the future, something Georgie is willing to try, despite the dangers, if the future holds a cure for the disease that is threatening all dogs – including her beloved Mister Mash – and even humanity itself. Welford cleverly balances tension with humour and sets readers thinking about what’s really important in our lives. This is another warm-hearted, intelligent and gripping adventure from a consistently excellent author. Readers who enjoy this will also like Christopher Edge’s stories The Jamie Drake Equation and The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day.
Extraordinary and unsentimental answer to the question of what it would really be like to live forever.
Longlisted for the UKLA 2018 Book Award January 2017 Book of the Month | In a nutshell: invisible girl finds herself in the spotlight | Ross Welford is making a habit of putting his characters in unusual situations: the star of his prize-shortlisted debut went time travelling, while Ethel, his new central character, unexpectedly becomes invisible, thanks to a mysterious Chinese herbal medicine and a second hand sun bed. Welford properly examines the impact of this invisibility on Ethel and, with one notable exception, the story is low on practical jokes, and high on the terrifying prospect of never being seen again. Ethel has other things to deal with too, including untangling family secrets to discover who she really is. In all this, she’s helped by new friend the irrepressible Boydy, who is determined to turn a spotlight on the situation – literally. Funny, touching and thoroughly original, Welford crafts another absorbing real-life adventure out of an extraordinary set-up. ~ Andrea Reece
Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award 2017 - Best Story | Shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards, Children's Book category, 2016 | One of our Books of the Year 2016 | Shortlisted for the UKLA 2017 Book Award and Shortlisted for The Branford Boase Award 2016. January 2016 Debut of the Month This clever, touching time travel adventure owes as much to The Railway Children as it does to Back to the Future! Al (for Albert, after Einstein) Chaudhury’s dad is dead but – and here’s where it gets really interesting – a physicist, he’d already been experimenting with time travel and, realising what is going to happen, left instructions enabling his son to go back in time and prevent the childhood accident that will ultimately kill him. Huge congratulations to Ross Welford for observing all the rules of time travel (never easy and he manages a sly dig at Dr Who!) and constructing a terrific adventure that puts family relationships, particularly male ones, at its heart. ~ Andrea Reece ***Download a special discussion pack to help you get more out of this book. The Costa Judges said: “A highly accomplished debut, genuinely enjoyable for both a child reading independently and an adult reading with a child.”
The stunning new 10+ story from the bestselling and award-winning author of TIME TRAVELLING WITH A HAMSTER, for anyone who loved the humour of WALL-E, the action of STAR WARS and the deeply touching emotion of ET. A small village in the wilds of Northumberland is rocked by the disappearance of twelve-year-old Tammy. Only her twin brother, Ethan, knows she is safe - and the extraordinary truth of where she is. It is a secret he must keep, or risk never seeing her again. But that doesn't mean he's going to give up. Together with his friend Iggy and the mysterious (and very hairy) Hellyann, Ethan teams up with a spaceship called Philip, and Suzy the trained chicken, for a nail-biting chase to get his sister back... that will take him further than anyone has ever been before. A remarkable story of sibling connection, friendship and interstellar adventure from the author Kiran Millwood Hargrave called one of my favourite middle grade writers .
The astounding new novel from the bestselling and Costa-shortlisted author of Time Travelling with a Hamster, this is a story for everyone of ten and older who loves adventure, laughs and tears. One of my favourite middle-grade writers Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink and Stars When eleven-year-old Georgie befriends an eccentric retired scientist, she becomes the test subject for a thrilling new experiment: a virtual-reality 3D version of the future. But then a deadly disease threatens the life of every dog in the country and Georgie's beloved dog, Mr Mash, gets sick. And that's only the start of her troubles. Soon, Georgie and Mr Mash must embark on a desperate quest: to save every dog on earth, and maybe even all of humanity ... ... without actually leaving the room. An extraordinary quest with the biggest stakes of all, and a huge idea at its heart, this is time travel - but not as you know it.
The astonishing, beautiful new story for all readers of 10 and over from the bestselling and Costa-shortlisted author of TIME TRAVELLING WITH A HAMSTER. 'A wonderful story' Kiran Millwood Hargrave There are stories about people who want to live forever. This is not one of those stories. This is a story about someone who wants to stop... Alfie Monk is like any other nearly teenage boy - except he's 1,000 years old and can remember the last Viking invasion of England. Obviously no one believes him. So when everything Alfie knows and loves is destroyed in a fire, and the modern world comes crashing in, Alfie embarks on a mission to find friendship, acceptance, and a different way to live... ... which means finding a way to make sure he will eventually die.
"e;Hatte mich fruher einer gefragt, ich hatte gesagt, dass eine Zeitmaschine vermutlich wie ein U-Boot aussieht. Oder vielleicht wie eine Rakete. Stattdessen schaue ich jetzt auf einen Laptop und eine Zinkwanne aus dem Gartencenter. Das ist Dads Zeitmaschine. Und sie wird die Welt verndern. Na ja, auf jeden Fall meine."e;Al Chaudhury hat eine unglaubliche Chance. Er kann das Leben seines Vaters retten. Das Einzige, was er dafr tun muss, ist, in das Jahr 1984 zurckzureisen, um einen schicksalsvollen Gokart-Unfall zu verhindern
From the author of the unforgettable bestseller TIME TRAVELLING WITH A HAMSTER comes another surprising, beautiful and funny novel about a child who, by disappearing, will write herself into your heart forever... Turning invisible at will: it's one way of curing your acne. But far more drastic than 13 year-old Ethel Leatherhead intended when she tried a combination of untested medicines and a sunbed. It's fun at first, being invisible. And aided by her friend Boydy, she manages to keep her extraordinary ability secret. Or does she...? When one day the invisibility fails to wear off, Ethel is thrown into a nightmare of lies and deception as she struggles to keep herself safe, to find the remedy that will make her seen again - and solve the mystery of her own birth...
For readers who loved Wonder and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time this extraordinary debut will make you laugh and cry. A story that crosses time and generations, for adventure-loving readers young and old. My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty nine and again four years later when he was twelve. On Al Chaudhury's twelfth birthday his beloved Grandpa Byron gives him a letter from Al's late father. In it Al receives a mission: travel back to 1984 in a secret time machine and save his father's life. Al soon discovers that time travel requires daring and imagination. It also requires lies, theft, setting his school on fire and ignoring philosophical advice from Grandpa Byron. All without losing his pet hamster, Alan Shearer... Time Travelling With a Hamster is a funny, heart-warming race-against-time - and across generations - adventure that you will won't be able to put down.
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