Shortlisted for the UKLA 2016 Book Award in the 12 - 16 year old category.
This novel contains some strong language. A new novel by multi-award winning Sally Gardner is always highly anticipated. She is one of the most original writers of today, and The Door That Led To Where is typical of her writing: a story that will surprise readers as it intrigues and absorbs them. This is a time travel novel. AJ, the young hero, is able to travel through a door – a door to which he alone has the key – and into the London of 1830. Dickens is a palpable presence in the book and would have appreciated the story that unfolds, one of missing children, madness and murder. Both Londons – today’s and yesterday’s – are brought to life in vivid prose and images. AJ and his associates are great company and it looks like there may be more adventures for them to come – good news for readers! ~Andrea Reece
AJ Flynn has just failed all but one of his GCSEs, and his future is looking far from rosy. So when he is offered a junior position at a London law firm he hopes his life is about to change - but he could never have imagined by how much. Tidying up the archive one day, AJ finds an old key, mysteriously labelled with his name and date of birth - and he becomes determined to find the door that fits the key. And so begins an amazing journey to a very real and tangible past - 1830, to be precise - where the streets of modern Clerkenwell are replaced with cobbles and carts, and the law can be twisted to suit a villain's means. Although life in 1830 is cheap, AJ and his friends quickly find that their own lives have much more value. They've gone from sad youth statistics to young men with purpose - and at the heart of everything lies a crime that only they can solve. But with enemies all around, can they unravel the mysteries of the past, before it unravels them...
A fast-paced mystery novel by one of the country's finest writers, Door That Led to Where will delight, surprise and mesmerise all those who read it.
Sally Gardner is quite possibly my favourite children's author of all time. Her poetic prose and seemingly effortless ability to flit from genre to genre never ceases to astonish me. TheIndependent
Striking, elegant ... Gardner's humane message will resonate with teens everywhere: keep looking for that door, as one day you'll find it - and maybe, once you've gone through, you'll even want to lock it behind you. -- Philip Womack The Spectator
Gardner vividly juxtaposes the drug deaths and gang rivalry of the present with the top hats and formality of the early 19th century ... Gardner's clever tale is enjoyably complex Financial Times
The story, which is set in the present and in 1830, makes both centuries vivid and credible. Unfolding a complicated mystery without losing us, it is told with uncliched brio and contains characters to care about, while making us consider what a difference a fresh start could make to those who have few opportunities. The Sunday Times
As the three tangle with poison, treachery and love, the novel asks whether the past was better at granting the young responsibility, opportunities and adulthood... subtle, beautifully written and captivating. Enjoy. New Statesman
Gardner pulls off a brilliant balancing act as her flawed hero travels between the two periods, discovering that, sometimes, a fresh start in a new environment can restore and heal those whose future - or past - looks hopeless. Rollicking stuff. Daily Mail
Author
About Sally Gardner
Sally Gardner is an award-winning novelist from London. Her books have been translated into 22 languages and have sold more than one million copies in the UK.
Her historical novel for older readers, I, Coriander, won the Smarties Children's Book Prize in 2005. Two thrillers both set at the time of the French Revolution, The Red Necklace and The Silver Blade, which was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 2009, followed. Actor Dominic West (The Wire) has bought the film rights to both titles.
Her YA novel, The Double Shadow, was published in 2011 to critical acclaim. Sally Gardner's stories for middle readers include Lucy Willow and the popular Magical Children series of six titles: The Strongest Girl in the World, The Invisible Boy, The Boy with Magic Numbers, The Smallest Girl in the World, The Boy with the Lightning Feet, and The Boy who could Fly, which are also available as audio books. She has also written and illustrated picture books including The Fairy Catalogue, The Glass Heart, The Book of Princesses and Playtime Rhymes. Sally Gardner continues to be an avid spokesperson for dyslexia, working to change the way it is perceived by society. She is dyslexic and argues that it is not a disability, but a gift.
If you'd love to know more about Sally, click here to download a more detailed biography and Q&A.
To see a video of Sally talking about her book Fairy Shopping - CLICK HERE
Or watch a video of her talking about The Silver Blade:
