The Stone Menagerie - Softcover

Anne Fine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0749746033 ISBN 13: 9780749746032

Publisher: Egmont Childrens Books, 2001

Synopsis

Ally's overbearing, acid-tongued mother makes his life difficult. Their Sunday visits to see his aunt in a mental hospital are particularly painful, until Ally discovers a hidden, overgrown garden inhabited by two eco-warriors. Inspired by his eccentric new friends Flora and Riley. Ally is surprised to find he's taking a greater interest in Aunt Chloe's locked-up feelings. Ally and Chloe each begin to find new ways of looking at the world and new responses to events around them. When Flora and Riley's baby arrives they too begin a new way of life, but not without showing everyone they meet that there is always another side to the story. For Ally, family tension is still a challenge, but both he and Chloe have found new strengths within themselves to cope with their situations.

About this title

About the Author:

Anne Fine has been an acknowledged top author in the children's book world since her first book was published in the mid 1970s, and has now written more than forty books and won virtually every major award going, including the Carnegie Medal (more than once), the Whitbread Children's Award, the Guardian Children's Fiction Award, the Smarties Prize and others. The Children's Laureate from 2001-2003, Anne is also very funny and young readers love her lack of hypocrisy about the family and her honesty about how people can behave. She lives in the North-East. 'One of the sharpest and most humorous observers of the human condition writing today for the young' School Librarian 'She is translated into 26 languages and has regularly won every major children's literary award in the land, including the Carnegie Medal twice and the Whitbread Children's Novel award twice . . . There are few more influential, or more unfailingly intelligent, authors at work' Scotsman 'A subversively wicked gift for exploring family tensions' Independent

Review:

"A compelling book for early teens" -- Mary Arrigan * Irish Examiner * "Written with clear understanding not just of children, but more importantly of their perception of the world - and that's what puts it in the top notch" -- Phil Hewitt * Chichester Observer * "Unusual, imaginative and compassionate story" * Bournemouth Daily Echo *

About this edition

• Publisher: Egmont Childrens Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0749746033
• ISBN 13: 9780749746032
• Binding: Paperback