Pure magic. The Casson Family author’s dazzling Great War story. Love, loss and (of course) family. Clarry and her older brother Peter don’t have much of a home life with their cold, distant father. They live for the summer holidays in Cornwall, staying with their grandparents and running free with their brave, handsome cousin Rupert. But this year, things are changing. Many things are the same: boarding school for Peter, and a dull home routine for Clarry. But the shadow of war is looming ever closer. When Rupert goes off to fight at the front, Clarry can feel their skylark summers slipping away. How will the family survive this horrific war?

An exquisite wartime novel full of hope and heartbreak

Hilary McKay is one of the best writers around today

Her books include the wonderful Casson Family series

She has won the Whitbread Award and Guardian Prize

“McKay is incapable of writing an uninteresting character or a dull scene… I loved it.” Mary Hoffman

“The best children’s book I’ve read this year.” Katherine Rundell

“The kind of classic that rings with beauty and conviction and heart-stopping emotion.” Amanda Craig

Product Details

Catalogue number

5204 in Rewards Catalogue 2019/20

Format

Paperback

ISBN

9781509894963

Publisher

Macmillan Children's Books

Date published

December 6th, 2018

Accelerated Reader

AR book level: 5.1; Middle years; 9.0 points

Other details

320 pages

Condition

New

UK edition

Available in these packs

Essential Contemporary Year 6 Pack x 12

eur prices

Price: €115.55

gbp prices

Price: £86.88

Author/Illustrator

Hilary McKay

Hilary McKay was born in Boston, Lincolnshire and is the eldest of four girls. From a very early age she read voraciously and grew up in a household of readers. Hilary says of herself as a child “I anaesthetised myself against the big bad world with large doses of literature. The local library was as familiar to me as my own home.”

After reading Botany and Zoology at St. Andrew’s University Hilary then went on to work as a biochemist in an Analysis Department. Hilary enjoyed the work but at the same time had a burning desire to write. After the birth of her two children, Hilary wanted to devote more time to bringing up her children and writing so decided to leave her job.

One of the best things about being a writer, says Hilary, is receiving letters from children. She wishes that she had written to authors as a child, but it never occurred to her to contact them!

Hilary has written many books but is probably best known for the award-winning Casson family series.

Hilary now lives in a small village in Derbyshire with her family. When not writing Hilary loves walking, reading, and having friends to stay.