No Use Crying - Couverture souple

Kearns, Zannah

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1847802141 ISBN 13 : 9781847802149

Editeur : Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2011

Synopsis

Secrets, secrets, secrets, she thought.

It’ s just another word for lying.



The discovery of a grandfather Niki thought had died years ago means a sudden move to London and the start of a whole new life.



Niki has to learn quickly to fit in and survive in the school halls and on the tough streets. And at the same time she must get to know her grandad and come to terms with the fact that her mum has been hiding the truth.



But when Niki suddenly discovers her mum’ s biggest lie of all, could it change their relationship – and Niki’ s own sense of identity – for good?



This warm and powerful coming-of-age story is a sparkling debut from a brilliant fresh talent, filled with colourful characters that will stay with you long after the book is finished.



Listen to a Podcast with Zannah Kearns at
http://traffic.libsyn.com/inthewishingchair/09_Zannah_Kearns_-_No_Use_Crying.mp3

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Zannah Kearns is a first-time author who grew up in a village near St Albans. She studied English Literature at Cardiff University, and later returned there to complete an MA in Creative Writing. She has spent most of her professional life working with teenagers - from Costa Rica to UK inner cities. She has also worked in Communications in the charity sector. Zannah lives in Maidenhead with her husband and two young children. Find out more about Zannah Kearns athttp://zannahkearns.com

Extrait. © Reproduit sur autorisation. Tous droits réservés.

“So, what did Mrs K want?” Akiko asked, rhythmically kicking her school bag as she waited for Niki outside the school gates.

“Oh,” Niki sighed and fell into step as they headed towards the bus stop. “She just wanted to check that when she said our stories should be interesting, I realised that she meant the right sort of interesting.”

“Ah.”

“The wrong sort of interesting gets you seen by psychologists who make you share your feelings with the use of puppets. As if I'd forget that.”

“Sounds kinda fun... So, no more window cleaners cutting off your mother's head then?”

“'fraid not.”

“Shame.”

“I can't believe she's still fussing about it,” Niki said. “It was in Year Six - before I was even in the senior part of the school! Do you think I'm still the talk of staff room after all this time - weird freak girl with her free place and psycho personality - wouldn't want me poisoning the minds of all the precious posh kids at perfect St Magda's.”

“Maybe she's scared that in your next story you'll be chopping her to pieces.”

“Now there's a thought.”

“And, hey! I'm one of those precious posh kids, thank you very much,” Akiko added, feigning hurt.

“Well, be warned: you don't want to get sucked into my imagination. It's darker than a witch's armpit.”

“What a delightful thought. Come on, we're going to miss the bus.”



“Am I in trouble?” Niki had asked when everyone else got their stories back and she didn't. Her first week in a new school - a private all-girls school at that, where she felt totally out of place - and already she was in trouble. “Please don't tell my mum.”

“It's ok, dear, you're not in trouble,” Mrs Kennedy had said, already standing up to address the class. “I just need to little chat to your mother, nothing to worry about. Now sit down, it's time for our weather project.”

Niki didn't care about the weather; she just wanted to get her story back and never to have written it.

At the time she had been compelled to write it - it had filled her head, like so many dreams that had haunted her long into the following day. There he'd been, the man on the patio, cleaning the windows. She was watching TV while he stood outside the patio doors soaping them in great arcs with his big windscreen wiper thing. She'd found herself looking up to watch the soap dribble down the window, sliding in ever-changing shapes. He took hold of another wiper and in a few deft sweeps the window was clear again, mopped and dazzling. So clear, it seemed as if there were no glass at all, only air.

She'd glanced up, and found herself looking straight into his eyes, the eyes of this man with his wipers and rags and buckets, and he'd smiled at her. It felt like there was nothing between them, no window at all, nothing to stop him stepping into the room and smothering her mouth with that grey rag - shoving it right down her throat so that she couldn't even whimper. Chopping her up and hiding her in his bucket then taking her home and eating her.

Niki had run from the room, along the hall and into the bedroom where she'd propped a chair underneath the door handle. She'd seen someone do that on TV once and was surprised at how it really locked the door. Sitting with her back against the wardrobe so that she could see both the door and the window she wrote her story. As she wrote, her imagination pulled her into darker images. She pictured him killing her mother first so that there was no-one to protect her; cutting off her head, his smile never lea

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
• Date d'édition: 2011
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1847802141
• ISBN 13: 9781847802149
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 320
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Buchpark GmbH; gpsr@buchpark.de; ; Krügerweg 1; Trebbin; Brandenburg; 14959; Allemagne