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Secret Heart

Secret Heart

by David Almond (Author), David Almond (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2007

    $3.28
Synopsis

Joe lives with his mother in Helmouth, a forgotten village crumbling on the edge of the suburbs. His days are spent trying to evade the demands of school and the taunts of the local bullies. Joe's friend, Stanny, insists that Joe must toughen up, become a survivor - and he is adamant that a weekend in the wilderness with Stanny and his Uncle Joff will do the trick.

Into Joe's unhappy world comes Hackenschmidt's Circus, and with it the strangely familiar Corinna. She tells Joe, 'In the circus there is a secret heart ' - a place of contained wildness where the barriers between the human and animal world are fluid. And indeed, Joe's dreams are already stalked by a tiger, so real that his skin and its pelt begin to feel as one...

A stunning novel from the author of the modern children's classic Skellig - winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Book Award. David Almond is also winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen award.

$3.28

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 208
 Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Published: 20 Nov 2007
ISBN 10: 0340944986
ISBN 13: 9780340944981
Children’s book age: 9-11 Years
 Book Overview: Joe Maloney is out of place in this world: his mind is always somewhere else - on the weird creatures he sees around him and whispers he hears on the air. But into his world comes the circus, and Corinna, and a tiger ... A moving, mysterious and spiritual story from an extraordinary writer.

Media Reviews
A sooty darkness permeates the writing, illuminated by sudden bursts of sunlight and the music of skylarks. * The Daily Telegraph *
There is a mystical quality about David Almond's writing that makes him quite unlike any other author * Financial Times *
A powerful story of love, persecution and freedom, it is his best novel to date (and that's saying something). * The Scotsman *
David Almond's books are strange, unsettling, wild things...like all great literature, beyond classification. An exhilarating, though not always easy read for anyone who, like Joe, has tigers and larks in their heart. * The Guardian *
Mysterious and enigmatic. * The Bookseller *
A life-changing story of hope, love and encouragement for a boy who's been all but written off. * The Sunday Times *
A lyrical and haunting story. * The Daily Telegraph *
A subtle, sophisticated book. Almond's speciality is an enchanting blend of the magical and the real. * The Times *
This gripping book will enrich your soul and fire your imagination. * The Daily Telegraph *
As readers will expect from David Almond, there's a sense of inhabiting a strange, vivid world that exists alongside the familiar, and an evocation of wonder in everyday things as well as in the extraordinary. This is a powerful addition to his highly distinctive works. * TES *
This gripping book will enrich your soul and fire your imagination. * Daily Telegraph *
An exhilarating, though not always easy read for anyone who, like Joe has tigers and larks in their hearts. * Guardian *
his best book yet ... As we have come to expect of Almond's writing, the book has a dreamlike resonance. It is a story about love, persecution, freedom and the conflict between man and beast, perceived here as a battle between machismo and a female animalism * Literary Review *
A life-changing story of hope, love and encouragement for a boy who's been all but written off. * The Sunday Times *
Author Bio
David Almond is the author of Skellig, My Name is Mina, Counting Stars, The Savage, Island, A Song for Ella Grey, The Colour of the Sun and many other novels, stories, picture books, opera librettos, songs and plays. His work is translated into 40 languages, and is widely adapted for stage and screen. His major awards include the Carnegie Medal, two Whitbread Awards, the Eleanor Farjeon Award, the Michael L Printz Award (USA), Le Prix Sorcieres (France) and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. In 2010 he won the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the world's most prestigious prize for children's authors. David speaks at festivals and conferences around the world. He is Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. He is widely regarded as one of the most exciting, inspirational and innovative children's authors writing today. He has one amazing daughter. He lives in Bath and in Newcastle, the city in which he was born. www.davidalmond.com