Great news from Grimly Central! Stranger Days on Peculiar Hill, the second book in my Vale of Strange series, has made it into the Finals of The Wishing Shelf Independent Book Award! The book is in Category 3, books for 9-12 year olds, and you can see all the contenders in that category here
There are links to purchase all of the books and you should find some great ones amongst them because the great thing about the Wishing Shelf competition is that the children’s books are all judged by real children. So they are books that children actually like, not ones that someone older thinks they ought to like.
The winners will all be announced on April 1 (or thereabouts) so, if you don’t already own a copy of Stranger Days on Peculiar Hill, now is the time to purchase yours. Then you can say “I told you so,” if it wins an award!
Just to remind you what the book’s about: In ‘Stranger Days on Peculiar Hill’, Peter returns to the Vale of Strange with his new friend Mala, hoping to find her father, the hapless explorer Augustus Flipper, who has disappeared in a sudden outbreak of strangeness.
Peter and Mala have to grapple with a number of difficult questions. Why is the unpleasant Percival Crow building a swimming pool even though he never takes a swim? Why have the mysterious four-foot-high bearded Australians taken against Uncle Bob? And what has produced the lights in the sky and the multicoloured bubbles of strangeness all across Mala’s lawn? Peter suspects that something big is happening here. If only they could rely on the reluctant Amanda to help them…
Stranger Days is the sequel to The Shop on Peculiar Hill but it works fine as a standalone book if you haven’t read the earlier one. Here’s what some of the reviewers had to say:
“The author’s vivid imagination, exceptional storytelling and brilliant writing makes this a fantasy novel you will recall in years to come.”
“Absolutely loved this book. Very funny, exciting, and a real page turner. Can’t wait for the next.”
“Weird and wonderful escape from reality. Genuinely new and surprising in its inventiveness.”
“In all honestly, as soon as I’d finished Shop on Peculiar Hill, I was desperate to get my hands on Stranger Days – this is a world with absolutely no finite end point, and I hope this series just keeps going!”
Well, those reviewers seemed to like the book, didn’t they? Do you agree with them? If you’ve read the book, write in and tell us what you think. And if you haven’t read it, this could be the ideal time to get a copy…
Grimly Darkwood 