Snake-stone

James is adopted. He knows that to work out his future he has to make sense of his past. He embarks on a journey to find his birth-mother who tells her own story in this moving and powerful novel. James’s adoptive parents are proud of his talent and determination. He’s in training for the Junior National Diving Competition. But when he discovers the snake-stone in a box with his other ‘belongings’ from his time as an abandoned baby, he determines to set out on a quest to find his birth mother. He must make sense of his past if he is to work out his future. James travels to the Derbyshire Peak District to begin his search. Events leading up to James conception and birth are told in his birth-mother’s own voice, in flashbacks, and the most moving, poignant and powerful story is told.

‘This story could not be bettered and can only be put down with a struggle before its unforgettable climax’Independent

Born in Knotty Ash, Liverpool, Berlie Doherty is the youngest of three children. She has been a social worker, a journalist, a teacher, and, for the past twenty years, a writer. Berlie has twice won the prestigious Carnegie Medal, for ‘Grannie was a Buffer Girl’ in 1987 and for ‘Dear Nobody’ in 1992. She lives in the Derbyshire Peak District.