Afterwards

Fact: Ember and Ness are best friends. There’s nothing more to say about it. It is what it is. It is what will always be. Ember and Ness.Then Ness dies. It is sudden and unexpected and leaves Ember completely empty. How can this be?When Ember finds a way into the Afterworld, she determines to bring Ness back. Because that’s what friends do isn’t it? They rescue each other. They help. They never give up. Ember and Ness. That don’t change.A powerful, poignant, darkly comic and deeply moving story about friendship at its most extraordinary.

A brave, challenging and beautifully written book that unflinchingly confronts death, grief and denial, but which is redeemed by a dark humour and, beneath everything, a beating heart of love, Gripping and poignant, a look at what it means to be brave and alive in the face of loss, Inventively meshes – and blurs – the realistic and the fanciful ... Aided by Gravett’s evocative art, Harrold brings this eerie, Briticism-laced tale about accepting change, letting go, and love’s indissoluble bonds to an affecting finale that is very much grounded in real life, By turns scary and funny, touching without being sentimental, and beautifully illustrated by Emily Gravett, The Imaginary is a delight from start to finish, A moving read about loyalty and belief in the extraordinary

A.F. Harrold is an English poet who writes and performs for adults and children. He spends his time showing off on stage, writing poems and books, and stroking his beard (it helps churn the ideas). He is the author of the Fizzlebert Stump series and the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal longlisted The Imaginary, illustrated by Emily Gravett. He lives in Reading with a stand-up comedian and two cats.Emily Gravett was born in Brighton. After leaving school with few qualifications, she spent eight years living on the road before getting a place on the BA illustration course at Brighton University. She won the Macmillan Prize for Illustration with Wolves, which was published to great acclaim in August 2005, winning many prizes and marking the beginning of an international career creating extraordinary books for children. She lives in Brighton with her daughter, partner and two rats.