Ghostcloud

'A superbly inventive and magical debut'Piers Torday'Beautifully written and filled with unforgettable characters ... a diamond of a book'Ross MacKenzie'Utterly original, thrilling, strange and cracking good fun ... every chapter is packed full of wild imagination'Liz HyderCatch the wind. Find your freedom.A riveting, magical adventure set deep underneath a richly reimagined London for 9+ readers.Kidnapped and forced to shovel coal underneath a half-bombed, blackened power station, 12-year-old Luke's life is miserable. Then, he discovers he can see things others can't. Ghostly things. Specifically, a ghost-girl named Alma. Alma, who can ride clouds through the night sky and bend their shape to her will, befriends Luke. And with Alma's help, Luke discovers he is in fact a rare being - half-human and half-something else ...Then Luke learns the terrible truth of why children are being kidnapped and forced to work in the power station, and he becomes even more desperate to escape.Can Luke find out who he really is ... and find his freedom?

This inventive adventure presents a unique world where ghosts bond with water to become clouds, lose themselves in rivers, and read your thoughts through rain. It's a satisfying and often surprising fantasy world that children will no doubt enjoy coming back to again and again., One of 'Waterstones best children's books of 2021', 'Fantasy fans will dive headlong into this imaginative, action-packed debut', Smartly wrought worldbuilding aptly engages with themes of identity and equity while conjuring an atmospherically gritty London that's at once singularly inventive and reminiscent of works by Joan Aiken, Charles Dickens, and Philip Pullman. It's a thoughtful and well-built fantasy that's also rollicking good fun, Charles Dickens, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, and Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book rolled into one. Mann creates empathy for Luke, who shows clear hope and compassion for others during this evil time. The quick-witted humor and fast pace keep the entertainment factor high. Thrilling.

Michael Mann is a primary school teacher by day, and mostly writes when he should be sleeping at night. He was a winner of SCBWI's Undiscovered Voices 2020, and the 2019 London Writer's Award (Spread the Word). He is passionate about diversity in children's literature as a person of British and Indian heritage.Michael was born in London but moved to North Yorkshire when he was ten. He now lives with his partner and children in London. He's a fan of board games, reading, cloud spotting and outdoor swimming. He swam from England to France across the English Channel as part of a team of six. He won his first writing competition at school aged 10, for a poem about potatoes. He had to shake hands with a giant potato in front of the whole school and still has the photo to prove it.