Brightling

A fantastical twist on a classic story. Thrown out of the Knip and Pynch Home for Waifs and Strays, Sparrow is an orphan accompanied only by her loyal cat Scaramouch and a single clue to her real family. Sparrow travels to the town of Stollenback where, lost and afraid, she is taken in by Gloriana, a strange and colourful street girl. Sparrow thinks she has found a home in the 'nest' - a hideout for homeless girls run by the beautiful but menacing Miss Minter. Sparrow is taught to make matches and stay quiet, but all is not as it seems. And what does the vicious Tapper want with her? As Sparrow uncovers a web of strange and suspicious secrets she finds herself at the heart of an undercover smuggling trade with a price on her head. Kidnapped and locked in the dark coal cellar, Sparrow's dream of finding a family seems impossible. A wonderful re-imagining of OLIVER TWIST, Sparrow's adventure realises the dark secrets of Dickensian London with a fantastical twist for younger readers. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rebecca Lisle was born in Leeds and still feels in touch with her Yorkshire roots. She studied Botany at university and completed a PGCE at Oxford. She has lived in France, Australia and New York and had a variety of jobs - au-pair, nanny, waitress, secretary and personal assistant. Now, at last, she has the best job in the world being a full-time writer. She has been writing ever since she could string together a sentence and in 2006 she was awarded a distinction for her MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. BRIGHTLING was inspired by Oliver Twist and she hopes very much that Dickens wouldn't mind her including flying horses in the story. Rebecca is married and, despite being tone deaf, has produced three lovely musical sons. REVIEWS A magical and action packed adventure in a cleverly created other world packed full of delightful character.', Julia Eccleshare, Lovereading4kids (Praise for THE SPIN)