Ollie Mitchell's Ghosts - by David Almond (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Step aboard the Ghost Train if you dare, and let a beloved storyteller lead you into the dark--and out again--in a masterfully distilled (give or take an earwig) vision of the terror and beauty of being human.

A Carnegie Medal winner and recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award returns to his roots in a wondrous-strange story of friendship, mystery, and community. Since his da died, Ollie Mitchell, is obsessed with turning his family's battered old caravan into a fairground attraction. A SCARY one, packed with dangling skulls and actual creepy-crawlies, scrawled with bloodred warnings. Most of the neighbors think it's weird, but Davie knows Ollie needs pals right now and agrees to help. As the two boys paint and hang bones and practice their ghoulish groaning, Davie finds himself writing everything down, as if his own life were a story. (Is everybody's life a story?) As summer wears on, other kids get involved. Then a local TV station hears about it, and suddenly a project hatched in grief becomes a source of pride for the whole neighborhood. Radiating warmth and philosophical wonder, with luminous and haunting illustrations, this tale of unlikely bonds and the supportive power of community will keep you up at night, flashlight in hand, your mind ablaze with questions.

About the Author

David Almond is the internationally acclaimed author of award-winning books for readers of all ages, including PUPPET, illustrated by Lizzy Stewart; The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers; The Tale of Angelino Brown, illustrated by Alex T. Smith; Brand New Boy, illustrated by Marta Altés; War Is Over, illustrated by David Litchfield; The Color of the Sun; and Skellig. His numerous awards include the Carnegie Medal and the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the world's most prestigious prize for children's books. In 2021, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to literature. David Almond lives in Northumberland.

Sydney Smith is the author and illustrator of Do You Remember? and of Small in the City, which received eight starred reviews and a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators. He is the illustrator of My Baba's Garden and the Schneider Book Award winner I Talk Like a River, both written by Jordan Scott and Island Storm, written by Brian Floca. He is a recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award, two Governor General's Awards for Illustrated Children's Books, and four New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year citations, among other accolades. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia with his wife and two sons.