By Ally Kennen (author)
Ebook Digital. Available Immediately. Country restrictions apply. £6.99
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Shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2007.
What the judges’ said: Admired hugely its spare prose and confident storytelling’
Teenagers, particularly boys will empathise completely with the hero in Beast even though he may not be your typical teenager as he's always in trouble with his foster parents and with the police. His relationship with this monstrous creature of the deep is brilliantly told and full of intrigue and suspense and the secrets he keeps are cleverly revealed to keep you on the edge of your seat throughout. As with some of our books chosen for teenage readers this one will be enjoyed just as much by adults. (12+)
Whilst being a tough read this story offers a sensitive portrayal of what it’s like be in care and is incredibly touching. The author balances black humour, farce and emotional truth – a real achievement. The plot is well constructed and full of suspense that keeps you reading.
Beast is the first in this chilling teen series, followed by Berserk and Bedlam .
In the depths of a reservoir lives a monstrous creature. Its existence is unknown to anyone except the teenage boy who feeds it. Six years ago it was a vicious little baby.
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Now it has grown huge, and its rusting cage can''t hold it much longer... Stephen is a boy with many secrets, and the Beast is the biggest. His life in foster care, always bad, is getting worse, and he''s in trouble with the police.
All the odds are against him finding a decent place in the world, but his efforts to free himself of the Beast make him a hero that readers will never forget. "I really love this book... BEAST should be a monster hit" Amanda Craig, THE TIMES "BEAST has a tension that never lets up.
Ally Kennen is a remarkably assured writer" INDEPENDENT SHORTLISTED for the CILIP Carnegie Medal
Ally Kennen comes from a proud lineage of bare-knuckle boxers, country vicars and French aristocracy.
She grew up in an isolated farm on Exmoor, with no flushing toilet, dead tadpoles in the taps, and annual rat infestations. The farm was a foster home to many children and teenagers. Ally has worked as a classroom assistant, nursery nurse, museum guard and archaeologist. She is also a professional singer.
Ally lives in Somerset with her husband, small daughter, smaller son and baby four chickens and a curmudgeonly cat. No woman has ever beaten Ally in an arm wrestle.
“I grew up on a small organic farm on Exmoor. My parents still farm cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, turkeys and ducks. I have one brother. My parents fostered children for many years, from when I was about three or four till I was thirteen. They started again when I was eighteen and fostered for another five or six years.
"When I was young, we farmed dairy cows, which make a lot of mess. There is half a mile of muddy road up to the school bus stop. In school assemblies I would usually leave a small pile of dried mud in my place, which I had picked off my shoes. In winter, my school uniform smelled of smoke because it had dried over the fire. We had an outdoor loo, called an earth closet, which had no flush. You had to do what you did, then cover it up with sawdust. When I was eight, we got a flushing loo which I thought was deeply sophisticated (though once I did fall in the septic tank!).
"There were no shops, pubs or buses (except the school bus) and hardly any people. As a child, I spent a lot of time on my own, reading, playing in the mud, building dams and messing around the farm. I was always scruffy and sadly I still am! At school I liked writing stories and liked the idea of being an author, but I also wanted to be a runner, an archaeologist and a naturalist.”
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In the depths of a reservoir lives a monstrous creature. Its existence is unknown to anyone except the teenage boy who feeds it.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Beast and determined it is suitable for children aged 11-14 years old
Beast features in the following genres: Featured Books for 11+ readers, Recommendations, Recommended Children's eBooks, Featured Books for 13+ readers
Ebook, Paperback. £6.99. Digital. Available Immediately. Country restrictions apply..
Beast was written by Ally Kennen and published by Scholastic UK
£6.99. Digital. Available Immediately. Country restrictions apply..
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