By Mitch Johnson (author)
"A thrilling drought starved dystopia and two outcasts in search of a better life"
Paperback In Stock £8.99 £8.09
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A grim vision of a future world starved of water, where humanity has descended into a mediaeval hand to mouth existence and with a warped belief system extolling the Ancestors who had in fact created this awful world through selfish excess. Ash lives with the Priestess of Last Village since his father left.
After a storm, Ash wakes to find that the village's water and all the other villagers have disappeared and the Priestess left dead. Together with fellow outcast Bronwyn, he heads North with hope they might find water, villagers or even the fabled ‘Kingdom’ where life is rumoured to still flourish. After many dangers and tribulations, they do indeed find all of this.
But the villagers are brutally enslaved building the huge Wall which holds back all the stolen water to enable the inhabitants of the Kingdom to continue their privileged lives. Corruption and greed still rule the world. But the Spark of the title is not just the means to cleverly set off the explosive climax but the revolutionary spark for change and rebellion which Ash delivers to empower the enslaved villagers to action.
This is a thrilling adventure with a strong message about working together to bring about change and about fighting for justice and the natural world. Ash and Bronwyn are great characters and their spiky relationship is thoroughly entertaining and convincing. An empowering read for young activists everywhere and a successful foray into dystopian fiction for the Branford Boase winning author.
In a world struggling to exist, only the strongest will survive. The explosive, action-packed new adventure from the award-winning author of Kick and Pop!
Read the full description
Ash has always lived in Last Village, lonely since the day his father left and never came back. The world is unbearably hot, water is drying up, and life is hard. After a vicious thunderstorm, Ash wakes to find that the village's water has completely run out, and all the other villagers have mysteriously disappeared.
Accompanied by the outcast Bronwyn, Ash sets off in search of water, for answers about what happened to the villagers, with hope they might find 'The Kingdom' - a rumoured land to the north where life still flourishes. Ash and Bronwyn have to survive a journey across an arid landscape, discovering that other people out there are even more dangerous than the lightning strikes that follow them.
Then they reach The Wall - beyond it, something impossible. Lying in wait are the answers Ash is searching for, and maybe even the truth about what happened to his father. If only he could get past The Wall... Sometimes all it takes is just one spark.
Praise for Mitch Johnson;
'Fizzes with adventure and great characters who pop from the page' - Peter Bunzl, bestselling author of Cogheart
'I read it all in one gulp!' - Ross Welford, bestselling author of Time Travelling with a Hamster
'A bonkers Willy-Wonka nightmare designed to get children thinking about the effects of everything they buy' - Ross Montgomery, bestselling author of The Midnight Guardians
'A zany adventure that will make you bubble with laughter and fizz with indignation on behalf of our planet' - Maria Kuzniar, bestselling author of The Ship of Shadows
'An exploding soda geyser of a book - an adventure story that will make you laugh, make you angry and make you want to do something to fix this crazy, messed up world' - Charlie Higson, bestselling author of Young Bond and The Enemy
'Pop! is an explosive and unforgettable adventure with defiant heroes, devious villains, deadly corporate secrets all told with Johnson's brilliant humour. I loved it' - Tamsin Winter, bestselling author of J emima Small Versus the Universe
After graduating from the University of East Anglia with an award-winning first class degree in English Literature with Creative Writing, Mitch completed Kick, his debut novel for middle grade readers. He was inspired to write it while working in a sports shop where he discovered a discarded, crumpled drinks sachet left in a shoebox between a brand-new pair of football boots. Mitch now works as a bookseller at Waterstones, Norwich, and writes in his spare time.
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The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Spark and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
Spark features in the following genres: Ecological and Environmental Interest - Fiction, Recommendations, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Thrillers, Adventure Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for 9+ readers
Paperback. £8.09, down from the £8.99 cover price. In Stock.
Spark was written by Mitch Johnson and published by Orion Children's Books an imprint of Hachette Children's Group
£8.09, reduced from £8.99. In Stock.
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