Author:Louise Lawrence
A powerful post-nuclear holocaust novel described by the author as, 'my cry against the monstrous weapons men have made'.
Everyone thought, when the alarm bell rang, that it was just another fire practice. But the first bombs had fallen on Hamburg and Leningrad, the headmaster said, and a full-scale nuclear attack was imminent . . .
It's a real-life nightmare. Sarah and her family have to stay cooped up in the tightly-sealed kitchen for days on end, dreading the inevitable radioactive fall-out and the subsequent slow, torturous death, which seems almost preferable to surviving in a grey, dead world, choked by dust.
But then, from out of the dust and the ruins and the desolation, comes new life, a new future, and a whole brave new world...
Warm-hearted, well written
—— TESA witty, contemporary adventure story
—— Financial TimesBlackman reaches reluctant readers like few others
—— Amanda Craig , The TimesMalorie Blackman is one of the most versatile and forthright of all authors for young adults. She has brought us an ambitious panorama of broken societies and depicted motive and action in searingly effective ways . . . This is a remarkable book, powerful, fearful
—— Dennis Hamley , CarouselIt is an intelligent, original and compelling novel
—— Simon Treacy , Cork Evening EchoA compelling, compulsive, atmospheric story . . . The movie is already rolling in my head
—— Niall MacMonagle , Irish TimesZips along at break-neck pace, each short, action-packed scene feeding into the next, ideal for teen readers with Playstation attention spans . . . McGann's direct, gritty style of writing certainly packs a punch
—— Sarah Webb , Irish Independent