My forthcoming Rom-Com ‘ Confessions of a Helicopter Mummy’ has been described as ‘The most sparkling romantic comedy of the year’ and ‘Bridget Jones meets the Bad Moms via ‘Sex in the City’ for the Tik Tok Generation!’ e.issuu.com/embed.html?d=repro_anothertwistinthetale_combined__1_&hideIssuuLogo=true&u=nosycrow Teaching Resources In terms of the plot and characters, nothing to write home about. It was a fairly generic and simple plot and the ending was a little too neat for my liking, but again, this is likely due to this book being for a middle grade audience. The characters were also not massively fleshed out and many of them (particularly Dotty) sometimes felt like caricatures.

It’s two years since her philandering first (and only) love Joel walked out taking the last of her self-confidence with him and she has remained resolutely single ever since.

I liked the fact that the asylum system and her individual case was so clearly explained but also the fact that despite their different experiences, she and the other girls found common ground and understanding. Aya selects objects that tell the story of her past: of her life in Syria before and during the war, of her flight to Turkey, in a container, of the refugee camps, the journey across the sea in a storm, the last time she saw her father … When I discussed the idea with my editor at Nosy Crow, we were both conscious of the difficulties of writing about events that are happening now – complex, potentially troubling issues that we would be asking young readers to confront without the distance of history. I have a quote from one of my favourite writers, Alan Gibbons, above my desk: “I never enter a dark room unless I can light the way out.” That’s what I wanted to do – to confront difficult issues, in a way that didn’t offer glib solutions or whitewash the truth, but which did offer the consolation of hope.

A brilliantly-conceived and hugely imaginative ‘sequel’ to Mary Shelley’s masterpiece, Following Frankenstein is a hugely exciting and beautifully-written historical adventure, perfect for 9-12 year olds. Night Mayor Franklefink has vanished from the Transylvanian Express - and it's up to you to solve the case! Part of the Solve Your Own Mystery seri... Book Genre: 21st Century, Childrens, Contemporary, Family, Fiction, Literature, Middle Grade, Novels, Realistic Fiction, War, Young Adult This is going to seem a little obscure, but I was teaching Wharton’s 1920 Pulitzer prize winning classic to my lovely A Level class when I was writing the end of No Ballet Shoes in Syria and it is her beautifully delicately balanced ending that I attempted to emulate. I didn’t want ‘happy ever after’, because that would trivialise the issues I was writing about, but nor did I want the finale to be totally bleak. I wanted an ending that offered hope at the same time as breaking my readers’ hearts. Newland Archer sitting on a bench outside Ellen Olenska’s Paris apartment, not going up, but knowing that the memory of her is enough – it breaks my heart and makes me sob every time. And that was what I wanted to achieve too. I guess you’ll have to read it and decide if I succeed…Catherine talks about the inspiration for ‘Following Frankenstein’ and reads from the opening chapter Confessions of a Helicopter Mummy Now it’s time to weave in object number two. Don’t forget to describe it – make it come alive for the reader. How does this object come into the tale? The role of object number two is to help introduce a complication to your story? An obstacle that might prevent your character from achieving what they want. Over to you ….