Shadowsmith

Book excerpt: Are you brave? When the mysterious Amelia Pigeon turns up at Kirby's bedroom window in the dead of night, this is the question she asks him – immediately before they tumble into a world of ancient malevolent spirits who have torn their way into Kirby's boring seaside village. Kirby isn't feeling brave at all. His mother is in a coma following a freak (or was it?) accident, and he's hardly talking to his dad. He's convinced a spider is watching him, and now a weird girl in a yellow raincoat – who claims to be a powerful, evil-banishing Shadowsmith – is dragging him into unknown danger. How brave is he really? Ross MacKenzie, author of the Blue Peter award-winning The Nowhere Emporium, weaves a world of magic and adventure which twists and turns magnificently and will keep thrilled young readers guessing right to the end.