Becoming Grace
By (Author) Hilary McKay
Illustrated by Keith Robinson
HarperCollins Publishers
Barrington Stoke Ltd
26th August 2025
10th April 2025
United Kingdom
Children
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage fiction: True stories told as fiction
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories
Paperback
112
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 7mm
200g
Award-winning Hilary McKay brings the childhood of Victorian heroine Grace Darling to life in this heartfelt reimagining of her life up to and including the Forfarshire shipwreck.
Despite her fear of boats, Grace Darling loves her life as the daughter of a lighthouse keeper and spends fun-filled childhood days with her three sisters, four brothers, numerous goats, chickens, cats and her beloved dog, Happy.
The only shadows come from the many shipwrecks caused by the poor location of their lighthouse, a problem that seems to be fixed when a new one is built further out on the remote Longstone Rock.
But in September 1838, a steamship called the Forfarshire is wrecked on the dangerous Harcar Rock. Grace alerts her father to survivors, but can she find the courage to help him row out through the mountainous waves to rescue them
Particularly suitable for readers aged 9+ with a reading age of 8.
"Hilary McKay has a unique gift for bringing to life whole families whole worlds in a matter of moments with her crystal-clear prose and her artist's eye for detail. This little book shines like sea treasure a true story, beautifully told and glittering with life." Lucy Strange
Hilary McKay is one of Britains best-loved childrens authors. Her booksincluding Saffy's Angel, The Skylarks' War, and The Swallows' Flight have been published in over 30 languages and have won the Costa Childrens Book Award, the Guardian Childrens Fiction Prize, the Nestl Smarties Book Prize Gold Award, and countless other accolades.