Twenty-Four Hours
By (Author) Margaret Mahy
HarperCollins Publishers
HarperCollins Children's Books
1st March 2001
United Kingdom
Children
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Thrillers / suspense
Childrens / Teenage personal and social topics: Suicide
Childrens / Teenage personal and social topics: Friends and friendships
Childrens / Teenage personal and social topics: Anxiety, depression and self-har
Childrens / Teenage fiction: General, modern and contemporary fiction
823.914
Paperback
192
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 12mm
160g
Compelling drama in which 17-year-old Ellis comes to terms with the meaning of death
Ellis is an ordinary 17-year-old; someone whos planning to finish school and go to university like any other teenager. The difference is that four months ago, his best friend Simon killed himself. Still that was four months ago. Ellis has now got over it.
Except, of course, he hasnt. Returning to his home town, he gets drawn into a situation in which the old Ellis would never have become embrangled. He gatecrashes a party and persuaded to rescue two sisters Ursa and Leo, driving them back to the Land of Smiles the ex-motel where they live.
From that moment on, nothing is the same again. The story is narrated hour-by-hour, as Ellis packs a life-time of experiences into the next twenty-four hours. Giving in to high spirits and booze, Ellis wakes next morning in a strange bed, with a stonking hangover and a shaven head! He learns that a child has been kidnapped, and is persuaded to help in her rescue
This is a bizarre, surreal and powerful novel in which the reader is taken on the same roller-coaster ride as Ellis.
Margaret Mahy was one of the worlds best-loved authors. In 2006 she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for her outstanding contribution to childrens literature.Donovan Bixley is known for his colourful and humorous works in dozens of books as well as writing a few of his own.