Can you find happiness anywhere? Anywhere at all?
Amid the frantic bustle of breaktime, Finley Tandy sits peacefully on the wall. Mr Goodhew, watching from the staffroom, can’t help but wonder at the boy’s gift for stillness, and his seemingly cast-iron happiness.
But maybe tranquility can be catching. Because gradually everyone in the school comes to appreciate what Finley’s long silences can offer. Even Juliet finds answers to her crushing worries when she’s close to Finley, up on the wall.
Through Finley’s calm contemplation, Anne Fine gently explores how students make their very different ways through life at school and at home.
Any child who is worried about ‘big school’ – or anything else – will find the world of Windfields cheering and positive, and Finley a supportive friend.
A warm and witty novel, with a lot to say about the value of silence.
A distinguished writer for children of all ages, and former Children’s Laureate, Anne Fine has written over 70 books for children, including two Carnegie Medal winners, Goggle-Eyes (1990) and Flour Babies (1994). Adaptations of Bill’s New Frock and Goggle-Eyes have been screened by the BBC and Twentieth Century Fox filmed her novel Madame Doubtfire as Mrs Doubtfire, now a smash-hit musical on the West End. Her works have been translated into more than 25 languages.
Extent: 256 pages
Publisher: Old Barn Books, September 2024
Primary agent: Anthony Goff
Film/TV agent: DHA (Clare Israel)
Co-Agents: Chinese - Andrew Nurnberg Associates; Japanese - Tuttle-Mori
<aside> 🎒 ‘Only a writer as skilled and talented as Anne Fine could build an entire book around a central character who is totally mindful, calm and without drama. The beautiful prose is very, very readable and hard to put down.’ — LoveReading4Kids, September 2024 Book of the Month
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<aside> 🎒 ‘A new book which will become a favourite of the discerning reader’ — SLA, Autumn Reading Picks
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<aside> 🎒 ‘a must read for readers of 9-11, an excellent way of exploring your own fears of a new school, and a deeper understanding of what is really like to be a new student anywhere.’ — The Book Monitor
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<aside> 🎒 ‘Anne Fine seems to have the knack of reaching straight to the heart of young readers’ — The Sunday Times
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<aside> 🎒 ‘A children’s writer of rare gifts’ — The Times Educational Supplement
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<aside> 🎒 ‘Fine couldn't write an unengaging novel if she tried...this is supremely professional writing.’ — The Independent on The Devil Walks
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<aside> 🎒 ‘The work of a true artist’ — The Guardian on Blood Family
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