Hugging the Rock

By Susan Taylor Brown


Hugging the Rock
Online price: £5.99
Paperback, 176 pages
Published: 17th April 2008

Category: Fiction 10+, Poetry & rhyme
Interest age, years: From 10 To 13
Key Stage: ENG KS 2

When Rachel's mum runs away from home, Rachel retreats into herself - away from her father who has always kept his distance, away from school, and away from her best friend. Rachel's mum used to say that her dad was a rock, the kind you can always count on. But Rachel doesn't even know if he loves her. And she doesn't know the secrets he's kept since before she was born. This bittersweet story of loss and revelation explores the complex issue of bi-polar disorder and reveals the powerful bond between a father and a daughter.

Gripping. You are drawn into the point of view of the narrator as she struggles to come to terms with the way her mother abandons her. - www.writeaway.org.uk

Four stars - What’s the point of a verse novel? Wouldn’t it add more if it was just a bit longer and more developed? Well like all good poems, there are no words wasted here; it’s a quick read with a lot of punch, easily finished in a stragit reading. It may well speak to reluctant readers in the 10-13 age group who still want a good, realistic story told with simplicity and style.My young audience were as entranced as those of the nineties used to be. - Books for Keeps

The novel is narrated in free verse in a style which recalls Sharon Creech and although the form is unusual in children's fiction, readers will quickly accommodate to its demands. Girls of 11 upwards will enjoy this poignant but ultimately positive story. - School Librarian



Publication Details:

Binding: Paperback, 176 pages
ISBN: 9781845078300
Format: 198mm x 129mm

BIC Code: YXF, YXFD
BISAC Code:  FAM015000, FAM019000
Imprint: Frances Lincoln Children's Books


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