Running on the Cracks, Paperback/Julia Donaldson

A runaway thriller for fans of Anne Cassidy and Jacqueline Wilson, by Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson. Driven away by the disturbing behaviour of her uncle, 15-year-old Leo flees her aunt's home, where she has been living since the sudden death of her musician parents. She heads to Glasgow, hoping to discover the secret behind the feud between her father and his Chinese family. Leo's journey is peopled with fabulous characters, including 13-year old Finlay - an amateur sleuth and even-more-amateur Goth - and Mary - a Johnny Cash-and-chocolate-biscuit fanatic. In Running on the Cracks, Julia Donaldson has crafted a funny, moving, heart-stopping thriller with characters that will stay in your heart long after you have turned the final uplifting page. Julia has long been a household name thanks to her raft of best-selling picture books, but in her first book for teens she offers readers who enjoyed The Gruffalo as a child something completely new.