A Year Without Autumn
by Liz Kessler
Jenni and Autumn are best friends, even holidaying together. Aged 12, the devastating outcome of that year's holiday results in Jenni moving backwards and forwards through the three succeeding years trying to prevent the tragedy, and friendships and relationships falling apart.
Kessler combines a chatty tween novel with a serious dose of 'what if' in which a disused lift transports Jenni between the present and future years, thereby not only viewing the events but interacting with friends, family and strangers whose lives and relationships have been changed by the accident.
We can read it as a coming-of-age novel, in which Jenni grows up and gains insight into others, but primarily into her own behaviour, and the responsibility she bears for events.
Publisher: Orion Children's Books
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Liz Kessler
Liz Kessler is the author of two popular children’s series: Emily Windsnap and Philippa Fisher. A Year Without Autumn was her first standalone title and was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Awards 2012. Born in 1966, Liz grew up in the seaside town of Southport in the north west of England. She attended Farnborough Road Junior School, Merchant Taylors, and Abbotsholme School in Staffordshire, before going on to study English at Loughborough University, after which she gained a teaching qualification at Keele University. More recently, she gained a distinction in a Masters degree in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Before becoming an author, Liz taught English and Media Studies and ran Creative Writing courses. She also worked as a journalist at a few local and regional newspapers in Manchester and York.
After school and university, Liz lived on a narrowboat on the canal for about ten years, after which she settled briefly in Manchester before travelling round Europe in a campervan for a year. She now lives in St Ives, Cornwall.
http://www.lizkessler.co.uk/
Liz Kessler
